Journal of Earth Science & Climatic Change
Open Access

Chemical oceanography; Chemistry; Biology; Geology; Ecosystems; Carbon dioxide

Introduction

This paper was placed in the symposium program between "biological oceanography" and "physical oceanography" by the organizing committee. Through the 1950s, many significant advances in chemical oceanography can best be described as applications of chemistry to the comprehension of oceanic biological and physical processes. The equivalent can be expressed about science applied to grasping geographical cycles. There are advantages to organizing the study of the oceans in accordance with the fundamental science disciplines as a model [1]. However, I contend that the primary goal of the research discussed at this symposium advancing our understanding of the oceans-must remain the guiding principle of our efforts. I found it hard to characterize the limits of compound oceanography while setting up this audit. I came to the conclusion early on in the process of writing this paper that this was not a significant aspect of the undertaking. The record of achievements utilizing science to comprehend the seas and maritime cycles includes research endeavors by people and gatherings that might be fundamentally self-distinguished or for the most part perceived as actual oceanographers, natural oceanographers, or marine geologists. A recent Science article titled "How to Change the University" was brought to my attention by Senior Associate Director and Director of Research at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution [2]. The following quote from this editorial provokes thought and has implications for the field of research and scholarship as a whole: The modern university is divided academically in ways that no longer accurately reflect the intellectual life of today. When the symposium's organizing committee stated the theme of "discoveries at the intersections of disciplines," perhaps this was their intention [3].

Nutrient cycling is yet another important area of chemical oceanography research. Marine organisms, including phytoplankton and zooplankton, need nutrients like nitrogen, phosphorus, and iron to grow. These organisms are essential to the global carbon cycle and are the foundation of the marine food web. Chemical oceanographers investigate the ocean's distribution and cycle of these nutrients, including how they are recycled throughout the food web and transported from the surface to deeper waters.

The chemical properties of marine sediments are also studied by chemical oceanographers [4]. Sediments are a record of past ocean conditions and are formed by the accumulation of organic and inorganic material on the seafloor. Synthetic examinations of residue centers can give bits of knowledge into changes in sea course, temperature, and supplement accessibility north of millennia. These records can assist researchers with understanding how the sea has answered past environment changes and give bits of knowledge into future changes. Chemical oceanography still faces a significant challenge in sampling deep water [5]. In the middle of the 1970s, Schaule and Patterson came up with a simple and effective device that made it possible to get the first valid samples for Pb testing. A 10-liter container was attached to a metallic hydrowire at the end of this device. As the container was being lowered, seawater was sampled to avoid any water that had been previously tainted by the system's metallic components. Single or different Go-Flo bottle projects appended to non-metallic Kevlar line have additionally been successful for inspecting water for follow metal examination. This method is laborious and time-consuming because it requires adding Go-Flo bottles during downcast at specific depths when multiple bottles are used [6].

A recent National Science Foundation-funded project called "Futures of Ocean Chemistry in the United States," which goes by the clever acronym "FOCUS," produced a comprehensive assessment of the development of chemical oceanography over the past three decades, primarily in the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s. The FOCUS report, which was written by numerous outstanding chemical oceanographers, marine chemists, and geochemists, can be found on the Internet [7].

These experts dealt extensively with the 1970s to the 1990s. I focus my work here on the 1950s, 1960s, and mid 1970s in light of the fact that this is the time span during which a few of the main commitments and exercises happened throughout the course of recent years. In fact, to set the scene, I will briefly discuss significant research efforts from the 1970s to the 1990s in order to maintain continuity between this paper and the FOCUS report [8, 9].

Last but not least, chemical oceanography is an essential component in comprehending how human activities affect the marine environment. Marine ecosystems can be significantly impacted by human activities like pollution and overfishing. Chemical oceanographers investigate the potential long-term effects of these activities on the global carbon and nutrient cycles and the chemical composition of seawater, sediments, and marine organisms [10].

Conclusion

Chemical oceanography is an important part of our understanding of the ocean and its role in the global environment. It is a complicated and interdisciplinary field. Chemical oceanographers investigate the ocean's intricate chemical processes, such as the carbon and nutrient cycles, sediment composition, and human activities' effects on the marine environment. Their examination gives experiences into the past, present, and eventual fate of the sea and assists us with grasping our effect on this fundamental biological system.

From the 1950s to the present, chemistry has made significant progress in understanding and quantifying oceanic processes. The field has progressed as a result of a combination of individual and larger group efforts involving inventive concepts and determined effort. It has been impressive to see the development and use of sophisticated analytical techniques for measuring trace chemicals. They have deciphered a great deal about natural and man-made processes. Over the course of the past fifty years, the capability of stable and radioactive isotope chemistry to elucidate and quantitatively unravel the physical, chemical, and biological processes that take place in the oceans and underlying sediments has progressed from a concept to a reality and is still developing at a rapid rate. In the laboratories of chemical oceanography and marine geochemistry, mass spectrometers of all kinds have taken the place of titration burettes as the standard analytical apparatus.

Informational indexes of remarkable size and intricacy are being deciphered all the more regularly. When modeling data from field and laboratory experiments, both equilibrium and no equilibrium approaches are frequently used. Chemical oceanography and marine geochemistry have made significant progress thanks to a potent combination of theory, experiment, and observation. As noted by FOCUS (1998), we are currently confronted with much more exciting and significant science that is already over the horizon. Improved understanding of chemical oceanography and marine geochemistry can help meet important societal needs at the global, regional, and local levels. Let us hope that the efforts of the next 50 years will at least meet the impressive standard set by the efforts of the previous 50 years because of this and because the intrinsic excitement of unraveling the beauty and secrets of natural processes!

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