Marine Particles: Analysis and Characterization

Published by the American Geophysical Union as part of the Geophysical Monograph Series, Volume 63.

In the past twenty or so years, there has been an increasing amount of interest in suspended particulates in seawater. This interest has concentrated on defining the distribution and variance of particle mass, composition, and flux. It is now well recognized that biogenic and other particle fluxes in the ocean define the principle mechanisms of non-conservative behavior that influence all reactive material. There is, however, concern that the analytical and sampling variability associated with our methods must be sufficiently within our control in order to discern important temporal and spatial variability of particles and fluxes. A review of papers in the recent literature which deal with analyzing the chemical and physical properties of particles collected by traps, pumps and other samplers, reveals that there is a considerable diversity of approaches and techniques being used by the community of active researchers in this field.