I am a researcher at Lund University in Sweden and a new member on board the Pelagia. I have been performing experiments to help us understand nitrogen cycling processes at several sites we will visit. Nitrogen is essential to all life (in proteins, DNA etc) and is very important in agricultural fertilisers – providing nutrients (nitrate, ammonium) for plants. However, these nutrients can cause environmental problems, for example from excess fertilisers running off the land to the sea, causing blooms of algae and low oxygen conditions; reducing the habitat where animals (fish, shellfish etc) can live.
But why nitrogen when the cruise is focused on iron?! The nitrogen cycle is made up of many separate reactions that can link to other elemental cycles in surface sediment. In the Baltic Sea, where large areas have no (or very low) oxygen, substances that are produced deeper in the sediment can move further towards the sediment surface and even start to seep out into the water. So when oxygen is low, these substances (such as dissolved iron) have a chance to interact with nitrogen cycling processes which occur closer to the surface.
But why nitrogen when the cruise is focused on iron?! The nitrogen cycle is made up of many separate reactions that can link to other elemental cycles in surface sediment. In the Baltic Sea, where large areas have no (or very low) oxygen, substances that are produced deeper in the sediment can move further towards the sediment surface and even start to seep out into the water. So when oxygen is low, these substances (such as dissolved iron) have a chance to interact with nitrogen cycling processes which occur closer to the surface.
During the cruise, my aim is to determine rates of nitrogen cycling processes using whole core experiments on board and hope to be able to also link these processes to iron cycling. To do this I have spent most of my time in the cold rooms (usually about 4 oC) carrying out several incubation experiments using stable isotopes which we use as tracers to follow which processes are occurring. Although it was a little more tricky taking samples while the ship was transiting though a gale force 8 in the Gulf of Finland!
Yesterday (Sunday) was our final day of sampling before the transit back to the Netherlands but I have really enjoyed my time on the Pelagia and working with everyone on board – especially the sediment team. But looking forward to some rest in the next few days!
Cheers!
Liz
Yesterday (Sunday) was our final day of sampling before the transit back to the Netherlands but I have really enjoyed my time on the Pelagia and working with everyone on board – especially the sediment team. But looking forward to some rest in the next few days!
Cheers!
Liz