Chapter 1. Introduction

Chapter 1: Introduction James W. Murray (10/01/01) Univ. Washington ______________________________________________________________________ Chemical oceanography is the study of everything about the chemistry of the ocean and is based on the distribution and dynamics of elements, isotopes, atoms and molecules. This ranges from fundamental physical, thermodynamic and kinetic chemistry to two-way interactions of ocean chemistry with biological, geological and physical processes. It encompasses both inorganic and organic chemistry. The cornerstones of progress are breakthroughs in analytical chemistry. If this definition seems broad consider that the field also includes study of atmospheric and terrestrial (and some contend extraterrestrial) processes. If oceanography is a wagon wheel, chemical oceanography sits at the middle, and is the most interdisciplinary of all the options. Chemical oceanography includes processes that occur on a wide range of spatial and temporal scales; from global to regional to local to microscopic spatial dimensions and time scales from geological epochs to glacial-interglacial to millennial, decadal, interannual, seasonal, diurnal and all the way to microsecond time scales (Fig. 1-1).