This is a reminder that the deadline for abstract submission is 1 February 2012 for the 21st International Radiocarbon Conference to be held 9 -13 July 2012 at UNESCO Headquarters, Paris, France.

Please note the special session on Ocean Carbon entitled
'Insights into the ocean carbon cycle from radiocarbon measurements'

Conveners: A. McNichol (USA), E. Druffel (USA), N. Tisnérat-Laborde (Fra), K. Tedesco (UNESCO)
Corresponding convener: amcnichol@whoi.edu

Please see attached description and meeting brochure.

Regards,

A. McNichol (USA), E. Druffel (USA), N. Tisnérat-Laborde (Fra), K. Tedesco (UNESCO)

Insights into the ocean carbon cycle from radiocarbon measurements

Ellen Druffel, Ann McNichol, Kathy Tedesco, Nadine Tisnerat

Radiocarbon measurements on carbon isolated from all of the reservoirs in the ocean—from bulk pools such as dissolved inorganic (DIC) and dissolved organic (DOC) carbon  to individual biomarkers isolated from complex matrices—adds important time and source information to studies of the carbon cycle in the natural environment.  The addition of radiocarbon measurements to carbon cycle studies brings critical information for understanding and quantifying the impact of human activity and climate change on the environment. Sensitive environments such as coastal and high latitude regions have complex carbon cycle processes with organic matter inputs from a variety of sources and ages—direct input from primary production, modern and pre-aged terrestrial matter, as well as ancient material.  The combination of bulk and compound specific measurements can help sort out the history of carbon deposition in these environments and permit us to make insightful predictions for the future.  In the open ocean, tracing the bomb pulse in specific compounds can help to understand the synthesis, degradation and reactivity of complex materials such as DOC.  We invite contributions describing studies using radiocarbon to investigate the modern carbon cycle.

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Kathy Tedesco
Project Director
International Ocean Carbon Coordination Project (IOCCP)
UNESCO - Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission
1, rue Miollis 75732 Cedex France
33 (0)1 45 68 40 28
k.tedesco@unesco.org