EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 



The following discussions consider in varying detail the present 

 status of knowledge in chemical oceanography and the various problem 

 areas that merit research support during the next several years. The 

 purpose of these comments is to summarize the collective recommenda- 

 tions of the workshop participants, and not to preempt background 

 material in the succeeding sections. 



Because residence times of the chemical constituents of seawater 

 are much shorter than the age of the oceans, chemical processes removing 

 these constituents must occur continuously. Although there are many 

 possible reactions, the sites where most reactions occur are essentially 

 unknown. Two locations for many of the reactions, the continental 

 margins and the photic zone, are probably highly important and have 

 been little studied as areas where the mechanisms that control the 

 major constituents of seawater operate. These areas should be studied 

 in detail, using new field techniques such as in-situ sensors. Their 

 highly reactive amorphous phases should be characterized and experi- 

 ments should be designed to elucidate their thermodynamics and kinetics. 

 Both field and laboratory experiments should be carried out on the 

 possible effects of organisms on major and trace-element constituents, 

 as well as on the conventional nutrients and organic phases, and these 

 experiments should be coupled with physical oceanographic and geo- 

 chemical work on the same areas. 



In addition to investigations at the geographical locations indicated 

 above, identification of other sites where chemical processes are active 

 is needed. For example, chemical reactions (e.g., adsorption), including 

 their kinetics, need to be studied throughout the range of saUnities 

 encountered where river water mixes with seawater, taking into account 

 seasonal changes. Specific consideration should be given to chemical 

 speciation and the association of these species with inorganic and 

 organic ligands. 



More research needs to be conducted on the pressure-volume-tem- 

 perature (P-V-T) relationships of seawater to provide a more reliable 

 equation of state and to improve our understanding of the effect of 

 pressure on chemical equilibria. Differences in data on the physical 

 properties of seawater should be reconciled. Associated with this area 

 of research, more work is needed on the kinetics and equilibria responsi- 

 ble for the properties of sound (e.g., absorption) in the marine environ- 

 ment. Research is also needed on the generation of gas bubbles (e.g., 



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