GEOTRACES International Data Assembly Centre

Deep ocean section of dissolved (<0.2 micron filtered) iron (Fe) at the zero meridian in the Antarctic Ocean. Data collected during expedition ANT 24-3 (2008) aboard icebreaker POLARSTERN in context of the International Polar Year GEOTRACES program. The very low dissolved Fe in surface waters and throughout the water column at 67-68° South is consistent with the overall limitation of Antarctic ecosystems due to lack of essential trace element Fe for biota. © Maarten Klunder. Enlarge image

GEOTRACES is an international programme which aims to improve our understanding of biogeochemical cycles and large-scale distribution of trace elements and their isotopes (TEIs) in the marine environment. The global field programme will run for at least a decade and will involve cruises in all ocean basins run by a variety of nations. 

Planning has involved scientists from around 30 countries. GEOTRACES is expected to become the largest programme to focus on the chemistry of the oceans and will improve our understanding of past, present and future distributions of TEIs and their relationships to important global processes.

GEOTRACES mission is:

To identify processes and quantify fluxes that control the distribution of key trace elements and isotopes in the ocean, and to establish the sensitivity of these distributions to changing environmental conditions.

Our aim as the GEOTRACES International Data Assembly Centre (GDAC) is to provide the data management to promote data sharing and collaboration between research groups and to ensure data are made widely accessible for long-term use.

To find out more please follow these links

• About — the role of the GEOTRACES International Data Assembly Centre, the partners in the GEOTRACES programme and GDAC contact information.
• Cruises — a list of GEOTRACES cruises, past and future. Maps of all approved GEOTRACES sections, metadata forms and documentation.
• Data — access to GEOTRACES data; including the Data Policy, submission guides, metadata forms and a data inventory.