In this project, researchers at the University of Miami will continue development of a consensus reference material (CRM) program in support of consistent, high quality measurements of dissolved organic carbon in seawater by the international ocean chemistry community. With continued strong international efforts to investigate the marine carbon cycle, the existing CRM program is poised to provide the necessary benchmark for globally comparable marine DOC measurements. Marine dissolved organic carbon measurements are made at >50 laboratories in the United States, and at a greater number of laboratories in the rest of the world. Until this CRM program began distribution of reference materials in 1999, analyses made in these many laboratories were not linked by a common reference material and were, therefore, not comparable. Because there had not been an independent and common standard available, against which calibrations of individual analyses could be checked, there was little agreement amongst the majority of the laboratories making the measurements.
The primary project goals for the next three years are: to increase to 200 the number of laboratories participating in the program (we have had 135 participants so far); to place some of the costs of the program onto the users (a user fee of $100/box will be instituted); and to seek private sector partnership and support (contact with the Shimadzu Corporation, a major supplier of the instrumentation used by the marine DOC community, has been initiated).
In terms of broader impacts, the production of a seawater DOC reference standard will allow the international ocean carbon research community to pursue with confidence consistent measurements of a major marine carbon reservoir, thereby advancing society's ability to assess changes in the marine carbon cycle and the role of the ocean in climate change
