This effort will establish a time - series hydrographic station in the central North Pacific Ocean approximately 100km north of the island of Oahu as part of the Global Ocean Flux Study (GOFS) program. This deep water oceanographic station will comprise a Pacific Ocean analogue to Station S (Panulirus Station) located in the North Atlantic Ocean near Bermuda. Monthly visits will be made to this station over an initial five-year period to begin a comprehensive study of the distribution, production and flux of biogenic particulate material in the obligotrophic ocean. The scientific objectives are: (1) to observe and interpret the seasonal and interannual variability in the biology and chemistry of the mixed layer and the euphotic zone, (2) to observe and interpret the seasonal and interannual variability in the rates of particle flux and apparent rates of particle remineralization over the entire water column and (3) to understand the interrelationships between the processes mentioned in (1) and (2) above and the physical characteristics of the water column. Water column physical characteristics will be analyzed as part of the World Ocean Circulation Experiment (WOCE) during joint GOFS-WOCE cruises. The collective data obtained at the Hawaii time series station will also be used to support GOFS level-2 and level-3 studies on biogeochemical fluxes and ocean circulation and will contribute to the Hawaiian Ocean Experiment (HOE), a co-ordinated interdisciplinary study of the Hawaiian Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).
