Dissolved organic carbon (DOC) is the largest organic carbon pool in the ocean, and is an important component in the global carbon cycle. New DOC measurements will be made in the Pacific using a reference method (sealed tube combustions) for two purposes: to check new HTCO (high temperature catalytic oxidation) measurements now being made in the Pacific, and to determine the source and age of DOC in surface waters of the equatorial upwelling region at 140oW. The proposed measurements would supplement and validate a new program of DOC measurements being made by Dr. Edward Peltzer (WHOI) as part of the JGOFS EqPac program. The research is also designed as a pilot study for using natural abundance &13C and 14C isotopic measurements to study the cycle of DOC in the oceans.
