This award will enable Dr. William M. Berelson (University of Southern California) and Dr. Daniel C. McCorkle (Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution) to collaborate with Dr. David T. Heggie (Australian Bureau of Mineral Resources, Geology & Geophysics) during a research cruise aboard the Australian R.V. Rig Seismic in the Indian Ocean off the northwest coast of Australia. The research will entail geochemical studies related to exploration for petroleum hydrocarbons, supplemented with modern process studies on carbon cycling and light hydrocarbons in sediments, together with paleoceanographic studies related to petroleum source-rock formations. It is important to understand the role the benthic boundary plays in mediating global ocean cycles for elements such as carbon, oxygen, nitrogen and silica because these elements influence the productivity of the oceans and can be affected by anthropogenic activity. This study will add to the sparse data set for deep ocean flux measurements and add to a growing data base of nutrient benthic exchange measurements on productive continental margins. The combined expertise and resources of the several groups participating in the cruise will enable study of sediment, core water, and incubation chamber chemistry to take place at the same time, margin on the same samples.
