The importance of Asian dust-Fe on phytoplankton species composition will be examined and the Fe limitation hypothesis will be tested across a dust gradient in the macronutrient rich water of the Subarctic Pacific from Kamchatka to Station P. In situ changes in phytoplankton species composition will be determined by HPLC pigment analyses and microscopy. In addition, the project will determine the physiological status of diatoms and prokaryotic algae across this high to low dust gradient in a relatively unstudied area of the Subarctic Pacific Ocean.
