Linking the Time and Space Scales of Chemical Oceanography

The Gordon Research Conference on Chemical Oceanography has been held continuously for more than four decades, and continues to be a major forum for the discussion and exchange of ideas at the frontiers of a field that encompasses the chemical components, reaction mechanisms, and biogeochemical processes within the ocean, present and past, and at its interfaces with the atmosphere and solid earth. Due to processes such as ocean acidification and rising atmospheric carbon dioxide, chemical oceanographers are also increasingly concerned with how biogeochemical processes in the oceans will change in the future.

Historically, the conference has brought together the leading contributors in the chemical oceanography research community (from academic, industry and government laboratories) with a healthy mix of young scientists (junior faculty, post-docs, graduate students) to discuss the significant new advances shaping this highly interdisciplinary field. Part of the continued success of this conference has been that nearly all conference attendees participate directly through oral or poster presentations. The informal nature and relatively small size of the conference promotes valuable scientific and personal exchange, which often results in productive cross-fertilization of ideas and the establishment of scientific connections for future research. As a result of the conference new research is also incorporated into the courses taught by many of the attendees at academic institutions around the world. In all of these ways this conference plays a critical role in the advancement of the field of chemical oceanography as a whole.

In light of these considerations, the theme of the 2011 conference will be “linking the time and space scales of chemical oceanography.” Talks will address topics that cross time and space scales, ranging from molecular processes occurring in fractions of a second to large-scale oceanic (and whole earth) processes occurring across deep time (and into the future). Talks within each session will also be structured to explore linkages across these time and space scales.