Oceanic CO{sub 2} measurements for the WOCE Hydrological Survey in the Pacific Ocean; Shipboard Alkalinity analyses during 1991 and 1992. Technical progress report, 1 February 1992--31 October, 1992

Abstract

The DOE Carbon Dioxide Science Team is contributing measurements of the carbon system in sea water on transects of the WOCE Hydrological Survey sponsored by the United States. This project is to provide measurements of titration alkalinity of sea water, an effort that is in addition to our collecting samples of sea water brought back to our shore laboratory and analyzed for dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) and alkalinity. Our original proposal called for approximately 1200 analyses at sea in 1991 and 4400 in 1992. In preparation for measurements at sea, the project budget called for the construction of a dual potentiometric sea-going titration system. The titration system is of novel design in order to achieve at sea as close as possible the same high precision that we have previously achieved in the laboratory using gravimetric procedures. Two motor driven precision syringes dispense sea water volumetrically to two titration cells, each separately connected to a Dosimat acid dispenser. Each system is driven by a notebook computer that analyzes the full titration curve of sea water and calculates the alkalinity.