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Mark Altabet

faculty

Mark Altabet, PhD

Professor / Chairperson

SMAST / Estuarine & Ocean Sciences

Isotope Biogeochemistry Group Website

Contact

508-999-8622

508-910-6371

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School for Marine Science & Technology West, New Bedford 122A

Education

1984Harvard UniversityPhD
1979State University of New York at Stony BrookBS

Teaching

Programs

Teaching

Courses

Chemical oceanography starting with the basic chemical and physical properties of sea water and going through the major processes shaping chemical distributions in the ocean. A brief review of basic thermodynamics and chemical equilibria precedes a discussion of carbonate equilibria and trace metal speciation. Throughout much of the course an interdisciplinary approach is taken and pertinent material on the interaction between ocean chemistry and marine physics, biology, and geology will be presented. Whenever possible, the results of recent studies will be incorporated into class material and the last few class periods are devoted to special topics.

Chemical oceanography starting with the basic chemical and physical properties of sea water and going through the major processes shaping chemical distributions in the ocean. A brief review of basic thermodynamics and chemical equilibria precedes a discussion of carbonate equilibria and trace metal speciation. Throughout much of the course an interdisciplinary approach is taken and pertinent material on the interaction between ocean chemistry and marine physics, biology, and geology will be presented. Whenever possible, the results of recent studies will be incorporated into class material and the last few class periods are devoted to special topics.

Research for and preparation of doctoral dissertation proposal. The dissertation proposal must provide a thorough survey of the research activities in the research topic area and it must present original and innovative research ideas and preliminary results as well as a defined research scope and directions. PhD students must have passed this course before registering for doctoral dissertation research credits. Graded P/F.

Research

Research activities

  • Nitrogen isotope and N2/Ar biogeochemistry of the Peru suboxic zone, NSF, $412,000, Feb 01 2009 to Jan 30 2013
  • Collaborative Research: The role of regenerated nitrogen for rocky shore productivity, NSF, $183,381, Sept 01 2009 to August 31 2013
  • Collaborative Research: High resolution paleoceanography in the heart of the Equatorial Pacific Cold Tongue, NSF, $170,000 over 3years
  • Collaborative Research: Microbial associations in zooplankton: significance for the marine nitrogen cycle, NSF, $616,980 over 3 years ($150,000 supports M. Altabet’s component of this project), August 01 2011 to July 31 2014
  • Collaborative Research: Autonomous Lagrangian Floats for Oxygen Minimum Zone Biogeochemistry, NSF, $349,607 over 3 years

Research

Research awards

  • $ 336,586 awarded by National Science Foundation for Collaborative Research: Deciphering the Mechanisms of Marine Nitrous Oxide Cycling Using Stable Isotopes, Molecular Markers and In Situ Rates
  • $ 438,331 awarded by National Science Foundation for Collaborative Research: Phylogenetic and Physiological Characterization of Amino Acid Nitrogen Isotopes in Phytoplankton
  • $ 1,336,152 awarded by Office of Naval Research for UMassD MUST III: Sub-Mesoscale and Mesoscale Interactions STudy (SubMIST)
  • $ 1,043,876 awarded by Office of Naval Research for UMassD MUST II: Regional Ocean Turbulence from Long-Duration, Autonomous Observations

Research

Research interests

  • Major marine biogeochemical cycles
  • Global N cycle and its interactions with climate change
  • Atmospheric CO2 concentration
  • Coastal eutrophication

Select publications

  • Bryant Mason, A., Y. J. Xu, and M.A. Altabet (2013).
    Water Resources Research
    Limited capacity of river corridor wetlands to remove nitrate - A case study on the Atchafalaya River Basin during the 2011 Mississippi River Flooding, 49
  • Montes, E., M. A. Altabet, F. Muller-Karger, M. I. Scranton, R. Thunell, Cl. Benitez-Nelson, L. Lorenzoni, Y. Astor (2013).
    Bigeosciences
    Biogenic nitrogen gas production at the oxic-anoxic interface in the Cariaco Basin, Venezuela, 10, 267-279.
  • Altabet, M.A., E. Ryabenko, L. Stramma, D. Wallace, M. Frank, P. Grasse, and G. Lavik (2012).
    Biogeosciences
    An eddystimulated hotspot for fixed nitrogen-loss from the Peru Oxygen Minimum Zone, 9, 4897-4908.