Dr Pier van der Merwe

antarctic climate & ecosystems cooperative research centre

cooperative research centre

Micronutrient Biogeochemist

Dr Pier van der Merwe

Dr van der Merwe received his undergratuate on the Great Barrier Reef at James Cook University in far north Queensland. A fascination with Antarctica later led him to move south to complete his PhD at the University of Tasmania. Since then Dr van der Merwe has spent 217 days in the deep field, either in Antarctica or bobbing around in the Southern Ocean.

His research focuses on phytoplankton, the single celled marine plants that form that basis of the marine food chain and grow in such incredible numbers that they modify the concentration of carbon dioxide and oxygen in the atmosphere. He is interested in how nutrients in the ocean – specifically iron – ultimately control phytoplankton growth, with flow on effects for ecosystems and the atmospheric concentration of CO2.

RESEARCH

Bulk measurements of particulate and dissolved iron do not provide enough information to chemical oceanographers to assess the sufficiency or deficiency of iron within natural phytoplankton assemblages. This availability of iron determines Southern Ocean productivity and influences atmospheric CO2 concentration and climate.

Dr van der Merwe’s project aims to develop a novel method to assess the transfer between the particulate and dissolved iron phases from a range of samples including those collected at hydrothermal vents near Heard Island (Southern Ocean) to enable prognosis of natural phytoplankton iron deficiency.

The achieved quantification of iron availability from particulate sources will aid in assessing change in Southern Ocean productivity and its influence on atmospheric CO2.

Carbon uptake and chemical change

SELECTED PUBLICATIONS

Lannuzel D., Chever, F., van der Merwe P., Janssens, J., Roukaerts A., Cavagna, A.J., Bowie A. and Meiners, K. Iron biogeochemistry in Antarctic pack ice during SIPEX-2, (In Press) Deep Sea Research II (SIPEX-2 special issue) (Journal IF 2.76) doi:10.1016/j.dsr2.2014.12.003

Schallenberg C, van der Merwe P., Chever F, Cullen J, Lannuzel D and Bowie A. Dissolved iron and iron (II) distributions beneath the pack ice in the Eastern Antarctic (120 E) during the winter/spring transition. (In Press) Deep Sea Research II (SIPEX-2 special issue) doi: 10.1016/j.dsr2.2015.02.019

Lannuzel D., Grotti M., Ianni C and van der Merwe P. Organic complexation of iron in the Antarctic sea ice environment, (Accepted) Marine Chemistry. (Journal IF 3.2)

van der Merwe, P., Bowie, A.R., Quéroué, F., Armand, L., Blain, S., Chever, F., Davies, D.M., Dehairs, F., Planchon, F., Sarthou, G., Townsend, A.T., Trull, T.W., 2015. Sourcing the iron in the naturally‐fertilised bloom around the Kerguelen Plateau: particulate trace metal dynamics. Biogeosciences 12, 739–755. (Journal IF 3.75)

Quéroué F., Sarthou G., Chever F., Townsend A., van der Merwe P., Lannuzel D., Bucciarelli E., Cheize M., Blain S., d’Ovidio F. and Bowie A. (2015) High variability of dissolved iron concentrations in the vicinity of Kerguelen Island (Southern Ocean), Biogeosciences Discuss., 12, 231-270. doi:10.5194/bgd-12-231-2015

Bowie, A.R., van der Merwe, P., Trull, T., Quéroué, F., Fourquez, M., Planchon, F., Sarthou, G., Blain, S., 2014. Iron budgets for three distinct biogeochemical sites around the Kerguelen plateau (Southern Ocean) during the natural fertilization experiment KEOPS-2. Biogeosciences Discuss. 17861–17923. doi:10.5194/bgd-11-17861-2014

Planchon F., Ballas D., Cavagna A.-J. Bowie A., Davis D., Trull T. W., Laurenceau E., van der Merwe P., Dehairs F. Carbon export in the naturally iron-fertilized Kerguelen area of the Southern Ocean based on the 234Th approach (2014) Biogeosciences Discuss., 11, 15991-16032 doi:10.5194/bgd-11-15991-2014

Lannuzel D., van der Merwe P.C., Townsend A.T. & Bowie A.R., 2014. Size fractionation of iron, manganese and aluminium in Antarctic fast ice reveals a lithogenic origin and low iron solubility, Marine Chemistry, 161, p. 47-56 (Journal IF 3.2)

Quéroué, F., Townsend, A., van der Merwe, P., Lannuzel, D., Sarthou, G., Bucciarelli, E., Bowie, A., 2014. Advances in the offline trace metal extraction of Mn, Co, Ni, Cu, Cd, and Pb from open ocean seawater samples with determination by sector field ICP-MS analysis. Analytical Methods, 6, 2837-2847. (Journal IF 1.9)

Hassler, C.S., Ridgway, K.R., Bowie, A.R., Butler, E.C. V., Clementson, L. a., Doblin, M. a., Davies, D.M., Law, C., Ralph, P.J., van der Merwe, P., Watson, R., Ellwood, M.J., 2014. Primary productivity induced by iron and nitrogen in the Tasman Sea: an overview of the PINTS expedition. Mar. Freshw. Res. 65, 517–537. (Journal IF 2.25)

Vancoppenolle, M., Meiners, K.M., Michel, C., Bopp, L., Brabant, F., Carnat, G., Delille, B., Lannuzel, D., Madec, G., Moreau, S., Tison, J.-L., van der Merwe, P., 2013. Role of sea ice in global biogeochemical cycles: emerging views and challenges. Quat. Sci. Rev. 79, p. 207–230. (Journal IF 4.57)

Smith, L.V., McMinn, A., Martin, A., Nicol, S., Bowie, A.R., Lannuzel, D., van der Merwe, P. (2013) Preliminary investigation into the stimulation of phytoplankton photophysiology and growth by whale faeces, Journal of experimental Marine Biology and Ecology, 446, p. 1-9. (Journal IF 2.47)

Meiners, K. M., Vancoppenolle, M., Thanassekos, S., Dieckmann, G. S., Thomas, D. N., Tison, J.-L., Arrigo, K. R., Garrison, D. L., McMinn, A., Lannuzel, D., van der Merwe, P., Swadling, K. M., Smith, W. O., Jr. Melnikov, I., Raymond, B. (2012), Chlorophyll a in Antarctic sea ice from historical ice core data, Geophys. Res. Lett., 39, L21602, doi:10.1029/2012GL053478 (Journal IF 4.45)

van der Merwe, P., D. Lannuzel, C. A. Mancuso Nichols, K. Meiners , A.R. Bowie, 2011a Iron fractionation in pack and fast ice in East Antarctica: temporal decoupling between the release of dissolved and particulate iron during spring melt, Deep-Sea Research II, 58, p. 1222-1236, doi:10.1016/j.dsr2.2010.10.036 (Journal IF 2.76)

van der Merwe P., Lannuzel D., Bowie A.R., & Meiners K. M., 2011b. High temporal resolution observations of spring fast-ice melt and seawater iron enrichment in East Antarctica. JGR-Biogeosciences, 116, G03017, doi:10.1029/2010JG001628. (Journal IF 3.44)

Lannuzel D., Bowie A.R., van der Merwe P., Townsend A., Schoemann V., 2011. Distribution of dissolved and particulate metals in Antarctic sea ice, Marine Chemistry, 124, p. 134-146, DOI: 10.1016/j.marchem.2011.01.004 (Journal IF 3.2)

Bowie A.R., Townsend A., Lannuzel D., Remenyi T., van der Merwe, P., 2010. Modern sampling and analytical methods for the determination of trace elements in marine particulate material using magnetic sector ICP-MS, Analytica Chimica Acta, 676: p. 15–27 (Journal IF 4.5)

Lannuzel D., Schoemann V., Pasquer, B., van der Merwe, P., Bowie A.R., 2010. Distribution of dissolved iron in Antarctic sea ice: Spatial, seasonal, and inter-annual variability, JGR-Biogeosciences, 115, G03022, 13 PP., doi:10.1029/2009JG001031 (Journal IF 3.44)

Nicol, S., Bowie A.R., Jarman, S., Lannuzel D., Meiners, K., van der Merwe, P., 2010. Southern Ocean fertilization by krill and baleen whales, Fish and Fisheries, 11 (2), p. 203-209, DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-2979.2010.00356.x. (Journal IF 8.75)

Norman L., Thomas D. N., Stedmon C. A., Granskog M. A., Papadimitriou S., Meiners K. M., Lannuzel D., van der Merwe P., Dieckmann G. S., 2010. Dissolved Organic Matter (DOM) and absorption characteristics of Chromophoric Dissolved Organic Matter (CDOM) in Antarctic sea ice, Deep-Sea Research II, 58, p. 1075-1091, doi:10.1016/j.dsr2.2010.10.030 (Journal IF 2.76)

van der Merwe, P., Lannuzel, D., Mancuso Nichols, C., Meiners, K., Heil, P., Norman, L., Thomas, D.N. and Bowie, A., 2009. Biogeochemical observations during the winter-spring transition in East Antarctic sea ice: evidence of iron and exopolysaccharide controls. Marine Chemistry, 115, p. 163-175, doi:10.1016/j.marchem.2009.08.001 (Journal IF 3.2)