Chemical Reference Materials: Setting the Standards for Ocean Science

Chemical analyses of seawater are uniquely difficult given the poorly known speciation and the low concentration of many of the analytes of interest. Analyses of suspended and sedimentary marine particulate materials present their own distinct challenges, primarily due to potential interference by predominant mineral phases of different types. Of all the analytical methods applied to marine waters and particles, at present only a small fraction can be systematically evaluated via comparison to reference materials that represent the appropriate natural concentrations and matrices.

Specifically, the committee was charged with the following tasks:

- compile from available sources a list of important oceanographic research questions that may benefit from chemical reference standards;