Geotraces EPZT GP16

Departed: Manta Ecuador

Date: 25 October 2013

Arrived: Papeete, French Polynesia

Date: 20 December 2013

The East Pacific  Zonal Transect (EPZT) GP16 2013 cruise from Peru to Tahiti was the second cruise conducted through the U.S.GEOTRACES Program. A zonal transect in the eastern tropical South Pacific (ETSP) from Peru to Tahiti as the second cruise of the U.S.GEOTRACES Program. This Pacific section includes a large area characterized by high rates of primary production and particle export in the eastern boundary associated with the Peru Upwelling, a large oxygen minimum zone that is a major global sink for fixed nitrogen, and a large hydrothermal plume arising from the East Pacific Rise. This particular section was selected as a result of open planning workshops in 2007 and 2008, with a final recommendation made by the U.S.GEOTRACES Steering Committee in 2009. It is the first part of a two-stage plan that will include a meridional section of the Pacific from Tahiti to Alaska as a subsequent expedition