A Practical Handbook Of Seawater Analysis

In this thoroughly updated third edition, the authors provide a series of carefully designed and tested field and laboratory exercises that represent the full scope of limnology. In using the text, students will gain a solid foundation in this complex, multidisciplinary field of ecology as they explore the physical, chemical, and biological characteristics of standing and running waters. The book illustrates accepted standard methods as well as modern metabolic and experimental approaches and their research applications. Each exercise is preceded by an introductory section and concludes with questions for students as well as suggestions for further reading. As a textbook, this is a highly structured, concise presentation with a research-oriented approach that openly invites active participation by students.

As we discover more about the role of the ocean in global changes and identify the effects of global change on the ocean, understanding its chemical composition and processes becomes increasingly paramount. However, understanding these processes requires a wide range of measurements in the vast ocean, from the sea surface to deep-ocean trenches, from the tropics to the poles. Practical Guidelines for the Analysis of Seawater provides a common analytical basis for generating quality-assured and reliable data on chemical parameters in the ocean. A source of practical know-how, the book covers sampling and storage, analytical methodology, and guidelines and procedures for quality assurance. It presents analytical methods with the step-by-step procedures that help practitioners implement these methods successfully into the laboratory, making them instantly applicable without consulting further literature. The book also contains essential information for developing or improving quality control and quality assurance programs in the laboratory. It includes the availability and measurement of standard reference materials, blank estimation and correction, control of recoveries, and statistical evaluation of quality assurance data. Analytical chemistry is a very active and fast moving area. Despite the development of innovative new analytical techniques for chemical trace element research, obtaining reliable data at ultra-trace levels remains a formidable challenge. A complete and practical guide, this book delineates proven methods that consistently yield reproducible data in routine work.

This work details water sampling and preservation methods by enumerating the different ways to measure physical, chemical, organoleptical, and radiological characteristics. It provides step-by-step descriptions of separation, residue determination, and cleanup techniques for a variety of fresh- and salt-waters. It also discusses information regarding the analysis and detection of bacteria and algae.

An introduction to the quantitative analysis of seawater, describing in detail biological and chemical techniques, which are considered to be amongst those most often used by biological oceanographers. The manual provides complete instructions for the addition of reagents and calculation of results with reference material for each method so that the original texts can be consulted if necessary. In general, the techniques require a minimum of prior professional training and methods needing very expensive equipment have been avoided.

Information requirements of measurement programmes; Sampling; Basic problems and aims of sampling; Time and frequency of sampling; Overall design of sampling programmes; Procedures for obtaining samples of waters; Preparation, transport, storage, and stability of samples; The nature and importance of errors in analytical results; Random error; Systematic error; Accuracy; Effects of errors on decision making; Need to estimate analytical errors; Estimation and control of the Bias of analytical results; Detailed consideration and assessment of individual sources of Bias; Assessment of the overall Bias of analytical results; Estimation and control of the precision of analytical results; Model of Random errors; Achievement of specified accuracy by a group of laboratories; Types of inter-laboratory studies; Reporting analytical results; Reporting results close to the lower concentration limit of an analytical system; The selection of analytical methods; General precautions in water-analysis laboratories; Analytical techniques; Automatic and on-line analysis; Computers in water analysis; The scope for computing in water analysis and related activities.