Peter R. Betzer
Retired-Emeritus, Professor
Chemical Oceanography
Ph.D., University of Rhode Island, 1971
Email: peter@stpetepartnership.org
Research Interests
My current research interests include defining the involvement of particulate materials in geoChemical cycles; understanding the specific ways that various classes of organisms are involved in the creation, modification and transfer of particulate material in the ocean; using Chemical and mineralogical signatures to specify the sources for and movement of particulate matter in the oceans; specifying the influence of atmospherically-derived and river-borne particulates on primary production in the open ocean; applying new analytical systems to the ocean realm such as a holographically-equipped sediment trap and a computer-assisted scanning electron microscope with energy dispersive X-ray detectors. In the past, I have participated in numerous oceanographic expeditions, including work in the North Atlantic Ocean, Caribbean Sea, Gulf of Mexico, and, most recently, the North Pacific Ocean.
Selected Publications
Young, R.W., K.L. Carder, P.R. Betzer, D.K. Costello, R.A. Duce, G.R. DiTullio, N.W. Tindale, E.A. Laws, M. Uematsu, J.T. Merrill, and R.A. Feely. 1991. Atmospheric iron inputs and primary productivity: phytoplankton responses in the North Pacific. Global Biogeochem. Cycles, 5: 119-134.
Gust, G., R.H. Byrne, R.E. Bernstein, P.R. Betzer, and W. Bowles. 1992. Particle fluxes and moving fluids: experience from synchronous trap collections in the Sargasso Sea. Deep-Sea Res., 39: 1071-1083.
