Marine Biogeochemistry

Romberg Tiburon Center
and
Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry

(415) 338-3748

tkomada@sfsu.edu

Research Interests

My research focuses on understanding the organic carbon cycle, with emphasis on the processes taking place at the land-ocean margin. I utilize natural abundance radiocarbon (C-14), in conjunction with the stable isotope C-13, to investigate the sources, cycling, and fate of various organic carbon pools in the environment. Topics of interest include: sediment biogeochemistry and the significance of coastal benthic processes in organic matter dynamics, composition of organic matter suspended in rivers and its fate in the ocean, and the role of organic-mineral associations in organic matter degradation and preservation.

Selected Papers

Komada T., Anderson M. R., and Dorfmeier C. L. (in press) Carbonate removal from coastal sediments for the determination of organic carbon and its isotopic signatures, δ13C and Δ14C: comparison of fumigation and direct acidification by hydrochloric acid.  Limnology and Oceanography: Methods.

Komada T., Druffel E. R. M., and Hwang J. (2005) Sedimentary rocks as sources of ancient organic carbon to the ocean: An investigation through Δ14C and δ13C signatures of organic compound classes, Global Biogeochemical Cycles.

Hwang J., Druffel E. R. M., and Komada T. (2005)Transport of organic carbon from the California coast to the slope region: A study of Δ14C and δ13C signatures of organic compound classes, Global Biogeochemical Cycles.

Komada T., Reimers C. E., Luther, G. W. III, and Burdige D. J. (2004) Factors affecting dissolved organic matter dynamics in suboxic to anoxic coastal sediments. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, 68, 4099-4111.

Druffel E. R. M., Griffin S., Hwang J., Komada T., Beaupre S. R., Druffel-Rodriguez K. C., Santos G. M., and Southon, J. (2004) Varibility of monthly radiocarbon during the 1760's in corals from the Galapagos Islands. Radiocarbon, 46, 627-631.

Komada T., Druffel E. R. M., and Trumbore S. E. (2004) Oceanic export of relict carbon by small mountainous rivers. Geophysical Research Letters 31, L07504, doi:10.1029/2004GL019512.

Komada T., Schofield O. M. E., and Reimers C. E. (2002) Fluorescence characteristics of organic matter released from coastal sediments during resuspension. Marine Chemistry 79, 81-97.

Komada T. and Reimers C. E. (2001) Resuspension-induced partitioning of organic carbon between solid and solution phases from a river-ocean transition. Marine Chemistry 76, 155-174.

Komada T., Reimers C. E., and Boehme S. E. (1998) Dissolved inorganic carbon profiles and fluxes determined using pH and PCO2 microelectrodes. Limnology and Oceanography 43, 769-781.