Iron age in oceanography

<jats:p>This last decade of the millennium could rightly be called the iron age in oceanography. The last quarter of this century has witnessed a revolution in our understanding of trace metal distributions in the world's oceans, and iron has changed more about how we think about ocean production and carbon cycling than any other element. The revolution has come about through the application of clean water sampling devices, stringent anticontamination methods, and the development of new analytical techniques. As detection limits have been reduced, the concentrations, distributions, and behavior of trace metals were revealed, like the curtain lifting on a geochemical drama. Iron plays a leading role.</jats:p>