Marine Chemistry Laboratory

University of Washington School of Oceanography

The Marine Chemistry Laboratory at the School of Oceanography provides marine and freshwater analytical services to the University and oceanographic communities. We are an accredited laboratory with the State of Washington. The lab specializes in the analyses of nutrients, total N and total P, salinity, chlorophyll, oxygen, DOC in aqueous samples, and OC in particulate samples.

We highly reccomend that you download and read the sampling procedures document by clicking on the big yellow CTD!!

Rates and other analyses are listed below:

Analysis Homebase Operations
Salinity Analyses are run on a Guildline Autosal 8400B - Calibration is with IAPSO Standard Seawater
Oxygen Analyses are run using the Carpenter (modified Winkler) with a Metrohm 765 Dosimat buret
Nutrients (phosphate, silicate, nitrate, nitrite, & ammonia) Analyses and calibration follow the protocols of the WOCE Hydrographic Program using a Seal Analytical AA3
Chlorophyll a and phaeopigments Analysis is acetone extraction and fluorometric detection on a Turner Designs TD-700 fluorometer
Dissolved Organic Carbon (aqueous samples) Analysis is with a Shimadzu TOC-Vcsh DOC analyzer
Total Organic Carbon, Nitrogen, and Hydrogen (solid samples) Analysis is by Exeter Analytical CE-440 CHN analyzer

Oceanography chemical analyses price list:

Labor rate: $88/hr.

Nutrients: (PO4, Si(OH)4, NO3, NO2, NH4) all ions included in base price $21.00 each $30.00 each if dilution required Syringe filters for samples: Market Cost
Total N&P $21.00 ea.  
Chlorophyll a $21.00 each
Dissolved Organic Carbon (DOC) Filtered liquid sample $27.00 each C clean filters Market Cost C clean sample vial Market Cost
Particulate Carbon and Nitrogen (CHN) On 25 mm filters $49.00 each Sediment samples: $57.00 each Prepped samples: $13.20 ea. C clean filters: Market Cost
Salinity $22.00 each
TSS $19.00 each
   
Oxygen titrations $23.00 each 1L suite of the six oxygen reagents: $506.00 (Will be Market Cost)

Important notes:

  • Add 15.6% to the total cost for any work not charged to a UW budget.
  • Supplies are not always available on short notice, so plan ahead and give at least one full week's notice when requesting supplies or reagents.
  • PAPER log sheets must be provided with the samples. Logsheets should include contact info for who gets the data, ALL contact info for who gets the invoice, budget numbers (for UW projects), sample identification numbers, sampling locations, filtration volumes (where appropriate), and whether the sample contains fresh or marine water.
  • Business is very good in the lab, so short turnaround time for sample analyses MUST be discussed ahead of time.
  • Clients will be charged for any shipping costs associated with supplies and coolers
  • We will not accept or process any samples fixed with HgCl, Azide, or radioisotopes of any kind!
  • C14  labelled samples are not allowed in the building, no exceptions.

Accreditation Codes and Detection Limits

Analysis Method References EPA/SM# NELAC Code MDLs
PO4 UNESCO(1994) EPA 365.5_1.4_1997 WM920270 0.03uM, 0.0009mg/L
SiOH4 UNESCO(1994) EPA 366 WM920240 0.45uM, 0.013mg/L
NO3 UNESCO(1994) EPA 353.4_2_199 10068209 0.18uM, 0.0025mg/L
NO2 UNESCO(1994) EPA 353.4_2_1997 10068209 0.01uM, 0.0001mg/L
NH4 UNESCO(1994) EPA 349 WM920220 0.09uM, 0.0013mg/L
         
Total N Valderrama(1981) SM 4500-P J WM920270 0.68uM, 0.0095mg/L
Total P Valderrama(1981) SM 4500-P J WM920270 0.014uM, 0.0004mg/L
         
Salinity UNESCO(1994) SM 2520 B-93 20040055 0.002PSU
         
Ckhlorophyll_a UNESCO(1994) EPA 445 WM100080 0.02ug/L
         
DOC UNESCO(1994) SM 5310 B-00 20137819 100ug/L
         
POC UNESCO(1994) EPA 440.0 10081206 10ug
PN UNESCO(1994) EPA 440.0 10081206 1ug
Dissolved O2 UNESCO(1994) EPA 360.2 50001600 0.5uM kg-1
         

UNESCO (1994). Protocols for the joint global ocean flux study (JGOFS) core measurements. Vol. 29.
Valderrama (1981). The simultaneous analysis of total nitrogen and total phosphorus on natural waters. Mar.Chem (10), 109-122.

Please contact Loren Tuttle (lbtuttle [at] uw [dot] edu) PRIOR to sampling to discuss your project/sampling/shipping plans, and turnaround time.  This is especially important now as we no longer have an FTE employee in the lab!!

Shipping Address:
Loren Tuttle
UW-Oceanography
1492 NE Boat St.
Ocean Sci Bldg Rm 346
Seattle, WA 98105

Phone: 425-463-6899

Financial Particulars:
IRS/TaxID/Entity Number: 91-6001537
Cage Code: 0MCA1 (first character is a zero)
DUNS Number: 605799469

Make payments to: University of Washington