Faculty of Science
Department of Oceanography
HALIFAX, NOVA SCOTIA | CANADA B3H 4R2 | +1 (902) 494-3557

Helmuth Thomas

Department of Oceanography
Dalhousie University
1355 Oxford Street
PO BOX 15000
Halifax NS  B3H 4R2

Room 4635 LSC

Phone: (902) 494-7177
   Fax: (902) 494-3877
Email: helmuth.thomas@dal.ca

Education Background

  • Diploma - Chemistry, University Düsseldorf/Institute for Marine Sciences Kiel, Germany
  • PhD - Applied Chemistry, University Rostock/Baltic Sea Research Institute Warnemünde, Germany

Awards and Honours

Research Interests

  • Marine carbon cycle
  • Coastal biogeochemistry
  • Interaction of carbon and nutrient cycles
  • CO2 air-sea fluxes

3002.03: Introduction to Chemical Oceanography
5285.03: Marine Geochemical Processes
5292.03: Chemical Methods in Oceanography
4000.03: Oceans and Global Change

Chierici, M., A. Fransson, B. Lansard, L. Miller, A. Mucci, E.H. Shadwick, H. Thomas, J.-E. Tremblay, and T. Papakyriakou - 2011 - The impact of biogeochemical processes and environmental factors on the calcium carbonate saturation state in the Circumpolar Flaw Lead in the Amundsen Gulf, Arctic Ocean - J. Geophys. Res., Oceans, in press

Thomas, H., Shadwick, E.H., Dehairs, F., Lansard, B., Mucci, A., Navez, J., Gratton, Y., Prowe, A.E.F., , Chierici, M., Fransson, A., Papakyriakou, T.N., Sternberg, E., Miller, L., Tremblay, J.-É., and Monnin, C. - 2011 - Barium and Carbon fluxes in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago - J. Geophys. Res., 116, C00G08, doi:10.1029/2011JC007120

Else, B., T. Papakyriakou, R. Galley, W. Drennan, L. Miller, and H. Thomas - 2011 - Wintertime CO2 Fluxes in an Arctic Polynya Using Eddy Covariance: Evidence for Enhanced Air-Sea Gas Transfer During Ice Formation - J. Geophys. Res., 116, C00G03, doi:10.1029/2010JC006760

Forest, A., Tremblay, J., Gratton, Y., Martin, J., Gagnon, J., Darnis, G., Sampei, M., Fortier, L., Ardyna, M., Gosselin, M., Hattori, H., Nguyen, D., Maranger, R., Vaqué, D., Marrasé, C., Pedrós- Alió, C., Sallon, A., Michel, C., Kellogg, C., Deming, J., Shadwick, E., Thomas, H., Link, H., Archambault, P., and Piepenburg, D. - 2011 - Biogenic carbon flows through the planktonic food web of the Amundsen Gulf (Arctic Ocean): A synthesis of field measurements and inverse modeling analyses - Progress in Oceanography (accepted), doi: 10.1016/j.pocean.2011.05.002

Shadwick, E.H., and Thomas, H. - 2011 - Carbon Dioxide in the Coastal Ocean: A Case Study in the Scotian Shelf Region - in: Ocean Year Book, 25, A. Chircop, S. Coffen-Smout, and M. McConnell, M. (eds.), Martinus Nijhoff, Leiden/Boston, 171-204

Shadwick, E.H., Thomas, H., Gratton, Y., Leong, D., Moore, S., Papakyriakou, T.N., and Prowe, F. - 2011 - Export of Pacific carbon through the Arctic Archipelago to the North Atlantic - Cont. Shelf. Res., 31, 806–816, doi:10.1016/j.csr.2011.01.014

Shadwick, E.H., Thomas, H., Azetsu-Scott, K., Greenan, B. J. W., Head, E and Horne, E. - 2011 - Seasonal variability of dissolved inorganic carbon and surface water pCO2 in the Scotian Shelf region of the Northwestern Atlantic - Marine Chemistry, 124, 23–37, doi:10.1016/j.marchem.2010.11.004

Shadwick, E.H., Thomas, H., Chierici, M., Else, B., Fransson, A., Michel, C., Miller, L.A., Mucci, A., Niemi, A., Papakyriakou, T.N. and Tremblay, J.-É - 2011 - Seasonal Variability of the Inorganic Carbon System in the Amundsen Gulf Region of the Southeastern Beaufort Sea - Limnology and Oceanography, 56(1), 303-322, doi:10.4319/lo.2011.56.1.0303

Shadwick, E.H., H. Thomas, A. Comeau, S.E. Craig, C.W. Hunt and J.E. Salisbury - 2010 - Air-Sea CO2 fluxes on the Scotian Shelf: Seasonal to multi-annual variability - Biogeosciences, 7, 3851-3867, doi:10.5194/bg-7-3851-2010

Thomas, H., J. Pempkowiak, F. Wulff and K. Nagel - 2010 - Carbon and nutrient budgets of the Baltic Sea - In: K.-K. Liu, L.Atkinson,, R. Quinones, L. Talaue-McManus (eds.) - Carbon and nutrient fluxes in global continental margins, Springer, Berlin Heidelberg, 334-346

Omar, A.M., A. Olsen, T. Johannessen, M. Hoppema, H. Thomas, and A.V. Borges - 2010 - Spatiotemporal variations of fCO2 in the North Sea - Ocean Science, 6, 77-89

Kühn, W., J. Pätsch, H. Thomas, A.V. Borges, L.-S. Schiettecatte, Y. Bozec, and A.E.F. Prowe - 2010 - Nitrogen and carbon cycling in the North Sea and exchange with the North Atlantic - A model study, Part II: Carbon budget and fluxes - Continental Shelf Research, 30, 1701-1716, doi:10.1016/j.csr.2010.07.001

Thomas, H., Y. Bozec, H.J.W. deBaar, K. Elkalay, M. Frankignoulle, W. Kühn, H.J. Lenhart, A. Moll, J. Pätsch, G. Radach, L.-S. Schiettecatte and A. Borges - 2010 - Carbon and nutrient budgets of the North Sea - In: K.-K. Liu, L.Atkinson,, R. Quinones, L. Talaue-McManus (eds.) - Carbon and nutrient fluxes in global continental margins, Springer, Berlin Heidelberg, 346-355

Thomas, H., L.-S. Schiettecatte, K. Suykens, Y.J.M. Koné, E.H. Shadwick, A.E.F. Prowe, Y. Bozec, H.J.W. de Baar, and A.V. Borges - 2009 - Enhanced ocean carbon storage from anaerobic alkalinity generation in coastal sediments - Biogeosciences, 6, 267-274

Prowe, A.E.F., H. Thomas, J. Pätsch, W. Kühn, Y. Bozec, L.-S. Schiettecatte, A.V. Borges, and H.J.W. de Baar - 2009 - Mechanisms controlling the air-sea CO2 flux in the North Sea - Continental Shelf Research, 29, 1801-1808, doi:10.1016/j.csr.2009.06.003

Thomas, H., A.E.F. Prowe, I.D. Lima, S.C. Doney, R. Wanninkhof, R.J. Greatbatch, U. Schuster, and A. Corbière - 2008 - Changes in the North Atlantic Oscillation influence CO2 uptake in the North Atlantic over the past 2 decades - Global Biogeochemical Cycles, 22, GB4027, doi:10.1029/2007GB003167

Thomas, H., D. Unger, J. Zhang, K.K. Liu and E.H. Shadwick - 2008 - Biogeochemical cycling in semi-enclosed marine systems and continental margins - In: Urban E., Sundby B., Malanotte-Rizzoli, P. and  Melillo, J. (eds) Watersheds, Bays and Bounded Seas (SCOPE No. 70). Island Press, Washington, D. C., 169-190

MacCracken, M., E. Escobar Briones, D. Gilbert, G. Korotaev, W. Naqvi, G. Perillo, T. Rixen, E. Stanev, H. Thomas, D. Unger and E. Urban - 2008 - Vulnerability of Semi-Enclosed Marine Systems to Environmental Disturbances - In: Urban E., Sundby B., Malanotte-Rizzoli, P. and  Melillo, J. (eds) Watersheds, Bays and Bounded Seas (SCOPE No. 70). Island Press, Washington, D. C., 9-30

Hoppema, M., R. Middag, H.J.W. de Baar, E. Fahrbach, E.M. van Weerlee, and H. Thomas - 2007 - Whole season net community production in the Weddell Sea - Polar Biol., doi:10.1007/s00300-007-0336-5

Schiebel, R., S. Barker, R. Lendt, H. Thomas, and J. Bollmann - 2007 - Planktic foraminiferal dissolution in the twilight zone - Deep-Sea Research II, 54, 676-686, doi:10.1016/j.dsr2.2007.01.009

Schiettecatte, L.-S., H. Thomas, Y. Bozec, and A.V. Borges - 2007 - High temporal coverage of carbon dioxide measurements in the Southern Bight of the North Sea - Marine Chemistry, 106, 161-173, doi:10.1016/j.marchem.2007.01.001

Thomas, H., A.E.F. Prowe, S. van Heuven, Y. Bozec, H.J.W. de Baar, L.-S. Schiettecatte, K. Suykens, M. Koné, A.V. Borges, I.D. Lima, and S.C. Doney - 2007 - Rapid decline of the CO2 buffering capacity in the North Sea and implications for the North Atlantic Ocean - Global Biogeochemical Cycles, 21, GB4001, doi:10.1029/2006GB002825

Bozec, Y., Thomas, H., Schiettecatte, L.S., Borges, A. Elkalay, K., de Baar, H.J.W. - 2006 - Assessment of the processes controlling seasonal variations of dissolved inorganic carbon in the North Sea. - Limnol. Oceanogr., 51(6), 2006, 2746-2762.

Thomas, H., Bozec, Y., de Baar, H.J.W. , Elkalay, K., Frankignoulle, M., Schiettecatte, L.-S., Kattner, G., and Borges, A.V. - 2005 - The Carbon budget of the North Sea. - Biogeosciences, 2, 87-96.

Bozec, Y., Thomas, H., Elkalay, K. and de Baar, H.J.W. - 2005 - The continental shelf pump in the North Sea - evidence from summer observations. - Marine Chemistry, 93, 131-147, doi:10.1016/j.marchem.2004.07.006.

Bozec, Y., Bakker, D.C.E., Hartmann, C., Thomas, H., Bellerby, R.G.J., Nightingale, P.D., Riebesell, U., Watson, A.J., de Baar, H.J.W. - 2005 - The CO2 system in a Redfield context during an iron enrichment experiment in the Southern Ocean. - Marine Chemistry, 95, 89-105, doi:10.1016/j.marchem.2004.08.004.

Thomas, H., Bozec, Y., Elkalay, K., deBaar, H.J.W. ,Borges, A.V. and Schiettecatte, L.-S. - 2005 - Controls of the surface water partial pressure of CO2 in the North Sea. - Biogeosciences, 2, 323-334.

Ito, R.G.,Schneider, B., and Thomas, H. - 2005 - Seasonal variations of fCO2 in seawater of the southwestern subtropical Atlantic and adjacent continental shelf. - J. Mar. Sys., 56, 227-242.

Thomas, H., Bozec, Y., Elkalay, K., and de Baar, H.J.W. - 2004 - Response to Comment on "Enhanced open ocean storage of CO2 from shelf sea pumping". - Science, 306, 5701, 1477, doi:10.1126/science.1103193.

Thomas, H., Bozec, Y., Elkalay, K., and de Baar, H.J.W. - 2004 - Enhanced open ocean storage of CO2 from shelf sea pumping. - Science, 304, 5673, 1005-1008, doi:10.1126/science.1095491.

Thomas, H., Pempkowiak, J., Wulff, F., and Nagel, K. - 2003 - Autotrophy, nitrogen accumulation and nitrogen limitation in the Baltic Sea: a paradox or a buffer for eutrophication? - Geophys. Res. Letters, 30 No. 21, 2130, doi:10.1029/2003GL017937.

Lendt, R., Thomas, H., Hupe, A., and Ittekkot, V. - 2003 - The response of the near surface carbonate system of the northwestern Arabian Sea to the SW monsoon and related biological forcing. - J. of Geophys. Res., Vol. 108, No. C7, 3222, doi:10.1029/2000JC000771.

Thomas, H. - 2002 - Remineralisation Ratios of Carbon, Nutrients and Oxygen in the North Atlantic Ocean - a field data based assessment. - Global Biogeochemical Cycles, 16, doi:10.1029/2001GB001452.

Thomas, H., and England, M.H. - 2002 - Different oceanic features of anthropogenic CO2 and CFCs. - Naturwissenschaften, 89, 399-403, doi:10.1007/s00114-002-0348-5.

Stoll, M.H.C., Thomas, H., de Baar, H.J.W., Zondervan, I., de Jong, E., Bathmann, U.V., and Fahrbach, E. - 2002 - Carbon dioxide uptake and release by phytoplankton blooms at the Antartic Marginal Ice Zone. - Deep-Sea Research I, Vol. 49(9), 1651-1667.

Thomas, H., England, M.H., and Ittekkot, V. - 2001 - An off-line 3D model of antropogenic CO2 uptake by the oceans. - Geophys. Res. Letters, 28 No. 3, 547-550.

Thomas, H., and Ittekkot, V. - 2001 - Determination of anthropogenic CO2 in the North Atlantic Ocean using water mass ages and CO2 equilibrium chemistry. - J. Mar. Sys., 27, 325-336.

Hupe, A., Thomas, H., Ittekkot, V. and Lendt, R. - 2001 - Inventory of released inorganic carbon from organic matter remineralization in the deeper Arabian sea. - J. of Geophys. Res., 106/12, 31,189 - 31,196.

Osterroht, C., and Thomas, H. - 2000 - New production enhanced by nutrient supply from non-Redfield remineralisation of freshly produced organic material. - J. Mar. Sys., 25, 33-46.

Thomas, H., Ittekkot, V., Osterroht, C., and Schneider, B. - 1999 - Preferential recycling of nutrients - the ocean's way to increase new production and to pass nutrient limitation? - Limnol. and Oceanogr., Vol. 44, No. 8, 1999-2004.

Thomas, H. and Schneider, B. - 1999 - The seasonal cycle of carbon dioxide in Baltic Sea surface waters. - J. of Mar. Sys., 22, 53-67.

Körtzinger, A., Thomas, H., Schneider, B., Gronau, N., Mintrop, L. and Duinker, J.C. - 1996 - At sea intercomparison of two newly designed underway pCO2 systems - encouraging results - Marine Chemistry, 52, 133-145.