GEORGE A. JACKSON

Professor
Oceanography

Department of Oceanography
Texas A&M University
TAMU 3146
College Station, TX 77843-3146
Office: 702A Eller (O&M Bldg.) (map)
Phone: 979.845.0405
Fax: 979.845.9219
E-mail: gjackson@tamu.edu
Department Web page

Keywords: Biological-chemical-physical modeling; Coagulation processes/particle dynamics; Marine pollution; Small-scale processes in aquatic ecosystems; Coastal ecosystems; Models of the mesopelagic.

Interests:
I am interested in tying together physical and biological processes in the aquatic environment. One of my emphases has been on small scale processes, where the fluid dynamics can be characterized. One of the processes that has profound implications is coagulation, where collisions between two particles can result in one larger particle if they stick together. The physical mechanisms that bring the particles together are similar to the ones that bring a predator and its prey together. One result is that there are characteristic size distributions of particles and of organisms that result from these interactions.

I have been interested in extending the study of particle dynamics to understand the vertical movement of organic material in the ocean. Such transport controls the movement of CO2 away from the ocean’s surface and controls the supply of food to the deeper oceanic realms.

Selected publications:
Richardson, T. L., G. A. Jackson, H. W. Ducklow, and M. R. Roman. 2004. Planktonic food webs of the equatorial Pacific at 0°, 140°W: a synthesis of EqPac times-series carbon flux data. Deep-Sea Res. I. 51: 1254--1274.

Breed, G. A., G. A. Jackson, and T. L. Richardson. 2004. Sedimentation, carbon export, and food web structure in the Mississippi River plume described by inverse analysis. Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser. 278: 35-51

Ianson, D., G. A. Jackson, R. Lampitt, M. Angel, and A. B. Burd. 2004. The effect of net avoidance on estimates of diel vertical migration. Limnol. Oceanogr, 49: 2297-2303.

Visser, A. W., and G. A. Jackson. 2004. Characteristics of the chemical plume behind a sinking particle in a turbulent water column. Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser. 283: 55-71.

Jackson, G. A.. 2005 Coagulation theory and models of oceanic plankton. Flocculation in Natural and Engineered Environmental Systems. I. Droppo, G. Leppard, S. Liss, and T. Milligan, eds., CRC Press, Boca Raton, FL, p271--292.