| Citation | Andrew Watson is known internationally for his many lively, varied and important contributions to marine science, but perhaps best for his work in developing a technique using artificial tracers, detectable in minute concentrations, to investigate the nature of dispersion of water in the deep oceans. The results of this work have revised understanding of how and where diapycnal transfer occurs and have important implications for the way in which diffusion in the oceans is represented in ocean models. He has further developed and applied tracer technology to obtain estimates of the rates of gas transfer between the atmosphere and the sea, notably in storm conditions, and to test and provide support for a far-reaching hypothesis that iron limits carbon and nutrient utilisation in parts of the marine ecosystem. He has devised techniques to improve measurements of the partial pressure of CO2 in sea water, and has drawn attention to an important, but previously neglected, effect of ocean skin temperature which results in a large adjustment to global CO2 budgets. Watson is also highly regarded for his work with J.E. Lovelock F.R.S. which nicely demonstrates the dynamic behaviour of climate response to biological influence - the parable of Daisyworld. |