Tomoko Komada

Assistant Professor
Marine Biogeochemistry
Romberg Tiburon Center for Environmental Studies, and
Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry,
San Francisco State University

 

Education:
B.A. International Christian University, Tokyo, 1993, Chemistry
M.S. Rutgers University, 1996, Oceanography
Ph.D. Rutgers University, 2002, Oceanography

Research:
My research focuses on understanding the long-term organic carbon cycle, with emphasis on the processes taking place at the land-ocean margin.  I utilize natural abundance radiocarbon (C-14), in conjunction with the stable isotope C-13, to investigate the sources, cycling, and fate of various organic carbon pools in the environment.  Topics of interest include: sediment biogeochemistry and the significance of coastal benthic processes in organic matter dynamics, composition of organic matter suspended in rivers and its fate in the ocean, and the role of organic-mineral associations in organic matter degradation and preservation.

Courses:
Chemical Oceanography (CHEM 677; NEW for Spring 06)
Environmental Chemistry (CHEM/ENVS 380)
Marine Organic Geochemistry (CHEM 877)

Publications:
Komada T., Druffel E. R. M., and Hwang J. (2005) Sedimentary rocks as sources of ancient organic carbon to the ocean: An investigation through Δ14C and δ13C signatures of organic compound classes, Global Biogeochemical Cycles, 19, GB2017, doi:10.1029/2004GB002347.

Hwang J., Druffel E. R. M., and Komada T. (2005) Transport of organic carbon from the California coast to the slope region: A study of Δ14C and δ13C signatures of organic compound classes, Global Biogeochemical Cycles, 19, GB2018, doi:10.1029:2004GB002422.

Komada T., Reimers C. E., Luther, G. W. III, and Burdige D. J. (2004) Factors affecting dissolved organic matter dynamics in suboxic to anoxic coastal sediments. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, 68, 4099-4111.

Druffel E. R. M., Griffin S., Hwang J., Komada T., Beaupre S. R., Druffel-Rodriguez K. C., Santos G. M., and Southon, J. (2004) Varibility of monthly radiocarbon during the 1760's in corals from the Galapagos Islands. Radiocarbon, 46, 627-631.

Komada T., Druffel E. R. M., and Trumbore S. E.  (2004) Oceanic export of relict carbon by small mountainous rivers. Geophysical Research Letters 31, L07504, doi:10.1029/2004GL019512.

Komada T., Schofield O. M. E., and Reimers C. E. (2002) Fluorescence characteristics of organic matter released from coastal sediments during resuspension. Marine Chemistry 79, 81-97.

Komada T. and Reimers C. E. (2001) Resuspension-induced partitioning of organic carbon between solid and solution phases from a river-ocean transition. Marine Chemistry 76, 155-174.

Komada T., Reimers C. E., and Boehme S. E. (1998) Dissolved inorganic carbon profiles and fluxes determined using pH and PCO2 microelectrodes. Limnology and Oceanography 43, 769-781.

Address:
Romberg Tiburon Center for Environmental Studies
San Francisco State University
3152 Paradise Drive
Tiburon, CA 94920

Tel: (415) 338-3748
Fax: (415) 435-7120
Office: Building 39, Room 206
tkomada@sfsu.edu