Time-Series Particle Flux Measurements in the Equatorial Pacific: Their Relationship to Production and Preservation Biogenic Materials

该研究将有助于美国JGOFS对 赤道中太平洋的海洋学研究 沉降颗粒通量。 建议结合“核心” 研究和“面向过程”的研究，涉及时间 粒子的成分和通量的变化 140 oW赤道样带。 建议的核心部分 研究将部署沉积物陷阱系泊在整个 赤道样带，并确定一些关键的浓度 沉降颗粒通量中的组分。 这些研究将 确定沉积物埋藏，碳通量， 不同生物系统的生产力， 确定海洋对主要气候变化的反应。 这 以过程为导向的科学将使用微量元素， 沉积物捕获样本，以建立生产力的替代指标。 通过将沉积物收集器样品分析与沉积物 分析，P.I.将评估粒子通量的变化 从事件尺度到冰期-间冰期尺度。 他们将 还使用微量元素数据来评估风成通量， 赤道太平洋，这种输入的季节性模式， 与生物生产力的关系。 这部分 研究将有助于解决以下重要问题： 微量元素金属对海洋生产力的限制。

The research will contribute to the U.S. JGOFS studies of the central equatorial Pacific through the determination of the settling particulate flux. The proposal combines "core" research and "process-oriented" research involving temporal variations in composition and flux of particles across an equatorial transect at 140oW. The core part of the proposed research will deploy sediment trap moorings across the equatorial transect and determine the concentration of some key components in the settling particle flux. These studies will define the relationships among sediment burial, carbon flux, and productivity in different biological systems and help define the oceanic response to major climatic change. This process-oriented science will use trace elements in selected sediment trap samples to establish proxies for productivity. By combining sediment trap sample analyses with sediment analyses, the P.I.'s will evaluate variations in particle flux from event scale to glacial-interglacial scales. They will also use trace element data to evaluate the eolian flux across the equatorial Pacific, the seasonal pattern of this input, and its relationship to biological productivity. This part of the research will contribute to the important question of micronutrient metals as limitations on oceanic productivity.