Multidisciplinary Synthesis of Chukchi Sea Ecosystem: Chemical Processes

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

This collaborative effort will make use of an extensive and unique data set collected over several years from the Chukchi Sea. Investigators from three institutions will study the interactions of physical, chemical, and biological processes of the Chukchi Sea ecosystem to define its present and perhaps future trophic status through a series of data and simulation analyses. The chemical processes associated with biological and physical processes in the Chukchi Sea will be assessed using data from a series of 13 current meter moorings in 1990-1991 and seven bilateral U.S.-U.S.S.R. cruises during 1988-1991. The source water concentrations of nutrients flowing through Bering Strait into the Arctic will be determined on an annual basis for the years 1988-1991 and will be combined with buoyancy flux estimates to calculate nutrient flux estimates. Nutrient budgets for the Chukchi Sea shelf will be constructed and compared to subsurface oxygen inventories and primary production estimates. In addition, dominant phytoplankton groups will be identified and related to their respective nutrient habitats. Organic decomposition (regeneration) and respiration processes will be examined using systematic changes in regenerated nutrients and dissolved oxygen. The work supports the goals and research priorities of the Arctic System Science (ARCSS) program of the Global Geosciences Initiative.