Organic Carbon Fluxes and Accumulation in the Cariaco Basin

9401537这次调查将是对委内瑞拉大陆架上的天然凹陷--卡里亚科盆地碳循环的时间序列研究的一部分。由于与北部公海的横向水交换有限，该盆地的含氧地表水覆盖在广泛的缺氧水域之上，为研究氧化-还原边界附近的有机分解提供了理想的机会。这项研究对Cariaco盆地研究总体目标的贡献将是一个沉积物捕集项目，旨在量化有机碳通量的季节变化，并估计水柱中有机碳的降解率。季节性沉积物圈闭数据将被用来完善盆地中凹陷形成的模型。这将对正在进行的利用VARVE重建该地区过去气候变化的研究产生重要影响。

9401537 THUNELL This investigation will be a component of a times-series study of carbon cycling in the Cariaco Basin, a natural depression on the continental shelf of Venezuela. Because of restricted lateral water exchange with the open sea to the north, this Basin with its oxygenated surface waters overlying extensive anoxic waters offers an ideal opportunity to study organic decomposition near a oxidation-reduction boundary. The contribution of this study to the overall objectives of the Cariaco Basin study will be a sediment trap project designed to quantify seasonal variability in the organic carbon flux and to estimate degradation rates of organic carbon in the water column. Seasonal sediment trap data will be used to refine a model for varve formation in the Basin. This will have important implications for ongoing studies that use varves to reconstruct past climate changes in this region.