Collaborative Research: Comparative Modeling and Data Analysis Studies for the Ross Sea and West Antarctic Peninsula Regions: A JGOFS synthesis and Modeling Project

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The authors will develop a suite of physical and biological models that incorporate data sets collected in the Ross Sea as part of the U.S. Southern Ocean Joint Global Ocean Flux Study (JGOFS) and data sets from the west Antarctic Peninsula region collected during the Palmer Long?Term Ecological Research program. The modeling effort will be in conjunction with analyses of these data sets as well as analyses of historical data sets from the two regions. The intent of the data analyses and modeling activities is to provide syntheses that allow comparison of similarities and differences in the two systems and thereby allowing fundamental questions on the controls of phytoplankton productivity and growth in these two systems to be addressed. The general focus is on understanding the role of light, macro? and micronutrient limitation, and circulation in producing the observed horizontal and vertical gradients in phytoplankton distribution and production. Thus, the data analyses and model simulations will be used to test specific hypotheses concerning the regulation of phytoplankton growth, production, and species composition in the two regions. This study will directly address several of the major Synthesis and Modeling Project research themes, especially those related to understanding processes controlling primary production and export production. Also, the incorporation of data sets from another region of the Antarctic provides a mechanism for placing the observations obtained during the U.S. JGOFS Southern Ocean program into a broader context. This study will be the first to systematically compare and contrast regions of the Antarctic in this manner. The authors believe that the results of the collaborative research will have a significant impact on development of trophic level models within the Southern Ocean, and also have implications for ecosystem level studies in other regions of the world ocean.