COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: Shelf-Basin Exchange of Biogenic Material Between the Chukchi and Beaufort Seas

有机物质和生物从北极大陆架向北极深海盆的转移可能对北极海盆和北极大陆架生态系统的生物地球化学特征、生态系统功能和结构产生重大影响。然而，影响北极大陆架上生物和生物物质分布的物理和生物过程，以及这些物质进入北冰洋和海盆的潜在输入，目前还知之甚少。为了更好地预测大规模气候变化对北极生态系统的潜在影响，增加对大陆架斜坡区生物-物理耦合的认识至关重要。该项目将描述中尺度物理过程在chukchisshelf和邻近的波弗特海之间交换或运输生物物质和浮游生物种群中的作用，作为陆架盆地相互作用第二阶段实地计划（SBI）的一部分。拟议的研究有两个不同但又相互关联的组成部分：1)利用视频浮游生物记录仪（Video plankton Recorder）描述了2002年和2004年7 - 8月期间在Beaufort/Chukchi陆架断裂两个地点浮游生物和颗粒的丰度、分类和大小组成，以及浮游生物在物理特征方面的行为；2)利用14台系泊校准声波多普勒电流剖面仪的绝对后向散射强度数据，描述了外陆架和上陆坡浮游动物的丰度，以及两个年周期内这两个区域间水和生物物质交换的中尺度物理特征。

Transfer of organic material and organisms from Arctic shelves to the deep Arcticbasin may impact significantly the biogeochemical characteristics, and ecosystemfunction and structure, of both Arctic basin and the Arctic shelf ecosystems. However,the physical and biological processes influencing both the distribution of organisms andbiological material on the Arctic shelves and the potential input of these materials into theArctic Ocean and basin presently are poorly understood. It is critical to increaseunderstanding of the biological-physical coupling in the shelf-slope region in order tobetter predict the potential impact of large-scale changes in climate on the Arcticecosystem. The project will describe the role of mesoscale physical processes in theexchange or transport of biogenic material and plankton populations between the ChukchiShelf and neighboring Beaufort Sea as part of the Shelf Basin Interactions Phase II fieldprogram (SBI). The proposed research has two distinct yet interrelated components: 1) description of the abundance, taxonomic and size composition of plankton and particles and aspects of behavior of plankton in physical features at two locations along the Beaufort/Chukchi shelf break during two July-August process cruises (2002 and 2004) using a Video Plankton Recorder, 2) a description of the abundance of zooplankton on the outer shelf and upper slope and the mesoscale physical features that exchange water and biogenic materials between the two regions over two annual cycles using the absolute backscatter intensity data from an array of fourteen moored calibrated acoustic Doppler current profilers.