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海盆深处的转移可能会对北极海盆和北极大陆架生态系统的地球化学特征、生态系统功能和结构产生重大影响。然而，目前对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可能进入北冰洋和北冰洋海盆的情况知之甚少。为了更好地预测大尺度气候变化对北极生态系统的潜在影响，增加对陆架-陆坡区生物-物理耦合的理解至关重要。 该项目将描述中尺度物理过程在楚科奇大陆架和邻近的博福特海之间生物物质和浮游生物种群交换或运输中的作用，作为大陆架盆地相互作用第二阶段野外项目（SBI）的一部分。拟议的研究有两个不同但相互关联的组成部分：1）在7月至8月的两次过程考察期间，描述沿着博福特/楚科奇大陆架断裂带两个地点的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（2002年和2004年）使用视频浮游生物记录仪，（二）描述外陆架和上陆坡的浮游动物丰度以及在两者之间交换水和生源物质的中尺度物理特征区域在两个年度周期使用绝对后向散射强度数据从一个阵列的十四个停泊校准声学多普勒电流剖面。

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.