Collaborative Research: Biogeochemical Cycling of Particulate and Dissolved Organic Matter in the Arctic Ocean Using Molecular Markers

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The project combines field and experimental approaches to investigate the sources,transformations, transport, and fates of dissolved, particulate and sedimentary organic matter in theBeaufort and Chukchi Seas. This project will take advantage of the specificity that molecular organicmarkers of organisms and their processes can provide to understand how the Western Arctic shelvesproduce, metabolize and sequester carbon, a question central for the SBI program. The proposed studiesare closely linked with proposed research in other SBI phase II projects as well as international programs togive an integrated, pan-Arctic view of C and N cycling. The proposed research is directed by thefollowing central hypotheses: 1) On time scales of physical transport across the shelf-basin boundary and interior ocean (years to decades), terrestrial organic matter contains specific, conservative biomarkers that trace riverine discharge; 2) Biological processing in shelf waters dictates the molecular signatures of organic matter deposited in sediments and exported to the Basin; 3) Episodic marine primary production fuels benthic production.