Collaborative Research: Rainfall-driven Intertidal Zone Carbon Cycling

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ABSTRACT: (0628372/0628491 Torres/Goni)Intellectual Merit: This research documents an cross-disciplinary study of an under-studied part of the carbon cycle: erosion of carbon at low tide from intertidal cohesive sediments. Preliminary data from a pilot study showed that this is a potentially important component of carbon cycling on continental margins. A quantitative, time-series, field study will be undertaken in which the erosional impact of water droplets from controlled rainfall simulation experiments and from natural rainstorms on clay/organic-rich tidal sediments will be measured over a two year period. A companion study of particulate and dissolved organic matter shed from the sediments will also be carried out as will a study of the natural background concentrations and species of organic compounds in adjacent estuarine waters. Results will be scaled up from the local to regional scale.Broader Impacts: The research will support two minority PIs at academic institutions in Oregon and South Carolina, the latter of which is an EPSCoR state. Two graduate students will be trained and undergraduates will be involved in the research. Public outreach will take place through the Baruch Institute at North Inlet, South Carolina. The PI will work with the Society for the Advancement of Chicano and Native American Scientists to try and recruit minority students for the project.