WAPflux - New Tools to Study the Fate of Phytoplankton Production in the West Antarctic Peninsula

摘要：WHOI研究人员将利用适合于研究上层日照区颗粒有机碳通量的工具盒和表征技术，对南极半岛西部帕尔默长期生态研究（PAL）站点的所谓“生物泵”术语进行评估。这些测量的目的是描述南极光区产生的有机物的生产、出口（下沉）和深度再矿化率的季节性动态。这将有助于更好地了解这一难以进入地区的生物地球化学对碳循环的控制。此外，目前尚不清楚有多少新固定的有机碳被从大陆架上出口，从而有效地推动大气（包括人为）二氧化碳的涌入，并被隔离到深海中。WAP中以前的时间序列沉积物圈存的比较似乎表明，与其他地区相比，下沉的碳通量较小，与罗斯海等南极沿海地区一样。新的观测和模拟活动将试图解释这种差异，并解释明显低效的粒子输出。“这项奖励是根据2009年美国复苏和再投资法案（公法111-5）资助的。”

AbstractBy using a tool-box of particle flux and characterization techniques appropriate to the study of particulate organic carbon fluxes out of the upper sunlit zone, WHOI researchers will attempt to evaluate the so called 'biological pump' term at the Palmer Long Term Ecological Research (PAL) site in the Western Antarctic Peninsula (WAP). The goal of these measurements is to describe the seasonal dynamics of production, export (sinking) and at-depth remineralization rates of organic matter produced in the Antarctic photic zone. This should lead to a better understanding of the biogeochemical controls on the carbon cycle in this difficult to access region. Additionally, how much of the newly fixed organic carbon is exported off the shelf, effectively driving an influx of atmospheric (including anthropogenic) CO2 to be sequestered into the deep ocean is not presently known. Comparison of prior time series sediment traps in the WAP seem to indicate smaller sinking C fluxes than other, as equally as productive Antarctic coastal regions, e.g. the Ross Sea. New observations and modeling activities will attempt to explain this discrepancy, and to account for the apparently inefficient particle export. "This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5)."