Oden Science: Sea Ice Ecology in the Amundsen and Eastern Ross Sea

该奖项是根据2009年美国复苏和再投资法案(公法111-5)资助的。瑞典破冰船奥登号提供了一个前所未有的机会，可以对南极冰盖地区的海冰微生物群落进行采样，该地区迄今很少受到关注。这项研究将检查位于南极洲贝灵豪森海和罗斯海之间的大片海冰上的微生物群落。该项目将1)表征海冰微生物群落组成的空间变异性，并在可能的情况下，将其与在水柱中观察到的群落组成联系起来；2)测量冰藻群落的生物量、光生理学和代谢率，并将这些与浮冰中的物理化学条件联系起来；3)使用正在进行的采样对二氧化碳和二甲基硫化物等具有气候重要性的气体进行连续测量，以确定并离散地对浮冰中微生物过程改变了这些气体的周围浓度的“热点”进行采样。4)使用分子工具，通过检测二氧化碳吸收和DMSP产生途径中目标基因的表达，确定负责二氧化碳吸收和DMSP产生的浮游植物，以及物理和化学因素在多大程度上控制这些过程。科学家将与斯坦福大学的科学教师暑期专业发展计划(http://pangea.stanford.edu/outreach/about/index.html)合作，并参加斯坦福大学地球科学学院的高中实习计划。该项目还将被用作向公众宣传的教学工具，部分方式是出版关于初级生产者和南极生态系统的教学模块。

This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5).The Swedish icebreaker Oden provides an unprecedented opportunity to sample the sea ice microbial community in a region of the Antarctic ice pack that has received very little attention to date. The research will examine the microbial community throughout the large expanse of sea ice that is located between the Bellingshausen Sea and the Ross Sea, Antarctica. The project will 1) characterize the spatial variability in the sea ice microbial community composition and, where possible, relate it to the community composition observed in the water column, 2) measure the biomass, photophysiology and metabolic rates of the ice algal community and relate these to physicochemical conditions within the pack ice, 3) use underway sampling to make continuous measurements of climatically important gases such as carbon dioxide and dimethyl sulfide to identify and discretely sample "hot spots" within the pack ice where microbial processes have altered the ambient concentrations of these gases, and 4) use molecular tools to determine phytoplankton responsible for carbon dioxide uptake and dimethylsulfoniopropionate (DMSP) production and to what extent physical and chemical factors control these processes by examining expression of target genes in the carbon dioxide uptake and DMSP production pathways. Scientists will work with Stanford's Summer Program for Professional Development for Science Teachers (http://pangea.stanford.edu/outreach/about/index.html) and participate in Stanford's School of Earth Sciences high school internship program. The project also will be used as a teaching tool to inform the public, in part by publishing a teaching module about primary producers and the Antarctic ecosystem.