ETBC: Collaborative Research: Controls on the Flux, Age, and Composition of Terrestrial Organic Carbon Exported by Rivers to the Ocean

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Scientists from Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and the Woods Hole Research Center will characterize the sources, pathways, and timescales of riverine export of carbon, especially organic carbon, from land to sea. To attain their goal, the proponents will integrate geochemical measurements on the temporal and spatial changes in the composition of dissolved and particulate river loads combined with spatial and temporal data on relevant ecosystem, hydrologic, geologic, geomorphologic, and climatologic characteristics obtained from remote sensing and GIS mapping. The study will be conducted on six large river basins, namely the Brahmaputra, Congo, Ganges, Lena, Fraser, and Yangtze. This represents an integrated, multi-disciplinary project that focuses on an emerging topic in carbon cycling because processes occurring at the land/ocean boundary have not been adequately addressed to date. Lack of this information represents a glaring omission for marine scientists involved in establishing the carbon cycle of the ocean. As regards broader impacts, a traveling art exhibition based on the artwork of students living near their study sites in Siberia, Bangladesh, India, Canada, China, and Africa will be developed. The exhibition idea is based on their successful pilot program entitled 'My River, My Home' carried out on the Lena River. It is anticipated that the exhibit will engage local populations at the study sites as well as document the scientific and cultural aspects of the project to a broader public audience. In addition, the project represents a strong collaborative effort between scientists in the United States and colleagues in Russia, China, Canada, Bangladesh, the Republic and Democratic Republic of Congo and France. Two graduate students and one postdoc will be supported and trained as part of this project.