Controls on Sea Surface pCO2 Variability and CO2 Uptake in the Western Arctic Ocean

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This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009(Public Law 111-5).This proposal seeks funding to study carbon cycling and CO2 uptake in the western Arctic Ocean through participation in the Chinese Arctic Research Expedition cruise in summer 2010. Surface water pCO2 measurements will be collected continuously through a high-resolution underway CO2 analyzer that has already been installed on the Chinese icebreaker Xue Long. Discrete water samples will be collected and analyzed for pH, dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC), total alkalinity, and calcium as well as oxygen isotopes, carbon isotopes, nutrients, dissolved oxygen (and apparent oxygen utilization), chlorophyll-a, dissolved organic carbon (DOC), and particulate organic carbon (POC). These data will be used to constrain air-sea fluxes of carbon dioxide and their spatial variability. Key processes under investigation include the uptake of CO2 by newly exposed surface waters following sea ice melt, and the contribution of riverine DIC and DOC to the Arctic Ocean net carbon uptake. Each of these processes is projected to change in a warming Arctic. Understanding carbon fluxes and the mechanisms controlling them in the Arctic Ocean is a prerequisite for confident prediction of future changes and climate feedbacks. This project would build international collaborations in Arctic science and strengthen Chinese Arctic research efforts. A Ph.D. student at the University of Georgia would be supported for three years through this project.