RAPID Collaborative Proposal: Spatially-explicit, High-resolution Mapping and Modeling to Quantify Hypoxia and Oil Effects on the Living Resources of the Northern Gulf of Mexico

2010年4月22日，钻井平台“深水地平线”在墨西哥湾北方沉没在近1,200米深的水中。自该日以来，从该地点释放了各种估计的石油和添加的化学分散剂，分散在表面和深度。这些石油和分散剂的运输受到大陆架上的风驱动海流和环流及其近海衍生物的影响。到目前为止，地平线泄漏的确切数量和移动路径仍然是推测性的。自2003年以来，在NOAA-CSCOR的资助下，这组调查人员在墨西哥湾北方进行了5次夏季巡航，使用高分辨率采样来确定物理结构与中上层浮游动物和鱼类分布之间的空间明确关系。 因此，该小组拥有关于墨西哥湾北方在石油泄漏之前的温度、盐度、氧气、浮游植物、浮游动物和鱼类的最全面的天气数据集，目前的RAPID奖将使该小组能够重复他们在墨西哥湾北方的水文、氧气、浮游生物和鱼类的高分辨率绘图。感兴趣的区域将包括之前在密西西比三角洲以西的缺氧区的调查区域，以及密西西比以东的区域，在该区域，泄漏的石油被认为有更多的运输。巡航将发生在夏末期间，因为调查人员有5年的？基线？本赛季的数据来比较结果。物种多样性和丰富度、生物量大小谱、鱼类饮食、鱼类生长率潜力和生态系统模型等措施都将对评估漏油对墨西哥湾北方生物资源可能产生的影响极为有用。除了在大陆架内部到中间进行快速测绘巡航外，该小组还将派遣Oceanus号ORV上的科学家进行高分辨率垂直浮游动物测量（LOPC和TAPS），并在更深的站点进行MOCNESS浮游动物拖曳和更广泛的测绘调查，以扩大我们对受影响地区的空间覆盖范围。他们将协调我们的浮游动物和鱼类测量与其他调查人员评估英国石油公司石油泄漏的地球化学和生物影响。诺阿以前的数据以及目前的测量和模型产品将存入BCODMO数据管理设施。考虑到墨西哥湾商业渔业（约占美国总上岸量的20%，约为9.91亿美元）和休闲渔业（约占全国的30%？美国的咸水捕捞支出和支持近25%的国家？的娱乐性海水工作），这是必不可少的知识，英国石油公司的石油泄漏对远洋生态系统的影响进行评估。霍恩角实验室和俄勒冈州州立大学是国家科学基金会的一部分？海洋科学卓越教育中心（NSF-COSEE）和本科生经验（REU）计划。在这个NSF快速反应补助金可能的情况下，我们将涉及REU本科学生和教师在我们提出的研究计划。

On April 22, 2010, the drill platform Deepwater Horizon sank in nearly 1,200 m of water in the northern Gulf of Mexico. Since this date various estimates of oil and added chemical dispersants have been released from the site with dispersion both at the surface and at depth. The transport of this oil and dispersants has been influenced by wind-driven currents over the shelf and by the Loop Current and its derivatives offshore. To date the exact amount and paths of movement of the Horizon spill remain speculative. Since 2003, with NOAA-CSCOR funding, this group of investigators has conducted 5 summer cruises in the northern Gulf of Mexico that used high-resolution sampling to define the spatially explicit relationships between physical structure to pelagic zooplankton and fish distributions. Thus this group has one of the most comprehensive, synoptic data sets on temperature, salinity, oxygen, phytoplankton, zooplankton and fish in the northern Gulf of Mexico for conditions prior to the oil leak.The current RAPID award will allow this group to repeat their high-resolution mapping of hydrography, oxygen, plankton and fish in the northern Gulf of Mexico. The domain of interest will include the previous survey region in the hypoxic zone west of the Mississippi Delta but also the area east of the Mississippi where more oil transport from the spill has been suggested. The cruise will take place in the late summer period because the investigators have 5 years of ?baseline? data during this season to compare the results. The measures of species diversity and abundance, biomass size spectrum, fish diets, fish growth rate potential and ecosystem models will all be extremely useful to assess the possible effects of the oil spill on the living resources of the northern Gulf of Mexico. In addition to the rapid mapping cruise on the inner to mid-shelf, this group also will send scientists on the ORV Oceanus to conduct high resolution vertical zooplankton measurements (LOPC and TAPS) and MOCNESS zooplankton tows at deeper stations and broader mapping surveys to extend our spatial coverage of the affected area. They will coordinate our zooplankton and fish measurements with other investigators assessing the biogeochemical and biological impacts of the BP oil spill. Data from previous NOAA will be deposited in the BCODMO data management facility as well as current measurements and model products.Broader Impacts. Given the economic importance of the Gulf of Mexico commercial fisheries (about 20% of the U.S. total landings representing about $991 million) and recreational fishing (generating ~30% of the nation?s saltwater fishing expenditures and supporting nearly 25% of the nation?s recreational saltwater jobs), it is imperative that knowledge of the effects of the BP oil spill on the pelagic ecosystem be assessed. The Horn Point Laboratory and Oregon State University are part of the National Science Foundation ? Center for Ocean Sciences Education Excellence (NSF-COSEE) and Experience for Undergraduates (REU) programs. Where possible in this NSF RAPID response grant, we will involve REU undergraduate students and teachers in our proposed research program.