RAPID Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill: Deep pelagic and benthic impacts of the oil spill

知识价值。沉积物微生物介导的过程能够氧化环境中的油和甲烷。PI将检查深水地平线石油泄漏（以下简称BP泄漏）对泄漏地点附近深水和沉积物微生物介导过程的影响。这是一次前所未有的石油泄漏，有必要清楚地了解它对墨西哥湾水域和沉积物中微生物过程的影响。这项工作将补充几个已资助或计划的地球化学和微生物采样项目，重点关注溢油响应。他们将评估泄漏地点周围多个地点水柱甲烷氧化、沉积物硫酸盐还原和甲烷生成的速率。额外的实验将量化营养物质、氧气和底物浓度对这些重要的微生物介导过程的影响。更广泛的影响：这项工作将澄清深水和沉积物中微生物过程对深水地平线泄漏的反应。该项目将支持一名博士后（女性，西班牙裔）和一名本科生（女性，非洲裔美国人）。拟议的工作由NOAA资助，这将使我们能够扩大研究地点的数量和取样巡航的数量。将建立一个网站，以突出我们的工作，并将我们的结果传达给科学界的其他人以及公众。

Intellectual Merit. Sediment microbial mediated processes are capable of oxidizing oil and methane in the environment. The PI's will examine the impacts of the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill (hereafter BP spill) on microbially mediated processes in the deep waters and sediments in the vicinity of the spill site. This is an unprecedented oil spill and it is essential to obtain a clear understanding of its impacts on microbial processes in the waters and sediments of the Gulf of Mexico. The work will complement several funded or planned geochemical and microbiological sampling programs focused on the oil spill response. They will evaluate rates of water column methane oxidation and sediment sulfate reduction and methanogenesis at multiple sites around the spill site. Additional experiments will quantify the impact of nutrients, oxygen and substrate concentrations on these important microbially mediated processes. Broader Impacts: This work will clarify the response of microbial processes in deep waters and sediments to the Deepwater Horizon spill. The project will support a post doctoral associate (female, Hispanic) and an undergraduate student (female, African American). The proposed work is leveraged by NOAA funding which will permit us to expand the number of study sites and number of sampling cruises. A web site will be developed to highlight our work and convey our results to the others in the scientific community as well as to the public.