RAPID Response in Gulf of Mexico: Sediment Trap Investigations

智力优势：2009年9月，在墨西哥湾北方部署了两个时间序列沉积物捕集器和海流计系泊装置，以调查沉积到海底的生物源通量（和幼虫补充），这两个地点的特征很好，而且是深水珊瑚和化能合成管虫群落的重要地点（Fisher等人，2007年）。这些捕集器设置在海床上方，水深400- 450米，自2009年9月11日以来，每两周收集一次新的沉降物样品，并将继续这样做，直到2010年7月2日，最后一个样品瓶将被旋转关闭，捕集器将等待回收，作为计划于11月进行的已资助的实地计划（NOAA-MMS）的一部分。然而，偶然的是，这两个圈闭位于最近的深水地平线事件和海底持续石油泄漏的东北部32海里和西南部81海里处。NOAA的连续监测表明，到4月底，这两个研究地点中至少有一个被海洋表面的石油排放覆盖，两个地点现在都被至少轻至中等浓度的碳氢化合物±分散剂覆盖。然而，目前尚不确定的是墨西哥湾海底深处正在发生什么，以及可能对墨西哥湾海底，特别是其原始和独特的深水珊瑚/化学合成管虫群落产生什么影响。因此，这项建议有两个目的。首先，我们寻求加入到该地区的快速反应研究巡航，以部署另外两个短沉积物捕集器和海流计系泊装置，以确保我们保持事件发生前6个月开始的采样的连续性，并继续在我们以前作为深水珊瑚/化能合成管虫生态系统最重要的目标的两个地点中的每一个进行采样。如果我们不能做到这一点，我们的时间序列将在7月2日结束。第二，预计将有许多其他PI希望进行的大量额外研究，我们寻求足够的资金，以便在回收这些样品（加上我们早期部署的样品）后（2010年11月已资助的巡航）立即对其进行初步表征。具体来说，我们预计产生一套存档的样品与共同注册的信息质量和生物通量（包括无机和有机碳含量）和初步？指纹更广泛的影响：墨西哥湾新出现的环境影响引起了社会的极大关注，并对国家未来的深水资源开采和能源供应产生影响。但是，目前对墨西哥湾系统的大部分关注必然集中在最容易获得数据的浅海上层海洋。偶然的是，这项工作代表了一个项目，可以揭示可能对深水地平线井口附近的显着和以前原始的深水生态系统产生的影响。由于我们的综合分析只需要我们收集的样本的一小部分，我们将仔细存档每个样本的其余部分，以便进行更广泛的调查，此外，我们将广泛和及时地公布我们的结果，以产生这种增值研究。例如，这项工作显然将与其他项目有关，并具有潜力，这些项目也正在由（例如）R.Camilli（WHOI）和C.Fisher（宾夕法尼亚州立大学）。我们的团队随时准备与所有这些感兴趣的科学团体合作，并且还与一个对响应工作感兴趣的电影团队（位于圣巴巴拉的Mike deGruy）进行了联系（尽管我们没有承诺，如果另一个团队证明更适合这项工作）。

Intellectual Merit: In September 2009, two time-series sediment trap and current meter moorings were deployed in the northern Gulf of Mexico to investigate biogenic fluxes settling to the seafloor (and larval recruitment) at two well-characterized and significant sites of combined deep-water coral and chemosynthetic tube-worm colonies (Fisher et al., 2007). Each of thesetraps, set just above the seabed and in water depths of 400-450m, have been collecting a new sample of settling material every two weeks since 11 September 2009 and will continue to do so until 2nd July 2010 when their last sample bottle will be rotated shut and the traps will awaitrecovery as part of an already-funded field program (NOAA-MMS) scheduled for November. Serendipitously, however, these two traps are located just 32 nmiles to the NE and 81 nmiles to the WSW of the recent Deepwater Horizon incident and continuing oil release from the seafloor. Continuous monitoring by NOAA has shown that at least one of these two study sites became overlain by oil discharge at the ocean surface by the end of April and that both sites are nowoverlain by at least light to medium concentrations of hydrocarbons ± dispersant. What remains unestablished at this point, however, is what is happening at depth and what impacts there may be at the Gulf of Mexico seafloor and, specifically, its pristine and unique deepwater coral/chemosynthetic tube-worm colonies. The purpose of this proposal, therefore, is two-fold. First we seek to join a rapid response research cruise to the area to deploy two additional short sediment trap and current meter moorings to ensure that we maintain continuity in the sampling that began 6 months before the incident and remains ongoing at each of the two sites that we hadpreviously targeted as being of most significance in terms of deepwater coral/chemosynthetic tubeworm ecosystems. If we do not achieve that, our time series will end on July 2nd. Second, and anticipating that there will be a wealth of additional studies that many other PIs will wish to pursue, we seek sufficient funds to conduct initial characterization from these samples (plus those from our earlier deployments) as soon as they are recovered (already-funded cruise in November 2010). Specifically, we anticipate generating a suite of archived samples with coregistered information on mass and biogenic flux (to include inorganic and organic carbon content) and preliminary ?finger-printing? of any hydrocarbon signatures present in each sample.Broader Impacts: The emerging environmental impact in the Gulf of Mexico is of great societal concern and has implications for both future deepwater resource extraction and energy supply for the nation. But the majority of the attention currently being paid to the GoM system is, of necessity, focused on the shallow upper ocean where data is most readily obtained. Serendipitously, this work represents a project that can shed unique light on the effects that maybe being imparted upon remarkable and formerly pristine deepwater ecosystems in close proximity to the Deepwater Horizon well-head. Because our combined analyses will only require a small fraction of the samples we collect we will archive the remainder of each sample carefully for broader investigations and, further, we will publicize our results widely and promptly to engender such value-added research. For example, this work will clearly be of relevance and potential to other projects also being developed by (e.g.) R.Camilli (WHOI) andC.Fisher (Penn.State). Our group stands ready to work with all such interested scientific parties and is also in contact with a film team (Mike deGruy, based in Santa Barbara) interested in a response effort (although we have no commitments to them should another team prove more suitable for that work).