RAPID: US Geotraces N. Atlantic: Measuring the 13C-DIC distribution and quantifying the impact of organic matter export on 13C, nutrients and biologically active trace metals

在快速反应研究基金(RAPID)的资助下，华盛顿大学的一个研究团队将于2011年秋季参加一次最初计划外的海洋巡航，这是美国地理追踪北大西洋行动的一部分，目的是研究海洋水柱中的碳和氧同位素特征。最初的、不完整的巡航(在2010年秋天)由于船的推进系统故障而提前终止。即将在2011年举行的后续邮轮将沿着马萨诸塞州伍兹霍尔和佛得角群岛之间的轨道行驶。这些快速资金将只支付在未来巡航期间收集样本的准备费用，而不是用于海水样本的实验室分析或数据合成。这个团队最初由ARRA奖项支持，将在未来的邮轮上测量与最初邮轮相同的海水特征--即13C/12C的溶解无机碳以及溶解的O2和Ar气体的浓度。科学目标没有改变；也就是说，它们将使用两种不同的方法来量化有机物(OM)的出口速率，这两种方法依赖于所测量的Del-13C和溶解O2气体的海-气不平衡。该小组还将确定有机质出口及其随后的再矿化对生物活性微量元素(BTE)、del-13C-DIC之间的关系以及表层水和深海的营养关系的影响。广泛影响：由于这些海洋碳系统数据将成为一项多研究者国际研究的一部分，它们将向参与海洋化学及其与全球气候变化关系研究的全球社区提供。项目成果也将纳入首席调查员的教学课程，项目本身将为研究生参与实验室分析工作做好准备。

With funding through a Grant for Rapid Response Research (RAPID), a research team at the University of Washington will participate in an originally unplanned oceanographic cruise in autumn 2011, as part of the U.S. GEOTRACES North Atlantic campaign to study carbon and oxygen isotopic signatures in the oceanic water column. The original, incomplete cruise (in autumn 2010) was terminated prematurely because of failure of the ship's propulsion system. The forthcoming follow-up cruise in 2011 will follow a track between Woods Hole, MA and Cape Verde Islands. These RAPID funds are being will cover only the costs of preparing for sample collection during the future cruise and not for laboratory analysis of the seawater samples or synthesis of the data. This team, originally supported through an ARRA award, will measure the same seawater characteristics on the future cruise as was proposed for the original cruise -- that is, the 13C/12C of dissolved inorganic carbon and the concentration of dissolved O2 and Ar gases. The scientific objectives have not changed; namely, they will quantify the rate of organic matter (OM) export using two separate methods that rely on the measured air-sea disequilibrium for del-13C and for dissolved O2 gas. The team will also determine the impact that OM export and its subsequent remineralization on the relationship between bioactive trace elements (BTE), del-13C-DIC and nutrient relationships in surface waters and at depth.Broader Impacts: Because these ocean carbon system data will become part of a multi-investigator international study, they will be made available to a worldwide community involved in the study of ocean chemistry and its relationship to global climatic change. Project results will also be incorporated into the principal investigator's teaching curricula, and the project itself will make provision for the participation of idergraduate students in the laboratory analytical work.