RAPID: Capturing the Signature of Hurricane Harvey on Texas Coastal Lagoons

RAPID：捕捉飓风哈维在德克萨斯州沿海泻湖的特征

• 批准号: 1760006
• 负责人: Paul Montagna
• 金额: $ 18.28万
• 依托单位: Texas A&M University Corpus Christi
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2017
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2017-10-01 至 2019-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1760006&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: RAPID; Capturing; Signature; Hurricane; Harvey

Hurricane Harvey made landfall Friday 25 August 2017 about 30 miles northeast of Corpus Christi, Texas as a Category 4 hurricane with winds up to 130 mph. This is the strongest hurricane to hit the middle Texas coast since Carla in 1961. After the wind storm and storm surge, coastal flooding occurred due to the storm lingering over Texas for four more days, dumping as much as 50 inches of rain near Houston. This will produce one of the largest floods ever to hit the Texas coast, and it is estimated that the flood will be a one in a thousand year event. The Texas coast is characterized by lagoons behind barrier islands, and their ecology and biogeochemistry are strongly influenced by coastal hydrology. Because this coastline is dominated by open water systems and productivity is driven by the amount of freshwater inflow, Hurricane Harvey represents a massive inflow event that will likely cause tremendous changes to the coastal environments. Therefore, questions arise regarding how biogeochemical cycles of carbon, nutrients, and oxygen will be altered, whether massive phytoplankton blooms will occur, whether estuarine species will die when these systems turn into lakes, and how long recovery will take? The investigators are uniquely situated to mount this study not only because of their location, just south of the path of the storm, but most importantly because the lead investigator has conducted sampling of these bays regularly for the past thirty years, providing a tremendous context in which to interpret the new data gathered. The knowledge gained from this study will provide a broader understanding of the effects of similar high intensity rainfall events, which are expected to increase in frequency and/or intensity in the future. The primary research hypothesis is that: Increased inflows to estuaries will cause increased loads of inorganic and organic matter, which will in turn drive primary production and biological responses, and at the same time significantly enhance respiration of coastal blue carbon. A secondary hypothesis is that: The large change in salinity and dissolved oxygen deficits will kill or stress many estuarine and marine organisms. To test these hypotheses it is necessary to measure the temporal change in key indicators of biogeochemical processes, and biodiversity shifts. Thus, changes to the carbon, nitrogen and oxygen cycles, and the diversity of benthic organisms will be measured and compared to existing baselines. The PIs propose to sample the Lavaca-Colorado, Guadalupe, Nueces, and Laguna Madre estuaries as follows: 1) continuous sampling (via autonomous instruments) of salinity, temperature, pH, dissolved oxygen, and depth (i.e. tidal elevation); 2) bi-weekly to monthly sampling for dissolved and total organic carbon and organic nitrogen, carbonate system parameters, nutrients, and phytoplankton community composition; 3) quarterly measurements of sediment characteristics and benthic infauna. The project will support two graduate students. The PIs will communicate results to the public and to state agencies through existing collaborations.

飓风哈维于2017年8月25日星期五在德克萨斯州科珀斯克里斯蒂东北约30英里处登陆，为4级飓风，风速高达130英里/小时。这是自1961年卡拉以来袭击德克萨斯州中部海岸的最强飓风。风暴和风暴潮过后，风暴在德克萨斯州上空逗留了四天，导致沿海地区发生洪水，休斯顿附近降雨量高达50英寸。这将产生有史以来袭击德克萨斯州海岸的最大洪水之一，据估计，洪水将是千年一遇的事件。得克萨斯州海岸的特点是泻湖背后的屏障岛屿，其生态和海洋地球化学的强烈影响，沿海水文。由于这条海岸线主要由开放水域系统和生产力是由淡水流入量驱动，飓风哈维代表了一个大规模的流入事件，可能会导致沿海环境的巨大变化。因此，出现了一些问题，如碳、营养物质和氧气的地球化学循环将如何改变，是否会发生大规模的浮游植物水华，当这些系统变成湖泊时，河口物种是否会死亡，以及恢复需要多长时间？调查人员之所以能够进行这项研究，不仅是因为他们的位置就在风暴路径的南部，而且最重要的是因为首席调查员在过去的30年里定期对这些海湾进行采样，为解释收集的新数据提供了巨大的背景。从这项研究中获得的知识将提供一个更广泛的了解类似的高强度降雨事件的影响，预计在未来的频率和/或强度增加。主要的研究假设是：流入河口的增加将导致无机和有机物质负荷的增加，这反过来又会驱动初级生产和生物反应，同时显着增强沿海蓝碳的呼吸作用。第二个假设是：盐度和溶解氧不足的巨大变化将杀死或胁迫许多河口和海洋生物。为了检验这些假设，有必要衡量生物地球化学过程和生物多样性变化的关键指标的时间变化。因此，将测量碳、氮和氧循环的变化以及底栖生物的多样性，并与现有基线进行比较。PI建议对Lavaca-Colorado、Guadaloun、Nueces和拉古纳马德雷河口进行采样，具体如下：1）连续采样（通过自主仪器）盐度、温度、pH值、溶解氧和深度（即潮汐高程）; 2）每两周至每月取样一次，以测定溶解和总有机碳和有机氮、碳酸盐系统参数、营养盐和浮游植物群落组成; 3）每季度测量沉积物特征和底栖动物。该项目将资助两名研究生。PI将通过现有的合作向公众和国家机构传达结果。

项目成果

Disparate Responses of Carbonate System in Two Adjacent Subtropical Estuaries to the Influence of Hurricane Harvey – A Case Study

两个相邻亚热带河口碳酸盐系统对飓风哈维影响的不同响应 — 案例研究

• DOI: 10.3389/fmars.2020.00026
• 发表时间: 2020
• 期刊: Frontiers in Marine Science
• 影响因子: 3.7
• 作者: Hu, Xinping;Yao, Hongming;Staryk, Cory J.;McCutcheon, Melissa R.;Wetz, Michael S.;Walker, Lily
• 通讯作者: Walker, Lily

Aragonite saturation states in estuaries along a climate gradient in the northwestern Gulf of Mexico

• DOI: 10.3389/fenvs.2022.951256
• 发表时间: 2022-10
• 作者: Xinping Hu;H. Yao;Melissa R. McCutcheon;L. Dias;Cory J. Staryk;M. Wetz;P. Montagna