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

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，风速高达130英里/小时。这是自1961年“卡拉”飓风以来袭击德克萨斯州中部海岸的最强飓风。在风暴和风暴潮之后，由于风暴在德克萨斯州停留了四天多，沿海地区发生了洪水，休斯顿附近的降雨量高达50英寸。这将造成德克萨斯州海岸有史以来最大的洪水之一，据估计，这场洪水将是千年一遇的事件。德克萨斯州海岸以堰洲岛后的泻湖为特征，其生态和生物地球化学受海岸水文的强烈影响。由于这条海岸线由开放水域系统主导，生产力受淡水流入量的驱动，飓风哈维代表了一次大规模的流入事件，可能会对沿海环境造成巨大变化。因此，碳、营养物质和氧气的生物地球化学循环将如何改变，是否会发生大规模的浮游植物繁殖，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，这些问题就出现了。研究人员之所以能进行这项研究，不仅是因为他们的位置在风暴路径的南面，更重要的是，在过去的30年里，首席研究员定期对这些海湾进行采样，为解释收集到的新数据提供了一个巨大的背景。从这项研究中获得的知识将使人们更广泛地了解类似的高强度降雨事件的影响，预计这些事件的频率和/或强度在未来会增加。初步的研究假设是：入海口增加会导致无机和有机物负荷增加，从而带动初级生产和生物响应，同时显著增强海岸蓝碳的呼吸作用。第二个假设是：盐度的巨大变化和溶解氧的缺乏将杀死或使许多河口和海洋生物感到压力。为了验证这些假设，有必要测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。PIs建议对lava - colorado、Guadalupe、Nueces和Laguna Madre河口进行如下采样：1)（通过自主仪器）连续采样盐度、温度、pH值、溶解氧和深度（即潮汐高度）；2)每两周至每月采样一次溶解有机碳和总有机氮、碳酸盐系统参数、营养物质和浮游植物群落组成；3)沉积物特征和底栖动物的季度测量。该项目将资助两名研究生。pi将通过现有的合作将结果传达给公众和国家机构。

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.