Ocean acidification in the western Arctic Ocean

大气中不断上升的二氧化碳浓度、全球气候变化和地球生物圈的可持续性是社会关注的重大问题。北冰洋确实如此，因为它被广泛认为是地球上对气候变化最敏感的地区之一。了解碳循环及其潜在的控制机制对于预测北冰洋的碳通量将如何变化以及对更大气候系统的反馈是必要的。该项目将通过与中国国家北极研究考察队（CHINARE）合作，沿着从白令海峡到高纬度盆地的样带巡航，测量碳酸盐岩系统的组成部分，以了解北冰洋西部的海洋酸化情况。研究人员将在2020年夏季收集高分辨率无机碳数据。这些数据，再加上中国海洋资源研究中心合作者在2019年和2021年收集的数据子集，将用于了解北冰洋西部碳循环、通量和海洋酸化的控制机制，以及近几十年来发生的变化。持续的数据收集和数据综合对于了解北冰洋海洋碳酸盐系统的主要环境和气候相关变化非常重要。这项研究将通过在特拉华大学教授本科和研究生课程来加强海洋碳研究和普通科学教育的基础设施。此外，它还将通过公共宣传活动加强国际合作，提高公众对气候变化和环境问题的认识。观察和了解北冰洋碳循环的控制机制对于预测未来气候变化的条件和反馈是必要的。本研究将验证楚科奇陆架和海冰融化边缘的高生物产量和低分压二氧化碳（pCO2）的假设，以及无冰盆地地区高pCO2、低pH和低碳酸盐饱和状态的假设。将新数据与2008 - 2018年收集的数据以及其他历史数据进行比较，以验证以pCO2升高和pH降低为特征的流域面积向北扩张是由于夏季增温时间提前和时间延长、缓冲能力降低和大气中pCO2增加的假设。最后，2020年收集的水柱数据将与早期数据一起用于验证一种假设，即海洋酸化从地下向更深深度和更高纬度的扩展主要是由海冰退缩等快速环境变化驱动的太平洋冬季水进入地下盆地的输入增加引起的。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Rising carbon dioxide concentrations in the atmosphere, global climate change, and the sustainability of the Earth's biosphere are of great societal concern. This is true in the Arctic Ocean as it is widely viewed as one of the most sensitive regions on Earth to climate change. Understanding the carbon cycle and its underlying control mechanisms is necessary to predict how carbon flux in the Arctic Ocean will change, as well as feedbacks to the larger climate system. This project will measure components of the carbonate system to understand ocean acidification in the western Arctic Ocean through collaboration with the Chinese National Arctic Research Expedition (CHINARE) cruises along a transect from the Bering Strait to high latitude basins. The investigator will collect high resolution inorganic carbon data during summer 2020. These data, supplemented by a subset of data collected in 2019 and 2021 by CHINARE collaborators, will be used to understand the mechanisms controlling carbon cycle and fluxes and ocean acidification in the western Arctic Ocean and the changes that have occurred in recent decades. Continued data collection and data synthesis are important to understand major environmental and climate-related changes in the marine carbonate system in the Arctic Ocean. This research will enhance the infrastructure of ocean carbon research and general science education through teaching undergraduate and graduate courses at the University of Delaware. In addition, it will enhance international collaboration and public awareness of climate change and environmental issues through public outreach activities. Observing and understanding the mechanisms controlling the carbon cycle in the Arctic Ocean is necessary to predict future conditions and feedbacks to climate change. This study will test the hypothesis that high biological production and low partial pressure of carbon dioxide (pCO2) are limited to the Chukchi shelf and the sea-ice melt edge and that ice-free basin areas are characterized by high pCO2, low pH, and low carbonate saturation state. A comparison of the new data with those collected between 2008 and 2018 during CHINARE, as well as other historical data, will be used to test the hypothesis that the expansion of the basin area to north characterized by increasingly higher pCO2 and lower pH is due to the earlier timing and longer summer warming, reduced buffer capacity, and increased pCO2 in the atmosphere. Finally, water column data collected in 2020 together with earlier data will be used to test the hypothesis that the expansion of ocean acidification from subsurface to deeper depths and to higher latitudes is primarily caused by the increased input of the Pacific Winter Water into the subsurface basin driven by rapid environment change such as sea-ice retreat.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.