US GEOTRACES GP17-ANT: Dissolved Gallium, Barium, and Vanadium as interface, process, and circulation tracers in the Amundsen Sea

国际地学研究计划的目标是了解海洋中痕量化学元素和同位素的分布情况。通过在协同探险中测量痕量元素和同位素，海洋学家可以了解控制其输入、输出和在海洋中移动的过程。美国国家科学基金会正在支持美国2023-2024年在南大洋和阿蒙森海进行的一次地理轨迹采样考察。该项目将专注于对溶解的镓、钡和钒的测量，以推断几个过程，如不同类型水的分布--如冰川融水或温暖的海洋水--沉积物中微量元素的供应，以及生物生产力对这一欠采样地区金属循环的影响。该项目将支持一名早期职业研究人员和一名本科生研究人员，并将通过几项计划中的外展活动与公众分享结果。这项研究将利用过滤后的海水和海冰样本，使用同位素稀释和电感耦合等离子体质谱方法来确定溶解的镓、钡和钒的浓度。利用溶解的镓、钡和钒在其与其他感兴趣的参数(如铁和铝)的相对比率中的分布，本研究将调查：(1)海冰过程如何通过物质供应、吸收和再矿化与水柱中的微量元素循环相互作用；(2)当地的沉积过程(还原沉积物与非还原沉积物)如何影响微量元素的区域分布；以及(3)除历史上使用的示踪剂外，是否可使用线性混合方法来限制该区域不同水类型的循环。因此，这项研究将评估阿蒙森海水与外海区域的连通性，多尼雅对地球化学循环的影响，以及陆地、冰冻圈、沉积和海洋输入的微量元素的相对供应量。由于阿蒙森海是该地区冰盖快速、气候引起的不稳定的中心，而且阿蒙森海与罗斯海和环极洋流具有连通性，罗斯海是形成深水的地方，环极洋流是影响全球水团化学的多产区域。这一奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The goal of the international GEOTRACES program is to understand the distributions of trace chemical elements and isotopes in the oceans. By measuring trace elements and isotopes on coordinated expeditions, oceanographers can learn about processes that control their inputs, outputs, and movement through the ocean. The National Science Foundation is supporting a U.S. GEOTRACES sampling expedition in the Southern Ocean and Amundsen Sea in 2023-2024. This project will focus on the measurement of dissolved gallium, barium, and vanadium to infer several processes such as the distribution of different water types – like glacial meltwater or warm ocean water – sediment supply of trace elements, and the effects of biological productivity on metal cycling in this under-sampled region. The project will support an early career investigator and an undergraduate student researcher and results will be shared with the public through several planned outreach activities.Utilizing filtered seawater and sea ice samples, this study will use isotope-dilution and ICP-MS methodology to determine concentrations of dissolved gallium, barium, and vanadium. Leveraging distributions of dissolved gallium, barium, and vanadium in their relative ratios with other parameters of interest (e.g., iron and aluminum) this study will investigate: (1) how sea ice processes intersect with water column trace element cycling through material supply, uptake, and remineralization; (2) how local sedimentary processes (reductive versus non-reductive sediments) influence the regional distribution of trace elements; and (3) if a linear-mixing approach, with dissolved gallium in addition to historically used tracers, can be used to constrain circulation of different water types in this region. This study will thus assess the connectivity of Amundsen Sea waters to the off-shelf region, the influence of polynyas on geochemical cycles, and the relative supply of trace elements from terrestrial, cryosphere, sedimentary, and oceanic inputs. These points are particularly pertinent in the Amundsen Sea as a locus of rapid, climate-induced destabilization of the region’s ice sheets and since the Amundsen Sea has connectivity with the Ross Sea, where deep waters are formed, and the circumpolar current, a productive region that influences the chemistry of global water masses.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.