Joint SOLAS Bergen Mesocosm Experiment

该项目将统一目前NERC SOLAS指导方案内的一些个别项目，这些项目正在调查控制海洋表面微层中大气痕量气体的产生和消耗的微生物过程。甲烷、一氧化二氮、一氧化碳、二甲基硫、卤甲烷和挥发性有机化合物等对气候有重要影响的微量气体必须通过这一界面才能释放到大气中和/或被海洋吸收。微生物既消耗又产生这些气体的SML，从而发挥其生物地球化学循环的主要控制。调节这些微生物活动的过程知之甚少，但可以在UKSOLAS中直接解决，方法是在仔细定义的实验条件下生成一个强大的数据集，包括化学和生物参数。虽然通过参与研究小组的工作，现在可以对SML的生物和化学成分进行采样，并对SML的气体交换进行测量，但现在需要的是一种连贯的统一方法，以提高这些正在进行的UKSOLAS项目的科学成果。卑尔根围隔生态系统设施为此提供了一个独特的机会;这些设施将使《联合王国海上人命安全公约》的科学家能够生成一个可靠的数据集，用于实验分析和建模，因为在浮游植物大量繁殖的整个过程中，当几种重要的微量气体将通过微生物产生和/或消耗时，将有可能在仔细界定的条件下跟踪SML微生物学、化学和微量气体转移。在远洋航行中不容易做到这一点，因为天气和取样制度的不可预测性往往妨碍我们提出的统一测量和取样办法（见工作计划）。这项工作的成果将提供宝贵的实用有效的数据集的一些UKSOLAS项目，这些项目是在大规模（而不仅仅是在实验室为基础的实验）在定义的实验条件下产生的。这将使我们能够确定微生物在将气候重要气体从海洋转移到大气中的重要性，这是UKSOLAS的中心目标。

This project will unify a number of individual projects within the current NERC SOLAS directed programme that are investigating the microbial processes controlling the production and consumption of atmospheric trace gases in the sea surface microlayer (SML). This is the interface through which climatically important trace gases such as CH4, N2O, CO, DMS, methyl halides and VICs must pass in order to be released to the atmosphere and/or taken up by the oceans. Microbes that both consume and produce these gases in the SML thus exert major controls on their biogeochemical cycles. The processes which regulate the activities of these microbes are poorly understood but can be directly addressed within UKSOLAS through generating a robust dataset including chemical and biological parameters under carefully defined experimental conditions. Although both SML sampling for biological and chemical components and measurements of SML gas exchange are now routinely possible through the work of the participating research groups, what is now needed is a coherent unifying approach that enhances the scientific deliverables of these ongoing UKSOLAS projects. The Bergen mesocosm facilities afford a unique opportunity for this; they will enable UKSOLAS scientists to generate a robust dataset for experimental analysis and modelling since it will be possible to follow SML microbiology, chemistry and trace gas transfer under carefully defined conditions throughout the course of a phytoplankton bloom, when several important trace gases will be produced and/or consumed microbially. This cannot easily be achieved on ocean-going cruises since the unpredictability of weather and sampling regimes often precludes the unified approach to measuring and sampling that we propose (see work plan). The outcomes of this work will provide valuable statistically-valid datasets for a number of UKSOLAS projects which are generated on large scale (rather than just in laboratory-based experiments) under defined experimental conditions. This will allow us to define the importance of microbes in the transfer of climatically important gases from the oceans to the atmosphere, a central aim of UKSOLAS.