Trace Metal Regulation of Carbon Acquisition in Oceanic Phytoplankton

越来越多的证据表明，某些必需微量元素的极低海洋输入可能限制初级生产者获取主要营养物质和生长的能力。在这个项目中，首席研究员将测试以下假设：(1)海洋表面低锌浓度可能会限制浮游植物吸收无机碳的速度；(2)镉和钴可能在某些物种中取代锌；(3)碳、锌、镉和钴的相对可用性可能对硅藻和球石藻的生长产生不同的影响，从而通过所谓的降雨比（碳酸钙/向深海输出的有机碳）影响生物二氧化碳泵的效率，从而影响表层海水中二氧化碳的分压。这些假设将通过硅藻和球石藻的实验室实验进行研究，并通过一个小型的海上实地项目进行验证。

ABSTRACT There is mounting evidence that the very low oceanic inputs of some essential trace elements may limit the ability of primary producers to acquire major nutrients and grow. This this project the principal investigator will test the hypotheses that (1) low zinc concentrations in the surface oceans may limit the rate of inorganic carbon uptake by phytoplankton; (2) that cadmium and cobalt may substitute for zinc in some species; and that (3) the relative availability of carbon, zinc, cadmium, and cobalt may effect differentially the growth of diatoms and coccolithophores and thus influence through the so-called rain ratio (calcium carbonate/organic carbon export to the deep sea), the efficiency of the biological carbon dioxide pump and hence the partial pressure of carbon dioxide in surface seawater. These hypotheses will be studied using laboratory experiments with diatoms and coccolithophores and groundtruthed through a small sea-going field program.