Coupling between Physical Processes, Biological Dynamics and Air-Sea CO2 Fluxes in the Labrador Sea

拉布拉多海在海洋物理学和地球化学中起着至关重要的作用。这是一个深水形成的区域，并在6月的下半月经历了一场激烈的浮游植物水华。这种水华使该地区成为大气中二氧化碳（CO2）的重要汇。 与全球海洋的其他汇区在较短（十年）的时间尺度上返回表面相反，拉布拉多海沃茨中封存的大气CO2在数千年的时间里与大气接触。 最近，美国国家科学基金会的物理海洋学和化学海洋学项目资助了几个机构的研究人员研究拉布拉多海二氧化碳物理化学封存的动力学--但不是生物学方面。在这个项目中，俄勒冈州州立大学的研究人员将通过增加春季浮游生物大量繁殖期间二氧化碳减少的研究来加强正在进行的拉布拉多海研究。 该地区季节性的高初级生产力是其作为CO2汇的部分原因，因此量化生物碳吸收至关重要。这样做需要估计社区生物量、生产力和出口。此外，控制春季开花的物理和生态过程-混合，光照，放牧-本身也很有趣。亚每日的时间序列的二氧化碳分压和溶解氧，已经资助，是丰富的生物信息，但不能充分利用，没有额外的生物参数贡献的这一建议。因此，该项目涉及的气体通量的研究，这将受益于生物测量，和生物过程的研究，这将受益于详细的化学通量测量之间的协同作用。更广泛的影响：这项工作解决了全球社会关注的问题，即海洋和大气之间的CO2交换和海洋的潜力，以封存CO2在气候意义上的时间尺度。在项目实施过程中，本科生将获得分析和判读卫星数据的经验。该计划的结果将被纳入研究生教学，并在科学会议和主要研究者的网站上传播。

ABSTRACTOCE-0431413The Labrador Sea plays a critical role in ocean physics and biogeochemistry. It is a region of deep water formation, and experiences an intense phytoplankton bloom that peaks in the second half of June. This bloom makes the region a significant sink of carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere. In contrast to other sink regions of the global ocean that return to the surface on shorter (decadal) time scales, atmospheric CO2 sequestered in waters of the Labrador Sea are removed from contact with the atmosphere for millennia. Recently, the NSF Physical Oceanography and Chemical Oceanography Programs funded researchers at several institutions to study the dynamics of the physicochemical sequestration of CO2 in the Labrador Sea - but not the biological aspects.In this project, researchers at the Oregon State University will enhance the ongoing Labrador Sea study by adding a study of CO2 drawdown during the spring plankton bloom. The seasonally high primary productivity of the region is partially responsible for its status as a CO2 sink, so it is essential to quantify the biological carbon uptake. Doing so requires estimates of community biomass, productivity and export. Furthermore, the physical and ecological processes controlling the spring bloom - mixing, light, grazing - are of interest in and of themselves. The sub-daily time series of pCO2 and DO, already funded, is rich in biological information, but cannot be fully exploited without the additional biological parameters contributed by this proposal. Thus this project involves a synergy between a study of gas fluxes, which will benefit from biological measurements, and a study of biological processes, which will benefit from the detailed chemical flux measurements.Broader impacts: This work addresses a problem of global societal concern, namely the exchange of CO2 between the ocean and atmosphere and the potential of the ocean to sequester CO2 at climatically significant time scales. During the course of the project, undergraduate students will gain experience in the analysis and interpretation of satellite data. The results of the program will be incorporated into graduate teaching and disseminated at scientific meetings and on the principal investigator's website.