Collaborative Research: Glacial deep Pacific carbon storage and effects on CaCO3 preservation

海洋受到气候变化的威胁，了解它们将如何应对更高的二氧化碳水平从未如此重要。过去海洋碳循环的变化可以提供数据来检查和改进模型，帮助我们预测未来的变化。这些数据还可以帮助我们“平衡”地球的碳预算，显示在地球更冷的时候，海洋中储存了多少碳。研究将由两名早期职业女性科学家进行，包括大学生和研究生的角色。这项工作还通过为高中课堂创造活动，增加了获得气候变化信息的机会。这项工作推进了发现，整合了研究和教育，增加了地球科学中代表性不足的群体的参与，并促进了公众对基础科学研究的参与。该项目由OCE-MGG和EPSCoR共同资助。尽管了解冰川时期整个海洋碳系统变化的重要性以及太平洋的体积优势，但大西洋一直是大多数定量碳循环重建的主要场所。这意味着关于太平洋碳储存和溶解反馈的长期问题在很大程度上仍然没有答案。太平洋过去的碳收支将使用几个地球化学代用指标进行探讨。底栖有孔虫的B/Ca比值是研究这些问题的最先进的替代指标，因为它记录了海水碳酸盐离子浓度与饱和浓度Delta[CO 32-]之间的差异。该研究计划将这一新的替代物与重建深海碳循环变化的经典方法配对，包括浮游有孔虫物种组合和个体重量、碳酸钙通量、底栖有孔虫的碳同位素分析以及有机碳通量的重建。多重代理方法旨在约束不同的碳循环反馈，并校准较便宜的基于显微镜的技术，以努力利用现有的古气候数据集的财富进行定量重建和模型数据交叉验证。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并被认为值得通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估来支持。

The oceans are threatened by climate change, and understanding how they will respond to higher CO2 levels has never been more important. Past changes in the ocean’s carbon cycle can provide data to check and improve models that help us predict future changes. These data can also help us ‘balance’ Earth’s carbon budget by showing where and how much carbon was stored in the ocean at times when the Earth has been much colder. Research will be carried out by two early career, female scientists and includes roles for college and graduate students. This work also increases access to information about climate change by creating activities for high school classrooms. This work advances discovery, integrates research and education, increases the participation of underrepresented groups in the geosciences, and fosters the inclusion of the public in fundamental science research. This project is jointly funded by OCE-Marine Geology and Geophysics (OCE-MGG) and the Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR).Despite the importance of understanding whole-ocean carbon system changes in glacial periods, and the volumetric dominance of the Pacific Ocean, the Atlantic Ocean has been the primary locus of most quantitative carbon cycle reconstructions. This means that longstanding questions about Pacific carbon storage and dissolution feedbacks remain largely unanswered. The Pacific Ocean’s carbon budget in the past will be explored using several geochemical proxies. The B/Ca ratio of benthic foraminifera is a state-of-the-art proxy for examining these questions, as it records the difference between seawater’s carbonate ion concentration and its concentration at saturation Delta[CO32-]. The research plan pairs this new proxy with classical methods of reconstructing carbon cycle changes in the deep ocean including planktonic foraminifera species assemblages and individual weights, calcium carbonate fluxes, carbon isotope analysis of benthic foraminifera, and reconstructions of organic carbon fluxes (Baxs). The multiproxy approach is designed to constrain different carbon cycle feedbacks, and to calibrate less expensive microscope-based techniques in an effort to harness the wealth of existing paleoclimate datasets for quantitative reconstructions and model-data cross validation.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.