| NSF Org: |
OPP Office of Polar Programs (OPP) |
| Recipient: |
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| Initial Amendment Date: | July 25, 2012 |
| Latest Amendment Date: | April 16, 2015 |
| Award Number: | 1220032 |
| Award Instrument: | Standard Grant |
| Program Manager: |
Henrietta Edmonds
hedmonds@nsf.gov (703)292-7427 OPP Office of Polar Programs (OPP) GEO Directorate for Geosciences |
| Start Date: | August 15, 2012 |
| End Date: | July 31, 2015 (Estimated) |
| Total Intended Award Amount: | $201,190.00 |
| Total Awarded Amount to Date: | $201,190.00 |
| Funds Obligated to Date: |
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| History of Investigator: |
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| Recipient Sponsored Research Office: |
4202 E FOWLER AVE TAMPA FL US 33620-5800 (813)974-2897 |
| Sponsor Congressional District: |
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| Primary Place of Performance: |
3650 Spectrum Blvd Tampa FL US 33612-9446 |
| Primary Place of
Performance Congressional District: |
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| Unique Entity Identifier (UEI): |
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| Parent UEI: |
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| NSF Program(s): | ANS-Arctic Natural Sciences |
| Primary Program Source: |
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| Program Reference Code(s): |
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| Program Element Code(s): |
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| Award Agency Code: | 4900 |
| Fund Agency Code: | 4900 |
| Assistance Listing Number(s): | 47.078 |
ABSTRACT
The proposed research aims to identify mechanisms of ocean acidification and carbonate undersaturation in the Canada Basin of the Arctic Ocean. The investigators will use a 3-year dataset to address the role of two specific mechanisms involving sea-ice processes: (1) surface water freshening and undersaturation resulting from recent enhanced melting of multi-year sea-ice, and (2) surface water undersaturation resulting from a "carbon-pumping" mechanism driven by brine rejection and carbonate mineral precipitation during increasingly cyclical seasonal sea ice growth and decay. The proposed work would expand understanding of the inorganic carbon cycle, air-sea CO2 exchange rates and acidification in the Arctic Ocean. Understanding baselines and how they are changing is important for setting realistic parameters for process studies on the effects of ocean acidification on flora and fauna. The investigators would participate in one upcoming (2012) research cruise and analyze these data along with that from two previous (2010 and 2011) expeditions. The investigators propose to continue an outreach website initiated on the 2011 expedition, including background about the cruise and ocean acidification, a journal depicting different days? activities, a mechanism for the public to ask questions regarding the cruise and our research and answers to those questions, and an education and outreach page with material on ocean acidification. The proposed research will also contribute to graduate student education, and facilitate collaboration between university (USF) and government (USGS) scientists.
PUBLICATIONS PRODUCED AS A RESULT OF THIS RESEARCH
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PROJECT OUTCOMES REPORT
Disclaimer
This Project Outcomes Report for the General Public is displayed verbatim as submitted by the Principal Investigator (PI) for this award. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this Report are those of the PI and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation; NSF has not approved or endorsed its content.
This project collected and analyzed data to create a high-resolution dataset for baseline chemical monitoring from the Arctic Ocean. Data collected were aimed at monitoring changes in ocean acidification of surface waters and their saturation with respect to the mineral aragonite, which is important for organisms that use aragonite in their skeletal material. Ocean acidification is the process by which seawater becomes increasingly acidic (lower pH) due to greater amounts of carbon dioxide being absorbed by the oceans from the atmosphere. Currently Earth's oceans absorb about one-fourth of the carbon dioxide produced by human activities. However this process is not homogenous across Earth's oceans and the Arctic may play an important but relatively poorly understood role in global ocean acidification. Such variation of ocean surface water pH affects species up and down the food web. Laboratory studies have shown that more acidic water decrease the rates at which many organisms build skeletal materials from aragonite.
Data produced by this project have shown an area of aragonite undersaturation that now covers approximately 20% of the surface area of Canadian Basin--a situation that has until recently has not been the norm. This area of undersaturation has been previously recognized, but relatively undefined. In addition to monitoring the baseline of acidification in the Arctic Ocean, this project has also used water-source tracer data which link the undersaturation to the processes of sea-ice melt and to terrestrial runoff from rivers in addition to the uptake of anthropogenic carbon dioxide from human activity. These data are important because they demonstrate unprecedented rates of change that extend beyond model projections and the average rate of change in the global ocean. These data will be critical in gauging future changes in the region, particularly in areas where extensive sea-ice melt has not yet occurred.
Last Modified: 10/30/2015
Modified by: Jonathan G Wynn
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