Mass Balance Assessments of Carbon Partitioning: A Contribution to the U.S. JGOFS SMP
NSF: OCE-9726091, 36 months
PROJECT SUMMARY:
The overall goal is to perform empirical analyses of the principal processes
that control the partitioning of carbon in the surface layer of the ocean
in order to improve model parameterizations of the oceanic carbon cycle.
Specific processes to be evaluated include the export of carbon from the
surface layer as particulate organic and inorganic carbon, the production
and accumulation of organic carbon in the surface layer, and the air-sea
exchange of carbon dioxide. The analytical approach taken will be
largely one of mass balance of carbon and nitrogen in the upper layer of
the ocean. Carbon partitioning at US JGOFS
process and time-series
sites will be studied in the early phase of the project, while extrapolation
of the findings at the JGOFS sites to the ocean basin and global scale
will take place in the later phase of the project. In the latter analysis,
data from the Global CO2 survey and the NOAA OACES lines will
be used to investigate basin wide expressions of carbon partitioning.
Throughout the study, the findings from the JGOFS study sites, and those
resulting from the global extrapolations, will be used to improve model
parameterizations of carbon fluxes and partitioning. This final objective
provides a strong link to the modeling studies to be supported in the US
JGOFS Synthesis and Modeling Program. The work will lead to significant
improvements in the oceanographic community's modeling of the marine carbon
cycle.
Dennis Hansell
Bermuda Biological Station for Research, Inc.
17 Biological Station Lane
Ferry Reach, St. George's GE 01
BERMUDA
tel: (441) 297-1880 x210
fax: (441) 297-8143
dennis@bbsr.edu
Nicholas R. Bates
Bermuda Biological Station for Research, Inc.
17 Biological Station Lane
Ferry Reach, St. George's GE01
BERMUDA
tel: (441) 297-1880 x311
fax: (441) 297-8143
nick@bbsr.edu
Rick Murnane
RPI Science Program Manager
Bermuda Biological Station for Research, Inc.
17 Biological Station Lane
Ferry Reach, St. George's GE01
BERMUDA
tel: (441) 297-1880 x246
fax: (441) 297-8143
rmurnane@bbsr.edu