NSF Org: |
OCE Division Of Ocean Sciences |
Recipient: |
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Initial Amendment Date: | February 21, 2013 |
Latest Amendment Date: | July 18, 2014 |
Award Number: | 1233272 |
Award Instrument: | Continuing Grant |
Program Manager: |
Donald L. Rice
OCE Division Of Ocean Sciences GEO Directorate For Geosciences |
Start Date: | March 1, 2013 |
End Date: | January 31, 2015 (Estimated) |
Total Intended Award Amount: | $550,681.00 |
Total Awarded Amount to Date: | $550,681.00 |
Funds Obligated to Date: |
FY 2014 = $145,920.00 |
History of Investigator: |
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Recipient Sponsored Research Office: |
266 WOODS HOLE RD WOODS HOLE MA US 02543-1535 (508)289-3542 |
Sponsor Congressional District: |
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Primary Place of Performance: |
183 Oyster Pond Road Woods Hole MA US 02543-1501 |
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): |
Chemical Oceanography, OCE-Ocean Sciences Research |
Primary Program Source: |
01001415DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT |
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): | 47.050 |
ABSTRACT
Particles play essential roles in the cycling and distribution of trace elements and isotopes (TEI). For instance scavenging onto particles and removal by particle export is a major sink for many TEIs. However the driving factors affecting the spatial extent and temporal variability of TEI scavenging remain largely unknown. The U.S. GEOTRACES East Pacific Zonal Transect between Peru and Tahiti will cross three biogeochemically important areas, setting the stage for researchers to constrain unknowns surrounding particle scavenging.
Scientists from Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and University of Minnesota-Twin Cities will address fundamental questions on the location of particle formation, particle-dissolved species interactions, dominant particle phases, and the evolution of particle phases during transport. As regards particle phases, the researchers will measure particulate organic carbon (POC), calcium carbonate, opal, lithogenics, and oxyhydroxides, as well as the trace element compositions of size fractionated particles covering three distinct zones: large lateral productivity gradients, a major oxygen deficient zone off the coast of Peru, and a world renowned hydrothermal plume emanating from the southern East Pacific Rise. Furthermore, since previous results suggest particle type affects scavenging, investigators will specifically measure acid-leachable trace metals, particle concentration, and major particle composition. These combined measurements will allow them to disentangle the relative importance of hydrothermal particles, benthic nepheloid layers, and high productivity margins for scavenging of TEIs. The cruise transect will also offer unique opportunities to examine the speciation of Fe and POC in hydrothermal particles away from the vent field and the effects of aggregation and POC coatings on TEI partitioning.
As regards broader impacts, the researchers plan to create an educational module on particulate trace metals in the ocean which would become part of a five part GEOTRACES webinar series developed by Dr. Benjamin Twining at the Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences in collaboration with the Center for Ocean Sciences Education Excellence-Ocean Systems at the University of Maine. One graduate student from Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and one graduate student from the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, would be supported and trained as part of this project. In addition, an undergraduate student would participate in the research during the summer month as part of the Woods Hole Diversity Initiative Partnership in Education program.
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