NSF Org: |
OCE Division Of Ocean Sciences |
Recipient: |
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Initial Amendment Date: | September 12, 2016 |
Latest Amendment Date: | June 1, 2021 |
Award Number: | 1635527 |
Award Instrument: | Standard Grant |
Program Manager: |
Daniel McCorkle
OCE Division Of Ocean Sciences GEO Directorate For Geosciences |
Start Date: | September 15, 2016 |
End Date: | March 31, 2022 (Estimated) |
Total Intended Award Amount: | $687,380.00 |
Total Awarded Amount to Date: | $729,306.00 |
Funds Obligated to Date: |
FY 2021 = $41,926.00 |
History of Investigator: |
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Recipient Sponsored Research Office: |
1156 HIGH ST SANTA CRUZ CA US 95064-1077 (831)459-5278 |
Sponsor Congressional District: |
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Primary Place of Performance: |
CA US 95046-1077 |
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): |
Marine Geology and Geophysics, BIOLOGICAL OCEANOGRAPHY, Integrat & Collab Ed & Rsearch |
Primary Program Source: |
01002122DB 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
Oceanic biological-ecosystem variability reflects dynamic physical processes in the ocean. This research aims to use newly-developed, state-of-the-art analyses of the chemical composition of deep-sea corals to examine how biogeochemical changes and shifts in plankton populations are related to environmental changes over the past few centuries. The project focuses on the Northeast Pacific Arc, which includes the Gulf of Alaska and the California Current System (CCS). Here instrumental records of sea surface temperature, sea level pressure, and coastal surface temperature reveal a consistent pattern of multi-decadal-scale changes in the North Pacific Basin. Funding supports training of one graduate student, one postdoctoral fellow, and offers research experiences for UCSC undergraduates, community college students, and high school students. The research team has partnered with the UCSC Seymour Marine Discovery Center to establish a new permanent exhibit highlighting deep-sea corals and climate-related ecosystem change.
The central goal of this research is to couple high resolution records of past environments derived from deep-sea proteinaceous corals together with new compound-specific amino acid isotope (CSI-AA) measurements to create reconstructions of both biogeochemical change (e.g., source of nitrogen) and basic plankton ecosystem shifts crossing the Northeast Pacific Arc. Using sediment trap and live-collected samples, the research team will develop a more intimate understanding of, and establish explicit links between export production and the CSI-AA baseline values and patterns recorded in proteinaceous deep-sea corals. They will apply this knowledge to provide new insight into the underlying mechanisms of North East Pacific ecosystem change over the last 300-500 years. Overarching questions guiding this research are: 1) Are there structural, secular, long-term changes in NE Pacific Arc food webs beyond the Pacific Decadal Oscillation?, 2) If yes, how are these reflected in the community structure at the base of the food web?, and 3) How has community structure and sources of nitrate at the base of the food-web shifted in response to these changes?
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.
Oceanic biological-ecosystem variability is most often linked to changes in sea surface temperature (SST) but SST is a reflection of dynamic processes which influence: the stability of the water column, nutrient input, entrainment, and advection. Our central goal was to couple high resolution paleorecords derived from deep-sea proteinaceous coral together with new compound-specific amino acid isotope (CSIA-AA) measurements to create reconstructions of both biogeochemical change (e.g., source of nitrogen) and basic plankton ecosystem shifts in the Northeast Pacific, focusing on the California Current Ecosystem. Under this project we compared sediment trap and live-collected Isididae (bamboo coral) samples and convincingly showed that the skeletons of deep-sea proteinaceous corals are indeed acting like living sediment traps: accurately recording the CSIA-AA signature of sinking particulate organic matter on which the corals feed. We compared the CSIA-AA signature of the live animal (polyp) and the outermost proteinaceous skeleton of three different deep-sea coral taxons (Kulamanamana, Isididae, and Primnoa) and showed that there was no difference between the polyps and skeleton for source amino acid nitrogen isotope values and for essential and non-essential amino acid carbon isotope values. This result confirmed that we can use the CSIA-AA isotope values in the skeleton to directly track baseline nitrogen isotope values (equal to source amino acid isotope values) and the carbon isotope value of export production (equal to essential amino acid isotope values). We documented a reproducible offset between polyp and skeleton in the nitrogen isotope value of trophic amino acids. This most likely is a result of the synthesis of polyp tissue which has a fast turnover time and the creation of skeletal material which is essentially unidirectional incorporation of amino acids. Analyzing a sub-fossil proteinaceous deep-sea coral specimen which accreted its skeleton nearly 11,000 years ago, we studied the effects of diagenesis on the skeletal matrix, amino acid composition, and the skeletal isotope values. Although the outer portion of the skeleton showed evidence of chemical diagenesis which confounds direct interpretation of the isotope values, the physically protected inner skeleton exhibited minimal evidence of chemical diagenesis with amino acid isotope patterns implying interpretable values. The diagenetic horizon was easily identified using carbon to nitrogen ratios and an amino acid isotope proxy for bacterial resynthesis.
Recorded in the proteinaceous skeleton of Central California corals are multi-decadal changes in baseline 15N, as recorded in phenylanaline and 'source AA' averages, that are intimately linked to well-known climate regimes and patterns in sea level pressure, surface winds, sea surface temperature, and upwelling dynamics. There is no centennial scale, secular linear trend in bulk 13C, 15N or in the CSIA-AAs of interest: source 15N AA, and essential 13C AA.
Mixed digital media art exhibits were created to capture the imagination of deep-sea corals and other denizens of the mesopelagic. They can be viewed at
https://www.modernobysaulvillegas.com/deep-sea-coral
https://www.modernobysaulvillegas.com/deep-sea-coral-ii
https://www.modernobysaulvillegas.com/wmuh-deep-sea-hub
Last Modified: 11/27/2022
Modified by: Thomas P Guilderson
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