THIS OUTLINE IS OUTDATED AS OF - 2/22

A. Abstract

I. Determine the source of carbon in the inorganic carbon cycle of G.B.

a. Use stable isotope analysis to identify source (¹³δC)

i. terrestrial, marine phytoplankton, anthropogenic all carry different signatures.

ii. multiple depths at 5 different stations.

b. Common study in open ocean

i. Less common in bay/estuarine/coastal areas

ii. Completely unstudied in G.B.

II. Sea-atmosphere CO₂ gas exchange is unknown

a. Source or sink of CO₂ to the atmosphere

i. Like P.S., probably source

ii. Effected by ocean acidification processes.

b. Use alkalinity titration and GLOBALVIEW data.

i. To get pCO₂ values for the atmosphere and sea water in G.B in March.

III. Important because the ocean is a massive reservoir of carbon and serves as a buffer to the atmosphere.

a. Completely unknown about G.B.

b. Other bodies of water with some similarities to G.B. have been studied.

B. Background (Intro)

I. The study of the ocean's interaction with our atmosphere has become very popular due to its important role in buffering anthropogenic and naturally produced green house gasses.

a. The CO₂ cycle in our atmosphere is dominantly controlled by the ocean

i. CO2 gas exchange plays a role in ocean pH, and buffering capacity

ii. Increasing atmospheric CO2 within the last 150 years has started to take and effect some of the world's oceans.

b. The properties of the inorganic carbon in sea water tell us information about the source and carbon cycle.

i. Organic breakdown; terrestrial and marine.

ii. Anthropogenic source tells us how much the combustion of fossil fuels is contributing to the amount of CO₂ found in seawater.

II. Many studies have been conducted investigating the source/sink relationship in open ocean areas, but not as many nearshore.

a. Coastal areas are host to a huge number of species and habitats.

i. A drop in the pH of seawater is directly associated with high levels of CO₂ in the surrounding area.

ii. Already causing problems for reef areas (bleaching).

b. Glacier Bay is a more remote location and baseline measurements for total CO₂ have not been made

i. Important fishery and habitat for whales, halibut, crab.

ii. Similar in some ways to Puget Sound (chance for comparison).

III. Hypothesis / Questions

a. Questions

i. Is Glacier Bay a source or sink of CO₂ to the atmosphere, what is the magnitude and how might it effect fisheries, wildlife, habitat?

ii. Is the majority of the inorganic carbon in the bay coming from terrestrial or marine organic sources and where did these sources get their carbon from (anthropogenic?).

b. Hypotheses

i. G.B. is likely a sink of CO₂ for the atmosphere

a. Due to its similarities to P.S. (inward flow of deep ocean water, net outward flow).

b. Impacted by river/glacier inputs?

ii. The source of cabon to the system is largely natural and will be more dominated by terrestrial inputs.

a. March is early in the phytoplankton bloom season so terrestrial inputs may still dominate.

b. Terrestrial may dominate year round because of the receding glaciers and numerous river inputs.

C. Proposed Work

I. Field measurements

a. 110 samples gathered from 25 stations

i. 20 stations will be surface only

ii. Other 5 stations will include surface and 6 lower depths

iii. 2 samples per station per depth

iv. all surface samples will be measured for DIC

b. Alkalinity to be measured by Gran titration on board ship

i. Knowing alkalinity of seawater, DIC, and pCO₂ of atmosphere allows us to know the gas exchange details between sea and atmosphere.

ii. 50 total samples will be analyzed for alkalinity

iii. Will need a Gran titrator, and enough supplies to run 50 alk titrations (help here, what all do I need to do Gran titration on the ship?)

c. Wind data to be gathered to know gas exchange rate between atmosphere and sea (need help here, from ship?).

II. Laboratory measurements

a. DIC will be analyzed for all locations and for all depths tested

i. Samples collected in ground glass bottles, poisoned with Hg2Cl

ii. Seawater acidified in lab and extracted with Helium.(Quay 1992)

iii. Extracted samples run on mass spectrometer to determine ¹³δC ratio.

b. I will carry out some of the measurements, as well as hiring help to complete some of the extractions.

III. Levels of atmospheric CO2 are monitored globally.

a. Use of a resource like GLOBALVIEW to determine atmospheric CO2. (GLOBALVIEW 2000)

IV. Materials

a. Materials at sea: 100uL pipette & extra tips, 60 mL syringe with tubing, 1 turkey baster, Apiezon M grease, tubing to attach to Niskin, 2 rolls labeling tape, waterproof pens (sharpies, pens, pencils), zip ties for closing crates, gloves and goggles, 1 roll packing tape, rubber bands w/red clips for closing sample bottles, cruise notebook containing sampling procedure, data sheets, MSDS for mercuric chloride.

b. Unknowns: Gran titrator equipment and supplies, (still adding to this list).

D. Budget

I. Financial Budget

a. Thomson costs: $22,000 per day to operate --this cost has been covered by NSF grants.

b. Supplies cost:

i. DIC analysis chemicals, tools, and sample bottles – cost covered by my lab.

ii. Gran titrator rental cost – unknown (covered by Rick Keil?)

iii. Gran titrator supplies – Nitric acid (help here, is this all I need, what is the cost, where should I get it?)

c. Labor costs

i. Professors and lead scientists time – cost covered (by UW salaries/volunteer?).

ii. Ship personnel – included in Thomson operating cost

iii. DIC sample extraction – to be paid from my budget. $15/hr * 30 hours. Plus my own time, which is free.

5. References

GLOBALVIEW-CO2: Cooperative Atmospheric Data Integration Project - Carbon
Dioxide. CD-ROM, NOAA CMDL, Boulder, Colorado [Also available on Internet via anonymous FTP to ftp.cmdl.noaa.gov, Path: ccg/co2/GLOBALVIEW], 2003.

Haraldsson, C., L. G. Anderson, M. Hassellov, S. Hulth, and K. Olsson. 1997. Rapid, high-precision potentiometric titration of alkalinity in ocean and sediment pore waters. Deep-Sea Research Part I-Oceanographic Research Papers 44: 2031-2044.

Jacobson, A. R., S. E. M. Fletcher, N. Gruber, J. L. Sarmiento, and M. Gloor. 2007. A joint atmosphere-ocean inversion for surface fluxes of carbon dioxide: 1. Methods and global-scale fluxes (vol 21, art no GB1019, 2007). Global Biogeochemical Cycles 21.

Miller, W. L., and R. G. Zepp. 1995. Photochemical Production Of Dissolved Inorganic Carbon From Terrestrial Organic-Matter - Significance To The Oceanic Organic-Carbon Cycle. Geophysical Research Letters 22: 417-420.

Quay, P. D., B. Tilbrook, and C. S. Wong. 1992. Oceanic Uptake Of Fossil-Fuel Co2 - C-13 Evidence. Science 256: 74-79.

Zhang, J. R., and P. D. Quay. 1997. The total organic carbon export rate based on C-13 and C-12 of DIC budgets in the equatorial Pacific region. Deep-Sea Research Part Ii-Topical Studies In Oceanography 44: 2163-2190.