Carbon Sequestration
Christopher Hayes (USM)
Photo by Unsplash
Overview
In this project, we will observe the biological pump in the poorly explored abyssal Gulf of Mexico using newly acquired in-situ pumps (McLane Large Volume Water Samplers). The measurements necessary to estimate carbon flux (the isotope thorium-230 and particulate inorganic and organic carbon) require analyzing the particulate material from about 140 liters of seawater. This can be acquired by the pump (with pump rate of 8L/min) in 1 hydro-cast of a station occupation. Filter samples from the pump can be retrieved and stored for analysis in the shore-based lab with relatively little sample handling requirements on board.
