James D. Murray - US grants

Anoxic basins provided extreme oceanographic coniditions caused by the absence of oxygen and the presence of reduced substances. Furthermore, the boundary between the oxic and anoxic waters is useful for studying the rates of oxidation and reduction reactions. The Black Sea is the definitive anoxic basin. It is the world's largest permanently anoxic basin because unlike other stagnant basins that are intermittently anoxic, the Black Sea provides a steady state system with an anoxic water replacement time of 2000 years. There have been periodic cruises by U.S. research vessels and U.S. scientists to the Black Sea and these provide the data base for this expedition, no U.S. research vessel has visited the Black Sea since 1975. This expedition will apply the latest analytical techniques for trace elements and gases, some new sampling devices, new techniques for studying microbially medicated oxidation and reduction rates. Current models of elemental cycling in an integrated study of the water column and sediments of the Black Sea.

Development of pattern and form is a central issue in embryology. The interdisciplinary research proposed is to develop and analyze mathematical models for specific epidermal patterns, namely primate dermatoglyphics and alligator stripe patterns. The models will be constructed around known biological facts. The differential equation systems which constitute the models will be investigated analytically and numerically with a view to generating the observed spatial patterns. Stability and robustness of the model mechanisms will also be investigated. The work emphasizes the necessity for integrating theoretical studies and experimental and observational facts. The mathematical techniques used in the investigation will be bifurcation theory and numerical simulation of the nonlinear integrodifferential equation system.

ABSTRACT NARRATIVE Description: This proposal requests funds for the partial support of a workshop on Black Sea oceanography to be held October 23-27, 1989 in Cesme-Izmir Turkey. The cooperating P.I.s are Dr. Erol Izdar of Dokuiz Eylul University of Izmir, Turkey and Dr. James W. Murray, University of Washington. Dr. Izdar recently received an award to conduct this workshop as a NATO Advanced Study Workshop. The NATO grant covers the operational expenses of the workshop and travel expenses of non-U.S. NATO participants. This proposal is intended for the travel and expenses of 26 U.S. participants. The remaining U.S. participants, about thirteen will be supported by other means. The proposed workshop has a major objective of making an international interdisciplinary presentation of and the discussion the results obtained from the five cruises conducted on the Black Sea from April 15 to August 2, 1988 as the International Oceanographic Expedition of the Black Sea. This expedition was planned and organized by U.S. and Turkish scientists meeting in Izmir, Turkey in June 1987. The five separate cruises, each with a major and separate emphasis, were conducted by some 110 scientists from 39 institutions from eight countries. Scope: The proposed workshop shop is scheduled about a year after the completion of the at-sea phase. This interval has provided time and opportunity for significant data analysis. This international conference will be the first formal opportunity for a number of the 110 scientists from the different cruises, disciplines and countries to come together in one location and compare their data and discuss it in an interdisciplinary context. This workshop will fulfill an important phase detailed in a U.S.-Turkish Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) drawn up and signed at the June 1987 meeting. The MOU provided formal ship clearances to conduct research in the Turkish Exclusive Zone of the Black Sea. This clearances were necessary to open up sea areas of scientific interest to fulfill the objectives of the five cruises. The MOU also made reference to the conduct of workshop in Turkey approximately one year after the Expedition. This proposal fulfills objectives of the Science in Developing Countries Program in its exchange and transfer of scientific knowledge through international collaboration.

Studies will be continued of benthic flux and benthic metabolism in continental shelf and slope sediments. These sediments frequently underlie areas of high primary production and this coupled with a short transit distance to the bottom results in high organic rain rates to the sediments. Consequently, continental margin sediments play an important role in controlling water column distributions and global balances of several elements. Benthic fluxes and processes related to the major bioactive elements will be measured to evaluate the importance of these processes in global elemental budgets. Specifically, three questions will be addressed: 1) what are carbon oxidation rates and associated benthic fluxes in continental shelf and slope sediments, 2) how important is denitrification in continental shelf and slope sediments in the marine combined nitrogen budget and, 3) how important are bioturbation and irrigation in enhancing and modifying benthic fluxes. The proposed work consists of modification of the existing benthic flux chamber Tripod for use as a free-vehicle. Field work will focus on the Washington State and Mexican continental margins. Due to the lack of oxygen in the overlying waters of the latter, comparison of the two areas will describe the importance of benthic macrofauna in flux enhancement and modification.

Recent thinking about ocean scavenging models has led to different interpretations of essentially the same data set. On the one hand correlations between the Th removal rate constant and new productivity suggest that biological processes are responsible for removal of metals from solution. On the other hand many anomalous variations in scavenging variables can be explained by a Brownian-pumping model that suggests that adsorption by colloids and their subsequent coagulation is the main process. Field studies will be conducted to learn more about these two very different mechanistic pathways and distinguish between them. Work will be coordinated with Dr. Chih-An Huh (OSU) to obtain Isotope Dilution Mass Spectrometry analyses of Th-230 and Th-232. New techniques will enable us to use smaller samples for Th analyses. The use of hollow- fiber cross-flow filtration techniques will determine how much dissolved Th is present as a colloidal phase. Recycling rate of Th-234 relative to C, N, Pb-210, Po-210, total suspended matter and colloid distributions will be studied in the Monterey Bay/California Current region.

This project will study the mechanisms involved in the development of pattern and form in embryology. This is to develop and analyze mathematical models for generating specific patterns and appendages on the integument, specifically alligator stripe patterns, feather and scale primordia and primate fingerprints. The models are constructed around known biological facts and close contact will be maintained with experimental collaborators. The nonlinear partial differential equation systems which constitute the models will be investigated analytically and numerically. The mathematical techniques used will primarily be linear analysis, nonlinear bifurcation theory and numerical simulation. Development of appropriate graphical presentation of the patterned solutions of the equations will play an important part. The results and biological predictions will be compared with the biological data and hopefully will be used to motivate specific experiments to try and elucidate the real patterning process. Much of the research is closely linked to specific experimental studies currently underway. The work emphasizes the need for integrating theoretical studies with experimental and observational facts.

This proposal seeks funding to provide the overall management for a US JGOFS Equatorial Pacific process study to be conducted during the fall of 1991 and spring of 1992. In addition, the proposal seeks funding to provide certain scientific services necessary for the completion of the project: ship use, hydrography, nutrient analysis, analysis of doppler current meter data, acquisition and archiving of satellite imagery, site mapping and sediment coring. These services do not stand alone as scientific proposals and research, but are necessary to investigators who have submitted scientific proposals and have been identified as critical to the success of the overall experiment by the US JGOFS Steering Committee. The US JGOFS Rational and Plan for Equatorial Pacific Process Studies, which accompanies this proposal provides the overall scientific rationale and justification for an equatorial Pacific process study; it also describes the conceptual plan and experimental strategy that has been endorsed by the US JGOFS Steering Committee and the scientists who want to take part in the study.

Problem III of the EqPac Science Plan states that new production is less than expected in the central equatorial Pacific for the levels of primary production and nutrient concentrations observed. The explanation may lie in the rates and mechanisms of particle cycling. The P.I,'s propose to participate in the survey cruises in the central equatorial Pacific at 140oW, to deploy an array of floating sediment traps at each station and to measure the fluxes of: 1. total mass; 2. particulate carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus (POC, PN, PP); 3. chlorophyll and phaeopigments; 4. particle reactive radiotracers: 234Th, 210Pb and 210Po; 5. major phase elements: Al, Sr, Ca, Mg, and Sr; 6. stable tracer elements: Fe, Mn, Pb, Ba, Cd, Cu, and Zn. The P.I.'s will also collect and analyze dissolved and particulate water column samples for 234Th, 210Pb and 210Po.

The investigators study the spatial and temporal dynamics of territory formation for wolves (Canis lupus) and the resulting impact on the distribution of white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus). Their model is based on field studies from northeastern Minnesota that indicate that adjacent wolf packs form distinct territories that are separated by "buffer zones" where packs rarely trespass. These buffer zones can provide a spatial refuge for the primary prey species: white-tailed deer. The field studies show that deer density is higher in the inter-territorial areas (refuges) and is lower near the center of established territories (where deer populations may be subject to intense predation). The buffer zones may also stabilize wolf-deer interactions by providing a reservoir of deer that can recolonize areas of wolf territory that have suffered heavy predation losses. The mathematical model the investigators develop describes the behavioral wolf-wolf and wolf-deer interactions using a system of coupled nonlinear partial differential equations, and describes the long-term ecological wolf-deer interactions using a system of coupled nonlinear difference equations. The analysis of the model equations will employ mathematical and numerical techniques from areas such as perturbation theory and finite difference numerical methods. This should lead to a detailed quantitative understanding of wolf territorial pattern formation, and an illustration of how territoriality influences the distribution and abundance of deer. The research will have a wider application to the general area of territorial pattern formation; such patterns provide the basis for social organization in many mammals and birds.

This award supports a Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) Site proposal to provide research experiences for selected undergraduates in marine sciences, with specific emphasis Matrine Chemistry and Marine Geology and Geophysics, to acquaint them with the excitement and opportunities of academic research and to encourage them to pursue graduates studies and a career in ocean sciences.

9504202 MURRAY Measurements will be made of particulate carbon export production in the western equatorial Pacific at the equator and 165 degree E and the zonal gradient at the equator from drifting sediment trap samples. Comparison of this particulate flux with 15N-NO3 new production measurements will also enable estimates of potential carbon export as DOC. Participation in two cruises will determine the El Nino/non-El Nino variability and make a more accurate estimate of total export production from the equatorial Pacific. Both cruises are in collaboration with ORSTOM Noumea French scientists. The first cruise will be conducted on the French R/V Atalante in October 1994-1996. These cruises will be part of the graduate research of Mr. John Dunne.

Murray Traction forces are a crucial mechanism of pattern formation in morphogenesis. Cells of many types, when seeded on Matrigel, form aggregates due solely to traction forces. The traction mechanically deforms the gel, creating fiber tracks between aggregates. The fiber tracks induce cells to elongate and migrate along them by contact guidance. The pattern formation occurs sufficiently quickly that there are no complications of cell proliferation or secretion or degradation of the matrix, affording a unique opportunity to study pattern formation by traction forces in isolation. The investigator and his colleague develop and analyze a mathematical model of the cellular tractions and the resultant mechanical response of the Matrigel, incorporating a description of the essential material and behavioral anisotropy which develops in response to traction. Analysis consists of linear bifurcation analysis, nonlinear analysis where appropriate, and a strong component of numerical analysis. The latter entails development of algorithms to simulate the nonlinear conservation and evolution equations in two spatial dimensions. The study aims at a deeper understanding of biological traction and the mechanics of extracellular matrix, and ultimately to a greater understanding of morphogenesis and remodeling in general. The investigators develop and analyze a mathematical model of a particular case of cellular pattern formation with the aim of a better, more fundamental understanding of (1) the mechanical interaction by traction forces between cells and their growth medium (natural or artificial), (2) the subtle anisotropic mechanics of the extracellular matrix that forms a large part of the human body, (3) later restructuring such as wound healing and tumor growth, (4) human embryonic development, and (5) biological pattern formation in general. The technique of mathematical modeling allows a logical construction of biological theories to test, and a method o f testing those theories with "mathematical experiments." Furthermore, the analysis of the mathematical model leads to predictions which may then be confirmed or refuted by appropriate laboratory experiments. It is by a close communication between experiment and theory that understanding is gained. The project addresses fundamental biological questions using mathematical and computational techniques, in close collaboration with experimentalists.

9813509 Murray The principal investigator will convene an international workshop to evaluate the current state of knowledge of the extent and causal mechanisms of suboxia in the Black Sea. The Black Sea is undoubtedly among the most remarkable low- temperature geochemical environments on the Earth's surface, and there is growing recognition that is encompasses a pervasive and expanding mass of suboxic water whose chemistry, physics, and ecology is very poorly understood. This is all the more important politically and sociologically because the nations bordering on the Black Sea are economically bound to it through dependence on fisheries that would be adversely impacted by decreasing oxygen conditions. The principal investigator anticipates that the workshop would help guide international efforts to understand and perhaps control the suboxia phenomenon.

In the 1970's Dr. Judah Folkman, first suggested that the prevention of angiogenesis in cancer tumors could be an effective means of their control and even eradication. Certain drugs (such as angiostaten) have recently been found which do this in mice with remarkable efficiency. This discovery received widespread international press coverage and boosted scientific interest in angiogenesis and highlights the pressing need for an understanding of the biological developmental processes involved. A major part of the research that was proposed in this part of the grant is specifically directed towards this goal. We have been developing and analyzing specific cell-tissue interaction mechanisms for the formation of the complex spatial patterns found in cell-matrix interaction with particular emphasis on cell-Matrigel in vitro experiments. The interaction between the cells and the extracellular matrix (ECM) has been proposed as a key process in angiogenesis. We have been able to determine certain properties which are essential for pattern formation. Since we believe that fibroblast traction forces are major players in angiogenesis we used the Murray-Oster mechanical theory of morphogenesis. It is also the basis for our study of dermal wound healing. The models are based on the mechanical interaction between fibroblasts and the extracellular matrix (ECM). In each study, by numerically simulating two-dimensional configurations and carrying out mathematical analyses of the models we have been able to make predictions about the roles of key parameters including those associated with mitosis, traction and extracellular matrix (ECM) turnover. In the case of cell-Matrigel interactions we have shown that the model system produces patterns which have an astonishing similarity to those found experimentally: the complex network patterns formed by the model solutions are almost indistinguishable from those found in vitro. With regard to wound healing we have been able to show that there is a residual stress in the extracellular matrix as a consequence of the fibroblast deformation. This latter work in reported in Murray et al. (1997).

Murray

Understanding the factors that control the magnitude of carbon export from the euphotic zone is one of the most important goals of the US JGOFS Synthesis and Modeling Project (SMP). It is assumed that the magnitude of this export, and its partitioning between particulate and dissolved forms, is determined by the size structure of the food web, but this has never been explicitly tested with models and is subject to debate. A current paradigm is that planktonic systems exist in two contrasting states. Community structure is a function of whether the system is in balance (steady state or State I) or under the influence of transient events - changes in nutrient input, mixing or light - which allow decoupling of phytoplankton and zooplankton growth rates (State II). Export flux and particulate organic matter-dissolved organic matter partitioning are hypothesized to be different between these two states. The high nitrate-low chlorophyll (HNLC) regime is one of the most important ocean types studied during JGOFS. Major process studies were undertaken by US JGOFS in the equatorial Pacific (EqPac) and Southern Ocean (AESOPS) and by Canadian JGOFS in the subarctic north Pacific. Prior to JGOFS, the subarctic north Pacific at Station P was studied by SUPER (Subarctic Pacific Ecosystem Research). The goals of this study are to 1) synthesize and analyze data from HNLC regimes worldwide, 2) use a 1-D model to explore the implications of different grazing formulations for ecosystem function and particulate organic carbon export in HNLC regions, 3) assess the relative importance of particulate and dissolved export, including the role of bacteria and zooplankton as remineralizers, 4) evaluate the elemental stoichiometric relationships that link the various reservoirs, and 5) explore the use of allometric relationships for production and consumption as a tool for understanding and modeling multiple states in HNLC regions. The overall goal is to provide a HNLC synthesis for the SMP of euphotic zone production, consumption and export of carbon and related elements (SMP Element 2), as regulated by variations in environmental conditions.

ABSTRACT

OCE-0081118

Nitrogen in the marine environment is cycled through a complex and imperfectly understood geochemical and microbiologically-mediated transformations, especially in suboxic waters -- the zone between regions of distinct oxygen availability on one hand and the complete absence of oxygen on the other. While some oxidation-reduction reactions in the nitrogen cycle are certainly driven directly by microbial activity, there is evidence that geochemical linkages to the cycling of other redox-senstitive moieties (such as manganese) may also drive some of these nitrogen transformations. In this study, researchers at the University of Washington, in collaboration with colleagues at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography and the Middle East Technical University in Turkey, will study the chemical reaction rates and microbiology of denitrification reactions in the suboxic regions of the Black Sea. High-resolution measurements of nutrients, trace metals, and the key nitrogen species associated with nitrogen cycling under suboxic conditions would be made. The Black Sea will offer an ideal study site for this work because the spatially extensive suboxic zone will permit the fine-scale measurements that would be difficult, if not impossible, in other marine areas, The project should lead to an improved understanding of both the geochemical and microbiological linkages of the nitrogen cycle in suboxic marine waters to the cycling of other redox-sensitive substances in the Black Sea and other marine environments.

0137601
Murray

Description: This project supports a cooperative research project by teams of scientists and graduate students headed by Dr. James Murray, School of Oceanography, University of Washington (UW), Seattle, Washington, Dr. Ilkay Salihoglu, Institute of Marine Sciences (IMS), Middle East Technical University, Erdemli-Icel, Turkey, and Dr. Sergey Konovalov, Marine Hydrophysical Institute (MHI), Ukraine National Academy of Sciences, Sevastopol, Ukraine. This two-year project will take advantage of new samples collected during the 2001 R/V Knorr research cruise in the Black Sea. The research is divided into three projects: 1. Spatial variability in the chemistry of oxygen, sulfide and nutrients in the upper layer of the anoxic zone in the Black Sea due to ventilation from the Bosphorus Inflow conducted by Dr. Murray and a UW graduate student, a Turkish scientist from IMS, and a Ukrainian scientist from MHI. 2. Geochemistry of redox metals (including Mn, Fe, Cd, Mo, U, V, and Re) in particulate matter across the oxic/suboxic/anoxic layers in the water column of the Black Sea, conducted by Dr. Murray, a Turkish scientist, and a Turkish graduate student from IMS. 3. Application of molecular genetic techniques for understanding population genetic structure of Calanus sp. conducted by two junior scientists from UW and a scientist and graduate student from IMS. Two Turkish scientists and two Turkish graduate students will visit UW between January and April 2002. Two US junior scientists from UW will visit IMS in Turkey in June-July 2002. The Ukrainian scientist will travel to the US in winter 2003. Murray and his graduate student will travel to Turkey and Ukraine in April-May 2003, and a Turkish scientist will visit the US in August 2003.

Scope: This project complements research dealing with the Black Sea being carried out by the US PI under separate funding from the NSF Division of Ocean Sciences. This project will provide graduate students and scientists from Turkey a chance to use state of the art analytical techniques available in the US, but not in Turkey. The collaboration will offer opportunities for two US junior scientists and one female US graduate student to participate in this international project. It will allow scientists from all three countries to develop future international collaborations. The project meets INT objectives of supporting projects of mutual benefit. Funding is provided by the Office of International Science and Engineering and the Division of Ocean Sciences.

A grant has been awarded to Drs. James Murray and James Staley at the University of Washington to study microorganisms that mediate nitrogen transformations in low oxygen, or suboxic, environments. Such reactions are important because nitrogen is a critical element for life processes. The geochemical distributions in the Black Sea suggest that this is an ideal location to study these novel reactions. The research goals of this project are to discover, isolate and characterize the bacteria that are responsible for these nitrogen transformations. Closely coordinated microbial and geochemical approaches will be used. Samples will be collected on a research cruise to the Black Sea in 2002 from depths where the chemical transformations are inferred to occur. These samples will be used to enrich and isolate bacterial metabolic groups that can carry out these transformations. Laboratory studies will be used on a second research cruise in 2003 to develop molecular markers for identification of organisms in fresh environmental samples. In addition, probes will be developed to identify genes of enzymes that are involved in various redox reactions. Geochemical studies will be conducted to determine the stoichiometries, rates and nitrogen isotope fractionation in water samples from the reaction layers.
Results of this investigation are expected to lead to discovery of novel, previously uncharacterized bacteria that carry out these important processes. The microorganism to be studied may be present in many ecosystems (such as sediments, anoxic aquatic environments, biofilms and microbial mats) where waters have low oxygen concentrations. This knowledge will increase our understanding of microbial diversity and anaerobic respiration in such marine environments. Human society is impacting aquatic environments more than ever, leading to an increase in suboxic aquatic habitats, and resulting in threats to fisheries and wildlife. Understanding the biological processes occurring in suboxic environments will lead to new approaches that could be undertaken for habitat restoration.

ABSTRACT

OCE-0332518

Funds for U.S. scientists to travel to Yalta, Crimea, Ukraine to participate in the NATO Advanced Research Workshop entitled "Past and Present Water Column Anoxia" to be held October 4-8, 2003 has been requested. The primary objective of the workshop is to facilitate exchange and communication between scientific groups from different countries studying past and present anoxic conditions in pelagic marine environments. The meeting will focus on the following four main topics: (1) nutrient and metal cycling at the redox transition: (2) microbial ecology of the oxic/anoxic interface; (3) biogeochemistry of anaerobic methane oxidation; and (4) anoxia development and oceanic anoxic events in the past. It is anticipated that approximately 8 participants from the United States will travel to the Ukraine to attend the workshop. Costs for the participants to attend the workshop will be covered by NATO grant.

ABSTRACT
OCE-0425721

One of the principle new findings from the US JGOFS EqPac Process study in the central equatorial Pacific was that iron in the equatorial undercurrent (EUC) is the most important source of iron for driving biological new production and thus carbon cycling in this region. It has been hypothesized that the source of the iron is from terriginous sources in the vicinity of New Guinea. If that is the case, what is happening downstream from New Guinea? How far eastward can a New Guinea iron source be traced? There is a critical lack of data from this region that is needed to test this source hypothesis. This is a major lingering question that needs to be answered.

In this project an international team of US and French ocean scientists, under the leadership of a marine geochemist at the University of Washington, will determine the distributions of iron, manganese, aluminum and neodymium in a zonal section along the equatorial Pacific. They will be seeking answers to four major questions: 1. Is there really a maximum of iron in the equatorial undercurrent? 2. What is its zonal gradient? 3. What is its origin? 4. How do the distributions constrain model derived fluxes?

The team will use a 4-year integrated field, analytical and modeling approach. They will conduct a zonal cruise along the equator from 143'E to 140'W to measure dissolved, colloidal and total acid soluble Fe, Mn and Al. Laboratory studies will be carried out to measure dissolved and particulate neodymium isotopes and particulate Fe, Mn and Al. A coupled dynamical-biogeochemical model will be run to predict iron distributions before the cruise. They will also the model approach to estimate the relative importance of physical versus biogeochemical fluxes in the central (cold tongue) and western (warm pool) equatorial Pacific.

The broader impacts of the science are that because iron has been shown to be an element limiting carbon cycling in this region, understanding its source will lead to greater understanding of past and future changes in biological productivity and carbon fluxes and provide a basis for predicting the response to climate change. New observations are required so that iron can be effectively incorporated into models of carbon cycling in this region. This project will feature major international collaboration with several foreign scientists from different disciplines. This will include scientists from Noumea, New Caledonia (biological analyses), Paris, France (modeling) and Toulouse, France (Nd analyses). It will also include training of graduate students in a wide range of state-of-the-art analytical and modeling techniques and interdisciplinary oceanography.

OISE 06-37866
Murray, James


This is a project that supports doctoral dissertation research with Russian scientists from the Southern Branch of the P.P. Shirshov Institute of Oceanography. The U.S. principal investigator and advisor is James Murray from the University of Washington. His student is John Kirkpatrick. The lead Russian collaborator is Evgeniy Yakushev.

The main goal of this scientific research project is to understand the large variability in the chemical and microbial distributions related to nitrogen cycling in the suboxic zone of the Black Sea. The application of this goal will be to obtain quantitative information about the processes responsible for the formation, structure, and position of the Black Sea's oxic/anoxic interface. In order to achieve this goal John Kirkpatrick, along with her Russian colleagues, will conduct a time-series of observations that will consist of short expeditions on Russian research vessels to stations near the northeastern coast of the Black Sea near Gelendzhik, Russia. The results of this research will help local policy makers in their economic and social decisions related to eutrophication of the Black Sea.

OISE 06-37845
Murray, James


This is a project that supports doctoral dissertation research with Russian scientists from the Southern Branch of the P.P. Shirshov Institute of Oceanography. The U.S. principal investigator and advisor is James Murray from the University of Washington. His student is Clara Fuchsman. The lead Russian collaborator is Evgeniy Yakushev.

The main goal of this scientific research project is to understand the large variability in the chemical and microbial distributions related to nitrogen cycling in the suboxic zone of the Black Sea. The application of this goal will be to obtain quantitative information about the processes responsible for the formation, structure, and position of the Black Sea's oxic/anoxic interface. In order to achieve this goal Clara Fuchsman, along with her Russian colleagues, will conduct a time-series of observations that will consist of short expeditions on Russian research vessels to stations near the northeastern coast of the Black Sea near Gelendzhik, Russia. The results of this research will help local policy makers in their economic and social decisions related to eutrophication of the Black Sea.

The goal of this proposal is to understand the large variability in the chemical and microbial distributions related to nitrogen cycling in the suboxic zone of the Black Sea. The large temporal variability is best explained by changes by microbially mediated processes such as ANAMMOX and nitrification. Previous work has identified some of the bacteria present across the chemocline, but their metabolisms, activities, and relative contributions to the biogeochemical balance of nitrogen are still very poorly understood. This project will address not only the presence and absence of different types and abundances of microbial groups, but also their metabolic activity by testing two hypotheses. The first hypothesis is that the seasonal variability in the flux of particulate organic carbon causes variability in the relative importance of ANAMMOX and denitrification. The second hypothesis is that variability in the concentrations of N2 and Delta 15 N-N2 is determined by variability in the vertical flux of particulate organic nitrogen produced by nitrogen fixation in the euphotic zone. The principal investigators will address these hypotheses by conducting a time series of observations that consist of four short cruises (spring, fall, winter and summer) on a Russian research vessel to deep water stations in the Black Sea. During these cruises comprehensive hydrophysical, chemical and microbiological sampling, and measurements of the sinking flux of particulate organic carbon will be conducted. This new geochemical data will be used to expand on the investigators previous data sets by looking specifically at the variability in nitrogen species and isotope distributions and fluxes over the annual cycle. The specific focus of the biological work proposed here is to document not only changes in the microbial community, but to identify active growth and gene transcripts of specific groups of microbes. The study has ramifications beyond the Black Sea as the results will help us understand some of the controls on nitrogen cycling under low oxygen conditions in general. The ability to predict future change as a result of anthropogenic forcing requires that we understand the current dynamics in the nitrogen cycle. Suboxic and anaerobic environments are susceptible to anthropogenic forcing, and play an increasingly important role not only in enclosed basins but in areas of high productivity and economic importance, such as the Oregon and Washington coast. These results will also shed light on suboxic and anaerobic processes that have been important throughout Earth's history.

Abstract


Proposal Number: OISE-0912669

Principal Investigator: James Murray

Institution: University of Washington

Title: International Collaboration on the Black Sea

The PIs plan to develop a new research partnership with Prof. Bahar Ince of Bogazici University and Prof. Orhan Ince of Istanbul Technical University. The goal of this partnership is to develop a new integrated study of the roles of bacteria and archaea on nitrogen transformations and other reactions in the Black Sea. A graduate student will be able to establish contacts for his current doctoral research on the Black Sea. Developing closer collaboration should also open the door to future graduate student exchanges between the University of Washington and Turkish universities. The new studies on anoxic microbial ecosystems will integrate work on bacterially mediated processes with those mediated by archaea. There are few other such integrative efforts trying to interpret the chemical distributions in the context of the biological organisms mediating the reactions.
The carbonate system model studies will provide fundamental knowledge about the distribution of carbonate species in the Black Sea and how these respond to perturbations of carbon dioxide added from the atmosphere (ocean acidification) and liquid carbon dioxide injected at depth. The sequestration model results will be particularly useful if one of the Black Sea countries develops a plan to sell carbon credits for this process.

The University of Washington is awarded a grant to build a new facility at Friday Harbor Laboratories (http://depts.washington.edu/fhl/)for experimental study of ocean acidification and its influence on temperate marine organisms and ecosystems. The proposed facility will include in-water mesocosms for large-scale experimental manipulations, laboratory aquarium systems, and an analytical laboratory for essential carbon parameters to support experimentation. The facility will serve as a national center for the study of ocean acidification in temperate environments, allowing investigators and students from across the country (and international collaborators) to test the response of marine organisms to changes in pH and carbonate saturation in an environmentally-relevant setting. The facility will catalyze significant new collaborations in research and teaching focused on the interactions between biogeochemistry and near-shore temperate ecosystems in a changing ocean.

Ocean acidification is of strong national and international interest. The European Community has just approved a new 5-year program of research on ocean acidification, and the U.S. agencies have made this a priority for new research funding. FHL is located in an area that is likely to be among the first and hardest hit by acidification impacts, with implications for commercial fisheries. This will be one of a few sheltered sites with oceanic waters that could host such a capability, and the only one at a U.S. institution. This U.S. mesocosm facility will enable research that links individual organism responses to full ecosystem responses and impact assessments for fisheries. The proposed facility will contribute directly to FHL's undergraduate research apprenticeship program, graduate student research and graduate research courses. The project also includes a K-12 component, with outreach to regional schools at all levels, including a new NSF GK-12 Program beginning summer 2008. Finally, this facility will contribute to the activities of citizen-driven marine resource committees organized in seven Washington counties surrounding the Straits of Juan de Fuca, Georgia Strait, and Admiralty Inlet to the Canadian border.

This Integrative Graduate Education and Research Traineeship (IGERT) award will train a new generation of scholars to use integrative, cross-disciplinary, and cross-scale approaches to investigate problems of ocean change. Intellectual Merit: Human activities are causing physical and biological changes in the ocean. Some of these changes threaten the persistence of contemporary marine ecosystems and the societies they support. The scale and likely consequences of ocean change are substantial, but ocean change is difficult to observe and invisible to many sectors of society. A key innovation is to frame research questions in a problem-driven, socially-defined context. Trainees will collaborate to explore ocean conditions, biological and ecological responses to changing ocean conditions, their impacts on human institutions and welfare, and opportunities to build resilience in this social-ecological system. The research performed by trainees will enhance our understanding of change in the ocean and its impacts on ecosystems and social institutions.

Broader impacts of the program arise from the coupled-systems approach. Trainees will emerge prepared to address problems of ocean change from a coupled social-ecological perspective, communicate with diverse groups, establish credibility inside and outside academics, and fairly represent uncertainties inherent in the study of ocean change. In so doing, they will serve societal needs and help to transform the way society views the ocean and the changes induced by human activity. We will seek to broaden participation from underrepresented minorities, especially those from coastal tribes, Alaska natives, and Pacific Islanders, and in so doing, we will serve communities and cultures likely to be among the first affected by ocean change.

IGERT is an NSF-wide program intended to meet the challenges of educating U.S. Ph.D. scientists and engineers with the interdisciplinary background, deep knowledge in a chosen discipline, and the technical, professional, and personal skills needed for the career demands of the future. The program is intended to catalyze a cultural change in graduate education by establishing innovative new models for graduate education and training in a fertile environment for collaborative research that transcends traditional disciplinary boundaries.