Response of Florida Shelf Ecosystems to Climate Change

Florida Shelf Geochemistry

Field Geochemistry

Field Campaign Introduction

USGS cruise track August 2008 using flow-through MICA.

USF graduate student, Paul Knorr, secures equipment to USGS research vessel underway.

To address critical information gaps and an incomplete understanding of nearshore carbon flux variability, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) is conducting a field campaign with the University of South Florida (USF) and National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to acquire baseline pCO₂, pH, total Dissolved Inorganic Carbon (DIC), and total alkalinity (TA) on the west Florida shelf. These data are being used to model nearshore to offshore regional pCO₂, CO₂ air-sea fluxes, and carbonate saturation state. In conjunction with acquired habitat data, these data will be used to describe and interpret habitat change over time.

Objective: to establish the link between water chemistry, sediment production, carbon cycling, pCO₂, and biologic communities on the west Florida shelf. USGS is partnering with carbonate chemists at the University of South Florida to deploy the Multi-parameter Inorganic Carbon Analyzer (MICA) for the carbonate chemistry data. These data will be overlain on regional sediment maps and will be used as input for shelf models.

Field data are being collected during seasonal cruises covering north-to-south and depth gradients (10-40 m). These data provide baseline information on pCO₂ and carbonate saturation on the shelf and are being compared to benthic sediment maps to establish carbonate community patterns and transitions.