Joint Russisa - US Cruise in the East-Siberian Sea

University Of Alaska Fairbanks Campus, Fairbanks AK

Investigators

Abstract

A surprise permission for a joint Russia-US cruise to the East-Siberian Sea in the summer of 2003 will enable five US researchers from the University of Alaska and University of S. Carolina to conduct research linking the fate of riverine waters from East-Siberian watersheds to the shelf seas and pan-arctic transport. The cruise will sample water, particulate matter, and sediments with a set of modern instruments on transects between the coast out to the ice edge. A set of hydrochemical measurements (nutrients, pH, dissolved oxygen, dissolved methane) will be done immediately after sampling or directly in situ (pCO2, CDOM, Chl). Additional measurements (DOC, O-18, C-13, N-15, biomarkers, chemical composition) in water and sediment will be done after the cruise using facilities of the University of Alaska, University of S. Carolina, and the Far Eastern Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences (FEBRAS). A transect of the East Siberian will provide new measurements across the widest and most shallow and unexplored area in the World Ocean that represents a boundary zoe between local shelf waters and Pacific derived waters. New CTD and biogeochemical data will contribute significantly towards understanding how the hydrological and hydrochemical parameters respond to short-term changes in atmospheric condition and to understand better connections between atmospheric forcing, river discharge and oceanological processes over the Arctic Eurasian shelf, with a special eye onto the westward penetration of the Pacific-derived waters. New data will help also to construct a believable present-day regional summertime CO2 budget that is essential for reliable prediction of changes in atmospheric CO2 in connection with the sea ice, atmosphere and water circulation changes. Broader Impacts and Intellectual Merit The proposed work will also promote teaching and training through support for graduate students (two from US, and two from Russia), and will provide a web site accessible to the public, especially for undergraduate students. It will enhance collaboration by providing an opportunity for USA based workers to collaborate on a common project in the Asian Arctic on Pan-Arctic land-shelf and shelf-basin interactions. This is a first real cooperative venture in this region and there is reason to believe that Russian colleagues desire genuine cooperation. New experience to work in the Russian EEZ (including logistics and custom issues) will help to plan further US studies and establish a long-term mutual cooperation in the Pacific sector of the Arctic ocean (mostly Russian EEZ) with FEBRAS.