Postdoctoral Fellowship: OCE-PRF: Quantifying the effects of ocean alkalinity enhancement on costal ecosystems and atmospheric carbon dioxide

博士后奖学金：OCE-PRF：量化海洋碱度增强对沿海生态系统和大气二氧化碳的影响

• 批准号: 2308400
• 负责人: Zachary Quinlan
• 金额: $ 31.43万
• 依托单位: University of Hawaii
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2023
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2023-09-01 至 2025-08-31
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2308400&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Postdoctoral; Fellowship; OCE; PRF; Quantifying

Rapidly increasing investment over the past two years into carbon dioxide removal technologies from the tech industry has accelerated the creation of ocean alkalinity enhancement (OAE) companies which are already acting in natural ecosystems. However, our understanding of olivine dissolution on atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) is still in its infancy. Moreover, no studies have quantified the impact of olivine induced OAE on the benthic reef communities which populate the OAE test sites. The goal of this proposal is to characterize the effects of OAE on the functioning of the coral reef benthos and water microbial community to design a framework for measurement, reporting and verification. This proposal will evaluate the potential impacts on both the environment and atmospheric CO2, through chemostat experiments, field surveys of natural olivine beaches and biogeochemical modeling. Controlled chemostat experiments will enable direct measurement of the olivine dissolution products including secondary mineral precipitation and their effect on reef community dynamics. The proposed research will contribute novel, fundamental knowledge to understand: 1) quantification of the dissolution rate of olivine in an ecologically relevant seawater system; 2) flux and rate of atmospheric CO2 in response to olivine OAE; 4) impact on coral reef community function. Although multiple studies have identified plausible off-target effects such as the creation of toxic nickel as well as shifting the particle-associated microbial community composition. Before more OAE companies are created and begin impacting these vital reef ecosystems, these uncertainties and ecosystem impacts must be quantified. This proposal aims to: 1) characterize the impact of OAE on dominant reef benthic primary producers, their associated microbial communities, and dissolved organic matter cycling; 2) quantify olivine dissolution rate in reef ecosystems and the resultant drawdown of atmospheric CO2; 3) develop a biogeochemical-hydrodynamic coupled model to predict the efficacy of olivine OAE in open-ocean systems and quantify atmospheric CO2 removal on a regional scale; 4) develop new methodologies and criteria for measurement, verification and reporting for OAE. This work has the potential to make transformative advances in OAE and guide the scaling of this new industry to systems which are best equipped to capture the most atmospheric CO2 without impacting other vital ecosystems. This project addresses challenges addressed in the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine: Development of an empirical framework for OAE, Assessment of the relationship between approach and environmental impact development of robust measurement, reporting, and verification strategies. Due to the immediate need of data and accurate models for effective implementation of AOE, all data, field studies, and models will be readily available through a github repository as soon as any data becomes available, prior to publication.This project is jointly funded by GEO/OCE Postdoctoral Fellowships Program and the Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR).This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

在过去的两年中，技术行业对二氧化碳去除技术的投资迅速增加，加速了已经在天然生态系统中起作用的海洋碱度增强（OAE）公司。但是，我们对大气二氧化碳（CO2）上橄榄石溶解的理解仍处于起步阶段。此外，没有研究量化了橄榄石诱导的OAE对填充OAE测试地点的底栖礁社区的影响。该提案的目的是表征OAE对珊瑚礁底栖生物和水微生物社区功能的影响，以设计用于测量，报告和验证的框架。该建议将通过化学仪表实验，天然橄榄石海滩的现场调查和生物地球化学建模来评估对环境和大气二氧化碳的潜在影响。受控的化学稳定实验将直接测量橄榄石溶解产物，包括二级矿物沉淀及其对礁社区动态的影响。拟议的研究将有助于理解新颖的基本知识：1）在生态相关的海水系统中量化橄榄石的溶解速率； 2）响应橄榄石OAE的通量和大气二氧化碳的速率； 4）对珊瑚礁社区功能的影响。尽管多项研究已经确定了合理的脱靶效应，例如产生有毒镍以及转移与粒子相关的微生物群落组成。在创建更多OAE公司并开始影响这些重要的礁石生态系统之前，必须量化这些不确定性和生态系统影响。该提案的目的是：1）表征OAE对主要珊瑚礁底栖初级生产者，相关的微生物群落以及溶解有机物循环的影响； 2）量化珊瑚礁生态系统中的橄榄石溶解速率和大气二氧化碳的最终减少； 3）开发一个生物地球化学 - 流动力耦合模型，以预测橄榄石OAE在开放海洋系统中的功效，并在区域尺度上量化大气中的二氧化碳的去除； 4）开发新的方法和标准，以进行OAE的测量，验证和报告。这项工作有可能在OAE中取得变革性的进步，并指导该新行业的扩展为最有能力捕获最大气的二氧化碳而不会影响其他重要生态系统的系统。该项目解决了美国国家科学，工程和医学学院所面临的挑战：开发OAE的经验框架，评估方法之间的关系以及强大的测量，报告和验证策略的环境影响发展之间的关系。由于立即需要数据和准确的模型来有效实施AOE，所有数据，现场研究和模型将在出版之前就很快通过GitHub存储库来获得。通过使用基金会的智力优点和更广泛影响的评论标准进行评估。