Welcome to the four new and one continuing SSC members!

Jason Graff (Oregon State Univ.) (2027) Biooptics, satellite remote sensing

Bror Jönsson (Univ. New Hampshire) (2027) – biological production across land-open ocean continuum, coastal ocean acidification, interactions between physical dynamics in the upper ocean and biological production, phytoplankton dynamics, and air-sea exchange, connectivity combining observations, analysis of large dataset, remote sensing and algorithm development

Jonathan Lauderdale (Massachusetts Inst. of Technology) (2027) –  biogeochemistry, global carbon, nutrient, and trace metal cycles, past climates, physical oceanography, and processes occurring in high latitude regions such as the Southern Ocean.

Sarah Mincks (Univ. Alaska Fairbanks) (2027) benthic-pelagic coupling, marine organism-mediated carbon cycling

Shaily Rahman (Univ Colorado, Boulder) (2027, second term) – marine biogeochemistry and sedimentary processes

Thank you to Jeff Bowman (SIO), Susanne Craig (NASA GSFC), Tim DeVries (UCSB), and Zachary Erickson (NOAA PMEL) for your OCB work over the past three years!

Marine microeukaryotes are important players in ocean biogeochemistry, contributing to primary production and respiration. Their diversity and function is generally better understood in coastal regions, and harder to study in offshore locations, especially at depth. The CASHEW (Clio Atlantic Sectional Hoedown Ending at Woods Hole) expedition aimed to characterize microeukaryotic community composition and functionality along a gradient in the western North Atlantic Ocean.

Autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) Clio is a refrigerator sized robot that was used to collect biological material throughout the water column (see photo). This cruise was Clio’s first ocean transect, before this expedition Clio was in a testing phase. Clio was used to survey the upper 1 km of the water column. At one station, Clio was successfully sent 4.1 km down to the sea floor! We used the biomass collected to analyze metatranscriptomes and metaproteomes, which allowed us to examine the identity and metabolic profiles of marine microorganisms.

One of the most interesting aspects of this study was the similarities and differences in biological patterns based on whether transcripts or proteins were considered. While eukaryotic community breakdown was generally consistent between transcripts and proteins, there were more clear signs of heterotrophic taxa at depth in the protein fraction. Transcripts also indicated nitrate stress in continental margin waters with phosphate stress offshore, potentially a result of aerosol dust introducing iron and nitrogen. This study highlights the value of complementary omic datasets when reconstructing microbial community metabolism and showcases the degree of omic resolution possible with AUV efforts.

Authors
Natalie Cohen (University of Georgia Skidaway Institute of Oceanography)
Mak Saito (Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)

New webinar series! Find out more 4D-BGC group website: https://4d-bgc.github.io

Past: Webinar #1 on November 26 at 0600 EST/1200 CET

Title: Advancements in Biogeophysical 4D reconstructions: New methods development and exploitation of existing products for scientific investigations

Presenter: Dr. Bruno Buongiorno Nardelli Italian National Research Council

This presentation will address two key topics: the development of physically-informed neural network methods for the joint reconstruction of physical and biological variables in the Mediterranean Sea, and the analysis of existing data-driven 4D reconstructions of POC, combined with advanced dynamical diagnostics, to uncover the interannual variability of organic carbon export in the global ocean. The first part will introduce the approach tested in the European Space Agency’s 4DMED-Sea project, while the second will focus on research conducted within the H2020 AtlantEco project.

Webinar Series Information: The 4D-BGC Working Group seeks to enhance access and utility of Biogeochemical (BGC) Argo observations through four-dimensional (4D) data products. These advanced data products aim to refine our understanding of ocean biogeochemistry, improve biogeochemical models and reanalysis products, and provide valuable insights for policy-making. The goal of this webinar series is to introduce new and in-development BGC data products, review techniques used to develop data products from in situ observations, and to explore ways in which 4D-BGC products are leveraged to answer scientific questions.

This event will highlight, in parallel, the quantitative aspects of Blue Carbon (e.g., their roles in NDCs) as well as the more qualitative aspects of Blue Carbon (e.g., cultural ecosystem services). Specifically, this event will address the ways in which blue carbon has been and can be further included in GG inventories and Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), through the 2025 NDC revision cycle. This event will highlight some of the tools the United States Government and Pacific partners have created to track and quantify blue carbon sinks, and to identify effective opportunities for conservation and restoration as well as emphasize the
intrinsic and cultural ecosystem services provided by blue carbon in the Pacific.

Earlier this year, we conducted an online survey and consultation with the broader ocean science community to assess what we perceive as emerging skills gaps in basic physical chemistry training and expertise in several areas of chemical oceanography, especially (but not exclusively) including the ocean carbonate system. In the survey, we asked just for this information:

1. Expertise, applications, and professional roles
2. Opinions concerning skills gaps in physical chemistry for different areas of oceanography and needs for capacity building

We received well over 100 responses, with very many insightful observations and answers to our questions. We invite you to read the brief summary report describing the skill gap survey results and associated community feedback on recommended paths forward. Read the report.

Join us for a virtual community discussion at OA Week in November

To follow up on this survey, we are convening an online community discussion on Tuesday 19 November at 1600-1730 GMT/1100-1230 ET as part of the Global Ocean Acidification Observing Network (GOA-ON)’s Ocean Acidification (OA) Week 2024. The purpose of this discussion will be to discuss next steps for a community activity (most likely a workshop), including its focus, content, participants, and outcomes to help address the emerging skills gap identified in the survey. Register to participate in this community discussion HERE. If you would like further information, or you represent an organization that would like to participate in this effort, please get in touch with either Heather Benway (hbenway@whoi.edu) or Simon Clegg (s.clegg@uea.ac.uk).