Thank you for another inspiring OCB workshop! Recordings of the plenary sessions will be available in 1-2 months on the OCB YouTube Channel, and we will post an announcement here.
February 4: Gerrit Trapp-Müller, Fei Da, and Gabriella Akpah Yeboah
October 24: Robert Twilley and Marc Simard
September 26: Muriel Bruckner and Anastasia Pillouras
May 30: Bob Aller
April 18: Bin Zhao and Thomas Bianchi
March 14: Christophe Rabouille
River deltas and the adjacent coastal ocean are critical interfaces between terrestrial and oceanic environments. Deltas are the entry point of ~50% of the fresh water and 40% of all global particulate matter entering the ocean. They are major centers for particulate and dissolved organic carbon net transfer from land to ocean.
Recent evidence suggests that coastal oceans have become net sink for atmospheric CO2 during post-industrial times and continued human pressures in coastal zones and alterations to deltas will likely have an important impact on the future evolution of the coastal ocean’s carbon budget.
Despite the importance of deltas and blue carbon ecosystems to the global carbon cycle and coastal communities, land-to-ocean parameterizations in Earth System models are highly simplified and do not mechanistically include many of the processes involved in cycling carbon in these areas.
Significant and critical knowledge gaps on processes, their impacts on marine biogeochemistry, and the direction of future change exist—this workshop aims to address those knowledge gaps.
We will bring together scientists who are committed to exploring the physical, temporal, and biogeochemical processes that modulate fluxes of carbon to and from global deltas.
This scoping workshop will utilize momentum from the OCB 2023 Summer Workshop plenary session focused on deltaic systems to build a network of modelers, experimentalists, and field scientists working on deltas in this era of unprecedented climate change and other anthropogenic stresses, and will address and advance several OCB mission-specific topics:
Shaily Rahman (UC Boulder)
Kanchan Maiti (LSU)
Jaap Nienhuis (Utrecht University)
Cristina Schultz (Northeastern University)
Elizabeth Chamberlain (Wageningen University)
Julia Moriarty (CU Boulder)
Marisa Repasch (University of New Mexico)
WORKSHOP TOPICS
Ocean biogeochemistry – Influence of delta systems on adjacent coastal ocean in terms of carbon cycle (DIC/ALK/pCO2) both in water column and sediment, carbon burial and lateral transport of carbon.
Ecosystems – Role of salt marshes, mangroves, and sea grass on carbon retention and burial in delta plain and net export to adjacent ocean; reconstructions and forecasts of the distribution of these coastal ecosystems.
Novel methods and integration – Employing new technologies, e.g., chronology, remote sensing, to reconstruct and monitor delta change; integrating field and model data to study processes and change across timescales (past, present, and future).
Connectivity – Variability in hydrological connectivity across delta plain and delta shelf and its impact on carbon consumption, transport and retention.
Perturbations – Impact of climate and human driven changes including extreme events on delta carbon cycling.
Biogeochemical modeling: including mechanistic understanding of carbon cycling in the land-to-ocean continuum in global models, parameterizations of blue carbon ecosystems in high-resolution ocean models, quantifying organic and inorganic carbon transfers from deltas to theocean.
PRE-WORKSHOP
Objectives
Activities
OUTCOMES
The workshop aims to develop knowledge and define future research needs on the role of deltas in the global carbon cycle while building an interdisciplinary community around this understudied yet critical aspect of ocean biochemistry. To distribute these outcomes to the broader community there will be a consensus paper, a global delta carbon budget infographic, and an AGU Eos piece.
Role of deltaic sediments in regulating biogeochemical cycles (Chairs: Shaily Rahman, Jessica Luo, Cristina Schultz)
OCB2023 PLENARY SESSION TALKS (recorded June 2023)
We present the first edition of a global database (CoastDOM v1) and a resulting data manuscript, which compiles previously published and unpublished measurements of DOC, DON, and DOP in coastal waters, consisting of 62,338 (DOC), 20,356 (DON), and 13,533 (DOP) data points, respectively.
CoastDOM v1 includes observations of concentrations from all continents between 1978 and 2022. However, most data were collected in the Northern Hemisphere, with a clear gap in DOM measurements from the Southern Hemisphere.
This dataset will be useful for identifying global spatial and temporal patterns in DOM and will help facilitate the reuse of DOC, DON, and DOP data in studies aimed at better characterizing local biogeochemical processes; closing nutrient budgets; estimating carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorous pools; and establishing a baseline for modelling future changes in coastal waters.
The aim is to publish an updated version of the database periodically to determine global trends of DOM levels in coastal waters, and so if you have DOM data lying around, please submit it to Christian Lønborg (c.lonborg@ecos.au.dk).
CITATIONS
Lønborg et al. 2024. A global database of dissolved organic matter (DOM) concentration measurements in coastal waters (CoastDOM v1), Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 16, 1107–1119, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-16-1107-2024
Lønborg et al. 2023.A global database of dissolved organic matter (DOM) concentration measurements in coastal waters (CoastDOM v.1). PANGAEA, https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.964012
Registration will open in early April
There is currently considerable interest in margin processes within the oceanographic community, particularly in the closely related areas of carbon, nitrogen and iron cycling. To bring multiple investigators together, we are convening a Town Hall at the OSM 2024 Meeting in New Orleans on Monday from 12:45 to 1:45 (220-222, Second Floor). Much of the rationale arose from conversations within the GEOTRACES community as well as the product of the Benthic Ecosystem and Carbon Synthesis (BECS) Working Group, which has been working under the auspices of OCB for over a year. The goal of the town meeting is to start a wider conversation about margin processes amongst geochemists, biologists, physical oceanographers and modelers to talk about common problems. We are particularly excited about convening a Town Hall at this meeting to engage international researchers. Many groups, especially in Europe and Japan, have well established margin processes and we are keen to learn from them. It would greatly assist us in planning and addressing issues people care about if you could RSVP (jmoffett@usc.edu) and fill out this questionnaire. We plan to present an overview but the setup is informal, in order to encourage discussion. If you have some ideas or slides you would like to contribute, please send them to us for inclusion – it would be much appreciated.
We have funds for lunch for the first 30 participants!
Organizers: Cristina Schultz, Jim Moffett, Jessica Luo, Matt Long
AGU Eos highlights the following two articles emerging from OCB-led activities, including the OCB 2022 plenary session on the biological carbon pump and the 2022 OCB Workshop Marine Carbon Dioxide Removal: Essential Science and Problem Solving for Measurement, Reporting, and Verification.
The National Science Foundation, on behalf of the National Science and Technology Council Subcommittee on Ocean Science and Technology (SOST), requests input from all interested parties to inform the development of a National Ocean Biodiversity Strategy (Strategy), covering the genetic lineages, species, habitats, and ecosystems of United States (U.S.) ocean, coastal, and Great Lakes waters. Learn more and submit input by Feb. 28.
The Ocean Atmosphere OCB Subcommittee focuses on ocean atmosphere interactions and their role in marine biogeochemical cycles. For our mission statement, previous activities, and recently written US-SOLAS science report, see our website. Our committee meets remotely once a month to lead initiatives, plan activities, interact with international SOLAS, etc. For more details, see our charge and terms of reference.
The Ocean-Atmosphere Interaction committee is seeking nominations for at least three new members, including one or more early-career members. Self-nominations are encouraged. We are especially interested in filling the expertise gaps of
For the early career position, any research relevant to air-sea interaction is welcome. An early career nominee must have completed a PhD within the last 4 years; both postdoctoral researchers and new faculty members are eligible. For the early career nominees who are currently postdocs, a letter of support from the nominee’s postdoctoral advisor is required in addition to filling out the nomination form. This letter of support should be sent to hbenway@whoi.edu.
Marine carbon dioxide removal (mCDR) has exploded in popularity this Ocean Sciences Meeting. Are you curious and want to learn more? Are you thinking about engaging in an mCDR research project? Want to partner with industry or learn what’s happening in the environmental NGO space? Join co-hosts Ocean Carbon & Biogeochemistry (OCB), Carbon to Sea, Exploring Ocean Iron Solutions (ExOIS), [C]Worthy, and Ocean Visions for an mCDR networking event on Monday, February 19 from 6:30-9:30 pm at the Audubon Aquarium (1 Canal Street, New Orleans, LA). All are welcome to come by for a few minutes, an hour, or the whole evening to peruse the mCDR landscape. The sponsoring organizations will offer welcome and introductory remarks at the beginning, and then we will mingle over food and beverage! We aim to convene a diverse group of multisector stakeholders to share information and explore new collaborations. Hope to see you there!
Save the date: Thursday, February 22, 12-2 pm
2024 Ocean Sciences Meeting – Convention Center Room 224
Join Federal Program Managers to share what you think are the grand challenges facing the Biogeochemical Observing and Modeling Communities and discuss opportunities for improved connectivity between observing and modeling efforts.
Biogeochemical observing networks and models are developing at an unprecedented pace. This workshop will provide space for biogeochemical modelers and observers to make connections, ensure observing networks are addressing critical modeling data needs, and inform federal research priorities. Participants will split into topical or regional groups and move between tables to discuss what data are currently available for models and what data and data products will be needed in the future. Workshop outcomes may include a report on regional observing data gaps and recommended improvements to data products that feed into biogeochemical models.
Please indicate your interest in attending this workshop by responding to this short google form
Reach out to the organizers with any questions: Erica Ombres, Liza Wright-Fairbanks (NOAA Ocean Acidification Program), Alyse Larkin (NOAA Global Ocean Monitoring & Observing Program)
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Funding for the Ocean Carbon & Biogeochemistry Project Office is provided by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). The OCB Project Office is housed at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.