We’ve completed our CTD operations for the 2015 Gulf of
Alaska OA cruise, but the Burkolator is still running and will collect data all
the way to the dock in Kodiak. With this truly groundbreaking system, we have been
able to highly resolve the marine carbonate system over the course of this
project. The figure below shows the saturation index for aragonite (a form of
calcium carbonate; Ωarag) and the pH (pHT) of surface
water measured as we traveled during our survey (July 14 – July 31, 2015). Blue
shades in the saturation index are values where some juvenile shellfish may
begin to feel stress from the ocean conditions. We’ve seen these conditions
associated with freshwater input at various locations as well as possibly
upwelling in areas around southeast Alaska and Kodiak. What is particularly
interesting to me are the areas where these conditions caused by freshwater
input differ in terms of pH. In other
words, freshwater decreases the saturation index for aragonite, but pH does not
always follow this decrease. In the area around Icy Bay (marked on saturation
index map), where there is a huge freshwater signal from the largest
marine-terminating glacier on North America, the pH actually goes up! We refer
to this as a decoupling between saturation index and pH, which is caused in
this setting by glacial melt. This is a situation very unique to Alaska in
comparison to other US coastal states, and is an important reason not to rely
on pH measurements alone to track the occurrence of seawater conditions that
may be harmful to marine life such as shellfish.
Keeping our fingers on the pulse of changing chemical conditions
in the Gulf of Alaska is a central goal for the UAF Ocean Acidification
Research Center, for the Alaska Ocean Observing System and for NOAA’s Ocean
Acidification Program. This trip has been the most extensive OA survey ever
conducted in Alaskan waters, and was incredibly important for providing a broad
description of conditions that allow us to add context to our long-term efforts
on the Seward Line (marked in the saturation index map), in hatchery settings,
and from our moorings. These long-term
efforts are incredibly important to resolve the pace of change in Alaskan
coastal waters, and cruises such as this provide the broad brushstroke of
measurements allowing us to compare and contrast well-resolved regions (Seward
Line) with areas less-frequently sampled (Icy Bay). This cruise will hit the
dock and the scientists on board will disembark, but the Burkolator will stay
on board for the next leg up to the Arctic and then back to Seattle, providing
an even broader snap shot of OA conditions around the state of Alaska.
- Wiley Evans