With the aim of bringing a high-quality observations on a continental shelf setting into the final synthesis of the U.S. Joint Global Ocean Flux Study (U.S.JGOFS), a team of researchers from seven major oceanographic institutions and university marine science departments will endeavor to organize and synthesize data on the cycling of carbon and related biologically-active elements collected during a unique field experiment on the Chesapeake-Hatteras continental shelf region of the Atlantic Ocean. The data include synoptic measurements of the standing amounts, fluxes, and physical transport of inorganic and organic carbon together with the associated biological community dynamics. These data will first be organized and studied to understand the biogeochemical dynamics of the shelf system itself and then worked into the greater ocean carbon modeling effort of the U.S.JGOFS Synthesis and Modeling Project. The researchers anticipate that the results will provide a first look at the role and quantitative significance of continental shelf processes in the overall global carbon cycle.
