University of Minnesota proposes to support technical services on R/V Blue Heron, an 86? general purpose UNOLS research vessel operated by the UM Duluth Large Lakes Observatory as part of the University-National Oceanographic Laboratory System research fleet. They request support for basic services only. They will provide one technician on each lake-going research project of R/V Blue Heron to support lacustrine research projects and to maintain, calibrate and provide for qualified users items from their pool of shared-use research instrumentation. The budget in this proposal is for the first year of a 3-year continuing grant.
The University of Minnesota provided marine technical support for NSF funded research on the research vessel Blue Heron using funds provided by the National Science Foundation in grant OCE-0907933 ‘Oceanographic Technical Services, 2009 - 2011, R/V Blue Heron’. The funds were used to pay for salaries and fringe benefits of our marine technicians, for calibration of instrumentation such as the sensors on our CTD/Carousel , for spare parts and supplies (such as parts for our coring gear or water sampling bottles), and for travel to the annual UNOLS RVTec meeting. Over the three years of the grant it supported the following five NSF projects: J. Austin, OCE-0825633 ‘The role of Ice in the response of large lakes to a changing climate’; S. Colman, OCE-0623607 ‘Testing the hypothesis of eastward Lake Agassiz discharge at the beginning of the Youger Dryas using marine seismic-reflection methods’; J. Finlay, OCE-0927512 ‘Sources and sinks of stoichiometrically imbalanced nitrate in the Laurentian Great Lakes’; S. Katsev, OCE-0961720 ‘Transient diagenesis in organic poor sediments: Lake Superior’; and E. Minor, OCE 0825600 ‘Collaborative Research: How important is "old" carbon in Lake Superior? A radiocarbon investigation’ The Austin project (OCE-0825633) sought to better understand the fact that Lake Superior water temperature is rising at a faster rate than regional air temperature by gaining insights into ice formation and ice duration on Lake Superior and lake ice’s impact on the lake’s thermal structure and carbon flux. The Colman project (OCE-0623607) sought to better understand the onset of the Younger Dryas cold event which may shed some light on the impact of any future alteration in the ocean’s thermohaline circulation that may result from climate change. Finlay’s project (OCE-0927512) sought to better understand the increase in nitrate in Great Lakes waters and allow researchers to gauge any impact that increased nitrate will have on Great Lakes biota. Katsev’s project (OCE-0961720) reconstructed historical trends in primary productivity and nutrient inputs in Lake Superior by characterizing the sediment geochemistry of oxygen, nitrogen, phosphorus, organic carbon and iron. Minor’s project (OCE 0825600) studied the various forms of carbon in the lake to estimate how much carbon is sequestered in lacustrine sediment versus how much carbon is emitted to the atmosphere as CO2 The R/V Blue Heron is open to all researchers and educators and technical support for cruises is paid by each user. In addition to facilitating research projects on the Great Lakes as illustrated by the NSF projects mentioned above, the R/V Blue Heron has numerous educational or ‘class cruises’ as well as outreach cruises during the year (12 during 2011), enabling undergraduate and graduate students to participate in work on a research vessel with equipment typically used on larger, ocean going, research vessels. Also, undergraduate and graduate students participate on almost every R/V Blue Heron cruise as research assistants.
