Oklahoma State University Researchers Embark on International Research Expedition

As part of a National Science Foundation-funded project, a team of researchers from the Oklahoma State University's Boone Pickens School of Geology embarked on a 5-week international research expedition aboard the R/V Roger Revelle. The team collected sediment and seawater samples across the Labrador Sea, focusing on how seawater chemistry is preserved in and influenced by seafloor sediments. The expedition aimed to study the movement and transformation of chemical signatures that track deep ocean circulation over time.

Key Takeaways:

• The OSU team collected 55 multicores, 12 gravity cores, 28 CTD casts, and McLane pumps, with graduate and undergraduate students playing a leading role in deploying instruments and processing samples.
• The expedition ran 24 hours a day, with research teams working in rotating shifts to collect and process samples.
• The team studied how iron moves from the sediments into the water above and investigated the natural conditions that affect this movement, such as oxygen levels, temperature, and currents.
• The work of the expedition team is helping scientists better understand how the ocean naturally supplies nutrients, a crucial piece in predicting how marine ecosystems and the global carbon cycle may respond to climate change.
• Researchers ventured to the Labrador Sea to study the central role it plays in regulating Earth's climate through the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation.
• The project focuses on neodymium isotopes and rare earth elements to study the movement and transformation of chemical signatures that track deep ocean circulation over time.
• The team aims to refine how scientists interpret ancient ocean currents and climate change signals recorded in marine sediments.
• Graduate students Amanda Harding and Monica Hinson will go on to conduct graduate theses on the materials recovered in this expedition.
• The expedition provided valuable field experience in marine geochemistry, sediment biogeochemistry, and paleoceanography, as well as the aspects of being a successful scientist.

Statistics:

• The team spent 5 weeks collecting sediment and seawater samples across the Labrador Sea.
• The team collected 55 multicores, 12 gravity cores, 28 CTD casts, and used McLane pumps during the expedition.
• The team worked in rotating shifts, with research teams working 24 hours a day.
• The expedition focused on neodymium isotopes and rare earth elements to study the movement and transformation of chemical signatures that track deep ocean circulation over time.

Sources:

Oklahoma State University press release. (Date not specified)