Kanchan Maiti
Position: Professor, Shell Professor in Oceanography/Wetland Studies, Associate Chair, Department of Oceanography & Coastal Sciences
Phone: 225-578-4531
Fax: 225-578-6326
E-mail: kmaiti@lsu.edu
Office: 1143 Energy, Coast and Environment Building
Bachelor's Degree(s): Presidency College, University of Calcutta
Master's Degrees(s): Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee
Ph.D.(s): University of South Carolina, Columbia
Research Interests
My research group focuses on understanding the fate and transport of different forms of carbon in coastal and deep ocean. Photosynthetic fixation of CO2 in surface ocean into different forms of organic carbon effectively removes CO2 from atmosphere. In absence of this process, our atmospheric CO2 concentration would have been ~50% higher than it is at present times. Understanding this process known as the “biological pump” is extremely important in determining the role of ocean in controlling atmospheric CO2and how that might change in future. However a large fraction of this organic carbon fixed by phytoplankton in the ocean gets released back into the water column and atmosphere as CO2 and other inorganic forms of carbon via respiration and microbial decomposition. Thus the availability of organic carbon can directly and indirectly impact various biogeochemical processes in the ocean like formation of hypoxia, increase in ocean acidification, release of various redox sensitive elements and contaminants from the sediments. My research group at LSU seeks to provide answers to some of these fundamental questions related to ocean carbon biogeochemistry and environmental quality through field based observations, natural isotope tracers and laboratory microcosm experiments. Current research themes include -
Upper ocean particle dynamics and biological pump.
Fate and transport of organic matter and contaminants in aquatic systems.
Utilization of artificial and natural radioisotopes to study environmental processes.
Sediment geochemistry and chemical processes at sediment-water interface.
Ocean acidification.
Classes Taught
OCS4126/GEOL4081: Chemical Oceanography
OCS7131: Marine Sediment Geochemistry
OCS7130: Marine Isotope Biogeochemistry
OCS3103: Global Biogeochemical Cycles
Awards & Honors
LSU Alumni Association Faculty Excellence Award 2019
LSU Alumni Association Rising Faculty Research Award 2015
Joseph Lipsey, Jr. and Richard A. Lipsey Excellence in Teaching Award 2015
Tiger Athletic Foundation Undergraduate Teaching Award 2015
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Postdoctoral Fellowship 2007
Professional Affiliations and Service Activities
Associate Editor, Marine Chemistry
Recent Publications
Zhou, K., Dai, M., Maiti, K., Chen, W., Chen, J., Hong, Q., Ma, Y., Xiu, P., Wang, L., Xie, Y. (2020). Impact of physical and biogeochemical forcing on particle export in the South China Sea. Progress in Oceanography https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pocean.2020.102403
Pickering, R. A., Cassarino, L., Hendry, K. R., Wang, X. L., Maiti, K., Krause, J. W. (2020). Using Stable Isotopes to Disentangle Marine Sedimentary Signals in Reactive Silicon Pools” Geophysical Research Letters https://doi.org/10.1029/2020GL087877
Bam, W., Maiti, K., Baskaran, M., Krupp, K., Lam, P., Xiang, Y. (2020). Variability in 210Pb and 210Po partition coefficients along the US GEOTRACES Arctic transect. Marine Chemistry, 219, 103749.
Chaplin, C. C., Tabor, M., Marquez, I., Maiti, K., Krause, J. (2019). Resuscitation of Microalgae from Mississippi River Plume Sediments. Gulf and Caribbean Research, 30, SC38-SC41.
Laws, E. A., Maiti, K. (2019). The relationship between primary production and export production in the ocean: effects of time lag and temporal variability. Deep Sea Research, 148, 100-107.
Adhikari, P., Maiti, K., Bam, W. (2019). Fate of particle-bound polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in the river-influenced continental margin of the northern Gulf of Mexico. Marine Pollution Bulletin, 141, 350-362.
Upreti, K., Maiti, K., Rivera-Monroy, V. H. (2019). Microbial mediated sedimentary phosphorus mobilization in emerging and eroding wetlands of coastal Louisiana. Science of The Total Environment, 651, 122 - 133. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0048969718334491
Reeves, D. B., Chesney, E. J., Munnelly, R. T., Baltz, D. M., Maiti, K. (2019). Trophic Ecology of Sheepshead and Stone Crabs at Oil and Gas Platforms in the Northern Gulf of Mexico's Hypoxic Zone. Transactions of the American Fisheries Society, 0(0). https://afspubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/tafs.10135
Levine, B., White, J. W., Maiti, K., Delaune, R. D. (2017). Impact of crude oil treatments on oxidation-reduction status in soil cores from a Spartina alterniflora dominated salt marsh in Barataria Bay, Louisiana. Soil Society of America Journal, 647-653.
Starr, A., Bargu Ates, S., Maiti, K., Delaune, R. D. (2017). The Effect of Atrazine on Louisiana Estuarine Phytoplankton Growth and Oxygen Production. Archives of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology, 72, 178-188.
Adhikari, P., Maiti, K., Bosu, S., Jones, P. (2016). 238U-234Th disequilibria as a tracer of vertical flux of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon in the Northern Gulf of Mexico. Marine Pollution Bulletin, 107, 179-187.
D'Sa, E. J., Overton, E., Lohrenz, S., Maiti, K., Turner, E., Freeman, E. R. (2016). Changing dynamics of dissolved organic matter fluorescence in the northern Gulf of Mexico following the DwH oil spill. Environment Science and Technology, 50, 4940-4950.
Adhikari, P. L., Maiti, K., Overton, E., Rosenheim, B. E., Marx, B. D. (2016). Distribution and accumulation rates of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in the northern Gulf of Mexico sediments. Environmental Pollution, 212, 413-423.
Zhou, K., Maiti, K., Dai, M., Kao, S., Buesseler, K. (2016). Does adsorption of dissolved organic carbon and thorium onto membrane filters affect the carbon to thorium ratios, a primary parameter in estimating export carbon flux? Marine Chemistry, 184, 1-10.
Maiti, K., Bosu, P., D'Sa, E. J., Adhikari, S., Sutor, M., Longnecker, K. (2016). Export fluxes in northern Gulf of Mexico – Comparative Evaluation of Direct, Indirect and satellite based estimates. Marine Chemistry, 184, 60-77.
Babu, T., Tubana, B., Datnoff, L., Yzenas, J., Maiti, K. (2016). Release and sorption pattern of monosilicic acid from silicon fertilizers in different soils of Louisiana: A laboratory incubation study. Communications in Soil Science and Plant Analysis, 47.
Maiti, K., Charette, M. A., Zhou, K. O., Henderson, P., Moore, W. S., Morris, P., Kipp, L. (2015). Determination of particulate and dissolved thorium-228 using delayed coincidence counter. Marine Chemistry, 177, 196-202.
Jones, P., Maiti, K., McManus, J. (2015). Lead-210 and Polonium-210 disequilibria in the northern Gulf of Mexico hypoxic zone. Marine Chemistry, 169, 1-15.
Adhikari, P., White, J. R., Maiti, K., Nguyen, N. (2015). Phosphorus speciation and sedimentary phosphorus release from the Gulf of Mexico sediments: Implication for Hypoxia. Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science, 164, 77-85.
Adhikari, P. L., Maiti, K., Overton, E. (2015). Vertical fluxes and residence times of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in the northern Gulf of Mexico. Marine Chemistry, 168, 60-68.
Recent Grants
2020-2022 Maiti, K “Impacts of Eutrophication Driven Acidification in Barataria Bay,
LA - Implications for Oyster Health, NOAA Ocean Acidification Program
2020-2023 Xue, Z., Maiti, K., Xu, K. Gillespie, C. “Impact of Non-linear sedimentation on Dredge Area Benthic Ecosystem on Louisiana Shelf” Bureau of Ocean Energy Management.
2018-2021 Maiti, K. “Sediment Geochemical Control on Ocean Acidification and Carbon Budget in a River Dominated Shelf System” NSF Chemical Oceanography.
2018-2021 Xue, Z., Maiti, K., Rivera-Monroy, V. H., D'Sa, E. J. “Understanding and Quantifying Carbon Export to Coastal Oceans through Deltaic Systems” NASA-BoR.
2018-2020 Maiti, K. “A Rapid Response to Hurricane Harvey's Impacts on Coastal Carbon Cycle, Metabolic Balance and Ocean Acidification” NSF Chemical Oceanography.
2017-2020 Xu, K., Maiti K., Xue, Z., Bargu, S., Bentley, S., White, J., Wilson, C. “Development of a Monitoring Program for Water Quality and Biogeochemical Processes of Louisiana Sediment Borrow Areas” Bureau of Ocean Energy Management.
2016-2019 Krause, J., Maiti, K. “The Biotic and Abiotic Controls on the Silicon Cycle in the Northern Gulf of Mexico” NSF Chemical Oceanography
2015-2019 Maiti K. “Disequilibria Between Radium-226, Lead-210 and Polonium-210 in the Arctic Ocean and their implications for trace metal distribution” NSF Chemical Oceanography.
2015-2019 Bargu S., Errata R., Maiti, K., Hermann, A. “Impacts of Ocean Acidification on Natural Phytoplankton Communities, Oyster Development and Trophic Interactions” NOAA Louisiana Sea Grant Program.