Coupled ocean-sediment and physical-biogeochemical modeling in the northern Gulf of Mexico

Updates from a recently funded NASA/LA-BOR EPSCoR program that investigates carbon export from the Mississippi Delta to the coastal ocean by CSI Fellow, George Xue.

Dr. Xue’s research centers on coupled ocean-sediment and coupled physical-biogeochemical modeling using supercomputers at LSU. Dr. Xue’s study regions include the Mississippi River- Gulf of Mexico and Mekong-South China Sea systems. Recently Dr. Xue, as a lead PI, was awarded a major grant from NASA/LA-BOR EPSCoR program to investigate carbon export from the Mississippi Delta to the coastal ocean. Below is a figure showing the air-sea CO2 flux simulated by Dr. Xue’s coupled physical-biogeochemcial model, which indicates the Gulf of Mexico is overall a carbon sink yet the coastal region around the Mississippi Delta exhibits a over-saturated condition, largely resulted from the high dissolved inorganic carbon from the Mississippi River.

 

For more information on this and other ongoing research projects, George Xu's website can be reached here.

                 

Model simulated multi-year (2005-2010) mean air-sea CO2 flux in the Gulf of Mexico. Blue color indicates the ocean is a sink for CO2; red color indicates the ocean is a source