Potential Role of Marine Snow in the Fate of Spilled Oil in Cook Inlet, Alaska
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University of New Hampshire University of New Hampshire Scholars' Repository Master's Theses and Capstones Student Scholarship Winter 2019 POTENTIAL ROLE OF MARINE SNOW IN THE FATE OF SPILLED OIL IN COOK INLET, ALASKA Jesse Ross University of New Hampshire, Durham Follow this and additional works at: https://scholars.unh.edu/thesis Recommended Citation Ross, Jesse, "POTENTIAL ROLE OF MARINE SNOW IN THE FATE OF SPILLED OIL IN COOK INLET, ALASKA" (2019). Master's Theses and Capstones. 1331. https://scholars.unh.edu/thesis/1331 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Student Scholarship at University of New Hampshire Scholars' Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Master's Theses and Capstones by an authorized administrator of University of New Hampshire Scholars' Repository. For more information, please contact [email protected]. POTENTIAL ROLE OF MARINE SNOW IN THE FATE OF SPILLED OIL IN COOK INLET, ALASKA By JESSE ROSS Bachelor of Science, Environmental Engineering, University of New Hampshire, 2017 THESIS Submitted to the University of New Hampshire in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Science In Civil and Environmental Engineering December, 2019 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED © 2019 Jesse Ross ii This thesis has been examined and approved by: Dr. Nancy Kinner, Thesis Director Professor of Civil Engineering and Environmental at the University of New Hampshire Dr. Kai Ziervogel, Co-Advisor Research assistant professor of Oceanography at the University of New Hampshire Dr. Thomas Ballestero, Committee Member Director of the UNH Stormwater Center iii Original approval signatures are on file with the University of New Hampshire Graduate School. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This research was made possible by the support and funding of the University of New Hampshire (UNH) Coastal Response Research Center (CRRC), Cook Inlet Regional Citizens Advisory Council (CIRCAC), and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). I would like to thank Dr. Nancy Kinner for many years of consistent support, perspective, and willingness to invest time in me. Nancy’s unwavering energy, curiosity, work-ethic, and passion is contagious. Thanks for pushing us all towards achieving more, while reminding us to “let go” of what we do not need. I would like to thank Dr. Kai Ziervogel for thoughtfully introducing an engineering student to the world of oceanography. His genuine excitement about understanding the underlying mechanisms of the environment changed the way I approached laboratory work. I’d like to thank Susan Saupe (CIRCAC Director of Science & Research) and everyone at CIRCAC for funding this project. This project would not have been possible without Sue’s extensive experience, ability to make things happen, and knowledge, along with her willingness to be a mentor throughout. Thank you to Melissa Gloekler for being a great friend. Thanks to Kathy Mandsager for working with high diligence and higher tolerance, holding our team together through every aspect iv of what CRRC does. You both made it possible to truly enjoy this process. Thank you to all the ERG folks who make Gregg a special place to work. Thanks to skippers Hans Pedersen (University of Alaska Fairbanks) and Mike Geagel (NOAA) for incredible seasons in Kachemak Bay. Thanks to Connie Geagel (UAF), Dominic Hondolero (NOAA), and Kris Holderied (Director of Kasitsna Bay Lab, NOAA), for their support of this research in so many ways. You all made this project and experience successful and fun. Thanks to all who served on the Project Advisory Committee: Susan Saupe (CIRCAC), Kris Holderied (NOAA), Dr. Sarah Allan (NOAA), Cathy Coon (BOEM), Catherine Berg (NOAA), and Dr. Rick Bernhardt (AK DEC). Thanks to Dr. Tom Ballestero for serving on my committee. Thanks to Dr. Phil Ramsey for his thoughtful time helping with statistical analysis. Thanks to so many friends who have helped from the field to the lab: Dr. Alexandra Ravelo, Maya Thompson, Jim Schloemer, Mikie Geagel, Kim Shuster, Quinn Wilkins, Peter Saunders, Katie McCabe, Bryan Zhang, and the crew of the M/V Miss Diane. Also, thanks to my friend Wiley Little for friendship and patience. Finally, I’d like to thank my family: Abby, for setting a life-long inspiring example of hard work and integrity, and my parents for selflessly giving so much energy, love and support. v TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................................................................ iv TABLE OF CONTENTS ................................................................................................ vi LIST OF TABLES ......................................................................................................... viii LIST OF FIGURES ......................................................................................................... ix LIST OF ACRONYMS .................................................................................................... x ABSTRACT ..................................................................................................................... xii 1. INTRODUCTION......................................................................................................... 1 1.1 Marine Snow ............................................................................................................. 1 1.2 Incorporation of Oil .................................................................................................. 2 1.3 Review of Oil-Particle Interactions .......................................................................... 3 1.4 Relevance to High Latitudes & Cook Inlet, AK ....................................................... 6 1.5 Objective of Thesis Research .................................................................................. 11 1.6 Methods for Thesis Research .................................................................................. 11 1.7 Western Gulf of Alaska Research ........................................................................... 12 2. MATERIALS AND METHODS ............................................................................... 13 2.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................. 13 2.2 Study Location ........................................................................................................ 13 2.3 Establishing Baseline Particle Flux ........................................................................ 15 2.4 Particle Flux Calculations ....................................................................................... 18 2.5 Roller-Bottle Oil Incubations .................................................................................. 19 2.6 Roller-Bottle Procedure .......................................................................................... 19 2.7 Roller-Bottle Data Collection ................................................................................ 22 2.8 Statistical Analysis .................................................................................................. 23 2.9 Western Gulf of Alaska Sampling .......................................................................... 25 3. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION ................................................................................. 27 3.1 Water Column Characterization ............................................................................. 27 3.2 Flux Summary ......................................................................................................... 30 3.3 Spatiotemporal Analysis of Fluxes ......................................................................... 34 3.4 January 2019 Fluxes ............................................................................................... 36 3.5 Flux Variance Between Sites .................................................................................. 36 3.6 Particle Sinking Velocities ...................................................................................... 39 vi 3.7 Qualitative Observations of Flux ............................................................................ 41 3.8 Comparisons to Other Fluxes.................................................................................. 43 3.9 Western Gulf of Alaska Fluxes ............................................................................... 46 3.10 Roller-Bottle Results ............................................................................................. 51 3.11 Surface Water Characteristics ............................................................................... 52 3.12 Roller-Bottle Visual Observations ........................................................................ 52 3.13 UV-Microscopy of Aggregates ............................................................................. 54 3.14 Roller-Bottle Filtration Results ............................................................................. 56 3.15 Implications of Roller-Bottle Incubations ............................................................ 60 4. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS .................................................... 64 4.1 Conclusions ............................................................................................................. 64 4.2 Significance............................................................................................................. 65 4.3 Recommendations for Future Research .................................................................