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The DOMINO project includes two research cruises to Chesapeake Bay and one to Monterey Bay, California. The Chesapeake Bay cruises are scheduled for June 2004 and April 2005. The Monterey Bay cruise is scheduled for September 2005. 
Chesapeake Bay CruisesChesapeake Bay is an ideal site for the DOMINO project because its nitrogen cycle is already well characterized and because it is the site of several groundbreaking studies into the release of dissolved organic nitrogen (DON) and the dynamics of viral communities.The June 2004 cruise will gather samples when rates of primary productivity are at their annual summertime peak (fueled by regenerated nitrogen), and when flagellates, cyanobacteria, and bacteria dominate the microbial community. The April 2005 cruise is designed to sample the Bay during its annual spring diatom bloom, which occurs in response to high river runoff and associated loading of dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN). . Comparisons between data from spring and summer cruises will allow DOMINO researchers to test their hypothesis that production of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and dissolved organic nitrogen (DON) will follow Redfield ratios when dissolved organic nitrogen (DIN) concentrations are high (i.e., in early spring), but will become progressively uncoupled as nitrogen becomes depleted (i.e., during the annual summertime peak in primary productivity). Chesapeake Bay research cruises will take place aboard the University of Delaware research vessel Cape Henlopen. Monterey Bay Cruises
Monterey Bay is another excellent site for DOMINO field studies because of its intense and predictable
upwelling plumes. These plumes bring nutrient-rich waters to the surface that fuel phytoplankton blooms when the
water column becomes stratified. The blooms are well defined in time and space, and are relatively predictable
using SeaWifs technology.
The September 2005 cruise will follow one or more of these water parcels.
Previous work in Monterey Bay suggests that dissolved organic nitrogen (DON) plays a role in balancing nitrogen budgets there, and that a marked difference exists between spring and fall with respect to DON production. In spring, nitrogen uptake by plankton results primarily in particle production, whereas in fall the primary product is DON. This suggests that zooplankton grazing is the dominant mechanism of release in the spring, whereas a combination of grazing and physiological stress operates in the fall. The DOMINO cruise to Monterey Bay is designed to further examine these earlier findings by closely investigating the mechanisms of DON release. The Monterey Bay research cruise will take place aboard the research vessel Robert Gordon Sproul. |
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