Session Lead: Raymond Najjar (Penn State)

Co-Lead(s): Zhaohui Aleck Wang (Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)

Session Format: Oral Presentations

Session Description: 

Carbon is a common thread that links numerous important estuarine issues, such as hypoxia, acidification, marsh inundation, and declining water clarity. Estuarine carbon is also important because it is the primary linkage between land and sea in the global carbon cycle, which is a key component of the climate system. This session seeks contributions on all aspects of carbon cycling in Chesapeake Bay and other coastal systems, including biological, chemical, and physical processes that transport and transform carbon in all of its forms (dissolved, particulate, organic, and inorganic). Studies that characterize linkages among the different carbon reservoirs, such as rivers, tidal wetlands, estuarine open waters, the atmosphere, and sediments, are particularly welcome. Approaches for studying carbon cycling may include measurements of carbon stocks and fluxes, numerical modeling, isotopic analysis, and remote sensing. Efforts to place carbon cycling in Chesapeake Bay in a broader context, particularly linkages to other phenomena in Chesapeake Bay and contrasts with other estuarine systems, are encouraged.

Presentations (abstracts):

  1. Raymond Najjar, Maria Herrmann, Matthew S. Fantle, Jill Arriola, Seyi Ajayi, Emily Rivest, Marjorie Friedrichs, Pierre St-Laurent, Amber Hardison, Hunter Walker, Quinn Roberts, Brandylyn Thomas, Alexis Putney, Alexa Labossiere, Javier Pujols, Novia Mann, Ryan Woodland, Lora Harris, Laura Lapham, Theresa Murphy, Cindy Ross, Zhaohui Aleck Wang, Sophie Kuhl, Cassie Gurbisz, Edward Stets, and Riley Westman: The Chesapeake Carbon and Alkalinity Study (CHALK)
  2. Riley Westman, Raymond Najjar, Edward Stets, Bryn Stewart, Devon Kerins, Li Li: Geology and Hydrology Drive Substantial Variations in the Carbonate Chemistry of Rivers Feeding the Chesapeake Bay
  3. Novia Mann, Hunter Walker, Quinn Roberts, Emily Rivest, Raymond Najjar, Zhaohui Aleck Wang, Amber Hardison: Seasonal and Spatial Variability of Dissolved Inorganic Carbon in the York and Potomac River Estuaries
  4. Zhaohui Aleck Wang, Sophie Kuhl, Kate Morkeski, Emily Rivest, Amber Hardison, and Raymond Najjar: Impacts of organic alkalinity on carbonate chemistry and carbon fluxes in the two tidal tributaries of the Chesapeake Bay
  5. Alexa K Labossiere, Marjorie A.M. Friedrichs, Pierre St-Laurent, Raymond Najjar: Impact of Tropical Storms on the Carbonate Chemistry of Two Contrasting Tidal Tributaries in the Chesapeake Bay
  6. Maria Herrmann, Raymond Najjar, Caroline Spengler, Jacqueline Kiszka: Upper Potomac River Estuary contributes disproportionately to the carbon dioxide outgassing of Chesapeake Bay
  7. A. Whitman Miller: High frequency, continuous measurements reveal strong diel and seasonal cycling of pCO2 and CO2 flux in a mesohaline reach of the Chesapeake Bay
  8. Anna Hildebrand, John Pohlman, Lee-Gray Boze, Michael Casso, Josh Dean, Laura Lapham: Quantifying dissolved methane concentrations in surficial sediments and water column of the Chesapeake Bay
  9. Cassie Gurbisz, Theresa Murphy, Meghan Stevens, Lilianna Bowman, Matthew S. Fantle, Amber Hardison, Maria Herrmann, Lora Harris, Alexis Putney, Emily Rivest, Quinn Roberts, Hunter Walker, Zhaohui Aleck Wang, Ryan Woodland, Raymond Najjar: Submersed aquatic vegetation modifies estuarine inorganic carbon and alkalinity dynamics
  10. Victoria J. Hill, Richard C. Zimmerman: Assessing submerged aquatic vegetation blue carbon in The Chesapeake Bay from high resolution satellite imagery
  11. Jill M. Arriola, Raymond G. Najjar, Maria Herrmann, Seyi Ajayi, Amber Hardison, Quinn Roberts, Hunter Walker, Emily Rivest, Alexis Putney, Zhaohui Aleck Wang: Seasonality of carbon and alkalinity export from a well-constrained brackish tidal marsh along the York River, Virginia
  12. Fei Da, Marjorie A.M. Friedrichs, Pierre St-Laurent, Raymond G. Najjar, and Elizabeth H. Shadwick: Controls on the carbonate system of a coastal plain estuary: rivers, tidal wetlands, and tidal cycles
  13. Seyi Ajayi, Raymond Najjar, Emily Rivest, Ryan Woodland: Relationship between benthic biomass and environmental conditions in Chesapeake Bay