Richard G. Fairbanks and Robert W. Houghton
The objectives and scientific approach are: to use oxygen isotope analysis of water samples to quantify the modes of circulation and mixing, water type, and the upstream sources of the water found on Georges Bank. Water sampling will be derived from GLOBEC and Canadian cruises on George's Bank and the Scotian Shelf as planned along with a commercial ship of opportunity transit that passes along George's Bank and the Scotian Shelf. We will explore opportunities for additional water sampling in the Gulf of Maine. However, with the lower funding level it will be necessary to process on the mass-spec only a subset of the water samples collected. Likewise resources for data analysis are reduced. This will impact our ability to fully exploit all the links with other GLOBEC data as recommended by the panel reviews. However, within the resources available we will make every effort to coordinate this research with other components of GLOBEC especially those that seek to identify water type and source.