Gray's Reef Acidification Mooring off the Georgia Coast
SOCAN members Scott Noakes and Emily Hall are partnering on validating and maintaining the acidification monitoring site that has been collecting observations since July of 2006. The monitoring site, first maintained by Wei-Jun Cai, with assistance from Janet Reimer, is one of the longest running coastal CO2 moorings in the USA. The acidification mooring records nearly continuous CO2, pH, temperature, and salinity of the surface water at a frequency of every three hours. Observations from this project create a time series of information that allows researchers to determine overall trends in acidification over the last few decades, daily to seasonal variations, and predict how acidified waters could impact animals living within shelf waters of the South Atlantic Bight.
Publications related to this project can be found in our reference library.
The Gray's Reef mooring is 40 nautical miles Southeast of Savannah and has operated since 2006 as a joint effort by NOAA's Ocean Acidification Program, NOAA's Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory, NOAA's National Data Buoy Center, NOAA's Gray's Reef National Marine Sanctuary, SECOORA, the University of Georgia, the University of Delaware, and recently, Mote Marine Laboratory. Check out historical mooring CO2 data here.
CO2 Increase at the Gray's Reef Mooring
CO2 at the Gray's Reef mooring has been increasing since 2006. This increase has led to a decrease of surface water pH, thus the waters around the mooring have become more acidic. Periodic cruises to the mooring allow researchers to clean and maintain the equipment as well as collect additional water samples to aid in the detection of long-term changes in the water chemistry. The Gray's Reef mooring is also part of the National Data Buoy Center's (NDBC) network where data such as wind, wave height, and other weather information can be downloaded. For more results and information on Gray's Reef acidification data validation project check out our Reference Library on our Resources Page.
Photo Credit: Sarah Fangman