Award: OCE-2000097

This award allowed to initiate and sustain time series sampling of the Amazon River mainstem in Obidos (Brazil) and Tapajos River in Santarem (Brazil). Through a collaboration with scientists from UFOPA (Santarem, Brazil), samples have been collected monthly in the center of the respective mainstems. Samples were processed upon collection and preserved according to analytical needs prior to return to laboratories in the US and further analysis. The project uniquely established robust seasonal trends in the amount and composition of organic matter delivered by the Amazon River to the Atlantic Ocean. This provides a key baseline without which understanding the cycling of Amazon-derived organic matter on the Amazon shelf would not be possible. Further, the project resulted in the collection and archiving of time series samples spanning key periods of changing forest fire intensity in the Amazon basin. This will allow to study the impact of increased fires on the cycling of pyrogenic carbon in the Amazon River basin. This project supported parts of the master thesis research of UFOPA student Rafael Muniz, providing him a unique opportunity to establish a time series sampling program on his home Amazon River. The project also supported parts of the PhD research of MIT Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution joint program in oceanography student Brenna Boehman. Last Modified: 07/26/2023 Submitted by: Valier Galy