Water Resources Research Act Program

Details for Project ID 2004SD21B

Coupled Carbon-Nitrogen Geochemistry under Reducing Conditions in a Prairie Pothole

Institute: South Dakota
Year Established: 2004 Start Date: 2004-03-01 End Date: 2006-02-28
Total Federal Funds: $7,000 Total Non-Federal Funds: $14,375

Principal Investigators: James Rice

Project Summary: A study proposed to understand the coupled carbon-nitrogen cycle in a prairie pothole wetland. This site is unique because it rapidly becomes anoxic after the water surface freezes in the winter, and rapidly becomes oxic in the spring, and stays oxic, because it is well-mixed by the prevailing winds. It thuis represents a convenient closed chemical reactor to study these reactions. This proposal requests funding for the first year of what will be a three-year project. The overall project has the following objectives: 1. Determine the annual variation in the redox potential of the pothole. 2. Create a nitrogen and carbon mass balance for the pothole. 3. Determine the form of nitrogen present in the dissolved organic matter. 4. Using 15N and 13C labeled compounds, trace the coupled C-N transformations in the pothole under oxic and anoxic conditions.