Paul Montagna
Texas A & M University-Corpus Christi, TX·Earth & Environmental Science
Shallow estuaries, where rivers meet the sea, can buffer coastal waters against acidification. Their muddy bottoms can generate alkalinity, which is water's capacity to neutralize acid.
- Fields
Earth & Environmental Science
Ecology & Evolution
Biology
- Topics
estuaries
alkalinity
coastal acidification
- Grants
- 1 known grant, through Aug 2027
What they work on
- Test whether reduced freshwater runoff lowers alkalinity production in estuarine sediments by changing rates of oxygen-free microbial respiration, by comparing three northwestern Gulf of Mexico estuaries that differ in freshwater input.
- Determine whether extreme drought causes previously buried reduced sulfur compounds to be oxidized and generate acid, focusing detailed sampling on one estuary with large swings in freshwater inflow.
- Quantify how sediment processes affect overlying water by measuring water-column alkalinity changes together with benthic fluxes across the sediment-water interface.
- Reconstruct historical shifts in sulfur and organic carbon preservation from the sedimentary record, and build a model that links field measurements into a predictive picture of estuarine alkalinity.
More about the research
How much alkalinity those sediments make or consume may depend on how much fresh water rivers deliver. As runoff declines in many regions, it matters whether drought weakens this natural buffer or even turns sediments into a source of acid.
Why it matters
Freshwater inflow to coastal bays is shrinking in many dry regions. Showing how that shift changes sediment alkalinity would clarify whether estuaries will keep buffering acidification or begin adding acid to coastal waters, information useful for water managers deciding environmental inflow requirements. The model developed here is intended for broader use in coastal research and management.
Known grants
From NIH and NSF research grants. Labs often have other funding we can't see.
Closest labs
Robert Sanchez
Harvey Mudd College, CA·Earth & Environmental Science
Simulate how low-inflow estuary circulation responds to strong surface heating and intense freshwater pulses using the ROMS hydrodynamic model.
Tyler Cyronak
Georgia Southern University, GA·Earth & Environmental Science
Quantify how much total alkalinity flows out of sediments in two contrasting seagrass ecosystems, using field and laboratory chamber incubations and pore water analyses.
Alexandra Bijak
William & Mary, VA·Ecology & Evolution
Test how the strength and direction of seagrass-bivalve interactions change with seagrass species and bivalve type, by adding bivalves to meadows dominated by early-successional versus climax seagrasses and measuring growth of both.
The school
Texas A & M University-Corpus Christi: 2 labs on PI Pages, $52M a year on research, 37 research doctorates a year.
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