4

Participate field works & coastal cruise 

in the Coasts of Ghana & Tanzania

(Coast of the Atlantic & Indian Ocean) 
 

Study the impact of E-Waste & Plastic under the context of Climate Change

BACKGROUND : The coastal environments of Ghana and Tanzania, as other marine coastal regions, constitute vulnerable ecosystems to the impacts of human-made stressor and climate change. It is well known that climate change drives physical (temperature, winds, ocean currents, vertical mixing) and chemical (ocean acidification) changes in the world oceans, which are predicted to be enhanced in the near future, thus impacting significantly many species and marine ecosystems. However, climatic stressors are not the only factors currently affecting diverse marine ecosystems, as non-climatic stressors such as E-waste and plastics derived marine pollution and connected contaminants, are now reaching concerning levels in the coastal regions of Ghana and Tanzania.

As climatic and non-climatic stressors do not act independently, their combined impact could be reinforcing the adverse effects on the marine food-web which is the main natural resource for coastal communities. These changes have dramatic impacts on human activities depending on marine ecosystem goods and services.

Available master projects will be a part of an international projects Building Capacity to Cross-link Coastal Pollution with Climate Change (BC5)  (web pages will be available soon) is 6 years project funded by NORAD 

BC5 will focus on different case studies to develop its capacity building programs of Research Based Education. Field activities, experiments, research-based education, will during this project follow a frugal and efficient form of implementation. Sailing 4 Science (S4S) allows students & young researchers to learn key skills by working across transdisciplinary borders, dealing with different kinds of knowledge and technologies sometimes in limiting conditions. Participants face situations that will often allow for transposing know limits, helping then to gain unexpected skills, confidence, experience & often empowering then to find their innovative potential.

METHOD : Sampling from fields, coastal systems, river mouths, and open sea in the coastal systems of Atlantic (Ghana) and Indian Ocean (Tanzania)  will be done with the S4S cruises. Various field and lab experiments will be performed. Organic and inorganic contaminants will be analyzed by High Resolution Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (HR-ICP-MS), gas chromatography sector-field inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (GC-SF-ICP-MS) and high-resolution mass spectrometry (HRMS). Solid phase extraction will be used to isolate organic molecules.

Specific focuses :

• X(three?)  MS projects will focus on E-Waste  (both heavy metals and organic contaminants originating from e-Waste) in water column and surface sediment.
• X(three?)  MS projects will focus on interaction of microplastic with heavy metals, organic contaminants transport and other natural particles due to errosion and transformation in the coastal systems
• X(three?)   MS projects will focus on the impact of multi-stressors (pH and Temperature ) on  biogeochemistry of selected metals and organic contaminants in coastal systems
  • Ecosystem studies: Mangroves ecosystem and coastal ecosystem where river meet with sea.– Studying human-made and climatic stressors on the biogeochemistry and ecosystem

FOR DETAILS CONTACT 

Murat V. Ardelan (murat.v.ardelan@ntnu.no ) room D2-214
Mathew K. Avarachen (mathew.avarachen@ntnu.no) and  
Maria Azucena Gutierrez Gonzalez (NTNU Oceans Research & Education Coordinator cell:  (+47) 91 89 77 45
mariaazucena.gutierrez@ntnu.no


 

5
MSc In vitro degradation of kelp tissue, cultivated S. latissima (labwork) (Seaweed-CDR project)
 

Degradation of S. latissima biomass will be studied in vitro under anoxic and hypoxic conditions and under low temperatures representative for bottom conditions on the Norwegian continental shelf (200-300 m depth, 4°C) and outside the shelf break (1500 m depth, 1°C). Both whole sporophytes (the entire plants) and tissue fragments will be included in the study and the samples will be packed at different densities. Sediment samples will be used with S. latissima tissue in OxiTop-systems (0.5 L with headspace). The tissue samples will be left for degradation for 90 days, but longer periods will be considered if necessary. Decomposition of the tissue will be assessed by monitoring of O2 consumption/CO2 production online using state-of-the-art optical O2 sensors and infrared DIC determination. H2S formation will be monitored. In addition, samples will be taken monthly to quantify the release of nitrogen and phosphorous compounds during decomposition. 

Requirements:

• Motivated and independent during labwork
• Good analytical skills
• Collaboration with project team 

Offered:

• Thesis in current and novel topic in seaweed cultivation, with application for climate mitigation
• Collaboration in exciting project in SINTEF Ocean, including network and contacts
• Publication in scientific journal

Collaborations with: 

Seaweed-CDR project (SINTEF Ocean)

PhD Luiza N. (NTNU/SINTEF Ocean) Luzia.Neves@sintef.no

Monitare project (NTNU)

6

Determination of Degradation of Hydrogen Peroxide in seawater 

CONTEXT: Reactive oxygen species (ROSs), such as H2O2, are ubiquitous in surface aquatic environments due to photochemical formation. H2O2 and related reactive oxygen species (ROS) are toxic, and therefore aerobic organisms deploy a number of chemical and enzymatic defenses to protect themselves. H2O2 is also used in aquaculture systems where preventive or curative water treatments are required (e.g. sea lice). Understanding the dynamics of the degradation of H2O2 in seawater is crucial to understand potential impacts of the aquaculture industry in the marine environment.

METHOD

The candidate will prepare seawater samples for the determination of H2O2 with flow injection Chemoluminesce (FIA-Cl) technique. Laboratory work includes preparation and execution of experiments under controlled conditions with seawater. Preparation and possible participation on fieldwork on Trondelag region is required

This projcet s part of a The European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) project

Photo: Chrstian Morel. Trace element sampling from GO-FLO in an Arctic Cruise, Nicolas Sanchez and Stephen Gustav Kohler,  RV Kronprins Håkon

7
 

Improvement the analytical methods for iron and other trace element determination in seawater

a) Multi analytical approach for Iron determination in seawater
Iron is an essential micronutrient for microbial organisms (bacteria and phytoplankton) in oceans. Iron is a limiting nutrient in almost 40 % of the Ocean, especially in the Antarctic waters and most of the Southern Ocean. It is one of the key element which has important role for regulation of the atmospheric CO2 hence Climate of the Earth.
 

Determination of iron and its forms in seawater is a challenging task. The student will test various factors to improve the determination of the iron by using Sea-FAST pre-concentration instrument and High Resolution Inductively Coupled Plasma - Mass Spectrometry (HR-ICP-MS) and Flow Injection Analysis (FIA)

b)  Multi analytical approach for selected trace element (i.e. Mn, Co, Ni, Zn, Cu, Au, Cd, Pb, U and Ti )determination in seawater
Some trace elements (TE) are essential as micronutrients for microbial organisms (bacteria and phytoplankton) in oceans. They are crucial in many vital enzymatic reactions. Some other trace elements are toxic for marine organism. Due to climate change and human made impact, the mobility, solubility hence bioavailability and toxicity of TE may be changing dramatically. It is, therefore, important to develop  useful analytical techniques to monitor the changes in TE concentration in seawater and their roles in ecosystem.

Determination of iron and its forms in seawater is a challenging task. The student will test various factors to improve the determination of the iron by using Sea-FAST pre-concentration instrument and High Resolution Inductively Coupled Plasma - Mass Spectrometry (HR-ICP-MS) and Diffusive Gradient in Thin film (DGT) methods.

9