MRI: Acquisition of a Raman spectrometer for ocean acidification and marine debris research

The ocean—and the ecosystem goods and services that it provides—faces a gauntlet of impacts from human activities including climate change caused by carbon emissions and pollution. Ocean acidification and plastic debris are among the two longest-lasting impacts to marine environments, owing to the long retention times of carbon dioxide and non-degradable debris in the ocean.

The rates at which human carbon emissions and plastic particles enter the ocean are only increasing, and both are cumulative, meaning that the impacts of these two sources of pollution are also increasing. Marine calcifying organisms are highly sensitive to ocean acidification, and a wide range of marine species from plankton to fish to whales are affected by plastics.

One of the most powerful tools available to investigate ocean acidification and marine debris is Raman spectrometry, a technique that uses lasers to probe the structural properties of minerals and polymers. This award provides for the acquisition of a Raman spectrometer at Hawaiʻi Pacific University, in a location uniquely situated adjacent to coral reefs and near the epicenter of plastic accumulation in the Pacific Ocean.

The new Raman spectrometer will facilitate a range of studies into the mechanisms by which calcifying organisms build their shells and skeletons. The high spatial and spectral resolution of the instrument, combined with its topography mapping and submersible objectives, will enable quantification of the chemical conditions at the micro-scale site of calcification, visualization of micron-scale banding patterns, and in vivo analysis of corals, coralline algae, and foraminifera.

Additionally, the instrument will enable identification of the polymers in debris collected from the ocean and Hawaiian beaches, information that will help understand the source and fate of plastics in the marine environment. With the non-destructive and rapid analysis capabilities of Raman spectrometry, the instrument will be readily available to visiting researchers, and the instrument will be the focal point of new laboratory classes that will substantially improve the training of undergraduate and graduate students at Hawaiʻi Pacific University.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.