2018 HURRICANE SEASON AND ITS INFLUENCES TO THE ALBEMARLE-PAMLICO ESTUARINE SYSTEM (APES) AND CONTINENTAL MARGIN – PART 1 (TOTAL SUSPENDED SOLIDS, BULK DISSOLVED ORGANIC CARBON, AND TOTAL DISSOLVED NITROGEN)

The recent 2018 hurricane season presumably resulted in terrigenous carbon and microbes being flushed out through rivers and streams into the Albemarle-Pamlico Estuarine System (APES). This influx of terrestrial carbon may have changed the seasonal carbon cycle in surface waters of the APES and also the adjacent continental margin. We aimed to answer two questions. First, did the pulse of terrigenous DOC and microbes from the 2018 Hurricane season change the regional Gulf Stream adjacent to North Carolina from a net sink to a net source of CO₂ to the atmosphere? And second, will deposition of this elevated organic matter increase anaerobic and fermentation processes that will lead to algal blooms in surface waters adjacent to the Gulf Stream? To answer these questions, our team collected samples from the APES across the continental margin to the Gulf Stream in NE North Carolina. In this study, we address spatial trends of dissolved organic carbon (DOC), total dissolved nitrogen (TDN), and total suspended sediments (TSS) in these surface waters. This research is part of a larger study aimed to demonstrate the importance and ultimate impact of tropical storms on carbon cycling across the continental margin.