PALMER STATION SCIENCE SITREP FEBRUARY 1998 William R. Fraser, SSL NEWS FROM THE LAB. Rob Edwards, Senior Assistant Supervisor, Laboratory Operations February marked the beginning of the transition from summer to winter at Palmer Station, both in the local environment and in station operations. Local wildlife began to prepare for their seasonal migrations, as did some of the researchers and support staff. The R/V Laurence M. Gould (LMG) returned to station mid-month after completing the Long Term Ecological Research project cruise, and practically all station personnel were involved in some aspect of the vessel operations. Science and station cargo was transferred on and off the ship, including fuel to cover a large part of Palmer's annual requirements. The LMG departed with a number of researchers, many of whom had been on station for most or all of the summer season. By the end of the month, Palmer labs were supporting eleven scientists on station from six projects. The generally wet weather of January continued through most of February, with a total precipitation close to 12 cm falling over 24 out of 28 days. The average air temperature was slightly cooler than last month, around 2 C, with the ocean surface cooling to be consistently less than 1 C. The latter part of the month brought the first real taste of winter, with temperatures well below zero and 12 cm of blowing snow. The encroachment of night upon our long summer days became more noticeable, as the evenings became dark enough to see stars during those rare times when the sky was not obscured by clouds. A German scientist spent several weeks on station as part of an international program studying tectonics of the peninsular region. While here, the terminus of the Marr Glacier behind station was surveyed using traditional techniques, and compared to a similar survey from 1995. Glacial retreat was on the order of 10 meters per year. Using new Palmer Station GPS equipment, designed for sub-meter accuracy, staff initiated an additional survey of the glacier. It is hoped to continue this survey on an annual basis. The pumps supplying seawater to station have been rebuilt by Facilities staff. Larger impellers were used in two of the pumps, enabling us to provide higher pressure and higher flow rates in the aquarium, as well as greater reliability. The following programs were involved in research at Palmer Station: S-003 OZONE DEPLETION, UV-B RADIATION AND VASCULAR PLANT PERFORMANCE IN ANTARCTICA. Thomas A. Day, Department of Plant Biology and the Center for the Study of Early Events in Photosynthesis, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287-1601. PERSONNEL ON STATION: Thomas A. Day, Christopher T. Ruhland and Fusheng Xiong. Studies continued on the influence of UV radiation and warming on the two antarctic vascular plants Deschampsia antarctica (hair grass) and Colobanthus quitensis (pearlwort). We are assessing photosynthesis, growth and reproductive performance of plants under experimental treatments that reduce ambient levels of UV radiation, along with passively raising temperatures around plants. This month, photosynthesis and transpiration were monitored over several 24-hour periods, in order to determine what factors limit carbon assimilation in these species. During these measurements, we examined how warming influences carbon assimilation, and assessed the role of respiration in causing depressions in photosynthesis which we have observed on warm days. These field measurements were complimented with laboratory measurements of photosynthetic reactions by measuring chlorophyll fluorescence induction kinetics and rates of oxygen evolution on leaves. We also measured diurnal patterns of photosynthesis and transpiration of dominant cover types at our main field site on Stepping Stones in order to compare gas-exchange rates or fluxes from different cover types. Intensive censuses which provide information on vegetative growth and reproductive performance of plants under our field manipulations were conducted over the month. To assess growth, we recensused over 1000 tagged tillers of hair grass and 1000 shoots of pearlwort, and noted the number of new tillers or shoots produced, the number of new leaves produced, and the size of leaves. To assess reproductive performance, we recensused over 2000 flowers of hair grass and 9000 flowers of pearlwort, and noted their developmental stage. Near the end of this month we began collecting several tillers and shoots from the field site for detailed laboratory analyses of growth and pigment concentrations. Laboratory analysis involved microscopic analysis of anatomical characteristics of leaves along with spectrophotometric analysis of photosynthetic and UV-screening pigments. Epifluorescence microscopy is also being used to localize key UV-screening compounds in leaves. Leaf samples will also be returned to Arizona State University for more detailed pigment analysis using HPLC and paper chromatography. Reproductive structures will also be collected and returned to Arizona State University for measurements of seed production, seed mass and seed viability. We thank personnel of Antarctic Support Associates, particularly Janet Huddleston and Eric Pohlman, whose field assistance during growth analysis allowed us to complete this task in record time. S-007 UV-PHOTOBIOLOGY OF PLANKTONIC DEVELOPMENTAL STAGES OF ANTARCTIC BENTHIC INVERTEBRATES. Deneb Karentz, University of San Francisco and Isidro Bosch, State University of New York at Geneseo. All personnel departed Palmer Station mid-February. S-013 CHANGES IN ADELIE PENGUIN POPULATIONS AT PALMER STATION: EFFECTS OF LONG TERM HUMAN DISTURBANCE AND ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGE. William R. Fraser, Montana State University. PERSONNEL ON STATION: William Fraser (shared with S-035) and Donna Patterson. The focus of this research was reviewed in last month's report. Briefly, our emphasis is on understanding how natural vs. human-induced perturbations affect the demography of Adelie Penguins. Our approach is based on obtaining demographic data at several scales (individuals, colonies, rookeries) and over several seasons, and contrasting these against more that a decade of uninterrupted research on Adelie Penguin population dynamics in the Palmer area. During February we continued to monitor tourist activities on Torgersen Island, which received 348 visitors. We also completed all studies on Adelie Penguin breeding success and colony and rookery scale population changes. Torgersen Island is divided into a tourist- visited and non-visited sides. In the latter, demographic parameters remained unchanged between the 1996-97 and 1997-98 seasons. In the former, there was a highly significant increase in reproductive success at all scales, but a sharp decline in breeding adults that was first recorded in 1996-97 continued, with one colony going extinct and two others falling below a viable population threshhold. These are likely to be extinct as well by next season. The activities of tourists are not involved in these changes. S-016 LONG-TERM ECOLOGICAL RESEARCH ON THE ANTARCTIC MARINE ECOSYSTEM: AN ICE-DOMINATED ENVIRONMENT (PHYTOPLANKTON COMPONENT). Maria Vernet, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, La Jolla, CA 92093. PERSONNEL ON STATION: Karie Sines and Marnie Zirbel The month began for S-016 on board the LM Gould; the annual LTER summer cruise was completed on the 13th of February and all personnel spent the next few days unloading equipment and setting up the labs at Palmer. Wendy Kozlowski and Mike Crowder started the journey home when the ship left Palmer on the 15th. The labs were set up and running shortly after the departure of the Gould. The HPLC was packed up on the Gould and will be returning to San Diego. The nutrient analyzer was set up in lab 10 and the LSC counts were completed for the last of the samples from the cruise. Palmer in-shore sampling was resumed on Wednesday the eighteenth, with a full run of Stations E and B. Complete sampling at those stations also occurred on the 23rd and the 26th. S-028 LONG-TERM ECOLOGICAL RESEARCH ON THE ANTARCTIC MARINE ECOSYSTEM: AN ICE-DOMINATED SYSTEM. Robin M. Ross and Langdon B. Quetin, University of California, Marine Science Institute, Santa Barbara. Personnel on Station: Janice Jones (shared with S032), Tracy Shaw, Jared Kneebone S028 arrived at Palmer Station on 13Feb98 after completing the annual LTER sampling cruise. 14Feb and 15Feb were spent offloading gear from the R/V Laurence M. Gould. 16Feb and 17Feb were spent setting up the aquarium room, lab 1 and the zodiac, ROZE, in order to start sampling. Full acoustic transects done from the ROZE zodiac platform were completed from between stations A & E on 18Feb and 23Feb, and between stations J & F on 26Feb. Bad weather resulted in the cancellation of a transect between stations J and F on 21Feb. Search for krill on 20Feb was unsuccessful. There was another krill beaching on 22Feb and a sample of dead krill were measured for a length frequency. Krill were caught near station A on 23Feb and a growth rate experiment was started. Animals from this catch were also measured for length frequency. S-032 LONG-TERM ECOLOGICAL RESEARCH (LTER) ON THE ANTARCTIC MARINE ECOSYSTEM: AN ICE DOMINATED ENVIRONMENT. Ray Smith, University of California at Santa Barbara. Personnel on Station: Janice Jones (shared with S028), DeDe Toole S032 arrived at Palmer Station on 13Feb98 after completing the annual LTER sampling cruise. 14Feb and 15Feb were spent offloading gear from the R/V Laurence M. Gould. 16Feb and 17Feb were spent setting up lab 2 and the zodiac, ROZE, in order to start sampling. Full sampling runs from the ROZE zodiac platform (CTD and PRR casts, surface water samples collected for salinity and chlorophyll measurements) were completed at stations E and B on 18Feb and 23Feb, and at stations E, H and J on 26Feb. Bad weather resulted in the cancellation of a sampling run to stations E, H and J on 21Feb. S016 collected water samples for us at stations E and B for salinity and chlorophyll measurements on 18Feb, 23Feb and 26Feb. S-035 LONG TERM ECOLOGICAL RESEARCH ON THE ANTARCTIC MARINE ECOSYSTEM: AN ICE-DOMINATED ENVIRONMENT (Seabird Component). William R. Fraser, Montana State University PERSONNEL ON STATION: William R. Fraser (shared with S-013). Research related to this program is closely coupled with the activities associated with S-013, but objectives diverge to focus more specifically on understanding how annual variability in the marine (foraging) and terrestrial (breeding) environment affects Adelie Penguin demography. This program thus contributes to S-013 by providing needed background data. It also contributes to the U.S. Antarctic Marine Living Resources Program as part of national activities related to CCAMLR and SCAR. During February we completed all research associated with the foraging ecology of Adelie Penguins, including diet sampling and the estimation of foraging trip durations. As in past seasons Euphausia superba was the dominant component of the diet, but this season these prey occurred primarily in-shore and foraging trips were as a consequence relatively short (average = 6.5 hours). Some aspects of the breeding biology of Adelie Penguins were reviewed in the S-013 report for Torgersen Island. In February all associated studies on other islands were also completed, including annual flipper banding (1000 chicks) and chick fledging weight on Humble Island. The latter was essentially unchanged relative to last season (3039 g vs. 3052 g, respectively), as was area-wide colony-specific chick production (excluding the tourist-visited side of Torgersen Island), which decreased by 3%. Other data are still under review. As in past seasons, data on other species weree obtained on an opportunistic basis. South Polar skuas have experienced another complete reproductive failure. Estimates of Brown Skua reproductive success suggest high production relative to last season (1.78 vs. 1.25 chicks/pair). Blue-eyed Shags have also done well (2.20 vs. 0.82 chicks/pair). Censuses of marine mammal populations continues on all islands at this writing. Special thanks continue to ASA's Sheldon Blackman for outstanding assistance with our telemetry and communications needs, Randy Sliester for coordinating and maintaining our Zodiacs and Mark Rosen for his patience in accommodating our meal schedules and field food provisions. Dr. David Bresnahan of NSF, Ms. Kathy Turco and most of Palmer Station's personnel assisted us with chick banding and fledging weights. Special thanks are extended to these individuals as well. S-085 GPS CONTINUOUS OPERATION REFERENCE STATION. J. Mullins, U.S. Geological Survey No personnel on station; the station science technician has monitored the system. For the month of February, GPS data was collected nearly continuously. Daily data was converted to a RINEX format, compressed, and FTPed to Reston, VA. The average daily data transfer to Reston was 2.65 MB. On 20 February, there was a station wide power outage from 0750 UT until 0811 UT. The UPS failed, resulting in a loss of data for times 0750 UT through 0830 UT. On 24 February, there was another power outage from 1135 UT until 1145 UT. The UPS failed again. During the second outage, while the system was down, a working UPS was installed to replace the faulty unit. On 02 February, the new RFM96W radio modem for use with the S-085 base station was reprogrammed to operate on the correct frequency; RX 470MHz. During the month, the Ashtech Reliance system was tested to ensure proper operation for upcoming GPS mappings of Torgerson and Humble Islands. S-091 GLOBAL SEISMOGRAPH STATION AT PALMER STATION. R. Butler, Incorporated Research Institutions for Seismology (IRIS) No personnel on station; the station science technician has monitored the system. On 20 and 24 February, the S-091 data processor computer was off for the duration of two brief, station wide, power outages. Sometime on 23 February, the data log stopped updating on the data processor (DP) computer. A reset of the DP was required to get the system to resume data logging. S-106 STUDIES OF LIGHTNING-INDUCED ELECTRON PRECIPITATION OF THE IONOSPHERE. U. Inan, Stanford University No personnel on station; the station science technician has monitored the system. On 13 February, maintenance was performed on the VLF antenna tower. Two of the tower's guy wire support posts had melted out of the ice. The posts were re-sunk and the guy wire tension was adjusted on all lines. On 17 February, additional maintenance was performed on the VLF antenna tower. The tower base was moved uphill approximately 2 feet, and an ice cone was removed from under the tower platform. After the tower was repositioned, the guy wire tension was again adjusted on all lines. On 20 February, a power outage occurred from 0750 UT to 0811 UT. The outage exceeded the life of the UPS, and all narrowband data for the day was lost. On 27 February, the S-106 BetaMax recorder #3 was replaced with the site spare. It was noticed, while playing back the audio recording, that the recording from the old unit was playing back broken and scratchy. This recorder was the oldest of the 3 units. During the first half of the month of February, most narrowband recording sessions were truncated. As the month progressed, the problem was noticed less and less. As of this report, nearly two weeks had passed without any unexplainable loss of narrowband data. S-204 MEASUREMENTS OF ATMOSPHERIC O2 IN RELATION TO THE GLOBAL CARBON CYCLE. Ralph Keeling, Scripps Institution of Oceanography No personnel on station; the station science technician has monitored the system. Air samples are collected on a semi-weekly basis by the station physician. The samples are return shipped to Scripps for analysis of O2 and CO2 content. The goal of the program is to resolve seasonal and interannual variations in atmospheric O2 (detected through changes in O2/N2 ratio) which can aid in the determination of rates of marine biological productivity and ocean mixing and aid in the separation of the global sink for anthropogenic CO2 into terrestrial and oceanic components. The program involves air sampling at a network of sites in the Northern and Southern Hemispheres. Palmer Station is especially well situated to resolve signals due to carbon cycling in the Southern Ocean. S-254 CHLORINE-AND BROMINE-CONTAINING TRACE GASES IN ANTARCTICA. R.A. Rasmussen, Oregon Graduate Institute for Science and Technology No personnel on station; the station science technician has monitored the system. Air samples are taken on a weekly basis by the station physician. The samples are returned to the Institute for analysis of a number of trace components, especially chlorine- and bromine-containing gases. These elements have been implicated in the chemical processes that contribute to the austral-spring depletion of the ozone layer over Antarctica. This work will contribute to a better understanding of the buildup of trace constituents, particularly those of high-latitude marine origin. S-257C COLLECTION OF ATMOSPHERIC AIR FOR THE NOAA\CMDL WORLDWIDE FLASK SAMPLING NETWORK. James T. Peterson, Environmental Research Laboratories, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration No personnel on station; the station science technician has monitored the system. Air samples are taken on a weekly basis by the station physician. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Climate Monitoring and Diagnostics Laboratory team continue long-term measurements of trace atmospheric constituents that influence climate. The Palmer Station air samples are returned to the NOAA laboratory for analysis of trace constituents, including carbon dioxide. These measurements are part of NOAA's effort to determine and assess the long-term buildup of global pollutants in the atmosphere. These data will be used to determine how the rate of change of these parameters affects climate, particularly by including them in climate model studies. S-275 UM/DOE-EML REMOTE ATMOSPHERIC MEASUREMENTS PROGRAM. C. Sanderson, Department of Energy, Environmental Measurements Laboratory No personnel on station; the station science technician has monitored the system. One sample filter was exposed for the duration of each week, and A weekly schedule of calibration, background, and sample counts was maintained. The air sampling pump was off for the duration of two short unplanned power outages on 20 and 24 February. T-312 TERASCAN SATELLITE IMAGING SYSTEM. R. Whritner, Scripps Institution of Oceanography No personnel on station; the station science technician has monitored the system. Throughout the month of February, the TeraScan system collected, archived, and processed DMSP, NOAA, and ORBVIEW-2 telemetry, maintaining a schedule of 17-19 passes per day. NOAA, DMSP, and ORBVIEW-2 telemetry were archived for S-032 when the LTER grid was clear. AWS transmissions were monitored from Bonaparte Point, Hugo Island, and RACER Rock. On 11 February, the ORBVIEW satellite telemetry became encrypted. During the month, extensive ice/weather support was provided to various groups. Recipients of TeraScan imagery included the R/V L. M. Gould, Marine Ops, and the SCAR Epoch '98 Campaign. T-513 UV MONITORING NETWORK. C. Booth, Biospherical Instruments, Inc. No personnel on station; the station science technician has monitored the system. Throughout the month, raw irradiance data were collected daily and transmitted to BSI, and preliminary irradiances and integrals were produced in support of Science. Scheduled absolute calibration scans were performed on 11 February and 26 February.