PALMER STATION SCIENCE SITREP December 2001 Charles Amsler, Station Science Leader NEWS FROM THE LAB Cara M. Sucher, Sr. Assistant Supervisor, Laboratory Operations The month of December was filled with a lot of activity, including visits from a number of vessels. At the very end of November, Palmer Station hosted a visit by the British Antarctic Survey's vessel RRS JAMES CLARK ROSS. The ship stopped by to deliver cargo for Stephanie Suhr (BO-212-O), a BAS scientist originally scheduled to work at Rothera this season. Because of the laboratory fire there this winter, she'll be working at Palmer Station in January and February instead. The following week, the R/V LAURENCE M. GOULD arrived at Palmer Station bringing two grantees from BP-028-O (Ross/Quetin), one from BP-016-O (Vernet), a new Communications Technician, and NSF representative Deneb Karentz, the Associate Program Manager of Antarctic Biology and Medicine. A few days later, the RRS JAMES CLARK ROSS returned to drop an additional piece of equipment. On 18 December, Palmer had its first tourist visit of the season with the arrival of the S/Y PHILOS. Eight passengers and crew toured the Station and joined personnel for lunch. The following day, The R/V NATHANIEL B. PALMER paid a brief visit to Palmer Station to deliver some equipment for the R/V LAURENCE M. GOULD. Reciprocal tours were given between the ship and the station before the vessel departed. The R/V LAURENCE M. GOULD called at Palmer Station on 23 December at the end of cruise LMG01-09. The one-day port call went smoothly and the vessel departed with Deneb Karentz, five members of BO-022-O (Amsler/Baker/McClintock), two members of BP-028-O (Ross/Quetin), and the outgoing Communications Technician. Unfortunately, the planned visit by the Spanish research vessel HESPERIDES on 25 December was cancelled due to their tight schedule. A break at an elbow in the seawater intake system caused the seawater system go offline for several hours. Although the break was repaired without affecting the supply of fresh water to the Station, it introduced fine bubbles into the seawater supply and caused a significant loss of fish, krill and starfish in both the indoor and outdoor aquarium tanks. The Maintenance Specialist researched, constructed and installed several degassing units leading to a substantial improvement in the health of the aquarium animals. Science lectures continued to be very popular. Dave Kushner, a field team member with BP-028-O (Ross/Quetin), hosted a talk on his work at Channel Islands National Park, relating the research conducted there to the LTER research in the Palmer area; Bill Baker presented a slide show and lecture focusing on how chemicals are used by macroalgae as a defense mechanism; Dan Martin (BP-028- O) and Katrin Iken (BO-022-O) co-hosted a presentation entitled "Palmer Station: What Lies Beneath" and "Krill on Ice" with photographs and video of their Palmer diving experiences; and Deneb Karentz, Palmer's NSF Representative, presented a talk entitled "The NSF: Your Tax Dollars at Work". All lectures were well-attended and lively question and answer periods followed. In addition to the busy ship and lecture schedule, there were a lot of other interesting happenings around Station. Two cases of chicken pox brought up many childhood stories and even affected our Christmas tree "angel" – a fake, spotted chicken appropriately dubbed the Christmas Chicken Pox. Station personnel also had the opportunity to fish off the pier and pump house for BO- 022-O (Amsler/Baker/McClintock); ear plugs and silicone bait appeared to be fish favorites. The Christmas holidays were celebrated with a sumptuous feast, lots of homemade pies and cookies, and the traditional gift exchange while the New Year was brought in with hot hors d'oeuvres and a masquerade ball. The weather continues to mellow, with top wind gusts in December reaching 58 knots and averaging 13 knots. 18cm of snow fell, less than a third the amount of last month, though we also had 77.2mm of rain – over ten times more than December 2000. The air temperature has been pleasant, averaging +0.8°C with mostly cloudy days. The following projects conducted research at Palmer Station this month: BO-022-O: The Chemical Ecology of Shallow-Water Marine Macroalgae and Invertebrates on the Antarctic Peninsula Drs. Charles Amsler and James McClintock, Principal Investigators, University of Alabama at Birmingham Dr. Bill Baker, Principal Investigator, University of South Florida Personnel on Station: Charles Amsler, Margaret Amsler, Katrin Iken, James McClintock, Kevin Peters (University of Alabama at Birmingham); Bill Baker, Chris Petrie (University of South Florida). December was a very busy and productive month for BO-022-O in the laboratory. Organic extracts were prepared from numerous macroalgae and used in feeding bioassays with amphipods and sea stars. Similar extracts of several invertebrate species were also prepared and used in sea star feeding bioassays. Active invertebrate extracts were then fractionated using preparative sephadex columns and HPLC with further sea star bioassays being used to guide efforts to isolate and purify the specific defensive compounds. Eggs, embryos, and/or larvae were collected from several species of benthic invertebrates. Whole eggs, embryos, and/or larvae as well as organic extracts prepared from some of them were used in feeding bioassays with sea stars and sea anemones. December was also a very busy and productive month in the field. The project completed 36 scuba dives in the vicinity of Palmer Station during the month. Dives to collect macroalgae and invertebrates for experimentation and extraction occurred throughout the month at a range of locations within the small boat limits. Many dives were also completed in waters immediately adjacent to the station, just south of the seawater intakes. Project personnel deployed 12 concrete experimental substrates at 3 to 3.5 m depth in this area on 4 December. On 10 December, ropes with four species of macroalgae were attached to the substrates with some substrates also having light shading covers attached to manipulate irradiance. Dives to maintain and clean the experimental substrates were made regularly throughout the rest of the month. We are grateful to FEMC Coordinator, Tom Cohenour, and Carpenter, Jeff Gustafson, not only for constructing the substrates but also for insightful design modifications that made them easier and more efficient to deploy. We also thank the Boating Coordinator, Jeff Bechtel, for his round the clock boat maintenance efforts and numerous RPSC staff for volunteering as dive tenders. Small bubbles that began appearing in the station seawater system around 9 December were a major problem for our group. The appearance of these bubbles was correlated with the death of all the fish that we had just begun to use in feeding bioassays. The bubbles were also ingested by sea stars being used for bioassays, causing many of them to become distended and float after a period of days. Similar, though less severe, effects were observed in bioassay sea anemones. An increased mortality rate of bioassay amphipods was also noted. At the same time, BP-028 suffered complete loss of their krill larvae and most of the animals in the tourist tank died. FEMC made diagnosing and fixing this problem their top priority. Maintenance Specialist Gary Jirschele researched the problem via the Internet and identified both the likely cause (gas supersaturation) and a remedy (a degasser/debubbler) in aquaculture industry technical bulletins. He constructed several of these degasser/debubbler devices and they appear to have fixed the problem. Our sea stars recovered such that the least effected animals were useable in bioassays after only a few days in the treated water and most of the other sea stars eventually recovered as well. Amphipod mortality also decreased markedly. With help from RPSC personnel (particularly but by no means limited to Jeff Gustafson) we were able to collect more fish by month's end and we expect to be able to complete a majority of the planned fish bioassays during January. We are very grateful for the fishing efforts of many RPSC personnel and, particularly, for the rapid, professional, and effective efforts of Gary Jirschele and the rest of the FEMC team. A majority of the field team redeployed with the northbound LMG01-09 on 23 December. Margaret Amsler (as field team leader) and Chris Petrie remain on station through January. BP-013-O: LONG-TERM ECOLOGICAL RESEARCH ON THE ANTARCTIC MARINE ECOSYSTEM: AN ICE DOMINATED ENVIRONMENT (SEABIRD COMPONENT) Dr. William R. Fraser, Principal Investigator, Polar Oceans Research Group, Sheridan, MT. Personnel On Station: Chris Denker, Heidi Geisz It was a busy and interesting month for the BP-013-0 field team as the avian breeding season arrived amidst storm and snow. Weather either delayed or sent us home early five days, kept us on station all together two days, with ice halting our progress for an additional two days. Overall we spent twenty-seven of the thirty-one days of December out in the field while using weather days for entering data, organizing files, and repairing field gear. Adelie Penguin Reproductive Success Site monitoring continued on Torgersen and Humble islands; accurate hatch dates were recorded at all sites. Peak hatching occurred between the third and fourth week of December. Indicator counts of active nests at selected penguin colonies continued throughout December. Snow depth measurements were taken sixteen times on five islands with all but two transect lines reregistering zero depth. Stomach lavage was conducted twice revealing little variability in prey composition. Dream Island was visited on 16 December for Chinstrap Penguin censuses and Brown Skua monitoring. The breeding population of Chinstrap Penguins is slightly lower than previous seasons. Brown Skua breeding populations are showing a decline with only two pairs out of six laying eggs. Biscoe Point was visited on 18 December for Adelie, Gentoo, and Brown Skua monitoring. Adelie populations have dropped since November 21st while Gentoos have increased to a population slightly larger than last year. Brown Skuas are down with only one out of three breeding. Baseline breeding and population data on other area seabirds were, as in the past, obtained opportunistically to maintain continuity in long-term databases. Brown and South Polar skuas, Cormorants, Giant Petrels and Kelp Gulls are the focus of these efforts. The number of breeding pairs of South Polar Skuas and Kelp Gulls has decreased dramatically this season; nest monitoring will continue as time allows. The Blue-eyed shag population in smaller than the 2000/01 season. Southern Giant petrel nests in the study area are being surveyed at this time and a total count is not available. Monitoring of marine mammals was continuous throughout the month of December. Observations on environmental conditions were recorded daily. We would like to thank the Palmer Station staff who helped during several particularly busy days of fieldwork during December. Special thanks to Jeffrey Bechtel for keeping the fleet running smoothly, Wendy Beeler and Jennifer Tabor for feeding us above and beyond normal levels, and Cara Sucher for driving the labs. BP-016-O LONG TERM ECOLOGICAL RESEARCH ON THE ANTARCTIC PENINSULA, AN ICE DOMINATED ECOSYSTEM - PHYTOPLANKTON ECOLOGY COMPONENT Maria Vernet, Principal Investigator, Scripps Institution of Oceanography Personnel on station: Michael Thimgan, Karie Sines and Wendy Kozlowski Despite a surprising number of days with 30-plus knot winds, December allowed quite regular zodiac work at Palmer Inshore Stations B and E, with full sampling completed 7 times at each location. Preliminary estimations of primary productivity show signs of the first bloom of the summer, with average production levels climbing from 0.82 gC/m2 in November to 1.4 gC/m2 in December. Primary species seen continue to be Coretheron sp., Chatoceros sp. and Thalassionsira sp. Lab preparations for the upcoming annual summer LTER cruise were completed this month, including electrical maintenance and improvements on the Isotope Use Van. The HPLC was set up, calibrated, and the final pigment samples from the September Cruise were run. Analysis began on those collected from early Palmer 2001-2002 as well. The nutrient analyzer setup and calibration checks in preparation for the cruise were also done. Special thanks go to the Palmer Lab support team (Cara Sucher, Jeff Bechtel, Barb Watson) and FEMC, especially to Tom Curran for his patient work on the Rad Van, and Jeff Gustafson for his help in last minute cruise needs. BP-028-O LONG TERM ECOLOGICAL RESEARCH ON THE ANTARCTIC PENINSULA, AN ICE DOMINATED ECOSYSTEM: PREY COMPONENT. Robin Ross and Langdon Quetin, Principal Investigators, Marine Science Institute, University of California at Santa Barbara Personnel on station: Dan Martin, David Kushner, Charlie Boch, and Sam Couture (Marine Science Institute, University of California at Santa Barbara) December began with regular zodiac-based operations, including the Biosonics acoustic transects and trawling efforts. Trawling efforts early in the month revealed little in the way of adult krill -- results which were reflected in the rare traces of krill schools seen along the acoustic transect. However, we continued to catch juvenile and late-stage larval krill, and with these samples were able to complete our post-bloom larval physiological condition sampling (chemical composition, CHN, etc.), individual CHN and condition factor sampling, and our 9th growth rate experiment. Diving operations also continued throughout the month, when conditions allowed. Field technicians Charlie Boch and Sam Couture arrived on station 7 December, and began training to replace outgoing field team leader Dan Martin and volunteer David Kushner. They will cover the interim period between Dan and David's departure (23 Dec.) and the arrival of principal investigator Robin Ross (6 Jan.). Outgoing field team leader Dan Martin and volunteer David Kushner departed on 23 December and subsequently diving operations ceased. Field technicians Charlie Boch and Sam Couture continued trawling and Biosonics acoustic transects for the interim period between 23 December and 6 January, 2002. Continued acoustics and trawling efforts during the last two weeks of December revealed little evidence of krill schools for stations A through E. Further investigations by using a fishfinder to locate krill schools in various areas in the 2 mile zodiac zone additionally showed little or no evidence of adult or larval krill during trawling operations. December concluded with the end of the 9th growth experiment and additional CHN and condition factor experiments. Biosonic acoustic transects and trawling efforts continued into the first week of January when field technicians Charlie Boch and Sam Couture departed for the summer LTER 2002 cruise. SYNOPTIC WEATHER OBSERVATIONS Daily weather observations were collected and sent to Rothera Research Station via HF radio. GO-052-P GPS CONTINUOUS OPERATION REFERENCE STATION. J. Mullins, Principal Investigator, U.S. Geological Survey. The Science Technician operates and maintains on-site equipment for the project. The system stopped recording data to a disk on 22 December beginning at 23:59 and continuing through 14:32 on 23 December 2001. The system was rebooted and normal operation resumed. GO-091-P GLOBAL SEISMOGRAPH STATION AT PALMER STATION. R. Butler, Principal Investigator, Incorporated Research Institutions for Seismology (IRIS). The Science Technician operates and maintains on-site equipment for the project. Problems with the dot matrix printer ribbon have been occurring frequently, so a different printer will be tried. A tape change was made on 26 December 2001, and the system has been running normally. AO-106-P STUDIES OF LIGHTNING-INDUCED ELECTRON PRECIPITATION OF THE IONOSPHERE. U. Inan, Principal Investigator, Stanford University. The Science Technician operates and maintains on-site equipment for the project. Extra continuous BETA recordings on 1,2 and 4 December 2001 were made as requested. Data was not collected from 11:05 to 20:46 UT on 08 October 2001 when the broadband computer only partially self-rebooted. The VLF cable was removed from ice and snow when necessary. OO-275-O DOE-EML REMOTE ATMOSPHERIC MEASUREMENTS PROGRAM. C. Sanderson, Principal Investigator, Department of Energy, Environmental Measurements Laboratory. The Science Technician operates and maintains on-site equipment for the project. The base of the ARGOS Antenna has deteriorated to a point were it is beginning to fall apart; a replacement is on its way. The computer failed on 24 December 2001 while writing data to a floppy disk. The system was restarted and normal operation resumed. Weekly filter changes and a monthly filter blank were completed. OO-283-P ANTARCTIC AUTOMATED WEATHER STATIONS. Charles Stearns, Principal Investigator, University of Wisconsin. The Science Technician monitors data transmissions for the project. Automated Weather Station (AWS) transmissions from Bonaparte Point, Hugo Island, and RACER Rock were monitored using the TeraScan system. The Bonaparte Point unit continued to send an invalid wind speed, presumably due to a CPU failure. RACER Rock is no longer transmitting telemetry and the Hugo Island unit still remains off line. Repair of the AWSs is contingent on the arrival of new parts and on vessel scheduling. R-035 TIDE GAUGE. Tony Amos, Point of Contact, The University of Texas Marine Science Institute. The Science Technician operates and maintains on-site equipment for the project. The system froze on 01 December 2001 due to a problem with the directory structure and could not be rebooted. A new December directory was created and the program resumed normal operation. TO-312-O TERASCAN SATELLITE IMAGING SYSTEM R. Whritner, Principal Investigator, Scripps Institution of Oceanography. The Science Technician operates and maintains on-site equipment for the project. The system has been running normally. Sea temperature images were processed for science support on the R/V LAURENCE M. GOULD. TO-513-O UV MONITORING NETWORK. C. Booth, Principal Investigator, Biospherical Instruments, Inc. The Science Technician operates and maintains on-site equipment for the project. Absolute Calibration Scans were run on 05, 20 and 22 December 2001, the latter using three different quartz bulbs. Problems with the daily FTP of data have continued this month. The problem, most likely due to incompatible firewall settings, is in the process of being addressed. In the meantime, data files continue to be sent via email. On 11 December 2001, the AXSS wavelength reading was off from the control wavelength by about 90nm. The wavelength was adjusted manually and the system resumed normal operation. On 24 December 2001 the Wavelength Control drifted off over 80nm and again had to be reset. The system resumed normal operation. OO-204-O MEASUREMENTS OF ATMOSPHERIC O2 IN RELATION TO THE GLOBAL CARBON CYCLE. Ralph Keeling, Principal Investigator, Scripps Institution of Oceanography. Air samples are collected on a semi-weekly basis by the station physician. The goal of this project is to resolve seasonal and interannual variations in atmospheric O2 (detected through changes in O2/N2 ratio), which can aid in determining rates of marine biological productivity and ocean mixing. The results are also used to help determine the terrestrial and oceanic distribution of the global anthropogenic CO2 sink. The program involves air sampling at a network of sites in both the Northern and Southern Hemispheres. Palmer Station is especially well situated for resolving signals of carbon cycling in the Southern Ocean. Samples taken from the station are return-shipped to Scripps where the analysis of O2 and CO2 content takes place. OO-264-O COLLECTION OF ATMOSPHERIC AIR FOR THE NOAA\CMDL WORLDWIDE FLASK SAMPLING NETWORK. David Hofmann, Principal Investigator, Environmental Research Laboratories, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Air samples are collected on a weekly basis by the station physician. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Climate Monitoring and Diagnostics Laboratory (CMDL) team continues its long-term measurements of carbon dioxide and other climate-relevant atmospheric gases. The Palmer Station air samples are returned to the NOAA laboratory for analysis as part of NOAA's effort to determine and assess the long-term buildup of global pollutants in the atmosphere. Data from this experiment will be used in modeling studies to determine how the rate of change of these parameters affects climate.