Return-Path: palmer@atsvax.rsmas.miami.edu Return-Path: Received: from atsvax.rsmas.miami.edu (atsnrm.rsmas.miami.edu) by icess.ucsb.edu (4.1/SMI-4.4-Crseo Special) id AA13672; Mon, 2 Jan 95 09:09:32 PST Date: Mon, 2 Jan 95 16:49:10 GMT From: palmer@atsvax.rsmas.miami.edu Message-Id: <950102164910.20e0034e@atsvax.rsmas.miami.edu> Subject: SCIENCE SITREP - December 94 To: palmer_science@atsvax.rsmas.miami.edu, kiyotaki.asa@asa.org, smithgl.asa@asa.org X-St-Vmsmail-To: MSG%"PALMER_SCIENCE",MSG%"kiyotaki.asa@asa.org",MSG%"smithgl.asa@asa.org" SEND PLM044.JAN MSG%"PALMER_SCIENCE",msg%"kiyotaki.asa@asa.org",msg%"smithgl.asa@asa.org" SCIENCE SITREP - December 94 R 021247Z JAN 95 FROM: Kevin Bliss Responding: Please insert in message, all CAPS, with the ! in column 1: !TO PAL SCIENCE, MANAGER, LABMANAGER, ADMIN, SCITECH P A L M E R S T A T I O N A N T A R C T I C A TELEMAIL::PALMER.STA PHONE/FAX: 011-874-150-3157 SPAN::PALMER@ATSVAX.SPAN TELEX: 5841503157 PNHG INTERNET::PALMER@ATSVAX.RSMAS.MIAMI.EDU CC LIST: SPOLE, DUKE, PPENHALE@NSF.GOV, HAYESMI.ASA@ASA.ORG, VLF@STAR.STANFORD.EDU, KARENTZD@ALM.ADMIN.USFCA.EDU, CHAPPELL@UCRVMS.SPAN, DPP-MESSAGES@NSF.GOV, NATPALMER, DALLUGE@ATMOS.OGI.EDU, NSFCHCH@ASA.IAC.ORG.NZ, GRESS@ASA.ORG, NSFMCM.MCMURDO@MCMURDO.GOV, EVANSJO.ASA@ASA.ORG, KAREN@CRSEO.UCSB.EDU, BROWNKA.ASA@ASA.ORG, ICEMAN@NEU.EDU, ASACHCH@ASA.IAC.ORG.NZ, WWWEATHERS@UCDAVIS.EDU, ROBIN@CRSEO.UCSB.EDU, LANGDON@CRSEO.UCSB.EDU, MCK2@GERGA.TAMU.EDU, RAY@CRSEO.UCSB.EDU, DUNTON@UTMSI.ZO.UTEXAS.EDU, WOODBA.ASA@ASA.ORG, FNTED@AURORA.ALASKA.EDU, CSULLIVA@NSF.GOV, GAUTIER@ESRG.UCSB.EDU, OHOLMHANSEN@UCSD.EDU, DAN@FIZBIN.UCSD.EDU, 71552.1334@COMPUSERVE.COM, HOFMANN@KUROSHIO.CCPO.ODU.EDU, WEILER@WHITMAN.EDU, RBHANSON@NSF.GOV, ROCKY@BIOSPHERICAL.COM, JCALLAHA@NSF.GOV, DPEACOCK@NSF.GOV, SUPPORT@CALIFIA.SEASPACE.COM, BSIDELL@MAINE.MAINE.EDU, PROSPERO@RCF.RSMAS.MIAMI.EDU, SAVOIE@RCF.RSMAS.MIAMI.EDU, FRAZER@LIFESCI.UCSB.EDU, WHBOB@ARCANE.UCSD.EDU, SHEPHEDO.ASA@ASA.ORG, NOLLMA.ASA@ASA.ORG, CHAMBEJA.ASA@ASA.ORG, WOODKE.ASA@ASA.ORG, OWENSK.ASA@ASA.ORG, ASAMCM.MCMURDO@MCMURDO.GOV MVERNET@UCSD.EDU PALMER STATION SCIENCE SITREP December 1994 S-013 LONG-TERM ECOLOGICAL RESEARCH (LTER) ON THE ANTARCTIC MARINE ECOSYSTEM: AN ICE-DOMINATED ENVIRONMENT (SEABIRD COMPONENT). William R. Fraser and Wayne Z. Trivelpiece, Montana State University, Bozeman, MT. SEABIRD INVESTIGATIONS AT PALMER STATION AS PART OF THE NMFS/AMLR ECOSYSTEM MONITORING PROGRAM. William R. Fraser, Montana State University, Bozeman, MT. THE IMPACTS OF TOURISM ON ADELIE PENGUIN POPULATIONS AT PALMER STATION. William R. Fraser, Montana State University, Bozeman, MT. PERSONNEL ON STATION: Eric Holm, Karen Carney, Laura Somervill, Bill Fraser and Donna Patterson. Access to nearby islands where our work takes place improved enough during December to allow us to obtain good data on hatching chronology in Adelie Penguins and other species. With these data, we can now reconstruct laying chronology and the timing of other aspects of the reproductive cycle important to this phase of our studies. Breeding population censuses of Adelie Penguins were completed on Torgersen, Humble, Litchfield, Coromorant and Christine islands in early December. These data indicate populations were essentially unchanged relative to last year. Our most recent data on breeding chronology, however, suggests that peaks in arrival, laying and hatching occurred 2-3 weeks later than during 93-94. We suspect the heavy pack ice this year is the key factor affecting access to rookery sites. Approximately 200 breeding pairs of Adelie Penguins are currently being sampled to obtain data on reproductive success as part of the LTER and AMLR programs. Another 100 pairs located in an area on Torgersen Island open to tourism and an equal number of controls in areas without tourist access are being used to examine the effects of tourism on Adelie Penguin reproductive success. Tourism started at Palmer Station on 26 December. As of 29 December, 100 male Adelies had also been tagged with a new, experimental marking system being tested as a substitute for flipper bands. This is the first step in a four-part procedure that will involve two seasons of experiments and evaluation and, ultimately, 400 birds if early results are positive. Study sites to examine Brown and South Polar skua diets and reproductive success were established in early December on Shortcut, Humble, Christine, Litchfield and Dream islands and on Biscoe Point. At this writing, only 60% of the Brown Skuas and 1% of the South Polar Skuas have attempted breeding. These are the lowest percentages ever recorded at Palmer Station for these species at this date. Our work has still not progressed enough to determine possible causal factors. Basic information on the breeding biology and population status of other species is being obtained as weather and time permits as part of studies incidental to the LTER, AMLR and Tourist programs. Of particular relevance in this regard is the fact that the Blue-eyed Shag colony on Cormorant Island now has only 120 breeding pairs as opposed to nearly 900 pairs prior to the Bahia Paraiso oil spill. A nearby shag colony, used as a control site because it received little or no exposure to oil, has shown an increase in population over the same time period, suggesting that prey availability has not been a causal factor in the decline of the main shag population. Long-term chronic effects of the spill are suspected. S-016 LONG-TERM ECOLOGICAL RESEARCH ON THE ANTARCTIC MARINE ECOSYSTEM: AN ICE-DOMINATED ENVIRONMENT (PHYTOPLANKTON COMPONENT). Maria Vernet, Scripps Institution of Oceanography. Personnel on Station: Wendy Kozlowski, Karen Patterson Mother nature finally allowed a fairly regular water sampling schedule of the B to E transect during the month of December. The ideal sampling schedule includes a full transect twice weekly as well as a water column sampling at station B for 14carbon:chlorophyll experiments once weekly. One and a half transects and 14C:Chl levels at B were sampled the week of December 5th (ice at stations D and E prevented the second full transect); one full run and a trip to station B were completed the week of December 12th; and during the week of December 19th, two complete transects and the 14C:Chl sampling were carried out. Sample analysis and data collection continues to run smoothly in lab, and preparations for the January LTER cruise are underway. 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, California 93106. Personnel on station: Langdon B. Quetin, Karen Haberman, Janice Jones (spit position with S-032), Bruno Rowell, Christie Campbell This past month we have been able to sample more frequently than during November as weather and ice conditions improve. Standard tows with a 1-m net were completed the last two weeks of December. Targeted tows for krill were successful. We are completing our fourth weekly experiment on instantaneous growth rates and have frozen samples for determining protein, lipid and condition factor of krill for comparison with past years. We currently are maintaining stocks of krill in the aquarium at Palmer Station. These stocks of krill will be used by Karen Haberman for her research on krill feeding preferences. In the catches we are finding many young krill spawned last year as well as older krill in the 40 to 50 mm range of total length. The BioSonics acoustic equipment continues to perform well. We recently completed acoustic transect 9. December 9-17 Bruno and Langdon participated on the southern leg of the Santa Claus cruise (Chief Scientist Dave Karl). During the cruise we helped install an automated weather station for the LTER near Hugo Island, collected ice samples for S-046 with SCUBA in Crystal Sound, and collected krill from two different schools near Hugo Island on the return transit to Palmer Station. Work continues to go well though ice conditions still periodically limit our sampling program. We are now preparing for the upcoming LTER cruise and the arrival of the Polar Duke January 5. Thanks to everyone who made this month a successful one with a special thanks to Dave Karl and crew for taking time out of a shortened cruise to install the weather station near Hugo Island. 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 (split position with S-028), Heidi Dierssen, Phil Handley (December 9-22) On 12/03, a CTD cast was done at the Palmer Station dock in order to provide salinity and temperature data for calibration of Tony Amos' tide gauge (S201). These casts will now be done monthly in order to provide verification for the tide gauge data. Our station sampling protocol now consists of duplicate surface samples for chlorophyll analysis, surface sample for salt/conductivity analysis, CTD cast and PRR cast. We are now also collecting "dark" data with the PRR at the start and end of each sampling run. The Monday ROZE run covers stations B, C, D, and E. The Tuesday ROZE run covers stations F, G, H, I, and J. S016 contributes water samples for both chlorophyll and salt/conductivity analyses by S032. Samples are collected from 6 depths at stations B-E on Mondays, 6 depths at station B on Wednesdays, 6 depths at B, E and surface at C, D on Thursdays. Full runs (B-E) were completed on 12/05, 12/19, and 12/26. Partial runs were done on 12/15 (CTD cast only at E; returned to station due to equipment malfunction) and 12/16 (B, C, D; no E due to ice). Full runs (F-J) were completed on December 21 and 27. Partial runs were done on 12/06 (F, G; returned to station due to weather) and 12/20 (F; returned to station due to weather). Phil Handley arrived on station 12/09. LANtastic was set up on the computers in Lab 2. On December 12, the GPS base station was set up on the ISTS benchmark behind GWR with the data logging equipment set up in the back corner of USAP Supply in GWR. Thank you to Gary Wright who provided cables to facilitate this setup. The data from this system is being downloaded every 2-3 days by Christie Campbell, who has been graciously loaned to S032 by S028 and has been working on her own time as well. A GPS monitoring site (3-day) was set up on the MCR6KAV benchmark at Old Palmer on 12/20. It was checked 12/21 and had only logged data for 2 hours. It was reset. It was checked again 12/23. Again, only 2 hours of data were logged. Christie returned to Old Palmer on 12/26, changed the battery and initiated a new data logging session. Due to our regular sampling schedule and the return of the ice, we have not been able to check/retrieve it as yet (12/29). A kinematic GPS survey of Torgersen Island was carried out on 12/21-22. Positions were verified with the BP1.1990.ARA (HYDROGRAFIA) benchmark on the island. The survey was completed at 1800 on 12/22 and Phil departed on the Duke at 2100. It was a very busy last few hours in Lab 2! S-044 EFFECTS OF OZONE-RELATED INCREASED UV-B FLUENCES ON PHOTOSYNTHESIS, PHOTOADAPTATION, AND VIABILITY OF PHYTOPLANKTON IN ANTARCTIC WATERS. Osmund Holm-Hansen, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California, San Diego. Personnel on station: Virginia Villafane, Walt Dunlap, Humberto Diaz, E. Walter Helbling. During the first two weeks of December we focused our work on long-term experiments with both monospecific cultures and natural assemblages of phytoplankton. These long term experiments (which lasted between 3 and 21 days) were designed to study the impact of UVR on photosynthetic rates, the rate of synthesis of UV-absorbing compounds, the degree to which UVR-induced-damage to the phytoplankton cells is reversible, and the rates of acclimatization of phytoplankton to UVR. When weather and ice conditions permitted, we used the zodiac to obtain water samples from Arthur Harbor for both our standard experimental protocol and for in situ incubations. In both the standard on-deck incubations and the in situ experiments, the main objective was to assess the impact of UV-A and UV-B radiation on photosynthetic rates. Samples of these natural phytoplankton populations were analyzed for UV-absorbing compounds (by HPLC separations) and for species composition of the sample. The main results of the experiments carried out during December indicate that 1) the percent inhibition of photosynthesis caused by UV-A and UV-B radiation in short-term experiments is about 60-70% and 40-30%, respectively, of the total inhibition; as ozone levels were fairly high during December (lowest value was 310 Dobson Units on Dec. 02), the fluences of enhanced UV-B relative to total UV-B radiation were very low as compared to the fluences measured in October, and thus had very little impact on photosynthetic rates as compared to the impact of 'normal' UV-B radiation, 2) data from long-term incubations indicate that there was an acclimatization of phytoplankton cells to UVR, so that at the end of the experiments, there were no significant differences in the rates of photosynthesis between samples that received UVR-PAR or just PAR, 3) when in situ incubations were performed, significant inhibition of photosynthesis occurred only in the upper 5m of the water column, 4) as the season progressed, there was a change in the species composition of the natural assemblages, from flagellates (2um-5um) during October and early November to cryptophytes in late November to mid-December, and 5) cellular concentrations of UV-absorbing compounds were higher in December as compared to earlier in the season; the major UV-absorbing compounds found in natural phytoplankton populations were porphyra-334, shinorine, and mycosporine-glycine:valine. Experimental work was concluded on December 15 to prepare for our departure from Palmer Station on Dec. 22. We would like to thank all the ASA personnel at Palmer Station for their generous help during our stay. S-091 PALMER IRIS SEISMOLOGY. R. Butler/G. Holcomb, U.S. Geological Survey, Albuquerque, NM. No personnel were on station. The system has been operated by the station science technician. On 05 December, the serial adapter for the message log printer was damaged by static discharge. A laptop PC was installed to temporarily store the printer log. All other Palmer IRIS system operations were normal. S-106 VERY LOW FREQUENCY (VLF) REMOTE SENSING OF THUNDERSTORM AND RADIATION BELT COUPLING TO THE IONOSPHERE. U. Inan, Stanford University. No personnel were on station. The system has been operated by the station science technician. On 22 December the narrowband data acquisition software collection inexplicably started before the scheduled time. Narrowband data failed to write to tape on 22 and 23 December. The problem with the tape was eventually traced back to a missing end of file marker. S-201 TIDAL PREDICTIONS FOR PALMER STATION, ANTARCTICA. Dr. Anthony F. Thomas Personnel on station: Dr. Anthony F. Amos The major on-site work for project S201 was completed at Palmer Station by the PI with assistance from Station personnel on 9 December 1994. The PI visited Palmer on December 22 to discuss the operation of the tide gage data acquisition system with COMMS. In view of how the system had functioned over the two-week period, changes were made to the program at that time. Here is a summary of the accomplishments at Palmer. 1) Facilities installed new pipe (stilling well) on side of dock by boathouse. Old pipe had been bent by ice. This new location should be more protected from ice damage and is farther away from the Station outfall. 2) Installed new tide gage in pipe with assistance from Engineering, the COMMS Tech, and Electrician. 3) Facilities dug a trench and the Electrician installed conduit to route signal cable from new gage location across dock to protect it from the environment and from heavy equipment traffic on the dock. 4) A junction box was installed by the electrician, and the COMMS Tech spliced and installed the new signal cables. When the snow clears, an external power cable will be run to the gage to allow excavation of the present signal cable from the junction box to the Station. In anticipation of this, the interconnecting cable to the gage was prepared for the addition of external power to the unit. 5) A stainless steel bracket was built by the Power Plant mechanic to mount the new gage on the side of the dock to prevent it from being damaged by dock activity. The whole assembly can be lifted on to the dock to provide access to the gage for servicing and replacement of data cartridges. 6) The old gage was left in-situ until the pipe can be removed and the gage extracted. To secure this, a mounting bracket was constructed for the gage to protect it from damage. 7) A logging program was developed to acquire and display the data in real-time on a PC computer in COMMS. The program displays several graphic screens at 15-second intervals, depicting the tide height, sea temperature and salinity. At the end of each day, a new graph is begun. An additional screen shows the past seven days of tidal data to help in predicting trends. This helps boating operations in addition to providing scientific information. Data are recorded at 10-minute intervals on the Station Network Server. 8) The PI had extensive discussions with the Computer Tech about the tide gage functioning and prepared a manual for continued operation of the gage. This will be reviewed on Dec 22. 9) The PI requests that the old gage be removed from the steel pipe as carefully as possible to prevent damage to the sensor. This should be done by removing the cable from the gage housing. The COMMS Tech should do this job as it involves unsoldering wires and removing the vent tube to the sensor. Then it might be possible to remove the sensor from the bottom of the bent tube. If this is not possible, the pipe will have to be cut. I would like a report on the state of the sensor when it is removed (i.e. is there any marine growth or fouling on it. Either way the gage should be shipped back to the P.I. in the shipping box provided. In the mean time the old gage is collecting important backup data for comparison with the new gage and I will download cartridges from both on Dec. 22. 10) The PI wishes to thank all the Palmer personnel who helped me on this project. It could not have been successfully completed without them. S-254 CHLORINE- AND BROMINE-CONTAINING TRACE GASES IN ANTARCTICA. R.A. Rasmussen, Oregon Graduate Institute for Science and Technology. There are no personnel on station. 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, Palmer Station, Environmental Research Laboratories, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. There are no personnel on station. 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. J. Prospero/T. Snowdon, University of Miami; C. Sanderson/N. Chui, EML/DOE N.Y. No personnel were on station. The system has been operated by the station science technician. One sample filter was exposed for the duration of each week, and a weekly schedule of calibration, background, and sample counts was maintained. T-312 TERASCAN SATELLITE IMAGING SYSTEM. R. Whritner, Scripps Institute of Oceanography, La Jolla, CA. No personnel were on station. The system has been operated by the station science technician. DMSP and NOAA telemetry were collected, processed, and archived. Throughout the month, ozone concentration maps were produced to support local science on station, and AWS data was collected from the Bonaparte Point and Hugo Island automatic weather stations in support of the LTER project. Two DMSP visible images were produced and given to science groups aboard the R/V POLAR DUKE while at Palmer Station, and another DMSP visible image was faxed to the R/V POLAR DUKE during her cruise. In a collaboration with the Army Cold Regions Lab, a portion of the Weddell Sea was examined daily for clear conditions. One DMSP visible image was produced, but because of difficulties with file transfer, it required several file transfer attempts before the image was finally received by Marine Operations in Denver. On 02 December, the 4mm DAT drive failed and was replaced with the site spare. On 27 December, the DMSP bit synchronizer was found switched to remote, and 4 scheduled DMSP passes were missed before the problem was found and corrected. T-313 UV MONITORING EXPERIMENT. C. Booth, Biospherical Instruments, Inc. No personnel were on station The system has been operated by the science technician. Throughout the month, raw irradiance data were collected daily and transmitted to BSI. Preliminary irradiance data and inferred ozone abundances were produced in support of Science. Absolute calibrations were performed using the site standard and seasoned lamps, and data scans were added at 0300Z and 0400Z. On 02 December, a motorized bird deterrent was installed on the roof of the UV Addition to discourage birds from roosting near the collector. 02120235.325 PLM044.JAN