PALMER STATION SCIENCE SITREP February 2002 William R. Fraser, Station Science Leader NEWS FROM THE LAB Cara M. Sucher, Sr. Assistant Supervisor, Laboratory Operations February began with the departure of the LAURENCE M. GOULD, leaving the Palmer community in an interesting balance - more than 50% women. It seems this has only happened once before - for a brief time in the 1994-5 summer season - a fact that was of great interest to the many tourists passing through. This time, the population remained at 22 women and 20 men for the entire month of February. Another interesting occurrence was a dual visit by both the LAURENCE M. GOULD and the NATHANIEL B. PALMER on 10 February. The LMG was calling at the beginning of mooring cruise LMG02-01A and the NBP stopped in the midst of the NBP02-01 cruise. Members of the Palmer Station community visited the NBP for a barbeque dinner and staff and crew from both vessels were hosted in the Palmer Station bar and lounge that evening. The LMG brought with her one field team member from BO-045-O (Ducklow), the Principal Investigator for BP-016-P (Vernet) the winter Science Technician and the Boy Scout. At the end of the month, the LMG headed north with the NSF Representative, the TEA, the Principal Investigator for BO-212-O (Suhr), a field team member for BO-045-O (Ducklow), a field team member for BP-013-P (Fraser), the Principal Investigator for BP-016-P (Vernet), and the outgoing Science Technician and LAN/WAN Specialist. Tourism wound down this month, with visits from five tour ships, four yachts and the ATF LAUTARO of the Armada de Chile. One of the tour vessels transferred a member of the Palmer community north due to an urgent dental condition. In all, over 3500 tourists were given a presentation describing operational, logistical and scientific aspects of the US Antarctic Program and Palmer Station, and over 1000 people were able to visit the Station. Preparations for the winter laboratory remodel project have been heavily underway. Planning and coordination with all departments have been in progress to figure out the best timing and approach to moving large equipment, freezers, refrigerators, and shared instruments. Communication with Marine Operations has also been maintained in order to plan for any needs they might have over the winter. The first milestone in the preparation plans is inventorying, packing and moving all equipment and supplies currently stored in the Bio Machine Shop. Demolition of this room will be the first phase of the project, due to begin mid-March. Science lectures have continued to be very popular this season. Five presentations were given this month. The first was by Meredith Hooper, a writer working with BP-013-P (Fraser). Her lecture, “Talking Rats and Islands that Move”, discussed the benefits and difficulties encountered while writing children’s books. The following week, Bill Fraser gave a talk titled “Adelie Penguin Winter Movements and Foraging in Marguerite Bay” and explained their work on the winter GLOBEC cruises. The next week saw two lectures, the first given by visiting BAS researcher Steffi Suhr (BO-212-O) titled “It’s a Small World….or Just Because You Can’t See It Doesn’t Mean It’s Not There!” about her work with benthic foraminifera, and the second presented by Gene Burreson, a field team member for BO-045-O (Ducklow) called “Leeches suck!”. The final talk of the month was presented by Timothy Brox, the visiting Boy Scout. In a lecture titled “ANTARCTICA: The Continent Through the Eyes of a Scout”, Tim discussed how he was chosen as the 10th Boy Scout to visit the Antarctic and his experiences in McMurdo, South Pole and the Dry Valleys. The miserable weather continued this month with 28 straight days of overcast skies and precipitation. 140.9mm of rain and 13cm of snow fell, over 109mm more rain than February 2001. Temperatures were mild, averaging 0.2°C to 4.0°C, and winds, averaging 11 knots, were moderate. The following projects conducted research at Palmer Station this month: BO-045-O: TRANSPORT AND FATE OF PERSISTENT ORGANIC POLLUTANTS (POPs) IN ANTARCTIC COASTAL SEAS Drs. Hugh Ducklow and Rebecca Dickhut, Principal Investigators, The College of William and Mary, Virginia Institute of Marine Science Personnel on station: Rebecca Dickhut, Amy Chiuchiolo, Michele Cochran and Gene Burreson The POP research group continued an intensive schedule of sampling air, surface water, snow, glacier ice and phytoplankton for POPs. This included collection of 22 high volume (1000-1400 m3) air samples during the month of Feb., 18 surface water samples (?150-530L each) at LTER inshore grid stations A, B, E, G, and I, 3 snow samples, 3 glacier ice (0- 1m) samples from the Marr Ice Piedmont, and 12 phytoplankton samples from LTER inshore grid stations A, B, E. In addition, samples of runoff draining into Arthur Harbor and samples from a visible oil slick near the Bahia were also collected. All of the samples are being preserved for POPs analysis via gas chromatography/mass spectrometry, which will be conducted later at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science. Bacterioplankton production and abundance were measured twice weekly coordinated with measurements of phytoplankton productivity (S-016, Vernet) and POP sampling. Surface water samples were collected at Station A off Gamage Point, and at 0 and 20 m at Stations B (Bonaparte Point) and E (offshore, south of Hermit Island), all stations regularly occupied by the Palmer LTER. A depth profile (6 depths) of bacterial properties was also measured at Station E on Feb. 21. Bacterial production was measured using 3H-Thymidine and 3H-Leucine incorporation rates. Samples have also been preserved for epifluorescence microscopic and flow cytometric analyses of total prokaryote (Bacteria + Archaea) abundance, and Archaeal abundance. In addition to this regular sampling, snow from Old Palmer Station and the surface slick surrounding the Bahia were sampled for measurement of bacterioplankton properties in conjunction with sample collection for pollutant analysis. We thank the many members of the Palmer Station community, and specifically, Jeff Bechtel, Jeff Gustafson, Dave McDonald, and Johan Booth for their help with field work and in transporting our heavy samples from the boats and glacier to the lab. BO-212-O: BIOLOGY OF BENTHIC FORAMINIFERA IN A SHALLOW-WATER ANTARCTIC MARINE ENVIRONMENT Ms. Stephanie Suhr, Principal Investigator, Southampton Oceanography Centre, UK Personnel on station: Stephanie Suhr During the stay at Palmer Station, a high resolution sampling program was completed. After a suitable sampling site and sampling procedure was established, benthic (grab) samples were taken every other day during the period of 21 January - 23 February. On each sampling occasion, four replicate samples of the abundant calcareous foraminiferal species Globocassidulina crassa were taken for lipid analysis at Southampton Oceanography Centre, UK, with the goal of establishing the development of fatty acid profiles over the highly productive part of the summer season. Parallel to this, a series of feeding experiments was carried out, and an assessment of metabolic activities of some foraminiferal species was attempted. While the success of the feeding experiments still remains to be evaluated, the results for the metabolic activities were, for a number of reasons, unsatisfying. The most immediate problem was the amount of time available at station - more time would have been needed to establish cultures of live foraminifera for experimental studies. Overall, my stay at Palmer Station was quite successful, and the analysis of the fatty acid profiles of G. crassa should provide an interesting insight into the role of foraminifera in the benthic foodweb in a shallow water Antarctic marine environment. I would like to express again how much I appreciate the help I had from all RPSC staff at Palmer Station in making my project possible on such short notice. It was great to have the opportunity to carry out this important part of my research there, and I am thankful for the support I received both from NSF and the British Antarctic Survey in making this happen. Now that a sampling site and procedures are established, I would very much like to come back and carry on with my work on the feeding biology of benthic foraminifera, their ecophysiology, and role in the benthic foodweb around Palmer Station. BP-013-P: LONG-TERM ECOLOGICAL RESEARCH ON THE ANTARCTIC MARINE ECOSYSTEM: AN ICE DOMINATED ENVIRONMENT (SEABIRD COMPONENT) Dr. William R. Fraser, Principal Investigator, Biology Department, Montana State University. Personnel on station: William R. Fraser, Donna L. Patterson and Heidi Geisz A slight improvement is overall weather conditions during February facilitated better access to our island study sites and allowed us to complete most of our objectives for the month. This included work associated with the foraging ecology of Adelie Penguins, including diet sampling, the Humble Island telemetry studies to determine foraging trip durations and our research using satellite- linked transmitters (PTTs) to determine foraging trip locations. Investigations related to the foraging ecology of Chinstrap and Gentoo penguins, which were initiated last season, are still continuing. A variety of area-wide censuses related to these species were also completed by the end of the month, as was all work associated with the breeding success of these species. This season Adelie Penguins experienced the worse reproductive success ever documented in our long-term records. As in past seasons, we continued the acquisition of basic data on the demography, breeding biology and foraging ecology of Giant Petrels, Kelp Gulls, Blue-eyed Shags and Brown and South Polar Skuas. These data add to several species-specific time series that began in the mid-1970s. Our work in February benefited greatly from the able assistance provided by Raytheon Polar Services Company employees Jeff Bechtel, David McDonald, Barbara Watson, Cara Sucher and Wendy Beeler, and from additional help provided by the on-site science groups. BP-016-P AND BP-032-P: LONG TERM ECOLOGICAL RESEARCH ON THE ANTARCTIC PENINSULA, AN ICE DOMINATED ECOSYSTEM - PHYTOPLANKTON ECOLOGY COMPONENT AND BIO-OPTICS, REMOTE SENSING, SEA ICE COMPONENT Principal Investigators Dr. Maria Vernet, Scripps Institution of Oceanography and Dr. Raymond C. Smith, ICESS, University of California at Santa Barbara Personnel on station: Maria Vernet, Tim Brox, Lisa Ferber, Karen Pelletreau, Karie Sines and Jordan Watson The 09 February arrival of the Gould brought with it our Principal Investigator, Maria Vernet, as well as field team members Tim Brox and Jordan Watson. Dr. Vernet visited Palmer Station during the LMG 02- 01A Mooring Cruise leaving 26 February with the ship. Sampling of LTER Palmer Inshore stations E and B continued twice weekly during the month of February. Stations were sampled to completion eight times each taking water samples at light levels of 100, 50, 25, 10, 5 and 1 percent on the following dates: 03 Feb, 06 Feb, 10 Feb, 12 Feb, 15 Feb, 18 Feb (E only), 19 Feb (B only), 21 Feb, and 26 Feb. During all sampling runs the CTD (conductivity, temperature and depth) and PRR (profiling reflectance radiometer) were deployed. Primary productivity experiments and chlorophyll analysis showed the depletion of the January bloom with carbon uptake and chlorophyll levels falling to 227.2mgC/m_ and 110.2µg/L at station E and 741.92mgC/m_ and 169.1µg/L, respectively, at station B the 26th of February. All waters were sampled for CHN, HPLC, chlorophyll, nutrients, primary productivity and microscopy. Waters collected at stations E and B contained populations of Thalassiosira sp., Chaetocerus sp., Corethron sp., Coscinodiscus sp., and Eucampia sp.. BP-016 would like to thank Cara Sucher and Barbara Watson, the Lab Supervisor and Instrument Tech, for their support with lab inventories and supplies, Jeff Gustafson and FEMC for the fabrication of equipment for upcoming cruises and Boating Coordinator Jeff Bechtel for continued boat maintenance. BP-028-P: LONG TERM ECOLOGICAL RESEARCH ON THE ANTARCTIC PENINSULA, AN ICE DOMINATED ECOSYSTEM: PREY COMPONENT. Drs. Robin Ross and Langdon Quetin, Principal Investigators, Marine Science Institute, University of California at Santa Barbara Personnel on station: Stephanie Oakes and Michael Caldwell (Marine Science Institute, University of California at Santa Barbara) During February, despite unpredictable weather conditions, we completed regular acoustic transects along stations A-E and F-J twice per week. Few acoustic signals were noted along transects. When sufficient signals were noted, target net tows were made, however net contents generally contained heavy phytoplankton and amphipods but no krill. Additional searches made using either the BioSonics or the fish finder unit indicated krill were generally not present in the Palmer area during February. Field team member, Michael Caldwell, focused on processing krill eggs from spawning experiments conducted during the 2002 January LTER Cruise. This included measuring egg diameters and cell division stage, doing incremental counts and measuring the volume of the egg batches. Michael also developed a protocol for using Image Pro software to analyze egg diameter and cell division stage with digital photographs. Graduate student, Stephanie Oakes, focused on analyzing epi-fluorescent slides from larval krill feeding experiments conducted during the 2001 LTER Ice Cruise. Analysis involved identifying and enumerating different species of diatoms, flagellates, dinoflagellates, and ciliates. Thanks to Jordan Watson (Marine Operations and S016), Chris Vitry (Computer Technician) and Barbara Watson (Instrument Technician) for assistance with setting up the digital camera, computer imaging system and microscope. Thanks to Cara Sucher (Lab Supervisor) for lab support. Thanks to Jeff Bechtel (Boating Coordinator) for diligent maintenance of our zodiac sampling platform. Thanks to Maria Vernet (P.I. S016) for sharing her phytoplankton expertise. TEACHERS EXPERIENCING ANTARCTICA AND THE ARCTIC (TEA) Personnel on Station: Susan K. Cowles, Linn-Benton Community College, Corvallis, Oregon From January 6, 2002- February 27, 2002, I was at Palmer Station as a member of the TEA program and as a member of BP-045-0, Transport and Fate of Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) in Antarctic Coastal seas (Hugh Ducklow, Rebecca Dickhut, Michele Cochran, and Amy Chiuchiolo). My work with this group included collection of surface water samples at LTER inshore grid stations A, B, E, G, and I.; 2001-2002 snow samples from Old Palmer Station and Torgersen Island; and air samples from two sites in the Palmer Station “backyard.” Additional work included filtration of chlorophyll and POC from water samples collected by BP-045 and participation at group meetings held at 0800 daily. One of my objectives within the TEA program was to promote an understanding of Antarctic science by the general public. My primary activity to meet this objective was the production of 55 daily journals for the TEA web site, http://tea.rice.edu/tea_cowlesfrontpage.html#calendar. Each of these journal entries contained numerous images and covered a separate, self-contained topic, such as the Palmer LTER, the work of individual scientific components of the LTER, additional Antarctic science projects, station operations, and stations systems. Many journals included math problems related to the work and life of the station, which have been used by students and teachers in the United States. Some images for the electronic journals were contributed by Palmer Station personnel. Other TEA work included sending periodic electronic newsletters to a group of 62 teachers in all regions of the United States. I also answered email questions from students and classes in all regions of the United States. These students ranged in age from those in kindergarten, elementary school, and secondary school programs, to adults in adult literacy/numeracy programs. In addition, two live Real Audio Internet broadcasts were held, one on January 24 and the second on February 21, 2002. Each program format consisted of a 15-minute commentary by me, accompanied by approximately 20 images. This was followed by a 40 minute question and answer session. We had direct telephone communication with my class of adult learners at Linn-Benton Community College, and we received questions that had been sent to the program coordinator in New Hampshire. Participants joining me at the Palmer Station site on January 24th were Dave Bresnahan and Hugh Ducklow. On February 21st, I was joined by Dave Bresnahan, Bob Farrell, Cara Sucher, and Rebecca Dickhut. My thanks to them for their participation in these programs. Over 80 U.S. sites tuned in to the live broadcast on January 24th. (Data are not available yet for February 21). The Real Audio broadcasts are archived at http://www.wrps.org/tea/ My thanks to the LTER personnel of BP-016-0, phytoplankton component, BP-13-0, seabird component, and BP-028-0, prey component, for including me in field study expeditions. Additional thanks to Maggie Amsler and Chris Petrie, BO-022-0; Maria Vernet, Principal Investigator BP-016-0; Robin Ross, Principal Investigator, BP-028-0; and Bill Fraser, Principal Investigator, BP-013-0 for very interesting discussions about their work. Results of these field expeditions and conversations appear in journals to be found at http://tea.rice.edu/cowles/2.16.2002.html (“Phytoplankton”); http://tea.rice.edu/cowles/2.17.2002.html (“The Mighty Krill”); http://tea.rice.edu/cowles/2.19.2002.html (“A Tale of Three Penguins”); http://tea.rice.edu/cowles/1.21.2002.html (“Why Maggie Dives”); and http://tea.rice.edu/cowles/1.22.2002.html (“It looks delicious, but will a starfish eat it?”). Additional journal entries about POPs and the Palmer LTER can be found at the index at http://tea.rice.edu/tea_cowlesfrontpage.html#calendar My thanks to the National Science Foundation, Office of Polar Programs and Division of Elementary, Secondary, and Informal Education (EISE) for their support of this project and to Drs. Hugh Ducklow and Rebecca Dickhut of BP-045 for my inclusion in their group. I also thank Dr. Stephanie Shipp, Rice University, Principal Investigator of the TEA Antarctic Component. Finally, my thanks to the entire Palmer Station Raytheon Polar Services staff for sharing their time and talents with me and with the world of adult literacy/numeracy. They explained their work, gave me content for math problems, and allowed themselves to be photographed for use on the TEA website. Many staff members also answered specific email questions from students; others contributed digital images. Students, teachers, and program managers around the US benefited from their generosity. Special thanks to Michele Cochran, BP-045, for many interesting hours in the Zodiac pumping water at stations A, B, and especially stations E, G, and I. AO-106-P: GLOBAL THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY AND ITS EFFECTS ON THE RADIATION BELTS AND THE LOWER IONOSPHERE. Dr. Umran Inan, Principal Investigator, Stanford University. The Science Technician operates and maintains on-site equipment for the project. The Stanford equipment receives and records Very Low Frequency (VLF) radio waves in order to study natural ionospheric and magnetospheric phenomena, as well as to study the distribution of the lightning strokes that are a principle source of natural VLF signals. Throughout the month, the signal cable on the glacier was moved routinely to prevent it from freezing in. Several antenna tower guy posts were reset in the ice as they threatened to melt loose. The N/S narrowband computer began to experience abnormal termination of data collection on 19 February. The acquisition program is written so that data collection resumes following such terminations, so only brief intervals of data were lost, but with 60-70 “restarts” per night, the accumulation of missing data was substantial. Testing indicated that the problem was not in the input signal or the data acquisition card. On 20 February, the broadband computer spontaneously rebooted and did not begin data acquisition properly. After another reboot, operations returned to normal. Eight synoptic observations covering two hours were lost. In response to a request from the Principal Investigator, full data files acquired on 18 February for four of the narrowband channels were ftp’d to Stanford on 22 February for investigation of the possible ionospheric impact of a gamma ray flare. GO-052-P: GPS CONTINUOUSLY OPERATING REFERENCE STATION. Dr. Jerry Mullins, Principal Investigator, U.S. Geological Survey. The Science Technician operates and maintains on-site equipment for the project. Throughout the month, 15 second epoch GPS transmissions were collected continually at station PALM. Each day, the previous day’s data file was examined for completeness, compressed, and transmitted to the USGS in Reston, VA. A static GPS survey was conducted on benchmark DRE1 on 15 February. Data files from 13 days scattered from October 2001 through February 2002 were provided to the grantees to replace files that were missing or corrupted during original transmission. GO-090-P: GLOBAL SEISMOGRAPH NETWORK (GSN) SITE AT PALMER STATION. Dr. Rhett Butler, Principal Investigator, Incorporated Research Institutions for Seismology (IRIS). The Science Technician operates and maintains on-site equipment for the project. Station PMSA is one of more than 130 sites in the GSN, monitoring seismic waves produced by events worldwide. Data files are recorded to tape and also sent to the USGS in near real time, as the local Internet connection allows. The DP froze on 16 February for unknown reasons. Pressing reset restored it to normal operation. A used but functional dot matrix printer was put into service, restoring the printing of real-time system messages. OO-204-O: A STUDY OF ATMOSPHERIC OXYGEN VARIABILITY IN RELATION TO ANNUAL TO DECADAL VARIATIONS IN TERRESTRIAL AND MARINE ECOSYSTEMS. Dr. 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. Dr. David Hofmann, Principal Investigator, Climate Monitoring and Diagnostics Laboratory, 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 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. OO-275-O: DOE-EML REMOTE ATMOSPHERIC MEASUREMENTS PROGRAM (RAMP). Dr. Colin Sanderson, Principal Investigator, Department of Energy, Environmental Measurements Laboratory. The Science Technician operates and maintains on-site equipment for the project. The RAMP system is part of a global network seeking to characterize the quantity and distribution of radionuclide particles occurring both naturally and artificially in the atmosphere. One sample filter was exposed for the duration of each week, and a weekly schedule of calibration, background, and sample counts was maintained. A new ARGOS antenna was received to replace one with a cracked base. OO-283-P: ANTARCTIC AUTOMATIC WEATHER STATIONS (AWS). Dr. Charles Stearns, Principal Investigator, University of Wisconsin. The Science Technician monitors data transmissions for the project. 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. The Hugo Island and RACER Rock units remain off line. Repair of the AWSs is contingent on the arrival of new parts and on vessel scheduling. TO-312-O: TERASCAN SATELLITE IMAGING SYSTEM. Dr. Dan Lubin, Principal Investigator, Scripps Institution of Oceanography. The Science Technician operates and maintains on-site equipment for the project. Throughout the month, the TeraScan system collected, archived, and processed DMSP, NOAA, and encrypted SeaWiFS satellite pass telemetry, maintaining a schedule of 20-25 passes per day. In the middle of the month, close examination of the process of taping passes showed it to have been sporadically unreliable since the system upgrade earlier in the month. Many system reconfigurations and modifications were tried before a mostly well-behaved arrangement was found. Tapes that were written during the unreliable period were checked and, as much as possible, corrected. Also in the middle of the month it was discovered that the cron script to update the orbital elements had not functioned properly since the system upgrade, causing a gradual loss of SeaWiFS data. The elements were updated manually on a daily basis for a time, and ultimately the script was modified to operate properly under Solaris 7. Numerous visible light images and a sea surface temperature image were provided in support of the GLOBEC cruises. Clear satellite passes were archived when available throughout the month for BP-032-P (Smith), and 85GHz SSM/I “ice concentration” images were produced and transferred to UCSB for BP-032-P (Smith) on a weekly basis. TO-513-O: ULTRAVIOLET SPECTRORADIOMETER NETWORK. Charles Booth, Principal Investigator, Biospherical Instruments, Inc. The Science Technician operates and maintains on-site equipment for the project. The BSI UV monitor produces full sky irradiance spectra ranging from the atmospheric UV cutoff near 290nm up to 605nm, four times per hour, while the sun is above the horizon. Limited preliminary results are available on-site in near real time, while fully calibrated data sets are made available by BSI on a periodic basis. Absolute Scans were performed on 17 and 28 February 2002. A new WWW avian deterrent was installed on 26 February. Preliminary UV data files were made available on-site on a daily basis for BP-016-P (Vernet). TIDE GAGE Mr. Tony Amos, Point of Contact, The University of Texas Marine Science Institute. The Science Technician operates and maintains on-site equipment for the project. Tide height and sea water temperature and salinity are monitored on a continual basis by a gage mounted at the Palmer Station pier. New prediction calendars were requested and received from the POC. Prediction tables for the data collection program were also requested, received, and installed. There are some minor time offset issues yet to be resolved in both calendars and tables. SYNOPTIC WEATHER OBSERVATIONS Each day, three synoptic weather observations were performed, coded, and sent to Rothera Station via HF radio. The ambient/minimum thermometer was replaced after its markings became difficult to read.