2014 Antarctic Field Season has begun….

Guest Blogger and SSTORM Post Doc, Dr. Kim Null writes:

 

We made it!  Here we are for our second season in Antarctica measuring glacial meltwater discharge to the coastal ocean.  This year we are starting off the season at Palmer Station and finishing it with a 5-day research cruise in March. The team currently on station is composed of four scientists, Kim Null, Rick Peterson, Jared Crenshaw, and Leigha Peterson.  Then the other half of the team will pick us up near the end of the season for sampling from the research vessel. It has been an exciting trip so far. The Drake Passage was not that kind to us this year as we made our way south on the Lawrence M. Gould (LMG). We had 50 knot headwinds slowing us down and creating some rough seas.  We arrived at Palmer Station on January 5 and immediately began setting up the labs. It looks like chaos but it is actually quite organized. There is a lot of gear that must fit into limited space. That was accomplishment number one.  Yesterday (January 7^th) we had our first day of sampling. We hiked to the glacier face and conducted sampling from a glacial stream that discharges into the ocean. Sampling entails collecting large volumes (100L) of water to measure different tracers we use to quantify glacial meltwater to the ocean. Glacial meltwaters (surface and subsurface) have unique chemical signatures compared to seawater that allow us to distinguish them.

 

It has been an interesting start to the austral summer at Palmer Station because the station has been bounded by ice that has halted boating activities for most of the summer season so far. Unfortunately we are surrounded by ice once again right now.  The larger research vessels like the LMG have no problem moving through the large concentrated brash ice, but it poses a problem for the smaller Zodiacs that we use to conduct sampling near station.  Although we cannot start our sampling by boat, we have plenty of other sampling and prepping to keep us busy.  Hopefully the wind will change direction soon and blow the ice back to sea.

 

 

Marsh Field Trip

Had a good day exploring local marsh sites with Aaron McCall (The Nature Conservancy) and Jessi Strand, David Hawkins, Reide Corbett and J.P. Walsh (ECU/CSI).

Merry Mud Making

Had lots fun on Friday collecting lots of sediment samples for Dave Hawkins' thesis.  It was warm most of the day until the sun got low...then we sang some carols to keep us warm.  It was great to get out on the water.

Holiday Grab Sampling

Got to do some fieldwork on Croatan and Pamlico sounds today.  It was a bit chilly but nice on the steel blue and cold, quiet water. And it was another scenic sunset from the UNC CSI.

Our First Boat Trip from the New UNC CSI Campus

How else would we enjoy our spring break!?

With a nice, sunny and, most importantly, low-wind-speed day, Reide and I decided to head into the Albemarle Sound to check on the state of some equipment and recover a deployed acoustic bat sensor. Our new post-doc Brad Pickens came along on the adventure.

Although a cool ride out, the seas were calm and the trip was fast! We found our equipment to be in good shape (despite a little guano). Reide disconnected the bat monitoring equipment, and we all worked to get it safely aboard our vessel. Then, J.P. donned a thick wet suit and braved the cold water in the effort to recover a water quality monitor deployed last year. Unfortunately, he was unsuccessful in locating the device without scuba equipment.

Nevertheless, it was a productive and fun trip, and it was awesome to finally have our first boat trip from the new UNC CSI campus!

J.P.