The objective of this year's research
is to begin implementation of a long term environmental monitoring program for
McMurdo Station, the largest US Antarctic
Base. Our program will collect environmental samples from 9 sites in McMurdo
Sound adjacent to the station. We will also collect approximately 150 terrestrial
samples around the station. This sampling is based on a three-year pilot project that
was conducted at McMurdo beginning in 1999.
This research is a joint project between
the Geochemical and Environmental Research Group (GERG) and the Department of
Geography at Texas A&M University and the Marine Sciences Institute of the
University of Texas-Austin. More information on this joint research and
the project's first three years of fieldwork is available from GERG's Antarctica website.
The first part of our field program will be sampling the marine benthic communities along two transects in areas at McMurdo -- Winter Quarter's Bay and new the outfall of the waste disposal system. We also have a control transect located off of Cape Armitage.
On each of the three transects there are three holes at differing depths. This
is required as even in the absence of human disturbance the community structure
of the ocean floor varies considerably with depth at McMurdo. The shallowest
sites are located at depths of 40-50 feet, the intermediate holes at depths
of 80-90 feet and the deepest holes at 115-130 feet. The maximum depth we can
work at is constrained by the depth to which divers can safely work.
The second part of this year's field work is to collect approximately 170 samples across the terrestrial portion of the station. One hundred and twelve of these samples will be collected within 7 hexagons with a diameter of 25 meters around around areas of known current or historic disturbance.
In each of these intensive sampling grids we will collect samples at 16 randomly located points as is illustrated in the figure below.
In an additional 60 randomly distributed 25 m hexagons, we intend to collect one sample for a broader examination of contamination across the station. We refer to these as random sampling.
 |
 |
 |
| Andrew Klein Department of Geography Texas A&M University |
Steve Sweet Geochemical and Environmental Research Group (GERG) Texas A&M University |
Sally Morehead Marine Sciences Institute University of Texas |
Move mouse over picture to see first take!
In anticipation of the marine sampling,
the field team began preparations for their research. In the afternoon we all
passed our Pisten Bully training. A Pisten Bully is a tracked machine
used to traverse the sea ice outside of McMurdo Station. Unfortunately inclement
weather precluded conducting field work following the training so we continued
preparing our labs and field equipment.
In the evening we along with a number of
other scientists and support staff enjoyed a DVD of the British Comedian Eddy
Izzard and undertook such mundane tasks as laundry.
View from Lab
Move cursor over window to see the view on a clear day...
Here is an 8 MB AVI movie
of Andrew enjoying Condition 2 weather.
The weather continues to clear and we are back to work doing marine sampling. We are still waiting for the Reed Drill operators to drill our dive holes. In the meantime, the two most excellent divers, Rob Robbins (left) and Doug Coons (right), who are supporting us in this research are are able to dive at two holes near sewage outflow (marine sample sites D-1 and D-2) from a prexisting dive hole.
In the past year a new sewage treatment plant has come online at McMurdo. The dive hole we used for these two study sites was actually drilled for another scientific group. This group is studying the specific response of the marine benthic environment in the immediate vicinity of the sewage outflow to changes in the effluent leaving the station.
At each of our nine marine sampling sites, the divers will collect several cores of the upper few centimeters of sediment. Depending on the depth (the deeper a site is, the less time a diver can spend underwater) and the composition of the bottom (it is easier to core soft sediments) it may take a single dive to collect all the required cores or it may take multiple dives.
Here is a small AVI movie of Doug Coons preparing to dive. Please note it is rather large at 25 MB in size.
To the left, Sally shows an example of an excellent core acquired by our divers
near the sewage outflow. This and similar cores will be tested to determine
how toxic the sediments are to organisms using a microtox
system that utilizes a luminescent deep sea bacteria. Sally will also examine
the number of organisms and species composition at each site which is known
to change in response to disturbance. In the background, Steve is holding the
contents of three other smaller cores who chemical composition will be analyzed
for trace metals, Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCBs) and Total Petroleum Hydrocarbons
(TPH).
Well
funtime is finally here...today the Reed drillers will drill the remainder of
the dive holes. On each of the three transects, two dive holes are required.
A single hole can be used to access the shallow holes, while a second hole is
required for the deepest holes. The reed drill (below left) will drill a hole
3-4 feet in diameter through the sea ice which at this time is approximately
15 feet thick in most locations. After the drill penetrates the bottom of sea
ice, slushy sea water will poor out through the hole and must be cleared out
to prevent it from filling the hole and refreezing the hole shut....
Note to Andrew -- next time don't drop your camera into the snow next to a dive hole and if you do remember to remove the camera BEFORE the drilling occurs and sea water inundates everything.
If you are curious to see the Reed Drill in action here is a movie clip. Please note that it is a rather large 25 MB Quicktime Movie.
Shoveling slushy sea water can, shall we say, warm oneself up nicely on a cold day. It does require a bit of energy. In one of our holes, so much snow had accumulated that a bulldozer was required to remove the snow to reach the sea ice. As a result, the pit filled with water (below right) after the hole was drilled. It didn't stop our divers one bit!
Well today is Sunday and it is the one day of the week that the Raytheon support staff get off. Needless to say, short-term scientists (beekers as well sometimes call ourselves) usually can be found in the Crary Labs after doing our weekly laundry. One of the interesting things we learned is that Sundays are a busy day for the individual in charge of the sewage treatment plant because of the greater showering and laundering on Sundays.
Well we did work today. Because there no helicopter flights today and the weather was nice, we collected our 32 terrestrial samples on the helicopter pad in order to minimize our impact on operations. In 59 minutes, We had sampled our two intensive grids of 16 samples per hexagon on the helicopter pads. Given our rapid rate of progress on these two intensive grids, we felt that we could easily finish off quite a few of the six remaining intensive sampling grids...boy were we mistaken. While the soil was unfrozen on the helicopter pads, snow covered most of one of our sampling grids and the ground at the other sites remained quite frozen and partially snow covered. Somewhat disappointingly we only managed to collect 3 more terrestrial samples.
Sally Morehead collecting a terrestrial soil sample
Today is one of those days that makes you glad to be alive and the immense beauty and grand scale of Antarctica leaves you breathless. The sky is clear, no wind and temperatures in the high 20s to mid 30s (Fahrenheit). We are diving and sampling at our control transect off of Cape Armitage and just enjoying the nice weather and scenery.
Rob Robbins, Sally Morehead and Steve Sweet
Rob Robbins and Doug Coons
A Hercules C-130 Ski-equipped plane taking off
In order to assure that we finish our terrestrial sampling by our scheduled departure date of December 13th -- we don't want to spend Christmas in McMurdo if we don't have too -- our group continued to work well into this evening. Steve and Andrew collected an additional 49 terrestrial samples on two intensive sampling grids and a few random sampling locations near the intensive grids in town. Sally continued to with her microtoxicity analysis of the marine sediments we have collected so far. A very productive evening for all involved...and some well deserved libations in the building 155 lounge.
Our marine sampling continues today...there are only so many pictures one can take in a Dive Hut so no exciting research pictures were taken today, but a few pictures of a favorite hangout...the McMurdo Coffee House.
In the afternoon, Steve and Andrew left Sally and the divers to happy diving and continued terrestrial sampling....unfortunately the hills above McMurdo were not so easy to sample as areas in town...a measly 15 random samples were collected.
Note to Steve...as the video they show you before boarding the plane to McMurdo points out you need both an insulating layer and wind protection if you want to stay warm....
There are only so many pictures one can take in a Dive Hut and taking pictures while trudging up and down step slopes is not so great so no exciting research pictures were taken today, but enjoy a few pictures of a favorite B-518 hangout...the McMurdo Coffee House.
Sally, Rob and Doug continue the marine sampling while Steve and Andrew continue to collect terrestrial samples. After a hard days trudging up and down hills and, in the case of Andrew, sliding down one....Steve and Andrew managed to collect 36 terrestrial samples and enjoyed a good view or two from above town.
Sally and the divers had company in their dive hut. A Weddell seal also found the dive hole in a quite handy location.
Move cursor over image for another view of the Seal
Today B-518 FINISHED its marine and terrestrial sampling!!!!!!! Moreover, it was also American Night at Scott Base which is the New Zealand Antarctic base about 3 km away down perhaps Antarctica's major road. Because Scott Base is very small, American visitors would easily swamp it facilities so Americans cannot visit Scott Base except by invitation or on American Night. So at 7 PM., we boarded a transport to Scott Base for a quick shop at the Scott Base Store and a few drinks at the cozy bar. Thanks to Eric Richards we were also treated to guided tour of all of the station's facilities...very neat!
Scott Base Store - the Best Shopping in Antarctica
Steve Sweet and Nik Sinkola enjoying themselves at Scott Base
Our Scott Base Tour Guide - Notice No Shoes Allowed
Be sure to pay....
Today is our last full day "on the ice" as we have been manifested for a northbound flight tomorrow morning. Today is spent doing all those last minute things...returning our Piston Bully, field supplies and lab equipment to the correct locations and having our formal outbriefing...all in all a very busy day.
In the evening all three of us did bag drag - which means hauling all our luggage for weighing and loading onto our plane. After this task there was time for one last night of enjoying our friends...and enjoying one last view from labs...you don't see this in College Station!
Oh and for Andrew, the chance to take one last sauna....
Doug Coons and Steve Sweet discussing a successful field season
Last View From Lab
Well, at 8 AM we showed up for our northbound transport, boarded Ivan the Terra Bus for a trip to the sea ice runway for a long flight aboard a Kiwi Herc...
Northbound!
Hours later...the world of snow and ice was left behind as the plane doors opened and the sweet smell of flowers drifted into the plane. A nice long hot shower (at least for those staying in the Heritage Hotel) and the newly respectable B-518 field crew members had a nice meal and dessert in Christchurch to celebrate the completion of a successful field season!
Back in the real world!