For many people, their first view of Antarctica, the highest, driest, windiest, most remote continent on earth, is truly an awe-inspiring experience. While the forecast of winter snow hovers over Maine this time of year, austral summer is approaching quickly in Antarctica, bringing longer and warmer days after a cold dark winter. Tabular icebergs that recently have broken free from glaciers during the spring thaw dot the horizon and appear like small cities looming in the distance. In addition to its beauty, the unique Antarctic environment provides a pristine research location that attracts scientists who study a variety of different subjects ranging from meteorology to glaciology to biology.

Join me, Erin Fisher, aboard the U.S. research vessel Nathaniel B. Palmer. I have been working as a marine science technician with geologists from Hamilton College, the Desert Research Institute at the University of Nevada, and Queen's University in Ontario, Canada on a cruise aimed at studying the geology of the Antarctic seafloor.

The goal of our work is to experiment with "luminescence" - the giving off of light for reasons other than heat - to date small sediment particles that have melted out of glaciers and fallen to the ocean floor. This method of dating sediments may allow scientists to age these particles more precisely than with traditional "Carbon-14" dating methods. Knowing this kind of information may, for example, help scientists get a better idea of how Antarctica's ice shelves were formed.

  MY BACKGROUND

I grew up in Bar Harbor, Maine, USA, and completed a Master of Science degree in Marine Biology at Scripps Institution of Oceanography in San Diego, California. My Masters thesis was on how the extensive pack ice cover in Antarctica influences the ecology of zooplankton, small free-swimming marine animals, that live in the surface waters of the Weddell Sea. My work focused on krill, the shrimp-like animals that are a primary food source for filter-feeding whales in the Southern Ocean and other parts of the world. In Maine, I am working with the Stonington Fisheries Alliance as an Island Institute Fellow to assist with the development of a local sea scallop wild stock enhancement program.

  GETTING TO ANTARCTICA

We "set sail" in the U.S. research vessel, Nathaniel B. Palmer (NBP), on December 5th, 2001, heading for the Antarctic Peninsula south of Chile. How do you get to the Antarctic Peninsula? The trek from the US first takes you to meet the ship in the port town of Punta Arenas, Chile, one of the most southern mainland towns in South America. While Punta Arenas translates to "point of sand", perhaps a more apt name might be "windy point" - even the slow growing lengua trees grow lopsided away from the wind in such a rugged environment.

After the NBP sets sail from Punta Arenas, the transit to Antarctica usually takes you about 3 days and 700 miles across the Drake Passage, which can be some of the roughest waters in the world. During this time, the scientists and crew have safety meetings in which they don "gumby suits" - neoprene survival suits - and become familiar with the life boats onboard the vessel. If the weather permits, the "crossing" is also a great time to make final preparations for the upcoming science. Next stop: Paleobiology on Seymour Island!

  WEEKLY LOGS

December 17, 2001

(photo by Dave Tewksbury, Hamilton College) Field Camp on Seymour Island On December 10, 2001, we assisted a field party of five scientists representing University of Illinois, Syracuse University, and University of Alabama with establishing a paleobiology research camp on Seymour Island. For the next four weeks (until mid-January, 2002), the group will live and work from tents along the sandy shore while they collect fossils for their research. Seymour Island is one of the world's hot spots for studying fossils from the Eocene, a period about 37 to 54 million years ago. The temperature of the ocean decreased during the Eocene and the researchers on Seymour Island are studying how the ocean cooling affected the predator prey relationships between the clams, snails, and crabs that lived on the seafloor during that time. In addition, they hope to reveal the story of the water temperature, which is hidden in tiny molecules of oxygen that were used to make the shells of clams and snails. This information could help us understand how ocean temperature change associated with global warming may influence many of the communities of marine animals that exist today. The NBP will catch up with the Seymourians in four weeks when we will find out what they discovered!

Larsen Ice Shelf Mud Sample from the Seafloor From Seymour Island, we headed south to the Larsen Ice Shelf in the western Weddell Sea. In recent years, a portion of the ice shelf that was once roughly the size of the state of Maine has begun to decline - current nautical charts show the position of the NBP on top of the ice! Researchers onboard the NBP from Hamilton College, Desert Research Institute, and Queen's University are interested in reconstructing a history of the ice shelf by looking at the seafloor sediments. One way to sample the seafloor sediments is to use a device called a Smith-MacIntyre Grab. This equipment is lowered to the ocean bottom, where it closes and captures a small sample of sediment in its "jaws" before it is raised back to the surface. Here, a student from Hamilton College takes a small core of sediment from the jaws of the grab.

December 24, 2001

Gerlache Strait Throughout history, oceanographic sampling needs have inspired the construction of a variety of sediment sampling gear. In addition to the Smith-MacIntyre grab, the seafloor sediments can be collected with a Kasten Core. This device is made up of a long square steel barrel topped with a "bomb" of lead weight which drives the barrel into the ocean bottom. In this photo, the lead is being added to the top of the bomb before the instrument is deployed in the Gerlache Strait. Kasten Core barrel

During the past week we have been collecting sediment samples in the Gerlache Strait, which separates the Palmer Archipelago from the west side of the Antarctic Peninsula. The strait was named after Lt. Adrien de Gerlache, who explored the area in January and February 1898. Note that the orange in the foreground of the picture is a reflection of the hull of the NBP. Kasten Core weights When this core barrel returns to the surface, it holds a small sediment sample that includes material from the ocean bottom to roughly 6 feet (2 meters) below the seafloor. Sometimes, the barrel also transports bottom-dwelling animals to the surface, including sea stars and sea spiders.

  LINKS

For more information and lots of pictures from this cruise, visit:
http://www.hamilton.edu/news/antarctica2001.

To find out more about the U.S. research vessel, Nathaniel B. Palmer, visit:

• Office of Polar Programs, National Science Foundation
  http://www.nsf.gov/od/opp/support/nathpalm.htm
  
  
• United States Antarctic Program
  http://rpsc.raytheon.com/science/marine/nbp/

Related Links:

• Office of Polar Programs, National Science Foundation
  http://www.nsf.gov/od/opp/start.htm
  
  
• United States Antarctic Program
  http://rpsc.raytheon.com/index.htm
  
  
• The Antarctic Sun, A publication during the austral summer at McMurdo Station
  http://rpsc.raytheon.com/antsun/index.htm
  
  
• The history and voyages of Nathaniel Brown Palmer
  http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/antarctica/background/NSF/palmer.html
  
  
• NASA Quest - Live from Antarctica
  http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/antarctica/index.html

  CONTACT ERIN

I'd be happy to contact teachers or students interested in my work. We're doing science down here until January 8, 2002. After that, I won't have email for a while before I get back to Maine at the end of January. Click here to send me an email before January 8, 2002. After this date, click here.