march20

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6:30 AM

The events in this blog took place on March 18.

Oh snow!

Expect at least a meter of ice over the pond – advice given to me through an email from Glacier Bay National Park Service ranger Chad Soisleth. Well then I guess I will have to bring some burly men to carry the ice auger and maybe myself when I start to get weary.

The actual party included ice master Eric Collins (also second-hand-man in my project), the energetic outdoorsman Jeff Bowman, the kind soldier Christina Biladeau (also my right-hand-lady), and a very generous park ranger by the name of Craig.

Craig led us through a snow laden wooden trail into the woods and after about 10 minutes of falling through about 3 feet of snow the entire way he had us all jump over the rail into about another 4 feet of snow and walk out into an opening in the woods. The clearing was flat and covered with snow and apparently at some distance underneath was some liquid freshwater. This was where I would collect samples of freshwater sediment in a desperate search for the bacteria Planctomycetes.

Snowshoes in place, excluding Christina who was also in jeans, we all set out 15 feet from the presumed shore. Jeff was first to tear into the snow/ice with the ice auger, second me, third poor Christina. During her turn, of course, the ice auger finally broke through to liquid unexpectedly and her and the ice auger shot down about 2 feet and she almost face planted into the slush. Thank goodness for the ice auger handles or the sudden fall would have resulted in a lost auger and an extremely drenched Christina. No pictures caught the event unfortunately, but the picture in my head will never be lost!

After about 15 minutes, I shoved a 6 foot long piece of PVC piping into the newly created hole and made contact with the very smelly, sludgy, decomposing sediment at the bottom, which luckily turned out to be only 5 feet from the surface. With the help of crazy too-cool-for-gloves Eric Collins and Jeff Bowman, I was able to recover about 6 inches of sediment. Once secured, I cut the pipe just above the sediment, capped the section and moved on to another prospective sampling site just to extend the fun.

The second site was much less exciting so we called it quits when the snow was beginning to fall in apple-size flakes. The trek back was much easier with snowshoes and as soon as we knew it we said goodbye and thanks to Craig and headed from the warm ship. The adventure was definitely successful and satisfying, and the best part of all is that Eric and Jeff carried the auger both ways (thanks by the way!).

Many thanks to the Glacier Bay National Park Service for both allowing me to sample on land and with the guidance of a park ranger.

-Vikki

6:30 AM

Back to March 20...

All day yesterday and through the night we worked back and forth in Tarr Inlet. Drifters were dropped off, cores taken, many CTD casts made, and sediment traps deployed. Around midday we took on an additional staff member for the NPS.

Tarr Inlet is incredibly scenic, this is where the cruise ships come during the summer months. However on this cold March day we had the place to ourselves. We entered the inlet in heavy snow and fog, visibility was probably less than 100 yards. Justin and I were braving the weather out on the bow, hoping for a glimpse of the famous glaciers. We were past the first one before we could even see it (I can appreciate the respect mariners gave such places before GPS and radar). All of sudden it was just there, looming incredibly large out of the fog. From the first sighting the weather steadily improved, and by afternoon it had turned into a pretty nice day.

The head of Tarr Inlet is dominated by two large glaciers, the pristine Margerie Glacier and the somewhat less pristine Grand Pacific Glacier. Only a scientist would consider Grand Pacific beautiful (its dark streaks of rock and dirt probably have many a geological tale to tell), it is the quintessential ugly duckling next to the glacial-blue Margerie.

We remained in the head of the inlet for several hours, deploying equipment and taking in the sites. All around us sea lions played at the surface. The waters close to the glaciers are known to harbor abundant macrofauna (large animals). They may be drawn to the glaciers by higher than normal productivity (phytoplankton activity) which in turn supports prey for seals and sea lions. Abnormally high productivity has been noted in Glacier Bay in the past. Typically high latitude regions have spikes in productivity in the spring (as more light reaches into the water column) and fall (after a mid-summer crash). Glacier Bay does not seem to follow this trend, with higher year-round productivity and no summer crash. Our own measurements yesterday and last night suggest a high degree of productivity.

-Jeff

12:37 PM

8PM – 4AM Watch

The science had been going on all day and we finally made it as far north as we’re gonna get. Tarr Inlet was an amazing sight never to be forgotten. Both Margery Glacier and Grand Pacific Glacier could be seen with a turn of a head. The weather was a perfect 0^oC and sunny! Luckily we had tons to do at station 21 and eventually spent almost 4 hours in one spot. We set sediment traps, deployed the CTD and Go-Flo bottles, did some net tows, and even picked up a park ranger. Besides all the work, we got lucky enough to watch Margery Glacier calv a few times. It was tricky business though, as if you turned you’re back too soon you’d miss an amazing event. You could ask about 20 people aboard the Thompson who where unfortunate to miss some calving events. We would hoot and holler at the sight of one and then watch 10 people running out of the main lab ignoring science to catch a glimpse and 10 people not paying attention turn their back only to see huge chunks of ice floating in the water. Unfortunately I wasn’t able to capture the calving on video, but I was able to catch the end of one. I was talking to Eric Wisegarver when I heard the sound of thunder. I turned to see a huge chunk of ice the size of a 4 story building begin to fall, but then it stopped and a river of ice started falling in between the gaps. Don’t believe me, check my camera, I got that on video!

I finally got to start sampling the waters of Glacier Bay and spent the rest of my day in the radiation van inoculating my water with radioactive sodium bicarbonate, incubating for an hour, filtering the phytoplankton and scintillation counting. The work is repetitive and tedious, but it’s gotta get done. I’m excited to be the first student at UW to use radioactive isotopes for their senior thesis in the last 9 years. There is some pressure from certain people about following rules and guidelines, but nothing I can’t handle. There are some concerns about my radioactivity contaminating Andy Clos’ water samples, but I’ve been very careful to avoid taking his water samples and accidentally brushing up against him. That’s how sensitive this work can be.

The night watch or should I say early morning watch from 8PM to 4AM has been pretty forgiving. Net tows here, CTDs there. We’ve started decorating our styrofoam cups. Why the heck would oceanographers be decorating Styrofoam cup??? I’m glad you ask! We’ll tie the cups up to the CTD and cast it. When the CTD reaches the bottom, the pressure from the water will shrink the 8 fluid oz. cups into a shot glass sized shooters! Great fun when you can use a little bit of ocean physics to entertain.

We actually mistakenly skipped station 8, so we’re going to station 7, then 6 and going back to 8. Chief scientist Rick Keil, who has been up for almost 24 hours, seemed to be a little irritated about that one. Cruise planning and timing sometimes is an unforgivable art. There are several variables to deal with like tides, weather, and having to meet the needs of 21 scientists each with different requirements for their projects. Well, it’s 2:15AM and we’re pulling up to one of our last stations. Working is calling so until next time!

-Erwin

March 20, 2008