19 November, 1999

McMurdo Station, Ross Island, Antarctica Friday

Another beautifully clear day in Antarctica!

Maite, Bess, and Mark are going to the east lobe of Lake Bonney tomorrow so preparations were made for getting into the field. This involved washing bottles and sampling bags, packing everything up, and getting down to the helo pad for quick loading in the morning.

Julie and I spent the day processing the sample bags and running the gas chromatograph (GC) for the second day of nitrous oxide tests. This will probably be an everyday event for us! Julie did the extractions while I put the "shots" onto the GC. Our results showed the presence of nitrous oxide, but without analyses, we cannot tell if there has been an increase in the production of the gas. Bess will handle the analyses. She seemed please with the data that Julie and I have presented to her. There was a "good job" note to us by the GC this morning! It was nice to receive a "job well done" reminder. Julie and I have a rather tedious job and the pat on the back was welcomed!

I spent some time in the morning with the Cape Roberts Project scientists. I will describe their project in a later journal when I have been able to get some photos. In the meantime, if you are interested, read the journals of TEA Bruce Smith. He has been working with this drilling project for several weeks.

In the afternoon, Julie, Maite, Mark, and Bess went cross-country skiing. I volunteered to stay behind and continued running the GC. The runs were completed at 8 p.m. and by 8:30, Julie and I were socializing with friends. It was a long, but productive day.

Answer to yesterday's question: The atmosphere is 79% nitrogen. Testing for this gas would be very difficult because of the "background" atmospheric gas. We are looking for very small amounts of gas and if we tested for nitrogen, it would be difficult to determine if our instrument was detecting nitrogen in our samples or nitrogen from the atmosphere. Adding the gas, acetylene, to our sample bags can easily stop the denitrification process. The end product of the denitrification reaction would then be the gas, nitrous oxide.

Today's question: What other countries maintain research stations on Ross Island?

Polar Profile: Today, I would like to introduce you to the final member of our research team, Dr. Mark Wells. Mark is originally from Vancouver, British Columbia. He received his undergraduate degrees in marine biology and biological oceanography from the University of British Columbia. In 1989, Mark was awarded his Ph.D. from the University of Maine in chemical oceanography. Mark has worked at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, The University of California at Santa Cruz, and as a consultant for the disposal of mine tailings in the ocean. Mark is married to Margot and has two children; Ryan will be 3 next month and Lindsay, 7 months. He enjoys hiking, camping, all watersports, and while in Antarctica, he spends his free time cross-country skiing. Mark taught me all about wine tasting when we toured the wineries of Christchurch. He demonstrated for me the fine art of swirling the wine in your glass, sniffing the wine with your nose, swishing the wine around in your mouth, and inhaling through your mouth before swallowing the wine. I haven't mastered the last step. I continue to drool wine down my chin!

Mark's research interests are varied. He spends half of his time on research vessels regardless of the fact that he gets seasick! Imagine an oceanographer that gets seasick! His primary interests involve the interaction of metals (such as iron and copper) with phytoplankton and bacteria in coastal and offshore marine environments, hence, the interest in how metals affect the bacteria in Lake Bonney. Mark's interests do not stop there. He also studies algal blooms (the rapid growth of algae). One of Mark's research projects concerns the diatom, Pseudo-nitzschia. This organism can cause a condition known as amnesic shellfish poisoning.

Amnesic shellfish poisoning causes amnesia and often death in people or other mammals and birds. The first recorded incidence of this condition was in 1989 on Prince Edward Island off the East Coast of Canada. Greater than 100 people were affected and several died. The diatom produces a toxic substance called domoic acid. Shellfish concentrate this toxin and sardines actually eat the diatoms. When a mammal or a bird eats sardines or crabs or other shellfish, they accumulate the toxin and the amnesic effects begin. In 1998, a bloom of these algae in Monterey Bay, California, killed many sea lions, birds, and sea otters.

The scary thing about these algae is that the blooms cannot be seen. The deaths of marine mammals and birds are the first indications of trouble. Mark wonders why the organisms bloom and why they will produce the toxin only under certain conditions. Oftentimes the organisms are harmless. It has been rumored that Alfred Hitchcock got his idea for the movie "The Birds" when he supposedly witnessed the bizarre behavior of birds affected by domoic acid poisoning.

Mark is a curious fellow! His research also includes the interference of fluorescing organic molecules with satellite imagery that measures chlorophyll production in the seas (thus estimating biomass and primary productivity).

Sharon

JUST FOR KIDS!!!!! Another beautifully clear day in Antarctica!

Maite, Bess, and Mark are going to the east lobe of Lake Bonney tomorrow so they prepared for this. They packed everything they would need and took it down to the helo pad.

Julie and I spent the day working at the gas chromatograph (GC) for the second day of nitrous oxide tests. This will probably be an everyday event for us!

I spent some time in the morning with the Cape Roberts Project scientists. I will describe their project in a later journal when I have been able to get some photos. In the meantime, if you are interested, read the journals of TEA Bruce Smith. He has been working with this drilling project for several weeks.

In the afternoon, Julie, Maite, Mark, and Bess went cross-country skiing. I volunteered to stay behind and continue running the GC. The runs were completed at 8 p.m. and by 8:30, Julie and I were socializing with friends. It was a productive day.

Answer to yesterday's question: The atmosphere (the air that you breathe) is made up of mostly nitrogen. Testing for this gas would be very difficult. We are looking for small amounts of gas and if we tested for nitrogen, it would be hard to tell if the GC was sensing nitrogen in our samples or nitrogen from the atmosphere. Adding the gas, acetylene, to our sample bags can easily stop denitrification. When we do this, nitrous oxide, not nitrogen, is the end product.

Today's question: What other countries have research stations on Ross Island (McMurdo Station is on Ross Island)?

Polar Profile: Today I would like you to meet the last member of my research team, Dr. Mark Wells. Mark is from Canada. He has a Ph.D. from the University of Maine and this is where he now works. Mark is an oceanographer and spends much of his time on ships. He gets seasick! Can you imagine working on a boat when you are seasick? Mark likes to study algae. He wonders how metals, like iron and copper, affect the algae. Mark is married to Margot and he has two children. His children are Ryan, who is almost three, and Lindsay, who is seven months. Mark likes to be outdoors! He skis, hikes, and camps. He has added camping in the snow as one of his favorite things to do!

Sharon

Mark Wells at Scott's Hut, Cape Evans, Antarctica.