Message-Id: <Version.32.19980201124332.00f98390@lmg.polar.org>
Date: Sun, 01 Feb 1998 14:20:41 +0000
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        ecarpent@nsf.gov, garciadi.asa@asa.org, kluckhro.asa@asa.org,
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From: David Karl <karlda@lmg.polar.org>
Subject: weekly Chief Scientist report
Cc: llum@soest.hawaii.edu, dkarl@soest.hawaii.edu
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LMG98-01 CRUISE REPORT FOR PERIOD 22 JAN- 1 FEB 1998

The maiden voyage of the ARSV Laurence M. Gould departed from Punta Arenas,
Chile on 22 January 1998 under clear skies and calm seas.  These favorable
weather conditions remained with us across Drake Passage and all the way
into Hero Inlet, Anvers Island for our scheduled two-day port call at
Palmer Station.  Despite the presence of several large icebergs between the
vessel and the dock, Captain Warren was able to ease the L. M. Gould into
position without incident.  Cargo and personnel transfers were smooth and
efficient.   

The vessel departed Palmer Station on 28 January with 21 Long-Term
Ecological Research (LTER) scientists aboard representing several science
groups (R. Smith, bio-optics and remote sensing; L. Quetin/R. Ross, krill
population dynamics; W. Fraser, seabirds; M. Vernet, phytoplankton ecology;
D. Karl, microbiology and carbon flux) and 5 ASA support personnel (R.
Kelly, M. Talkovic, B. Williams, A. Doyle and L. Emery).  Rhonda Kelly is
the expedition's Marine Projects Co-ordinator and Dave Karl is the
expedition's Chief Scientist.  Ms. Besse Dawson, a high school marine
sciences teacher from Texas, is aboard as a NSF Teachers Experiencing
Antarctica (TEA) program scholar.  Her field reports to the classrooms of
the world, complete with digital images of the various science activities,
are available in real time on the WWW (tea.rice.edu).

Our cruise got off to a relatively slow and frustrating start as a result
of equipment failures and required trouble-shooting.  However, within two
days all of the major sampling and measurement systems were on-line
collecting materials and data.  As of 1 February we have occupied 11
stations with successful bio-optical profiling, CTD casts, bio-acoustic
transects and net tows at each site.  In addition continuous underway
measurement systems have been logging the partial pressure of carbon
dioxide, pH, dissolved oxygen, fluorescence, temperature and conductivity
of near surface waters and an array of meteorological sensors have been
logging atmospheric parameters into a common data acquisition system.  On
January 30,  we successfully recovered the LTER sediment trap mooring near
Victor Hugo Island that was deployed in December 1996 and by the end of the
day had reset a new mooring that will record particle fluxes over the next
year.  The time-series sediment trap samples provided dramatic visual
evidence for a large export flux event (estimated to be greater than 1 gram
dry weight per square meter per day) for a period of about two weeks during
the 1996-97 austral summer (late December 1996-early January 1997) but, as
of 8 January 1998, no comparable export event was observed during the
1997-98 austral summer.  Large interannual variations in both the magnitude
and the timing of the spring-summer export have been documented already in
our nearly seven-year chronology of export fluxes in the LTER study area,
but it appears that the bloom this year is either significantly delayed or
suppressed, or both.  Near surface chlorophyll values in the inshore
stations also indicate low phytoplankton standing stocks and the underway
data for pCO2 and dissolved O2 concentrations suggest that net primary
production is low compared to previous years.  The weather to date has been
very co-operative except for a brief 75-km blow on 31 January at our
offshore, open ocean station.  


Our initial impressions are that the Laurence M. Gould is a fine research
vessel.  She is comfortable and has a competent, user-friendly crew.  The
spacious deck and fantail, well-designed shipboard laboratories, new
portable radioisotope vans (2) and the enclosed "N. B. Palmer-like" CTD
staging hanger will be appreciated by all those who have the opportunity to
work aboard this new Antarctic research support vessel.  Although the
fundamental acoustic problems have not yet been solved, this limitation has
not impacted the LTER program objectives.  Because this is a low ice year
for the Antarctic Peninsula region, we have not have the opportunity to
test the vessel in the pack.

As I complete this initial science report from the maiden voyage of the
ARSV Laurence M. Gould, I would be remiss if I did not acknowledge a few of
the many individuals who have contributed to our initial successes.  First
and foremost I would like to thank Captain Warren Sanamo and his crew for
their patience and for their outstanding support of our science programs to
date.  Edison Chouest Offshore should be congratulated on their selection
of such a fine group of individuals.  I also acknowledge the untiring
efforts of the many ASA support personnel, scattered around the globe, from
Denver to Palmer Station, who have helped make this cruise a reality.  A
special mahalo goes out to Captain Dave McWilliams, Manager of the ASA
Marine Science Group, for his skill and tact in his handling the vessel
delays and for organizing the Abel-J charter for LTER program support in
early January. Last and certainly not least I acknowledge the outstanding
ASA field support team on board the vessel (Rhonda, Mark, Brian, Alice and
Luke) for their collective leadership, expertise and for handling every
problem we have handed them.  They are making it all happen.  

David M. Karl
Chief Scientist, LMG98-01
1 February 1998