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Ron Kiene's Antarctica Trip 2006
Research on the Biocomplexity of the DMS cycle
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Dr. Ron Kiene, from The Department of Marine Sciences at The University of South Alabama and Dauphin Island Sea Lab is conducting NSF-sponsored research at Palmer Station Antarctica. He is part of the team of researchers involved in a project entitled "Complex molecular to global interactions in the marine DMS cycle". The project involves collecting time series data on the sulfur compounds, dimethylsulfide (DMS) and its precursor, dimethylsulfoniopropionate (DMSP) in the waters around the Antarctic Peninsula. These sulfur compounds are produced by marine plankton and play an important role in the global sulfur cycle and climate. Dr. Kiene is posting a general log of his activities and experiences while in Antarctica. Click on a link below to read the log and see some photos. If you have questions about Antarctica or the research, you can e-mail Dr. Kiene at rkiene@disl.org. |
Scroll down for the most recent entries!
January 5, 2006 - Arrival at Palmer Station
January 6, 2006 - Glacier View
January 7, 2006 - House Mouse
January 8, 2006 - More Seals, and krill
January 9, 2006 - A lab day
January 10, 2006 - Navy invasion & Gentoo Penguin
January 11, 2006 - Sheathbill and iceberg collapse
January 12, 2006 - Sampling and Mountains
January 13, 2006 - Explorer II and Birds
January 14, 2006 - Tide lines
January 15, 2006 - Hiking the glacier
January 15 supplement- A visit to a penguin colony
January 16, 2006 - A gorgeous day for sampling
January 17, 2006- Lots of lab work and visit of Sedna IV
January 18, 2006 - Seal on ice
January 19, 2006 - Aborted sampling and seal near the door
January 20, 2006 - More sampling and Iceberg Central
January 21, 2006 - Windy day and bottom creatures
January 22, 2006 - Weather
January 24, 2006 – Brash, Leopard Seal & Foam
January 25, 2006 - Science lecture and glacier calving
January 27, 2006 - More foam and wildlife
January 28, 2006 - Tapas and Art
January 29, 2006 - Adelie chicks
January 31, 2006 - I Jumped!
February 2, 2006 - More icebergs & foam
February 4, 2006 - Goodby to Palmer Station
February 5, 2006 - The journey home begins
February 9 & 10 - Punta Arenas and the flight home - the final entry
Map of Antarctica showing the location of Palmer Station. To get to the station we sailed on the RV Laurence M. Gould from Punta Arenas Chile. It took four days to go through the Straits of Magellen, and across the Drake Passage, and finally through the Gerlache Strait to Anvers Island. I also have a research project for which we have done three major cruises to the Ross Sea, south of New Zealand. For those we set sail on the RV Nathaniel B. Palmer from Christchurch New Zealand and sail 2200 miles south to the study area.
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View of Palmer Station and Arthur Harbor from half-way up the glacier. Palmer Station is near the icebergs on left.
Evening view of the glacier, Mount Williams, and Palmer Station (near center), from Torgersen Island on January 29, 2006. There is an Adelie penguin colony on Torgersen Island with about 2000 penguins. The chicks are molting and some already had some of the black and white feathers of the adults.
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