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Volume XXX Numbers 1–4

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ANTARCTIC JOURNAL — VOLUME 30—NUMBERS 1–4

2

Editor, Winifred ReuningAntarctic Journal of the United States,

established in 1966, reports on U.S. activi-ties in Antarctica, related activities else-where, and trends in the U.S. AntarcticProgram. The Office of Polar Programs(National Science Foundation, Room 755,4201 Wilson Boulevard, Arlington, Virginia22230; telephone 703/306-1031) publishesthe journal five times a year (March, June,September, December, and an annualreview issue).

The Antarctic Journal is sold by thecopy or on subscription through the U.S.Government Printing Office. Requests forprices of individual issues and subscrip-tions, address changes, and informationabout subscription matters should be sentto the Superintendent of Documents, U.S.Government Printing Office, Washington,DC 20402.

The National Science Foundation(NSF) provides awards for research in thesciences and engineering. The awardee iswholly responsible for the conduct of suchresearch and preparation of results for pub-lication. The Foundation, therefore, doesnot assume responsibility for such findingsor their interpretation.

The Foundation welcomes proposalson behalf of all qualified scientists andengineers and strongly encourages women,minorities, and persons with disabilities tocompete fully in any of the research andresearch-related programs described in thisdocument. In accordance with Federalstatutes and regulations and NSF policies,no person on grounds of race, color, age,sex, national origin, or physical disabilityshall be excluded from participation in,denied the benefits of, or be subject to dis-crimination under any program or activityreceiving financial assistance from theFoundation.

The National Science Foundation hasTDD ( Telephonic Device for the Deaf )capability, which enables individuals withhearing impairments to communicate withthe Foundation about NSF programs, em-ployment, or general information. Thisnumber is (703)306-0090.

Facilitation Awards for Scientists andEngineers With Disabilities (FASED) pro-vide funding for special assistance orequipment to enable persons with disabili-ties (investigators and other staff, includingstudent research assistants) to work on NSFprojects. See the program announcement(NSF 91-54), or contact the FacilitationAwards Coordinator at the National ScienceFoundation, 4201 Wilson Boulevard, Arling-ton, Virginia (703)306-1636.

The Director of the National ScienceFoundation has determined that the publi-cation of this periodical is necessary in thetransaction of the public business requiredby law of this agency.

Contents...

3 NSF dedicates Martin PomerantzObservatory at South Pole

3 The Antarctic Journal, past andfuture

4 Science news from The Ice:Highlights from the 1994–1995austral summer

6 A note to recipients of the AntarcticJournal of the United States

7 Pegasus: A glacial-ice runway forwheeled flight operations atMcMurdo Station

10 The Arctic and Antarctic ResearchCenter: Support for research during 1994–1995

13 Microbial ecosystems inAntarctica: Is protection necessary?

16 Sea-ice development in the Ross,Amundsen, and BellingshausenSeas revealed by analysis of icecores in late winter 1993 and 1994

18 Sea-ice– and snow–thickness distributions in late winter 1993and 1994 in the Ross, Amundsen,and Bellingshausen Seas

21 A description of the snow cover onthe winter sea ice of theAmundsen and Ross Seas

24 C-band radar backscatter fromantarctic first-year sea ice: I. In situscatterometer measurements

26 C-band radar backscatter fromantarctic first-year sea ice: II. ERS-1 SAR measurements

28 U.S. support and science personnel winter at three stations

29 President’s Midwinter’s Day message 1995

30 Sailor dies from fall at Castle Rock31 A new committee for the oversight

of antarctic research vessels33 Antarctic explorer and geologist

Laurence M. Gould dies at age 9835 Office of Polar Programs

reorganizes37 Foundation awards of funds for

antarctic projects, 1 September1994 to 31 August 1995

45 Errata46 Weather at U.S. stations, November

1994 through October 1995

Spring: Since 1985 researchers have mon-itored annual decrease in the abundanceof ozone in the stratosphere above Ant-arctica. Beginning at onset of the australspring, the decrease—also known as the“ozone hole”—is brought about primarilyby chemical reactions that occur on thesurfaces of ice crystals in polar stratos-pheric clouds as sunlight returns to theSouthern Hemisphere.

Credit: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Summer: During the austral summer,the National Science Foundation sup-ports, as part of the U.S. Antarctic Pro-gram, approximately 120 research pro-jects, conducted by more than 600researchers and technicians, at the threeU.S. research stations (McMurdo,Amundsen–Scott South Pole, andPalmer), at field camps in the McMurdoDry Valleys and in remote areas of thecontinent, aboard the Polar Duke orNathaniel B. Palmer, and in cooperationwith other national antarctic programs.Recently, Amundsen–Scott South PoleStation at the geographic South Pole has

become a center for astrophysicalresearch, including such projects as theAntarctic Muon and Neutrino DetectorArray shown in this photograph.

Credit: NSF photo by Lynn Simarski.

Fall: The arrival at McMurdo Station ofthe cargo ship, which brings supplies andequipment for the next austral summer,heralds the coming winter. The ship alsocarries waste materials for recycling ordisposal back to the United States at theend of each austral summer operatingseason.

Credit: NSF photo.

Winter: Improved satellite communica-tions for tracking ice have extended theability of Polar Duke and Nathaniel B.Palmer to operate during the austral win-ter. While Polar Duke operates primarilyin the Antarctic Peninsula region,Nathaniel B. Palmer regulars conductswinter cruises in the Ross and Weddell Searegions, as well as along the Peninsula.

Credit: NSF photo by Kevin Wood,Antarctic Support Associates.

Cover: The seasons of the Antarctic (clockwise from upper left)

Astrophysicist Martin A. Pomerantzhas been honored in Antarctica with

the dedication of an observatory bearinghis name at the U.S. Amundsen–ScottSouth Pole Station. Pomerantz, who hasworked in antarctic research since 1959and conducted experiments at the SouthPole since 1964, currently is involved in ahelioseismology project to probe the Sun’sinterior.

Now president-emeritus at the Uni-versity of Delaware’s Bartol Research Insti-tute, Pomerantz has also led research inthe fields of submillimeter astronomy,cosmic and gamma rays, and measure-ment of cosmic background radiation.Pomerantz came to Bartol in 1938 as aresearch assistant after receiving his A.B.from Syracuse University and M.S. fromthe University of Pennsylvania. He alsoholds a Ph.D. from Temple University, an

Sc.D from Swarthmore, and an honorarydoctorate from the University of Uppsalain Sweden.

In addition to serving as a research fel-low, professor, visiting professor, and lec-turer both here and abroad, Pomerantz hasled a number of National GeographicExpeditions; worked on eight national andinternational scientific committees; servedon the board of trustees for the FranklinInstitute; edited the Journal of the FranklinInstitute; served on the editorial board forSpace Science Reviews; and participated infive professional associations.

The observatory named in his honoris a two-story elevated structure having270 square meters of interior space andhousing equipment for four projects: theantarctic muon and neutrino detectorarray (AMANDA), the South Pole InfraredExplorer (SPIREX), the cosmic background

radiation anisotropy experiment (COBRA),and the Advanced Telescope Project (ATP).The latter three projects are part of theCenter for Astrophysical Research inAntarctica (CARA).

Construction of the observatory tookless than a year. During the 1993–1994 aus-tral summer, the observatory was framedup and closed in, and the interior work wascompleted during the 1994 winter. Locatedabout 1 kilometer from the main SouthPole Station, the observatory sits in aregion known as the “dark sector,” whereelectromagnetic noise, including light andradio waves, is minimized. Two nearbytelescopes, SPIREX and PYTHON, can becontrolled from inside the observatory.

National Science Foundation DirectorNeal Lane conducted the ceremony toname the observatory on 3 December1995.

NSF dedicates Martin A. Pomerantz Observatory at South Pole

In January 1966 the National ScienceFoundation (NSF) and the U.S. Naval

Support Force, Antarctica, (NSFA) distrib-uted the first issue of the Antarctic Journal.This “new” publication combined two ear-lier publications—the Antarctic Report(NSF) and the Bulletin of the U.S. AntarcticProjects Officer (NSFA)—that had beenpublished independently by the two agen-cies since the International GeophysicalYear. The goal of the journal was to pro-vide a common outlet for information onthe scientific and logistic aspects of theU.S. effort in Antarctica to a broad audi-ence that includes program participantsand interested observers.

Although the content of the journalhas remained consistent with the originalgoals set by NSF, format and frequencyhave changed a great deal over the lastthree decades. During its first decade, thejournal was published six times a year andhad a page count ranging from about 260to 360 pages per year. In an effort to cutcosts, NSF reduced the frequency of publi-cation, in 1976, from six issues a year tofour but did not reduce the number pagespublished during the year. Shortly afterthis, in 1977, the changing needs andinterests of the antarctic science and logis-

tics community caused NSF to again mod-ify the journal’s frequency and length, andthe journal took on its present appear-ance—short quarterly issues and a sub-stantially longer fifth issue that reviewedthe preliminary results of research pro-jects conducted as part of the U.S. nation-al program in Antarctica.

Over the last 15 years, the U.S. Antarc-tic Program (USAP) has grown in size andcomplexity. This growth has had an impacton the Antarctic Journal, particularly theannual review issue. As the figure accom-panying this article indicates, the growthof the review issue parallels the increase inthe number of science projects supported

The Antarctic Journal, past and future


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Seymour Island yields the secrets ofits past

Paleontologists working with the U.S.Antarctic Program on Seymour Island

near the Antarctic Peninsula have discov-ered fossils of a gigantic mollusk and anoversized ancestor of the modern-dayarmadillo as well as fish fossils that mayprovide corroborating evidence for anancient catastrophic meteorite strike. Theisland, part of the James Ross Islandgroup, has proved to be a treasure trove ofpast biodiversity in the southernmost lati-tudes, so far providing fossils of 800 differ-ent species.

No other high-latitude locale canmatch the geologic record of SeymourIsland, one of the few ice-free patches ofAntarctica. The island’s badlands land-scape is a layer cake of sediments and fos-sils piled up almost continuously over 40million years, from the late Cretaceous (80million years ago) to the Eocene (about 37million years ago). The rocks span thetime of mass extinction of life at theboundary of the Cretaceous and Tertiaryperiods, when the dinosaurs and manyother species disappeared, 65 millionyears ago. The island has also yielded thefirst mammal fossils found in Antarcticaand the oldest penguin fossils known.

A Cretaceous-age hot dog. The newmollusk specimen, which resembles aribbed firehose curled back on itself in theshape of a giant paper clip, belongs to theammonites. This group of mollusks—relat-ed to the pearly nautilus—became extinct65 million years ago. Called Diplomocerasmaximum, the nearly 2-meter-long fossil isthe most complete example of this speciesknown, according to William Zinsmeister,

paleontologist at Purdue University. Pur-due graduate student Anton Oleinik found

the fossil which, uncoiled, would stretchmore than 4 meters.

The animal’s fleshy, wormlike bodyoccupied only about half of its shell. “Itwould have made a nice morsel—a realCretaceous-era hot dog—for a mosasaur,”Zinsmeister said. Mosasaurs—huge marinelizards related to modern monitor lizardssuch as the Komodo dragon—preyed uponammonites. A 1-meter-long mosasaurskull, with teeth 7.5 centimeters long, wasalso found on Seymour Island this year.

D. maximum belongs to an ammonitegroup called heteromorphs. These am-monites, unlike their hydrodynamicallystreamlined cousins, took on a wide vari-ety of bizarre and ungainly shell shapes. Itwas once thought that heteromorphscould live only in isolated areas of theocean, free from competition. Now it isclear, however, that ammonites such as D.maximum were extremely successful, liv-ing throughout the world’s oceans for mil-lions of years during the Mesozoic Era.

“You might refer to Diplomoceras asthe ‘Forrest Gump’ of the Mesozoic seas,”said Zinsmeister. “This creature’s successshows that the world doesn’t alwaysbelong to the sleek and swift.”

“The ocean around the AntarcticPeninsula 65 million years ago was proba-bly a nice place to be,” Zinsmeister contin-ued. Temperatures there, both on land andsea, were much warmer than today’s. “Pic-ture a ‘Flintstones’ scenario—thick forestson land, with volcanoes puffing away. Theoceans around Antarctica teemed with

by USAP during the last 15 years. Forexample, the 1980 review issue included139 papers and was 233 pages long. Incomparison, the 1994 review issue had 174papers and was 383 pages long; the 1995review, which is currently in preparation,has approximately 200 papers and willmost likely be more than 400 pages long.

In a time of streamlining, increasingmaterial and mailing costs, and decreasingbudgets, the journal’s growth combined

with the increase in the number of peoplewho receive the journal has led the Office ofPolar Programs (OPP) to begin investigat-ing ways to control or reduce costs whilestill meeting the needs of the U.S. antarcticscience community. For the 1995 reviewissue, this meant strictly adhering to theword and illustration limits set out in theguide to authors. We are also looking atways to use new technology to electronical-ly distribute the journal via the World Wide

Web ( WWW ). This project has alreadybegun: past and current quarterly issues ofthe journal have been posted to OPP’shome page on the NSF Web server. We hopethat this effort will not only reduce costs inthe future but also will expand the reader-ship of the journal. To view the issues thathave already been posted to the WWW goto the NSF home page at www.nsf.gov,select “program areas,” followed by “polarprograms” and “publications.”


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Science news from The Ice: Highlights from the1994–1995 austral summer

Reconstruction of Diplomoceras maximum as drawn byAnton Oleinik. If uncoiled, D. maximum would stretch tonearly 4 meters.

life, ranging from clams and snails to giantmarine reptiles like mosasaurs and ple-siosaurs.”

Fish fossils fuel asteroid impact de-bate. While working on Seymour Island,Zinsmeister also discovered a bed of fos-silized fish bones that may be the firstremains of direct victims from the cata-strophic event 65 million years ago thatwiped out the dinosaurs and 70 percent ofthe world’s species.

The fossil “horizon of death” datesfrom the boundary of the Cretaceous/Ter-tiary (K/T) geologic periods 65 millionyears ago. Covering more than 12 squarekilometers of the island, the bone bedrests directly above a layer of iridium, anelement that is rare on Earth but is a com-mon signature of meteorite impact. Zins-meister presented his findings 9 Novem-ber 1995 at the Geological Society ofAmerica meeting in New Orleans.

A widely believed theory holds that agiant asteroid hit the Earth and set off themass extinctions at the K/T boundary. Theimpact site most favored by scientists is alarge crater in Mexico’s Yucatan.

“The fish bones are an exciting dis-covery that should help us better under-stand environmental changes at a crucialtime in Earth history—the end of the Cre-taceous,” commented Scott Borg, directorof NSF’s antarctic geology and geophysicsprogram. “Seymour Island is an importantsite for understanding what happened ona global scale to the environment at thattime. When the sediments containing thefish bones were deposited, the island waslocated in the far southern latitudes—justlike today—and very far from the probableimpact site in the Yucatan. The polarregion has a very different atmosphericcirculation than the tropics or temperateregions, so we can compare the excellentexposures of Seymour Island’s K/T fossilsto sites of the same age at other latitudesto construct a fuller picture.”

In the past, Zinsmeister had argued—based on 20 years of research on late Cre-taceous marine fossils in Antarctica—thatthe southernmost continent’s fossil recorddid not support the asteroid-extinctiontheory. Even after finding the bed of fishbones, he thinks that the picture may bemore complicated and that change wasmore prolonged than sudden.

“The fossil record in Antarctica sug-gests that the final extinction event wasn’timmediate but, rather, occurred over a

period of time up to 500,000 years,” hesaid. “We actually see a decrease in theglobal diversity of life starting between 8and 10 million years before the impact.”

He points out that two importantmarine animals—the ammonites and theinoceramid bivalves, a clam relative—begandisappearing from the fossil record about 10million years before the K/T boundary.

“I think the events at the end of theCretaceous were not due to a single cata-strophic event but represent a conjunctionof events—climatic change, maybe a periodof volcanism, and then, ultimately, a majorimpact or catastrophic event,” he said.

“The reigning idea is that the Earthhad a bad day from the impact, but I thinkit had a series of bad days,” Zinsmeistersaid. “The Earth’s biosphere was alreadystressed to a critical point, and the impactcould have pushed it over the edge, caus-ing local catastrophes such as the fish killin the Antarctic.”

A Volkswagen-sized armadillo. Piecesof a bulky relative of the armadillo, knownas a glyptodont, were also found duringthe 1994–1995 research season protrudingfrom Seymour Island’s sands. The 40- to45-million-year-old beast resembled aVolkswagen beetle in size and shape butsported an armored tail, according to ver-tebrate paleontologist Judd Case of St.Mary’s College of California, who foundthe fossil along with paleontologists DanCheney of the Smithsonian Institution andMichael Woodburn and Barry Albright ofthe University of California at Riverside.

The armored creature lived some 20million years after the ammonite found byOleinik, when the Antarctic Peninsula hada cool temperate climate similar to that ofthe Pacific Northwest. The beast probablywandered along streams, munching lushvegetation along the banks.

Glyptodont remains have been foundin North and South America but never thisfar south. “It’s unusually big for this timeperiod, with pieces of its carapace, orshell, ranging in size from a teacup saucerto a dinner plate,” Case said.

The glyptodont resembles fossilcousins found in Patagonia but is muchlarger than others from the same period. Itjoins fossil marsupials of the time, as wellas ungulates or hoofed mammals, and alarge, running carnivorous bird—all pecu-liar to the southern part of South Americaand Antarctica, and different from contem-porary fauna elsewhere in South America.

“Clearly, Patagonia was connected tothe Antarctic Peninsula at that time, andsomehow cut off biologically from the restof South America,” Case said. Today, thestormy Drake Passage divides SouthAmerica from Antarctica.

Also on Seymour Island this season,Case and colleagues found pieces of pen-guin bone that are several million yearsolder than the glyptodont remains. Thefossil penguins, the oldest known, stoodabout as tall as today’s Emperor, thelargest living penguin. On previous expe-ditions, they found bones from penguinsmore than 5 feet tall, the largest everknown.

Clouds and polar ozone depletion

Scientists from the National Center forAtmospheric Research (NCAR) in

Boulder, Colorado, are using a new tool tostudy the very high stratospheric clouds,crucial to the processes creating polarozone depletion.

Jim Dye, Darrel Baumgardner, BruceGandrud, and their co-workers at NCARhave developed an aerosol spectrometerto measure the characteristics of stratos-pheric aerosols and polar stratosphericclouds. Chlorine compounds react on thesurfaces of these particles to releaseozone-destroying chlorine molecules. Thespectrometer uses a laser to determine thesize, concentration, and optical propertiesof stratospheric particles. From a particle’soptical characteristics, researchers candeduce information about its chemicalcomposition.

The spectrometer may also shed lighton whether clouds absorb more energythan theory predicts. The instrument willmeasure haze droplets as small as 0.3micrometers in diameter; such smalldroplets have been typically ignored inprevious cloud measurements.

Antarctic sea-ice algae display surprise autumn bloom

Algae locked up inside the ice coveringthe southwestern corner of Antarc-

tica’s Weddell Sea undergo an unexpectedautumn bloom, according to an article inthe 4 November 1995 issue of Science. Theperennially iced-over region lay beyondthe reach of researchers until 1992, whenthe joint U.S.-Russian Ice Station Weddell1 set up shop afloat an ice floe to conduct5 months of investigations. Labyrinthinesea ice, riddled with channels like Swisscheese, is a nursery ground for krill, the


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shrimplike mainstay of the southernocean food web. The unexpected secondalgal bloom—the first is in spring—fur-nishes winter food for the krill.

“Virtually no ‘biologically active’ lightreaches the water beneath the ice, so thealgae living within the ice may be the onlyproducers of food in that permanently ice-covered area,” says Cornelius Sullivan,director of NSF’s Office of Polar Programsand coauthor of the paper. “It was a sur-prise that there was enough light in theantarctic autumn to allow a secondbloom.” As porous areas of the ice freeze,the process kicks off an exchange betweennutrient-depleted brine in the ice and seawater, replenishing the nutrients in theice. The results suggest that autumnalblooms are an important food source insome areas of sea ice. The paper’s leadauthor is C.H. Fritsen of the University ofSouthern California, and other authors areV.I. Lytle, University of Tasmania, and S.F.Ackley, U.S. Army Cold Regions Researchand Engineering Laboratory.

Antarctic ice drillers pass 3,000-meter depth at Vostok

Ice-core drillers at Russia’s VostokStation, which is situated on the polar

plateau of East Antarctica at an elevationof approximately 3,500 meters, recentlypassed 3,000 meters—a depth at whichthe ice is about 300,000 years old. Vostokice cores studied over the past decade byRussian, U.S., and French scientists haveyielded unique information about envi-ronmental and climatic changes over thelast glacial-interglacial period. For exam-ple, analyses of air bubbles trapped in theice confirm that levels of carbon dioxide

and methane—gasses critical to green-house warming—were higher between,compared to during, glacial times.

The depths of the Vostok core, whenextracted, will be much older than thedeep cores of the Greenland ice sheetcompleted several years ago. (Less snowfalls in this part of Antarctica every year, soeach meter of ice holds more years ofsnowfall.) NSF supports U.S. scientistswho study the ice cores—the deepestavailable for Antarctica—and providessome logistical support for Vostok Station,which was established by the former Sovi-et Union more than 37 years ago.

Antarctica’s icefields catch many afalling star

As a green, phosphorescent streak mo-mentarily marks the night sky, a low

rumble, reminiscent of a train in the dis-tance, announces the arrival to Earth ofanother meteorite, a rock from space.

Seekers of meteorites, one of the bestsources of information about our solarsystem, have found them in abundance inAntarctica. The annual hunt for antarcticmeteorites is like a bargain-priced spacemission that lets geologists explore theextraterrestrial worlds without leavingtheir home planet, according to RalphHarvey, a planetary geologist at the Uni-versity of Tennessee. Each year, Harveyleads a team of scientists and assistantsinto the field. Since Japanese scientistsdiscovered the first concentration ofantarctic meteorites, the continent hasyielded more than 16,000 finds to U.S. andJapanese researchers.

Meteorites carry clues to how theplanets formed and what the early solar

system was like. Most are fragments ofasteroids, but some are pieces of largerbodies—the moon or even other planets.Scientists believe that several antarcticmeteorites came from Mars because thegases trapped in the meteorites are similarto those found in the atmosphere on Marsby the Viking landers.

Meteorites fall to Earth all the time,and no more seem to land in Antarcticathan elsewhere on the planet, so why isAntarctica the motherlode of meteorites,supplying an estimated one-third to one-half of the world’s scientific samples?“There’s no exotic reason, like the ozonehole forming a gateway for debris fromspace,” laughs Harvey. In fact, one reasonis that the frigid antarctic climate pre-serves the space rocks. An antarctic mete-orite that landed hundreds of thousandsof years ago looks “fresh,” whereas ameteorite landing in warmer latitudesbreaks down into soil within a few hun-dred years.

The movement of Antarctica’s ice alsoconcentrates meteorites in particular “hotspots.” Like a conveyor belt, the ice movesthe meteorites along until the flow isblocked by mountains or an obstruction inthe glacier’s bed. Old ice is pushed upwardfrom below, where it then remains for longperiods, while winds relentlessly scour theice surface free of snow, causing mete-orites to accumulate.

“These are ideal places to hunt forthings that fall from the sky,” Harvey says.“Terrestrial rocks are rare, so any stoneyou find on ice is probably a meteorite.”Every year, he and his field team, alongwith their snowmobiles, are dropped offby airplane in a remote but promisingspot, often pinpointed earlier from the air.“Once we start our traverse, that specialfeeling of leaving everything behind setsin,” Harvey says. His team camps for 6weeks out on the ice sheet, sometimesforced to huddle inside tents for days asstorms rage outside. Where samples proveabundant, the scientists search systemati-cally, lining up snowmobiles about 30meters apart and driving slowly in parallel,scanning for rocks.

Many meteorites are covered by ablack, burned-looking, frothy crust,acquired from their fiery journey throughthe Earth’s atmosphere. If the crust hasweathered away, the meteorites are oftenpolished to a glossy sheen, which catchesthe experienced eye. Each rock is picked


6

A note to recipients of the AntarcticJournal of the United States

This volume (30, issue numbers 1 through 4) of the Antarctic Journal is a compila-tion of materials that were scheduled to be published in the 1995 quarterly

issues. The two regular features of each issue—“Foundation awards of funds forantarctic projects” and “Weather at U.S. stations”—cover full-year periods. Awardsare listed for 1 September 1994 through 31 August 1995; weather (from stations for-warding information) is recorded for November 1994 through October 1995.

We are publishing this single volume to correct scheduling problems that haveoccurred over the last 18 months and to help ensure that future issues will be pub-lished in a timely fashion. The 1995 review issue (volume 30, number 5) and theMarch 1996 quarterly issue (volume 31, number 1) are currently in production. Weregret any inconvenience that scheduling problems may have caused and hope thatreaders will find the material contained in this volume interesting and useful.

The U.S. Antarctic Program (USAP)relies heavily on aircraft support

between Christchurch, New Zealand, andMcMurdo Station. The austral summerfield season begins in early October whenthe smooth annual sea ice in McMurdoSound is thick enough to support heavyaircraft. Wheeled C-130 Hercules, C-141Starlifters, and C-5 Galaxy airplanes oper-ate routinely from this runway until mid-December when near-melting air temper-atures and intense 24-hour-per-day sun-shine combine to deteriorate the sea-icesurface and force abandonment of therunway.

For the remainder of the season,which ends in late February, flight opera-tions are shifted to a semi-permanent,groomed skiway located on a deep snowfield on the Ross Ice Shelf (figure 1). Onlyairplanes with very low-ground-pressuretires or those that are ski-equipped canoperate from this skiway because of its lowbearing strength. The USAP uses special-ized LC-130 Hercules (equipped with bothskis and wheels) to satisfy the logisticsneeds of the more than 1,000 people usingMcMurdo Station as a support base at thistime of year. Only nine LC-130s exist; fiveare under the control of the USAP.Demand for these few airplanes has typi-cally been so great that a backlog of per-sonnel and crucial cargo often hasoccurred. This backlog severely constrainsthe USAP from the middle to the end ofthe season.

In 1989, the Cold Regions Researchand Engineering Laboratory (CRREL) initi-ated a study to determine how a runwayon the Ross Ice Shelf near McMurdo Sta-

tion could be created. The proposedglacial-ice runway had to be capable ofsupporting heavy wheeled aircraft duringthe period after the sea ice deteriorated.Using historical records and air photos,the study group chose a site 13 kilometerssouth of McMurdo Station in an area thathas a thin, but permanent and complete,snow cover. The snow at the site is under-lain by a contiguous mass of glacial iceabout 30 meters (m) thick.

Runway construction

During the 1991–1992field season, the snow

cover was stripped from asurveyed 3,000- by 90-m areato expose the undulating icesurface. Large ice blisterswere rough graded, and lowareas were filled by floodwater from a portable snowmelter. In August 1992, fol-lowing the austral winter,accumulated winter snowwas removed, and a survey ofthe ice surface was used toestablish the desired gradefor the runway to minimizeconstruction. A laser-guidedgrader (figure 2) with a spe-cially built chisel-tool blade(figure 3) was used to levelthe ice surface to a high stan-dard for smoothness. A high-capacity snowblower wasused to remove the gradedice (figure 4). Grading andclearing were completed bythe end of October 1992.

Protection during peak solar period

In December and the first half ofJanuary, warm air temperatures pre-

dominate (–7°C to +1°C), and exposedglacial ice often experiences enough heat-ing due to absorbed radiation to causemelting. Melting usually occurs slightlybelow the surface of the ice. When meltpools form, they are generally large andwidespread enough to render a runwayuseless before complete refreezing inMarch or later.

up with forceps and sealed in a speciallycleaned nylon bag. The season’s take iskept frozen until it arrives at the JohnsonSpace Center in Houston, Texas. If a sam-ple were to thaw earlier, water could enter,rusting and dissolving the minerals themeteorite contains.

A rock from Mars that Harvey is cur-rently studying—“my favorite Martian,” ashe calls it—was found in Antarctica’s AllanHills. It contains carbonate, an unusualmineral for a meteorite. “The carbonate

might have been deposited by fluids trav-eling through the Martian crust—anexplanation with staggering implicationsfor what Mars is like,” Harvey says. “Weknow that at some time in the past, Marshad an active system of rivers, and todaywe see polar caps, vapor clouds, and froston the planet’s surface. But we don’t knowwhat kinds of fluids these are, or howwarm Mars was in the past. Carbonatesleft by these fluids can tell us how warmand wet Mars might actually have been.”

After six field seasons in Antarctica,working with meteorites has transformedHarvey’s view of Earth. “I now look at ourplanet as a giant wrecking ball crashingthrough the Universe, sampling whateverhappens into its path,” he says. “Antarcticmeteorites are providing new and excitingideas about our solar system.”

Based on material by Lynn Simarski, PublicAffairs Specialist, NSF, Office of Legislativeand Public Affairs.


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Pegasus: A glacial-ice runway for wheeled flightoperations at McMurdo Station

Figure 1. Map of McMurdo Station area showing location ofairfields.

To protect against melting, the grad-ed ice surface was covered with a 25-cen-timeter (cm) layer of snow. During theconstruction phase (1992–1993), materialfrom along the sides of the runway wasblown back onto the graded ice surface toprovide protection. During subsequentseasons, snow present on the runway fol-lowing the winter provided the source forthis cover. The protective snow covermust be in place by the end of November,just before the peak of the austral sum-mer.

Throughout December and the firstweek of January, the snow cover requiredcompaction (accomplished with heavy,rubber-tired rollers) to increase its ability

to attenuate penetrating solar radiation.Planing and dragging were also done toprovide a highly reflective, porous surface.Measurements of air, snow, and subsur-face ice-temperature profiles, togetherwith the intensity of the incoming solarradiation, were used to monitor snow-cover performance and to govern snowmaintenance activities.

Sometime between 7 and 15 January,the air temperature in the McMurdo Sta-tion region begins its downward trend.Within several days of the onset of cool-ing, the average daily air temperaturedrops below the highest temperaturemeasured within the ice for that day. Withthe annual cooling trend thus established,

the protective snow cover could bestripped from the runway.

Certification of runway strength

In preparation for wheeled aircraft oper-ations, the integrity of the runway was

tested with a proof cart. The cart, whichreplicates the main landing gear of a C-130or C-141, has a flat deck for ballast to sim-ulate the load, plus a factor of safety, onthe aircraft’s main landing gear (figure 5).The runway was tracked with the proofcart along its entire length, plus overrunareas at either end. Tire tracks were placedno more than 1 m apart.

During proof testing for C-130 aircraftin January 1993, approximately 30 weakspots were found. In these locations, theice failed by crumbling, leaving a slightdepression in the surface. Excavation offailed points revealed that they had anaverage size of 2.8 square meters and were15–45 cm deep. In nearly every case, fail-ure points were associated with a thin(2.5- to 6-millimeter) gap below the icesurface. This gap was most likely causedduring refreezing of melt pools that wereknown to have been present at this siteduring the 1991–1992 field season wheninitial construction activities exposed theice surface and melt pools formed.

Each failure point was excavated, andall of the fractured ice around the edgeswas dislodged. The ice chunks were bro-ken into fist-sized pieces and packed intothe cavity. Cold water was used to floodthe cavity, making an ice bath that frozecompletely within 48 hours. Numerouspatched spots were re-tested, and all werefound to be sound. On 1 February 1993,the runway was certified for operation ofwheeled Hercules aircraft.

During the following season (1993–1994), the proof cart, reconfigured toduplicate C-141 main landing gear, wasballasted to a load of 174,300 kilograms(kg), approximately 25 percent greaterthan the maximum take-off load on themain landing gear. The tires were inflatedto 1,800 kilopascals (kPa), compared tothe 1,375-kPa maximum pressure for theC-141.

Proof testing of the runway for C-141aircraft was completed immediately afterthe protective snow cover was strippedaway on 10 January. No ice failuresoccurred. After 2 days of proof testing, therunway was dragged and planed to pro-vide an extremely smooth operating sur-


8

Figure 3. Custom-built grader blade for leveling glacial ice.

Figure 2. Laser-controlled grader used to level natural ice surface for runway.

face. The runway was certified for both C-130 and C-141 aircraft and opened for airoperations.

Test flights and operations

Before wheeled aircraft could operateon the runway, flight tests were per-

formed to determine the high-speed char-acteristics and surface traction of the run-way. On 6 February 1993, an LC-130 oper-ating on wheels performed a series oflanding, taxi, steering, braking, and take-off tests. All test flight results were deemedexcellent by the flight crew, and no illeffects were noted on the runway surface.

Full flight operations began from theglacial-ice runway on 8 February 1993. LC-130 aircraft were used to fly cargo fromMcMurdo Station to Amundsen–ScottSouth Pole Station allowing an extra 3,600kg of payload by taking off on wheels. LC-130s operating on wheels and a standardC-130 (figure 6) also used the runway to flypassengers to Christchurch. This changemade it possible to increase the number ofpassengers carried on each flight to 30–50,compared to the usual 15–30 when theplane used skis for take off. The runwaywas closely inspected following each of thefirst 15 flights. No damage or wear could bedetected, and no ice failures occurred.

In preparation for the 1994 flight sea-son, an LC-130 was again used to certifyrunway integrity. On 25 January 1994, awheeled landing, high-speed taxi test,braking test, and a take-off were complet-ed. The flight crew reported that the run-way had a superb operating surface, stat-

ing that the surface was smoother thanmost of the concrete runways from whichthey operate.

The 1994 operating season began on26 January and extended through 27 Feb-ruary. Numerous LC-130 flights (onwheels) were operated in supplying theSouth Pole, and a conventional C-130 wasoperated between Christchurch andMcMurdo Station on an every-other-daybasis starting on 1 February. In total, morethan 55 flights were operated.

On 7 February 1994, a C-141 flew fromChristchurch to McMurdo Station, mark-ing the first-ever C-141 landing on glacialice. Two to 7 cm of processed snow cov-ered the runway surface, and the C-141’ssmall, high-pressure tires appeared to dis-place the snow only where more than 5 cmwas present or where prior C-130 wheeltracks existed. The C-141 taxied and com-


9

Figure 4. Large-capacity snowblower used to remove snow and graded ice from runway.

Figure 5. Proof cart configured and ballasted for C-141 aircraft proof testing.

Figure 6. C-130 Hercules performing routine operations from the glacial-ice runway.

pleted turn-around without difficulty. TheC-141 pilot and his crew indicated ex-treme satisfaction with the runway.

The C-141 was fueled and loaded withthree pallets of priority science cargo. Fifty-four passengers boarded and the C-141, at aweight of 127,100 kg, proceeded with take-

off, pulling clear of the runway at the 1,500-meter mark (figure 7). The runway sufferedno damage from the C-141 operation.

Conclusions

The McMurdo Station glacial-ice runwaywas developed over a 5-year period and

now provides access to heavy wheeled air-craft for much of the austral summer fieldseason. Benefits of the runway includereduced wear and tear on airframes, moreefficient use of aircraft and flight crews, lesswasted time by science and support per-sonnel, enhanced morale, assurance ofstocking South Pole before station closings,increased efficiency for cargo handlers, andtimely station close-out. Access by much ofthe world’s aircraft and the potential forwinter flights are also gained.

To date, about 78 flights have operat-ed from the glacial-ice runway yielding asavings of 39 flights. This translates to acost savings of close to 2 million dollars.

The successful completion of this pro-ject was the result of cooperation, interest,and hard work by many organizations andagencies including Antarctic Support Asso-ciates, the U.S. Navy, and the U.S. Air Force.

George L. Blaisdell and Renee M. Lang, U.S.Army Cold Regions Research andEngineering Laboratory, Hanover, NewHampshire 03755


10

Figure 7. C-141 completing take-off after successful tests on the glacial-ice runway.

Since 1988, the Arctic and AntarcticResearch Center (AARC) at the Scripps

Institution of Oceanography (SIO) hasmaintained viable satellite data collectionfacilities for the polar regions and hasensured that full-resolution satellite dataof the greatest possible geographic andtemporal coverage are available to theresearch community, both for real-timepolar operations and retrospectiveresearch purposes (Van Woert et al. 1992).In October 1994, the AARC became part ofthe California Space Institute, one of theresearch divisions of SIO. As of mid-1995,the AARC received both high-resolutionpicture telemetry (HRPT ) from theNational Oceanic and AtmosphericAdministration (NOAA) polar orbiters andDefense Meteorology Satellite Program(DMSP) telemetry from the U.S. Air Forcepolar orbiters from two land-based,antarctic sites (McMurdo and PalmerStations) and from the U.S. Coast Guardicebreakers Polar Sea and Polar Star whenthese ships are operating north or south of50° latitude. These four satellite-tracking

facilities, as well as the AARC image-pro-cessing laboratory at SIO, are based on theTeraScan hardware and software manu-factured by the SeaSpace Corporation ofSan Diego, California, although AARC usu-ally supports scientific users who do notthemselves possess the TeraScan software.The table lists the total number of HRPTand DMSP overpasses in the AARC archivethat cover part of the antarctic continentand/or the southern oceans. Between thetwo land-based sites, geographic coverageof the continent is nearly complete withsome gaps on the Indian Ocean side. As of1995, AARC was recording 10 HRPT and 10DMSP satellite overpasses per day fromeach land-based site.

In addition to providing the historicalarchive outlined in the table, AARC offersreal-time services in three ways. With theTeraScan software at each shipboard orland-based site, a researcher in the field isable to work with the data using any of thestandard TeraScan functions and also his orher own algorithms because the TeraScansoftware allows export of data to other for-

mats. Real-time services are also availableat the AARC image-processing laboratory atSIO via the T1 line out of McMurdo Station.On any given day, a user at SIO can readilyaccess the most recent 24–36 hours of satel-lite imagery (NOAA or DMSP) tracked bythe antenna at McMurdo Station. If addi-tional recent data are required by a user at

The Arctic and Antarctic Research Center:Support for research during 1994–1995

1985 46 01986 78 01987 123 01988 594 01989 598 0

1990 1,512 01991 2,854 1,1331992 3,645 1,8731993 3,987 2,5131994 4,930 5,166

1995 3,708 3,638

The number of HRPT and DMSP over-passes covering high southern latitudesarchived at the AARC as of 18 July 1995

Year HRPT DMSP

SIO (say, within the past week), a user canrequest over the Internet that the systemoperator at McMurdo place a recent archivetape in the drive, so that this data also mayor can be transmitted to SIO over the T1line. A third real-time service involvesJapanese geostationary satellite (GMS) datatracked by a TeraScan facility at the Univer-sity of Hawaii. These data are sent toMcMurdo on a daily basis so that the oper-ator can composite these geostationarydata with current NOAA or DMSP data. TheAARC facility at SIO can process the rawtelemetry into numerous geophysical andmathematical products of interest to manydisciplines.

The AARC’s direct involvement withresearch has encompassed a wide varietyof disciplines, including atmospheric sci-

ence (20 percent of AARC users as of early1995), polar oceanography (9 percent),sea-ice research (23 percent), glaciology (9percent), geophysics (9 percent), polarbiology (18 percent), and space science(12 percent). An example of AARC supportfor biological research is illustrated in fig-ure 1, where collared emperor penguinshave been tracked by ARGOS telemetry,and where this tracking is merged withadvanced very high resolution radiometer(AVHRR) 1–2-kilometer (km) resolution,clear-sky images, to discern sea-ice condi-tions associated with the animals’ migra-tory and feeding habits. Throughout1994–1995, the AARC has provided regularsea-ice mapping support to researchcruises of the Nathaniel B. Palmer (figure2), using the 85.5-gigahertz channels of

the DMSP SSM/I sensor (Lomax, Lubin,and Whritner 1995). This algorithm offerstwice the spatial resolution (12 km) of thestandard National Aeronautics and SpaceAdministration (NASA) Team algorithm(30 km, Cavalieri et al. 1991) and, hence,more accurate identification of the iceedge and polynyas. The AARC has alsoprovided the Nathaniel B. Palmer withstandard NASA Team algorithm sea-iceproducts, which have proven useful forstrategic planning purposes.

During early 1995, AARC began severalefforts to improve its overall capability.First, a three-way collaboration com-menced under the auspices of the NationalScience Foundation’s Office of Polar Pro-grams (OPP) to create an OPP meteorologi-cal data service in conjunction with the


11

Figure 1. Example of HRPT support given by the AARC to the ecological research program of Gerald Kooyman at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography.This clear-sky AVHRR image was obtained on 23 November 1992 and shows the structure of the ice floes in the Ross Sea at 2-km spatial resolution. Thecluster of points east of the center of the image indicates the location of the tracked emperor penguins.

National Snow and Ice Data Center(NSIDC) at the University of Colorado andthe Antarctic Meteorology Research Center(AMRC) at the University of Wisconsin.This OPP data service will eventually fea-ture transparent interaction with usersover the World Wide Web. Second, AARChas begun copying the entire satellite dataarchive for storage and distribution atNSIDC, to facilitate wider usage of the databy the large community of polar re-searchers who routinely work with NSIDC.Third, AARC is copying the entire archiveonto modern 4-millimeter magnetic mediain Hewlett-Packard compression format,both to safeguard the archive and to pro-vide greater speed in accessing older data(although the AARC will retain the abilityto provide data in 8-millimeter format).The AARC can be reached on the World

Wide Web at http://arcane.ucsd.edu, andin 1996, the entire data catalog will beaccessible in this manner. The AARC’smandate is to provide satellite data andsupport with interpretation to interestedresearchers at no cost to the user, althoughfor large data requests we usually ask that auser cover the cost of magnetic media.

Support for the AARC commencedwith National Science Foundation grantDPP 88-15818 and continued with subse-quent supplements. The AARC presentlyoperates with support from National Sci-ence Foundation grant OPP 94-14276.

References

Cavalieri, D.J., J.P. Crawford, M.R. Drinkwater,D.T. Eppler, L.D. Farmer, R.R. Jentz, and C.C.Wackerman. 1991. Aircraft active and pas-sive microwave validation of sea ice concen-

tration from the Defense MeteorologicalSatellite Program Special Sensor MicrowaveImager. Journal of Geophysical Research, 96,21989–22008.

Lomax, A.S., D. Lubin, and R.H. Whritner. 1995.The potential for interpreting total and mul-tiyear ice concentrations in SSM/I 85.5 GHzimagery. Remote Sensing of Environment, 53,13–26.

Van Woert, M.L., R.H. Whritner, D.E. Waliser,D.H. Bromwich, and J.C. Comiso. 1992. ARC:A source of multi-sensor data for polar sci-ence. EOS, Transactions of the AmericanGeophysical Union, 73(65), 75–76.

Robert H. Whritner and Elizabeth Nelson,Scripps Institution of Oceanography,University of California, San Diego, LaJolla, California 92093-0214

Dan Lubin, California Space Institute,University of California, San Diego, LaJolla, California 92093-0221


12

Figure 2. Example of a total sea-ice concentration product provided by the AARC to the Nathaniel B. Palmer at sea. The ice concentration is mapped at12-km spatial resolution using the 85.5-gigahertz channels of the SSM/I instrument aboard the U.S. Air Force polar orbiters.

In the McMurdo Dry Valleys and othercontinental locations in Antarctica, eco-

logical systems are composed entirely ofmicrobial life forms. Increased humanpresence over recent years in these areashas raised concern that these uniquemicrobial systems may be at risk and thathuman interference with microbialecosystems may, in turn, affect scientificresearch. The purpose of this paper is toprovide a brief overview of the informa-tion available on microbial ecosystems incontinental Antarctica and to discuss thepotential need for implementing policiesfor preserving these systems. The focus ofthe discussion is on microbial systemsinhabiting soil and rock surfaces in terres-trial areas away from marine influence.

Microbial ecology of terrestrialAntarctica

Most microbial species isolated fromantarctic soils do not possess special

adaptations to the local environmentalconditions. Rather, most represent cold-and desiccation-tolerant species that mayalso be found in more temperate zones(Vincent 1988). There is some indication,however, that isolates collected inAntarctica may be capable of growing atlower temperatures than isolates of thesame species collected in more temperatelocations (e.g., Latter and Heal 1971; Line1988). In the McMurdo Dry Valleys, micro-bial abundance and distribution in soilshave been related to climate (e.g.,Cameron 1972a, pp. 195–260; Horowitz,Cameron, and Hubbard 1972), suitablesubstrate (e.g., Boyd, Staley, and Boyd1966, pp. 125–159; Cameron and Benoit1970; Cameron et al. 1971; Cameron1972b; Cameron and Ford 1974), and dis-continuous inputs of nutrients and energy(Draggan 1993). The current consensus isthat abundance and distribution are dic-tated by a favorable complex of microcli-mate factors and the physical characteris-tics and composition of the soil.

Scientists have identified various nat-ural pathways for the introduction ofmicrobes to Antarctica. In coastal regions,microbes may be dispersed by sea spray orvia the activities of penguins, skuas, seals,and other animals. In the McMurdo Dry

Valleys and other sites isolated frommarine influence, microorganisms aremore likely to be introduced via high-alti-tude air-streams. Over the past century,however, introduction has been greatlyenhanced by humanborne inocula onfood, field gear, and wastes (Lipps 1978).Horses and dogs brought to the continentin the past also contributed microorgan-isms to the environment. Several studieshave found viable microbial contamina-tion introduced by early antarctic expedi-tions. Meyer, Morrow, and Wyss (1962,1963), for example, found organisms thathad remained viable for over 50 yearsunder ambient antarctic conditions inmaterials brought to Cape Royds byShackleton and to Cape Evans by Scott.The long-term survival of these organismsunderscores the importance of minimiz-ing wastes of all types.

A number of baseline microbial stud-ies have been conducted in relativelyundisturbed areas of the McMurdo DryValley region (e.g., Cameron et al. 1970;Cameron and Ford 1974; Parker et al. 1977,1982; Parker, Howard, and Allnutt 1978,pp. 211–251). Small numbers of viablesoilborne microbes were found at virtuallyevery location examined, including thesouthernmost site (87°21'S). Assessmentof microbial contamination aroundMcMurdo Station and various field campswas initiated in the early 1960s (e.g., Boydand Boyd 1963a, 1963b). Microbial conta-mination studies have also been conduct-ed at Japanese (e.g., Miwa 1975, 1976; Toy-oda et al. 1986) and Russian bases (e.g.,Abyzov, Rusanov, and Smagin 1986).

In the late 1970s, Friedmann and hisassociates began a series of studies oncryptoendolithic microorganisms (e.g.,Friedmann and Ocampo-Friedmann 1976;Friedmann 1982; Meyer et al. 1988;Nienow and Friedmann 1993). By occupy-ing niches within the interstitial spacesbeneath the surface of sandstones andother porous rocks, these organisms haveadapted to the extreme environmentalconditions found in the interior of Antarc-tica. Because of their unique habitat, theseorganisms are considered endemic andare unlikely to be displaced by microor-ganisms imported by humans.

Many problems have been identifiedwith techniques used during the earlymicrobial studies in Antarctica. Use of dif-ferent growth media and incubation tem-peratures have yielded cell counts thatvary by an order of magnitude or more(e.g., Line 1988; Parker et al. 1977, 1982). Areview of some of the technical problemsassociated with field microbiology inAntarctica is provided by Wynn-Williams(1979), and the problems associated withthe culture techniques used during earlystudies are discussed by Vishniac (1993).

Despite the problems associated withaccurate assessment, some general conclu-sions may be drawn (Vishniac 1993). First,although accurate quantification is diffi-cult, microbial populations of soils inAntarctica are low but are not zero. Second,data from early studies should not beextrapolated spatially, even over smallscales, and interpretation of early data setsshould be kept within the context of thespecific study conducted. Except in areasinfluenced by humans, microbial “systems”in terrestrial Antarctica exhibit a generallack of community development and moreclosely resemble loose assemblages ofspecies. The unique cryptoendolithic com-munities provide a notable exception.

Impacts to microbial systems—Arethey occurring?

In a series of publications, Cameron andassociates concluded that human activi-

ties have altered microbial ecosystems inAntarctica at least on a small scale. Theseconclusions were based on observationsin the McMurdo Dry Valleys and atMcMurdo Station, where alterations(Cameron, Morelli, and Johnson 1972) orcomplete elimination (Cameron et al.1974) of the endemic microbial communi-ties were suspected. These perturbationswere attributed to the establishment ofsemipermanent field camps, the use ofmotorized land vehicles and helicopters,and the establishment of repositories formaterials and supplies at former fieldcamps. Despite these claims, it remainsuncertain whether introduced specieshave the capacity to displace or to modifyexisting microbial assemblages on any-thing but a local scale (Vincent 1988).


13

Microbial ecosystems in Antarctica:Is protection necessary?

Cameron (1972a, pp. 195–260)described human-induced perturbationsto the microbial systems of Antarctica asfalling into three distinct categories:• Disruption of competitive interactions.

The long-term introduction of cold-and desiccation-tolerant species fromtemperate environments may altercompetitive interactions betweenmicrobial species.

• Microbial enhancement. The numberand/or diversity of species in microbialcommunities may be altered through,for example, disruption of substrate.This disruption could result in therelease of nutrients and dormant organ-isms from lower depths (Cameron andMorelli 1974) or could interfere withthermal balance and/or light regimes(Wynn-Williams 1990), thereby alteringthe microbial communities withoutimporting exogenous organisms.

• Habitat destruction. Microbial systemsmay be inadvertently destroyed bydamaging or eliminating habitat. Thiscould include physical destruction ofthe habitat, contamination with toxicsubstances, or competition from intro-duced species.

To this original list compiled byCameron, a fourth category may be added:• Altered gene pool. Interchange of bacte-

rial plasmids between indigenousmicrobes and those introduced byhumans may result in alteration of themicrobial gene pool, as has beenobserved with antarctic microbes inexperimental settings (Kobori, Sullivan,and Shizuya 1984; Siebert and Hirsch1988).

Conclusions

Historically, concerns regardinghuman impacts to microbial systems

have focused on the introduction of non-native biota. Although competitionbetween imported species and nativemicrobial assemblages may represent apotential problem on a local scale, it isunlikely to pose more than a minimalthreat in continental Antarctica. The pres-ence of viable, exotic microorganisms inlaboratory cultures of antarctic soils doesnot necessarily mean that these organismshave become part of the local system,because dormant survival in a cold, dry,nutrient-poor environment is much lessdemanding than growth and reproduction(Vishniac 1993). Those species and strains

introduced from temperate regions thatare capable of growing in Antarctica wouldlikely be at a severe competitive disadvan-tage with similar indigenous strains. Thisdistinction between biota that are viablebut incapable of growth and those that arefully capable of completing their life cyclesunder ambient conditions was not gener-ally made during early microbial studies inAntarctica.

Exotic species are most likely to sur-vive in Antarctica if they are introducedalong with suitable substrate materials,and organic waste materials of all typesare capable of harboring such inocula.One scenario for potential future impactto microbial systems involves the poten-tial accelerated rates of decomposition oforganic waste materials following changesin climatic conditions. Decomposition inAntarctica is an extremely slow processdue primarily to the ambient environmen-tal conditions. Should climatic conditionschange, however, so that temperaturesand/or precipitation levels increase,decomposition rates could increase sub-stantially in areas where large quantities oforganic substrates have accumulated,mediated by organisms introduced alongwith these materials. Such an increasecould dramatically alter nutrient cycleswithin these areas.

Although not generally designed withmicrobial pollution in mind, recentchanges in U.S. Antarctic Program policiesregarding the accumulation and disposalof waste materials have decreased thepotential for entry of temperate-zonemicrobes to U.S. research stations. Notonly are most waste materials generatedby the U.S. program in Antarctica nowrecycled or retrograded, but also some ofthe waste materials accumulated at basesand field camps during previous decadesare also being removed from the conti-nent. Human wastes are routinely re-moved from field camps. Treaty provisionsimposed during recent years banning theimport of horses and dogs also help todecrease the rates at which microbes areintroduced. Despite these policies, howev-er, the mere presence of permanentresearch and logistical support bases suchas McMurdo Station will provide an ongo-ing pathway for introduction of a varietyof exotic microbial species. Field campsand transportation also are sources ofinocula that may influence microbial sys-tems on a small scale.

Considerable uncertainty remainsregarding the degree to which special habi-tats are being destroyed by human activi-ties. For example, the extent to which theminute physical structures on the surfacesof sandstones and other rocks—structuresthat provide the unique habitat for cryp-toendolithic communities in the McMurdoDry Valley area—are being damaged byhuman activities is not known. Informa-tion is also lacking regarding the length oftime required for these communities torecover following damage by humans.

The requirements of the Agreed Mea-sures for the Conservation of AntarcticFlora and Fauna, a provision of the Antarc-tic Treaty, were enacted in 1978 by the U.S.Congress in the form of the Antarctic Con-servation Act (ACA), Public Law 95-541.This was done to ensure that species thatare not native to the Antarctic Treaty Areaare not deliberately introduced. Althoughmicrobiota continue to be introduced byhumans, their introduction is the indirectresult of other activities and cannot, there-fore, be considered “deliberate.” Becausethe native microbial assemblages found inmany of the ice-free areas of continentalAntarctica represent unique systems, how-ever, the Antarctic Conservation Act couldbe interpreted as requiring their protec-tion. From a practical perspective, though,strict measures for preventing the intro-duction of microbial species would beimpractical, because it would be virtuallyimpossible to conduct research in Antarc-tica without introducing some forms ofexogenous microbial life to the region.Such measures would effectively precludeall human activities in Antarctica (Drag-gan 1993, pp. 603–614).

Given the vastness of Antarctica,human impacts to the microbial assem-blages remain small, although they may besignificant on a local scale (Cameron1972c; Fifield 1985). Furthermore, sinceintroduction of microbes cannot be pre-vented so long as human activities persist,perhaps the best recommendation is thatmade in Cameron, Honour, and Morelli(1977), who proposed that monitoring ofthe microbial communities be continuedin areas where the potential for humaninfluence is relatively high. This wouldnecessitate the application of better, morestandardized techniques and the accurateestablishment of baseline conditions andnatural variability. Special attention mightbe given to areas such as the Sites of Spe-


14

cial Scientific Interest that are dedicated tothe study of microbial ecology.

Finally, discussion of human influ-ences on microbial systems in Antarcticacannot fail to consider the issue oftourism. Projected increases in tourismlevels imply the potential for increasedamount and diversity of microbial intro-ductions, destruction of microbial habitat,and imported organic materials. Futuremonitoring of microbial systems inAntarctica should attempt to assess base-line levels for areas that will likely receiveincreased tourism pressure.

This work was funded by National Sci-ence Foundation grant OPP 91-02787 andby U.S. Department of Energy, IdahoOperations Office contract DE-AC07-94ID13223.

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Meyer, G.H., M.B. Morrow, and O. Wyss. 1963.Viable microorganisms from faeces andfoodstuffs from early antarctic expeditions.Canadian Journal of Microbiology, 9,163–167.

Meyer, M.A., G.H. Huang, G.J. Morris, and E.I.Friedmann. 1988. The effect of low tempera-tures on antarctic endolithic green algae.Polarforschung, 58(2/3), 113–119.

Miwa, T. 1976. Anaerobic bacteria of Antarctica—Isolation of clostridia from the soil aroundSyowa Station. National Institute for PolarResearch Memoirs (Series E), 32, 56–63.

Miwa, T. 1975. Clostridia isolated from the soilin the east coast of Lutzow-Holm Bay, EastAntarctica. Antarctic Record, 53, 89–99.

Nienow, J.A., and E.I. Friedmann. 1993.Terrestrial lithophytic (rock) communities.In E.I. Friedmann (Ed.), Antarctic microbiol-ogy. New York: Wiley-Liss.

Parker, B.C., S. Boyer, F.C.T. Allnutt, K.G.Seaburg, R.A. Wharton, Jr., and G.M.Simmons, Jr. 1982. Soils from the PensacolaMountains, Antarctica: Physical, chemical,and biological characteristics. Soil Biologyand Biochemistry 14, 265–271.

Parker, B.C., A.B. Ford, T. Allnutt, B. Bishop, andS. Wendt. 1977. Baseline microbiologicaldata for soils of the Dufek Massif. AntarcticJournal of the U.S., 12(4), 24–26.

Parker, B.C., R.V. Howard, and F.C.T. Allnutt.1978. Summary of environmental monitor-ing and impact assessment of the DVDP. InB.C. Parker (Ed.), Environmental impact inAntarctica. Blacksburg: Virginia PolytechnicInstitute and State University.

Siebert, J., and P. Hirsch. 1988. Characterizationof 15 selected coccal bacteria isolated fromantarctic rock and soil samples from theMcMurdo Dry Valleys (south Victoria Land).Polar Biology, 9, 37–44.

Toyoda, S., A. Matsumae, A. Ghoda, and M. Aiso.1986. Total number of bacteria and fungi asan index for human pollution at SyowaStation in Antarctica. 1. Special reference tothe specimen collected by the 18th JapaneseAntarctic Research Expedition. JapaneseJournal of Bacteriology, 41(2), 527–534.

Vincent, W.F. 1988. Microbial ecosystems ofAntarctica. New York: Cambridge UniversityPress.

Vishniac, H.S. 1993. The microbiology of antarc-tic soils. In E.I. Friedmann (Ed.), Antarcticmicrobiology. New York: Wiley-Liss.

Wynn-Williams, D.D. 1990. Ecological aspects ofantarctic microbiology. In K.C. Marshall(Ed.) Advances in microbial ecology. NewYork: Plenum Press.

Wynn-Williams, D.D. 1979. Techniques used forstudying microbial ecology in the maritimeAntarctic. Society for Applied Bacteriology(Technical Series No. 13), 67–81.

Gregory J. White, EnvironmentalAssessment Technologies, Idaho NationalEngineering Laboratory, Idaho Falls, Idaho83415


15

UN

ITED

STATES ANTARCTIC PROG

RA

M

NATIO

NAL SCIENCE FO UNDATION

Analysis of ice cores reveals the struc-ture of sea ice, and from the structure

of the sea ice, researchers can determinethe thermodynamic processes (freezingand melting) and dynamic processes(atmospheric and oceanic forcing) thatcontribute to the development of the sea-ice cover and the ice-thickness distribu-tion. In addition, ice cores provide ice-property data, such as salinity and temper-ature, and information on air-ice-oceaninteractions and sea-ice development.

Quite extensive studies have beendone of first-year and multiyear sea-icestructure, properties, and processes in theWeddell Sea (e.g., Gow et al. 1982; Lange etal. 1989; Eicken 1992). In August and Sep-tember 1993, we made the first compre-hensive investigation of first-year sea-icedevelopment in the Bellingshausen andeastern Amundsen Seas (Jeffries et al. 1994;Worby et al. 1994). In September and Octo-ber 1994, we investigated first-year sea-icedevelopment in the western Amundsenand eastern Ross Seas. This article presentsthe results of the 1994 investigation andcompares them with the 1993 results. Bothdata sets were obtained in late winteraboard the R/V Nathaniel B. Palmer. The1993 and 1994 cruise tracks and samplinglocations are illustrated in figure 1.

In 1994, a total length of 120 meters(m) of ice core was obtained from 26 first-year ice floes. Half of this length was usedfor structural analysis and identification ofice-growth processes, and half was usedfor salinity and temperature analysis. Thenumber of pairs of cores (one for struc-ture, the other for salinity and tempera-ture) obtained at sites on the ice-thicknesstransects on each ice floe varied betweenone and five depending on the ice thick-ness. Three pairs of cores were obtained atmost floes. The length of individual coresranged from 0.05 to 4.23 m with an aver-age of 0.84 m. These values are similar tothose in 1993 (Jeffries et al. 1994), consis-tent with the similarity between the ice-thickness distributions each year (Jeffrieset al., Antarctic Journal, in this issue).

Three ice types were observed in mostfloes: columnar ice of congelation origin,

granular ice of frazil origin, and granularice of snow-ice origin. Frazil ice representsgrowth associated with wind- and wave-induced turbulence, whereas congelationice grows under calmer conditions. Snowice forms by the freezing of slush at thesurface of floes that have been flooded bysea water. A fourth category, cavities, isnoted during ice-core drilling. Cavitiescontain a mixture of sea water and snow-ice crystals and occur between the blocksand slabs of ice that are rafted and ridgedduring deformation events. Although acavity is not strictly ice, it is a part of thetotal ice thickness and, therefore, includedin the interpretation of the ice-core data.

Figure 2 illustrates the distribution ofthe three ice types in five cores from a sin-gle floe. They comprise 44.9 percent frazil,41.7 percent congelation, and 13.4 percentsnow ice. Some of the cores includenumerous layers of different ice types.This is typical of most floes. The structuralcomplexity in individual cores and thespatial variability of ice types over shortdistances illustrate the dynamic andrapidly changing nature of the environ-ment in which floes develop. The entire setof cores obtained during the 1994 cruise

comprises 58.7 percent frazil, 28.7 percentcongelation, 9 percent snow ice, and 3.6percent cavities. The 1993 cores comprise65.1 percent, 25.5 percent, 3 percent, and5.5 percent of these ice types, respectively,plus 0.9 percent fragmented ice. These val-ues are similar to those observed in theWeddell Sea (Gow et al. 1982; Lange et al.1989) and in the pack ice off East Antarcti-ca (Allison and Worby 1994) and illustratethat the turbulent conditions that favorfrazil ice growth and deformation (the ori-gin of the cavities) are more common thanthe calmer conditions that favor congela-tion-ice growth and that the relative con-tributions of the three ice types to antarc-tic sea-ice development are spatially andtemporally consistent.

One of the significant differencesbetween the 1993 and 1994 data sets is theappreciably larger amount of snow ice in1994. The final determination of theamount of snow ice awaits the results ofstable isotope analysis of the ice samples,but the greater amount of snow ice in 1994is consistent with the frequent observa-tions of sea-water flooding of floes. Forexample, 92 of the 102 holes (90 percent)drilled in the floe illustrated in figure 2 had


16

Sea-ice development in the Ross, Amundsen, andBellingshausen Seas revealed by analysis of icecores in late winter 1993 and 1994

Figure 1. Map of the Bellingshausen, Amundsen, and Ross Seas showing the cruise tracksof the R/V Nathaniel B. Palmer in the pack ice in August and September 1993 and Sep-tember and October 1994. The locations of floes from which ice cores and snow- and ice-thickness data were obtained are identified by open circles (1993) and open squares(1994). Both cruises were from east to west. The beginning and ending points are at theice edge. The 1994 cruise track is divided into legs numbered 1–9.

a negative freeboard. During the course ofthe cruise, 2,227 holes were drilled in 23different floes and 1,135 (51 percent) ofthose had a negative freeboard (Jeffries etal., Antarctic Journal, in this issue). The icesurface can flood because of a number ofprocesses including ice loading duringridging and rafting and snow loading whenthe weight of snow overcomes the buoyan-cy of the ice. The greater amount of flood-ing and snow-ice formation in 1994 mayreflect the roughly 1-month later samplingperiod and, consequently, the greater snowaccumulation (Jeffries et al., Antarctic Jour-nal, in this issue). The greater snow accu-mulation meant increased snow load andflooding in 1994 and a longer period forflooded areas to freeze and form snow ice.

Salinity and temperature measure-ments were made at the same depth at 0.1-m intervals in each core. Composite salinityand temperature profiles were compiled bybinning all the values for a given depth andcalculating a mean and standard-deviationtemperature value for that depth. The com-posite salinity and temperature profiles forthree different ice-thickness categories areshown in figure 3. The profiles for each yeardemonstrate considerable similarity. Icetemperatures increase as ice thicknessincreases. In ice more than 1-m thick (fig-ure 3C), a significant proportion of the ice isisothermal near the melting point (above2°C). The salinity profiles in each thicknesscategory are characterized by high values inthe upper layers and a trend to low valuesat the base of the ice (figure 3D, F). In 1994,in ice more than 1-m thick, the salinity is analmost constant 6–6.5‰ in the uppermost0.4 m of ice—constituting a much thickerlayer of very saline ice than in 1993 (figure3F). Each year, in ice more than 1.0-m thick(figure 3F), the profiles have an S shape, butthe 1994 profile is a roughly 180° out ofphase with the 1993 profile. Regardless ofice thickness, the salinity variations in indi-vidual ice cores are generally independentof any structural complexity below thesnow-ice layers.

The increase in ice temperatures asice thickness increases can be attributedprimarily to the insulating effects of thesnow cover. Ice thickness is a proxy forage, and in general, the thicker the ice, thegreater its age and, thus, the longer thetime for snow to accumulate. Thickersnow offers better insulation from the coldair temperatures; hence, the thicker ice iswarmer than thinner ice.


17

Figure 2. Ice- and snow-thickness profiles along two 100-m long transects oriented perpendicular toone another and crossing at 50 m. The thin horizontal line at 0 m represents the waterline. Thedashed line represents the snow–ice interface; any point on this line has a negative freeboard, that is,it is flooded with sea water. The structure profiles of five ice cores obtained at the ends and the inter-section of each transect are also shown. The vertical scale of the core profiles is twice that of the ice-and snow-thickness profiles.

Figure 3. Composite salinity and temperature profiles in three first-year sea-ice thickness categoriesin 1993 (Bellingshausen and eastern Amundsen Seas) and 1994 (western Amundsen and easternRoss Seas).

A

E

B

D

F

C

The very high salinity values observedin the upper ice layers have been reportedalso in Weddell Sea ice and attributed tosea-water flooding and the formation ofsnow ice (Eicken 1992). The more exten-sive flooding and larger amount of snowice observed in the 1994 cores mightexplain the particularly thick upper layerof 6–6.5‰ salinity ice in cores that aremore than 1 m long (figure 3F).

The temperature gradients in the iceare sufficient to allow gravity drainageand, thus, desalination of the lower icelayers—hence, the trend to lower salinityvalues at the base of the ice. In ice that ismore than 1 m thick, the nearly isothermallower part of the ice is probably in, orclose to being in, thermal equilibriumwith the underlying sea water. Verticalbrine exchange between the ice and theunderlying sea water affected by the gravi-ty drainage of cold, dense brine and itsreplacement by warmer, less-dense seawater would account for the high ice tem-peratures. These temperatures willincrease the porosity of the ice andenhance the brine exchange.

The poor correlation between icesalinity and structure is probably alsoenhanced by the high ice temperaturesand resultant gravity drainage of brineacross structural boundaries in the multi-layered floes. The S shape (figure 3F) maybe a stable salinity profile representingthick first-year ice in Antarctica. The 180°phase shift between the 1993 and 1994

profiles may be due to a combination ofthe more extensive sea-water flooding andlarger amount of snow ice contributing toa thicker high salinity surface layer, thegreater age of the 1994 ice, and therefore, amore prolonged period of desalination.

The structure and growth processes,as well as the temperature and salinityvariations in first-year ice in late winter inthe Ross, Amundsen, and BellingshausenSeas have been documented. Although thedata were obtained at a slightly differenttimes in different geographic areas, themany similarities between both data setsindicate that the sea-ice processes and theconditions of ice development have nosignificant spatial differences on an annu-al basis in this sector of the southernoceans. This finding is consistent with theresults of the investigation of the snow andice-thickness distribution in the same areain 1993 and 1994 (Jeffries et al., AntarcticJournal, in this issue).

This research was supported byNational Science Foundation (NSF) grantsOPP 91-17721 and OPP 93-16767. MargePorter participated in the cruise under theauspices of the NSF High School TeacherEnhancement Program. A Research Expe-rience for Undergraduates (REU) Supple-ment made it possible for Stephanie Cush-ing to participate. We offer our sincerethanks to Captain J. Borkowski, the offi-cers and crew of the R/V Nathaniel B.Palmer, Antarctic Support Associates per-sonnel, and all the project personnel for

their support and assistance throughoutan enjoyable voyage.

References

Allison, I., and A.P. Worby. 1994. Seasonalchanges of sea ice characteristics off EastAntarctica. Annals of Glaciology, 20, 195–201.

Eicken, H. 1992. Salinity profiles of antarctic seaice: Field data and model results. Journal ofGeophysical Research 97(C10), 15545–15557.

Gow , A.J., S.F. Ackley, W.F. Weeks, and J.W.Govoni. 1982. Physical and structural char-acteristics of antarctic sea ice. Annals ofGlaciology, 3, 113–117.

Jeffries, M.O., R. Jaña., S. Li, and S. McCullars.1995. Sea-ice– and snow–thickness distribu-tions in the Ross, Amundsen, and Bellings-hausen Seas, late winter 1993 and 1994.Antarctic Journal of the U.S., 30(1–4).

Jeffries, M.O., K. Morris, A.P. Worby, and W.F.Weeks. 1994. Late winter sea-ice propertiesand growth processes in the Bellingshausenand Amundsen Seas. Antarctic Journal of theU.S., 29(1), 11–13.

Lange, M.A., S.F. Ackley, P. Wadhams, G.S.Dieckmann, and H. Eicken. 1989. Develop-ment of sea ice in the Weddell Sea, Annals ofGlaciology, 12, 92–96.

Worby, A.P., W.F. Weeks, M.O. Jeffries, K. Morris,and R. Jaña. 1994. Late winter sea-ice– andsnow–thickness distributions in theBellingshausen and Amundsen Seas.Antarctic Journal of the U.S., 29(1), 13–15.

Martin Jeffries and Stephanie Cushing,Geophysical Institute, University ofAlaska, Fairbanks, Alaska 99775-7320

Marjorie Porter, Woodstock Academy,Woodstock, Connecticut 06281


18

The sea-ice–thickness distribution isdetermined by studying a combina-

tion of thermodynamic processes relatedto freezing and melting and dynamicprocesses related to atmospheric andoceanic forcing. The extent to which thesea-ice cover modifies atmosphere-oceaninteractions and exchanges of heat, mass,momentum, and even regional and globalclimate variability is dependent on thethickness of the sea ice and its snow cover.Ice and snow thickness are not easily mea-sured by remote means (e.g., from space),so in Antarctica, it is necessary to rely on

direct measurements made duringresearch vessel cruises in the ice pack. Therelative infrequency of such cruises resultsin large gaps in our knowledge of the spa-tial and temporal variability of antarcticsea-ice– and snow–thickness distribution.

Much of the current knowledge ofantarctic sea-ice and snow thickness isbased on studies of the Weddell Sea icecover (Wadhams, Lange, and Ackley 1987;Lange and Eicken 1991) and, to a lesserextent, the pack ice off East Antarctica(Allison and Worby 1994). The sea-ice– andsnow–thickness distributions in the Bel-

lingshausen and eastern Amundsen Seaswere studied for the first time duringAugust and September 1993 (Worby et al.1994). The first investigation of the sea-ice– and snow–thickness distribution inthe western Amundsen and eastern RossSeas was made in September and October1994. This article presents the results ofthe 1994 study and compares the datawith the 1993 measurements.

The 1993 and 1994 cruise tracks of theR/V Nathaniel B. Palmer are shown in Jef-fries et al. (Antarctic Journal, in this issue,figure 1). The data presented here are only

Sea-ice– and snow–thickness distributions in latewinter 1993 and 1994 in the Ross, Amundsen, andBellingshausen Seas

for the area south of 67°S and only forfirst-year ice because the ship was unableto penetrate the multiyear ice pack nearthe coast. Two sets of sea-ice– and snow–thickness data for 1994 are discussed: • Set A comprises 2,227 direct measure-

ments made at equidistant intervals [2meters (m)] along forty-three 100-mlong transects on 23 different floes (twotransects oriented perpendicular to oneanother were laid out on most floes).

• Set B comprises 9,125 ship-based esti-mates (25 per hour) of the ice and snow

thickness of individual floes tipped ontheir sides by the passing of the ship.

The 1993 set A and set B data are describedin Worby et al. (1994).

As a result of differences in observa-tional techniques between the data sets,some components of the ice pack are bet-ter represented in one data set than in theother. The thin-ice component of the packis underrepresented in set A because ofthe hazards of drilling thickness transectsacross thin ice. Large pressure ridges arenot well represented in set B because they

are broken up by the ship. Overall, howev-er, the thin ice is better represented in setB, and ridges are better represented in setA, making a combination of these data auseful descriptor of ice conditions withinthe pack. Set A contains detailed informa-tion on individual floes, whereas set Bgives more continuous geographic cover-age of the entire ice pack.

The ice-thickness distributions for the1993 and 1994 set A data are very similarin appearance (figure 1A, B). The domi-nant ice-thickness categories in both yearsare between 0.3 m and 1 m, accounting for70 percent (1993) and 76 percent (1994) ofthe ice sampled. The 1994 mean thicknessvalue is slightly lower than the 1993 value,primarily because we did not sample asmany very thick ridges (greater than 4 m)in 1994. The lower standard deviationvalue in 1994 is due to a combination ofthe smaller amount of very thin (less thanor equal to 0.3 m) thin and very thick(greater than 4 m) ice that was sampled.Nevertheless, each year the standard devi-ation values are high relative to the meanvalue, reflecting the large variability of icethickness. This variability is a feature ofmost floe-thickness profiles, which alsoshow that the underside of the ice has amuch more pronounced topography thanthe upper surface (see figure 1 in Jeffries etal., Antarctic Journal, this issue). This iscommon in Antarctica, where sea ice fre-quently deforms by rafting, a process thatleads to considerable deformation of theunderside of floes but only minimal dis-turbance at the surface.

As with the ice-thickness distribu-tions, the 1993 and 1994 snow-thicknessdistributions are similar (figure 1E, F). Inboth years, 93–94 percent of the snow was1 m thick. The mean snow-thickness valueis greater in 1994 than in 1993. Becausethe 1994 observations were made roughly1 month later than those in 1993, thedeeper snow cover in 1994 might reflectthe longer period of time available forsnow accumulation.

The greatest difference between eachyear is in the freeboard data (figure 1C, D).The freeboard is the position of the icesurface relative to sea level. The 1994 datashow a negative freeboard, i.e., the ice sur-face was flooded with sea water, at 51 per-cent of the drill holes, compared with only18 percent in 1993. In 1993, however, 59percent of the freeboard observationswere in the 0–5-centimeter (cm) range, an


19

Figure 1. Probability density distributions (PDFs) for set A data acquired by drilling along 100-m-longtransects across floes in 1993 (left side, 1,113 measurements) and 1994 (right side, 2,227 measure-ments). Each bar indicates the probability that a particular thickness or freeboard value will fall inthat bin.

indication of strong flooding potential. Anumber of processes cause the ice surfaceto be depressed below sea level and toflood with sea water, including ice loadingduring ridging and rafting as well as snowloading when the weight of snow over-comes the buoyancy of the ice. Bothprocesses probably account for the exten-sive flooding observed in 1994; floodingwas evident on the flanks of ridges (see fig-ure 1 in Jeffries et al., Antarctic Journal, inthis issue), and the greater amount ofsnow on the thinner ice cover in 1994would promote snow loading. The freezingof the snow/sea-water slush that hasoccurred after flooding leads to snow-iceformation and the growth of floes by theaddition of a layer of snow ice at the topsurface rather than the bottom. The obser-vation of significantly more snow ice in icecores analyzed in 1994 than in those ana-lyzed 1993 (Jeffries et al., Antarctic Journal,in this issue) is consistent with the wide-spread flooding observed along the ice-thickness transects.

The ice-thickness distributions for setB are shown in figure 2A, B. Aside from thefact that these data do not provide a goodrepresentation of thick ice in ridges, simi-larities between set A and set B are evi-dent, e.g, in both years, most of the datafall within a narrow range of values (90percent of the ice is between 0.4 m and 0.8m thick in set B), and the amount of thick-er ice, i.e., greater 0.8 m thick, in set B islower in 1994 than in 1993. The major dif-ference between the 2 years is the greateramount of ice 0.3 m thick observed in1994. Ice of this thickness is younger thanthe thicker ice and owes its origin primari-ly to growth in leads created by divergentmotion within the ice pack. Subsequentdeformation of this ice by rafting and ridg-ing contributes to the thicker ice cate-gories. The greater amount of thin ice in1994 might, therefore, be evidence thatless deformation of the thin ice hadoccurred in 1994 than in 1993. The smalleramount of ice in the thicker categories ofset A supports this hypothesis.

The set B snow-thickness distribu-tions are quite different (figure 2C, D). In1994, 90 percent of the data occur in the0.3-m categories, whereas in 1993 thesame amount of data occur in the 0.1- to0.4-m categories. The thinner snow coverin 1994 can be attributed to the greateramount of thin, young ice which had hada shorter time to accumulate snow.

Because the set B data provide morecontinuous areal coverage, they can beused to investigate spatial variability ofsnow and ice thickness within the ice pack.In 1994, in a region bounded by longitudes147–153°W and more than 69.5°S at thesouthern end of leg 6 (see figure 1 in Jeffrieset al., Antarctic Journal, in this issue), anoticeably lower concentration of thethicker ice categories (greater than 0.3 m)and a greater amount of open water wererecorded by visual estimation of the gener-al ice conditions than were observed dur-ing the entire cruise south of 67°S. This dif-ference is illustrated in figure 3, whichshows that according to the set B data, theice at the southern end of leg 6 was thinnerthan in legs 6 and 7 combined and thinnerthan in the equivalent southern portion ofleg 7. Physical oceanographic measure-ments made during the same cruise indi-cate that in this southern region of leg 6,the mixed layer was thinner than wasobserved during the entire cruise and thatthe mixed-layer water temperatures wereabove the in situ freezing point, quite pos-sibly due to warm-water upwelling in the

Ross Sea Gyre (H. Hellmer and S. Jacobs,personal communications, 1994 and 1995).The reduced ice concentration and thinnerice cover in this region can be accountedfor by this oceanographic phenomenon,an illustration of the important role theocean plays in affecting sea-ice processesand the ice-thickness distribution.

The thickness distributions of first-year sea ice and snow in 1993 and 1994 inthe Ross, Amundsen, and BellingshausenSeas have been documented. The bulk ofthe ice is between 0.3 and 1.0 m thick, anindication that in general the processes andconditions of ice development were similareach year. This conclusion is corroboratedby the ice-structure data ( Jeffries et al.,Antarctic Journal, in this issue). Ice devel-opment is dominated by dynamic process-es, but the data do suggest that deforma-tion of the very thin (less than 0.3-m) icecategories may have been less in 1994 com-pared with 1993. The largest differencebetween the 2 years is the more extensivesea-water flooding observed in 1994, per-haps due to the 1-month delay in makingthe observations, during which time addi-


20

Figure 2. Probability density distributions for set B data acquired from the ship’s bridge as floes weretipped on their sides by the passing of the ship in 1993 (4,071 measurements) and 1994 (9,125 mea-surements). Only data obtained south of 67°S are included in each probability density distribution.

tional snow accumulated and formed agreater load on the ice. The large floodingpotential in the 1993 set A freeboard datamight have been realized later in the sea-son after we completed our study.

This research was supported byNational Science Foundation (NSF) grantsOPP 91-17721 and OPP 93-16767. Jaña’s

participation in the cruise was made pos-sible by NSF and Instituto AntarticoChileno. McCullars participated in thecruise under the auspices of the NSFYoung Scholars Program. The data wouldnot have been acquired without theenthusiastic and dedicated assistance ofthe following individuals: Ute Adolphs,Dave Crane, Stephanie Cushing, Rob Mas-som, Kim Morris, Janet Nonelly, MarjoriePorter, Bernard Rabus, Jane Stevens, andMatthew Sturm (project personnel) andBarney Kane, Rod McCabe, Doyle Nicode-mus, Russ Nilson, Buzz Scott, and BillYoung (Antarctic Support Associates per-sonnel). We all offer our sincere thanks toCaptain J. Borkowski, the officers, andcrew of the R/V Nathaniel B. Palmer fortheir support and assistance throughoutan enjoyable voyage.

References

Allison, I., and A.P. Worby. 1994. Seasonalchanges in sea ice characteristics off eastAntarctica. Annals of Glaciology, 20,195–201.

Hellmer, H. 1994 and 1995. Personal communi-cation.

Jacobs, S. 1994 and 1995. Personal communica-tion.

Jeffries, M.O., S. Cushing, and M. Porter. 1995.Sea-ice development in the Ross,Amundsen, and Bellingshausen Seasrevealed by analysis of ice cores in late win-ter 1993 and 1994. Antarctic Journal of theU.S., 30(1–4).

Lange, M.A., and H. Eicken. 1991. The sea icethickness distribution in the northeasternWeddell Sea. Journal of GeophysicalResearch, 96(C3), 4821–4837.

Wadhams, P., M.A. Lange, and S.F. Ackley. 1987.The ice thickness distribution across theAtlantic sector of the antarctic ocean in mid-winter. Journal of Geophysical Research,92(C13), 14535–14552.

Worby, A.P., W.F. Weeks, M.O. Jeffries, K. Morris,and R. Jaña. 1994. Late winter sea-ice andsnow-thickness distributions in theBellingshausen and Amundsen Seas.Antarctic Journal of the U.S., 29(1), 13–15.

M. O. Jeffries, Geophysical Institute,University of Alaska, Fairbanks, Alaska99775-7320

R. Jaña, Instituto Antartico Chileno,Santiago, Chile

S. Li, Geophysical Institute, University ofAlaska, Fairbanks, Alaska 99775-7320

S. McCullars, Conway, Arkansas 72032


21

Figure 3. Probability density distributions of setB ice-thickness data illustrate the occurrence ofthinner ice at the southern end of leg 6 com-pared to legs 6 and 7 combined and the equiva-lent southern portion of leg 7.

Antarctic sea ice is generally covered bysnow, which is an excellent natural

insulator. The snow has a significantimpact on the temperature of the ice, itsbrine volume, salinity, and the rate atwhich it loses heat during the winter. As aresult, the snow affects how fast the icethickens by sea-water freezing. It alsoloads the ice and, when sufficiently thick,causes it to be depressed below the snowsurface. This loading leads to salt-waterinundation of the snow-ice interface and,when this salt water freezes, the accretionof snow ice at the base of the snow pack.The blanket of snow on the sea ice hasgreat spatial and temporal variability.Understanding the role of the antarctic seaice in the global climate requires under-standing the snow cover.

Combined snow and sea-ice studieswere conducted from the R/V Nathaniel B.Palmer in the pack ice of the Amundsenand Ross Seas between 10 September and21 October 1994. At 26 ice-floe stations,

two parallel 100-meter (m) lines, 5 m apart,were established. Along the first line, snowdepth, sea-ice thickness, and freeboardmeasurements were made at 2-m intervals(Jeffries, Jaña, et al., Antarctic Journal, inthis issue). Snow stratigraphy and texturewere measured at 6 to 10 locations alongthis line. On the parallel line, snow depthand the temperature of the snow-ice inter-face were measured every meter. A 3-m-long trench was excavated in a location oftypical snow depth. The stratigraphy of thetrench wall was described and continuousvertical profiles [in 3-centimeter (cm)increments] of density, salinity, grain size,hardness, and temperature were measuredat one or more locations in the trench.Boxed snow samples were taken from thetrench to the cold rooms on the ship,where snow grain-size distribution wasdetermined by sieving (Sturm 1991), snowthermal conductivity was determinedusing a needle probe apparatus (Sturmand Johnson 1992), and air permeability

was measured using a double-walledpermeameter (Chacho and Johnson 1987).In all, measurements were made in 139snow pits and 21 trenches (mean depth:32.4 cm). In total, 2,400 measurements ofsnow depth and snow-ice interface tem-peratures were made.

In general, the snow cover comprisedfour distinctly different types of snow: • soft or moderately hard fine-grained

snow layers; • depth hoar layers; • icy layers, melt-clusters, and percola-

tion columns; and • new or recent snow. The icy features exhibited textures sugges-tive of formation during high winds. Sur-prisingly, all four types of snow were oftenfound together. This textural assemblage isunusual because the four types require dis-tinctly different environmental conditionsto form. Soft and moderately hard fine-grained snow layers are deposited duringperiods of low to moderate winds and tem-

A description of the snow cover on the winter seaice of the Amundsen and Ross Seas

peratures and will metamorphose intoquite different snow if conditions change.Depth hoar results from kinetic crystalgrowth due to strong vertical temperaturegradients in the snow (Trabant and Benson1972; Akitaya 1974; Colbeck 1987). On seaice, strong vertical temperature gradientsoccur during periods of prolonged cold. Icyfeatures are due to rain on snow and/orabove-freezing temperatures followed byrefreezing episodes. Combined, the textur-al features suggest that the snow cover wasdeposited by weather systems that alter-nated between periods of clear cold withlittle wind and periods of warm and wet(even rainy) conditions with very strongwinds. Similar winter conditions had pre-vailed in the Bellingshausen Sea in 1993(Jeffries et al. 1994).

The degree of iciness (percentage oftotal snow cover consisting of ice lenses,layers, percolation columns, and melt-grain clusters) varied in a systematic man-ner across the cruise area. Icinessincreased with decreasing latitude andincreasing proximity to the ice edge (figure1; for cruise track, see Jeffries, Cushing,and Porter, Antarctic Journal, in this issue).At the most southerly stations, the per-centage of iciness remained nearly con-stant (2 to 10 percent) as the ship tra-versed west, but over the same amount ofwestward travel, the degree of icinessincreased at the northern stations by a fac-tor of 4 or 5.

On individual floes, two distinct snowregimes were found: drifted snow in andabout pressure ridges (ridge snow) and athinner snow with surface dunes and/orsastrugi (floe snow) overlying the flat partsof each floe. This pattern is consistent withfindings from other sectors of Antarctica(Wadhams, Lange, and Ackley 1987; Eick-en et al. 1994). Ridge snow was confined toa strip 20 to 40 m wide centered on ridges.Few ridges (5–10 percent areal coverage)were present, so ridge snow covered only asmall fraction of the region. Snow depthacross ridges showed a consistent pattern(figure 2): the depth increased as the ridgewas approached, reached a maximum 1 to2 m either side of the ridge crest, thendecreased rapidly to a minimum (often nosnow) at the crest. This pattern suggeststhat drift deposition occurred on bothsides of the ridges examined and impliesvariable wind directions and/or rotationof floes with respect to the wind. In theWeddell Sea, Eicken et al. (1994) found

snow drifts to lie primarily on one side ofpressure ridges.

Floe snow (the thinner snow not nearpressure ridges) exhibited strong lateralvariability. Layers pinched and swelled;they had undulating upper surfaces sug-gesting deposition as sastrugi or lowdunes. Marked lateral variations in densityand grain size occurred within layers.Meltwater percolation and wicking of seawater from the snow-ice interface pro-duced ice lenses, zones of coarse-grainedsnow, and percolation columns irregularlydistributed both laterally and vertically inthe snow cover, adding to the heterogene-

ity. Because of this heterogeneity, little orno relationship between the snow depthand the thickness of a particular type ofstrata was evident.

Nubbly ice layers (ice layers with 1- to2-cm-high ice nubs or bumps coveringtheir surface) were commonly observed atsnow layer boundaries. These layers were2 to 10 millimeters (mm) thick. Betweentwo and six layers were present at moststations (typical snow depth: 25 to 65 cm),and a sequence of three closely spacednubbly ice layers was traced from station262 to station 274, a distance of more than1,000 kilometers. One nubbly ice layer was


22

Figure 1. Percentage of snow cover exhibiting icy textures as a function of time. The ship’s track wasfrom east to west with north-south zig-zags. See Jeffries, Cushing, and Porter (Antarctic Journal, inthis issue) for cruise track.

Figure 2. Snow depth across five pressure ridges. Note thin snow at ridge crest and characteristicpattern adjacent to ridge.

observed forming when freezing rain wasdriven onto a cold snow surface during aperiod of high wind (wind speed: morethan 15 meters per second; air tempera-ture: 2°C). The surface was cold enoughthat in some locations, droplets froze,whereas in other locations they caused asmall amount of snow melt before freez-ing. This produced a continuous icy crustwith many small bumps or nubs that grewinto the wind.

Four other types of wet-snow features(rounded crystal forms, capillary icecolumns, saline ice layers, and slush) weobserved can be linked directly to salt-water flooding at the base of the snow.Measurements confirmed that these fea-tures were saline, in some cases with salin-ities as high as 60 parts per thousand. Themeasurements also indicated that somesea water had entered the snow pack onvirtually every floe visited. In some cases,only minor amounts of water must havebeen introduced and subsequentlydrained back, leaving depth hoar crystalswith rounded edges as a result of mini-mization of surface free energy in thepresence of liquid water (Colbeck 1986).This rounding gave the snow a gray cast.In other cases, large quantities of waterhad saturated the base of the snow turningit to slush. Above some slush layers, seawater had been wicked upward in capil-lary columns as much as 15 cm. At snow-layer boundaries, this water collected andoften spread laterally forming highlysaline ice lenses and layers perched aboveless saline and less icy snow.

Where salt-water flooding was mini-mal, grain-size profiles in the snowshowed a maximum at the base of thesnow and decreased with height (figure 3).The large grain size at the base was theresult of depth hoar growth. Occasionally,a new or recent surface layer of snow, con-sisting of relatively large, unbroken stellarcrystals, produced a local grain-size maxi-mum at the surface. Locally, extremelylarge melt grain clusters (up to 2 cm diam-eter) were associated with the nubbly icelayers previously discussed. Typical grain-size distributions (as determined by siev-ing) for depth hoar and a soft slab areshown in figure 4.

Only one snow cover examined hadstratigraphic and textural attributes sug-gestive that it had survived more than 1year. At station 281, unusually deep snow(more than 100 cm) was encountered

overlying sea ice in excess of 2 metersthick. The deep snow cover consistedalmost entirely of extremely large depthhoar crystals (greater than 1.5 cm),cemented together by icy zones, percola-tion columns, and ice layers. Large voidspaces (more than 20 cm across) linedwith hoar crystals up to 3 cm in lengthwere found throughout the lower layers ofthe snow. The combination of icy zonesand extremely large depth hoar suggestsnot only that the snow had gone through a

summer melt period and become thor-oughly wet but also that the remainingsnow had had a long period to metamor-phose into depth hoar.

Our preliminary interpretation for thedevelopment of the snow cover over thecruise sector is that during the australwinter, the weather in the region had alter-nated between warm, windy maritimecyclones, often accompanied by rain orabove-freezing temperatures, and pro-longed periods of cold temperatures with


23

Figure 3. Snow pit diagram showing vertical profiles of density, salinity, grain size, temperature, andstratigraphy (station 278). (g cm–3 denotes grams per cubic centimeter.)

Figure 4. Grain-size distributions determined by sieving for a soft slab and depth hoar (station 268).

little or no wind. The texture and densityof the soft and moderate slabs found onthe ice floes suggest that most snowfallhad occurred during moderately windyconditions. The wind during depositioncould not have been excessive, because allobserved snow slabs were either soft oronly moderately hard. We would expectmuch harder slabs if the winds werestrong during deposition, as is the case forarctic snow covers (Benson and Sturm1993). We therefore surmise that the mainwinter deposition of snow on the ice floesdid not occur during the windiest weatherbut perhaps preceded it. The presence ofnubbly ice crusts capping most slabs sug-gests that following periods of deposition,the temperature warmed, sometimes toabove freezing, and the wind increased. Ahypothetical weather pattern would be asfollows: • snow deposition as a cyclone moved in; • thawing and surface melt as the

cyclone arrived (this stabilized thedeposited snow preventing excessivedrifting), then

• high winds, sometimes with drivingrain, producing the nubbly ice layers.

This work was supported by NationalScience Foundation (NSF) grant OPP 93-16767. Captain Joseph Borkowski and theofficers and crew of the R/V Nathaniel B.Palmer and the Antarctic Support Associ-ates personnel contributed to the success

of the study. We also thank NSF and theAntarctic Cooperative Research Centre formaking it possible for Robert Massom toparticipate in this study. We would espe-cially like to thank Campbell Scott, BarneyKane, Doyle Nicodemus, and Bill Young fortheir willingness to collect data for us inwhat was often terrible weather.

References

Akitaya, E. 1974. Studies on depth hoar.Contributions from the Institute of LowTemperature Science, 26A, 1–67.

Benson, C.S., and M. Sturm. 1993. Structure andwind transport of seasonal snow on the arc-tic slope of Alaska. Annals of Glaciology, 18,261–267.

Chacho, E.F., and J. Johnson. 1987. Air perme-ability of snow. EOS, Transactions of theAmerican Geophysical Union, 68, 1271.

Colbeck, S.C. 1986. Classification of seasonalsnow cover crystals. Water ResourcesResearch, 22(9), 59S–70S.

Colbeck, S.C. 1987. Ice crystal morphology andgrowth rates at low supersaturations andhigh temperatures. Journal of AppliedPhysics, 54, 2677–2682.

Eicken, H., M.A. Lange, H. Hubberten, and P.Wadhams. 1994. Characteristics and distrib-ution patterns of snow and meteoric ice inthe Weddell Sea and their contribution tothe mass balance of sea ice. Annals ofGeopysicae, 12, 80–93.

Jeffries, M.O., S. Cushing, and M. Porter. 1995.Sea-ice development in the Ross, Amundsen,and Bellingshausen Seas revealed by analysisof ice cores in late winter 1993 and 1994.Antarctic Journal of the U.S., 30(1–4).

Jeffries, M.O., R. Jaña, S. Li, and S. McCullars.1995. Sea-ice- and snow-thickness distribu-tions in late winter 1993 and 1994 in theRoss, Amundsen, and Bellinghausen Seas.Antarctic Journal of the U.S., 30(1–4).

Jeffries, M.O., K. Morris, A.P. Worby, and W.F.Weeks. 1994. Late winter characteristics ofthe seasonal snow cover on sea-ice floes inthe Bellingshausen and Amundsen Seas.Antarctic Journal of the U.S., 29(1), 9–10.

Sturm, M. 1991. The role of thermal convectionin heat and mass transport in the subarcticsnow cover (USA-CRREL, 91-19). Hanover,New Hampshire: U.S. Army Cold RegionsResearch and Engineering Laboratory.

Sturm, M., and J.B. Johnson. 1992. Thermal con-ductivity measurements of depth hoar.Journal of Geophysical Research, 97,2129–2139.

Trabant, D., and C.S. Benson. 1972. Field experi-ments on the development of depth hoar.Geological Society of America Memoir, 135,309–322.

Wadhams, P., M.A. Lange, and S.F. Ackley. 1987.The ice thickness distribution across theAtlantic sector of the antarctic ocean in mid-winter. Journal of Geophysical Research,92(C13), 14535–14552.

Matthew Sturm, U.S.A. Cold RegionsResearch and EngineeringLaboratory–Alaska, Fort Wainwright,Alaska 99703

Kim Morris, Geophysical Institute,University of Alaska, Fairbanks, Alaska99775-7320

Robert Massom, Antarctic CooperativeResearch Centre, University of Tasmania,Hobart, Tasmania 7001, Australia


24

Spaceborne synthetic aperture radar(SAR) remote sensing offers the oppor-

tunity for detailed, year-round studies ofpolar ocean processes, because activemicrowave sensors can acquire high-reso-lution Earth-surface data regardless oflight and weather conditions. In recentyears, considerable progress has beenmade in understanding not only the inter-actions between active microwave systemsand arctic sea ice but also the implicationsfor remote sensing of sea-ice propertiesand processes (e.g., Carsey 1992). Only afew investigations of radar backscatterfrom antarctic sea ice have been made,and those have been in the Weddell Sea

(e.g., Lytle et al. 1993; Drinkwater, Hos-seinmostafa, and Gogineni 1995).

In August and September 1993, theR/V Nathaniel B. Palmer operated in theBellingshausen and Amundsen Seas in sup-port of a study of sea-ice geophysics (Jef-fries 1994). This included an investigationof in situ radar backscatter variability fromfirst-year ice using a scatterometer mount-ed on the ship and of backscatter variabilityin SAR images derived from data acquiredby the ERS-1 satellite. This article describessome of the results of the in situ scatterom-eter measurements. The spaceborne ERS-1data are discussed in Morris and Jeffries(Antarctic Journal, in this issue).

The scatterometer was mounted onthe starboard bridge wing approximately16 meters above the ice surface. When theship was stationary, the sea-ice surfacewas scanned by the radar to obtainbackscatter coefficient data (σ° expressedin decibels, i.e., dB) as a function of inci-dence angle. The σ° values representbackscatter from a roughly 1 square meterarea that is illuminated by the radar. Mea-surements were made in the C-band (69.8-millimeter wavelength, 5.3-gigahertz fre-quency) at vertical-vertical polarization(VV, corresponding to the ERS-1 and ERS-2 instruments) and horizontal-horizontalpolarization (HH, corresponding to the

C-band radar backscatter from antarctic first-year sea ice: I. In situ scatterometermeasurements

RADARSAT). In addition to being internal-ly calibrated, the system was calibratedexternally using a Luneberg lens placed onthe ice after data acquisition was complet-ed at each sampling site. Observations andmeasurements of snow depth, salinity, andstratigraphy as well as ice temperature andsalinity were then made along the line pre-viously scanned by the scatterometer.

Backscatter variability as a function ofincidence angle for a variety of ice typesand surface conditions is illustrated in fig-ure 1. The effects of ice deformation areshown in figure 1A. The undeformed firstyear (FY) floe comprised 31–36-centimeter(cm) thick ice that had grown undisturbedin a lead. The σ° values for this ice are veryclose to those of similar ice investigated atC-band (VV) in the Weddell Sea (Drinkwa-ter et al. 1995). The level ice σ° values areconsiderably lower than those of thedeformed FY ice, which comprised cakesthat had been severely rafted creating adense array of surface features withheights of 30–50 cm. Such surface rough-ness is a source of strong backscatter(Onstott 1992, pp. 73–104).

The effects of sea-water flooding andwetting of the snow cover are illustrated infigure 1B. At the flooded site, a 10–14-cmthick slush layer (salinity 23‰) was at thebase of the 31–36-cm deep snow cover. Atthe other site, brine had wicked up fromthe ice surface into the 3.5–4.0-cm thicksnow cover; the wetted snow had a meansalinity of 25‰, and liquid brine wouldhave been present in the snow at theobserved snow temperatures of –12° to–8°C. The presence of liquid brine in thesnow cover increases both the dielectricconstant of the wet snow and the dielectric

contrast between wet and dry snow lead-ing to higher σ° values (Lytle et al. 1990,1993). In this case, the σ° values are as highas those for deformed FY ice (figure 1A,B).

The backscatter of undeformed, thinFY ice is compared with that of 5-cm thicknilas in figure 1C. Although the nilas isyounger and more saline (salinity 15.1‰)than the FY ice (mean salinity 6.5±1.1‰)and, thus, might be expected to have lowerbackscatter values than the FY ice, at inci-dence angles ≤30°, the nilas has σ° valuesas high as those from deformed FY ice andfrom ice having a brine soaked snowcover. This is due to the presence of frostflowers covering 95 percent of the surfaceof the nilas. The frost flowers representsignificant roughness elements on theotherwise smooth nilas surface and are asource of strong backscatter (Grenfell et al.1992, pp. 291–301).

The data shown in figure 1 representbackscatter variability at different inci-dence angles during a brief interval at dif-ferent sites. Figure 2 shows that backscatterat a single site can changesignificantly as a functionof time. The decline in σ°values during 19 Septem-ber coincides with lightsnow accumulation as acold front approached fromthe northwest, whereas thelarge increase in backscat-ter during 20 Septemberoccurred as the cold frontmoved past the ship andtemperatures decreasedsharply (from –2° to –10°Cin 8 hours) and windspeeds reached 30 meters

per second. Similar time-dependentbackscatter changes have been observed inthe Weddell Sea pack ice and are attributedto changes in the state of the snow and icecover affected by the changing environ-mental conditions (Drinkwater et al. 1995).The backscatter changes over the course ofalmost any 8-hour period in figure 2 aregreater than those observed during an 8-hour period between ERS-1 SAR imageacquisitions during the same cruise (Mor-ris and Jeffries, Antarctic Journal, in thisissue). Backscatter can remain unchangedif the environmental conditions do not sig-nificantly alter the state of the snow andice cover.

Although some large differences in σ°values at HH and VV polarization are evi-dent in figure 2, the data shown in figure 1are more typical of most of the samplingsites, i.e., the differences between the twopolarizations are quite small at all inci-dence angles. This indicates that it isunlikely that different criteria will berequired for the interpretation of each data


25

Figure 1. Backscatter as a function of incidence angle for different sea-ice types, states, and processes. Solid symbols represent HH polarization data.Open symbols represent VV polarization data. The bold lines marked ERS at the top edge of each graph show the narrow range of incidence angles for theERS SAR instruments. In contrast, RADARSAT data will be available across the entire range of incidence angles shown in the graphs.

Figure 2. Backscatter at a 23° incidence angle as a function oftime at a deformed FY floe (mean thickness 98 cm).

set, and RADARSAT SAR images are likelyto provide similar insights into sea-ice sur-face properties and processes as ERS SARimages. Because RADARSAT will operate indifferent modes, however, and will have awider range of incidence angles than theERS instruments, caution will be required.As the scatterometer data show, a largerrange of backscatter will be observed froma given ice type or surface state.

This work was supported by NationalScience Foundation grant OPP 91-17721.Tony Worby assisted with the observationsand measurements. Edison Chouest Off-shore and Antarctic Support Associatespersonnel contributed to the success ofthe study.

References

Carsey, F.D. (Ed.). 1992. Microwave remote sens-ing of sea ice (Geophysical Monograph 68).

Washington, D.C.: American GeophysicalUnion.

Drinkwater, M.R., R. Hosseinmostafa, and P.Gogineni. 1995. C-band backscatter mea-surements of winter sea ice in the WeddellSea, Antarctica. International Journal ofRemote Sensing, 16(17), 3365–3389.

Grenfell, T.C., D.J. Cavalieri, J.C. Comiso, M.R.Drinkwater, R.G. Onstott, I. Rubinstein, K.Steffen, and D.P. Winebrenner. 1992.Considerations for remote sensing of thinice. In F.D. Carsey (Ed.), Microwave remotesensing of sea ice (Geophysical Monograph68). Washington, D.C.: American Geo-physical Union.

Jeffries, M.O. 1994. R/V Nathaniel B. Palmercruise NBP93-5: Sea ice physics and biologyin the Bellingshausen and Amundsen Seas,August and September 1993. AntarcticJournal of the U.S., 29(1), 7–8.

Lytle, V.I., K.C. Jezek, A.R. Hosseinmostafa, andS.P. Gogineni. 1990. Radar backscatter mea-surements during the Winter Weddell GyreStudy. Antarctic Journal of the U.S., 25(5),123–125.

Lytle, V.I., K.C. Jezek, A.R. Hosseinmostafa, and

S.P. Gogineni. 1993. Laboratory backscattermeasurements over urea ice with a snowcover at Ku band. IEEE Transactions onGeoscience and Remote Sensing, 31(5),1009–1016.

Morris, K., and M.O. Jeffries. 1995. C-band radarbackscatter from antarctic first-year sea ice:II ERS-1 SAR measurements. AntarcticJournal of the U.S., 30(1–4).

Onstott, R.G. 1992. SAR and scatterometer sig-natures of sea ice. In F.D. Carsey (Ed.),Microwave remote sensing of sea ice(Geophysical Monograph 68). Washington,D.C.: American Geophysical Union.

Martin O. Jeffries, Geophysical Institute,University of Alaska, Fairbanks, Alaska99775-7320

Chuah Teong Sek, Radar Systems andRemote Sensing Laboratory, Universityof Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas 66045

Kim Morris, Geophysical Institute,University of Alaska, Fairbanks, Alaska99775-7320


26

Radar backscatter from sea ice is affect-ed by the physical properties of the ice

and the physical processes occurring atthe ice surface. Because it is known thatsome of the surface properties andprocesses of antarctic sea ice differ fromthose of arctic sea ice (Tucker et al. 1992,pp. 9–28), one would expect the radarbackscatter response to differ as well.These potential differences were the sub-ject of an investigation in August andSeptember 1993 when the R/V NathanielB. Palmer operated in the pack ice of theBellingshausen and Amundsen Seas. Atthe time the ship was in the ice, ERS-1 C-band, vertical-vertical (VV) polarized syn-thetic aperture radar (SAR) data wereacquired at the German AntarcticReceiving Station located at O’HigginsBase on the Antarctic Peninsula. Sea-icebackscatter was also investigated using aradar scatterometer mounted on the ship( Jeffries, Chuah, and Morris, AntarcticJournal, in this issue). The ERS-1 SARbackscatter variations are the subject ofthis article.

When possible, the ship was posi-tioned under the satellite path so thatlocal sea-ice conditions could be com-pared to radar backscatter signatures.

Subsequently, backscatter variability wasanalyzed in 107 images [each covering anarea of 100 kilometers (km) by 100 kilome-ters] from 11 orbits (6 descending and 5ascending). The orbits were in the areabetween 72.9°W and 105.6°W and extend-ed from the ice edge to the continent. Theimages were radiometrically calibrated(Laur et al. 1994) and postprocessed toproduce images with a pixel size of 25meters (m) by 25 m and a spatial resolu-tion of 40 m.

On 29 August, the R/V Nathaniel B.Palmer was located at 66.13°S 89.10°W,some 100 km from the ice edge, in a fieldof floes made up of consolidated pan-cakes. The ice concentration was 7/10with 6/10 in the form of 0.6-m thick ice invast (more than 2,000-m) floes with 40–50percent areal coverage of 0.5-m high con-solidated ridges. The ERS-1 satellitepassed over this site twice during an 8-hour period: an ascending pass at06:21:28.217 Greenwich mean time (GMT)(01:16 local time) and a descending pass at14:33:08.579 GMT (09:33 local time). Sub-scenes of the nighttime and daytimeimages are shown in figure 1. The nearuniform gray tones are first-year ice floes,the lighter tones are wind-roughened

water, and the darker tones are new ice.Note that the relative positions of the floeschanged during the 8-hour period. Thebackscatter (σ°) of 14 floes common toboth images was determined. Each floewas sampled, and σ° (mean and standarddeviation) was calculated. The sample sizevaried according to the size of the ice floe.

The σ° determined for each floe iden-tified in figure 1 is plotted in figure 2. Nosignificant backscatter change is observedduring the 8-hour interval between thetwo data sets (–10.62±0.9 dB at 06:21 vs.–10.56±0.5 dB at 14:33). An increase inwind speed from 4 to 16.5 m per secondand a change in wind direction fromnorth-northeast to west-northwestbetween 2000 on 28 August and 1000 on29 August accounts for the movement of,and in some cases the break-up of, the icefloes. During this same period, air temper-atures decreased from –0.5°C to –3.5°Cwith temperatures in the upper portion ofthe snow pack following suit. Snow tem-peratures at the bottom of the snow pack,however, and ice temperatures near theice surface remained constant at –4.5°C.Thus, the snow and ice properties at thesnow-ice interface remained nominallyconstant over the 8-hour period, and no

C-band radar backscatter from antarctic first-year sea ice: II. ERS-1 SAR measurements

significant change in backscatter returnwas detected. This lack of change in theERS-1 SAR backscatter between satelliteoverpasses contrasts with the significantin situ backscatter changes that occurred,on another occasion and at a differentlocation, when a larger temperaturedecrease and higher windspeeds werenoted (Jeffries et al., Antarctic Journal, inthis issue).

Only a small difference in the floe-to-floe σ° values derived for each floe in eachsubscene is evident (figure 2). This phe-nomenon was observed in all of theimages that covered the zone between theice edge and approximately 70°S. Exceptfor leads and icebergs, which are easilydistinguishable from the surrounding seaice in the SAR images, first-year ice has afairly uniform tone indicating low

backscatter variability.In this portion of theBellingshausen Sea icecover, designated theannual pack, floes werecomposed primarily ofmultiple layers of gran-ular ice of frazil origin,evidence that ice devel-opment had been domi-nated by the rafting ofpancakes in the pan-cake cycle (Jeffries et al.1994). Rafting results ina relatively rough surfaceon a decimeter scale. Incontrast to the relativeuniformity of backscat-ter in the annual packice, a much greater σ°

variability was observed in the perennialpack, which extends south from approxi-mately 70°S. Here, spatially complex pat-terns of σ° variability are indicative of agreater variability in ice types.

Probability density functions ofbackscatter for first year ice in the annualpack and the perennial pack, what we cur-rently interpret to be heavily deformed iceand new ice, are presented in figure 3. Themean and standard deviation for the first-year ice in the annual and perennial packare almost identical (–10.1±1.7 dB and–10.4±1.8 dB, respectively). The first-yearice probability density functions andmean σ° values are similar to those report-ed for rough first-year ice in the WeddellSea (Drinkwater, Hosseinmostafa, andGogineni 1995). Unlike Drinkwater et al.(1995), however, we were unable to differ-entiate between undeformed anddeformed first-year ice in the SAR imagesof the Bellingshausen Sea. The “heavilydeformed” ice has a higher σ° value(–8.4±2.6 dB) than the first-year ice where-as the new ice has a very low σ° value(–22.9±0.6 dB). This deformed ice, in whatwe believe to be rubble fields, has a higherσ° value than the first-year ice because ofstrong surface scattering and returns tothe radar from the angular blocks thatconstitute the ridges. In contrast, thesmooth surface of new ice causes specularreflection away from the radar and, thus,lower σ° values.

The backscatter probability densityfunctions and the mean σ° value for theantarctic first-year ice are significantly dif-


27

Figure 1. Two radiometrically calibrated ERS-1 SAR subscenes of first-year ice floes approxi-mately 100 km south of the ice edge in the Bellingshausen Sea acquired 8 hours apart on 29August 1993: orbit 11086, frame 5805 (ascending)—06:21 GMT (A); and orbit 11091, frame4996 (descending)—14:33 GMT (B). The gray scale has been manipulated to increase contrastbetween features within the subscenes, but the gray tones between subscenes remain directlycomparable. Each subscene covers an area 67.5 km by 37 km. Pairs of identical floes, fromwhich σ° values were derived, are numbered. The R/V Nathaniel B. Palmer is located in floe 1 at66.13°S 89.10°W in subscene (A). SAR scenes are copyright ESA, 1993.

Figure 2. Backscatter mean and standard deviations for the floesidentified in figure 1.

ferent from those reported for deformedarctic first-year ice (–13.58±1.04 dB) byKwok and Cunningham (1994). The higherσ° values for the antarctic ice may be due,in part, to the widespread occurrence ofrafting that leads to a rough ice surface asdescribed above. Overall, from the point ofview of active microwave remote sensing,the Bellingshausen Sea ice might have arougher surface than deformed arctic sea

ice and deformation may be more com-mon than in the Weddell Sea. In addition,measurements made during the cruiserevealed that as much as 18 percent ofthe ice surface in the annual pack of theBellingshausen Sea was flooded with seawater. In situ measurements of σ° fromflooded antarctic floes indicate that theintroduction of sea water at the snow/iceinterface creates a strong dielectric dis-continuity between the dry and wet snowand results in strong backscatter (Jeffrieset al., Antarctic Journal, this issue; Lytle etal. 1990, 1993). This might also contributeto the strong first-year ice backscatterobserved in the ERS-1 SAR images.

This work was supported by NationalScience Foundation grant OPP 91-17721. The authors would like to thankChuah Teong Sek for radiometricallycalibrating and postprocessing the ERS-1 SAR images used in this research. Edi-son Chouest Offshore and AntarcticSupport Associates personnel con-tributed to the success of the fieldworkdone in connection with this study.

References

Drinkwater, M.R., R. Hosseinmostafa, and P.Gogineni. 1995. C-band backscatter mea-surements of winter sea ice in the WeddellSea, Antarctica. International Journal ofRemote Sensing, 16(17), 3365–3389.

Jeffries, M.O., T.S. Chuah, and K. Morris. 1995.C-band radar backscatter from antarctic

first-year sea ice: I. In situ scatterometermeasurements. Antarctic Journal of the U.S.,30(1–4).

Jeffries, M.O., K. Morris, A.P. Worby, and W.F.Weeks. 1994. Late winter sea-ice propertiesand growth processes in the Bellingshausenand Amundsen Seas. Antarctic Journal of theU.S., 29(1), 11–13.

Kwok, R., and G.F. Cunningham. 1994.Backscatter characteristics of the winter icecover in the Beaufort Sea. Journal ofGeophysical Research, 99(C4), 7787–7802.

Laur, H., P. Meadows, J.I. Sanchez, and E. Dwyer.1994. ERS-1 SAR radiometric calibration.European Space Agency Report, WPP–048,1–25.

Lytle, V.I., K.C. Jezek, S. Gogineni, R.K. Moore,and S.F. Ackley. 1990. Radar backscattermeasurements during the Winter WeddellGyre Study. Antarctic Journal of the U.S.,25(5), 123–125.

Lytle, V.I., K.C. Jezek, A.R. Hosseinmostafa, andS.P. Gogineni. 1993. Laboratory backscattermeasurements over urea ice with a snowcover at Ku band. IEEE Transactions onGeoscience and Remote Sensing, 31(5),1009–1016.

Tucker, W.B., III, D.K. Perovich, A.J. Gow, W.F.Weeks, and M.R. Drinkwater. 1992. Physicalproperties of sea ice relevant to remote sens-ing. In F.D. Carsey (Ed.), Microwave remotesensing of sea ice (Geophysical Monograph68). Washington, D.C.: American Geo-physical Union.

Kim Morris and Martin O. Jeffries,Geophysical Institute, University of Alaska,Fairbanks, Alaska 99775-7320


28

Figure 3. Probability density functions derived fromERS-1 SAR images of the Bellingshausen Sea forouter pack first-year ice (a), inner pack first-year ice(b), highly deformed ice (c), and undeformed newice (d).

The following lists National ScienceFoundation (NSF) supported re-

searchers and employees of AntarcticSupport Associates (ASA), NSF’s supportcontractor, who wintered at the three U.S.year-round stations—McMurdo, Amund-sen–Scott South Pole, and Palmer—duringthe 1995 austral winter and U.S. NavySupport Force, Antarctica (NSFA) personnelwho wintered at McMurdo Station during1995. The list is arranged by station withnames in alphabetical order. For re-searchers, the title of their research projectand the name of the institution to whichthe NSF grant was awarded are indicated;for employees of ASA and NSFA personnel,positions at the station are included.

McMurdo StationAble, Patrick H., ASA, boiler mechanicAkens, Jeffrey S., ASA, crash firefighterAldous, Danny M., ASA, operatorAlmy, William D., Jr., ASA, electricianAnderson, Tobi T., ASA, structure firefighterAuchincloss, William B., IC1, NSFABaker, Michael L., ASA, electricianBelarde, Paul E., ASA, electricianBennett, MaiBritt, ASA, administratorBennett, William J., ASA, carpenterBennett, William M., ASA, materialspersonBerggren, Allen C., ASA, technicianBertola, Steven J., ASA, boiler mechanicBirkmeyer, Louis A., ASA, mechanicBirkmeyer, Michael E., ASA, senior materials-

personBjorkman, Paul E., ASA, plumberBlachut, Michael J., ASA, refrigeration mechanicBoone, Esther R., ASA, cook

Bostick, John N., ASA, supervisorBracey, Lester P., ASA, cookBreining, David W., ASA, pipefitterBrock, Sunny G., ASA, materialspersonBrown, Larry J., ASA, fuels operatorBrown, Lester C., YN1, NSFABrown, Todd D., ASA, carpenterCallahan, Robert C., ASA, materialspersonCarroll, Valerie, ASA, administrative coordinatorCarter, Jenifer A., ASA, administratorCarver, Thomas S., ASA, supervisorChambers, Mark L., ET1, NSFAChappell, Michael R., ASA, crash firefighterCofield, Johnny L., ASA, mechanicCortner, Rex M., ASA, operatorCowman, Jeffrey L., ASA, materialspersonCrenshaw, John E., ASA, pipefitterCrossland, Mariah J., ASA, senior materials-

personCrowley, Andrew T., ASA, help desk specialist

U.S. support and science personnel winter atthree stations

Cully, Timothy J., ASA, supervisorD’Agostino, Thomas S., HMC, NSFADay, James F., ASA, electricianDeCroce, Tonya L., ASA, administrative

assistantDelGiudice, Marcello A., ASA, mechanicDelmastro, David D., ASA, painterDevore, Geoffrey W., DK2, NSFADicks, Ethan, ASA, computer technicianDrake, Robert E., Jr., ASA, sheetmetal workerDrummond, Stephen S., ASA, captain, crash

and fire unitDunne, Craig M., ASA, materialspersonDunsworth, Franklin L., ASA, plumber foremanEgeland, Harry A., ASA, mechanicEischens, Steen A., ASA, linemanEnlow, Timothy S., ASA, materialspersonEpps, Don M., ASA, electricianErb, Christopher L., ASA, cookEvensen, David R., ASA, technicianFink, Douglas A., ASA, waste management

technicianFliss, Thomas E., ASA, serviceFoley, Robert G., ASA, electricianForaker, Jay A., ASA, carpenterFortson, James L., ASA, senior materialspersonFreeman, J.B., ASA, construction coordinatorFrontz, Jeffri H., ASA, senior computer

technicianGarner, Angela L., AG2, NSFAGilliland, Cheryl L., ASA, waste management

technicianGjorstad, Anne C., ASA, bakerGober, Harold G., ASA, plumberGould, Carol V., ASA, materialspersonGrandchamp, Sandy K., ASA, senior materials-

personGrant, Kent D., RM2, NSFA

Gulick, Cheryl C., ASA, materialspersonHagel, Steven L., ASA, mechanicHall, Kimberly G., AC1, NSFAHall, Madison W., ASA, utility mechanicHancock, Michael J., ASA, MAPCON

programmerHartford, Michelle K., ASA, painterHaugland, Heather W., ASA, carpenter helperHendricks, Ronald J., ASA, fuelsHerring, Christopher J., ASA, mechanicHinson, Lenore F., ASA, cookHoagland, Marybeth, ASA, assistant supervisorHogan, Alan P., ASA, general field assistantHoog, Timothy J., ASA, electricianHoward, Scott R., ASA, crash firefighterHowarth, Victoria L., ASA, serviceHumbert, Scott E., LT, NSFAHunter, Mary E., ASA, clerkHyer, Randall N., LT, NSFAJung, Christopher R., ASA, structure firefighterJurado, Alberto A., ASA, materialspersonKaul, Robert J., Jr., ASA, general field assistantKhoo, David E., ASA, work-order specialistKirse, Rudolph L., III, ASA, hazardous waste

specialistKober, Wendy M., ASA, technicianKoerschen, Jeffrey L., ASA, fire systems

technicianKoontz, Benjamin M., ASA, materialspersonKraemer, Stephen R., ASA, MAPCON data

specialistKuder, Shelley D., ASA, quality-control inspectorKuehn, Bradley E., ASA, sheetmetal foremanLabelle, Jill, ASA, work order specialistLarson, Erik C., ASA, serviceLayman, William J., Jr., ASA, mechanicLester, James K., ASA, mechanicLongo, Joseph, ASA, science technician

Lopinto, Anthony S., RMC, NSFALopus, Mark T., ASA, materialspersonLozano, Robert L., ASA, draftspersonMaddy, Frank M., ASA, plumberMarchetti, Peter A., ASA, carpentry shop foremanMartin, Albert G., III, NSF station managerMartin, Barbara J., ASA, dispatcherMartin, David E., ASA, utility mechanicMartin, Marvin E., ASA, mechanicMattila, Edward G., ASA, mechanicMcCarton, James J.., ASA, preventive

maintenanceMcIntyre, Jon J., ASA, utility mechanicMcLean, Russel R., ASA, carpenterMcPhail, Glen D., MS1, NSFAMelton, Mark R., ASA, lead structure firefighterMendoza, Enrique, AGAN, NSFAMickelson, James G., ASA, operatorMiller, Anthony J., HM1, NSFAMiller, Thom W., ASA, carpenterMilligan, Joseph P., ASA, painterMinneci, Michael R., ASA, materialspersonMoody, Niam M., ASA, general field assistantMoody, Thomas J., ASA, engineering aideMorin, Pami L., ASA, administrative assistantMoxon, Chris A., ASA, mechanicMoxon, Jennifer, ASA, inventory control

specialistMuir, Randy, ASA, clerkMurphy, Jay K., ASA, mechanicMurray, David A., ASA, materialspersonNavarro, Kenneth M., ASA, senior materials-

personNavas, David, ET2, NSFANavas, Susan, ASA, serviceNeighbors, Kevin C., ASA, communication

technicianNelson, Catherine M., ASA, materialspersonNess, Gerald T., ASA, winter operations

supervisorNielsen, Daniel W., ASA, electricianNoring, Kari A. ASA, materialspersonNoton, Gail M., ASA, supervisorNottke, Connie L., ASA, senior materialspersonO’Brien, Ronald W., ASA, mechanicOchs, Daire M., ASA, serviceOlsen, Randy L., ASA, construction coordinatorOxton, Alfred J., ASA, senior communications

technicianPalko, Robert H., ASA, computer field engineerParr, James C., ASA, operatorParrott, Christi R., ASA, servicePennell, Thomas L., satellite communication

installation/National Aeronautics and SpaceAdministration

Perales, Richard, ASA, insulatorPerry, Mitchell R., ASA, senior communications

technicianPickering, Jeffrey A., ASA, crash firefighterPizano, Rafael, ASA, senior materialspersonPoehler, Donald L., Sr., ASA, electrical shop

foremanPomraning, Verne J., ASA, senior materialspersonPoorman, Russell A., ASA, mechanicPorter, David L., ASA, senior materialspersonPrchlik, Richard A., ASA, firefighterProchko, Trenton W., ASA, plumberPropst, Barbara G., ASA, materialspersonPutrus, Vince A., ASA, linemanRamage, Yvonne E., ASA, network administrator


29

President’s Midwinter’s Day message 1995

Greetings to the international community of scientists and support personnelwintering in Antarctica on this year’s Midwinter’s Day.Science is a limitless frontier. As we explore and extend this frontier, we increase

our understanding of the world around us and improve our ability to respond to newchallenges. This knowledge is a resource of inestimable value and the key to abrighter future.

As a natural laboratory, Antarctica plays an important role in this process of dis-covery. Even before people first arrived at its icy threshold, the possibility of the con-tinent’s existence fueled the human drive to learn. Since its discovery, many explorershave sought its remote shores, and scientists have worked to uncover the secrets ofthe continent’s past to understand its role in the future. These investigators signifi-cantly advanced scientific understanding, opening our eyes to see Antarctica not asan isolated region but as an integral component of the global system.

Extending a tradition of excellence in science and creating valuable cooperativepartnerships among individuals and among nations, all of you who work in Antarcti-ca have an exciting opportunity at hand. By conveying to others what you havelearned, you can help the public to understand the value of scientific research, toembrace the principles of responsible environmental stewardship, and to help pre-pare people everywhere for the challenges of the twenty-first century.

On behalf of all Americans, I applaud you for your efforts and wish you muchcontinued success.

—Bill Clinton

Ramirez, Ronald R., ASA, fire inspectorRasor, John P., ASA, supervisorRehmel, Robert S., ASA, communications

technicianReyes, Juan J., ASA, inventory control specialistRobinson, Daniel B., ASA, mechanicRogers, Peggy A., ASA, cookRolle, Tyrone M., ETC, NSFARoot, Cynthia J., ASA, waste management

specialistRooth, Glenn T., ASA, cookRuddell, Bill W., ASA, materialspersonRyan, Jeffrey P., ASA, operatorSale, John H., ASA, field engineerSanchez, Bernard J., DP2, NSFASchneider, Chad D., ASA, structure firefighterSchroeder, Scott A., ET2, NSFASchwall, Karen Ann, ASA, winter resident managerSegler, Richard L., ASA, utility mechanicSelf, Corky J., ASA, structure firefighterSelzler, David L., ASA, mechanicSemmler, Sundown D., ASA, operatorShaefer, Toni M., ASA, serviceShapiro, Dean A., ASA, serviceSheid, Elizabeth D., ASA, science technicianSheid, Robert W., ASA, machinistShulander, Sean E., RM3, NSFASimonson, Rebecca A., ASA, clerkSimpson, Robert E., Jr., ASA, technicianSlack, Donnie R., satellite communication

installation/National Aeronautics and SpaceAdministration

Smith, Danny W., ASA, technicianSmith, David L., ASA, boiler mechanicSmith, David R., ASA, technicianSmith, Howard D., ASASmith, Jeffrey A., ASA, supervisorSmith, Scott F., ASA, plumberSmock, Christine E., ET2, NSFASnyder, Frederick R., ASA, lead crash firefigherSpain, Joseph G., AG1, NSFAStacy, Donald R., ASA, operatorStacy, Judith, ASA, serviceStacy, Sharon A., ASA, materialspersonStark, Duane C., ASA, materialspersonStarling, David C., ASA, senior materialspersonStarling, Jennifer K., ASA, materialspersonSteichen, Kevin R., ASA, mechanicStockard, Edward R., ASA, mechanicStokes, Ralph W., ASA, construction supervisorStout, Hope E., ASA, coordinatorStowell, Roren L., ASA, serviceStrom, Melanie R., ASA, hairstylistStrow, Larry G., ASA, operatorTackett, Marci R., ASA, cookTams, Eileen C., ASA, materials requisition

specialistTaulbee, Jon D., ASA, phone technicianTeetsell, Gary W., ASA, main facility engineer,

Crary Science and Engineering CenterTeske, Christopher M., waste management

technicianTestin, Andrew P., ASA, technicianThompson, Cynthia D., RM2, NSFATomczyk, Scott T., ASA, electricianTrboyevich, Michael B., ASA, carpenter foremanTrimingham, Terry S., ASA, general field assistantTucker, Marvin, PN1, NSFATurnbull, Kristopher L., ASA, linemanVanmiddlesworth, Eva L., RM1, NSFAVinson, Paul T., ASA, hazardous waste specialist

Walton, Debra K., ASA, materialspersonWestern, Diamond J., ASA, preventive

maintenance mechanicWeston, Shelley, ASA, waste management

technicianWetterlin, Diane, ASA, materialspersonWhite, Andrea L., ASA, serviceWhite, John B., Jr., ASA, materialspersonWilliams, Gina M., ASA, materialspersonWilliams, Lisa A., ASA, materialspersonWilliams, Samuel F., ASA, operatorWilson, Mark A., ASA, plumberWinckler, Andrea C., ASA, serviceWood, Alan B., ASA, serviceYounger, Marilyn J., ASA, inventory control

specialistZilar, Anthony M., HM1, NSFAZinke, Lyle D., ASA, technician

Amundsen–Scott South Pole StationBooth, John F., ASABuesser, Emily C., ASAChamberlin, Richard A., Jr., “CARA: Antarctic

submillimeter telescope and remote sensingobservatory (AST/RO),” SmithsonianAstrophysical Observatory, Cambridge,Massachusetts

Charpentier, Paul J., “Rayleigh and sodium lidarstudies of the troposphere, stratosphere, andmesosphere of Amundsen–Scott South PoleStation,” University of Illinois, Urbana, Illinois

Cleavelin, Christopher L., ASACuddy, Katherine A., ASADunn, Alton G., III, ASAFreeman, Gary E., ASAHampton, Drew D., ASAJones, Andrew R., “Probing the solar interior and

atmosphere from the geographic South Pole,”National Optical Observatory, Tucson, Arizona

Koester, David A., ASALee, Robert E., Jr., ASALloyd, James P., “CARA: South Pole infrared

explorer (SPIREX)” University of Chicago,Chicago, Illinois

Logan, Andrew D., ASALogan, Diana J., ASALutz, Jeffrey S., ASA

Makarov, Nikolai A., “Planetary waves in theantarctic mesopause region,” University ofColorado, Boulder, Colorado

Masterman, Michael F., “Cosmic BackgroundRadiation Anistropy (COBRA),” Carnegie-Mellon University, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

McAfee, Billy M., Jr., ASAMcNitt, Katharine A.,, “South Pole monitoring

for climate change,” National Oceanic andAtmospheric Administration, ClimateMonitoring and Diagnostics Laboratory,Boulder, Colorado

Otten, Jeffrey C., “South Pole monitoring for cli-mate change,” National Oceanic andAtmospheric Administration, ClimateMonitoring and Diagnostics Laboratory,Boulder, Colorado

Parlin, John T., ASA, station managerPokrob, Albert G., ASASharp, Kathie A.H., ASASmith, Johnny P., ASAStathis, Martha K., ASASverdrup, Eileen K., ASATatley, Thomas J., ASA

Palmer StationByce, Rick D., ASACarlson, Robert D., ASACostello, Dennis L., ASADickens, Jordan L., ASAGrant, Glenn E., ASAHuckins, Paul G., ASAKiyota, Kirk A., ASA, station managerLenox, Mary E., ASALewis, Martin E., ASALux, Paul F., ASAMahoney, Jacqueline F., ASAPeterson, Corey J., ASARedlon, Matthew D., ASARothermel, Margaret E., ASASadzikowski, Mark R., ASASamojla, Mark S., ASAShea, Caryl, ASATollefson, Robert B., ASAVella, David A., ASAWilliams, Brian L., ASAZadra, Dennis F., ASA


30

Sailor dies from fall at Castle Rock

Asecond-class petty officer, who was temporarily assigned to Navy Cargo Handlingand Port Group Detachment Yankee, died 30 January 1995 as the result of an acci-

dental fall from Castle Rock, a scenic spot 8 kilometers from McMurdo Station. Theday of the accident, the man and his hiking partner left McMurdo Station at approxi-mately 1:00 p.m. for Castle Rock, following the well-marked trail that leads from thestation to the popular recreational destination. The accident occurred at approxi-mately 3:30 p.m., as the two men were attempting to climb down the steeper, moretreacherous face of Castle Rock.

After the accident, the man’s hiking partner returned to McMurdo, a traverse thatis described as a steep, uphill climb on a snow-packed trail, arriving at approximately8:00 p.m., to report the incident. A search-and-rescue team was immediately dis-patched via a VXE-6 helicopter, and at 9:10 p.m., the victim was recovered from CastleRock and returned to McMurdo Medical Clinic.

The victim had been assigned to temporary duty to offload a cargo vessel bringingsupplies to the station and had been in McMurdo for 3 days. McMurdo personnel reportthat he had received the outdoor safety lecture required of all residents of the station.

Antarctic Support Associates (ASA), asthe primary contractor to the National

Science Foundation for support to theUnited States Antarctic Program, hasestablished an Antarctic Research VesselOversight Committee (ARVOC). This arti-cle introduces the committee, describesits charge, provides information regardingantarctic research ships and their capabili-ties, and advertises an ARVOC-relatedelectronic bulletin board. The latter repre-sents a platform through which theantarctic research community and ARVOCcan communicate regarding ship-relatedmatters, such as ship scheduling, equip-ment acquisitions or needs, and ARVOCagenda items or announcements.

ARVOC’s role

ARVOC represents the interdisciplinaryscientific interests of the United States

Antarctic Program’s ice-capable researchships, currently the Nathaniel B. Palmerand Polar Duke. Specifically, the commit-tee provides recommendations and adviceconcerning the following:

• acquisition and use of shipboardequipment and instrumentation;

• shipboard computer systems; • ship scheduling (particularly long-

range) issues; and• staffing, communications, space allo-

cation, and anything else that improvesthe research capability of the program.

The committee, whose members serve3-year rotating terms, consists of eight sci-entists from the research community (table1), representing most disciplines involvedin sea-going polar research programs. Allmembers bring valuable shipboard experi-ence, and most are directly involved withUSAP’s ships through their research.

The ARVOC will meet formally at leastonce a year, though initially it will meetmore frequently until most of the funda-mental issues facing this new committeehave been articulated and a plan of actionhas been formulated and implemented. Todate, the committee has met twice: thefirst time to identify general issues requir-ing attention; the second, to focus onsome of the more urgent issues, such as

long-range ship scheduling and establish-ment of guidelines for equipment acquisi-tion and ship modifications. Future meet-ings will likewise focus on specific topics.

The two antarctic ice-capable researchships ARVOC oversees, Polar Duke andNathaniel B. Palmer, have the capabilitiesdescribed below (see table 2 for generalspecifications).

The Polar Duke

An ice-strengthened vessel, 219 feet(65.7 meters) long, the Polar Duke

operates in the marginal ice zone aroundthe Antarctic Peninsula region where itsupports Palmer Station and sea-goingresearch programs. The ship has onboardpersonal computer facilities including aDOS network.

The Polar Duke has three winches forconductivity-temperature-depth (CTD)measurements, hydrographic and trawl/coring capabilities, a stern A-frame, star-board hydro davit and “Hero” platform,and three cranes. Various laboratory vansfor radioisotope and environmental work


31

A new committee for the oversight of antarcticresearch vessels

Table 1. ARVOC membership, affiliations, and contact information

Douglas Martinson Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory [email protected] (914) 365-8830 (914) 365-8736(Chair) Columbia University

Martin Jeffries University of Alaska [email protected] (907) 474-5257 (907) 474-7290

David Karl SOEST [email protected] (808) 956-8964 (808) 956-9516University of Hawaii

Amy Leventer Limnological Research Center [email protected] (612) 624-7005 (612) 625-3819University of Minnesota

James Morison Polar Research Center [email protected] (206) 543-1394 (206) 543-3521University of Washington

Carol Raymond Jet Propulsion Laboratory [email protected] (818) 354-8690 (818) 393-5059California Institute of Technology

Bruce Robison Monterey Bay Aquarium [email protected] (408) 647-3721 (408) 649-8587Research Institute

Ray Weiss Scripps Institution of [email protected] (619) 534-3205 (619) 455-8306Oceanography

University of Californiaat San Diego

Member AffiliationElectronic mail

Phone number Fax numberaddress

are available as is diving support. MK IIand MK V Zodiacs are available for scien-tific use. The Polar Duke is at sea approxi-mately 300 days a year.

The Polar Duke, in service for 9 years,is currently operated through a lease toASA from Reiber, Inc. It will be replaced,upon completion of the lease, by theLawrence M. Gould, a ship that is beingbuilt by Edison Chouest Offshore. Thereplacement ship, to be operated througha 5-year lease to ASA, is scheduled tobegin operation in fiscal year 1997. Its sci-entific instrumentation will come from thePolar Duke. General specifications of thereplacement vessel are listed in table 2.

The Nathaniel B. Palmer

Arecent addition to the fleet, theNathaniel B. Palmer is USAP’s research

ship with ice-breaking capabilities and pro-vides the United States with a means ofexploring the far reaches of the antarcticwaters. It sometimes provides vital logisticssupport to the scientific programs on theantarctic continent and continental mar-gin. The Nathaniel B. Palmer, a 308-foot-long (92.4-meter) general-purpose oceano-graphic ship, can operate anywhere within

the antarctic sea-ice fields and can main-tain approximately 3 knots in 1-m-thick ice.

The ship has extensive onboard com-puter facilities including a local area net-work with ports in each stateroom.Closed-circuit TVs in each of the state-

rooms and labs provide views of variousship locations (outboard and winch loca-tions) and extensive real-time data dis-plays (such as ship location, speed, winds,and data traces).

The Nathaniel B. Palmer also has avariety of winches for CTD measurements,hydrographic and trawl/coring capabili-ties, A-frames on the stern and starboardside, a 6-ton hydraulic boom that extendsoutboard directly from the Baltic Roomwith a 15-foot (4.5-meter) reach, and sev-eral articulated cranes having capacitiesfrom 2.5 to 10 tons, capable of servicingforward and aft decks. A general purposelaboratory van and another configured asan isotope lab are available. A 26-foot (7.8-meter) steel boat having forward cabinand aft working deck and two MK V Zodi-aks are available for scientific purposes.The ship has a helicopter deck and hangarcapable of supporting two small heli-copters. The Nathaniel B. Palmer is at seaapproximately 300 days a year.

The ship had its inaugural cruise inMarch of 1992 (supporting Ice StationWeddell–1 and sailing through some of thethickest sea ice around Antarctica). It isoperated through a 10-year lease to ASAfrom Edison Chouest Offshore.

The complexities of ship scheduling

Both ships are available for NSF-sup-ported sea-going research programs

through the usual method of competitiveproposals. Scientists planning sea-going


32

Polar Duke, which the National Science Foundation leases through its support contractor AntarcticSupport Associates, has supported research throughout the Antarctic Peninsula region and hastransported supplies, equipment, and personnel to and from Palmer Station for a decade. Thisship, as a result of a major government contract competition, will be replaced shortly by theLaurence Gould, a ship currently under construction.

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The Laurence M. Gould, shown here in the preliminary design drawing, is scheduled for completion inmid-1997. With over 1,600 square feet of laboratory space, the Gould can house 23 scientists (plus12 in vans) for cruises lasting 75 days. The specifications and planned instrumentation are listed intable 2.


33

Laurence McKinley Gould, who was born on his family’s farmin Lacota, Michigan, on 22 August 1896, died in a Tucson,

Arizona, retirement home on 20 June 1995. Gould served assenior scientist and second in command for Admiral RichardByrd’s first antarctic expedition 1928–1930. That was to be thefirst of many expeditions Gould would take to Antarctica, kin-dling his interest in the continent as a haven for science.

During the First Byrd Antarctic Expedition, Byrd andGould established an exploration base at Little America on theRoss Ice Shelf. Gould and two other men (Bernt Balchen andHarold June) then flew a ski-equipped Fokker Universal mono-plane, named “The Virginian,” 2 hours east to the newly dis-covered Rockefeller Mountains in the Queen Maud Range,West Antarctica. Gould’s party anchored the Fokker solidly tothe ice, but the wind grew so strong that the light, cloth-cov-ered plane was lifted from its moorings into the air, its pro-peller beating as though it were in flight. One member of theparty, who had been in the Fokker keeping a radio schedulewhen the winds came up, reported looking out and seeingGould “hanging onto a rope attached to one of the wing tips.He was blown straight out, like a flag.” The plane was irrepara-bly damaged by the storm, and Byrd had to rescue the party ina larger plane.

Gould led a second party of five back to the Queen MaudMountains, this time by sledge, traveling 2,400 kilometersalong the route Norwegian Roald Amundsen had taken 17years earlier in his race to beat Englishman Robert F. Scott tothe South Pole. In a cairn named by Amundsen, Gould foundone of Amundsen’s notes from that historic expedition.Gould’s party’s primary goal was to explore the Queen MaudMountains and to set up an advanced base for Byrd’s plannedflight to the South Pole, and on his mission, Gould was asmuch a geologist as an explorer. From the Queen Maud Moun-tains, he radioed back to Byrd,

No symphony I have ever heard, no work of art before which Ihave stood in awe gave me quite the thrill I had when I reachedout after that strenuous climb [up Mount Fidjtof Nansen] andpicked up a rock to find it sandstone. It was just the rock I hadcome all the way to Antarctica to find…

Gould’s 1931 book about that expedition, Cold: The Recordof an Antarctic Sledge Journey, concludes with a statement thatdefines his scientific career. “I had rather go back to theAntarctic,” he writes, “and find a fossil marsupial than threegold mines.”

Over the next three decades, Gould returned to Antarcticafrequently, his research and publications contributing signifi-cantly to the growing body of antarctic literature. On a 1969expedition with Grover Murray to the Beardmore Glacier, hisparty found a vertebrate fossil closely resembling fossils thathad just been found in South Africa, providing concrete evi-dence to support the theory that Africa and Antarctica had

once been attached. He radioed Washington that this was “notonly the most important fossil ever found in Antarctica, butone of the truly great fossil finds of all time.”

Educated at the University of Michigan between 1916 and1925, Gould first intended to study law but was attracted togeology instead through his close association with ProfessorWilliam H. Hobbs, in whose home he was given a room inexchange for tending the furnace and the lawn. Gould citesHobbs’s “bouyancy and infectious enthusiasm” for geology asthe life-changing influence that moved him from an interest inthe law to a love of science. “I probably owe more to Hobbs,”Gould wrote in a memorial to the professor, “than to any otherperson I have known.”

In 1926, Gould began teaching geology at the University ofMichigan. Six years later, he accepted a teaching position atCarleton College, where he not only founded the Departmentof Geology and Geography upon his arrival but also served ascollege president from 1945 to 1962. In his retirement, Gouldreturned to teaching, this time at the University of Arizona atTucson. He was remembered by one former student in TheVoice of the Carleton Alumni as “a scientist fascinated by thepursuit of truth and knowledge” who had “the spirit of thescholar, the soul of the poet and adventurer, and a special abil-ity to communicate his passion for learning to his students.”

Gould served in World War I both in the Italian Army andwith the American Expeditionary Forces, and during WorldWar II, he took 2 years leave of absence from Carleton Collegeto serve as Chief of the Arctic Branch of the Arctic, Desert, andTropic Information Center of the U.S. Army Air Corps.

For the International Geophysical Year in 1957–1958,Gould headed the American delegation to the planning meet-ings for the unprecedented 11-country scientific endeavor. Formany years, Gould chaired the Committee on Polar Researchof the National Academy of Sciences and headed the SpecialCommittee on Antarctic Research, an international organiza-tion that coordinates efforts in Antarctica. His work on thesebodies helped smooth the way for the adoption of the interna-tional Antarctic Treaty in 1959, which ensures that the antarc-tic continent and the waters around it will “…continue foreverto be used exclusively for peaceful purposes.” Gould alsoserved on the National Science Board (1963–1970) and aschairman of the Advisory Panel on Polar Programs of theNational Science Foundation (1953–1962).

Gould was the recipient of 24 honorary doctorates and 10medals and awards. To commemorate his lifelong contribu-tions to south polar scientific exploration, six different physi-cal features in Antarctica have been named for him, and thenew research ship commissioned by the National ScienceFoundation for use in the U.S. Antarctic Program will also bearhis name—the Laurence M. Gould.

Antarctic explorer and geologist Laurence M. Gould dies at age 98

programs, however, are sometimesunaware of competing plans, incompati-bilities in regional foci, and opportunitiesfor participation in other cruises. This lackof awareness can reduce operational effi-ciency, make long-range ship schedulingdifficult, increase anxiety in the planningprocess, and even discourage some scien-tists from proposing sea-going programs.

In an attempt to achieve a more opti-mal ship scheduling process, ARVOChopes to make scheduling accessible tothe research community by experimentingwith a public, albeit purely voluntary,component. Toward this goal, ARVOC hasestablished a “list-server” and electronicbulletin board to serve as an open forumthrough which, among other things,planned or desired sea-going programscan be openly aired. ARVOC would like toinvite investigators to submit some basicinformation regarding such programs tothe ARVOC bulletin board. The basic infor-mation should include• time and duration of the program (this

may be a specific time, or more gener-ally a season or year, and any flexibilityin this schedule);

• type of research program;• general region;• number of participants involved,

required, or desired; and• whether the program would be a prin-

cipal user of the ship or could supple-ment another program (if the former, isroom for ancillary programs available?and if so, are specific or general onesneeded?).

The group offering the field plan mayremain anonymous if it desires.

ARVOC will assimilate this informa-tion into a general, evolving schedule rep-resenting “expressions of interest” thatwould be available for examinationthrough the bulletin board. The schedulewill clearly distinguish between fundedprograms (for which the ships are definite-ly committed) and those still beingplanned or proposed. Please note that thebulletin board is an ASA and ARVOC activi-ty and is not part of the NSF fundingprocess. The submission of bulletin boardinformation is in no way a prerequisite forsubmission of an NSF proposal. The desirehere is simply to keep the sea-going com-munity aware of future plans. It is an effortto coordinate scheduling between pro-grams more efficiently, coordinate regionalconcentrations, identify major scheduling

conflicts or gaps, and encourage individu-als to participate in cruises in which ancil-lary programs can be accommodated.

We recognize the sensitivities thatmay be involved in attempting such anopen forum for ship scheduling. Forexample, often groups of investigators gettogether and plan a particular programfor which they do not desire outside par-

ticipation. In an attempt to encouragesuch groups to publicize their ship planswhile protecting their privacy, we do notrequire that names or discipline be given.We will display any explicitly stated pro-gram needs, however, and will help bringtogether complementary groups or indi-viduals where explicitly stated needs rep-resent an apparent match. We welcome


34

Table 2. Antarctic research vessel specifications and general instrumentation

Year built 1992 1983 Mid-1997

Length (ft) 308 219 230Beam (ft) 60 43 46Displacement (lt) 6,800 2,973 3,123

Horsepower (BHP@1000 erpm) 12,700 4,500 5,400

Speed in open ocean (kts) 12 10 12Speed in icea (kts/m) ~3 ~1 ~1

Crew 22 13 13ASA personnel 5 3 3Science party 32 23 23

(+12 in vans)Endurance (maximum number of days) 75 75 75

Laboratory space (ft2) 5,500 1,400 1,637

aActual speed and endurance is strongly dependent on ice conditions such as snow cover, hard-ness, and compaction.bResearch instrumentation and equipment are also available from Palmer and McMurdo Stationlaboratories, although availability is dependent on cruise time and station requirements. The ASASIP forms (available from ASA and on the Web) provide additional instrumentation and equip-ment specifications and details.

All vessels: INMARSAT (voice, fax, telex, e-mail); high-frequency andvery-high-frequency radio

All vessels: Real-time data-acquisition system; sea-water aquaria;deep-sea piston coring systems (standard and jumbo); dredges;Seabird CTD rosette; 5-, 10-, and 30-liter Niskin bottles and 12-liter Go-Flo bottles; wind speed and direction, air temperaturemonitors; nutrient autoanalyzer; salinometer and fluorometer; SIP-PICAN MK 9 digital expendable bathythermograph system; 3.5-and 12-kilohertz sonar; magnetometer; Furuno hull-mounted, sec-tor-scanning sonar; trawls (IKMT, PLANKTON, BLAKE, OTTER);nets; radioisotope vans and dive-support vans; echo sounder

Seabeam; magnetic gradiometer;multichannelseismics

All vessels: Networked DOS (with Windows) and Macintosh computers

SGI workstations withEthernet backbone

Communications capability

Scientific instruments and special facilitiesb

Computers

Specification/Nathaniel B. Palmer Polar Duke Laurence M. Gould

instrumentation

suggestions for improving this mecha-nism and expect that the manner inwhich it operates will evolve with timeand experience.

In addition to ship scheduling, weintend to use the bulletin board for gener-al announcements; to provide minutes ofthe ARVOC meetings; and to solicit com-munity input to relevant issues, equip-ment needs, and ship modifications. Theequipment and ship modification lists willbe compiled and prioritized for continual

shipboard improvements; it, too, will bemade available through this means.

How to participate

The bulletin board will be a centrallocation on which information of

interest will remain posted, and the list-server will be a means through which the“subscribers” can initiate, participate in,or simply monitor, communitywide dis-cussion and debate on any topic of gener-al interest. ARVOC invites all interested

parties to contact the list-server andbecome subscribers. This is done auto-matically by sending a message to

[email protected] text of the message should read

subscribe ARVOCOnce this is done, you can send messagesto ARVOC at the address

[email protected] message will then be forwarded to allsubscribers. Subscribers will also receivemessages notifying them of new informa-tion posted to the bulletin board, instruc-tions for accessing the bulletin board, andother announcements of interest. If youare interested in instructions regardinguse of the bulletin board but do not wishto subscribe to the list-server, please con-tact Lynne Drew, Administrative Assistant,Marine Science, ASA, at

[email protected] (303) 790-8606, for instructions.

In addition to the list-server, ARVOCwill attempt to interact openly with thecommunity at public forums to be held atcertain national meetings. Besides dis-seminating general information and solic-iting community feedback, ARVOC willalso present the ship scheduling informa-tion at these meetings allowing investiga-tors an opportunity to interact more open-ly, if desired, for further coordination.

ARVOC is committed to attaining thebest possible antarctic shipboard opera-tions and scientific programs. We welcomeall community feedback, suggestions, andcriticisms that contribute to this goal.

Douglas G. Martinson, Chairman, AntarcticResearch Vessels Oversight Committee


35

The icebreaking research ship Nathaniel B. Palmer, which made its first cruise to Antarctica inFebruary 1991, was constructed by Edison Chouest Company, the same U.S. firm that is buildingthe Laurence Gould.

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In 1995, NSF’s Office of Polar Programs(OPP) reorganized to focus its resources

more effectively. The office is now com-posed of two science sections—theAntarctic and the Arctic Science Sec-tions—each of which is composed of spe-cific research programs and related activi-ties. The third section, the Polar ResearchSupport Section (formerly the PolarOperations Section), provides laboratory,operational, and logistics support forantarctic and arctic science programs.

The Antarctic Science Section contin-ues to support five disciplinary research

programs—aeronomy and astrophysics,biology and medicine, ocean and climatesystems, glaciology, and geology and geo-physics—within the Science Cluster. Thesefive disciplines are integrated with thecommon goal of fostering research thatexpands fundamental knowledge of polarregions, uses the special features of Antarc-tica that make it a platform for explorationof the Universe, and enhances understand-ing of the continent’s role in regional andworldwide problems of scientific impor-tance, such as global climate change.Added to the Antarctic Sciences Section are

the Information Cluster and the Environ-mental Cluster. The latter is responsible fordetermining what environmental assess-ments are required, monitoring compli-ance with the National Environmental Pro-tection Act, and issuing waste and floraand fauna permits required under theAntarctic Conservation Act.

The Arctic Science Section supportsdisciplinary and interdisciplinary basicresearch to advance knowledge of funda-mental cold-region processes and toenhance regional and global models. Theprimary goal of this research program is to

Office of Polar Programs reorganizes

gain a better understanding of arctic bio-logical, geological, chemical, physical, andsociocultural processes. The Arctic ScienceSection consists of four programs—ArcticSystem Science, Arctic Natural Sciences,Arctic Social Sciences, and Arctic Researchand Policy.

OPP’s research activities can only beexecuted with a well-developed, safe

infrastructure and expert logistics sup-port, based on sound environmentalpractices. This is the responsibility of thePolar Research Support Section, whichfocuses OPP’s operational and logisticresources through contractors to supportscience conducted in both polar regions.The section’s goal is to improve sciencesupport, while using fewer resources, by

increasing intelligent systems, improvingefficiency, and economizing throughoutthe program.

The table provided with this articleprovides names and titles for the staffmembers of the three sections, as well asthe names and titles of those individualswho report directly to OPP’s Director, Dr.Cornelius Sullivan.


36

Director................................................ Dr. Cornelius SullivanDeputy Director ................................... Dr. Carol RobertsBudget and Planning Officer............... Mrs. Altie MetcalfBudget Analyst.................................... Mr. Darren DuttererAdministrative Officer.......................... Mrs. Pawnee MaidenOffice Secretary .................................. Mrs. Brenda WilliamsDeputy Secretary ................................ Ms. Regina Williams

Section Head ...................................... Dr. Thomas PyleHead of Interagency Arctic Staff ......... Mr. Charles MyersSocial Science Program Manager....... Dr. Noel BroadbentArctic System Science Program Director.............................................. Dr. Michael Ledbetter

Associate Program Director ................ VacantArctic Logistics Support...................... Mr. Imants Virsniek/DetaileeArctic Natural Sciences....................... Mrs. Odile De La BeaujardiereSenior Program Assistant ................... Mrs. Simona GilbertProgram Assistant............................... Mrs. Natasha RutledgeOffice Automation Clerk...................... Ms. Tammy ShortManagement Intern............................. Ms. Shanna Draheim

Section Head ...................................... Mr. Erick ChiangDeputy Section Head.......................... Mr. Dwight FisherAssociate Managers (Department of Defense) ................... COL Karl Doll (Air National

Guard)a

LT COL Ade Hudnall (Air National Guard)a

Systems Manager ............................... Mr. David BresnahanSafety and Health Officer .................... Dr. Harry MaharSafety and Health Specialist ............... Ms. Gwendolyn AdamsManager, Specialized Support ............ Mr. Arthur BrownFacilities Engineering Project Manager ............................................ Mr. Frank Brier

South Pole Engineering Projects Manager ............................................ Mr. John Randb

South Pole Construction/Operations and Maintenance Coordinator .......... Mr. Jerry Martyc

Environmental Engineer (Implementation) ............................... Dr. Shih-Cheng Chang

Technology Development Manager .... Mr. Patrick SmithElectronics Systems Coordinator........ Mr. Dennis Tupickd

Research Support Manager ................ Mr. Simon StephensonOceans Project Manager .................... Mr. Al SutherlandProgram Coordination Specialist ........ Mrs. Kim FassbenderFire Protection Engineer...................... Mr. Douglas CarpenterSenior Program Assistant ................... Mrs. Pamela ConyersProgram Assistant............................... VacantProgram Assistant............................... Mrs. Carlena FooksImaging Applications Specialist .......... Mr. David Beverstocke

Air Projects Specialist ......................... Mr. Mike Scheuermanne

Program Manager, Naval Antarctica Support Unit Transfer........................ Dr. Charles Paul

McMurdo Station Manager ................. Mr. Edward FinnAntarctic Support Associates Contractor Representative ................ Mr. George Lake

Section Head ...................................... Dr. Dennis PeacockBiology and Medicine Program Manager ............................................ Dr. Polly Penhale

Associate Program Manager (Biology and Medicine).................... Dr. Edward Carpenter

Aeronomy and Astrophysics Program Manager ............................. Dr. John Lynch

Ocean and Climate Sciences Program Manager ............................ Dr. Bernhard Lettau

Antarctic Geology and Geophysics Program Manager ............................. Dr. Scott Borg

Glaciology Program Manager ............. Dr. Julie PalaisCoordinated Science Projects Program Manager ............................. Dr. Jane Dionne

Laboratory and Equipment Manager/Internal Coordinator........... Vacant

Environmental Officer.......................... Mrs. Joyce JatkoManager, Information Program .......... Mr. Guy GuthridgeWriter/Editor ........................................ Ms. Winifred ReuningNational Environmental Protection Act Compliance Manager ................. Mr. Robert Cunningham

Associate Compliance Manager ......... Ms. Kristin LarsonPolar Coordination Specialist.............. Ms. Nadene KennedyInformation/Reference Assistant......... Mr. David FriscicSenior Program Assistant ................... Mrs. Kimiko Bowens-KnoxProgram Assistant............................... VacantProgram Assistant............................... Mrs. Tammy ButlerCapital Systems contractor ................ Ms. Amrita Narayanan

aMilitary personnel on detail to the National Science Foundation from theDepartment of Defense.bU.S. Army Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory person-nel on detail to the National Science Foundation.

cCapital Systems Group personnel for on-site contract support.dContract support personnel from Jackson-Tulle, Inc.eOn-site contract personnel from Antarctic Support Associates.

Office of Polar Programs new organization

Office of the Director Phone: (703) 306-1030

Polar Research Support Section Phone: (703) 306-1032

Arctic Sciences Section Phone: (703) 306-1029

Antarctic Sciences Section Phone: (703) 306-1033

Award numbers for all awards initiatedby the Office of Polar Programs (OPP)

contain the prefix “OPP.” However, fundingof awards is sometimes shared by two ormore antarctic science or support pro-grams within OPP or between OPP antarc-tic and arctic science or support programs.For these awards, a listing is includedunder the heading for each OPP programthat funded the project. The first amountrepresents the funds provided by that indi-vidual program, and the second amount,in parentheses, is the total award amount.All of these contain the OPP prefix.Additionally, investigators may receivefunds for antarctic research from otherdivisions or offices of the National ScienceFoundation, as well as from OPP. Awardsfrom the Division of Atmospheric Sciencescontain the ATM prefix; awards from theDivision of Design, Manufacturing, andIndustry Innovation contain the DMI pre-fix; and awards from the Division of OceanSciences contain the OCE prefix. Whenawards are initiated by another NSF divi-sion, the three-letter prefix for that pro-gram is included in the award number. Aswith awards split between OPP programs,antarctic program funds are listed first,and the total amount is listed in parenthe-ses. The numbers 1 through 4 in parenthe-ses following the entries indicate when theaward was made: 1, 1 September to 30November 1994; 2, 1 December 1994 to 28February 1995; 3, 1 March to 30 May 1995;4, 1 June to 31 August 1995.

Biology and medicine

Arrigo, Kevin R. University of Maryland, CollegePark, Maryland. Research on ocean–atmos-phere variability and ecosystem: Response inthe Ross Sea (ROAVERRS). OPP 94-21496. $0($60,850) (4)

Barry, James P. Monterey Bay Aquarium ResearchInstitute, Pacific Grove, California. Research onocean–atmosphere variability and ecosystem:Responses in the Ross Sea (ROAVERRS). OPP 94-20680. $54,933 ($115,001) (4)

Bowser, Samuel S. Health Research, Inc., Albany,New York. Test morphogenesis in giant antarcticforaminifera. OPP 92-20146. $84,581 (4)

Carpenter, Edward J. State University of NewYork, Stony Brook, New York. IntergovernmentPersonnel Act mobility assignment. OPP 95-22577. $143,047 (4)

Davison, Ian. University of Maine, Orono,

Maine. Thermal adaptation of polar macroal-gae. OPP 94-18033. $128,118 (4)

Day, Thomas A. Arizona State University, Tempe,Arizona. Ozone depletion, ultraviolet-B radia-tion and vascular plant performance inAntarctica. OPP 93-17019. $73,000 ($233,957) (4)

Delong, Edward F., University of California,Santa Barbara, California. Antarctic marinearchaebacteria: Biological properties and eco-logical significance. OPP 94-18442. $110,395 (3)

Detrich, H. William. Northeastern University,Boston, Massachusetts. Structure, function, andexpression of cold-adapted tubulin and micro-tubule-dependent motors from antarctic fishes.OPP 94-20712. $143,444 ($284,070) (4)

DeVries, Arthur L. University of Illinois atUrbana–Champaign, Urbana, Illinois. The roleof antifreeze proteins in freezing avoidance ofantarctic fishes. OPP 93-17629. $159,844($324,885) (4)

Ducklow, Hugh W. The College of William andMary, Marine Institute, Gloucester Point,Virginia. Bloom dynamics and food web struc-ture in the Ross Sea: Primary productivity, newproduction, and bacterial growth. OPP 93-19222. $69,770 ($126,016) (4)

Dunton, Kenneth H. University of Texas, Austin,Texas. Thermal adaptation in polar macroalgae.OPP 94-21764. $169,647 (4)

Eastman, Joseph T. Ohio University, Athens,Ohio. Buoyancy and morphological studies ofantarctic Notothenioid fishes. OPP 94-16870.$164,912 (3)

Franklin, Jerry F. University of Washington,Seattle, Washington. Stimulating and facilitatingcollaborative long-term ecological research: Aproposal for continuing support of the Long-Term Ecological Research network office. OPP95-41893. $89,991 ($1,039,906) (4)

Fraser, William R. Montana State University,Bozeman, Montana. Changes in Adélie penguinpopulations at Palmer Station: The effects ofhuman disturbance and long-term environ-mental change. OPP 95-05596. $46,000($210,047) (4)

Freckman, Diana W. Colorado State University,Fort Collins, Colorado. The ecology of nema-todes in antarctic dry valleys. OPP 94-44469.$3,750 ($13,251) (1)

Friedmann, E. Imre. Florida State University,Tallahassee, Florida. Limits of adaptation andmicrobial extinction in the antarctic desert.OPP 91-18730. $11,442 ($88,000) (2)

Gautier, Catherine. University of California,Santa Barbara, California. Surface ultravioletirradiance and photosynthetically availableradiation variability over Antarctica. OPP 93-17120. $130,188 (3)

Gerard, Valerie A. State University of New York,Stony Brook, New York. Thermal adaptation inpolar macroalgae. OPP 95-21496. $205,858 (4)

Gowing, Marcia M. University of California,Santa Cruz, California. Bloom dynamics andfood web structure in the Ross Sea: Role ofmicrozooplankton in controlling production.OPP 93-16035. $164,769 ($382,622) (4)

Green, William J. Miami University, Oxford,Ohio. Microbial and geochemical controls onmetal cycling in Lake Vanda. OPP 94-43939.$124,851 (1)

Hall, Michael J. National Oceanic andAtmospheric Administration, Washington, DC.Support for Argos data collection and locationsystem. OPP 95-43519. $23,109 ($479,174) (4)

Hofmann, Eileen E. Old Dominion University,Norfolk, Virginia. Modeling the transport andexchange of krill between the AntarcticPeninsula and South Georgia. OPP 95-25806.$192,149 ($212,149) (4)

Holm-Hansen, Osmund. University ofCalifornia, San Diego, California. Effects ofozone-related increased ultraviolet-B fluenceson photosynthesis, photoadaptation, and via-bility of phytoplankton in antarctic waters. OPP92-20150. $43,322 (3)

Holm-Hansen, Osmund. University ofCalifornia, San Diego, California. U.S–Argentinacooperative research: Ozone-related impact ofsolar ultraviolet radiation on the marine foodchain in Argentine coastal waters. OPP 95-03643. $10,000 ($27,690) (4)

Howes, Brian L. Woods Hole OceanographicInstitution, Woods Hole, Massachusetts.Antarctic dry valley lakes: Pathways of organicmaterial production and decomposition. OPP95-42668. $35,000 (4)

Jeffrey, Wade H. University of West Florida,Pensacola, Florida. Ultraviolet-radiation-induced DNA damage in bacterioplankton inthe southern oceans. OPP 94-19037. $140,969($278,910) (4)

Kareiva, Peter M. University of Washington,Seattle, Washington. Foraging behavior and thedispersion of pelagic birds. OPP 95-42669.$9,500 (4)

Karl, David M. University of Hawaii–Manoa,Honolulu, Hawaii. Long-Term EcologicalResearch (LTER) on the antarctic marineecosystem: Microbiology and carbon flux. OPP91-18439. $129,760 (2)

Kensley, Brian F. Smithsonian Institution,Washington, DC. Recording of data and sortingof collections from polar regions. OPP 94-40137.$249,999 (1)

Kieber, David J. State University of New York,College of Environmental Science and Forestry,


37

Foundation awards of funds for antarctic projects, 1 September1994 to 31 August 1995

Syracuse, New York. Investigations into the pho-tochemistry of antarctic waters in response tochanging ultraviolet radiation fluxes. OPP 93-12767. $91,290 (3)

Koger, Ronald G. Antarctic Support Associates,Englewood, Colorado. Logistics support ofoperations/research activities related to theU.S. program in Antarctica. OPP 95-42227.$72,500 ($30,098,868) (4)

Kooyman, Gerald L. University of California atSan Diego, Scripps Institution of Oceanography,La Jolla, California. Physiology and energetics ofking and emperor penguins. OPP 92-19872.$169,117 (4)

Lessard, Evelyn J. University of Washington,Seattle, Washington. Bloom dynamics and food-web structure in the Ross Sea: Role of microzoo-plankton in controlling production. OPP 93-15027. $90,064 (3)

Lizotte, Michael P. University of Wisconsin,Oshkosh, Wisconsin. Research on ocean–atmosphere variability and ecosystem responsein the Ross Sea (ROAVERRS). OPP 94-20678.$58,109 (4)

Lowenthal, Douglas H. University of Nevada,Desert Research Institute, Reno, Nevada.Particulate matter less than 10 microns in size(PM10) source apportionment at McMurdoStation, Antarctica. OPP 94-17829. $130,000 (4)

Manahan, Donal T. University of SouthernCalifornia, Los Angeles, California. Metabolicphysiology during embryonic and larval devel-opment of antarctic echinoderms. OPP 94-20803. $131,317 ($261,612) (4)

Mopper, Kenneth. Washington State University,Pullman, Washington. Photochemistry ofantarctic waters in response to changing ultravi-olet radiation fluxes. OPP 92-21598. $65,000 (3)

Mullen, Roy R. U.S. Geological Survey, Reston,Virginia. Antarctic surveying and mapping pro-gram. OPP 94-43652. $10,000 ($257,849) (1)

Priscu, John C. Montana State University,Bozeman, Mountana. Water-column transfor-mations of nitrogen in a perennially ice-coveredantarctic lake. OPP 94-44636. $10,798 (1)

Priscu, John C. Montana State University,Bozeman, Montana. Antarctic lake ice microbialconsortia: Origin, distribution, and growth phys-iology. OPP 94-19413. $199,635 ($381,690) (4)

Reed, H.L. Henry M. Jackson Foundation for theAdvancement of Military Medicine, Bethesda,Maryland. The polar T3 Syndrome: Metabolicand cognitive manifestations, their hormonalregulation, and their impact upon performance.OPP 94-18466. $83,923 ($125,323) (4)

Ross, Robin M. University of California, SantaBarbara, California. Long-term ecologicalresearch on the antarctic marine ecosystem: Anice-dominated environment. OPP 90-11927.$600,000 (4)

Schmidt, Thomas M. Michigan State University,East Lansing, Michigan. Microbial and geo-

chemical controls on metal cycling in LakeVanda. OPP 94-43937. $126,707 (1)

Sidell, Bruce D. University of Maine, Orono,Maine. Adaptations to counter diffusional con-straints in muscle of Channichthyid icefishes.OPP 92-20775. $149,582 (3)

Siniff, Donald B. University of Minnesota at theTwin Cities, Minneapolis, Minnesota. Possiblelinkages between ecosystem measures and thedemographics of a Weddell seal population.OPP 94-20818. $140,376 (4)

Smith, Kenneth L. University of California atSan Diego, Scripps Institution of Ocean-ography, La Jolla, California. Seasonal ice coverand its impact on the epipelagic community inthe northwestern Weddell Sea: Long time-series monitoring. OPP 93-15029. $169,742($226,322) (3)

Smith, Kenneth L. University of California atSan Diego, Scripps Institution of Ocean-ography, La Jolla, California. Seasonal ice coverand its impact on the epipelagic community inthe northwestern Weddell Sea: Long time-series monitoring. OPP 95-42643. $26,065($126,065) (4)

Smith, Raymond C. University of California,Santa Barbara, California. Ozone diminution,ultraviolet radiation, and phytoplankton biologyin antarctic waters. OPP 92-20962. $220,235 (2)

Smith, Raymond C. University of California,Santa Barbara, California. Ozone diminution,ultraviolet radiation, and phytoplankton biologyin antarctic waters. OPP 95-42706. $14,511 (4)

Spear, Larry B. Point Reyes Bird Observatory,Stinson Beach, California. Studies of southernocean seabirds in South Pacific waters duringwinter. OPP 95-26435. $15,000 (4)

Stoecker, Diane K. University of Maryland, HornPoint Laboratory, Cambridge, Maryland.Ecology and physiology of sea-ice brine microal-gae. OPP 93-18772. $109,870 ($224,806) (4)

Virginia, Ross A. Dartmouth College, Hanover,New Hampshire. Antarctic dry valley nematodecommunities: Establishment, function, andresponse to disturbance. OPP 95-22665.$83,656 (4)

Weathers, Wesley W. University of California,Davis, California. Foraging ecology and repro-ductive energetics of antarctic petrels. OPP 92-18536. $98,088 (4)

Wharton, Robert A. University of Nevada,Desert Research Institute, Reno, Nevada.McMurdo Dry Valleys: A cold desert ecosystem.OPP 92-11773. $606,088 ($1,182,904) (4)

Marine and terrestrial geology andgeophysics

Anderson, John B. Rice University, Houston,Texas. Geologic record of Late Wiscon-sinan/Holocene ice-sheet advance and retreatfrom Ross Sea. OPP 91-19683. $115,386 (4)

Anderson, John B. Rice University, Houston, Texas.Geologic record of Late Wisconsinan/Holocene

ice-sheet advance and retreat from Ross Sea. OPP95-43494. $25,319 ($49,319) (4)

Andrews, John T. University of Colorado,Boulder, Colorado. Geological record of LateWisconsin/Holocene ice-sheet advance andretreat from the Ross Sea. OPP 91-17958$120,886 (3)

Askin, Rosemary A. Ohio State University,Columbus, Ohio. Quaternary paleoenviron-mental evolution of the Larsen Basin, offshoreSeymour Island, eastern Antarctic Peninsula.OPP 94-19316. $9,781 (3)

Askin, Rosemary A. Ohio State University,Columbus, Ohio. Permian and Triassic palyno-stratigraphy of the central TransantarcticMountains. OPP 94-18093. $144,979 (4)

Barrera, Enriqueta. University of Michigan, AnnArbor, Michigan. Quaternary paleoenvironmen-tal evolution of the Larsen Basin, offshoreSeymour Island, eastern Antarctic Peninsula.OPP 94-22282. $24,040 (3)

Barrera, Enriqueta. University of Michigan, AnnArbor, Michigan. Quaternary paleoenvironmen-tal evolution of the Larsen Basin, offshoreSeymour Island, eastern Antarctic Peninsula.OPP 95-42666. $2,390 (4)

Bartek, Louis R. University of Alabama,Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Glacial marine stratigraphyin the eastern Ross Sea and western Marie ByrdLand, and shallow structure of the west antarcticrift. OPP 93-16710. $59,554 ($156,043) (4)

Bartek, Louis R. University of Alabama,Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Integrated biostratigra-phy and high-resolution seismic stratigraphy ofthe Ross Sea: Implications for Cenozoic eustaticand climatic change. OPP 92-20848. $75,000 (4)

Behrendt, John C. U.S. Geological Survey,Reston, Virginia. Lithospheric controls on thebehavior of the west antarctic ice sheet:Corridor Aerogeophysics of the Eastern RossTransect Zone (CASERTZ). OPP 93-19877.$28,012 (1)

Behrendt, John C. U.S. Geological Survey,Reston, Virginia. Lithospheric controls on thebehavior of the west antarctic ice sheet:Corridor Aerogeophysics of the Eastern RossTransect Zone (CASERTZ/WAIS). OPP 95-43179.$43,524 (4)

Bell, Robin E. Columbia University, New York,New York. Lithospheric controls on the behav-ior of the west antarctic ice sheet: CorridorAerogeophysics of the Eastern Ross TransectZone (CASERTZ). OPP 93-19854. $123,196 (1)

Bell, Robin E. Columbia University, New York,New York. Lithospheric controls on the behaviorof the west antarctic ice sheet: Corridor Aero-geophysics of the Eastern Ross Transect Zone(CASERTZ). OPP 93-19854. $132,554 ($286,644) (4)

Benoit, Paul H. University of Arkansas,Fayetteville, Arkansas. Natural thermolumines-cence levels in antarctic meteorites and relatedstudies. OPP 94-17851. $106,663 (3)


38

Bentley, Charles R. University of Wisconsin,Madison, Wisconsin. Seismic refraction/wide-angle reflection investigation of the ByrdSubglacial Basin—Field test. OPP 92-22092.$110,383 (4)

Blankenship, Donald D. University of Texas,Austin, Texas. Lithospheric controls on thebehavior of the west antarctic ice sheet:Corridor Aerogeophysics of the Eastern RossTransect Zone (CASERTZ). OPP 93-19369.$1,402 ($151,402) (1)


Blankenship, Donald D. University of Texas,Austin, Texas. Support Office for Aero-geophysical Research (SOAR). OPP 95-43530.$240,000 ($915,000) (4)

Boyce, Joseph. National Aeronautics and SpaceAdministration, Washington, DC. Antarcticmeteorite working group. OPP 94-43624.$42,719 (1)

Boyce, Joseph, National Aeronautics and SpaceAdministration, Washington, DC. Antarctic mete-orite working group. OPP 95-42696. $14,000 (4)

Cande, Steven C. University of California–SanDiego, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, LaJolla, California. Late Cretaceous–Early Tertiaryplate interactions in the southwest Pacific. OPP93-17872. $63,081 (2)

Cande, Steven C. University of California–SanDiego, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, LaJolla, California. Late Cretaceous–Early Tertiaryplate interactions in the southwest Pacific. OPP93-17872. $44,988 (2)

Cassidy, William A. Case Western Reserve,Cleveland, Ohio. Antarctic search for mete-orites. OPP 91-17558. $91,819 ($183,710) (4)

Dalziel, Ian W. University of Texas, Austin, Texas.Seismic traverse of the Byrd Subglacial Basin—Field test. OPP 92-22121. $211,896 (3)

Dalziel, Ian W. University of Texas, Austin, Texas.Geologic studies in the Shackleton Range, CoatsLand, and Queen Maud Land, East Antarctica: ANorth American connection. OPP 91-17996.$173,499 (3)

Dalziel, Ian W. University of Texas, Austin, Texas.The Bransfield Strait–South Shetland Islands/trench: Structural and stratigraphic evolution ofa linked(?) back-arc/fore-arc system. OPP 94-18135. $59,276 (3)

DePaolo, Donald J. University of California,Berkeley, California. Metamorphism and intru-sion chronology and tectonic evolution of thecentral and southern Transantarctic Mountainsusing samarium-neodymium isotopes. OPP 93-18838. $37,990 (2)

Domack, Eugene W. Hamilton College, Clinton,New York. Undergraduate research initiative:

Antarctic marine geology and geophysics. OPP94-18153. $72,594 (3)

Duebendorfer, Ernest M. Northern ArizonaUniversity, Flagstaff, Arizona. The EllsworthMountain terrane: Its origin and accretion toEast Antarctica. OPP 93-12040. $38,281 (3)

Elliot, David H. Ohio State University,Columbus, Ohio. Jurassic volcanic rocks in theTransantarctic Mountains: Testing a model forcontinental flood basalt magmatism inAntarctica. OPP 94-20498. $85,413 (3)

Elliot, David H. Ohio State University,Columbus, Ohio. Paleogene strata, SeymourIsland, Antarctic Peninsula. OPP 95-08089.$29,000 (3)

Faure, Gunter. Ohio State University, Columbus,Ohio. Age of the last transgression of the eastantarctic ice sheet, Transantarctic Mountains,southern Victoria Land. OPP 93-16310. $19,340($38,690) (3)

Fitzgerald, Paul. University of Arizona, Tucson,Arizona. Thermochronologic constraints on theformation of the Transantarctic Mountains,Antarctica. OPP 93-16720. $116,669 ($214,823)(4)

Frey, Frederick A. Massachusetts Institution ofTechnology, Cambridge, Massachusetts. Originand evolution of the Kerguelen plume:Constraints from studies of the KerguelenArchipelago. OPP 94-17774. $47,420 (3)

Goodge, John W. Southern MethodistUniversity, Dallas, Texas. Comparative petrolog-ic, structural, and geochronometric investiga-tion of high-grade metamorphic rocks in theTransantarctic Mountains. OPP 92-19818.$49,739 (4)

Grunow, Anne M. Ohio State University,Columbus, Ohio. Establishment of GondwanaEarly Paleozoic reference poles and tests for ter-rane motion. OPP 93-17673. $130,753 (3)

Hallet, Bernard. University of Washington,Seattle, Washington. Patterned ground,McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica: An evaluationof the scientific merit of more than 30-year-oldstudy sites. OPP 95-22215. $41,228 (4)

Hammer, William R. Augustana College, RockIsland, Illinois. Continued research on the ver-tebrate paleontology of the Upper Fremouw(Early-Middle Triassic) and the Falla Formations( Jurassic), Beardmore Glacier region,Antarctica. OPP 93-15830. $57,416 (3)

Hammer, William R. Augustana College, RockIsland, Illinois. Vertebrate paleontology of theTriassic to Jurassic sedimentary sequence in theShackleton Glacier regions, Antarctica. OPP 93-15826. $86,722 (3)

Hart, Stanley R. Woods Hole OceanographicInstitution, Woods Hole, Massachusetts.Antarctic rift and hot-spot volcanism. OPP 94-19094. $179,758 (3)

Harwood, David M. University of Nebraska,Lincoln, Nebraska. Diatom biostratigraphy and

paleoenvironmental history of Cape Robertsproject cores. OPP 94-20062. $1 ($17,914) (4)

Harwood, David M. University of Nebraska,Lincoln, Nebraska. Paleobiology and paleoenvi-ronments of pre-glacial(?) Eocene coasts insouthern Victoria Land, Antarctica. OPP 93-17901. $59,107 ($100,195) (4)

Hayes, Dennis E. Columbia University, NewYork, New York. Analysis of circumantarcticocean basin paleobathymetry and structure.OPP 94-18936. $85,819 (3)

Isbell, John L. University of Wisconsin,Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Stratigraphic and sedi-mentologic analysis of Permian strata in theShackleton Glacier area, Antarctica. OPP 94-19962. $139,619 (4)

Jarrard, Richard D. University of Utah, Salt LakeCity, Utah. Downhole logging for the CapeRoberts project. OPP 94-18429. $12,125($112,033) (4)

Jasper, John P. University of Connecticut, Storrs,Connecticut. Maintenance of preindustrialatmospheric partial pressure of carbon dioxide(pCO2) levels: Recalibration of a carbon isotopicpaleobarometer and pCO2 mapping of the lateQuaternary global ocean. OPP 92-16918. $2,500($149,802) (1)

Kennett, James P. University of California, SantaBarbara, California. Cenzoic paleoceanographicand climate development of the antarcticregion based on oceanic sediment sequences.OPP 92-18720. $52,663 ($102,663) (2)

Klinkhammer, Gary. Oregon State University,Corvallis, Oregon. A survey of hydrothermalvents in Bransfield Strait, Antarctica. OPP 95-42590. $15,000 (4)

Koger, Ronald G. Antarctic Support Associates,Englewood, Colorado. Logistics support ofoperations/research activities related to theU.S. program in Antarctica. OPP 95-42227.$26,368 ($30,098,868) (4)

Kyle, Philip R. New Mexico Institution of Miningand Technology, Socorro, New Mexico. Antarcticrift and hot-spot volcanism. OPP 94-19686.$110,242 (3)

Kyle, Philip R. New Mexico Institute of Miningand Technology, Socorro, New Mexico. MountErebus Volcano Observatory. OPP 94-19267.$80,093 ($156,482) (4)

Lagoe, Martin B. University of Texas, Austin,Texas. Quaternary paleoclimatic evolution of theLarsen Basin, offshore Seymour Island, easternAntarctic Peninsula. OPP 94-19232. $55,335 (3)

Lawver, Lawrence A. University of Texas, Austin,Texas. Neotectonic evolution of AntarcticPeninsula/Scotia Sea region: Multibeam, sides-can sonar, seismic, magnetics, and gravity stud-ies. OPP 95-43465. $21,888 ($31,464) (4)

Lerner-Lam, Arthur. Columbia University, NewYork, New York. Analysis of antarctic broad-band PASSCAL seismic data for surface-wavedispersion. OPP 94-18114. $27,000 (4)


39

Leventer, Amy. University of Minnesota–TwinCities, Minneapolis, Minnesota. Late Quater-nary paleoclimatic history of southern Chile:Evidence from the marine record. OPP 91-18492. $69,100 ($102,807) (1)

Lubin, Philip M. University of California, SantaBarbara, California. Studies of long-durationmedium-scale cosmic background radiationanisotropy. OPP 95-42728. $1,684 ($13,500) (3)

Luyendyk, Bruce P. University of California, SantaBarbara, California. Glacial marine stratigraphyin the eastern Ross Sea and western Marie ByrdLand, and shallow structure of the west antarcticrift. OPP 93-16712. $70,090 ($119,838) (4)

Marchant, David R. University of Maine, Orono,Maine. Tephrochronology applied to LateCenozoic paleoclimate and geomorphic evolu-tion of the central Transantarctic Mountains.OPP 94-18986. $48,242 (3)

Marsh, Bruce D. Johns Hopkins University,Baltimore, Maryland. Three-dimensionalmagma dynamics in large sills. OPP 94-18513.$109,961 (3)

Miller, Molly F. Vanderbilt University, Nashville,Tennessee. Permian and Triassic biogenic struc-tures in the Shackleton Glacier area, Trans-antarctic Mountains: Record of nonmarine ben-thic communities and their response to climatechange. OPP 94-17978. $104,579 (3)

Mukasa, Samuel B. University of Michigan, AnnArbor, Michigan. A neodymium, osmium, lead,and strontium isotopic study of the DufekIntrusion, Pensacola Mountains, Antarctica:Reassessment of differentiation mechanisms inlayered mafic complexes. OPP 92-19012.$106,098 (2)


Plasker, James R. U.S. Geological Survey,Reston, Virginia. Antarctic surveying and map-ping program. OPP 95-42588. $119,000($225,000) (4)

Pospichal, James J. Florida State University,Tallahassee, Florida. Calcareous nanofossilbiostratigraphy and paleoenvironmental histo-ry of the Cape Roberts project cores. OPP 94-22893. $1 ($37,608) (4)

Rees, Margaret N. University of Nevada, LasVegas, Nevada. The Ellsworth Mountains ter-rane: Its origin and accretion to East Antarctica.OPP 92-20395. $110,824 ($210,563) (4)

Retallack, Gregory J. University of Oregon,Eugene, Oregon. Triassic paleosols, paleocli-mate, and vegetation of Antarctica. OPP 93-15228. $85,280 (4)

Rowell, Albert J. University of Kansas, Lawrence,Kansas. Antarctic Lithosphere Working Group1994–1996. OPP 94-20086. $17,061 (1)

Rowell, Albert J. University of Kansas, Lawrence,Kansas. Antarctic Lithosphere Working Group1994–1996. OPP 94-20086. $17,997 (4)

Scherer, Reed. University of Massachusetts,Amherst, Massachusetts. Diatom biostratigraphyand paleoenvironmental history of Cape Robertsproject cores. OPP 94-22894. $1 ($25,592) (4)

Shimizu, Nobumichi. Woods Hole Oceano-graphic Institution, Woods Hole, Massachusetts.Origin and evolution of the Kerguelen plume:Constraints from studies of the KerguelenArchipelago. OPP 94-17806. $32,580 (3)

Smithson, Scott B. University of Wyoming,Laramie, Wyoming. Seismic refraction wide-angle reflection investigation of the ByrdSubglacial Basin, Antarctica. OPP 92-22428.$51,135 (4)

Stock, Joann M. California Institute ofTechnology, Pasadena, California. LateCretaceous–Early Tertiary Plate interactions inthe southwest Pacific. OPP 93-17318. $44,632 (3)

Stravers, Jay A. Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, Illinois. Quaternary marine stratigraphyand sedimentology of Chilean fjords and conti-nental shelf, western Patagonia. OPP 91-19194.$25,551 (3)

Taylor, Edith L. Ohio State University,Columbus, Ohio. The Shackleton Glacier area:Floristics, biostratigraphy, and paleoclimate.OPP 93-15353. $30,814 ($101,014) (3)

Taylor, Edith L. University of Kansas, Lawrence,Kansas. The Shackleton Glacier area: Floristics,biostratigraphy, and paleoclimate. OPP 93-15353. $70,200 ($242,995) (4)

Verosub, Kenneth L. University of California,Davis, California. Small grant for exploratoryresearch—Paleomagnetic and mineral magnet-ic studies in anticipation of the Cape Robertsproject. OPP 95-22309. $30,000 (3)

Von Frese, Ralph R. Ohio State University,Columbus, Ohio. Workshop proposal: Antarcticdigital magnetic anomaly map (18–19 Sep-tember 1995). OPP 95-27413. $7,500 (4)

Walker, Nicholas W. Brown University,Providence, Rhode Island. Testing the EastAntarctica–Laurentian connection: Ages ofdetrital zircons from Late Proterozoic Meta-sediments, Transantarctic Mountains. OPP 94-18621. $28,223 (3)

Walker, Nicholas W. Brown University,Providence, Rhode Island. Comparative petro-logic structural and geochronometric investiga-tion of high-grade metamorphic rocks in theTransantarctic Mountains: Nimrod Group andLanterman Range. OPP 92-19555. $72,173 (4)

Walker, Nicholas W. Brown University,Providence, Rhode Island. Testing the EastAntarctica–Laurentian connection: Ages ofdetrital zircons from Late Proterozoic metasedi-ments, Transantarctic Mountains. OPP 95-42383. $2,259 (4)

Wannamaker, Philip E. University of Utah, SaltLake City, Utah. Seismic/magnetotelluric tra-verse of the Byrd Subglacial Basin—Field test.OPP 95-43584. $30,128 ($90,128) (4)

Watkins, David K. University of Nebraska, Lin-coln, Nebraska. Calcareous nanofossil biostrati-graphy and paleoenvironmental history of CapeRoberts project cores. OPP 94-19770. $1($3,387) (4)

Webb, Peter-Noel. Ohio State University,Columbus, Ohio. Workshop—Antarctic Strati-graphic Drilling—Cape Roberts Project. OPP 94-42181. $6,481 (1)

Webb, Peter-Noel. Ohio State University,Columbus, Ohio. Antarctic stratigraphicdrilling: Cape Roberts project. OPP 93-17979.$33,571 ($68,805) (4)

Webb, Peter-Noel. Ohio State University,Columbus, Ohio. Cretaceous-Paleogene foram-inifera of the Victoria Land Basin (Cape Robertsproject). OPP 94-20475. $1 ($30,871) (4)

Webb, Peter-Noel. Ohio State University,Columbus, Ohio. Integrated biostratigraphy andhigh-resolution seismic stratigraphy of the RossSea: Implications for Cenozoic eustatic and cli-mate change. OPP 95-43429. $2,530 (4)

Wilson, Terry J. Ohio State University, Colum-bus, Ohio. Group travel to Seventh InternationalSymposium on Antarctic Earth Sciences, Siena,Italy. OPP 95-10737. $25,303 (3)

Wilson, Terry J. Ohio State University,Columbus, Ohio. Group travel to SeventhInternational Symposium on Antarctic EarthSciences, Siena, Italy. OPP 95-43013. $6,797 (4)

Wilson, Terry J. Ohio State University, Colum-bus, Ohio. Regional structure of the AntarcticPeninsula derived from ERS-1 synthetic aper-ture radar mosaic: A study of upper/lower plateinteractions during subduction of theAntarctic/Aluk Ridge crest. OPP 95-27550.$24,956 (4)

Wise, Sherwood W. Florida State University,Tallahassee, Florida. Curatorship of antarcticcollections. OPP 95-42343. $84,564 (4)

Woodburne, Michael O. University of California,Riverside, California. The geology and paleon-tology of one Sobral Formation, Seymour Island,Antarctic Peninsula. OPP 93-15831. $77,632 (4)

Zinsmeister, William J. Purdue University, WestLafayette, Indiana. High-resolution biostrati-graphic analysis of molluscan fauna across theCretaceous–Tertiary boundary on SeymourIsland, Antarctica. OPP 94-17776. $47,000 (4)

Ocean and climate studies

Ackley, Stephen F. U.S. Army Cold RegionsResearch and Engineering Laboratory, Hanover,New Hampshire. Sea-ice measurements duringthe Anzone Winter Flux Experiment. OPP 95-41672. $77,686 (3)

Andreas, Edgar L. U.S. Army Cold RegionsResearch and Engineering Laboratory, Hanover,New Hampshire. Analysis of the atmosphericboundary layer data collected on Ice StationWeddell. OPP 95-41769. $83,620 (4)

Anthes, Richard. University Center forAtmospheric Research (UCAR), Boulder,


40

Colorado. Cooperative agreement: Support ofUCAR. OPP 95-43748. $30,182 ($336,933) (4)

Anthes, Richard. University Center for Atmos-pheric Research (UCAR), Boulder, Colorado.UCAR educational outreach and related activi-ties. OPP 95-42378. $40,000 ($427,184) (4)

Asper, Vernon L. University of SouthernMississippi, Hattiesburg, Mississippi. Collabor-ative research on bloom dynamics and foodweb structure in the Ross Sea: Vertical flux ofcarbon and nitrogen. OPP 93-17598. $83,444($173,413) (4)

Bromwich, David H. Ohio State University,Columbus, Ohio. An evaluation of numericalweather prediction in high southern latitudeswith first regional observing study of the trop-osphere (FROST ). OPP 94-22104. $37,772($75,544) (3)

Bromwich, David H. Ohio State University,Columbus, Ohio. A study of the katabatic windconfluence zone near Siple Coast, WestAntarctica. OPP 94-17983. $180,339 (4)

Bromwich, David H. Ohio State University,Columbus, Ohio. Research on ocean–atmos-phere variability and ecosystem response in theRoss Sea (ROAVERRS). OPP 94-20681. $64,382($134,097) (4)

Carleton, Andrew M. Pennsylvania StateUniversity, University Park, University Park,Pennsylvania. Structure and evolution of south-ern ocean mesocyclones using multiple satellitesystems. OPP 92-19446. $42,537 (3)

Carroll, John J. University of California, Davis,California. Model simulations of antarctic kata-batic flows. OPP 94-20641. $149,320 (4)

Dunbar, Robert B. Rice University, Houston,Texas. Research on ocean–atmosphere variabili-ty and ecosystem response in the Ross Sea(ROAVERRS). OPP 94-19605. $82,501 ($152,203)(4)

Foster, Theodore D. University of California,Santa Cruz, California. Deep water formationoff the eastern Wilkes Land coast of Antarctica.OPP 93-17379. $0 ($108,000) (3)

Foster, Theodore D. University of Delaware,Newark, Delaware. Deep water formation offthe eastern Wilkes Land coast of Antarctica.OPP 93-17379. $108,000 ($203,000) (4)

Gordon, Arnold L. Columbia University, NewYork, New York. Ice Station Weddell–1: Physicaloceanography data analysis phase. OPP 93-13700. $263,154 (2)

Guest, Peter S. Naval Postgraduate School,Monterey, California. Atmospheric forcing dur-ing the ANZONE Winter Flux Experiment(ANZFLUX). OPP 95-42436. $60,092 (4)

Hall, Michael J. National Oceanic andAtmospheric Administration, Washington, DC.Support for Argos data collection and locationsystem. OPP 95-43519. $65,779 ($479,174) (4)

Hansell, Dennis A. Bermuda Biological StationResearch, Saint Georges West, Bermuda. Bloom

dynamics and food-web structure in the RossSea: Dynamics of dissolved organic carbon.OPP 93-17200. $120,057 (3)

Jacobs, Stanley S. Columbia University, NewYork, New York. Oceanography of the Amund-sen and Bellingshausen Seas. OPP 94-18151.$296,807 (3)

Jacobs, Stanley S. Columbia University, New York,New York. Oceanography of the Amundsen andBellingshausen Seas. OPP 95-42954. $62,464 (4)

Jeffries, Martin O. University of Alaska,Fairbanks, Alaska. The role of snow in antarcticsea-ice development and ocean–atmosphereenergy exchange. OPP 93-16767. $201,250 (1)



Katsaros, Kristina B. University of Washington,Seattle, Washington. Structure and evolution ofsouthern ocean mesocyclones using multiplesatellite systems. OPP 92-18810. $60,800 (3)

Ledley, Tamara S. Rice University, Houston,Texas. A study of the sea-ice regimes of the RossSea and McMurdo Sound. OPP 93-16633.$100,000 (2)

Lubin, Dan. University of California at SanDiego, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, LaJolla, California. The Arctic and AntarcticResearch Center: A unique resource for polarscience and operations. OPP 94-14276. $20,000($192,000) (3)

Martinson, Douglas G. Columbia University,New York, New York. Ice Station Weddell turbu-lence and mixed-layer data analysis and model-ing. OPP 93-16449. $71,691 (3)

Martinson, Douglas G. Columbia University,New York, New York. Modeling deep and bottomwater formation along the continental marginof the western Weddell Sea, based on Ice StationWeddell data. OPP 92-20407. $88,250 (3)

Martinson, Douglas G. Columbia University,New York, New York. ANZFLUX (Antarctic ZoneFlux Experiment) conductivity-temperature-depth/tracer program. OPP 93-17231. $300,000($600,000) (4)

Maslanik, James A. University of Colorado,Boulder, Colorado. Enhancement of sea-iceprocesses in the Genesis GCM. OPP 94-23506.$12,853 ($64,064) (4)

McPhee, Miles G. McPhee Research, Naches,Washington, Upper ocean turbulent fluxes andmixing in the Weddell Sea. OPP 93-15920.$50,400 (3)

Morison, James H. University of Washington,Seattle, Washington. Ice Station Weddell turbu-lence and mixed-layer data analysis and model-ing. OPP 94-10849. $53,426 (4)

Muench, Robin D. Science ApplicationsInternational Corporation, San Diego,California. Acoustic Doppler Current Profileand mesoscale current observations in the east-ern Weddell Sea: A component of ANZFLUX.OPP 93-15019. $81,574 ($84,753) (2)

Nelson, David M. Oregon State University,Corvallis, Oregon. Bloom dynamics and food-web structure in the Ross Sea: The irradi-ance/mixing regime and diatom growth inspring. OPP 93-17538. $151,084 ($290,095) (4)

Padman, Laurence. Oregon State University,Corvallis, Oregon. Heat, salt, and momentumfluxes through the pycnocline in the easternWeddell Sea. OPP 93-17321. $106,764 (3)

Padman, Laurence. Oregon State University,Corvallis, Oregon. Upper-ocean temperatureand microstructure in the western Weddell Sea.OPP 93-17319. $99,613 (3)

Schlosser, Peter. Columbia University, New York,New York. Construction of an inlet system forautomated tritium measurements by heliumisotope mass spectrometry. OCE 94-02110.$34,000 ($113,935) (2)

Shen, Hayley H. Clarkson University, Potsdam,New York. Wave and pancake-ice interactions.OPP 92-19165 $69,580 ($90,000) (2)

Shen, Hayley H. Clarkson University, Potsdam,New York. Wave and pancake-ice interactions.OPP 95-41524. $30,000 (4)

Smethie, William M. Columbia University, NewYork, New York. Investigation of deep and bot-tom water formation in the western Weddell Seafrom measurement of chlorofluorocarbons onsamples collected during the ANZONE project.OPP 93-17166. $74,000 (4)

Stamnes, Knut. University of Alaska, Fairbanks,Alaska. Experimental investigations of the win-ter cloud/radiation environment of the south-ern ocean marginal ice zone: A pilot study. OPP95-23260. $19,392 (4)

Stamnes, Knut. University of Alaska, Fairbanks,Alaska. Nitrite column abundance measure-ments and trace gas chemistry regulating arcticstratospheric ozone abundance. OPP 93-02348.$3,697 ($87,261) (4)

Stanton, Timothy P. Naval Postgraduate School,Monterey, California. Mixed-layer turbulencemeasurements during the ANZONE WinterFlux Experiment (ANZFLUX). OPP 95-42492.$75,000 (4)

Stearns, Charles R. University of Wisconsin,Madison, Wisconsin. Antarctic MeteorologicalResearch Center. OPP 92-08864. $56,785($421,442) (4)

Stearns, Charles R. University of Wisconsin,Madison, Wisconsin. Continuation for the antarc-tic automatic weather station climate program1995–1998. OPP 94-19128. $81,442 ($865,444) (4)

Aeronomy and astrophysics

Anthes, Richard. University Center forAtmospheric Research, Boulder, Colorado.


41

Cooperative agreement: Support of the NationalCenter for Atmospheric Research. ATM 94-43536. $78,140 ($1,438,369) (1)

Arnoldy, Roger L. University of New Hampshire,Durham, New Hampshire. Continuation sup-port of high-latitude geomagnetic pulsationmeasurements. OPP 92-17024. $62,140($162,140) (3)

Baker, Kile B. Johns Hopkins University,Baltimore, Maryland. Southern HemisphereAuroral Radar Experiment (SHARE). OPP 92-21343. $21,900 (2)

Baker, Kile B. Johns Hopkins University,Baltimore, Maryland. Multiradar studies of thedynamics of the antarctic ionosphere. OPP 94-21266. $30,000 ($228,300) (4)

Bering, Edgar A. University of Houston,Houston, Texas. Balloonborne studies of theionosphere and magnetosphere above SouthPole. OPP 93-18569. $60,000 (1)

Bieber, John W. Bartol Research Institute,Newark, Delaware. Solar and heliospheric stud-ies with antarctic cosmic-ray observations. OPP92-19761. $228,348 (2)

Clauer, C. Robert. University of Michigan, AnnArbor, Michigan. A study of very-high-latitudegeomagnetic phenomena. OPP 93-18766.$160,000 (2)

Deshler, Terry L. University of Wyoming,Laramie, Wyoming. Vertical profiles of polarstratospheric clouds, condensation nuclei,ozone, nitric acid, and water vapor in theantarctic winter and spring stratosphere. OPP93-16774. $383,840 (2)

Engebretson, Mark J. Augsburg College,Minneapolis, Minnesota. Induction antennasfor British Antarctic Survey automatic geophysi-cal observatories. OPP 93-16750. $53,888 (2)

Erlandson, Robert E. Johns Hopkins University,Baltimore, Maryland. Comparison of simulta-neous ground-satellite observations of electro-magnetic ion cyclotron waves. OPP 92-24511.$10,000 ($123,500) (2)

Forbes, Jeffrey M. University of Colorado,Boulder, Colorado. Planetary waves in theantarctic mesopause region. OPP 93-20879.$45,452 (2)

Fritts, David C. University of Colorado, Boulder,Colorado. Correlative midfrequency radar stud-ies of large-scale middle atmospheric dynamicsin the Antarctic. OPP 93-19068. $147,179 (2)

Gaisser, Thomas K. Bartol Research Institute,Newark, Delaware. South Pole Air ShowerExperiment–2. OPP 93-18754. $186,780($534,456) (1)

Gaisser, Thomas K. Bartol Research Institute,Newark, Delaware. South Pole Air ShowerExperiment–2. OPP 95-42703. $11,400 (3)

Harper, Doyal A. University of Chicago, Chicago,Illinois. A Center for Astrophysical Research inAntarctica (CARA). OPP 94-43446. $2,850($7,305) (1)

Harper, Doyal A. University of Chicago,Chicago, Illinois. A Center for AstrophysicalResearch in Antarctica (CARA). OPP 95-43163.$1 ($5,325) (4)

Helliwell, Robert A. Stanford University,Stanford, California. Active and passive very-low-frequency wave–particle interaction experi-ments from Siple Station, Antarctica: Mechan-ism and diagnostic application. OPP 92-21395.$25,131 ($125,131) (2)

Hernandez, Gonzalo J. University ofWashington, Seattle, Washington. High-latitudeantarctic neutral mesospheric and thermos-pheric dynamics and thermodynamics. OPP 93-16163. $130,000 (1)

Hernandez, Gonzalo J. University ofWashington, Seattle, Washington. High-latitudeantarctic neutral mesospheric and thermos-pheric dynamics and thermodynamics. OPP 93-16163. $130,000 (2)

Inan, Umran S. Stanford University, Stanford,California. Very-low-frequency remote sensingof thunderstorm and radiation belt coupling tothe ionosphere. OPP 93-18596. $90,000 (2)

Jefferies, Stuart M. Bartol Research Institute,Newark, Delaware. Probing the solar interiorand atmosphere from the geographic SouthPole. OPP 92-19515. $236,475 (3)

LaBelle, James W. Dartmouth College, Hanover,New Hampshire. Low-frequency/midfrequen-cy/high-frequency radio observations from aSouthern Hemisphere auroral zone site. OPP93-17621. $45,013 (2)

LaBelle, James W. Dartmouth College, Hanover,New Hampshire. Low-frequency/midfrequen-cy/high-frequency radio observations from aSouthern Hemisphere auroral zone site. OPP95-42727. $4,423 (3)

LaBelle, James W. Dartmouth College, Hanover,New Hampshire. Presidential Young Investi-gator Award. OPP 95-41114. $31,247 (3)

Lubin, Philip M. University of California, SantaBarbara, California. Studies of long-durationmedium-scale cosmic background radiationanisotropy. OPP 95-42728. $11,816 ($13,500) (3)

Meyer, Stephan S. University of Chicago,Chicago, Illinois. Anisotropy of the cosmicmicrowave background radiation on large andmedium angular scales. OPP 93-16535. $56,480($249,783) (3)

Morse, Robert M. University of Wisconsin,Madison, Wisconsin. The AMANDA project: Theantarctic ice sheet as a high-energy particledetector. OPP 92-15531. $500,000 (1)

Morse, Robert M. University of Wisconsin,Madison, Wisconsin. The AMANDA project: Theantarctic ice sheet as a high-energy particledetector. OPP 94-44205. $172,000 (1)

Morse, Robert M. University of Wisconsin,Madison, Wisconsin. Observation of very-high-energy gamma-ray sources from the South Pole(GASP). OPP 92-21768. $50,234 (3)

Morse, Robert M. University of Wisconsin,Madison, Wisconsin. The antarctic muon andneutrino detector array (AMANDA) project: Theantarctic ice sheet as a high-energy particledetector. OPP 95-43219. $100,000 ($106,450) (4)

Murcray, Frank J. University of Denver, Denver,Colorado. Infrared measurements in theAntarctic. OPP 92-19209. $44,028 ($79,028) (2)

Papen, George C. University of Illinois–Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois. Rayleigh and sodi-um lidar studies of the troposphere, stratos-phere, and mesosphere at the Amundsen–ScottSouth Pole Station. OPP 92-19898. $130,000 (2)

Petit, Noel J. Augsburg College, Minneapolis,Minnesota. Automatic geophysical observato-ries (AGO) data support and distribution. OPP92-19799. $26,500 (2)

Rosenberg, Theodore J. University of Maryland,College Park, Maryland. Polar ExperimentNetwork for Geophysical Upper-atmosphereInvestigations (PENGUIN). OPP 89-18689.$459,700 (3)

Rosenberg, Theodore J. University of Maryland,College Park, Maryland. Riometry in Antarcticaand conjugate regions. OPP 95-05823. $30,926($662,705) (4)

Rust, David M. Johns Hopkins University,Baltimore, Maryland. An optical investigation ofthe genesis of solar activity. OPP 91-19807.$100,000 ($237,900) (2)

Seward, Fred. American Physical Society,College Park, Maryland. Travel support for the24th International Cosmic Ray Conference,Rome, Italy, 28 August to 8 September 1995.OPP 95-06430. $2,500 ($17,540) (4)

Sivjee, Gulamabas. Embry-Riddle AeronauticalUniversity, Daytona Beach, Florida. Spectro-scopic and interferometric studies of airglowand auroral processes in the antarctic upperatmosphere over Amundsen–Scott South PoleStation. OPP 92-18557. $104,003 (2)

Wilkes, R.J. University of Washington, Seattle,Washington. Antarctic long-duration balloonflight for the JACEE collaboration. OPP 92-20316. $151,900 (3)

Glaciology

Allen, Christopher T. University of Kansas,Lawrence, Kansas. Feasibility study for mappingthe glacial ice bottom topography using inter-ferometric synthetic aperture radar techniques.OPP 95-23454. $19,303 ($43,110) (4)

Alley, Richard B. Pennsylvania State University,University Park University Park, Pennsylvania.Continuation of antarctic ice-sheet stability ona deforming bed: Model studies. OPP 93-18677.$75,443 (2)

Alley, Richard B. Pennsylvania State University,University Park, Pennsylvania. Physical studiesof west antarctic shallow ice cores. OPP 94-17848. $125,000 (3)

Alley, Richard B. Pennsylvania State University,University Park, Pennsylvania. Presidential


42

Young Investigator Award. OPP 90-58193.$15,000 ($37,500) (4)

Anandakrishnan, Sridhar. Pennsylvania StateUniversity, University Park, Pennsylvania.Microearthquake monitoring of ice stream C,West Antarctica: A sensor for sticky spots. OPP93-18121. $102,716 (3)

Baker, Ian. Dartmouth College, Hanover, NewHampshire. In situ synchrotron x-ray topo-graphic studies of polycrystalline ice. OPP 92-18336. $87,500 (3)

Bender, Michael L. University of Rhode Island,Kingston, Rhode Island. Studies of trappedgases in firn and ice from antarctic deep icecores. OPP 91-17969. $147,368 (3)

Bentley, Charles R. University of Wisconsin,Madison, Wisconsin. Airborne radar soundingover ice stream D, West Antarctica. OPP 93-19043. $151,222 ($263,971) (4)

Bindschadler, Robert A. National Aeronauticsand Space Administration, Goddard SpaceFlight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland. Westantarctic glaciology—IV. OPP 95-41734.$197,000 (3)

Blankenship, Donald D. University of Texas,Austin, Texas. Lithospheric controls on thebehavior of the west antarctic ice sheet:Corridor Aerogeophysics of the Eastern RossTransect Zone (CASERTZ). OPP 93-19369.$150,000. ($151,402) (1)


Blankenship, Donald D. University of Texas,Austin, Texas. Support Office for Aerogeo-physical Research (SOAR). OPP 95-43530.$15,000 ($915,000) (4)

Braaten, David A. University of Kansas, Lawrence,Kansas. Measurements and model developmentof antarctic snow accumulation and transportdynamics. OPP 94-17255. $99,017 (3)

Conway, Howard. University of Washington,Seattle, Washington. Origin and properties ofsubfreezing basal ice. OPP 94-18381. $177,681 (3)

Denton, George H. University of Maine, Orono,Maine. Landscape analysis applied to Plioceneice-sheet sensitivity and TransantarcticMountains evolution. OPP 93-18515. $146,970 (4)

Fahnestock, Mark. University of Maryland,College Park, Maryland. New applications ofadvanced very-high-resolution radiometertechnology to the study of small-scale ice-sheetsurface morphology: A window on regional icedynamics. OPP 94-19223. $47,101 (3)

Faure, Gunter. Ohio State University, Columbus,Ohio. Age of the last transgression of the eastantarctic ice sheet, Transantarctic Mountains,southern Victoria Land. OPP 93-16310. $19,350($38,690) (3)

Friedmann, E. Imre. Florida State University,Tallahassee, Florida. Living and fossil microor-ganisms, a sensitive paleoclimate indicator inthe McMurdo Dry Valleys. Implications for Plio-Pleistocene climate and ice sheet. OPP 94-20227. $57,973 ($117,949) (4)

Hamilton, Gordon S. Ohio State University,Columbus, Ohio. Ice-sheet mass balance usingglobal positioning system measurements. OPP94-19396. $217,433 (4)

Harwood, David M. University of Nebraska,Lincoln, Nebraska. Presidential Young Investi-gator Award. OPP 91-58075. $62,500 (4)

Jacobel, Robert W. Saint Olaf College, Northfield,Minnesota. Siple Dome glaciology and icestream history. OPP 93-16338. $34,998 (2)

Kamb, Barclay. California Institute ofTechnology, Pasadena, California. Fast flow ofantarctic ice streams—Bed deformation orbasal sliding? Borehole study of ice streams Band C. OPP 93-19018. $250,975 ($932,869) (4)

Kurz, Mark D. Woods Hole OceanographicInstitution, Woods Hole, Massachusetts.Chronology of antarctic glaciations. OPP 94-18333. $105,798 (3)

Kyle, Philip R. New Mexico Institute of Miningand Technology, Socorro, New Mexico. Volcanicrecord in antarctic ice. OPP 93-16505. $85,122 (4)

Lal, Devendra. University of California, SanDiego, California. Nuclear studies of accumulat-ing and ablation ice using cosmogenic carbon-14. OPP 92-19931. $67,977 (2)

Lea, David W. University of California, SantaBarbara, California. Antarctic ice-core recordsof oceanic emissions: Sulfur, selenium,bromine, and iodine. OPP 92-23951. $12,000(3)

Mahaffy, Mary-Anne W. Pennsylvania StateUniversity, University Park, Pennsylvania.Sensitivity study of processes pertaining to theice dynamics of the west antarctic ice sheet usinga three-dimensional time-dependent whole-ice-sheet model. OPP 94-18622. $59,745 (3)

Mayewski, Paul A. University of NewHampshire, Durham, New Hampshire. Ross icedrainage system (RIDS) Late Holocene climatevariability. OPP 93-16564. $158,231 (3)

Meier, Mark F. University of Colorado, Boulder,Colorado. National Ice Core Curatorial Facility.OPP 95-41701. $54,470 ($142,184) (3)

Mosley-Thompson, Ellen. Ohio State University,Columbus, Ohio. Holocene/Late Wisconsinandust history from Taylor (McMurdo) Dome,Antarctica. OPP 93-16282. $49,594 (3)

Mosley-Thompson, Ellen. Ohio State University,Columbus, Ohio. Long-term trend in net massaccumulation at South Pole. OPP 91-17447.$29,484 (3)

Plasker, James R. U.S. Geological Survey, Reston,Virginia. Antarctic surveying and mapping pro-gram. OPP 95-42588. $6,000 ($225,000) (4)

Powell, Ross D. Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, Illinois. Evaluation of processes at polarglacier grounding-lines to constrain glaciologi-cal and oceanographic models. OPP 92-19048.$35,332 ($42,791) (3)

Powell, Ross D. Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, Illinois. Evaluation of processes at polarglacier grounding lines to constrain glaciologi-cal and oceanographic models. OPP 92-19048.$7,459 ($42,791) (3)

Raymond, Charles F. University of Washington,Seattle, Washington. Siple Dome glaciology andice-stream history. OPP 93-16807. $88,182 (3)

Saltzman, Eric S. University of Miami, RosentielSchool of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences,Miami, Florida. Antarctic ice-core records ofoceanic emissions: Sulfur, bromine, iodine, andselenium. OPP 92-22178. $127,636 (3)

Scambos, Theodore A. University of Colorado,Boulder, Colorado. Siple Dome glaciology andice stream history. OPP 93-17007. $16,283 (2)

Scambos, Theodore A. University of Colorado,Boulder, Colorado. New applications ofadvanced very-high-resolution radiometertechnology to the study of small-scale ice-sheetsurface morphology: A window on regional icedynamics. OPP 94-18723. $185,870 (3)

Sivjee, Gulamabas G. Embry-Riddle Aero-nautical University, Daytona Beach, Florida.Spectroscopic and interferometric studies ofairglow and auroral processes in the antarcticupper atmosphere over Amundsen–Scott SouthPole Station. OPP 95-42892. $13,600 (4)

Stuiver, Minze. University of Washington,Seattle, Washington. Cosmogenic berylium-10and chlorine-36 in a new antarctic ice core. OPP93-16162. $70,039 (2)

Stuiver, Minze. University of Washington,Seattle, Washington. Cosmogenic berylium-10and chlorine-36 in a new antarctic ice core. OPP93-16162. $52,368 (2)

Taylor, Susan. U.S. Army Cold Regions Researchand Engineering Laboratory, Hanover, NewHampshire. Retrieval and analysis of extrater-restrial particles from the water well atAmundsen–Scott South Pole Station, Antarctica.OPP 95-41975. $70,706 (4)

Thonnard, Norbert. University of Tennessee,Knoxville, Tennessee. Development of laser-based resonance ionization spectroscopy tech-niques for krypton-81 and krypton-85 measure-ments in the geosciences. OPP 94-10695.$20,000 ($241,292) (4)

Waddington, Edwin D. University of Wash-ington, Seattle, Washington. Analysis of existinggeophysical data from Taylor (McMurdo) Domefor ice core interpretation and relation to thedry valleys geomorphological climate record.OPP 94-21644. $76,047 (3)

Waddington, Edwin D. University of Washington,Seattle, Washington. Reconstruction of pale-otemperatures from precision borehole temper-ature logging: A Transantarctic Mountains tran-


43

sect from Taylor (McMurdo) Dome to the RossSea. OPP 92-21261. $97,069. (3)

Webb, Peter-Noel. Ohio State University,Columbus, Ohio. Sirius Group in the ShackletonGlacier region of the Queen Maud Mountains.OPP 94-19056. $86,360 (4)

Whillans, Ian M. Ohio State University,Columbus, Ohio. Mass balance and ice-streammechanics in West Antarctica. OPP 93-16509.$137,724 (3)

White, James W. University of Colorado,Boulder, Colorado. Stable isotope measure-ments on shallow cores from West Antarctica.OPP 94-18642. $50,000 (3)

Wilson, Gary S. Ohio State University,Columbus, Ohio. The use of fossil microorgan-isms for the study of ancient climates in theMcMurdo Dry Valleys. OPP 94-20260. $75,871 (4)

Support and services

Andrews, Martha. University of Colorado,Boulder, Colorado. A user-based polar informa-tion system: Coordinating responsibilitiesthrough the U.S. Polar Information WorkingGroup. OPP 93-21320. $10,956 ($21,912) (2)

Blankenship, Donald D. University of Texas,Austin, Texas. Support Office for Aerogeo-physical Research (SOAR). OPP 95-43530.$660,000 ($915,000) (4)

Brown, Otis B. University of Miami, RosentielSchool of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences,Miami, Florida. Satellite communications forscientific purposes: University NationalOceanographic Laboratory System fleet man-agement and polar program support. OPP 91-13074. $125,000 ($140,000) (4)

Comberiate, Michael A. National Aeronauticsand Space Administration, Goddard SpaceFlight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland. Real-timeozone imaging at McMurdo Station. OPP 95-05762. $30,000 (3)

Crockett, Alan B. Idaho National EngineeringLaboratory, Idaho Falls, Idaho. Environmentalmeasurements support for the U.S. AntarcticProgram. OPP 95-41507. $161,000 (3)

Ferrell, William M. Department of Defense,Washington, DC. Logistic support of the U.S.program in Antarctica. OPP 94-44341.$2,015,960 ($2,203,660) (1)

Fowler, Alfred N. American Geophysical Union,Washington, DC. Council of Managers ofNational Antarctic Programs Secretariat. OPP93-21509. $63,854 (2)

Fraser, William R. Montana State University,Bozeman, Montana. Changes in Adélie penguinpopulations at Palmer Station: The effects ofhuman disturbance and long-term environ-mental change. OPP 95-05596. $54,136($210,047) (4)

Gordon, R. Lee. RD Instruments, San Diego,California. Ocean ambient sound instrumentsystem (OASIS). DMI 93-22786. $275,610 (1)

Hall, Michael J . National Oceanic andAtmospheric Admininstration, Washington,DC. Support for Argos data collection andlocation system. OPP 95-43519. $61,840($479,174) (4)

Hibben, Stuart G. Library of Congress,Washington, DC. Abstracting and indexing ser-vice for Current Antarctic Literature. OPP 94-43355. $194,958 (1)

Hibben, Stuart G. Library of Congress,Washington, DC. Abstracting and indexing ser-vice for Current Antarctic Literature. OPP 95-42448. $266,047 (4)

Humphrey, Kimberly M. U.S. Air Force SystemsCommand, Dayton, Ohio. Acquisition of gov-ernment furnished equipment (GFE) for NSF’snew LC-130H3. OPP 94-19764. $1,500,000 (1)

Kamb, Barclay. California Institute ofTechnology, Pasadena, California. Fast flow ofantarctic ice streams—Bed deformation orbasal sliding? Borehole study of ice streams Band C. OPP 93-19018. $205,091 ($932,869) (4)

Koger, Ronald G. Antarctic Support Associates,Englewood, Colorado. Logistics support ofoperations and research activities related to theU.S. program in Antarctica. OPP 94-44339.$13,956,371 ($13,997,335) (1)

Koger, Ronald G. Antarctic Support Associates,Englewood, Colorado. Logistics support ofoperations/research activities related to theUnited States Program in Antarctica. OPP 95-42227. $30,000,000 ($30,098,868) (4)

Kuivinen, Karl C. University of Nebraska,Lincoln, Nebraska. Logistic and engineeringsupport for the Polar Ice Coring Office. OPP 95-41768. $1,375,000 ($2,244,236) (4)

Lubin, Dan. University of California at SanDiego, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, LaJolla, California. The Arctic and AntarcticResearch Center: A unique resource for polarscience and operations. OPP 94-14276. $172,000($192,000) (3)


Naveen, Ron. Oceanites, Inc., Cooksville,Maryland. Antarctic site inventory and moni-toring program. OPP 94-07212. $76,595($105,215) (1)

Naveen, Ron. Oceanites, Inc., Cooksville,Maryland. Antarctic site inventory and moni-toring program. OPP 94-07212. $108,500 (4)

Nelson, Marilyn. Blue Pencil Group, Inc.,Reston, Virginia. Editorial services for theAntarctic Journal of the United States. OPP 95-42549. $44,693 (4)

Oliver, John S. San Jose State University, SanJose, California. Hydrographic survey and geo-graphic information system database develop-ment for anthropogenic debris and marinehabitats at McMurdo Station, Antarctica. OPP94-03833. $116,727 (1)

Oliver, John S. San Jose State University, SanJose, California. Hydrographic survey and glob-al information system database developmentfor anthropogenic debris and marine habitatsat McMurdo Station, Antarctica. OPP 95-42825.$36,982 ($48,082) (4)

Onuma, Tsuyoshi. Navy Facilities andEngineering Command, Arlington, Virginia.Engineering support for antarctic program. OPP94-43844. $55,000 (1)

Petty, Jimmie D. U.S. Department of theInterior, Columbia, Missouri. Application ofsemipermeable membrane devices (SPMDs) aspassive monitors of the environment ofAntarctica. OPP 94-43169. $87,200 (1)

Petty, Jimmie D. U.S. Department of theInterior, Columbia, Missouri. Application ofsemipermeable membrane devices (SPMDs) aspassive monitors of the environment ofAntarctica. OPP 95-41987. $80,900 (4)

Plasker, James R. U.S. Geological Survey,Reston, Virginia. Antarctic surveying and map-ping program. OPP 95-42588. $100,000($225,000) (4)

Proenza, Luis M. University of Alaska,Fairbanks, Alaska. Preliminary fifth year pro-gram plan budget: Polar Ice Coring Office. OPP94-42766. $886,512 ($2,723,422) (1)

Proteau, Paul R. Capital Systems Group, Inc.,Rockville, Maryland. A proposal to provide ser-vices to store, publicize, and fulfill requests forNSF-owned visual materials regarding polarsubjects. OPP 94-41350. $67 (1)

Reed, Robert M. Oak Ridge National Laboratory,Oak Ridge, Tennessee. Technical support for theU.S. Antarctic Program environmental review.OPP 94-43570. $40,000 (1)

Rounds, Fred. National Aeronautics and SpaceAdministration, Washington, DC. Internettelecommunications support for the U.S.Antarctic Program. OPP 95-28497. $562,000 (4)

Rummel, John D. National Aeronautics andSpace Administration. Washington, DC. NationalScience Foundation/National Aeronautics andSpace Administration technology demonstra-tion. OPP 94-43921. $1,053,750 (1)

Setlow, Loren W. National Academy of Sciences,Washington, DC. Support of the Polar ResearchBoard. OPP 95-06731. $79,291 ($158,582) (3)

Shah, Raj N. Capital Systems Group, Inc.,Rockville, Maryland. Proposal processing andtravel support to Office of Polar Programs,National Science Foundation. OPP 92-00919.$221,439 (1)

Shah, Raj N. Capital Systems Group, Inc.,Rockville, Maryland. Proposal processing andtravel support to Office of Polar Programs,National Science Foundation. OPP 95-41194.$41,319 (3)

Shah, Raj N. Capital Systems Group, Inc.,Rockville, Maryland. Proposal processing andtravel support to the Office of Polar Programs,


44

June 1994 issue

The photo article appearing on pages 14and 15 of volume 29, number 2, inac-

curately stated that the cross erected bythe surviving members of Robert F. Scott’sill-fated expedition atop Observation Hillin memory of their fallen comrades hadremained in place for 80 years. In fact,fierce winds during July and August 1974had brought down the cross, which wasreinstalled in its original foundation inSeptember 1974 by Scott Base personnel.We thank AJUS reader and former mem-ber of the Naval Support Force AntarcticaRMC Billy-Ace Baker, USN (Ret.) for point-ing out this inaccuracy.

September 1994 issue

In the Marine and terrestrial geologyand geophysics project summary sec-

tion, Carol Finn of the U.S. GeologicalSurvey should also have been listed as aco-principal investigator for Lithosphericcontrols on the behavior of the westantarctic ice sheet: Corridor Aerogeo-physics of the Eastern Ross Transect Zone(CASERTZ/WAIS) project (S-098).

1994 annual review issue• The following is a corrected caption

and credit line for the main cover pho-tograph on the 1994 review issue of theAntarctic Journal (volume 29, number5). The caption and credit for the insetphotograph remain the same.

Cover photographs: In the Trans-antarctic Mountains, deep crevassesform circular patterns in a glacier.This image and the flat, barren vistasof the polar plateau are ones most

commonly associated with Antarcti-ca. In sharp contrast is the idea ofAntarctica and high-tech scientificresearch, but as the Inset photoillustrates, advanced technology isimproving and expanding theresearch possibilities even at thegeographic South Pole… (Main photo

by Cornelius Sullivan, Director, Office of

Polar Programs, NSF…)

• Kenneth Mopper, Department ofChemistry, Washington State Univer-sity, Pullman, Washington 99164, co-authored with David J. Kieber the arti-cle “Photochemistry of antarctic watersduring the 1993 austral spring” (pp.100–102). His name was inadvertentlyomitted in the printed version of vol-ume 29, issue 5

National Science Foundation. OPP 95-41040.$174,902 (4)

Smith, Charles H. Department of Defense,Washington, DC. Logistic support of the U.S.Program in Antarctica. OPP 95-43375.$12,600,000 ($12,626,262) (4)

Smith, Kenneth L. University of California at SanDiego, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, LaJolla, California. Seasonal ice cover and its impacton the epipelagic community in the northwest-ern Weddell Sea: Long time-series monitoring.OPP 95-42643. $100,000 ($126,065) (4)

Smith, Raymond C. University of California,Santa Barbara, California. Ozone diminution,ultraviolet radiation, and phytoplankton biolo-gy in antarctic waters. OPP 94-44084. $6,187 (1)

Spilhaus, A.F. American Geophysical Union,Washington, DC. Publication of AntarcticResearch Series. OPP 94-14962. $66,258 (1)

Spilhaus, A.F. American Geophysical Union,Washington, DC. Publication of AntarcticResearch Series. OPP 94-14962. $66,258($132,516) (4)

Stearns, Charles R. University of Wisconsin,Madison, Wisconsin. Antarctic MeteorologicalResearch Center. OPP 92-08864. $113,569($170,354) (4)

Stearns, Charles R. University of Wisconsin,Madison, Wisconsin. Continuation for theantarctic automatic weather station climateprogram 1995–1998. OPP 94-19128. $340,000($421,442) (4)

Sutherland, Woody C. University of California atSan Diego, Scripps Institution of Oceanography,La Jolla, California. Shipboard technicians sup-port. OCE 94-00707. $14,400 ($891,847) (2)

Terra, Joseph A. Department of Health andHuman Services, Washington, DC. Industrial

and environmental hygiene services. OPP 94-18764. $150,000 (1)

Tumeo, Mark A. University of Alaska, Fairbanks,Alaska. Examination of in situ oil spill remedia-tion at McMurdo Station. OPP 94-03677.$131,720 (1)

Tumeo, Mark A. University of Alaska, Fairbanks,Alaska. Examination of in situ oil spill remedia-tion at McMurdo Station. OPP 95-41974. $8,000(3)

Walker, Alan. Department of Transportation,U.S. Coast Guard, Washington, DC. Icebreakersupport in the U.S. Antarctic Program. OPP 94-44171. $2,287,460 (1)

Walker, Alan. Department of Transportation,U.S. Coast Guard, Washington, DC. Icebreakersupport in the U.S. Antarctic Program. OPP 95-40197. $3,013,405 (1)


45

Errata

Weather at U.S. stations, November 1994 through January 1995November 1994 December 1994 January 1995

Feature McMurdo Palmer* South Pole* McMurdo* Palmer South Pole* McMurdo Palmer South Pole

Average temperature (°C) –8.8 1.8 –3.0 3.5 –32.0Temperature maximum (°C) –2.1 9.0 3.5 9.0 –24.3(date) (4) (5) (9) (3) (10)Temperature minimum (°C) –16.1 –4.3 –9.8 –1.0 –39.7(date) (26) (16) (26) (13) (24)Average station pressure (mb) 986.49 986.3 982.5 988.8 683.0Pressure maximum (mb) 1000.5 1000.2 993.9 1005.9 690.5(date) (18) (1) (31) (9) (31)Pressure minimum (mb) 972.1 969.9 975.0 972.8 676.5(date) (2) (29) (11) (13) (12)Snowfall (mm) 83.8 118.0 68.6 27.0 TracePrevailing wind direction 180° W, NE 120° N 90°Average wind (m/sec) 5.2 4.5 3.6 5.4 3.2Peak wind (m/sec) 28.3 30.9 17.4 26.8 93.0(date, direction) (3, 200°) (17, 10°) (26, 180°) (24, 10°) (18, N)Average sky cover 6.3 9.8 8.1 9.4 5Number of clear days 6 0 8 0 12Number of partly cloudy days 11 0 7 1 9Number of cloudy days 13 31 16 30 10Number of days with visibilityless than 0.4 km 1 —* 0 —* 0

*Data unavailable.

Prepared from information from the stations. Locations: McMurdo 77°51'S 166°40'E, Palmer 64°46'S 64°3'W, Amundsen–Scott South Pole 90°S.Elevations: McMurdo sea level, Palmer sea level, Amundsen–Scott South Pole 2,835 meters. For prior data and daily logs, contact the National ClimateCenter, Asheville, North Carolina 28801.

Weather at U.S. stations, February 1995 through April 1995February 1995 March 1995 April 1995

Feature McMurdo Palmer South Pole McMurdo* Palmer* South Pole McMurdo* Palmer* South Pole

Average temperature (°C) –8.6 2.4 –40.8 –52.9 –58.0Temperature maximum (°C) 3.7 6.5 –28.0 –40.3 –44.1(date) (2) (11) (8) (24) (28)Temperature minimum (°C) –18.3 –2.6 –54.3 –66.8 –74.8(date) (15) (20) (17) (30) (23)Average station pressure (mb) 983.4 990.3 683.6 683.1 677.3Pressure maximum (mb) 996.4 1018.8 693.1 691.2 692.1(date) (1) (18) (20) (19) (2)Pressure minimum (mb) 967.7 960.4 674.4 671.1 656.7(date) (22) (7) (14) (28) (20)Snowfall (mm) 147.3 25.0 Trace Trace TracePrevailing wind direction 120° N, SW 20° 10° 10°Average wind (m/sec) 5.1 5.1 5.4 6.2 6.5Peak wind (m/sec) 23.7 30.9 13.4 14.4 15.4(date, direction) (22, 250°) (28, 40°) (23, NW) (13, N) (28, N)Average sky cover 7.2 9.9 7 5 4Number of clear days 3 0 6 12 14Number of partly cloudy days 12 0 7 12 12Number of cloudy days 13 28 15 7 4Number of days with visibilityless than 0.4 km 0.3 —* 6 15 16

*Data unavailable.



46

May 1995 June 1995 July 1995

Feature McMurdo* Palmer* South Pole* McMurdo* Palmer* South Pole McMurdo* Palmer South Pole*

Average temperature (°C) –58.5 –8.5Temperature maximum (°C) –39.4 –1.4(date) (6) (30)Temperature minimum (°C) –72.4 –19.0(date) (18) (17)Average station pressure (mb) 682.3 988.15Pressure maximum (mb) 698.7 1010.1(date) (29) (27)Pressure minimum (mb) 667.2 962.1(date) (4) (18)Snowfall (mm) Trace 640Prevailing wind direction 90° EAverage wind (m/sec) 5.4 4.9Peak wind (m/sec) 13.4 28.3(date, direction) (10, N) (24, 80°)Average sky cover 3 8.9Number of clear days 20 —*Number of partly cloudy days 6 —*Number of cloudy days 4 —*Number of days with visibilityless than 0.4 km 7 —*

Weather at U.S. stations, May 1995 through July 1995

*Data unavailable.


August 1995 September 1995 October 1995

Feature McMurdo* Palmer South Pole* McMurdo* Palmer South Pole* McMurdo* Palmer South Pole*

Average temperature (°C) –12.4 –8.2 –2.7Temperature maximum (°C) 0 2.0 5.0(date) (18) (29) (10)Temperature minimum (°C) –26.0 –22.0 –14.2(date) (24) (6) (27)Average station pressure (mb) 992.9 984.6 989.4Pressure maximum (mb) 1018.5 1008.3 1010.1(date) (10) (21) (27)Pressure minimum (mb) 962.9 947.1 963.0(date) (31) (4) (19)Snowfall (mm) 470 910 140Prevailing wind direction N N NAverage wind (m/sec) 5.0 6.8 5.7Peak wind (m/sec) 31.4 38.1 35.5(date, direction) (16, N) (1, N) (2, N)Average sky cover 8.0 8.0 7.5Number of clear days —* —* —*Number of partly cloudy days —* —* —*Number of cloudy days —* —* —*Number of days with visibilityless than 0.4 km —* —* —*

Weather at U.S. stations, August 1995 through October 1995

*Data unavailable.



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