Tuesday 22 January 2008 à 18:08
Final preparations!
Patrice Pruvost. Correspondent aboard the Umitaka Maru
We have just spent our second night on board. Starting at 7h30, we eat breakfast on board. This meal is basically made up of seafood. This morning, we have pieces of marinated mackerel, dried shrimp, green beans in a sticky, stringy sauce, all accompanied by rice, soup and tea.
Tuesday 22 January 2008 à 17:03
How to conserve Antarctic specimens that are collected?
Sophie Mouge. Correspondent aboard the Aurora Australis
The mission is reaching its end! We have to be sure that the specimens we’ve collected are well dried out. If they are not, there is a risk of organisms mildewing during the return trip, which will take them to different laboratories in several countries the world over.
Tuesday 22 January 2008 à 14:10
Position of Astrolabe at 06:31 UTC
Anne Goffart. Correspondent aboard the Astrolabe
66°30S
140°05 E
Tuesday 22 January 2008 à 10:26
Position of Aurora Australis
Sophie Mouge. Correspondent aboard the Aurora Australis
FROM: Martin Riddle
DATE: 22/01/08
REPORT (SITREP) NO.: 337
UNIVERSAL TIME: 0100
LOCAL (SHIP) TIME: 1200
AUSTRALIAN EASTERN STANDARD TIME: 1200
POSITION: -60 23.7, 141 05.8
HEADING: 012T
CURRENT SPEED (KNOTS): 13.0 kts
DISTANCE TO NEXT WAYPOINT (NAUTICAL MILES): 1024.6
DISTANCE COVERED LAST 24
HOURS (NAUTICAL MILES): 208.4
WEATHER CONDITIONS: Overcast with low cloud
and occasional fog patches, winds 21 kts from 260T
AIR TEMPERATURE: 3.1
SEA
TEMPERATURE: 3.1
SEA CONDITIONS: Moderate seas and W'ly swell 3m
ICE
CONDITIONS: Nil
REMARKS: The last of the 12 CASO CTD casts along the SR3 transect was
completed at 2000 hrs last night. This was the 130th CTD for the voyage,
with 44 samples taken along the CASO transects and a further 86 at the
CEAMARC sites. The SR3 transect was first occupied in 1991 by Aurora
Australis; the present voyage will be the 7th re-occupation of the line.
The time series of measurements along SR3 is the longest and most continuous
set of observations available to document changes in the deep and bottom
waters of the Southern Ocean. The CASO CTD stations east of the Mertz
Glacier taken earlier in the voyage showed clearly that the bottom water
flowing west from the Ross Sea is significantly fresher than observed in the
1990s. The SR3 line of stations just completed will show whether the bottom
water produced in the Mertz Polynya region is also changing. The CTD samples
taken at the CEAMARC sites will provide key information on physical
conditions in the overlying waters that may help explain the distribution
and abundance patterns seen in the communities of bottom-living animals.
With an average depth of about 1300m for all 130 sites, a total of about
170kms of CTD wire has been paid out from the winch and wound back in again
during the course of the voyage.
Regards, Martin and Sarah.
