V6 sitrep – Monday, 31 March 2008

Information

Vessel:

Aurora Australis

Report (sitrep) ID:

18027

Universal time (UTC):

04:30

Australian time (AEST):

14:30

Position:

63° 59′ S, 139° 52′ E

Heading:

353

Speed:

11.9 kn

Distance in last 24 hours:

50 NM

Weather conditions:

ENE wind 10kn, overcast

Air temperature:

−2.7 °C

Sea conditions:

1 m swell, 0.5m sea

Sea temperature:

0.3 °C

Comments

We continue to make good progress. We have completed 4 CTD stations and two deployments of the trace metal rosette in the last 24 hours. The Fast Repetition Rate Fluorometer (FRRF) has been deployed following the trace metal casts to measure the physiological status of phytoplankton cells. Sampling near the iceberg went well, with clean samples of surface sea water collected using the Fast Rescue Craft (FRC) to avoid contamination from the ship. With a wind chill of -25C, the FRC team was happy to get back to a warm bowl of potato leek soup. A CTD station occupied near the iceberg showed some stair-steps in the salinity profile caused by spreading of melt water from the iceberg through a process known as double diffusion. The weather continues to be very cooperative. Steve and Deepy.

Map

This content was last updated 2 years ago on 3 October 2023.