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The weather came through as Lance forecast and provided ideal conditions for recovery of our moorings. Mooring 2, in 1500 m depth, was recovered last night and mooring 3, in 2500 m depth, was picked up early this morning. We have also completed CTD stations at 8 sites along the transect. The weather looks like it should hold for a few more days, so we should have a good shot at recovering the final two moorings. Each of the moorings has an instrument that runs up and down the deepest 500 m of the mooring wire, measuring temperature, salinity and current velocity as it profiles up and down once each day. The two-year record from the profilers will allow us to see how the properties and transport of the dense “Antarctic Bottom Water “change with time. The sinking of Antarctic Bottom Water around the margin of Antarctica is an important part of the global network of ocean currents that influences climate patterns. The unanticipated calving of the Mertz Glacier Tongue in February 2010 should make these records particularly interesting because they will provide continuous measurements both before and after the calving of the glacier tongue. The dense water formed in the Mertz region flows west along the Antarctic coast and crosses the mooring array we are recovering now.
Regards, Steve and Barbara
Map
A map showing Australia and Antarctica. The map shows the journey of one voyage that has occured in the season, with each route highlighted in a distinct colour.