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  • Metadata record for data from AAS (ASAC) project 3132. Public This research will determine variability in the influx and mineralogy of cosmic dust to the Southern Ocean during the Holocene from peat bog cores. Cosmic dust contains significant quantities of soluble iron, a micronutrient required for photosynthesis. Therefore, variations in the deposition of cosmic dust could significantly affect primary production in the Southern Ocean. This may also play an important role in global climate due to its influence on carbon dioxide draw-down from, and emission of volatile sulphur compounds to, the atmosphere. The download file contain a csv spreadsheet of carbon dating from geochemical peat cores collected from Green Gorge on Macquarie Island. Project objectives: This project will sample peat bogs on Macquarie Island to: 1. Quantify and develop a high-temporal resolution record of the variability in cosmic dust deposition during the Holocene; 2. Determine the mineralogy and quantify the solubility of iron contained in the cosmic dust; Iron is a micronutrient required for photosynthetic reactions within chloroplasts. Martin [1990] proposed that many oceanic phytoplankton, especially those in the high nutrient - low chlorophyll (HNLC) regions of the world's oceans (such as the Southern Ocean) were limited by the availability of iron. Martin et al. [1991] demonstrated that nanomolar increases in dissolved iron stimulated phytoplankton blooms in the North and Equatorial Pacific and Southern Oceans. Several large-scale field experiments (see de Baar et al [2005] for a summary) demonstrated that the addition of iron stimulated phytoplankton productivity significantly. Eleven further experiments have confirmed these results in many other regions [Boyd, et al., 2007] and models of the cellular processes by which iron fertilisation stimulates phytoplankton blooms are now available [Fasham, et al., 2006]. The response of phytoplankton to iron fertilisation has attracted much research effort because phytoplankton blooms increase the draw-down of carbon from the atmosphere and ultimately export a fraction to the deep ocean where it is stored as particulate organic carbon [Watson, et al., 2000] and hence may play an important role in climate. Cosmic and terrestrial dust can both contain significant quantities of soluble, bio-available iron [Fung, et al., 2000; Plane, 2003]. The potential for iron contained in aeolian terrestrial dust to affect climate was recently assessed by Kohfeld et al. [2005], who concluded that dust-induced iron-fertilisation of ocean ecosystems might account for 30 - 50 ppm of atmospheric CO2 draw-down during the last glacial period. Satellite data provide support for these hypotheses at the regional scales at which terrestrial dust deposition events occur [Cropp, et al., 2003; Gabric, et al., 2002]. The influx of cosmic dust to the oceans could be significantly different to terrestrial dust inputs as it is likely to be uniformly distributed around the globe [Johnson, 2001], vary on longer time scales (although this is not well understood [Winckler and Fischer, 2006]), and is expected to be of finer particle-size and contrasting mineralogy [Plane, 2003]. Ice cores provide excellent long-term records of terrestrial and cosmic dust deposition, however, cores from ombrotrophic peat bogs, that receive their inputs exclusively from the atmosphere, can provide high temporal resolution records of cosmic and terrestrial dust during the Holocene [Cortizas and Gayoso, 2002]. Data from ice cores in Greenland and ocean sediment cores in the tropical Pacific have revealed variations in cosmic dust influx between glacial and inter-glacial periods, with increases in cosmic dust influx associated with cooler temperatures [Dalai, et al., 2006; Gabrielli, et al., 2004; Karner, et al., 2003]. Johnson [2001] calculated that the current background cosmic dust deposition of about 40,000 tonnes per annum delivered 30-300% of the aeolian iron flux due to terrestrial dust and about 20% of the upwelled iron flux in the Southern Ocean. Ombrotrophic peatlands, such as those found on Macquarie Island, which receive inputs of material solely from the atmosphere, provide especially useful records of cosmic dust deposition over the Holocene. Taken from the 2009-2010 Progress Report: Progress against objectives: Peat core samples were collected on Macquarie Island in April 2010. These samples will be analysed over the coming year.

  • Colonisation of Lake Fletcher, a hypersaline, meromictic lake in the Vestfold Hills, Antarctica, by the calanoid copepod Drepanopus bispinosus, the cyclopoid copepod Oncea curvata and an undescribed cydippid ctenophore is discussed. In 1978, salinity direstly under the ice was 66 ppt and repeated net hauls found no zooplankton. In 1983, adults of D. bispinosus were found, and in 1984, a reproductively active population of this species. Surface water salinity in 1984 was 56 ppt. During winter 1986, surface salinity was 54 ppt and three zooplankton species (D. bispinosus, O curvata and an undescribed cydippid ctenophore) had established populations in the lake. In 1986/87, high tides caused nearby Taynaya Bay to flood into the lake, and three further species (the calanoid, Paralabidocera antarctica, and two harpacticoids, Harpacticus furcatus and Idomene sp.) were found in the lake. It appears that periodic flooding after 1978 caused a salinity decrease in the lake from 66 to 54 ppt, and this enabled some invertebrate species to maintain year-round populations, whereas others require marine incursions to re-establish summer only populations. The fields in this dataset are: Date Salinity Record Species

  • This dataset is a document describing the Ctenophores of the Southern Ocean. It lists all the known species and with illustrated diagrams provides a guide to their taxonomic identification. The document is available for download as a pdf from the provided URL.

  • An outline of the blue whale voyages of 2012 can be found here: http://www.marinemammals.gov.au/sorp/antarctic-blue-whale-project/bonney-upwelling-acoustic-testing-expeditions with further information here: http://www.marinemammals.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0005/135617/SC-64-SH11.pdf The 'Logger' data entry system was developed by the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) and is a flexible system to record information during a voyage. This system was the primary data entry system for the voyage and all events were recorded in Logger’s database. Blue whale voyage 1 datasets: 12 - 25 January 2012 Sightings from the first blue whale voyage are recorded across three access databases: 20120117LoggerFinalPart1Updated.mdb 20120121LoggerFinalPart2Updated.mdb 20120125LoggerFinalPart3Updated.mdb These databases contain tables describing: Comments: details additional to sightings entered or data entry omissions, time stamped (UTC) Observer effort - codes found in lookup table, date/time in UTC GPS data (time stamped, UTC) and heading Lookup - contains all topic codes to apply to all other tables Resights: resighting details for sightings already recorded, time/date in UTC, initial sighting number, blow count and notes Cetacean sightings - date/time in UTC, sighting number, observer name, vessel, estimate of distance, bearing, heading, species code, sighting cue code, estimate of number of individuals (low, best and high), group behaviour, pod compaction, surface synchronicity and comments Weather: Date/time in UTC, sightability, glare, sea state, wind strength, swell, weather, cloud cover, cloud height, notes Blue whale voyage 2 datasets: 13 - 30 March 2012 GPS data is stored in the file called 'gps_meld_data_exp.csv'. This is an amalgam dataset of two GPS data streams, that has been checked and corrected (see 'Quality' for further details. Date time is stored in two formats. The first is %Y-%m-%d %H-%M-%S format, as in "2012-03-16 17:54:32". The second format is a concatenated, orderable numeric string, as in 20120316175432. ### The small file 'trip_db.csv' contains a quick reference as to when the four trips of blue whale voyage 2 started, to the minute. These times have been corrected for the minor (i.e, 2 mins 15 second) error (see 'Quality' below). ### Effort database is contained in the file 'VWhale2_database_effort_corrected.csv'. A fair amount of 'correction' has gone on with this data as there were great variations in the way different people were adding new information into Logger. Furthermore, there were 'innovations' made to the Logger system, particularly after the first couple of trips. In particular, the effort was added to Logger in the first trip was exactly as it was in the first voyage (the VL was too seasick to make any amendments). So, according to the older effort classification, effort for the *first trip* started and ended, but there were no observer rotations or notes taken as to what platform the observers were perched on. Given there was quite a bit of seasickness that first day, the only observers likely to be working would have been PE, PO and DD. These observers favoured the Fly Bridge so all sighting effort for the first trip has been allocated to these observers on the Fly Bridge. The subsequent innovations were: observers were not told how far away a potential calling whale was. If, however, the acousticians thought that we were almost upon the animal(s), they will indicate this to the observing team. Acoustic.search == 1 indicates when the acousticians have notified observers that there was a group of blue whales in the area. Local.Search == 1 indicates that after an initial sighting was made, sighting effort and boat movement converted into a search to get closer to the animal(s) in order to confirm their species (not usually such a huge issue with blue whales, admittedly), group size and to get photo-ID. FD == 1 when effort on the foredeck either started or continued. FB == 1 when effort on the fly bridge either started or continued. For the effort types, the effort interval is defined as the time between the row the '1' value first appears and the date/time of the next row of the similar effort type. Index.new: Because two databases were merged to form the one effort dataset (the first trip had its own Logger MS-Access database), an overall index, Index.new, was created for continuity. Index: Effort index as it appears in the original Logger MS-Access databases. GpsIndex: In Logger, each Effort (or sighting) row is tagged with the accompanying GPS index number. This ties an effort event with the date/time and geographical location information displayed in the GPS data. GPSIndex.cor: As with GpsIndex but, again, as the databases were merged, a new GPSIndex value was created (.cor == corrected) to account for this, and for the added BPM GPS data. GpsTime: Date (only), as derived from GPS. Has been abbreviate to only date due to the joys of how Microsoft packages deal with date/time objects; full date/time value for each effort row can be derived from the GPS data, via the GPSIndex.cor value EffortNo: Each effort row has been assigned a unique number within each respective MS-Access Logger file. This is somewhat redundant with the Index value. Local time: When Logger records an event, it also takes a date/time value from the local computer. It's not really clear to me what this value actually represents. Observer: The head observer at the time the effort event was logged. Basically, just means the person driving the Logger computer (i.e., physically entering values and making weather obs) Event: Each event has a unique descriptor number. See the 'Lookup' table in the MS-Access database. Event.cor: This column should be completely ignored. Notes: Any comments that accompanied particular effort entries. See also the Comments table for notes not specifically related to any Effort entries. Platform: Which sighting platforms observers either started or stopped effort on, or rotated through. Unfortunately, this information wasn't always consistently recorded. See the FB and FD columns for a more correct record of when sighting effort was on and off. Platform.cor: This column should be ignored. Observers: All observers on rotation. Sonobuoy: when the launching of a sonobuoy was noted in Logger, here are the numbers (this is not a complete list) Trip: which trip it was ##### Sightings for all species are given in 'sightings.csv'. ##### Weather observations are in 'weather.csv'. Recording of glare angles (i.e., start and end bearing) started on third trip. ##### Comments in 'comments.csv'. Please note there were no comments recorded during the first trip.

  • The dataset download contains scanned copies of the acoustics log and the voyage report from voyage 7 of the Nella Dan in the 1984-1985 season. The voyage departed Hobart on the 9th of February, 1985, and conducted marine science, as well as stopping at Davis, Mawson, Edgeworth David and the Shackleton Ice Shelf before returning to Hobart on the 17th of March, 1985. See the download file for full details, but some extracts from the voyage report are copied below. Report on Voyage 7 - Marine Science on Nella Dan, Malcolm Robb Due to the cancellation of the fishing and current meter components, the marine science program was redefined as a study of bird distribution and feeding habits as related to oceanographic phenomena. This program would utilise a towed body containing CTD instrumentation in conjunction with the hydroacoustic measurement of "food". In addition a second CTD could be used from the stern using one of the partly operating trawl winches. The study design A cruise plan was designed in which the collection of bird distribution data was given priority; hydroacoustic and oceanographic data were collected to complement the bird observations. Tide Gauges Two Annderra type tide gauges were to be deployed on behalf of the Victorian Institute of Marine Science (VIMS); one at Mawson and one at Davis. Observations of seabirds and marine mammals during voyage 7 - Jennifer A Bassett Seabird observations Systematic seabird observations were conducted from the MV Nella Dan during voyage 7. This was the third voyage during the 1984/85 austral summer when seabird observations were conducted by the same observer. To record distribution and abundance of seabirds during all voyages standard ten minute counts were used following the method outlined in the Revised Edition (February 1984) of BIOMASS handbook #18 (1982). On voyage 7, as in the previous voyages, observations were made where possible during all hours of daylight. A minimum of one count per hour was made. Within the Australian BIOMASS Study Area (defined as the region 58-90 degrees East, and South of 59 degrees) standard counts were usually made twice hourly with a more or less continuous record being kept to record the occurrence of less common species, large flocks and feeding behaviour. The distribution and abundance of seals and cetacea were also recorded. A total of 380 10 minute counts were made during the voyage, 205 of these within the Australian BIOMASS Area. Hydroacoustic program report for voyages 5 and 7, 1984/85 - Ian Higginbottom During voyage 7, the new EK-400 echosounder and QD were used in conjunction with the so called 'spare' 120 kHz hull mounted transducer. The echosounder was run along 4022 miles of cruise track between 17 Feb - 11 Mar 1985. Data were recorded on punch tape for only 1248 miles of cruise track in the Prydz Bay Scullin-Monolith region.

  • Microsoft Access database containing a compilation of CTD data collected in the Southern Ocean from Australian Antarctic Division (AAD), Antarctic Climate and Ecosystems Co-operative Research Centre (ACE CRC) and Hydrographic Atlas of the Southern Ocean (SOA) data sources. This SOA data contains discrete CTD (Conductivity, Temperature and Depth) station data along with a 1 x 1 degree gridded CTD data set interpolated in space and time. Parameters include pressure, temperature, salinity, dissolved oxygen, nutrients (phosphate, nitrate+nitrite, and silicate). Ocean Tools software developed by AAD is available in conjunction with this database to manipulate, extract and visualise data (including station map, transect selection, xy plots, vertical cross sections, geostrophic velocity/transport calculations). The download file contains an access database of the compiled CTD data, a word document containing further information about the structure of the database and the data (AAD CTD Data.doc), and a folder of the original source data, including readmes providing reference details, and specific information.

  • This file contains biological observations collected in the Casey region during the 1968-1969 season. Observations were made on a dog trip, of giant petrels, skuas, penguins, snow petrels, seals, wilson's storm petrels, and whales. A number of photographs are also included in the file. The hard copy of the log has been archived by the Australian Antarctic Division library.

  • The data processing was done by the Royal Australian Navy's (RAN) Deployable Geospatial Support Team (DGST) and was provided to the Australian Antarctic Data Centre by the Australian Hydrographic Office. The dataset is titled HI534. The data processed was collected on the following voyages: 2012/13 voyages MS, 1, 2 and 3 The data has not been through the verification process for use in charts.

  • These data are linked to what appears to be an unfinished report/paper by Pat Quilty. An extract of the unfinished report is available below, and the full document is included in the data download. These data are also linked to a collection in the biodiversity database, and are also related to another record (both listed at the provided URLs). Foraminiferids are recorded from samples collected on Mac. Robertson Shelf and Prydz Bay, East Antarctica in 1982, 1995 and 1997. Most are identifiable from previous literature but a new enrolled biserial agglutinated genus is noted but not defined. Distribution is related to oceanographic factors. The Mac. Robertson Shelf-Prydz Bay region off the East Antarctic coast is that segment of the southern Indian Ocean between latitudes 66 degrees and almost 70 degrees S, and longitudes 60 degrees and 80 degrees E. It includes Mac. Robertson Shelf, the continental shelf, bounded seaward by the 500 m isobath, and Prydz Bay, the deepest re-entrant into the east Antarctic shield and the outlet for the Lambert Glacier at its southern end. The Lambert Glacier is the world’s largest glacier and drains some 1 000 000 km2 of East Antarctica. The marine region studied here covers some 140 000 km2. Several research cruises to the region have collected sediment samples that yielded modern and recycled foraminiferid faunas. The modern component of the faunas has not been recorded in detail previously. This paper records the details of the taxonomy and distribution of species collected during marine geology/geophysics cruises that provided the foraminiferids discussed in Quilty (1985, 2001), O’Brien (1992), O’Brien et al. (1993, 1995) and Harris et al. (1997). The geophysical results and interpretations of the 1982 voyage of MV Nella Dan are described by Stagg (1985) and this provides also the general setting and nomenclature of Prydz Bay. Two cruises (1995 and 1997) of RSV Aurora Australis collected samples and these provided the basis for Quilty’s records of foraminiferids and other components on a sample-by-sample basis in O’Brien et al. (1995) from 51 samples, and from a further 27 samples reported in Harris et al. (1997). The 1995 cruise also yielded the recycled foraminifera recorded by Quilty (2001) and the Mesozoic material documented by Truswell et al. (1999). Neither of these cruise records provided details of the faunas to the level covered here. Further studies for the region are given in the results of ODP Legs 119 and 188. The impetus for conducting this review comes from two sources. Firstly, few foraminiferids have been documented from this region, and even fewer have been figured. Secondly, 2007-2008 was designated the [fourth] International Polar Year (IPY) and one of the major programs is the Census of Antarctic Marine Life (CAML), a component of the global Census of Marine Life (CML). This paper is a contribution to that project. Included in the review are faunas from the modern environment and some which may be ‘Late Cenozoic’ in which the faunas are of the same species as the modern and in which data from the modern can be, and have been, used to infer past environments (Fillon 1974, Kellogg et al. 1979, Ward and Webb 1986). The aims of this paper are: - to document the species of foraminifera recovered from geology/geophysics cruises to the Mac. Robertson Shelf and Prydz Bay region, offshore East Antarctica (Fig. 1); - to make the nomenclature of species recorded consistent with latest taxonomic practice; - to characterise the faunas by diversity and dominance factors; and - to discuss the controls on the distribution of faunas recorded.

  • This file contains a biology report Wilkes station in 1964. The data were collected by L.G. Murray in the Windmill Islands, at locations such as Lewis Island, Clarke Island, Frazier Islands (Islets), Ardery Island (Islet), Odbert Island and Petersen Island. The report also contains meteorological observations, bird-banding data, thermistor calibration data and hand-drawn maps. The observations were made of: Adelie penguins Emperor penguins South polar skuas Giant petrels Cape pigeons Silver-grey petrels Antarctic petrels Snow petrels Wilson's storm petrels Terns Ross seals Crabeater seals Elephant seals Weddell seals Leopard seals Killer whales. The hard copy of the file has been archived by the Australian Antarctic Division library.