Field Work

Antarctic Voyage: Neptune is coming…

Guest Author • Feb 12, 2013

Written by Aitana Forcen (PhD Student NIWA and Victoria University, Wellington) and Helen Bostock (marine geologist at NIWA) Date: 10/2/2013 Position: 59.852981°S, 139.867876°E Weather: Windy – gusting to 50 knots (approx. 90 km/hour) Sea State: Rough – 4-7 m swells The writing on the whiteboard in the ship’s library says “Neptune is coming….” Daniel … Read More

Antarctic voyage: Argo floats

Guest Author • Feb 11, 2013

Written by Phil Sutton and Helen Bostock of NIWA Date: 9/2/2013 Position: 58.324713°S, 147.986503°E Weather: Cloudy Sea State: Calm – 1-2 m swell Deploying an Argo float (TAN1302 voyage) – it is in a cardboard box to protect it before it is deployed, which is then launched off the back of the ship, … Read More

Antarctic voyage: Everyday life on the ship

Guest Author • Feb 11, 2013

The experience of a student, Courtney Derriman (Macquarie University, Australia) Date: 8/2/2013 Position: 56.880228°S, 155.005036°E Weather: Cloudy Sea state: Calm Courtney Derriman. [Helen Bostock]I have to say that life on the ship is not what I expected at all. Maybe one too many pirate movies, but I was expecting grumpy sailors, the … Read More

Antarctic voyage: The geology team and coring

Guest Author • Feb 08, 2013

Dr Helen Bostock, marine geologist at NIWA, writes: Date: 7/2/2013 Position: 56.089685°S, 159.882531°E Weather: Cloudy, 30 knot winds Sea State: 2-3 m swell Introducing the geology/biology team! The team is made up of me (Helen Bostock), Mark Fenwick (token biologist/NIWA) and two students – Molly Patterson and Courtney Derriman. We have also seconded … Read More

Antarctic Voyage: The Continuous Plankton Recorder

Guest Author • Feb 07, 2013

Dr Helen Bostock, marine geologist at NIWA, writes: Date: 6/2/2013 Position: 52.244066˚S, 164.093142˚E Weather: Cloudy and getting cooler Sea state: 1-2 m swell – not too rough Yesterday, while many of us were in our beds trying to get over sea sickness, Mark Fenwick (the token biologist) and several of the crew deployed the … Read More

Antarctic Voyage: Multibeam mapping of the seafloor

Guest Author • Feb 07, 2013

Yesterday, just before the rough seas started and most of the science team took to their beds suffering with sea sickness, the geology team started running the multibeam seafloor mapping system. We are collecting some opportunistic seafloor data on the voyage transits to and from Antarctica. We also hope to map the continental shelf around the Mertz Glacier to add … Read More

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Antarctic voyage: Leaving port and sea sickness

Guest Author • Feb 04, 2013

Written by Dr Helen Bostock, marine geologist at NIWA, and Anne Waterhouse (ship’s doctor) Date: 3/2/2013 Position: 41.52247˚S, 174.772597˚E Weather: Sunny, northerly breeze Sea state: Some waves, gentle swell Dolphins. Credit: Helen Bostock After a week of packing, training and mobilising, we set off from the wharf at 9am Sunday, sailing out … Read More

Heading into the great unknown

Guest Author • Jan 29, 2013

Welcome to Fieldwork, Sciblogs’ new dedicated space for guest contributors posting from the field. We are opening our doors wide, calling for scientists to send back missives from the world beyond the office cubby-hole, beyond the research bench. We are looking for first-hand accounts from motivated scientists heading out in the field, ideally focused on a specific project or expedition. The idea … Read More