Subject: NBP WEEKLY SCIENCE REPT 10/9/96 Situation Report, NBP96-4A; Date Oct. 9, 1996 The RV NB Palmer left Port Lyttelton, NZ at noon, October 2, 1996 en route to the Ross Sea, Antarctica, the site of the first AESOPS (JGOFS) Process Study. The ship's departure was unfortunately delayed by shipment of a new CTD cable and spooler, as well as construction on a new incubator system on the ship's helicopter deck. Approximately 24 h after departing Lyttelton, a short test of the CTD wire was conducted, and it was concluded that the wire worked satisfactorily. The Palmer encountered extreme weather during the transit to the ice. At approximately 58S winds reached ca. 70 knots and the seas became treacherous. Wave height was estimated to be ca. 40-50 feet. All personnel were confined to the interior of the ship due to overwash on the fantail and hazardous conditions on all decks. During this period a seismic winch worked itself loose from its position, and in turn was thrown into an 8x20' van which held glass mooring floats to be used in the following mooring deployment cruise. This van came loose from its tie downs, crashed into the Moss Landing trace metal van, which then loosened and was pushed into the Woods Hole thorium van. Van movement continued, despite the best efforts of the ECO officers to reduce the overwash on the fantail. Temporary immobilization of all vans and equipment was achieved that evening when winds dropped to ca. 35 knots; however, extensive damage to the MLML van could not be prevented. Upon entry into the ice on October 8, the MLML van was emptied, and all vans were repositioned and secured. The WHOI van sustained no water damage, but equipment was rearranged internally. A complete assessment of that damage is underway. Later today we plan on emptying the mooring van to assess the degree (if any) of damage to the flotation devices. During this stop we also conducted two CTD casts to 3,000 m, collecting water for calibration purposes as well as for the mooring deployment cruise (which is used in the sediment traps). The kevlar wire on the trace metal clean rosette was respooled, and the trace metal rosette was successfully deployed to 200 m. Various analytical systems (e.g., DOC analysis, oxygen exchange, etc.) were tested with this water. We presently are slightly south of 64 degrees and are in 10/10 ice cover (air temperature -7C, winds ca. 10 kts), although the Palmer is maintaining ca. 5 knots. We expect to cross the Antarctic circle in ca. 36 hours, and hope to enter the Ross Sea study area by October 15. This entry is the earliest modern entry ever attempted, and the science party looks forward to the initiation of sampling and the beginning of the first process study of AESOPS. Submitted: Walker Smith, Chief Scientist