Winter ice cruise

This multi-organization research cruise included near 100 different scientists from 13 nations and spent 21 days on expedition to the Antarctic sea ice as part of the research project SCALE (Southern Ocean Seasonal Experiment) during winter of 2017. The expedtion was led by the University of Cape Town, South Africa and including about 15 different research groups in the fields of biology, chemistry, and engineering. The project is funded by the South African National Research Foundation (NRF) through the South African National Antarctic Programme (SANAP). The cruise focused on intensive sampling of the ocean-atmosphere-sea ice processes in the antarctic polar zone. Multidisciplinary measurements of physical and biogeochemical properites of the ocean and sea ice were performed in a set of process stations in the outer and inner Marginal Ice Zone (MIZ). For this cruise I assisted multiple projects, but primarily focused on one of my PhD advisors (Dr. Sarah Fawcett of University of

Cape Town) projects about characterizing the seasonal cycle of productivity in the Southern Ocean surface waters to ultimately answer the question: what controls nitrate drawdown and export production in Antarctic surface waters? This included biogeochmical sampling from CTD casts and net primary production experiments. I also assisted the sea-ice interaction projects by helping plan and execute the placement of oceangraphic sensors and instruments on floating pancake ice and conducting in-situ water sampling and instrument casts from the side of the ship.