The Juneau Icefield is a group of interconnected glaciers just north of Juneau, Alaska that extends into British Columbia, Canada and covers an area the size of Rhode Island. Maybe you’ve heard of the Mendenhall Glacier? It is part of the Juneau Icefield! The Juneau Icefield Research Program (JIRP) has been collecting data on the icefield since 1948.
Understanding the Massive Phytoplankton Blooms Over the Australian-Antarctic Ridge
The Australian-Antarctic Ridge phytoplankton bloom is one of the most concentrated and largest blooms in the Southern Ocean and one of only three large blooms that consistently develop within offshore waters of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current, yet we know almost nothing about the processes driving it. Perhaps significantly, this bloom is located directly above two hydrothermal vents that are known to release large amounts of trace metals such as iron. The primary objective of this proposal is to combine remote sensing, modeling, and fieldwork to identify the physical and chemical processes responsible for delivering dissolved iron to the site of the recurring Australian-Antarctic Ridge bloom and characterize the biological and biogeochemical responses by the bloom to that iron input.
More Information About This Project
Participants Involved in This Project
Kevin Arrigo | Researcher Fellow
Department of Earth System Science | Stanford, California
Bhavna Rawal | Educator Fellow
Lonestar Community College-CyFair | Houston, TX
From the Blog
An Unforgettable Adventure Begins As a high school science teacher, the invitation to join Macall Hock on an expedition to study the effects of a warming Arctic ecosystem on stream carbon cycling in Utqiagvik, Alaska, felt like stepping into a thrilling adventure. The beauty of the Arctic wilderness was a sight to behold, but the
Drs. Peter Ungar, Mary Heskel, and Aleksey Sheshukov explained (patiently) their areas of expertise, Arctic research projects, and provided me with a virtual mountain of photographs from their fieldwork. We talked about what projects would be suitable and appropriate for a variety of audiences. What would be engaging to different ages, interests and levels of scientific knowledge? I knew that I wanted my Photoshop class to be involved with this project, so I suggested creating a comic book.
Today we got set up and met the local 8th graders out on the ice! For some of them it was the first time they had been on the land-fast sea ice (which is ice that is "fastened" to the coastline). For some, it was old news. It was quite cold (-30F with the windchill), so many students hid in the tents we had set up. The previous days had been relatively warm, hovering around 0-10F degrees. The students were split into groups and rotated between the stations.
Made possible with funding by the National Science Foundation Award #2221990. The information contained here is those of the author(s) and does not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.
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