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Amiraic MO ton Moflwa ANTARCTIC PENINSULA Q 100 km 0_ igomi* 1 Comandante Ferraz bram. 2 Henry Arctowski pouwo 3 Teniente Jubany arocntina 4 Artigas uruouav 5 Teniente Rodollo Marsh cku Bettingshausen ussn Great Wall chw* 6 Caprlan Arturo Prat chu 7 General Bernardo O'Higgins chile 8 Esperanza aroentwc 9 Vice Comodoro Marambio arocntina 10 Palmer usa SOUTH 11 Faraday uk 12 Rothera uk SHETLAND 13 Teniente Carvajal emu 14 General San Martin Argentina ISLANDS JOOkm NEW ZEALANO ANTARCTIC SOCIETY MAP COPYRIGHT Vol. 12 No's 11 and 12 Antarctic Antarctic (successor to the "Antarctic News Bulletin") Vol. 12 No's. 11 and 12 Issue No's. 143 & 144 January-February 1993 Polar New Zealand 370 Brazil 378 ANTARCTIC is published China 379 quarterly by the New Zealand Antarctic France 377 Society Inc., 1979 Netherlands 381 United Kingdom 383 United States 389 ISSN 0003-5327 Editor: Robin Ormerod Please address all editorial inquiries, contributions etc to the Sub-antarctic Editor, P.O. Box 2110, Wellington, Campbell and Auckland 395 New Zealand General Telephone: (04) 4791.226 Antarctic Treaty 397 International: +64 + 4+ 4791.226 Tourism 398 Fax: (04) 4791.185 International : +64 + 4 + 4791.185 Bahia Paraiso 400 New director for SPRI 401 All administrative inquiries should go to the Secretary, P.O. Box 2110, Wellington Index to Volume 12 402 New Zealand. Inquiries regarding back issues should go to P.O. Box 404, Christchurch, New Zealand. \y) No part of this publication may be Cover: Frontier Spirit in the Beagle reproduced in any way without the prior per Channel. Photo: Colin Monteath mission of the publishers. Antarctic Vol 12. No's 11 and 12 NZAP Excellent weather and international co-operation influence successful New Zealand programme A total of 34 science projects are being undertaken as part of the New Zealand Antarctic Programme this season. It began on 2 October, 1992 with the first of an estimated 188 flights bound for McMurdo Sound to support summer activities. Earlier flights had taken scientists working on ozone depletion south to make spring measurements; base and programme personnel were also on board to help prepare for the season's activities. Scientists from Italy, USA, the United Kingdom, Sweden and Australia are nvolved in this summers programme which is scheduled to conclude on February 20 when the last flights will leave Antarctica and a party of ten to manage Scott base for the winter. Among the projects completed before liminary results show a steeply westward- Christmas was a seismic reflection and wide- dipping sedimentary sequence more than angle reflection experiment carried out along one kilometre thick lying five kilometres east a ten kilometre line perpendicular to the Hut of the Peninsula. Interpretation of the base Point Peninsula. (This project was originally of the volcanic layer is underway and the scheduled to be undertaken in the Wilkes results will assist planning for possible Basin but logistic constraints due to a curtail stratigraphic drilling of the Cenozoic ment of Hercules hours after a mishap re sediments. sulted in rescheduling. See Vol 13. No.l). Previously collected geological and geo The objective of the revised project was physical data suggest that Ross Island is to delineate the sedimentary sequences un emplaced onto presumed late Mesozoic and der the Peninsula in order to define the late Tertiary sedimentary sequences lying within Cenozoic glacial and volcanic history of the the southernmost extent of the Victoria Land region. The survey included imaging the Basin. Marine geophysical studies have base of the volcanic layer and the Cenozoic demonstrated that this basin, which extends sediments beneath the volcanics. The group from McMurdo Sound to Cape Washington, comprised Bruno Marino from the contains two major sequences of sediments, Osservatorio Geofiscio Sperimentale in an older unit of late Mesozoic - early Cenozoic Trieste, Dr Stephen Bannister, Dr Fred age presumed to be related to rifting associ Davey and Hugh Stevens from the Institute ated with the breakup of Gondwana, and a of Geological and Nuclear Sciences in younger late Cenozoic unit associated with Kelburn, Wellington. They were assisted in the uplift of the Transantarctic Mountains the field by Bill King of Christchurch and and the rifting and downwarping of the Mike Collins from Christchurch. Their pre Victoria Land basin. 370 Vol. 12 No's 11 and 12 Antarctic The profile that was obtained this sea Dr Bruno Marino from the OsseruatorioCeofisco son covered a line eight kilometres across Sperimentale monitors the results of the seis the ice shelf and three kilometres across the mic programme from the back of the New Peninsula and was at first surveyed by Kevin Zealand Antarctic Programme Hagglunds in Taylor from the Department of Survey and the Hut Point Peninsula area. Photo: Dr Stephen Land Information in Gisborne with assist Bannister. ance from Jo Straaker. back of a Hagglunds. After 12 shots the In order to obtain their seismic data the array was moved so that the party covered party used some 3.6 kilometres of seismic about 1.2km of the area each day. In addi cable cut into 12 300 metre long sections. tion to the normal incident reflection shots The cables were laid on the ground and at they fired three wide-angle shots positioned 50 metre intervals along the array a string of to give information on the distribution of six 15 Hz geophones was plugged in. Shots seismic velocity with depth. Following the comprising four kilograms of explosive were seismic survey a series of gravity measure fired every 100 metres. Each of the charges ments were made at positions approximately was placed at a depth of 15 - 18 metres in half a kilometre apart. shot holes drilled by equipment built at the Now back in New Zealand processing of Institute of Geological and Nuclear Sciences the data has begun. It involves stacking at Gracefield near Wellington and used in subsets of the traces from the different shot the field by Hugh Stevens, Fred Davey and records to form an image of the structure Mike Collins. As each shot was fired the beneath the ice. reflections were recorded on magnetic tape Previous data collected from around Ross by a DFS-V seismograph installed in the Island indicates that it is probably underlain Antarctic Vol 12. No's 11 and 12 by a layer of sediments, which could be as species. Samples of haemoglobin were col thick as 10 km. They may range in age from lected for investigation of multiple late Mesozoic to late Cenozoic. Preliminary haemoglobins by isoelectric focussing. Heart, work clearly shows sediments dipping to the gills, muscle and liver samples were also east of the Hutt Point Peninsula but further taken for study of lactate dehydrogenase, work is required to clarify the sedimentary isoenzymes. Red blood cells were packed structure directly beneath the volcanics on for analysis of the Root effect. Hutt Point Peninsula. The data from the John Macdonald studied the in-vitro ef gravity measurements is also being inter fects of temperature and adrenalin on rhyth preted. mic electrical activity in atria isolated from the hearts of P. borchgrevinki and T. Antarctic thanks Dr Steve Bannister for bernacchii. Analysis of the digitised data is assistance with this article. currently being undertaken in Auckland and the preliminary results confirm that the atria Fish studies is extremely insensitive to the chronotropic Dr John Macdonald, Stuart Ryan and Tim Lowe from the School of Biological Inventory completed Sciences at the University of Auckland spent The Antarctic Heritage Trust has, this three weeks in Antarctica from 16 Novem season, completed a major inventory of ber to 11 December working in a fish hut on over 6,000 items in Scott's Hut at Cape the sea ice 1.5 Km from Scott Base. They Evans on Ross Island. Each has been carried out a series of experiments on the numbered for identification using stand effects of temperature and adrenalin on ard museum techniques, and assessed cardiac rates and collected over 600 tissue for conservation purposes. Possible dete samples from common McMurdo Sound rioration can now be monitored and nototheniids. Each was frozen in liquid conservation priorities established. The nitrogen and packed for return to New items include a large volume of food, as Zealand. They are being analysed for well as clothing, science and field equip phosphorylated nucleotides, cortizol and ment. Next season a similar programme stress-related peptides. Each member of the may be undertaken at Shackleton's Hut team had a different project. at Cape Royds where, this summer, the Stuart Ryan completed the sampling party replaced some battens on the roof phase of five experiments designed to char and window shutters as well as complet acterise production of stress-induced com ing a preliminary conservation assess pounds ubiquitin and corrisol in the ment to determine the time needed to nototheniid iishPagothenia borchgrevinki. complete an inventory there. They also Several fish at a time were subjected to the identified items exclusive to the hut. A stress of confinement and elevated tempera similar exercise was undertaken at Hut tures for periods varying between 0 and 48 Point where some basic maintenance hours. At the end of each time interval fish was also completed. were killed and samples of blood and other David Woodings, the registrar at the tissues were quick frozen in liquid nitrogen. Waikato Museum of Art and History in The analytical phase of the programme is Hamilton, led the conservation effort with now underway and the results of the ubiquitin assistance from Susan Harrison of the concentrations should be available shortly. Trust. Lyn Campbell from the McDougall Tim Lowe froze muscle samples from rest Art Gallery in Christchurch undertook the ing and exercised p.