This morning was relatively slow-moving. I got up, had breakfast, and made my way to the dry lab. I sat there for a little while, and learned that the ice-core that we had put into plastic bags for melting was going to have to warm up a couple more degrees. My head started to ache, so I went into my bunk and slept 'till 1030. When I awoke, the core (the one we divided into ten centimeter sections) had reached a decent temp, and we started work on the bagged water. First we tested each of the eleven bags for salinity.
When
testing for salinity, we tried first had to calibrate the salinity meters
by testing them with water of standard salinities. They came in 1‰,
2‰, 4‰, 8‰, 16‰, and 32‰. We started the procedure
of taking salinity readings. First, you take the temperature of the water,
and set the dial of the salinity probe to that temp. Once the temperature
is set, you take the salinity probe and suck it full of water. Next, using
the actual ppt (parts per thousand) salinity dial, you have to adjust
it until the needle in the display reaches the null state. The number
that reads on the salinity dial is the ppt salinity that you need.
After we tested for salinity, we tested the samples for their color properties.
by using a colorimeter, we could determine whether or not they absorbed
red and green light. This procedure was fairly simple -- we placed a cubette
of sample water into the colorimeter, covered it up, and shot the green
and red light through. 
We
got a number back on the computer signifying how much of the light was
able to pass through. Mr. Buckley thinks that if he can get his new colorimeter
hooked up (which tests for red green and Blue, rather than just red and
green), he will be able to tell what kind of chlorophyll the ice contains
by the water's absorption. I think that is a good idea, and it will probably
work, but I do have concerns about what type of light chlorophyll A and
B absorb, and whether or not they are different. Chlorophyll is a substance
made up of different elements, and they all have their own absorption.
I am questioning whether or not they will be exactly the same, or will
have differences large enough to detect with the colorimeter. Seems like
it could very well be possible, though. While doing this procedure, we
also tested the water for conductivity using a crude conductivity meter.
After the colorimeter and conductivity, we did our last dealings with the water, and filtered it. The filtering took place in three little containers that were hooked up to a vacuum pump. We would place 3 different 250 mL samples in the three cups with filters for bottoms, and drain them. We'd use the same cup multiple times for samples with over 250 mL (which encompassed all of them), and then wash it with distilled water to get it ready for the next sample. When the three samples were done, we'd take the filter papers out and place them in a vile of acetone solution. When we finished the entire core, we took the viles and put them into a freezer where they will sit for 24 hours.
Once done with that, I went to eat dinner, and came here to write my journal. During the arduous process of writing this journal, I went to fix the Macs that were not sending e-mail properly, sent my mom some e-mail, along with my friends Pat Seitz and Ben Huff. I finished that, and went back up to get my journal finished. Then I was asked by Bill to help him mount the camera on the bottom of the helicopter to take some aerial photos. I did that, came back, and talked with him for a little while about polar bear experiences. He had some pretty interesting experiences up at Sheba... He claimed that the bears up there, when milling around the food pile, typically ignore the salmon, and eat half a bag of fries, chocolate ice-cream, and then leave.