Plankton investigations in the Ross Sea in relation to seawater parameters

Light and temperature readings were taken at 0m (air), 2cm (just under the surface), 10m, 50m, 125m and 200m. Water was sampled at 0, 10, 50, 125 and 200m.

To describe the changing planktonic situation under the sea ice the edge of the permanent ice shelf in central McMurdo Sound, water was sampled weekly with monitoring of temperature, light penetration, salinity, nutrient levels (soluble silicon, phosphorus and nitrogen), chlorophyll, phytoplankton numbers, zooplankton biomass and numbers all at 0, 10, 50, 125 and 200m depth. A series of samples from along the ice shelf edge and between New Zealand and south to the Ross Sea were collected to supplement the plankton studies at Cape Bird.