Chemistry, From Barrow, Alaska to the Chesapeake Bay; Questions and Answers from Christchurch School

Calling all Teachers!  Please continue to engage the USNA PSP through questions from your classes.  I hope to engage as many educators as possible with interactive Q and A sessions!  Contact me at woods@usna.edu to participate.

Christchurch School is an Episcopal boarding and day school located near Saluda, VA on the Rappahannock River. Our science curriculum is an integrated science with a combination of basic concepts and practical applications. Our sophomore class focuses on chemistry. We have just completed a river survey of the Rappahannock River from the Chesapeake Bay to the headwaters in the mountains at Chester Gap. We ran turbidity, pH, nitrates, phosphate, DO, conductivity, salinity and conductivity and sample temperature. We have been following your posts and wonder the following:
 

1. Did you run similar tests?

We will be running tests for snow density, salinity of water at

different depths, as well as different halide ions in the snow and ice

(Cl- and Br- tests currently, more to follow). Some select samples will

be tested for methane, metals, and stable isotopes of oxygen and

hydrogen. Additionally, frost flower and ice core samples were plated on

different types of agar to grow bacterial colonies. A biology professor

at the Academy is looking for photosynthetic extremophiles with a

specific lipid structure that can be used to create biofuels. As of now,

he has only found different colonies of halophiles, but the growth on

the colonies is young so we're hoping more will come from the samples we

took.

 
2. Would you be willing to share your results with our class. We would like to compare them. 

We will not have any results until this summer or next fall. I can

forward you the results then for you to use with your class next year.

Unfortunately, as a result of other time constraints with research, we

won't be able to run most tests until this summer.

3. What other chemical tests did you run or will you run on the ice core samples? 

The ice cores were originally going to be used to test for methane

concentrations in the ice. As the ice forms, pockets filled with methane

are also produced. Unfortunately, we were not able to obtain enough core

samples to run these tests so we have not determined yet what we will

test for instead. Again, this is something I can pass forward to you

once we have decided. The portion of the ice core at the surface/water

interface is being used to grow bacterial colonies.

 
4. Do the high school students in Barrow conduct chemical tests on their environment? Which ones if they do?

I do not believe high school students in Barrow conduct any chemical

tests on their environment. Scientists are constantly in the area during

research on the environment so I believe most of their knowledge comes

from the scientists who pass through and share their knowledge. I do not

know this for sure but this is what I gathered from our experiences with

the students.  Here is POC info for 2 teachers from Barrow H.S. if you would like to contact them directly dana.hilchey@nsbsd.org and matthew.conforti@nsbsd.org.

BROMEX 2012 Wrap Up

Below is a post written by the four midshipmen who participated in the USNA PSP first field campaign over Spring Break 2012 out of Barrow, AK.  Authors: MIDN 1/C Ben Aspholm, MIDN 1/C Kyle Crowder, MIDN 2/C Will Parker, MIDN 2/C Rebecca Watson.

Four Midshipmen (Oceanography, Chemistry, and Aerospace Engineering) and three officers from the Oceanography Department recently travelled to the ‘Northern Most Point in the U.S.’ Barrow, Alaska from 07-15MAR12 as part of the U.S. Naval Academy Polar Science Program (USNA-PSP). The program is designed to introduce midshipmen to the unique environment of the Polar Regions through academic course work, design/build projects, scientific research and field experiments. This trip was sponsored by the USNA STEM office, Midshipman Research Office, and Oceanography Department and provided the Midshipmen with the opportunity to participate in a major, international Arctic research program to investigate effects of Arctic sea ice reduction (especially the loss of perennial or multi-year sea ice in the last decade) on bromine explosion, ozone depletion, Arctic tropospheric photochemical processes, and mercury deposition in the Arctic Beaufort Sea on the North Slope of Alaska.  The Arctic field campaign is called BROMEX (Bromine, Ozone, and Mercury EXperiment).  It is being led by the National Aeronautical and Space Administration (NASA) Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) and is supported by NASA and by contributions and participations from 18 agencies and institutions in U.S., Canada, Germany, and U.K.   LCDR John Woods, CDR Joe Smith, and CDR Carl Hager ventured to the Arctic with Midshipmen 1/C Kyle Crowder, 1/C Benjamin Aspholm, 2/C Will Parker, and 2/C Rebecca Watson for the Spring Break experience of a lifetime. The seven USNA representatives, along with, Sam Denes,  a Doctoral Candidate in the Penn State Acoustic Program, journeyed to the arctic to deploy an USNA-PSP Arctic buoy (IceGoat1), collect acoustic data, and obtain samples for biochemical research. 

                MIDN 1/C Kyle Crowder, an honors Oceanography student, worked with LCDR Woods throughout the past year to bring the IceGoat1 buoy from concept to a finished product. Fall semester was spent working hard on determining what materials and equipment would be needed, finding funding, and then finally ordering the parts. After winter break, most of the parts had been obtained so construction of the buoy was started. Throughout this process, Kyle’s primary role was developing an understanding of each of the components that would be needed in the buoy. Ignatius Rigor from the University of Washington was constantly answering questions regarding the ARGOS and Todd Valentic from the Stanford Research Institute was helpful in designing the Iridium satellite communications system. 

                MIDN 1/C Benjamin Aspholm, an Astronautical Engineering student, was one of the three Midshipmen working on the IceGoat1 Buoy.  The Midshipmen worked together to design a solar panel power system to power the multiple systems of the IceGoat.  The system is designed to only be on when the solar panels are generating current from the sun.  This means that when the sun goes down, the entire system shuts down to conserve the life of the battery.  The system then wakes up every morning and captures pictures all day while the sun powers the system and recharges the battery.  The system powers the two Logitech web cameras that take pictures every 15 minutes as well as two communications systems, an Iridium satellite uplink, and an Automatic Packet Reporting System (APRS) radio.  The Iridium uplink is the system used to retrieve all the data from the IceGoat.  It can also be used to send commands to the IceGoat to either update its systems or change the way data is recorded and sent back.  The APRS system is on a radio frequency that can be used to communicate with small satellites deployed by USNA with similar systems on board.  Information from the IceGoat1 will be relayed to the small satellites back to USNA using this system.

                MIDN 2/C Will Parker, an Oceanography student, was associated with the acoustic sampling under direction of CDR Carl Hager and Sam Denes.  The primary objective of this project was to determine empirically the transmission loss of a signal between a source and receiver under environmental conditions in which the propagation of the signal into the air and ice are of interest.  This work will be used as ground-truthing for a finite element model implementation of the propagation losses, which will be incorporated with other data to determine detectability of signals under conditions experienced in the Arctic.  

MIDN 2/C Rebecca Watson, a Chemistry major, worked with CDR Joe Smith to collect chemical and biological samples from snow, ice, and water.  Field sampling collection was extremely challenging in the Arctic wintertime environment but the team was able to collect snow samples from the tundra and from the sea ice, a 1 meter ice core, and water column samples from beneath the sea ice.  Additionally, samples were collected of “frost-flowers” and “brine-cicles” that were found while working on the sea ice.  Samples were transported back to USNA for analysis in the laboratory.  The snow samples will be analyzed for halide ions and metals, ice core samples will be analyzed for halide ions, and water column samples will be analyzed for halide ions, dissolved methane, and Deuterium and Oxygen-18 ratios.  Samples from under the ice-water interface of the ice core (the portion of the ice closest to the sea water), frost-flowers, and brine-cicles will be used in an attempt to culture extremophiles associated with the ice. 

 

In addition to research, the midshipmen and LCDR Woods spent a day at the local high school teaching students about Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM). A few hours were spent in the pool area with three different stations set up. One station was a “Build-a-Buoy” project, where the students were able to build buoys and test their buoyancy by loading them with golf balls. At the second station, students were able to drive a “Sea Perch,” a simple remotely operated vehicle, through the pool. At the last station, the students learned further about buoyancy by trying to created “flinkers” out of packing peanuts, metal washers, and paper clips. Flinkers are objects that do not float or sink, but rather suspend themselves somewhere in between the surface and the bottom. This was an excellent experience, especially for the students who are rarely introduced to college or the military. 

Thanks to the support of the STEM program and the cooperation of scientists and professionals associated with BROMEX, the midshipmen were able to take part in current Arctic field work. This program allowed USNA Midshipmen and Officers to gain experience conducting research in challenging Arctic conditions first hand while also absorbing local culture and heritage. The USNA-PSP trip to Barrow benefited the students by immersing them in environmental research as well as allowing them to gain an appreciation for a way of living so different from their own.  The experience gained and data derived from this effort will be used to enhance USNA course materials and laboratories for Midshipman education and will also be used in Midshipman Independent research projects.  Lessons learned from and success at BROMEX 2012 will provide the basis for continued Midshipman involvement in ongoing and future national and international Polar research projects.

You can follow the USNA Polar Science Program on facebook, view pictures and videos, or get the current data from IceGoat1 at one of the following sites:

https://plus.google.com/u/0/photos/112041788282277199377/albums

http://www.youtube.com/user/USNAPolarScience?feature=guide

http://icegoat.datatransport.org/monitor#icegoat-1/camera0

http://www.facebook.com/pages/USNA-Polar-Science-Program/342695585742952?ref=tn_tnmn