CHM/PHY 576
Chemical and Physical Analysis of Seawater
Welcome to the Wiki for UNCW's Chemical and Physical Analysis of Seawater Class. This course is a study of modern chemical and physical measurements of seawater including temperature, salinity, currents, alkalinity, pH, nutrients, and dissolved oxygen and the techniques used to analyze them, while exposing students to the realities of conducting research at sea. The course is conducted every year in the fall semester at the University of North Carolina Wilmington. The instructors are Drs. Bob Kieber, Rob Whitehead and Fred Bingham. We usually take two cruises on the Cape Fear River from Southport to above downtown Wilmington at Horseshoe Bend (HB), following the station pattern of the Lower Cape Fear River Program. The stations are called M18, M23, M35, M42, M54, M61 and HB.
2010
On Monday September 13th, the class went on its first cruise of the semester. The group consisted of 11 students, 3 faculty, and the crew of the ship including the captain, mate, and the electronics tech. We left CMS at 7:45 am on our way to HB. On the way, we stopped at marker 36 and deployed Aquadopp in about 35 feet of water. We arrived at HB at 10:30 and deployed the first TidBit. While doing the other analyses, there was an issue causing the CTD not to work properly so we have no data for that from the first station. We had beautiful weather. Although it was a little chilly in the morning, it was sunny and quickly warmed to about 83 degrees and light winds. We finished the last station (M18) at 2:20 pm and headed back to CMS. On the way, we stopped at marker 36 and recovered the Aquadopp. We also deployed the second TidBit. We arrived back at CMS at 4:30 pm.
On Monday, November 8th, the class went on our second cruise of the semester. This cruise was originally scheduled for October 25th but the CTD was in need of calibration. We left CMS at around 7:35 am and headed to M18. We decided to stop at M18 first, instead of HB like last time, because the tide was coming in and we wanted to move up the river along with the salt wedge instead of against it. On the way, we stopped at marker 35 to drop off the Aquadopp. We planned to also pick up the TidBit that had been dropped at this station during our previous cruise but it was missing. We arrived at HB around 1:30 pm and headed back to CMS arriving there around 3:45 pm. We had chilly weather, beginning around 40 degrees in the morning and warming to about 65 in the afternoon but we had clear skies and a moderate breeze.
The TidBit recovered at HB seems to have malfunctioned only acquiring data for less than a minute then turning off. This leaves us with no temperature data for the month between cruises, as we expected to obtain.
Links to 2010 Data
Shipboard Data Sheet
Nutrients
DOC
CTD
Turbidity
Chlorophyll
Optics
DO
Currents
Meteorology
Photos
Cruise 1 Photos
2009
In the fall semester of 2009, the class went on two cruises, Sept 19th and October 26th. The weather conditions were great for sampling for the first cruise, sunny and clear. However, the conditons were not as ideal for the second cruise with air temperatures between 50-60 F and constant precipitation. For the two cruises, we followed the same station patterns of the Lower Cape Fear River Program beginning at M18 near Southport and ending at Horseshoe Bend (HB) above downtown Wilmington.
The students in the class presented the results of their measurements in a series of presentations on November 30, 2009 in Dobo Hall room 132. The students that participated in the activities of the Cape Fear River project were Lauren Bohrer, Nathanael Cline, Matthew Dawson, Todd Doroski, Tyler Gibson, William Holland, Jesika Norris, Christopher Resimius, Briana Rice, Jonathan Walter, Sterling Wheaten, Walker Wright-Moore, and Ryan Young.
The measurements/presentations include CTD, underway thermosalinograph, currents, dissolved oxygen, dissolved organic carbon, kd optics, chlorophyll A, turbidity, meteorology, nutrients, dissolved nitrogen, and pH. Onset tidbit temperature loggers were deployed at Horseshoe Bend and M35 on September 14. However, only the tidbit at HB was able to be retrieved on October 26.
Current measurements were made at each station using a ADCP deployed from a small float off the back of the boat.
Links to 2009 Data:
Pictures from Cruises
2008
In the fall semester of 2008, the class went on two cruises, Oct. 13 and Nov. 17. The first cruise was originally scheduled for September 15, but was delayed due to tropical storm Hanna. We went out the next week, Sept. 22, but could not complete the cruise due to a malfunctioning rosette sampler. Finally, on Oct. 13, we did the full cruise, though we did not go as far as Horseshoe Bend, but did our last station in front of the Hilton Hotel in downtown Wilmington.
The students in the class presented the results of their measurements in a series of presentations on December 8 in Dobo 132. The students in the class were Landis Bullock, Lauren Thompson, Andrew Carroll, Matthew Lettrich, Aleksandra Kirk, Mary Beth Butler and Natalie Mitchell.
The measurements/presentations include CTD, underway thermosalinograph, currents, dissolved oxygen, dissolved organic carbon, Kd (optics), chlorophyll A, turbidity, meteorology, nutrients and pH. Onset Computing tidbit temperature loggers were deployed at HB and M35 on Sept. 22. However, neither logger was recovered.
Currents were measured at each station with a 1 MHz sideways-looking Nortek Aquadopp deployed from a shallow float off the back of the ship.
Links to 2008 data
2007
Student Presentations and Data from 2007
2006
Student Presentations and Data from 2006
2005
Student Presentations and Data from 2005
2004
CTD and Temperature Logger Data from 2004
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