RESEARCH ON ANTARCTIC COASTAL ECOSYSTEM RATES (RACER) - AN INTERDISCIPLINARY FIELD EXPERIMENT

The Research on Antarctic Coastal Ecosystem Rates (RACER) program of 1986-87 was desinged to examined physical and biological processes that give rise to high biological productivity in the vicinity of the Antarctic Peninsula. In a 25,000 km2 sampling area at the western end of Bransfield Strait and during the period from mid-December 1986 to late March 1987, four 2-week cruises were made over a 69-station grid encompassing the coastal shelf, the continental shelf break, numerous island shelves, the Bellingshausen Sea-Weddell Sea confluence, and a portion of Drake Passage. Studies were focused on the upper ocean (0-200 m) and included detailed measurements of hydrography, ocean optics, vertical flux, and the distribution, abundance and productivity of bacteria, phytoplankton, zooplankton and krill. This paper describes the program logistics and presents the results of a carbon flux model, based on empirical observations, for the nearshore pelagic marine ecosystem.