This week marks our last full week in Antarctica! We are scheduled to redeploy on Tuesday next week. On Monday we went out to our WEB weekly sampling site in overcast weather and performed our now-routine snow and ice sampling, followed by the usual processing for bromocarbons, microbial parameters, activity, metagenomics and proteomics. We retrieved our flags from all WEB sites. We also processed the samples from Cape Evans. As expected, there was activity in all ice sections sampled! On Thursday we went out for the last time to retrieve our flags from our sampling grid near Scotts’ base. It was a beautiful day for our last sea ice outing.
We also obtained some very interesting brinicle samples from the divers that show exceptionally high bromocarbons and active microbes. The divers often observe brinicles underneath the ice. These are hardly characterized, very beautiful icy structures that form underneath the ice when brine flows out of the ice. Given these initial promising results, we hope to get a chance to study these unexamined ice-seawater connectors in more detail in the future. Such ‘smoky brine’ structures clearly provide a unique and little-studied path for sea ice, its biomes and chemistry, to interact with the underlying seawater. The rest of the week (and ongoing) we spent cleaning the labs and packing up our gear and samples.
For our outreach activities this week Katarina and Adela gave a talk on ice breakers and Mosaic adventures to the local Yacht Club gathering on Tuesday. The talk was well attended, and many questions were asked. We are currently preparing for a little ‘ice party’ to finish our season with a nice celebration inviting many of our helpers here from NSF, the Crairy lab, and different work centers who were instrumental in making this science possible! Below are some pictures from our work this week!
 High microbial activities (dpm of incorporated 3H leucine into proteins) observed at subzero temperature in Cape Evans samples. Note also the high activity observed in brinicle samples. |  Brinicle image taken by Robert Robins near Turtle rock (USAP diver at McMurdo). |
 Katarina retrieving flags in the background in very flat light conditions in West Erebus Bay. |  Last day in the field close to Scotts base all flags finally retrieved. |
 Final view departing McMurdo Sound! |