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Ref. No. [UMCES] CBL 2016-012
ACT VS16-03
10
Water-Column Profiling Test Procedures
Instruments were tested in a profiling application on a CTD rosette aboard the R/V
Laurentian in the Great Lakes. Profiling tests were conducted during strong thermal stratification
(late August, thermal gradient of >15 °C) and in two different regions including a normoxic and
hypoxic hypolimnion. The normoxic hypolimnion site was in Lake Michigan within a 100m deep
water column approximately 15 km offshore of Muskegon, MI. The hypoxic site profiling was
conducted in Muskegon Lake, a drowned river mouth lake adjacent to Lake Michigan.
Two full water-column CTD casts were conducted at each test site. The first trial involved
equilibrating test instruments at the surface (3m) for ten minutes and then collecting three Niskin
bottle samples at one minute intervals. Following the third sample, the rosette was quickly profiled
into the hypolimnion where samples were collected immediately upon arrival and then each minute
for the next 6 minutes. The second trial was performed in the reverse direction where instruments
were equilibrated for 10 minutes within the hypolimnion, three samples collected, and then
profiled into the surface and sampled at one minute intervals over the next 7 minutes
.
The CTD
was then immediately returned to the ship for sample processing. Triplicate BOD bottles were
filled from each Niskin and immediately fixed for Winkler titrations.
Reference Sample Analysis
The Winkler titration for quantifying dissolved oxygen was used as the standard for
comparison. The specific method is described in detail below and is based on the procedures
described in,
Measurement of primary production and community respiration in oligotrophic lakes
using the Winkler method
(Carignan et. al. 1998). All Winkler titrations were done at the
individual laboratory and field sites by trained ACT staff using standardized techniques and
equipment.
Initial Preparation
The volumes of each BOD bottles (≈ 125 mL) were determined with a precision better than
0.005%. The volume of each bottle was measured gravimetrically (± 0.01 mL) near 20
°
C, after
filling with degassed (boiled 10 min and cooled) distilled water. Since the procedure’s precision
approaches 1 µg O
2
·
L
-1
, particular care was taken to avoid contamination of the glassware and
working space from any trace amounts of thiosulfate, iodate, I
2
, and manganese. Reagents
recommended by Carritt and Carpenter (1966) were used and whole bottles titrated to minimize the
loss of volatile I
2
and the oxidation of iodide to I
2
at low pH.
Reagents
(1) Manganous chloride solution (3M Mn
2+
): dissolve 300 g of MnCl
2
·4H
2
O in 300 mL of distilled
water. Bring to 500 mL.
(2) Alkaline iodide solution (8M OH
-
, 4M I
-
): separately dissolve 160 g of NaOH and 300 g of NaI
in ca 160 mL of distilled water. Mix with stirring and bring to 500 mL.
(3) 23N Sulfuric acid solution: slowly add 313 mL of concentrated H
2
SO
4
to 175 mL of distilled
water. Carefully mix and cool and bring to 500 mL.
(4) Thiosulfate titrant 0.03N: add 300 mL 0.1N Na
2
S
2
O
3
·5H
2
O (Fisher SS368-1) to 700 mL DI.
The thiosulfate is standardized daily with KIO
3
according to the procedure described below. Note:
The normality of thiosulfate will be adjusted to ensure that a complete sample can be titrated
within one burette volume (less than 10 mLs), but kept as low as possible to maximize precision.