Pasteurization of seawater to contribute to a global series of certified nutrient reference materials
Ingredients:
400 litres of seawater, plus a drop or two of perspiration to taste. Cook for 12 hours minimum at 85-90C, then store in a dark place indefinately.
Strange behaviour on the James Clark Ross as early in the morning for 4 consecutive days a couple trusty scientists (well Paul and Malc) started lifting 20 litre plastic containers of seawater into boxes and then lifting those into the ships sauna. It went in at 200 litres per time and we carried this out for 2 consecutive days. This also meant going into the sauna every 20-30 minutes to add more water to the heater to steam the room up to increase the temperature. A very hot job I can tell you. Then mid afternoon we shut it all down, and lifted the water out again so as the sauna could be used for its proper use as a recreation facility for the ship.
This activity amused both officers and crew with these mad ‘beakers’ (that’s the affectionate name they have for us scientists, which comes from the old Muppet shows, if you can remember back) putting water in the sauna. I think it convinced them we were mad, mind you I think Paul thought I was slightly mad too! The photo shows the process underway.
So why are we doing this, well it’s not just for some strange training routine; it is for a very good scientific reason and that is to provide deep Atlantic seawater to my colleagues in Japan. This process in the sauna is essentially pasteurization so as to ensure all the bugs are killed off, that could affect the nutrient concentrations over time.
I am part of a organising team, led by MRI (Metereological Research Institute) in Japan, which is starting a process that we hope will establish a global series of certified nutrient reference materials that laboratories can use. This has the aim that there will become a standardisation of quality throughout the world as more join the programme. It is very ambitious project but this year sees the third global intercalibration exercise with 76 laboratories involved. Obviously the Japanese have Pacific water but it is important to have Atlantic deep water with its particular nutrient make-up, which diffes from the Pacific in that it has a lot more silicate and nitrate content. So when it has reached Japan in a couple months, after arriving back to Plymouth, it will be again autoclaved (you could park a mini in their autoclave, seriously!), filtered and then bottled, all under extremely clean automated conditions. The whole facility is quite an amazing investment by Kanso, who are one of their national power companies. So one day this water from 2000m deep in the North Atlantic will probably come back to PML as a certified standard for our analysis back there. These bottles will also have a label recognising PML and the AMT programme so the advertising will be around for years!