kawelch in Antarctica

Canada Glacier at night

2009-12-06T20:40:00.000-08:00

I got out to our field camp at Lake Hoare for a couple of days. The best time of "day" at Lake Hoare is in the middle of the night when the sun is low in the sky at the west end of the valley. It is very bright at Lake Hoare all day now except for a couple of hours in the late afternoon when the sun dips behind the mountains in the Asgard Range on the north side of the Taylor Valley.

This night was calm and the sky was bright blue. The glacier face gleamed with the sun shining on it. I could hear water dripping from the face of the glacier, but there was no sign that Andersen Creek was starting to flow yet.

Early in the morning a section of the glacier peeled away and came crashing down onto the lake. This is a fairly regular occurrence and it provides a convenient source of ice berries that we collect to melt for our camp water.

Here is a picture looking to the west of our camp at Lake Hoare in the evening light.

Another trip south

2009-12-06T20:16:00.000-08:00

I'm back in McMurdo for my 17th field season with the McMurdo Dry Valleys LTER project. I've been in Antarctica for a few weeks already. I'm posting a few pictures from my trip south. We travel to Antarctica from Christchurch NZ, which is a beautiful city with many parks and gardens. Every year on the way to McMurdo I spend some time soaking up the greenery at the Christchurch Botanic Gardens.

My favorite spots are the water garden and the NZ garden which are both tucked away in a far corner of the garden away from the main entrance. The NZ garden features many native plants, in particular many varieties of ferns. I love this sculpture that marks the entrance.

The ferns in NZ can grow as big as trees. It's nice to walk under a canopy of ferns.

I baby duck came up to meet me while I was on the path near the water garden.

Ships are here

2009-01-24T00:25:00.000-08:00

It has been over a month since I have added anything to my blog. Life has been very busy in the lab, but otherwise pretty uneventful. We have had some beautiful weather and a few storms. It has been slightly warmer and sunnier than average so there is more stream flow out in the dry valleys. My research team added a few special sampling events to take advantage of the unusually high flow, so this means more samples for me to analyze.
I still have a few weeks left of my field season. Several milestones have past. We celebrated Christmas and New years and both were fun. New field team members arrived after the new year and others are leaving already. This is the beginning of the real exodus at the end of summer. There is always a flux of people coming and going for various research projects and other events. Now there are more people leaving than coming south. It's also the start of ship season. The Swedish ice breaker Odin arrived and created a channel through the sea ice to McMurdo Station for the fuel tanker and the cargo vessel. The fuel ship arrived two days ago to refresh the station with another full year supply of fuel for McMurdo Station, South Pole station and all the field camps. The photo shows the fuel tanker and the Odin docked by the ice pier.

Deprivation

2008-12-12T12:07:00.000-08:00

Life is pretty comfortable in Antarctica, especially in McMurdo. There are things we learn to live without. Fresh food of any kind is a limited commodity. I recently purchased crackers from the station store that expired in 2006, but they tasted OK. This fresh fruit showed up in the office about a week ago and whoever brought it back from the galley is out in the field for the next few weeks. There is a hoarding instinct that kicks in here. Fresh foods of any kind are limited, so there is a tendency to hoard just a little bit of it. But then, people watch it shrivel up because they couldn't bring themselves to actually eat it since it may be the last real fruit they see for a long long time. It's understandable.
When we are in Antarctica, we surround ourselves with a few comforts of home or things that remind us of home. I personally think that the barren brown and white landscape of Antarctica can be quite beautiful, but we do enjoying surrounding ourselves with pictures of warmer places, happy times away from here, photos of family and friends, fresh food and fake flowers.

Lake Brownworth

2008-12-10T22:06:00.000-08:00

Here are a couple more pictures from the trip the the Wright Valley yesterday. We hiked to Lake Brownworth, a pro-glacial lake on the margin of the Wright Lower Glacier. Most of the lakes in the dry valleys are closed-basin lakes, meaning that water flows in, but it doesn't flow out. Lake Brownworth is different because meltwater from the glacier flows in, but the lake is drained by the Onyx River, the longest river in Antarctica. As I mentioned in my previous post, the Onyx flows away from the coast inland to Lake Vanda, which is a closed-basin lake. Lake Brownworth has a permanent ice cover like most of the lakes in the dry valleys. It also appears to have a significant amount of algal mat. You can see dark chunks of this mat material that worked its way up through the ice over many years and is still frozen to the surface. We were optimistic as we walked closer that the dark material might be wind-blown sediment, but as we got to the shore we could see that it was all algae. Because Lake Brownworth has a river draining it, the lake level must stay fairly constant. I mean, the lake level could drop, but it can't get any higher because of the river. There is a bathtub ring of algal mat marking the perimeter of the lake.

Wright Valley

2008-12-10T21:28:00.000-08:00

I had a great day in the field with Kelly. We went to the lower Wright Valley and I was her field assistant for the day. Now that Kelly is looking for wind deposited sediments around the dry valleys, I am training my eye to look for these features. We spent a couple of hours hiking around to look for good sample locations. We saw this hillside covered with sand and hiked over to it. The grains were pretty big sand size particles, but they seemed to be rounded like little ball bearings. Kelly walked up the slope to sample and I waited at the bottom of the hill so that I would not disturb the slope any more than necessary. Kelly looks like just a speck in the picture.

Looking back down the hill, the sand looked like snakes moving across the surface. It was only blowing about 10 knots while we were there, so there was not much movement of material.

We also came across a large ventifact that had collected sand inside, so Kelly sampled the sand there too.
The dry valleys are windy and there are signs of wind everywhere. This box belongs to the LTER stream team and it houses the equipment used to measure flow at the stream gauge on the Onyx River. I noticed that all of the paint on the west side of the box had been sand-blasted away. The other sides of the box looked almost freshly painted. The biggest wind storms in the dry valleys come from the west, although most of the sand features that we found appear to be deposited from the east.

When we arrived, we landed near the Onyx River at the helicopter landing site that the stream team uses when they visit the site. So after we finished our work, we waited by the river for the helicopter to come and pick us up. The Onyx River is the longest river in Antarctica and it flows away from the coast and drains into Lake Vanda. It is not very big compared to rivers at home, but it was flowing pretty well that day. It was still a few degrees below freezing, so I'm sure the flow will pick up as the sun gets higher in the sky and it warms up over the next couple of weeks. The water looked fresh and clear, but I didn't have a chance to drink it.

Dunes and pies

2008-11-29T19:32:00.001-08:00

I've been in Antarctica for almost three weeks, and this past week I went out to the field for the first time. I met up with Kelly at Lake Hoare so we could go to Victoria Valley and sample the dunes. Neither of us had been there before and I didn't have much of an idea of what the place would be like. It certainly is windy in the dry valleys, but there aren't many sand dunes there. Kelly is trying to sample sediments that have been deposited by wind for her thesis research, so the dunes were an obvious place to look.

We had a great flight over the Asgard Range and Wright Valley and then flew into Victoria Valley. It seems like a strange combination to see sand dunes and glaciers in the same place. The dry valleys are a strange place though. We had a couple of hours there to collect Kelly's sand and take some photos to document what it looked like. We were a little confused by what we saw. The shapes of the dunes and the surface ripples indicated that the dominant wind direction was easterly. Throughout the dry valleys, the strongest winds are usually those coming from the west, draining off the polar plateau. We need to do more investigation to understand what we saw there. At least it was a warm and calm day when we were there.

After our trip to Victoria Valley we went back to Lake Hoare and I stayed there for a couple more days. We were preparing Thanksgiving diner for our field team, so I helped with making pies and the other holiday foods. At least this year I remembered to take a "before" picture of the pies and not just the "after". It was a good time and we had some great food.

We had some bad weather in McMurdo and it was mostly overcast and snowy while I was in the field. After Thanksgiving diner I walked around the camp to take a few photos and it did clear up a bit that night.

I was supposed to return to McMurdo on Friday morning, but the helicopters couldn't fly due to bad weather over the sea-ice. It was condition 1 out on the ice. We waited around by the phone and radio waiting for news and then we decided to pass the time by going on a run to collect "ice berries" for camp drinking water. The best drinking water comes from chunks of ice that calve off the front of the glacier and we collect these and melt them. We did finally hear that there was a little break in the weather and they would attempt to fly out to get me and some other people who were hoping to get back to McMurdo that day. It was a bumpy and crowded flight back, but it's good to be here!

When I'm in McMurdo, I do miss Lake Hoare camp and the people there and living next to the Canada Glacier. Although here in McMurdo, the water plant "makes" water for us by de-salinating seawater and we just have to turn on the tap. Collecting ice berries is alot more fun.

Getting ready (again)

2008-09-24T15:32:00.001-07:00

I'm getting ready for my 16th field season in Antarctica. I have been preparing for the trip (aka shopping for coffee and anything else I might want) to make sure I don't have a mad rush of things to do right at the end. Some of my friends are already in McMurdo and others will be headed south in the next few weeks. I have a bit longer as I am not scheduled to leave Columbus until Nov 6 and optimistically will arrive in Antarctica on the 10th. That's if everything goes smoothly, which it might. I get to vote in the presidential election in person this year!
We have three students on our LTER team from OSU who have not been to McMurdo or the dry valleys before, so there is a general excitement in the office. It should be another great season.

Where is the water?

2008-01-26T22:14:00.000-08:00

Here is a picture of me in the field. Gregg and I went to sample the upland ponds last week. Chris was supposed to come with us, but he was too sick. It turns out that he had the flu and spent two days in his room under quarantine while we were out enjoying two days in the field. I had not been in the field since November for my annual Thankgiving trip, so it was great to get out to do some field work.
On the first day we flew over a some ponds that we had not sampled before. I thought we were in the right spot, but everything goes by so fast in a helicopter compared to when you are walking. I asked the pilot to set down near the ponds. After spending half an hour there, thinking "this does not seem right" I decided we were really not in the spot we intended to visit that day. Gregg and I proceeded with the sampling and mapping of the ponds in the area and expanded our data set in the process. When we finished the sampling, we sat down to take a break and sample our flight lunches. I don't recommend the swiss steak sandwiches.
We decided to return the next day because we had requested another day of helicopter support to get to another set of ponds. We went back to the ponds at the terminus of the Marr Glacier that we had intended to sample the first day. These ponds are at 800m elevation (or 2600 ft). It has been a season of stormy weather and somewhat unusual amounts of snow fall. Our ponds were mostly covered with snow. One of our projects was to map the perimeter of the ponds to estimate the current size. It was complicated, we could not see the ponds because of all the snow. We were able to walk around the flat area, occasionally kicking through the snow with our bunny boots to confirm that we were still on ice and not soil. I think we did fairly well.

We did find some liquid water to sample in the ponds that were at a lower elevation. We also found some liquid water where streams were flowing into or out of the ponds. Some of these ponds seem to be fed only by local snow melt and others have glacier streams feeding them. This little pond fills a small depression and seems to only have snow as a source for water. The water was also tea colored because of all the algae growing there.

Ponds

2008-01-06T23:42:00.001-08:00

I have been a blah blogger this year. The internet had a recent "upgrade" so it's no longer painfully slow. I have a couple of pictures from the upland ponds that (I think) deserve a chance to be seen. I took these photos on my last trip to Taylor Valley when I fearlessly crossed Lake Hoare following in Rae's footsteps. (It was scarier on the way back.) It was worth the scary part though, to hike up onto Andrews Ridge and see this lovely pond.

Hopefully my team will make a day trip to the ponds near the Marr Glacier soon. These ponds behave very much like the lakes in the valley bottom. They wax and wane, depending on the summer temperatures and the glacial melt that feeds them. They accumulate salts over time. As you can imagine, this pond fills a depressions in the landscape, so water flows in, but it does not flow out. Water leaves by evaporating and sublimating off the surface. Some of the ponds do have small streams flowing out to other ponds. We have been studying these ponds recently to better understand their hydrology and chemistry.

Sketchy weather

2008-01-06T23:08:00.000-08:00

These pictures are from a few days ago. No matter, it looks about the same today, minus the snow on the ground. There was a bit of snow flying earlier today. It's one of those summers. I'm very curious to know what is controlling our weather this season, if it's some kind of shift in the SAM (southern annular mode) or just normal sketchy antarctic weather. It has not been a warm and sunny summer. It's not a "Big Melt Year". There has been no "flood". Today we learned that the road onto the sea-ice has re-opened to large wheeled trucks, not just track vehicles. It has been cold and cloudy so the road is firming up and the wheels don't sink in. Tomorrow the forecast is not looking good. Three of our co-PI's are due to head south, so hopefully the storm does not develop as promised.

I think I should go for more walks, but then when it's grey and snowing and blowing, a trip to the Coffee House is more appealing. The coffee house does not look like much from the outside, but inside the atmosphere is cozy. They serve coffee and wine, so the coffee house is also known as the "wine bar". It's a relaxing place to go in the evening for a glass of wine or two and a chat with friends and co-workers. As my friend Rhoda says "It's always condition 3 in the office." And that sentiment applies to the Coffee House too.

Coffee is an important part of life for many people here. Besides the fact that many of us are caffeine addicts in our regular lives anyway, we work hard here and coffee is a nice way to take a break and feel recharged. It's also a social thing. For me it's nice to make and drink coffee as part of my normal routine here. Because we all eat in a cafeteria, and therefore do not cook our own food, it's nice to prepare the coffee in the morning and then to drink it!

Sonic Antarctica

2007-12-27T12:40:00.000-08:00

Last night there was a sonic tour around McMurdo Station. Andrea Polli, a sound artist who is visiting McMurdo Station on an NSF artists grant, led a group of people around the station to make recordings of different sounds. The tour ended at the NASA antenna where they track the polar orbiting scientific satellites. This is where Nik and I met up with the group. The dome can be seen easily from the station, but I had never been inside it until last night. The antenna was tracking a satellite while we were there, so first it moved into position and then slowly rotated to track the satellite as it moved across the sky.

The antenna made some interesting sounds, but the dome itself sounded like a drum. Each panel in the dome is made of a flexible material and as the wind blew, it sounded like a percussion instrument. I would like to go back when it is very windy to get the full experience of the drumming sounds.
The dome and antenna are on a hill above McMurdo Station so there is a less obstructed view of the sky. Sometimes the satellites are low on the horizon, so a little elevation helps with tracking. Being up high also gave us a nice perspective looking back on station. It looked expansive, but the buildings were small and looked like miniature versions of the station I know. I spend most of my time going between three buildings, the Crary Lab, my dorm, and Building 155, which is where the dining hall is located. It's always surprising to me to see how much stuff we have here. The footprint of town is fairly small, but then there are many shipping containers used for storage of supplies. There are also many containers for waste that are waiting to make there way back to the US for disposal.

It's tropical blue

2007-12-26T22:33:00.000-08:00

Officially, we had a two day break over Christmas. It was up to me to decide how much work to do versus just enjoy the holiday. There were many social events to break up the days including the town holiday party on Sunday, the Christmas Eve fancy dinner on Monday, the Christmas morning brunch on Tuesday, the Christmas evening knitting and other social events taking place in the course of two days. Somehow I ended up with a pile of presents to open too. (Thank you everyone.) It takes time to sort the bubble wrap, the tissue paper, the ribbons, the boxes, the plastic packaging, etc. and dispose of them in the proper waste disposal categories. The two days were over before I knew it.
In between opening all those presents and eating Christmas Eve dinner, I manged to take a walk to Hut Point. The sea ice is melting a little more. The melt pools are turning a tropical blue color. I think the color is from algae growing there lending a greenish tinge to the usual "glacial blue". Of course there were seals hauled out into the ice. Another one made an appearance popping up through a hole in the ice. If you use your imagination, you can see the seal swimming in the melt pool. Maybe I will get a better telephoto lens some day, but for now you can just accept that the dark blob in the pool is a Weddel seal. It was a beautiful sunny day, but the winds were howling at Hut Point (as usual), so I did not stay for long. It was so nice during the day, but then later the fog came in and since then it has been windy and overcast. It makes it easier to stay inside and work in the lab. The holiday is over, so it's back to work.
Samples have been coming back from the field and we are making lots of progress on all the lab work and analyses. Here is a picture of my lab bench. This is were I work to set up my samples for the ion chromatography instrument. In this picture, I am setting up a run of lake samples to analyze for cations. I always line up my samples by increasing depth because they get saltier with depth and I prefer to run them in order.

Transitions

2007-12-13T20:44:00.001-08:00

We are a week away from the summer solstice. The sun is high in the sky and we have had a series of warm sunny weather days. The temperature is just above freezing, just about 1 to 3 degrees C (or 33 to 38 degrees F). This is the start of the melt season. Streams are flowing around the station as the snow pack continues to melt. Streams are flowing in the dry valleys too. It’s time to transition from puffy down jackets to our windbreakers. At this time of year the sea-ice starts to melt a bit. The ice is still mostly solid, but the transition areas from land to ice are messy. It's prudent to move the fish huts back onto land while they still can, otherwise they risk getting stuck and eventually floating out to sea on an a sea-ice raft later this season. Today we learned that the sea-ice will be off limits in a couple more days, as soon as they can finish moving the remaining huts and equipment back onto land. The huts look like a row of vacation cottages lined up on the road to Hut Point.
There were a few seals hauled out onto the sea-ice near Hut Point. It is not very obvious from my picture, but the small brown blobs are Weddell seals. A few days ago, this blue ice pool was still solid, but now it is turning slushy. This makes it easier for the seals to find places to come up for air and to haul out onto the ice for sunbathing. While I was there, a seal was swimming just under the ice skin on this melt pool. He poked his head up for air a few times, just breaking through the thin ice layer. Away from land, the ice is still solid, but that will probably change over the next few weeks.

The other big transition is that research groups that were working on sea-ice to study the seals, the fish or the sea-ice itself, will now have to call and end to the field season. Groups that study hydrology and stream flow are getting busy. The nice sunny weather also makes it more fun to get out and do some sight seeing around the station.
The weather has been nice, so Nik agreed to go for a walk with me. He is wearing a fuzzy hat to keep his ears warm because the breeze is almost always blowing at Hut Point.

Yes, I'm still here

2007-12-11T11:10:00.000-08:00

I seem to be in the doldrums a bit. Not much is happening. Work is going fine and I am keeping up with everything. It’s just that, as I explained last year, it’s more of the same old thing. Water samples in bottles are not very exciting in themselves, not until you get the data! I’m approaching the mid-season mark with about 2 months to go. The days are all fairly similar. The internet is also painfully slow, so when I attempt to post to my blog, I seem to get blogged down. OK, I’m writing this in word, in case blogger actually opens and I can make a posting. Ah there it is. I have been waiting for 10 minutes for the window to open so I can upload pictures. I think I should try again later. So, for anyone who was wondering if I was still here, yes! I promise to write more soon.

After Thanksgiving

2007-11-23T12:49:00.001-08:00

It's Thanksgiving weekend and I am at our field camp at Lake Hoare. It's a tradition that we host Thanksgiving dinner here for our LTER team and any other science groups in Taylor Valley. This year the whole LTER team got together on Thursday for a turkey dinner and we invited two other research groups who are out in Taylor Valley in tent camps. Lake Hoare camp is a fixed field camp with some buildings including small labs, a generator shed, tool shed, out houses. We have the main hut where we cook, eat, relax and work on our computers. We also have internet access (which is how I manage to post to my blog even while doing field work.) We have a full size oven, so we can cook a whole turkey. It's a regular size propane oven, similar to what you might have at home, so the day before Thanksgiving is reserved for all the baking of pies and side dishes to go along with the turkey.
One of my jobs is to help with pies. We made seven pies this year. It's was more than enough for the 22 people we had here for dinner, but isn't the best part of Thanksgiving the leftovers? Our guests could take pie home with them and there is still some left for us. (Sorry I did not take a "before" picture.) I made a mistake and grabbed the bag of chopped walnuts instead of pecans for the pecan pie. I did not realize my error until right before I poured the filling into the crust. I decided it would still be good, especially if I added some orange extract and cinnamon to make it extra special. It was a hit. I made a regular pecan pie for the traditionalists too.
This is the 15th year of the LTER project in the McMurdo Dry Valleys. When our project first started we did not have the nice camp that we have now. The new camp was built starting at the end of our first field season in 1994. Before that we had a simple camp with a Jamesway, generator hut, outhouse, and a small lab. The old camp is still here, by the shore, and the building are still used. The Jamesway, which used to be the main hut, is mostly used for storing boxes and for sleeping quarters in case people are stuck here without tents. It's hard to imagine having 10 people in there sitting around the table, working and eating together. The old lab is now used on Sundays for taking showers. Eventually these buildings will probably be moved as the lake level rises. For now, they are not too close to the shore and are in no immediate danger. Although, we have seen that one warm summer could change that. For now, they serve as a reminder of more simple times, before we had phones and email in Antarctica.

Minus 5

2007-11-23T11:37:00.001-08:00

It has been getting warmer as the sun moves higher in the sky every day. This morning it is -5 degrees C here at Lake Hoare, still below the freezing point of water. In spite of that, there are signs of melting. I took advantage of the midnight sun and walked around our camp to take a few pictures last night. The glacier calved over this winter. A sliver of ice from the cliff face peeled off and came crashing to the ground. This is good news for us because it provides a source of drinking water. We collect these ice chunks and melt them in a large stock pot for drinking, cooking, washing up. It's also nice because as we stand at the east window of our hut to wash dishes, we have a slightly newer view of the glacier cliff.
Standing near the cliff face last night I could hear water dripping from everywhere. The sun warms the face of the glacier, so even though the air temperature is below freezing, the solar radiation can cause the glacier to melt. Water is trickling down the face of the glacier and starting to accumulate in the stream channel. The stream is not really flowing yet, but there is liquid water. The stream team will be happy to have more work to do. Liz from the glacier team is hoping to sample the cryoconite holes on the glacier before they melt. Everyone is watching the weather.

Lake Hoare

2007-11-20T00:08:00.001-08:00

I'm at Lake Hoare. We had weather in McMurdo this morning. Nothing serious, but lots of snow and low clouds. The helicopters were on a weather delay, but we finally made it here! The internet is slow right now and I'm here at Lake Hoare for a week, so I will keep this short. I hope to get lots of fresh pictures and write more about my trip soon. In this picture taken from a helicopter, ice-covered Lake Hoare is in the foreground, the camp is situated on the shore near the Canada Glacier. It's a lovely spot for a field camp.

Condition 1

2007-11-07T12:29:00.000-08:00

I'm still in McMurdo. I feel fortunate that I got here when I did because the weather has been bad and no flights have come in from New Zealand yet this week. They are going to try to get a flight in late today because there is a small window of decent weather before the next storm.
Antarctica is known for extreme weather. The normal weather condition is Condition 3. Condition 2 weather means that people have to travel in pairs between buildings and cannot leave the station on foot. During Condition 1, which is defined as less than 100 feet of visibility or more than 55 knot winds, or wind chill less than -100 degrees F, people are not allowed to leave the building that they are in. Last night it was Condition 2 in McMurdo and then it went to Condition 1 around 11:30 PM. The "herbie lights" were on to warn people of the dangerous situation. Snow was flying. Visibility was poor. As you can see from this picture of the NSF Chalet, the snow was not falling down, but flying up. It's Condition 3 again this morning, so life returns to normal.

I'm still waiting for "Condition 4" which is the unofficial term for weather that is too nice to be inside, time to go out and play.

Springtime in McMurdo

2007-11-04T18:24:00.000-08:00

I'm back in Antarctica, working at McMurdo Station. I've been back for almost a week. It's good to be here although I was a little surprised by how many people greeted me by saying "welcome home". Considering that this is my 15th summer here in McMurdo, working in Crary Lab, I guess it feels like home.
It's spring, which means the weather is very changeable. This morning started off like a typical early November morning in McMurdo, but the weather has gone downhill. This picture of the flags at the Chalet shows how windy it is now. At least it's warmer than it has been. Now it's about 10 degrees F, but it has been about -20F for the past few days. I just checked the weather and it's Condition 1 out on the sea-ice. In the picture we are looking out over the sea-ice and visibility is "poor". The flight from NZ was canceled and people are stuck where they are for the moment. It sure is nice in the lab though!

Three months to go

2007-07-24T14:57:00.000-07:00

I have not been updating my blog during the summer while I am in Columbus. Nevertheless, it seems like my life revolves around working up data from last season or preparing for next season. I'm making shopping lists, trying to get in shape, lining up a house sitter, etc. Today I went for my pre-deployment physical, which is the first step in getting PQ'ed for the ice. Every year we have to get a complete physical to make sure we don't have any medical or dental conditions that would be difficult to manage or treat in Antarctica. So far so good, but I have a few more things to do before I will be considered Physically Qualified. I have about three months in the northern hemisphere before I head south again. For inspiration, here is one of my favorite pictures from Antarctica that I took on a walk to Castle Rock.

On my way

2007-02-15T16:34:00.000-08:00

I am leaving Antarctica. My plane is on its way here from Christchurch. My transport to the ice runway is in about an hour. I bag dragged last night, so I am living out of one bag until I leave. It is snowing now and it looks foggy on the sea ice. They don't usually fly the planes south to pick us up if they don't think they can land when the get here. PSR is designated as the same time that the plane is due to land, so they can come all the way here and decide to turn around if they think it is unsafe to land. That might happen and I might spend another day here, but probably not. My work is finished, the lab is clean, my knitting is packed, so it's time to go!
It has been a great summer here. I am headed to a warmer version of summer in New Zealand for a little while. I will be in the land of tree ferns. It will be the first time I have experienced darkness (outside) since October. I look forward to star gazing and seeing Orion upside down. I heard that the Ohio State University closed down for a couple of days due to snow. I'm not sorry I missed that. I hope it will be turning to spring in Columbus soon after I arrive. I have become so spoiled over these last 14 years living in perpetual summer. I'm looking forward to seeing my friends at home. I have missed you all and I'm eagerly anticipating to my return to my northern hemisphere life.

Freeze

2007-02-12T12:05:00.000-08:00

I am giving up my computer today. I will be packing my computer, lab and field notes and papers to get them into the cargo system so they can be waiting for me in Columbus when I return. The water in the turning basin has started to refreeze. The whales have left and although the emperor penguins were here over the weekend, I think they finally swam home yesterday too after exploring the sea-ice near station for a while. I took this picture from the Crary Lab window. The turning basin is filled with grease ice, which is one of the early stages of sea-ice formation.
It would be unfair to say that it is starting to get dark here. However, the sun is lower in the sky and the first sunset will happen next week. The "sunset" picture was taken Saturday night around 11PM. Some people who are staying for the winter are anxious for the summer people to leave. I understand this sentiment having grown up in a beach town that was a summer tourist resort. It was always a little relief on Labor Day to get our town back from the visitors. Some of my friends who are wintering can't believe that we are leaving so soon and they are sad to say goodbye. In any case, it's just a matter of time before the summer residents and visitors to McMurdo pack up their things and say goodbye.

My last week

2007-02-10T16:31:00.000-08:00

The resupply ship left last night about 10PM. It was loaded up with containers of our waste, which has been sorted and packaged for future recycling or disposal in the US. The ship also contains our scientific samples. Now that the ship has gone, the schedule here is getting back to normal. It's Sunday here so they served brunch as they usually do on Sundays. The road to Hut Point is open to pedestrian traffic again now that vessel operations are completed, so I decided to go for a walk after brunch.
I keep going on about water and wildlife. It has been a good year for both of those things. There were emperor penguins around last night, which I saw from a distance, but did not get close enough to photograph them. They were gone by the time I walked to Hut Point today.
It's a little cold today, but the water almost has a tropical blue color against the sea ice. It is about +15F today and 15 mph winds.
Did you notice the seal at the bottom of the picture above? I actually did not even realize that the seal was there when I took the picture. I saw it when I walked back again and then I zoomed in so you can see better. This is one of the Weddell seals that live around here. They are really pretty, even though they don't look like much when they are just lying around on the ice. Their backs are dark and their bellies are lighter and mottled looking, probably so they can hide from their prey.
Here is the Coast Guard ice breaker docked at the ice pier. I'm not sure how much longer they will be here now that the ships are all finished. They will probably be finishing here soon too. The season is really winding down. There will be a flight every other day for the next two weeks. There are only 7 more scheduled flights for the season and all of the people who do not plan to stay for the winter will be leaving on one of them.

The boring parts of my job

2007-02-09T19:42:00.000-08:00

I know, it must seem glamorous. According to my blog I lead a very exciting life of meeting distinguished visitors, flying out to the dry valleys by helicopter, whale watching from the Crary lab and cruising on ice breakers. Well it's true. However, it's not all about hobnobbing with Admirals, Generals, Prime Ministers and penguins. Today I faced the job I dread the most for the whole season. I inventoried all of the chemicals that we will store here over the winter. I'm the last one left in McMurdo from the LTER team. I think we had another great season. I have a week left now and I am cleaning up and getting ready to go, making lists, returning things, packing, and so on. At least now that everyone else is gone, I can see what is left to do.
I just wanted to point out for careful readers of my blog that if you look back at the pictures from early January compared to now, things have changed. The day of the penguin invasion, Jan 7, the sea ice was still solid almost everywhere. Where those penguins were running, they would have to swim. We have lots of open water in Winter Quarters Bay and around Hut Point. It changed quite a bit this month. I promise I will take some more pictures of McMurdo before I leave. The sun has not set yet, but it is lower in the sky. The first sunset will happen in about a week, of course it will rise again a few minutes later. It has been getting colder and windier, which makes it feel like it's time to head to New Zealand. Many people are leaving. My turn is coming soon.

Water and ice

2007-02-07T17:30:00.000-08:00

It has been a while since residents of McMurdo have been able to look out their windows and see this much open water. In the 1990s, every few years we would have extensive open water and eventually, in late February or March, the sea ice would blow out, leaving the whole area open until the sea ice started to form again in April, as winter started to set in. For the last few years, I would tales of whale watching from Hut Point and the new folks would look at me as if I were dreaming. Since the large iceberg, B-15, broke off the Ross Ice Shelf and blocked McMurdo Sound, the sea ice around McMurdo has not broken up. The sea ice has beeen getting thicker every year, creating quite a challenge for the ice breakers. It's also hard to create a runway for planes on crudy old ice, so as far as logistics are concerned, it's a great year when the sea ice goes out and we get to start "fresh". Many people are optimistic about the eventual departure of this ice that is still hanging around McMurdo Sound. For now the ice breaker has created a notch to extend the ship channel so that they can use this as a runway next year, just in case the sea ice sticks around for yet another year. It's hard to imagine that next summer planes will be landing where it's water now...

They are starting to load the scientific samples onto the resupply ship. I just heard that one of the boxes contains a seal carcass! There is always something interesting happening here!

Shipping season

2007-02-07T13:35:00.000-08:00

Late summer is the season for ships. I have mentioned the ice breakers several times. This year the Swedish icebreaker, Oden, was here as well as the US Coast Guard ice breaker, Polar Sea. The ice breakers clear a channel through the sea ice for the various ships that need to come to McMurdo every summer to resupply the station. The US Antarctic Program runs on fuel and one of the most important activities that happens here has nothing to do with science. It is the arrival of the fuel tanker to deliver fuel for the next year's operations. Here is a picture of the Polar Sea and the fuel tanker parked at the ice pier. The cargo resupply ship, American Tern, is here now and during this time, "ship offload" is a 24-hour operation. There are about 70 Navy Cargo Handing Personnel ( Nav-chaps) here to help with this proceedure. Mostly, cranes on the ship lift shipping containers onto flat bed trucks that drive up the hill. The cargo is unpacked, sorted and delivered to various work stations and warehouses. Much of this work takes place outside and the weather during offload is notorious for being cold, windy and harsh. When the ship leaves it will be loaded with a year's worth of garbage as well as a few containers with scientific gear and our precious samples.
There are also research ships that come to McMurdo and occasionally tourist ships. Here is a picture of the Palmer which is one of the research vessels opperated by the US Antarctic Program. Sometimes the Palmer comes to McMurdo to offload a crew of scientists and staff and onload a new group for the next science cruise. Research on the Palmer includes biology, geology, and oceanography, so the ship travels all around the continent during the year in support of different projects.

Mom's birthday

2007-02-05T13:38:00.000-08:00

It is my mother's birthday today. In honor of my mother's birthday, I put one of her favorite flowers on my blog. She likes Queen Anne's lace, I think because her name is Ann. It is Feb 6 here already because we are on the other side of the date line. One way to think about it is that we are the "first" time zone and we start the day off here before everyone else does. In McMurdo we operate on New Zealand time because that is where the planes fly from. So far the day feels Antarctic, or kind of like an early February day in New Hampshire, where my mother lives. Here it is 20F, windy and overcast. I called my mother earlier to wish her happy birthday and she said that it was very cold and windy and that she knew it would be too cold to walk outside, so she and my godmother, Peggy, walked on the treadmill at the gym. Good for you Mom!
I want to write more soon about all of the ship activities here, which I will do in my next blog. There is alot of open water near station because the ice breakers have been opening a channel for the tanker and resupply ships. Because of all this open water, there are whales here, minke whales, swimming in the ship channel. Every time I look out to the turning basin for a few minutes, I see their spouts and their dorsal fins and backs. Minke whales are baleen whales and they eat little things like krill. We also have orcas here, which are toothed whales, but I have not seen any recenly. For now I am thinking about my mom and how much she loves flowers. Happy birthday Mom!

Ice breaker cruise

2007-01-28T20:22:00.000-08:00

I was picked to go on a Sunday morning cruise on the Coast Guard ice breaker, Polar Sea. Poor Nik signed me up for the lottery for this special event, but he was not selected to go. It was a great trip! At 7:30 AM we lined up at the ice pier and waited to tell the organizers our names so they could check us off the list and prepare an acurate manifest. We waited until the crew let us on board and we climbed up the gang plank. After a quick safely briefing, the ship left the pier and we were on our way. The goal was to see some wildlife and get a little trip away from McMurdo for a few hours. It was interesting to look around the ship for a while too, but the real attraction was the scenery. Although Chris and I did take a break from ice breaking to get a cappucino at the ship's coffee shop. The ice breakers are based in Seattle and those guys take their coffee seriously.
As much as I enjoy being here, I always enjoy leaving McMurdo too, even if it is just to get a different perspective. From the ship we got a good view of McMurdo, Ob Hill, Hut Point, Castle rock, Hut Point Peninsula and Mt. Erebus. Everyone was excited, wondering what else we would see as we ventured away from McMurdo.
The ice in the turning basin and in the southern part of the channel was still very slushy and had many ice chunks, but as we made our way to the ice edge, the channel cleared of ice. The water was calm and dark that day. There was very little wind. Sometimes we would see ripples on the water from where a seal had been swimming. Looking ahead I spotted the whale's breath. Several people near me gasped. Then after a moment I saw the dorsal fins and we realized that they were minke whales. (Orcas have much larger dorsal fins.) As we got closer we could see the minkes swimming along the channel. Then they swim right up to the ship and dove underneath us. There are also orcas in the area, especially along the ice edge, but the orcas didn't feel like visiting that day. Besides the minke whales, we saw two adelie penguins and many weddell seals. And of course, the infamous skuas were checking us out to see what we had to eat.
When we reached the point where we turned the ship, they gave us a demonstration of the ice breaking capabilities. They pointed the ship towards the western edge of the ice and we rose right up onto the ice and then started to break it up from the weight of the ship. They did this a couple of times so we could see, hear and feel what it was like. A skua came and landed right where the ship was headed, completely unconcerned by what was about to happen. The whole process was much smoother than I expected, but they did caution us to hold on. I couldn't tell how much of the creaking came from the ice and how much was the ship. I thought we might get stuck, but of course, we didn't. As chunks of ice broke off, we could see the brownish greenish color of the sea ice algae.
It was a calm day, but I can imagine that the weather in the southern ocean can be rough. I was very interested in the doors on the ship which were very well sealed, heavy and appearently tough. I can imagine that these doors come in handy on occasion. Maybe they were designed to keep skuas out too.

Distinguished visitors

2007-01-20T20:13:00.000-08:00

January is the primary month for distinguished visitors, also known as DV's. This week we have a delegation from New Zealand visiting Scott Base to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the founding of the base and the New Zealand Antarctic Program. The head of the US National Science Foundation is also here. It has been very exciting to see. Sir Edmund Hillary gave a speech at Scott Base yesterday for the event. Besides being the first person to successfully climb Mt Everest with Tenzing Norgay he went on to have a career as a mountaineer and explorer and made many trips to Antarctica during the early days of scientific exploration. He is also featured on the NZ $5 note. He is a very interesting speaker and seems very humble and genuinely nice.
We had a dinner (by invitation only) in the dining hall with nice china, glass glasses (as opposed to the blue plastic cups we normally use), cloth napkins and waiters. It was bizarre, but also really nice and very festive. Sir Ed was there, as well as the Prime Minister of New Zealand and the other DV's. Speeches were kept to a minimum. It was a casual dinner, but it was by far the most formal event I have attended here. We all wore our best clothing, which for most of us was our cleanest jeans and nicest fleece. The Prime Minister of New Zealand gave a little speech and thanked us all for attending. We had Mt Erebus volcano cakes with raspberries and also truffles for desert.

Ice breakers and penguins

2007-01-07T12:20:00.000-08:00

The ice breaker has been working the channel for the resupply ship to come in next month. All of this activity has brought adelie penguins to McMurdo. I have seen penguins here plenty of times before, but never like this. I estimated that I saw at least 100 penguins on the sea ice near McMurdo yesterday.
I wish I knew more about penguins. One thing I know is that they are fascinating to watch, especially when they are on the move. Yesterday there was a large group of them near Hut Point when the Swedish icebreaker, Oden, started moving up to the dock. The penguins were running across the sea ice as fast as their three inch legs would carry them. When they needed a change of pace, they would flop onto their bellies and toboggan along, pushing themselves with their feet and flippers. Most of them stopped on the ice on the sides of Hut Point. A few came onto land to check us out. The people here are curious about penguins and they seem curious about us too.
I saw the ice breaker coming in from across Winter Quarters Bay. I walked to Hut Point to get a closer look at the penguins. This year there have been many sightings of penguins near McMurdo. I think it may be that the foraging is easier than it has been in recent years because the big icebergs have finally drifted away. They have better access to food now that the ice bergs have moved on and the sea ice edge is moving south. So maybe the penguins have more energy and time to explore. The ice breaker channel is like a penguin super highway. We hear rumors that the orcas are not far behind.

Blood Falls

2007-01-05T20:28:00.000-08:00

When I think of Antarctica in color, I think about white, blue, cerulean, azure, grey, brown, and occasionally black (orcas, penguins). There is a feature on the terminus of the Taylor Glacier called Blood Falls. It is a surprising rusty red color. Blood Falls is not very well understood, but there are some theories about why it is there. Today my friend Jill and I went to collect some samples and talk about her research a little more. Jill is a microbiologist and I am a geochemist. Even though we have different interests, we both think that Blood Falls is fascinating.
People have been curious about Blood Falls since it was first observed by Scott's party in 1903. They noted in their journal that the terminus of the glacier had a red color that they thought might be from algae. Scientists who have seen the site since then have been surprised by it and several have studied it.

The water that gets discharged from the top of the terminus is very salty, similar to the salinity of seawater, but the chemical composition is a little different. It is also anoxic, meaning that it does not contain any dissolved oxygen. It also has high concentrations of iron in reduced form. Once the water works its way out onto the top of the glacier and flows down, it is exposed to light and oxygen and the dissolved iron starts to oxidize... just like that bicycle you left outside. Jill studies the bacteria that live in the water. I am interested in the chemistry. We both want to know why it's there, how often it discharges, why it is anoxic, where the iron comes from, why it is salty, whether the bacteria are thriving or just surviving. We have answers to some of those questions. But that's the exciting thing about science, there is always more to know. It is about adding pieces to an ever expanding puzzle.

Weather or mechanical?

2007-01-03T18:46:00.000-08:00

We are having flight delays that do not affect me directly, but seem to get everyone on station talking. The question is usually "Is it weather or mechanical?" In Antarctica, the delays are often caused by weather. The planes land on sea ice, so even if there is no new snow falling, there may be enough blowing snow from the winds to cause poor visibilty on the sea ice runway. The picture below was taken minutes ago looking across McMurdo Sound. The bright strip on the sea-ice is blowing snow. The weather scroll informs us that it is weather condition 2 on the road from the ski runway (for the ski planes) to the ice runway (for wheeled planes). Meanwhile, we just received an email stating that the road to the runway is closed to wheeled vehicles due to drifting snow on the snow roads. The snow road is still open to track vehicles. Condition 3 is normal weather. Condition 2 and 1 are severe weather and may be called due to extreme cold, high winds or poor visibility.

People who were originally planning to fly south from NZ on Jan 2 were delayed until the 4th. Now they may not fly south until the 7th. The reason for this is Mechanical. Maybe it is just as well that they did not fly today because they may have had to boomerang if they did make it this far due to Weather. Some of my LTER team members who have been trying to get here boomeranged twice on Tuesday. Now they wait in New Zealand. People who were planning to head north from here have been waiting for this plane from NZ, but many people will be leaving today on an Air National Guard LC-130. This is not normal operations, but it's very good news for the people who have been waiting to leave. Most of the ones who have been delayed here waiting to fly north will probably miss their commercial flights and the rumor is that there are no reservations available until Jan 11. This is bad news for people heading back to university for classes. This is all part of the adventure for researchers in Antarctica.

McMurdoisms

2006-12-29T18:20:00.000-08:00

This picture was taken near the adelie penguin rookery at Cape Royds yesterday. I saw penguins, seals, and skuas. The penguins have chicks now. They are doing better this year now that the big iceberg has drifted away and the parents have a shorter distance to go and forage.

My trip yesterday inspired me to write about some aspects of life here. There are many common expressions and acronyms used in the USAP that may be confusing to people who have not been here. I thought I would try to explain a few of them.

Going portrait refers to turning your blue food tray vertically in order to accommodate more than 6 people at the round tables in the Dining Facility.

Rocket is a verb meaning to use the propane fired toilet at Lake Hoare Camp.

Grey water is a verb meaning to dispose of water in the grey water barrels.

Skua is a sea bird, the Antarctic gull, frequently spotted outside of Building 155 (aka the Galley or Dining Facility). If you are lucky enough to get to the penguin rookery at Cape Royds, you will see them there too. Skuas will eat many things and are not afraid to attack humans in order to steal their food. Yesterday at Cape Royds I witnessed two skuas snacking on a penguin chick.
Skua is also a verb meaning to take your unwanted items and put them in the reuse bins so that you don't have to bring them home when you redeploy (see below) and hopefully someone else will want to use them.
Skua is also a verb meaning to find or use something that was left in Skua by someone else.
Skua is a noun referring to the item left behind.
Example sentences:
Wow, you found that in skua? Hey, I skua-ed those pants. Check out my skua. Watch out, here comes a skua!

Lots of expressions have to do with coming to and leaving Antarctica.

Deployment means traveling to Antarctica.

Orange bags: The extreme cold weather (ECW) clothing that we get from the Clothing Distribution Center (CDC) in Cheech is packed in orange bags.

Cheech: Christchurch, NZ

Movement Control Center (MCC), Building 140: This is the building where you go when it's time to bag drag (see below) before you redeploy (see below).

Redeployment does not mean traveling to Antarctica again. It means, undeployment, or the trip back home.

Bag Drag is the process of bringing your luggage to the MCC so that it can be palletized and brought out to the airfield. This happens the night before your scheduled flight. You are allowed to keep one orange bag after bag drag. You are advised to keep some spare clothing in case the plane does not arrive as planned. If you don't have a change of clothes, you may have to skua some.

PAX are passengers.

Winter is a verb meaning to stay in Antarctica through the winter, from station close in February through August. There are no planned flights to USAP stations during this time. In January, people start to ask, "When do you redeploy or are you wintering?"

Holidays McMurdo Style

2006-12-25T15:30:00.000-08:00

Christmas has come and gone. I hope everyone had happy holidays, where ever you are. I enjoyed the weekend very much. We had the station Christmas party on Saturday night. It was hosted by the Vehicle Maintenance Facility (VMF), also known as the Heavy Shop. This is where they maintain and repair on all of the big vehicles on station. The party was fun. I smelled distinctly of fuel at the end of the night. The Dining Facility served a delicious dinner of lobster, beef Wellington, duck and some vegetarian options on Christmas Eve. Nik and I decided to take some time that afternoon before dinner to walk to Hut Point and explore around the ponds. The ponds are not as pristine as the ponds in the dry valleys, but they have several features in common. For one thing, they are frozen solid for most of the year. They are also in darkness for about four months. Then, during a few months of the summer, they melt. Depending on the weather, they may still contain some ice, but there is enough water for the algae to grow. Like the ponds in the dry valleys, there are no predators to graze on the algae so it can grow in thick mats along the bottom. The mats "lift-off" too, just like the mats in the dry valleys. The algal mats become so saturated with oxygen bubbles from photosynthesis that chunks will tear off and float to the surface. One of the ponds had a lovely green color from the algae. One thing I have learned from working in Antarctica is that, where there is water, there is life.

Besides the algae in the ponds, which was cool enough, we also saw penguins, seals and skuas that afternoon. The penguins were too far away to photograph, but they were out there on the sea ice. A few seals decided to haul out into the sea ice to sun bathe for a while. They were rolling around on the ice, searching for a comfortable spot. They are pretty fun to watch when the are moving, even though they may look a little like giant slugs in the picture.
We also heard and saw skuas. Skuas are sea birds, like gulls. These are some seriously tough characters. They frequently attack diners in McMurdo who attempt to leave the dining hall with food. Besides galley food, skuas also eat penguin eggs and chicks. This skua had other things on its mind. I think that there was a skua nesting nearby because there were two, one apparently on the nest and one to keep watch nearby. The one in this photo looks calm enough here, but when we got a little closer, it opened its beak to screech at us, which sent chills down my spine. We took a wide path around it so we didn't bother it any more. I plan to write more about skuas in a future blog because they are such a significant part of life in McMurdo.
Before we left Hut Point, we walked around Scott's Hut and saw this beautiful ephemeral art work. The window was still in the shade and had frost on it. You can also see the reflected landscape of sea ice, mountains and sky in the window. I walked back to the hut a few hours later and that side of the hut was in the sun and the frost was completely gone, without a trace. I have never seen this frost before, so I don't know how often it happens. It might be that it was just the right humidity and temperature. I was lucky to be there and see it and to have my camera with me to share it with you too.

Lab Daze

2006-12-20T13:43:00.000-08:00

I'm still here. I have been busy working in the Crary Lab these days, analyzing lake water samples from the dry valleys by ion chromatography. I measure the concentration of things like sodium, calcium, chloride and sulfate. It does not always seem very bloggable, mostly because the labs are very functional and comfortable places to work, but they are not exciting to photograph (low bloggicity factor?). Water samples in plastic bottles are not exciting until you get the data. Of course it is exciting to see if the lakes are more or less salty than last year. The lakes in the dry valleys are very unusual chemically stratified lakes and the bottom waters are very old and salty. A little spilled drop of water from the bottom of Lake Bonney turned into a little pile of salt overnight on my lab bench. It is about 30% salt by weight, or almost 10 times saltier than sea water. The surface waters change a little every year depending on the balance between the stream flow into the lakes and the evaporative loss off the surface.
Last night after a long day of labbing it, Chris, Liz and I walked on one of the trails near McMurdo. It's a trail that goes up a ridge from Hut Point, near Scott's Discovery Hut, and then circles back through the station. Many people have walked up this hill over the years, but a trail was officially established and opened for recreation 2 years ago just before the two day Christmas holiday. It's a great way to get some elevation gain and do some site seeing. There I am trudging up the steep path with Scott's Hut at the edge of the peninsula below. (Ohhh, and next time I'm out there I need to check out those little ponds.)
Photos courtesy of Chris Gardner

Inside or out?

2006-12-08T20:28:00.000-08:00

This morning I went to pick up our flight lunches from the Dining Facility, aka Galley. The young woman who helped me asked, "Are you going someplace exciting?" Even though I wasn't especially excited about the day's activities, I smiled and said, "Yes, we are going to the dry valleys." Saying that made me feel more excited about getting out for the day! Sometimes, you need to have other people help you put things in perspective.
I went out to the field today to conduct lab inspections with Paulene from Crary Lab and Rae, our camp manager. We started doing this a few years ago in an attempt to make the field labs safer and think of ways that we can make improvements. In the old days we didn't have eye wash stations in the labs, so we added them. We try to make sure that all the labs have basic supplies like lab gloves and goggles. It's not exactly an exciting day of "field work" poking into the dark corners of some of the labs in the field camps. It was still great to get out and see things and meet up with the people from my science group out in the field. We went to all of the fixed camps in the Taylor Valley, and we traveled in an A-star helicopter, so it was good sight seeing.

I wanted to show a few of my pictures from today. As soon as we arrived at Lake Hoare we took all of the cargo off of the helicopter including our survival bags. The pilot was planning to do a sling load and wanted to reduce the weight of the helicopter. Sandra hooked up the load. Then the pilot took off to his destination. It can be exciting to work around helicopters, but I was happy that Sandra was the one hooking up the load and not me. The pilot came back to Lake Hoare and Sandra loaded all of the cargo back onto the helicopter and we flew up the valley to Lake Bonney. We visited with Jill and John for a few minutes before checking out the labs. Then we traveled back down the valley to F6 and Fryxell camps and visited the dive team and the limno team. The last stop for us was New Harbor. It is right on the ocean so it has a different feel from the camps further up in the Taylor Valley. You can see across McMurdo Sound to Ross Island and our favorite landmark, Mt Erebus (top picture). When we left New Harbor, we flew back to Lake Hoare to bring Rae home. We also stopped at Hjorth Hill to pick up Rachel and Marble Point for some fuel and then we flew back to McMurdo. I felt recharged after the day.

Ice time

2006-12-03T22:54:00.000-08:00

I thought it was worth commenting about the time difference between here and where most of y'all are. I have not been changing the time stamp on my blog postings so even though I say it's Sunday afternoon here, the time stamp on the entry will say Saturday at 10PM. We are on New Zealand time, so right now it is Monday night here, but still early Monday morning for most of you.
We are having a little going away party tonight, one of many. This week I will be waving goodbye to a few co-workers. Peter and Adam are leaving tomorrow (weather permitting). Kelly and I traveled here together on Oct 19. He will be leaving at the end of this week. I was feeling fine until he started talking about learning how to surf while he is in NZ and I am looking forward to another 11 to 12 weeks of ice time, primarily lab work. Don't get me wrong, I do like McMurdo and I do enjoy my job and the people here. There is a mass exodus of beakers in December to make room for a new batch arriving in January. It's always a little strange to say goodbye.
People here do keep track of such things as ice time, months on ice, seasons worked in Antarctica... Some people want to know whether or not you've wintered (no, that's crazy), been "on continent" (yes, Dry Valleys and South Pole) or if you are "bi-polar" (yes, Summit Greenland). McMurdo is on an island and most people never make it across McMurdo Sound to the continent. Here is a picture of McMurdo taken a few days ago from Hut Point. Scott's Discovery Hut is in the foreground, and well, there is McMurdo Station, my home away from home.

Diamond dust

2006-12-02T19:55:00.000-08:00

It's Sunday and I was thinking about going for a hike in the hills this afternoon until I felt the icy cold blasts of wind. It "looks" like it would be a nice day and the official McMurdo weather forecast called for +5C (+41F) or "shorts" weather. One step outside reveals the truth. It's actually not that bad, but we have been spoiled by the nice weather over the last few days. According to the Building 71 Weather (NASA's unofficial weather display for McMurdo) it is -11C with 25 knot winds. Brrrrrr. There is also some clear sky precipitation, aka diamond dust. I'm sure I have seen this at home in NH in the winter, and it was fairly common on the Greenland ice sheet. It is ice crystals in the air, near ground level so you can see them flying by and it makes the air sparkle. The picture is from today. It is a picture of the flags at the NSF Chalet representing the signatory nations to the Antarctic treaty.

Now it's too hot

2006-11-28T13:43:00.000-08:00

The weather certainly can change fast around here. Wasn't it just a few weeks ago that I was explaining (or complaining) about how cold it was, like the kind of cold that freezes the insides of your nostrils? The kind of cold that makes your eyes water and freezes the tears to your cheeks? I'm back in McMurdo now. We moved from mud season to flood season. The forecast high for today is +4C (which is about 39F). So for those of you who worry about me being cold in Antarctica, you can stop now. Don't forget that we have 24 hours of sunlight here too, so it really feels like summer. That will change, but for now it's nice. With all of this warm weather, it makes things logistically challenging because at this time of year all of the people and supplies come in on planes, and planes land on the sea ice runway and last year there was flooding on the ice runway and the roads on the sea-ice were a mess. I'll keep you posted on that. Here is a picture of the airfield today. There are a few planes (ski equiped LC-130's) parked there for the moment. They are probably waiting to fly to South Pole later today.
The station had an eerie look with ground fog from the evaporation of water from the roads and condensation in the air at noon today. I decided to take a look around because it was so nice. You can see Nik's white golf ball in this picture. That's the home of the antenna they use to track the polar orbiting scientific satellites. You can also see some of the large fuel storage tanks.
There has been significant stream flow now that it is warmer and that means erosion. The streams flow where they want to, frequently right through the station. The road out to Hut Point is not in danger of washing out any time soon, but I would advise you not to stand too close to the edge. This kind of thing happens every year. There are also ponds and pools of water in the low spots. They are constantly moving soil around here to grade the roads, improve drainage, fill the holes and so on.

Living next to Canada Glacier

2006-11-24T18:02:00.000-08:00

I went to Lake Hoare again this week with my team members. We went on Tuesday afternoon. Monday had been a "no fly day" due to bad weather, so we didn't think we would be able to get out to the field on Tuesday as we had planned. The weather was fine on Tuesday and the helicopter coordinator was able to get us on the helicopter schedule, even though most of our gear came out on later flights. We had a strong tailwind, which made it a quick flight across McMurdo Sound. We arrived at Lake Hoare with our personal bags, tents, and sleep kits, but the science gear arrived later that night. One thing I have noticed about aqueous geochemists is that they often have bulky cargo for all of their empty sample containers. The field labs have limited storage and anything stored outside needs to be strapped down so that things don't get blown away by the katabatic winds. We set up a 50 cubic foot triple-walled cardboard box (50 cube triwall) and used a cargo strap to lash it onto the back on the chemistry lab. We filled that triwall with boxes of bottles and plastic containers, but we probably could have used a second 50 cube triwall because many of the bigger containers didn't fit. Let's say that our team is now known as "Max Cube". I think we have about 100 cubic feet of bottles, jars and carboys for our snow and water samples. Becki and Joel were very busy cleaning all of these bottles last week. They will be very busy with all of the sampling. I'll be busy soon analyzing all these samples.

One of the great things about being in the field is living with glaciers. Lake Hoare camp is next to the Canada Glacier. It provides a lovely backdrop to camp, it shelters us from some of the winds and it provides "glacier berries" that calve off of the face of the glacier. We collect these glacier ice chunks and melt them for our drinking water. The glacier ice is very clean and makes great tasting water. The glacier starts off high in the Asgard Range and flows to the south down to the valley floor. The cliff faces are about 50 feet high near the camp. They have some interesting features such as these "owls nests", cracks and some debris bands. It can be awe inspiring to stand this close to a glacier.
I slept in a Scott tent this time. Becki and I shared this tent because we had many people in camp and all of the other tent sites were being used. The Scott tent is very sturdy and easy to set up in strong winds. It is made of fabric, cotton I think, with thick metal poles. Here is a picture of our tent. It is very faded, but it works fine. It started its life as a sunflower yellow color and now it is more like vanilla pudding. The fabric is soft, so the inside of the tent is cosy and it doesn't sounds as crinkly and cold as the mountain tents. It is also tall enough to stand up inside, which does make it easier to put on pants.
Here is a picture of Lake Hoare, looking west to the Suess Glacier. Over these last few weeks since I was last there, the sun angle has changed significanly. The sun only sets behind the Asgard Range for a few hours every afternoon. The lake ice is becoming warmer. It is harder to get around on the ice because melt pools are forming. We had air temperatures a few degrees above freezing recently. Now that it is getting warmer here, things will start to change quickly, as ice changes to water.

Not much news

2006-11-19T11:12:00.000-08:00

This week has been a big week for "getting ready" again as members of the LTER stream team and geochemistry teams arrived in McMurdo and they have been gearing up for their field work. I've been helping with bottle washing, preparing lab equipment and answering many questions. One bit of excitement came on Saturday morning as word spread that there were penguins on the sea ice runway. It's not too uncommon to see penguins and seals out on the sea ice near station, and if you were a penguin, wouldn't you want to walk on the flattest and straightest path available? Even if a C-17 was about to land? Would an emperor penguin think, "that's a really big and obnoxious penguin and it can fly!" I don't have any new pictures for this post because the penguins were too far away, but I did see them from the Crary lab spotting scope. They were pushing themselves along on the sea ice on their bellies. Here is one of my older pictures of emperor penguins.
I will be heading out to the field again tomorrow, just for a few days. Although, the weather has not been very amenable to helicopter operations recently, so will wait and see what happens. It has been snowing a little bit every day since I posted "mud season", but there has not been much accumulation.

Mud season

2006-11-14T17:13:00.001-08:00

Even though it is still below freezing here, it's officially mud season in McMurdo (or is that MuckMurdo?). It is -5C (23 degrees Fahrenheit) today and it feels warm, just like spring, but without the crocuses. The air temperature is still below freezing, but the dark roads absorb solar radiation and they are warmer than the air above. As the summer progresses, the snow continues to melt and the snow drifts get smaller, and crustier. Ya gotta love all of the changes that happen in McMurdo through the summer. That is Ob Hill in the background. "Ob Hill" is short for Observation Hill. I won't get the details exactly right without looking up the story, but one of Scott's parties was left in the McMurdo region and they spent the winter in a hut near here. Every day one of the members of the team would climb to the top of Observation Hill to see if a ship was returning to pick them up. These days, most of us come and go on planes, but Ob Hill is a great place to climb and take in the view.

Here is the road sign that marks the road that runs along the Crary Lab. It is affectionately called Beeker Street (you know, the muppet) and it may be the only street in town with a name. All scientists in McMurdo including biologists, chemists, geologists, glaciologists, and astronomers are called "Beakers". Some Beakers think this is very strange because they never use beakers. I am an aqueous geochemist, therefore I use beakers in my job on a daily basis. I work in the Crary Lab analyzing water samples from the glaciers, streams and lakes in the dry valleys, so I guess I really am a Beaker.

Getting out

2006-11-13T18:21:00.001-08:00

On Sunday I took a break from working in the lab and went on a hike with Jill and Robin. We were skeptical about the weather forecast, but it turned out to be a gorgeous day. There is a sea ice route from McMurdo Station to Scott Base, the New Zealand base, and we are allowed to hike on this trail after attending the required Recreation Safety course. After filing our hiking plan with the dispatcher at the fire house, we proceeded on our walk. The walk is about 2.5 miles on the sea ice on a groomed and flagged trail. It's a great way to get out of McMurdo and take in the surroundings from a new perspective. In this picture, we are looking back towards McMurdo with Mt Erebus looming in the distance.

The sea ice is a flat white world and at this time of year the walking conditions are perfect. It's still cold, which translates to "dry". The snow gets packed by the winds and then it is sometimes eroded by the wind. Here is a picture showing what some of the snow looks like. It forms beautiful patterns, like dunes. It is hard to imagine the blue world underneath the ice. I'm sorry I don't have pictures to show you, but it is supposed to be some of the most spectacular diving in the world. Robin had just done her check-out dive the day before our walk and she reminded us of all the creatures living in the water beneath our feet including colorful sea stars, spiders, urchins, fish.

After walking out away from Ross Island for a while and enjoying the scenery, the trail turns back toward land we started to get closer to Scott Base. Near Scott Base, there are pressure ridges in the sea ice where it gets squeezed between the Ross Ice Shelf and the land. There are also some deep cracks in the sea ice marked by these black flags. Black flags on hiking trails in Antarctica indicate danger, so it's important to stay on the flagged route and watch your step near the transition between land and sea ice. Snow often covers these cracks, so it is not always possible to see the dangerous parts. The sea water below the ice is -2C, so it would not be fun to break through.

Scott Base is a research base in Antarctica, but in some ways it also feels just like New Zealand, except it is much colder. The New Zealanders (Kiwis) seem to love color, especially the color Kiwi green. All of the building on the NZ base are painted a bright shade of kiwi green. Most of the buildings are also connected by walkways, so it feels very cozy inside. There is a great little store at Scott Base and many people from McMurdo Station enjoy going over there to shop for souvenirs.

Dogs are no longer allowed in Antarctica by the Treaty, but the people at Scott Base have a mascot named Chloe to great us as we entered the main door of the station. In the past, the New Zealanders had dogs at Scott Base until some time in the 1980s. I suspect that they are missed by the current residents very much.

Scott Base is not far from McMurdo, but it has a different perspective of Ross Island, so three of the volcanic mountains of the island can be seen. In this picture we can see Mt Erebus, Mt Terra Nova and part of Mt Terror. After visiting Scott Base and shopping at the store, we proceeded back home to McMurdo Station. There is a road that connects McMurdo Station and Scott Base (and a handy sign to tell you the way). To get there you must climb up a long and steep hill. OK, I have really not done enough walking here this summer and most of my walking in Columbus is on flat trails, so it will take a while to get in shape for this Scott Base hill. I'll just have to keep walking.

More algae

2006-11-05T14:26:00.000-08:00

I had a question from Granny about the algae trapped in the ice. Here are a couple more pictures. The algal mats grow at the bottom of the lakes (and in the stream beds and practically anyplace where they can find liquid water). They are photosynthetic, so sometimes they get loaded with oxygen gas bubbles. Chunks of the mats get torn off and float up to the ice cover. They get trapped there under the ice. The top photo shows bits of algal mat that have worked their way to the surface of the ice on the moat near Lake Hoare camp. Each little bit of mat is followed by a bubble trail. Maybe the mat melted its way up through the ice by differential heating? It looks very strange.
The botton picture shows more algae chunks on the ice surface. I'm not sure how that happens exactly, but the lake ice acts as a slow conveyor belt moving things up as the ice surface is constantly ablated and new ice forms on the bottom of the ice. It probably takes at least a few years for the algae to make that trip through the ice.

Avalanche

2006-11-04T19:39:00.000-08:00

One thing I have noticed about Antarctica is that it is always surprising, but it is not usually startling. Every day something unexpected happens, but not usually in a hurry. On the day we walked to the end of Lake Hoare over towards the Suess Glacier, it was very still. We heard the crunching of our own footsteps and then quiet. Then we heard a distant rumble and noticed a cloud of snow coming from the ice falls on the Suess. It was far away, but still very distinct. We heard this happen several times and the snow cloud became more dense and started to slowly drift towards us.
It's hard to imagine what quiet sounds like. In our modern world at home in cities we have people, construction, traffic, and music playing in public spaces. Even in the wild there are insects buzzing and the sounds of the wind blowing through the trees. I have never experienced quiet like the quiet of the polar regions on a calm day.

Transition ice

2006-11-01T17:35:00.000-08:00

Here is another picture from Lake Hoare. This is transition ice, the ice between the moat and center ice. This year there is snow on top of the ice cover which makes it hard to see. There is also sediment (sand) on top of the ice. Sometimes this sand looks like mini dunes. This sediment gets blown onto the lake ice during wind storms. As the ice warms, the sediment will melt down into the lake ice and form melt pools. For now, the sediment is a safe place to step. Even though I love ice, I do not always like walking on it, especially when it looks like this. I am now safely back in my lab in McMurdo, so I can enjoy the beauty of it and not have to work on it. The Suess Glacier is barely visible in the background.

I like ice

2006-11-01T14:49:00.000-08:00

There is water in Antarctica, lots of it, but most of it is in solid form. I have a fondness for the ice, whether it's snow, glacial ice, sea ice, icicles hanging off the buildings, ice cores for research, or in this case, frozen lake water. The lakes in the dry valleys have a perennial ice cover and the ice surface has very strange looking ablation features. Around the perimeter of the lake, the ice melts during the summer from solar heating along the shore forming a moat. The moat is still frozen solid now, but in a few weeks it will start to warm and melt. It will refreeze again at the end of the summer. The moat ice looks different from the center ice on the lake. I have a few pictures of the ice on the moat near the shore of Lake Hoare. The color of the ice varies quite a bit depending on the light, the ice thickness, the water depth, the gas bubbles, trapped debris, etc. One of these photos shows some brown blobs which are chunks of algae that grow on the lake bottom and some of them get trapped in the ice. The gas bubbles sometimes look like fireworks stopped in time. The "blue" picture is thicker ice. It feels a little unnatural to walk on the ice when it is very clear and you can see to the bottom of the lake.

Our internet connection is pretty SLOW down here, so I have had a bit of trouble getting my pictures onto the blog. More to come later, I hope.

Lake Hoare

2006-10-30T17:20:00.000-08:00

I spent last week at Lake Hoare. Lake Hoare camp is the main base of operation in the Taylor Valley and is the "home" of the McMurdo Dry Valleys LTER program. It has been many years since I was in the field in October and I have forgotten what it was like to be there so early in the summer. For one thing, the sun is not very high in the sky yet, so we spend most of the day in the shadow of the mountains. The lake ice is frozen solid. There are still snow patches on the ground. Here I am on Lake Hoare with the Canada Glacier in the background. It's not often that people can walk to work on a lake, but in Antarctica it is possible. This trip was a reconnaisance trip so that Kelly and I could start to look around at the ice to determine his sample locations. The lake ice becomes more treacherous later in the summer as it warms up and starts to melt. The part I am standing on might be melted later in the season, but for now it is somewhat like walking on a beautiful pale blue sidewalk. The ice at the center of the lake does not melt completely, but it will develope melt pools near the surface. The center ice is very rough and is about 4 meters thick. The lake itself is 30 meters deep at the deepest point.

Here is a picture of a Bell 212 helicopter. Helicopters the main means of transportation between McMurdo and the dry valleys. When we are in the field, the helicopters become our main physical connection to the outside world, transporting mail, supplies, food, and people. The helicopters also bring us back McMurdo when we are finished with our field work. It's hard not to love helicopters when you are in the dry valleys. The helicopter support is provided by PHI. Those pilots are so skilled at their jobs with many years of experience. The helicopters were transported back to the US this summer to undergo maintenance and they came back with shiny new red and blue paint colors.

Here is a picture of the camp at Lake Hoare showing the main building and the labs. Most of our power comes from solar power and there are three solar panels in front of the main hut. There are several other structures including a generator shed, a tool shed, an outhouse, two propane fueled "Rocket Toilets", and a Jamesway. We sleep in tents, but we have heat in the main building. The facilties are very comfortable, so we are not exactly roughing it. Although, sometimes we have to remind ourselves that we are working outside and sleeping in the cold so it is very important to eat enough and constantly monitor our physical condition. We do have warm shelters, but it's best to try to avoid getting too cold when we are outside. We use the main hut for cooking, working, and relaxing. We have a phone and internet access there. On our last night in Christchurch, we went out for Thai food and Kelly said "We won't be eating like this at Lake Hoare." I said, "Oh, yes we will." We have a wonderful camp manager at Lake Hoare who does not like to have her picture taken, but she makes sure we have delicious, interesting and nourishing meals every day.

At this time of year we have direct sunlight from about 6AM to 2PM every day. The sun does not set at this time of year, but it is still low in the sky. It is hidden behing the mountains in the Asgard Range for most of the afternoon and evening. It feels like nap time. Then the sun pokes out from behind the mountains for another hour in the late evening. This picture was taken looking to the west from our camp. It is about 9PM. There is not much to say about this image except that the late evening is often the nicest time to be outside in the field.

More preparations

2006-10-22T23:04:00.000-07:00

Today was a day filled with more training and preparations. Kelly and I went to our Dry Valleys Environmental Protection briefing and our Communications briefing and Kelly went to ATV training school while I worked in the lab. We also picked up our radios and camping gear. It was a busy day. It's so great to be here and we are very excited to go to the field on Wednesday.

It must have been a snowy winter because the snowdrifts seems very big. Here is a picture of the outside of the medical clinic. It still surprizes me how much snow we have here. Well it is Antarctica, right? But it is also considered to be a polar desert, which means that evaporation is greater than precipitation. It also means that I keep lip balm around at all times.

Here is another snowdrift outside of one of the buildings. I know that the General Assistants (GA's) must be working very hard to shovel all this snow to keep all of our steps and paths clear enough to get where we need to go. Thanks to the GA's!
It looks as though the "snow drift" contains almost as much volcanic grit and dust as snow. When the winds blow here, it is hard not to eat grit. It gets everywhere. We are living on the flanks of an active volcano, Mt. Erebus. It sits above us, venting away every day. It is not visible from McMurdo Station because we don't have a good vantage point, but it is only about 25 miles away from here.

It's cold here

2006-10-21T22:05:00.000-07:00

I have been in McMurdo Station since Thursday. It was a very smooth trip overall. We did have to wake up at 3AM for the flight to Antarctica. It was delayed about an hour, but we got here, pretty much right on schedule. It is Sunday here now. I have been busy getting unpacked and getting the lab set up. Here is a picture of my lab space in Antarctica.

I have also been making all of the required preparations for going to the field next week. Before you can go to the field, you have to go through lots of training! I did my refresher snow school last week. It is a half day of training. The primary goal is to refresh our memories of what to do if we get stranded someplace. We learn what is in the survival bags, how to use and troubleshoot the stoves, how to use the radios, how to set up the tents, how to avoid getting frostbite and hypothermia. So far I have never used my survival bag, but I know what to do if I need it. Tomorrow we will get our sleeping bags and field gear organized. We will also learn how to drive the ATV and how to do our daily check-in with MacOps.

Here is a picture taken outside of the Crary Lab today. As you can see, it has been snowy here and there are many large snow drifts. It seems like more snow that usual, but sometimes it's hard to remember what the weather was like in the past. Everyone seems to be talking about the cold and wind. Right now it is -17C, which translates to 1F. The wind chill temperature is -22F. Yesterday the air temperature was about -20F, and the wind chill temperature was -40F. The winds have been about 20 miles per hour, so you can get cold quickly if you don't have enough layers on. Today feels balmy compared to yesterday!

Getting ready

2006-10-10T15:05:00.000-07:00

We have our plane tickets and it's really time to get ready now. I hope I bought enough coffee. Tonight is the official Bon Voyage party to kick off the 2006-07 Antarctic field season. The first two people from our team from Ohio State University will be headed south this weekend. The plan is to arrive in New Zealand on Tuesday, get our Extreme Cold Weather (ECW) clothing at the Clothing Distribution Center (CDC) at the Antarctic Center in Christchurch, NZ on Wednesday, and fly to McMurdo Station, Antarctica on Thursday morning. Sometimes things go as planned, but it is advisable to be prepared for change. Also, if you do become a regular reader of my blog, you will see that we use many acronyms in the United States Antarctic Program (USAP)!

Here is a photo of me at one of the upland ponds near the Marr Glacier in Taylor Valley. I should probably show you a picture from Columbus, but wouldn't you rather see me in Taylor Valley?

Two weeks to go

2006-10-01T14:10:00.000-07:00

I am still in Columbus, OH, but I have mentioned to several people (too many?) that I was going to attempt a blog from the ice this season. It's hard to imagine, but in two weeks I will be headed back to Antarctica as part of the McMurdo Dry Valleys LTER field team. This will be my 14th field season in Antarctica. These days my field season is more like a "lab season", but working in Crary Lab in McMurdo Station, Antarctica, can be a great experience. For those of you who know me, you know that I still get VERY excited about travelling to my home away from home. At this time of year, I seem to do alot of shopping for coffee.