Merry Christmas from the Ice

My Hair Has Gotten Long
Ginger Bread House
Not Your Typical Christmas Cookies

Santa stopped by a few days earlier but took a helicopter instead of his sled.  He must start here first and work his way north.  Well I guess any direction is North from here.  I took a short helo flight to Lake Hoare for Christmas Eve, where I was put to work decorating cookies and assembling a gingerbread house.  The table was set for 13 and we celebrated with a tasty ham dinner and wigs of course.  We covered all the windows and lit candles.  It was great to get a little darkness happening down hear.  After dinner there was a gift exchange where you could choose a gift from under the tree or steal someone else's.  I was able to steal a headband and hold on to it until all gifts had owners.  After the gift exchange the tunes were bumping and a limbo contest started.  After a few rounds I fell flat on my back and was no longer in the running.  Once that was over a dance party followed and lasted long into the night or shall I say morning.  Merry Christmas family and friends!!!

A Hike Through Taylor Valley

One of the Many Ventifacts above Lake Bonney
Photo Op with Taylor Glacier in the Background
Seuss Glacier
Long Haired Bearded Man and a Glacial Waterfall

My teammate and I were dropped at Lake Bonney on Friday (12/19) to work on our stream sites we had there.  After a day of measuring and sampling I had some free time, so I decided to take a solo hike up a steep incline to an area where I was told I could find ventifacts.  A ventifact is a rock that has been shaped by wind blown particles, such as sand or ice crystals.  They are found in dry environments, such as the desert that I currently inhabit.  The rock features I saw were incredible.  Some looked like waves, fine art, and pretty much anything you could creatively imagine.  With no people or shelters in sight, the views from up high gave me that feeling of the last man on Earth again.  I couldn't stop laughing and smiling.

The following day, the two of us set out on a hike to Lake Hoare Camp down the Taylor Valley (the camp I've referred to as my weekend resort.)  We started out hiking up to a ridge above our camp at the lake basin.  With a 40 lb. pack strapped to my back, I could feel the burn in my legs as we climbed upwards.  At the time I was thinking the payoff would come when we reached the top (as well as riding halfpipe when I return to Colorado).  Once at the top of the ridge, we took a quick breather, sipped water from our Nalgenes, snapped photos, and continued on.  As we hiked, I continued to look all around me at the glaciers and mountain peaks above, as well as the basin below.  Shortly after we came upon an ungauged low flowing stream.  A quick dip of the hands and the water was the best I have had in my life, coming directly from the glacier above the ridge.  We rock hopped across the stream and began our descent down the mountain.  An hour or two later we came to the defile at the Seuss Glacier, where we followed a path along the glacial terminus on our way to a gauging site on the opposite side of the glacier.  As we made our way to our site, there were small glacial waterfalls forming low streams that trickled into another ice covered lake, Lake Chad.  We soon got to our gauge, got our work done, and headed on to Lake Hoare Camp.  We arrived at Lake Hoare camp at around 1800 hours (6 p.m.), filtered our samples and sat down to eat an hour later. The camp manager had cooked up some Indian food and it was delicious, I went for seconds.  After the long day and a great meal, I did some reading, zipped up my sleeping bag and was fast asleep.  Overall the trip was 7 hours, covering a distance of about 8 miles, and change in elevation of 1,500 feet.  What a day!!!

Tent Life

F6 camp
Luxurious Living (taken at 11 PM)
View From My Tent

Many of you may be wondering what life in a tent is like.  You, like myself before this trip, have probably gone camping and "roughed it" for a weekend or two.  Although there are no campfires or roasting marshmallows, we have all the candy bars you could ever want, and then some.  Living in a tent down here is much like a weekend of camping, well maybe a little different given the 24 hours of sunlight and below freezing temperatures.  Although the air temperature has gotten a little warmer, around 32 F or slightly above.  The tent that I'm using is a typical four season, all weather tent.  It does a great job of retaining heat on the warmer, sunnier days, but when it's cloudy and cold, I'm buried deep in my sleeping bag with it fully zipped over head.  Along with the down sleeping bag, the two inflatable sleep pads keep me up and off the rocky surface below.

When I turn in for the "night", I tend to sleep in spurts of three to four hours.  Waking up to a bright tent and not knowing what time it is, only to find its only three in the morning and I'm happy I can go back to sleep for a little longer.  When it was really cold my alarm clock would often freeze, so I had to put it in a wool sock and keep it off the cold floor.  I also had a more unique type of alarm clock...There is the occasional helicopter fly by in the morning.  I've become friends with some of the pilots and they know my tent at camp, so a close fly by always makes me spring out of my sleeping bag and after the initial shock, a good laugh follows.  Think Top Gun and Maverick requesting a fly by, but without radioing and hot coffee spilling.  It's so loud and windy I feel like my tent will rip loose from its tie downs.

Which brings to mind another factor in tent life, the wind.  Lately it has been calm at night with only a light breeze causing my tent to flap.  However, a few weeks back, every couple of days it would be howling like crazy, in the 40 mph range.  Lucky for me, I'd secured my tent to rocks, heavy rocks, in a circle around my tent.  Once I tied down to a rock I put more rocks on top for good measure.  We couldn't drive stakes in the ground because it was frozen solid from the deep winter freeze, so rocks were the next option.  It helped my tent from blowing away, but not from shaking and flapping all about.  I'd often go to sleep at night, with a fear of waking up to my tent ripping loose and blowing away with me in it.  Maybe a little far fetched, but it was windy enough for you to think that.  

Besides sleeping in my tent, I'll do a bit of reading or a few sketches to wind down for the day.  There's even a weak internet connection in my tent, but it is sporadic.  I don't bring my computer to my tent for that reason, and I don't want it to freeze of course.  I've been living the tent life for a little over a month and have no complaints.  I'll be heading back to Mactown after Christmas for New Years.  It will be nice to have a warm shower (I get one a week currently and a shower consists of a warm bag of water), do some laundry, and sleep in a dark room.  The Ice life is great and I can't believe my time here is already halfway done.  How does that saying go again??  Oh yeah..."Time flies when you're having fun!"

Streaming Flows, Flowing Streams

Commonwealth Stream and Commonwealth Glacier
Canada Stream 11/14/2008 (Left) and Canada Stream 12/08/2008 (Right)

Gauging the Onyx River in the Wright Valley

The temperature has been rising over the past week or so.  At the start of last week, we had clear blue skies and temperatures hovering around 32 degrees.  We saw streams flowing, Huey Creek and Lost Seal Stream, for the first time into Lake Fryxell.  I thought that would be a jump start and all the streams would be flowing.  But a low pressure system moved into the Dry Valleys with clouds and temperatures in the low to mid twenties.  This shut off the faucet, so to speak, and the streams mentioned above weren't flowing at all the next day.  We visited Lake Bonney, which we had seen flow the week before, only to find the same result, no flow.  A short helo ride to Lake Hoare where we spend most of our weekends and gauge two streams.  By Saturday, the sun was shining and the temperatures were rising, a steamy 34 degrees.  Both streams were flowing and we went to work making discharge measurements and collecting water samples.  That is what we will be doing at each stream visit from now until the temperatures drop and streams no longer flow.  

In the Canada Stream photos, you can see the difference in a stream due to rising temperatures as we begin the warmest part of the austral summer.  We will try and visit streams at different times of day/"night" to determine the volume of water moving through the system when the source glaciers are receiving different amounts of sun.  For instance, tonight my team and I will be heading out at 2000 hours (8 p.m.) to a couple of different streams because that is when peak flow is expected.  This will give us a better understanding of how much water is flowing at low flow and peak flow periods.

Today we took a helo flight to the Onyx River in the Wright Valley.  We saw flow here for the first time all season as well.  In the picture, I am making a discharge measurement.  This is found by measuring the width of the stream and taking depth measurements at increments across the stream. This gives you the area of your cross section.  At each increment a water velocity measurement is made.  Multiplying the velocities by the area will calculate a discharge measurement, which is reported in cubic feet per second.  The measurement and sampling is only half the fun, the other part is the trips to and from the locations.

Q & A part II

Lake Hoare Camp next to Canada Glacier a.k.a. My Weekend Resort
Blood Falls at the Terminus of Taylor Glacier and a Bluebird Sky

As mentioned in a previous post, I have received some excellent questions from a Computer Tech class at Old Colony High School in Rochester, Massachusetts.  Here's a few Q & A's from those students:

1.  Can the research facility that you work out of be seen from google earth?  If so, what can we use for an address?

McMurdo station can be found using google earth by entering Ross Island, Antarctica in the search bar.  Once the globe rotates to this position, a couple of blue boxes pop up with one being McMurdo Station.  The image quality is not as clear as other parts of Earth, which might be due to a lack of interest and lack of satellites orbiting over the area.  

Another box that pops up is titled Canada glacier, which I sleep about 300 feet away from on the weekends.  We also work at Lake Vanda, which is another link to follow.

2.  In one of your blogs you refer to bottles being cleaned in the "muffle furnace."  What is that?

A muffle furnace is an oven we use to heat glass sample bottle to insure that there is no moisture remaining in the sample bottle.  If moisture remains it will contaiminate the water being collected for dissolved organic carbon (DOC).  We set the oven to 450 degrees Celcius (842 F) for 5 hours and have to wait for them to cool over night.  They are still warm when we removed the in the morning.  We processed 300 bottles and will process about 300 more when we return to McMurdo Station at the end of December.

3.  Does everyone who is stationed in Antarctica live by and respect the Antarctic Treaty?  Who enforces this?

In my experience, everyone lives by and respects the Antarctic Treaty.  We know we are in a place that is unlike any other on Earth and would like to do our best to protect it.  In the Dry Valleys (and all over the continent), any and all spills must be reported to The National Science Foundation, the U.S. governmental body on the ice.  Even if is a tablespoon of gas from the ATV it must be reported immediately with information of how it happened, by who, quantity, and GPS coordinates of where.  Each country who conducts research in Antarctica has a governing body, like NSF, that overseas and insures compliance with the Antarctic Treaty.

4.  If 60% of the waste is recycled, where does the other 40% go?

All waste from the U.S. Antarctic Program, including recyclable, is sent back to the United States on cargo ships.  Of that waste, 60% is recycled in the U.S., such as paper products, plastics, and light metals.  The other 40% is sent to landfills upon return to the States.  Special attention is payed to sorting items correctly and recycling as much as possible.

5.  If the winter population is approximately 200 people, what is the current summer population?

The population of McMurdo Station is roughly 1000 people during the austral summer.  My camp at F6 in the Dry Valleys, there are three people and other camps we visit range in size from about 5 to 15 people, depending on research being conducted.

6.  Are any of the volcanos active?

There is an active volcano in Antarctica that is not far from McMurdo Station.  It's called Mt. Erebus and was one of my first sights I had when I stepped on to the ice a little over a month ago.  It can be view from McMurdo and is an area of scientific focus with condensed gassses and minor eruptions coming from the summit.

Thanks Mrs. Guenette and class for the questions, they were fun to answer!

Turkey on the Ice...

Making Our Way Across the Canada Glacier
MMMmmmmm...
My New Dew?

I wanted to give a quick update of my Thanksgiving Day experience in Antarctica.  On Wednesday, my team and I left our camp at F6, hiked across Lake Fryxell, the Canada Glacier, and down to Lake Hoare.  We joined other Long Term Ecological Research (LTER) teams who study the glaciers and another that studies the lakes in the Dry Valleys.  On Thursday the table was set for 14 people, which included the science teams and support staff.  There were originally supposed to be 7 others but, due to poor weather conditions, they were unable to be flown to our camp.  I would have enjoyed the company but it also meant more turkey and pie for us.  Quite a few of us dawned wigs for fun (hey its Antarctica) and loaded our plates with some tasty food.  The menu included green salad (a rarity on the ice), mashed potatoes, pumpkin dinner rolls, apple vegetable stuffing, corn bread pudding, sweet potato pie, and roasted vegetables.  Oh and how could I forget....a 24 pound bird and 7 assorted pies!!  Good conversations and many laughs were had.  This will be a Thanksgiving I won't soon forget.

I have received some great questions from students at Old Colony High School in Rochester, Massachusetts and I will be posting the answers to those shortly.  Stay tuned...

The Last Man on Earth...

A View From the Helo
Me and Lake Vanda
One of the Many Views I Had Today

The other day I got the chance to take an Astar to the Wright Valley.  From our camp, F6, the Wright Valley is only accessible via helo flight.  In the Wright Valley we monitor the Onyx River at an upstream and down stream location, which flow into Lake Vanda.  The views from the helo ride were nothing short of spectacular.  Rock formations, snow covered peaks, and massive glaciers could be seen in every direction from the birds eye view.  My camera was out and I couldn't snap photos fast enough.  We had an amazing pilot and he flew us over some amazing landscapes.  Once we landed, we got our work done and had a little extra time to explore the region.  The views and solitude are a bit hard to explain.  I like to describe it as, untouched beauty.

Today, my team and I split up to cover some ground.  Anna and Seth hiked by the Commonwealth Glacier to Commonwealth Stream (10 miles round trip), while I took an  ATV around Lake Fryxell, to check out the streams.  Sometimes you get the short straw, but a short straw in Antarctica is not so bad.  I felt like the last man on Earth!!!  I left our humble abode and the only thing I saw were glaciers and mountain peaks.  With the Ipod on and good tunes in the mix, I set out around 1200 hours.  Once I shut down the ATV the Ipod was put on pause so I could take in the sights and sounds (or lack of sound).  As I may have mentioned before, with no wind, you can hear your heart beat.  Mine was racing!

Why did I leave at noon you ask?  The streams run on a different schedule, not your typical 9 to 5.  They are controlled by cloud cover, air temperature, and solar radiation.  The past day or so had been cloudy and cold, which means no flow.  Today it was sunny, bluebird skies, and about 25 degrees fahrenheit.  With it being early in the season, the main control on the amount of flow in a stream is solar irradiance, sunlight.  Water vapor, which clouds are composed of, can absorb the suns energy that would otherwise be absorbed by the glacier.  The cloudier it is, the less flow/discharge will occur.  Also, the angle at which the sun "hits" the glacier is important.  In the summer, think about the time of day when it is the hottest, typically from noon til 3.  This is the time when the sun is directly over head, or the Earth is re-radiating the peak of suns input.  You may perspire (sweat) at this time, well the glaciers do the same.  But with the sun being constant in Antarctica, it "hits" the glaciers at different times throughout the day.  Thus, causing the glaciers to melt (perspire) depending on when the sun is "directly over head."  Each source glacier for a particular stream may receive direct sunlight at different times throughout the day/24 hour period.  With that being said, I went to six streams today, only one of them was flowing.  I knew that Canada Stream would be flowing around 1400 hours (2:00 p.m.), so I planned on getting to that stream about that time of day.  I measured discharge (volume of water flowing through the stream), temperature of water, and also collected water samples for dissolved organic carbon, nutrients, alkalinity, and pH.  Much of which was analyzed back at our lab/hut, F6.  

At times...I looked around, snapped some photos, breathed in that pristine Antarctic air, and had a good chuckle.  I mean, I'M IN ANTARCTICA!!!

Helo Rides and Happenings...

Panorama of Commonwealth Glacier
Review mirror of the A-Star on the way to Wright Valley

I may have jumped the gun in saying that the season is in full swing.  While we witnessed the first runoff of the season at Canada Stream, this is the only flow we have seen so far.  The other streams we have visited look like we may have to wait a bit to see the glacial meltwater.  We still have plenty of work to be done and I will be leaving my hut at F6 to take a helo ride over to Lake Bonney, just up the Taylor Valley.  At Lake Bonney, there are more gauges to prepare for the season.  Getting to the gauging sites is half the fun.  On Wednseday, we took about a twelve mile hike (round trip) around Commonwealth Glacier, pictured in the panorama above.  It was a beautiful day and it was great to follow the glacier all the way to the gauging site.  With that being said, serious caution needs to be taken when traveling close to these glaciers because they can calve at any minute.  We made sure to keep our distance and it was a bit eerie to hear it pop and crack, even though you knew you were a safe distance away.

The National Science Foundation uses two types of helos in Antarctica.  Previously, I had only been in a Bell 212, which accomodates up to 14 people and a pilot.  We use this helo to transport ourselves along with different types of gear we need for the different sites.  This includes gauging equipment, sleep kits, nitrogen tanks, sampling equipment, survival bags, and personal gear.  I will be hopping in a 212 in the next hour or so.  Helo rides are great but safety is very important.  Always wait for the pilot to signal you to approach and never approach from behind.  Body parts and spinning rotors are not a good combination.  Yesterday, we got the chance to ride in an Astar helo.  Think of a Bell 212 as an SUV or truck used to hall heavy gear and personnel.  The Astar is more like a sports car that is more agile and maneuverable, which holds 3 people plus the pilot.  There is a cage on the side which we can easily put our gear in.  This makes for a quick landing and takeoff and is used to transport small parties with limited amounts of gear to research sites around the ice.  On our trip yesterday I got to sit shotgun on the way out to our site and it sure was a trip.  We took off and went about 50 feet off the ground for a short distance and then up up and away over the glacier onwards towards our intended location in the Wright Valley.  It was awesome!!!

The Glaciers Are Melting

An Adelie Penguin Encounter
A Hike Up and Over the Canada Glacier with the Stream Team
On the Other Side a Few Days Later, the First Flow of the Season
Shooting Levels With My Team to See How the Stream Beds Have Shifted (I'm working the gun)
My New Home For the Weekdays...Maximum Capacity 3-4 Persons

I've changed locations and am now at the camp that I will be spending my Monday through Fridays.  It is directly next to Von Guerard Stream and consists of one building/hut which is roughly 450 square feet.  In the hut is a lab where we will be filtering our water samples and storing our equipment.  In the other 300 square feet, we have an office, living room, entertainment center, kitchen, closet, basement, and dining room.  All of our gadgets are powered by solar panels, which we rotate to follow our lighting system that is all natural, the sun.  It is quite amazing.  Our bedrooms are outside in the form of tents.  At the end of the day my two, manually blown up, sleep pads feel like a king size at the Ritz.  In the kitchen we have a sink that drains into a bucket with a strainer over it.  The water in the bucket, gray water, is poured into 55 gallon drum and stored until it is removed at the end of the season.  We have about 6 different "garbage buckets" that are labeled paper towels, food waste, non-recyclables, glass, light metal, and plastic.  Everything must be sorted and is then sent back to Mactown on its way to the States, to be disposed of (60% is recycled).  The toilet is a bucket in an outhouse and along with the urine barrel will be sent back to the states to be disposed of (not pleasant but...).

Yesterday I got to see something I had hoped I would see down on the ice.  A penguin.  However the circumstances under which I encountered this Adelie Penguin made me very sad.

We had just finished for the day and were on our way home when we rounded a corner to see a penguin heading farther and farther away from the ocean.  During my hikes in the Dry Valleys I have crossed mummified seals and penguin bones.  I'm afraid this may be the same fate for this little guy.  We are under strict laws that prohibit us from interacting with Antarctic wildlife, even if it will save their lives.  He looked scared, lost, and weak.  I wanted to give him some jerky I had left over or pick him up and carry him to safety, but I was helpless.  When we got back to camp we contacted the penguin team in Mactown and gave them the location of the penguin we had come across a few hours earlier, it was all we could do.  I don't know what happened to the Adelie but I hope he was rescued.  I'll update you when I hear more.

The Stream Team is in full swing trying to open gauges and prepare for the glacial meltwater. My days have consisted of hikes and ATV rides across ice covered lakes.  We'll use an ATV when it is available or hike to the gauge box along a stream and open it up.  In a climate like Antarctica, the permafrost is prone to dramatic freezing and thawing, due to the extreme changes in soil and air temperature.  In the picture above my team and I are using an auto-level to determine how much our control flume has shifted since the past season.  Back home, the United States Geological Survey (USGS) will run levels every three years because the controls are not subject to such extreme conditions.  In Antarctica, at the end of the season, we will run levels to determine how much the control has shifted over the period that there has been stream flow and permafrost thaw.  It can be difficult to focus the instrument and keep measuring equipment level in the cold temperatures and windy conditions.  Numb fingers don't work well fine tuning measurements, so my team and I have been doing jumping jacks to keep blood circulation to the extremities.  It makes you feel like a kid again and puts a smile on my face (picture three people in big red jackets doing jumping jacks in the middle of nowhere).

Besides living in Antarctica, today I experienced something awesome.  My team and I had gotten to a gauge site known as Canada Stream, which is right next to the Canada Glacier at its eastern terminus.  I had just switched out the nitrogen tank and storage module while my other two teammates were finishing up running levels.  The only sounds in Antarctica is the wind, yourself, and the occasional passing helicopter, its pretty silent.  We were closing up and heard something unique, the trickle of water.  Sure enough, we looked up the frozen stream and could see the edge of glacial snowmelt coming towards our flume.  The start of our season was happening right before our very eyes.  It was 1415 hours (2:15 p.m.) and the sun was shining directly on that edge of the glacier causing it to melt.  The generated meltwater collected and flowed down the stream channel.  The season has begun!!

Settling In

Geared up in the helo
At the start of our way through Taylor Valley
Canada Glacier to the left with a short hike from the base at Lake Hoare
My new home beside Canada Glacier
At work in the gauge box

My team and I got in the helo at 1445 hours (2:45 p.m.) and were off the ground by 1450, right on schedule.  As I looked out the window, McMurdo Station grew smaller and smaller until it could no longer be seen.  But I had my sights elsewhere.  Icebergs came into view in the distance, just down the sound.  The Royal Society Range, that I often gazed from across the sound were growing as we came closer and closer.  We passed by and continued on up Taylor Valley, where I will be conducting the majority of my field study.  A short ride through and we reach Lake Hoare base camp at around half past three.  The temperature is hovering below freezing with the mountain peaks to the north blocking the sun.  We touch down and immediately begin to unload our cargo, with the helo blades blowing debris all over.  Back and forth we unload sleep kits, back packs, sampling equipment, and fresh vegetables for those already at the camp.  The gear is unloaded and my team and I lay on our bags as the helo rises.  A short brief and tour of camp, then the three of us pick our tent sites, which have been established for years by previous groups.  I surveyed the area and tried to get as close to the glacier as I could, which ended up being about 100 yards away.  At around 1900 hours (7:00 p.m.), I sat down to dinner with the camp managers, some kiwis, and another team studying glaciers, totaling 12 people.  After a delicious meal, my friend and I headed out on a hike along a trail which bordered the massive glacier.  We returned around midnight and I settled in to catch a quick read before zipping up the sleeping bag.  I dozed off to the sound of the glacier popping and cracking just outside my thin tent door.  

At around 0600 hours the wind picked up violently and I awoke due to the flap of my tent walls.  Hoping I had secured my tent properly the night before, I was in and out of sleep until around 0800 hours.  We have to tie our tents down to rocks because the ground is too frozen to drive stakes into.  I headed inside for some breakfast and then 5 of us headed down the lake to break chunks of the calved glacier into glacial berries.  These will be our water supply until the lake melts on its edges and we can access the water.  Through out the day there were helicopters flying in and out of camp, dropping off supplies and transporting people.  A quick lunch and my team and I head to open our first gauge of the season.  The flume and pressure orifice are covered in ice, plus it is still too cold for flow.  We change out the data storage module and nitrogen tank inside the gage box.  The storage module records stage (height of the water in the stream), water temperature, air temperature, and specific conductivity (a way to measure suspended solids in the stream).  The nitrogen tank is hooked up to a pressure transducer which measures the stage.  The more pressure required to force a bubble through the tube, the higher the water (stage) is in the stream.  We downloaded the data from the storage module and head out on foot to our next gage about 2 1/2 miles down the ice covered lake.  The views are incredible with a blue sky and glaciers at each end of the lakes.  The ice below us ranges in color from clear to a blue the color of my blog title.  There is no fear of falling through because you can see the ice frozen to the lake floor.  About an hour and half later and we reach the gage, which like the previous one, is at the foot of the glacier and not yet flowing.  This time I hop in the gage box and with the help of my teammates, I go to work.  We finish quickly and its back on the lake.  On the way down there was a breeze on our back, now its directly in our face and freezing.  We radio the base to tell them we'll be a bit late and push on.  We get back at around 1700 hours and warm up in the hut.  Another great dinner is served and we see our kiwi friends off in a helo.  We will remain at Lake Hoare for another day and will then be transported to our camp F6 at Lake Fryxell, returning to Lake Hoare on the weekends for sampling and our new friends.  I'm glad to be in the Valleys, its unlike anything I have ever imagined.  I'd also like to thank everyone for their interest and kind words, they are encouraging!!!

The Time Has Come...

Atop Observation Hill
Mt. Erebus, a volcano
Sometimes I can't believe where I am (taken around midnight)

I've been in Mactown for two weeks now and have started to get a bit restless.  The sampling equipment and field gear is ready,  the bags are packed, and the real adventure is about to begin.  Tomorrow (Monday), at 1450 hours (2:50 p.m.), I will hop into a helicopter and take about a 45 minute ride to Lake Hoare camp in the Dry Valleys.  I've never been in a helicopter before, so that in and of itself will be an experience.  As you might expect, this trip has checked quite a few "things to do before you die" off my list.  I will leave my nice room with a desk, bed, and dresser.  I will leave running water and a warm shower.  I will leave buildings, a dining hall, a lab, and an office.  I will leave People.  While in the field, my team will consist of 3 to 4 people, but occasionally we will also come into contact with other science groups conducting research.  My days will consist of hikes, helo rides, and sampling.  Not a bad gig.  I feel prepared and excited about what's to come.  I will have internet access, so the posts and pictures will continue.  Until next time...  

Animal Life of Antarctica

A Frozen Coast

When I first told people I was heading to the ice, I often got questions about the animal life that I might come into contact with.  I wasn't sure myself, so I decided to do some research as to what to expect, and to make sure I could answer those questions accurately.  Unlike the other pole to the North, there are no polar bears in Antarctica.  This means I will be able to sleep comfortably in my tent knowing I won't have to worry about being someone's dinner.  The other most common question asked was about penguins.  While there are no penguins in the Arctic, there are penguins in Antarctica, but I am unlikely to see them where I will be going.  But who knows, I might get lucky.  If I do find myself in the vicinity of any kind of wildlife, there are strict laws in the Antarctic Treaty that restrict my interaction with them.  The rule is, if the animal begins to react to your presence, you are too close and must leave the area immediately.  With that being said, I wanted to post this link to an interactive map of animal life in Antarctica: http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/antarctica.  Check it out and learn some cool facts....I know I did!

Views of McMurdo

Mactown (click on photos for better quality)

The other night I was waiting on some bottles to finish being cleaned in the muffle furnish, so I decided to take a stroll out to Hut Point.  In the foreground of this photo is Discovery Hut.  It was built by R. F. Scott in 1902 and is preserved by the Antarctic Treaty.  In the background is Mactown (McMurdo Station), where I have been living for the past week or so.  The weather has been pretty cloudy plus the wind has been blowing dry snow all about.  As I began my walk out to the point the sun decided to show,  I like to think it was for me.  This picture was taken around 2130 hours (9:30 p.m.) and gives you an idea of just how light it is at that time of "night".  I've been using the 24 hour time system for that reason, with the idea being that the light at 9:30 in the morning and 9:30 at night isn't much different.  As I got to the crest of the point I looked out across the sea ice to see a seal a few hundred yards away.  Minus one bird, it is the only other sign of wildlife I have seen since coming to the ice.  Once I head to the Dry Valleys, the only other life I will see is the algae growing in the streams.  I made sure to visit the Botanical Gardens in Christchurch, New Zealand to take photos of the vibrant indigenous plants, so I could bring some colors with me to the valleys.

The Royal Society Range

Mt. Discovery

The views across the sound are nothing short of breathtaking.  What you see between the base and the mountains in the distance is sea ice, which is prohibited to travel on except on flagged routes.  In the first photo is part of the Royal Society Range, which rise about 13,000 feet skyward at their highest point.  The Dry Valleys are in the same area, as each day passes I anticipate going more and more.  In the second photo is Mt. Discovery, which is a stratovolcano with an elevation of approximately 8,800 feet.  At CU-Boulder I thought I was lucky to have the Flatirons right next to campus.  On a walk home from a long day of class I could just look up and put it all in perspective.  Living here is like that, but on a much larger scale.  You look around and are humbled by the sheer mass of the world around you.  It's a great place to be!

Q & A

Fire Deparment and Town Center

Not a bad view
Staying warm
I've received some great questions from Mr. Saulnier's Science class at FMS, many of which you may have thought about yourselves.  Here's a little Q & A and if anyone has some questions not yet asked, don't hesitate.

Work:

How long will your work day be?

My work day will vary but will generally be 8 to 12 hours.  It is called "work" but part of the job is hiking to gauge boxes on the streams.  The hikes can be short or take all day.  Some call that work but I think I'll enjoy it, given the terrain and location.

How long will it take for you to get to your research grounds?

The Dry Valleys are about a 45 minute to an hour helicopter ride from McMurdo Station.  Once at the research area we can hike between lakes/streams or take helo rides depending on distance and equipment we will be bringing with us.

What do you use for transportation?

While in the Dry Valleys we have access to snowmobiles and an ATV but are only allowed to use those to get around on the ice covered lakes.  This is so we don't disrupt or alter the surrounding environment and are in compliance with the Antarctic Treaty.  The Antarctic Treaty is a treaty between 46 nations to, among other purposes, preserve the Antarctic environment for scientific investigation.

Accomodations:

Will you be in one building or several small buildings?

Right now in town there are many large buildings for housing, eating, research, and equipment.  Once out in the field I will be living out of a tent.  We are supplied with two sleeping beds, a fleece blanket, and a sleeping bag that is rated to -30 degrees farenheit.  I hope I don't have to test that rating.

What is there to do for entertainment?

I've brought down a pretty good supply of books for entertainment.  I also have my laptop to watch DVDs and access the internet.  Once in the Valleys I will go on hikes and take pictures of all the amazing views.  It will be light out all the time so no need worry about being home before it gets dark.

Food & Water:

What will you be eating?  Is it like Army rations, space food, regular food, etc.?

I will actually be pulling my food for the season tomorrow.  I hear its like a grocery store but without having to pay at the check out counter.  We have a list of what we can get and the majority of it is normal food that you guys eat back in the states.

Do you melt ice for water or did you bring it with you?

At the start of the season we will be melting glacial ice for our water supply.  Once the ice thins on the lakes we will drill a hole in the ice to get access to the water below.

What is the weather like there?

The weather has been around 0 to 15 degrees.  Its often cloudy but when the sun comes out it is really nice, relatively speaking.  The coldest part is the wind chill factor.  Once the wind picks up, it is numbing.  We are at the end of spring and heading into summer where temperatures will be hovering around freezing.  I believe the highest the temperature will get is 40 degrees.

Thank you Mr. Saulnier's class for the questions!

A Unique Opportunity

Me and Wu.
The past couple days I have been doing work in the lab to prepare for sample collecting and checking field gear to make sure it is ready to be transported out to the Dry Valleys.  Currently, temperatures are too cold in the valleys and the glaciers have not begun to ablate (melt).  There is still a lot of work to be done in McMurdo to prepare for the season, but in about a week I will ship out and prepare the gauges for the first flow of the streams.  

Today, I was given the unique opportunity to assist a film crew in an under water dive.  The world renowned under water cinematographer/photographer Norbert Wu (www.norbertwu.com) is doing a series of dives under the Ross Ice Shelf for a documentary titled Life.  I was lucky enough to assist him for one of those dives.  This documentary, Life, is being done by the BBC/Discovery Channel building on the series, Planet Earth, which many of you (like myself) fell in love with about two years ago.  Planet Earth was focused on the different processes and cycles of our planet, while Life will build upon that, and focus more on the incredible interactions of wildlife that thrive across the globe.  Watching Planet Earth, I never thought I would assist, be it a very small part, film makers in capturing such amazing footage.  The filming of the documentary has already been in progress for the past three years and is set to release in 2010.  Mr. Wu and his assistant dawned dry suits and jumped into a hole in the ice (pictured above), about 50 yards from an ice covered shore (and people call me crazy).  The thickness of the ice is about 15 to 20 feet, before they hit open ocean water.  They continued to descend to the sea floor at a depth of about 85 feet. They remained submerged for about 30 minutes.  Once on the sea floor they set up a Nikon digital camera for time lapse cinematography.  What were they shooting you ask?  The time lapse captured sea worms, sea spiders, and among other organisms, sea urchins.  Creatures of the depths, hence, LIFE!  

Antarctica is truly an amazing place to be.  Just the other day I attended a lecture titled, A Science/Art Conversation.  This lecture was a conversation between a scientist studying foramnifera (microscopic unicelluar organisms that are a key to past climates) and a Kiwi artist.  The basis of the discussion was how both, art and science, can influence each other.  The artist created works from the scientist's research being done in a unique landscape such as Antarctica.  While the scientist used the artist's works to create an experiment with a different substrate for the microscopic organisms to grow.  Fascinating!  I myself (if schedules line up) may be accompanied by an artist out in the field, who will be working with snow and ice.  I hope it happens!  I also received an email from Mr. Saulnier's science class back at Ford Middle School, with some great questions from the students.  I'm in the process of answering those questions and will post the Q&A soon.  Here is a link to some pictures that I have captured over the past couple days: Photos!  Stay tuned for more to come...

Snow School

After spending the night out in the elements I am back at McMurdo Station.  I was taking a course, along with about 20 other individuals, on how to react in an emergency situation.  The location of my upcoming work will require me to take helicopter flights to remote locations in the Dry Valleys.  While there have been thousands of unproblematic transports to remote locations in Antarctica, there is the possibility of disaster (don't worry Mom, I'll be safe).  This course was designed to educate us on how to react to those situations.  It started off by identifying how to stay warm and safe in cold weather conditions.  The key is to stoke the furnace (eat), hydrate, and exercise to stimulate the metabolism.  Seems like common sense, but is extremely vital.  With moderate winds and temps hovering around 0 degrees the whole time, following these three rules kept me warm and healthy.  While still in the classroom we went over how to detect and prevent hypothermia as well as frost bite.  We then took a short shuttle to a location known as Happy Camper.  First we learned how to use a whisper light stove, in order to create water from snow and prepare food.  Next we learned how to construct different types of structures to provide shelter from the elements.  These included Scott tents (tent sleeping 3 to 4, used by Robert F. Scott, the Famed Antarctic Explorer), mountain tents (typical four season tents but learned how to anchor them in snow), a quinzhee (similar to an igloo but made from a snow pile not snow blocks), and finally a covered snow trench.  We also learned how to construct snow walls to block the wind.  After teaching us this, our two extremely knowledgeable instructors left us to cope on our own.  Each person was free to choose where and how they wanted to spend the night.  I chose to build a snow trench.  I was provided with a sleeping pad, fleece blanket, and cold weather sleeping bag.  After digging and covering the trench with snow blocks, I turned in around 2300 hours (11:00 p.m.).  The insulation of the snow around me and my body heat in the sleeping bag kept me warm through the night.  The next morning we were up at 0630 (6:30 a.m.) to break down camp and be ready for the hypothetical helo transport at 8:30.  After camp was broken down we returned to the warming hut off in the distance for more instruction.  This included communication operations with high frequency radios and risk management.  We then assembled into groups and put white buckets over our heads.  Why you ask?  To simulate white out conditions.  While it felt a little funny, it definitely simulated how scary and disorienting a white out could be.  Our last test was to use all the tools we learned over the past 24 hours, in a simulated emergency situation.  As a group, we simultaneously set up radio communications, built a shelter (mountain tent) for a victim with two broken legs, and made a warm drink for an individual with hypothermia.  We treated it with the sense and urgency of a real situation, and succeeded.  Being a snowboarder who occasionally travels into the backcountry in search of that epic ride, these are tools I will be able to use for the rest of my life.  It's already day three in Antarctica and I have had a lot of information thrown at me.  Each day brings new experiences, I can't wait to see what's next!!

The End of the Earth.

C-17, Antarctica, and Me.
Mt. Erebus and Ivan the Terra Bus


I have arrived, and what a journey it was.  The wake up call came at 3:30 a.m.  I took a short shuttle to the Antarctic Center at the airport, where I put on my Extreme Cold Weather gear (snow boots, snow pants, down jacket called "Big Red").  Went through security and had a briefing of what to expect.  At around 7:30 a.m. I loaded a U.S. Air Force C-17 cargo plane, and along with 106 other Antarctic individuals, took off due south towards McMurdo Sound, Antarctica.  There were approximately 5-10 Kiwis, 15-20 Italians, and the rest were Americans.  Camera flashes and smiles could be seen all around (throughout the 5 hour flight).  The engines of the plane were so loud you had to shout to have a conversation, but a nod of the head let you know you were all on the same page.  I even got to check out the cockpit midflight.  Luckily the weather was perfect in McMurdo and we were cleared to land.  A long descent and a range of emotions and thoughts run through me.  Excitement, a little anxious, how cold is it going to be, did I bring enough socks, is my camera charged?  A smooth touch down by the pilots and its on!!  The crew chief opens the door and everyone hurries on with their gear and heads towards the front.  I'm at the door and a cool Antarctic breeze hits my face.  It is 9 degrees, -9 with the wind chill factor, but I'm unfazed.  I hurry down the steps and I'm on the Ice, the moment is here.  I began preparing for that moment after I found out I would be given this opportunity, but the feeling is hard to put into words.  You look around you and you can see for miles and miles, in all directions.  In the distance is Mt. Erebus, with an elevation of 12,451 feet it is the world's southernmost active volcano.  McMurdo station can also be seen in the distance and we board a wild looking vehicle called "Ivan the Terra bus" (pictures to come later).  A short ride and we reach McMurdo station, a town unlike any other.  Another briefing about how to adjust to Antarctica and its off to my dorm room, which is only temporary.  Tomorrow morning I will be attending a Field Safety Training Program, otherwise known as Snow School.  The course lasts two days and we will be living outdoors, where we will go over potential scenarios of extreme Antarctic conditions.  If the weather changes, it won't be a scenario, it will be a reality.  It is currently 2000 hours (8:00 p.m.) on Monday and the sun is still high in the sky.  I won't see a dark sky until I return to civilization in February.  It has been a long day, but a day I will never forget.