Q & A part III

Seuss Glacier at the Defile, a Frozen Lake Hoare, and Canada Glacier
Hiking on a Different Planet
Reflection in the Wright Valley

The last two weeks have been quite busy. We recieved a lot of high flow after returning from Mactown and had to do a bit of work repairing some gauge control walls. However over the last 3 days the whether has been cloudy and dropped below freezing. I even awoke to the pitter patter of snow on my tent yesterday morning. That made crawling out of the sleeping bag a bit difficult, but a hot cup of coffee soon warmed me up. Today the weather remained cold with low lying clouds, which caused helicopters to remain grounded and we stayed at Lake Hoare Camp. With lower temperatures and cloud cover, this may be the beginning of the end of the flow season here in the Dry Valleys.

I have received some more great questions from the students in Mrs. Guenette's class at Old Colony. Here is some more Q & A.

1. What exactly are you researching the melted glacial water for? Why do you need to track and record it? How long have scientists been collecting and tracking this data?

The McMurdo Dry Valleys are part of the National Science Foundation's Long Term Ecological Research Network (LTER). The LTER is made up of 26 research sites, including the Harvard Forest in Massachusetts and Niwot Ridge in Colorado. At these sites there are diverse types of ecosystems being studied. The Dry Valleys are a place where life approaches its environmental limit due to extremely low temperatures and low precipitation (average of 10 cm per year). Our main objective is to measure discharge, the volume of water moving through the streams that have melted from the glaciers. My team is the stream team, but there is also a soil team, glacier team, and limno team (lakes) conducting various studies in the Dry Valleys. The streams are a link between the glaciers, soils, and lakes. For example, there are currently experiments being conducted on nematodes (microscopic worms) and algae in the streams, which will use our discharge measurements to help explain changes the organisms incur. Scientists first began monitoring the streams in the manner we do today back in 1990.

2. Have you seen any other wildlife since the penguin? Do you know what happened to it?

While I was in Mactown at the start of the season I saw a seal on the ice. In the Valleys, the only other wildlife I have seen is a skua. A skua can be described as the seagulls of the Ice. They eat garbage in town and have been known to attack people carrying food. We do see them in the Valleys from time to time. One night after a long day of hiking and measuring, three skuas flew over head and it was a bit eerie to see something other than people in the polar desert. Unfortunately, I did bump into the penguin again, but it was no longer living. I came across it one day on a hike across the lake ice. No sooner did I look up and there was a skua circling over head, probably circling its meal. I was saddened by the penguin but knew there was nothing I could do.

3. What kind of ATV are you using? Is it solar or gas powered? If gas powered, is there a gas/filling station nearby? Also, is there a lot of rough terrain?

We were using a 6 wheel ATV at the start of the season, but that was sling loaded off the lake ice by a helicopter back in mid-December. It was removed for fear that the ice would melt and it would fall through. The ATV was gas powered and we had 50 gallon drums of gas stored at our camp, F6. The lake ice could be hard to negotiate at times. The ATV use was confined to the lake ice as to not disturb the surrounding environment.

4. Do you have to keep that red jacket on 24/7 out in the elements to stay warm. Does it really do the job?
I used the red jacket "Big Red" alot in the start of the season when the temperatures were in the teens and twenties. And it definitely keeps you warm. Since the temperatures have been warmer lately, I haven't used Big Red too much. We are required to wear Big Red in helo flights between Valleys and across the sound

5. Where are the Kiwi people from?
Kiwis are from New Zealand. They are given this name because their national bird is named a kiwi.

6. Do you have to be a certain age or have a certain degree to be selected to go to Antarctica on a mission like this? Is this a paid position or part of your graduate study?
I believe you have to be 18 in order to come to Antarctica. There are a number of degrees or jobs that can bring someone to the ice. I am being payed for my work but others are being funded through their graduate study. My degree is in Environmental Studies, but I am also working with people who have a degrees in biology, civil engineering, and environmental science. I have met others who are studying glaciology, soils, geology, geography, archeology and even film. Others are doing computer programming for different science projects as well. In town there are carpenters, electricians, plumbers, mechanics, and other skilled laborers that are sent out to set up and maintain field camps.