Don't High-Fire Andrill Penguins!

Penguin made in mold from ordinary slip clay (?)
that has been glazed and is awaiting firing

The title of this blog requires some explanation. Do you recall that several weeks ago I mentioned going to the ceramics room sometimes? What I did was I took the fine material that accumulated in the boxes beneath the rock saws that we were using to cut samples from the core for various research purposes.

Rock Trimsaw used for cutting
samples for research from Andrill Core

Bucket of 'cuttings' collected
from box beneath rock trimsaw

I had the vision of making a world-class piece of art from Andrill clay. Note that the last time I touched clay was in Middle School or High School. Luckily I was able to turn to some of the regulars in the ceramics room for help, which include John, Denise, Jena, and Dave, as well as Brie and Meredith.

John working on an intricate pattern on a vase.
John is a master of patience and a ceramics room guru.

First of all, the material I had from the saw included lots of silt and coarser particles, so I had to wet it, make it really goopy, and put it through a sieve. John suggested that I try a mold.

The goopy mud mixture I used in my efforts to make a penguin mold

Penguin #1
They have a neat penguin mold. Basically one just pours the goopy clay in, then pours it out again, and repeats several times, then leave it for 24 to 48 hours to dry somewhat, then take it out, let it dry a bit more, then sand any irregularities off, and it is ready for ‘bisque-firing’ or ‘low firing’ in the kiln. This was all really exciting, and I got lots of help from people – they were all quite curious to see whether it would work.

Denise works on trimming one of her works of art
So far so good. It came out of the kiln after bisque firing a deep reddish-brown color. I did not think to take any pictures of my prized Andrill penguin. I then decided I would just clear glaze it – I thought that the natural purity of 13 million-year-old McMurdo Sound clay and silt in my artwork should be allowed to shine through.

Gena working on adding handles to some cups. She is a cup-making demon.
She works as a Helo-Tech (the person who helps people buckle themselves safely
into a helicopter, and makes sure the cargo is loaded safely,
and rides with the pilot and helps in landings and take-offs).

Several days later I went in to the ceramics room and Gena looked at me with downcast eyes “I have some sad news for you.” My penguin had collapsed and turned in to a glazed mass of pottery –but it was a beautiful deep green color.

Remains of penguin #1

Moral of the story: One cannot ‘high fire’ Andrill penguins because the material does not have enough clay in it to bind it –it is too silty, and it just 'flows'. The experts in the ceramics room all reckon that I will be able to low-fire Andrill creations without them collapsing, because the low fire is the same temperature as the bisque-firing, which we know worked. We have yet to see …

Penguin # 2

I tried pouring the goopy mixture into the mold again, but I didn’t trim it properly at the top, so it cracked as it dried. I then needed to ‘rehydrate’ the clay and add some ordinary clay to help bind the siltier material together.

Penguin # 3
I poured the goopy mixture into the mold again, and left it to dry – carefully making sure that I trimmed the material at the top. That was Sunday. Monday I went to Cape Evans (and saw REAL penguins), then I was working Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday evenings. Whoops. I went in tonight, and the penguin was cracked – I had left it in the mold too long.

Ceramic penguin rookery - the creations of Dave - who helped me save Trivet # 2
Dave hand sculpts marine mammals. He is currently working on a fish for one of the biologists.

Penguin # 4
I poured it into the mold tonight (Friday 30th), and I am hoping that everything works. I will have to make sure that I get back to the ceramics room sometime before Sunday night.

Trivet # 1
I have also tried making several trivets. Basically I added ordinary clay to the Andrill clay and I let it dry out a bit, then I rolled it out, and let it dry a bit more until I could carve the texture for my picture into the clay. The first one is a map of Antarctica showing the winter and summer sea-ice extent. It has just been bisque-fired, but is not out of the kiln yet. It definitely won’t make it into a museum – it was quite buckled and upturned at the edges before going in to the kiln – but I am hoping it stays in one piece, so I can glaze it.

Trivet # 2
I used the same process as for Trivet # 1, except I scored it more (too) deeply to prevent it from curling or buckling. I carved a scence from Beacon Valley into it. Then I lifted it up, and it broke along the score lines. Luckily Dave and John were there, and Dave helped me patch it with paper clay. Today I tried to tidy up the carved surface, and put it on the shelf for bisque firing.

I’ll miss the ceramics room – playing around and being creative is something I do not normally get the time to do, and I have really enjoyed going there when I have the time. I have also gotten to meet and talk with people at McMurdo that are not part of Andrill, which is good.

Brie (she is a baker in the kitchen) and
Meredith (works in the kitchen) work on their creations

So, even if Penguin #4 bites the dust, I’ll still be happy about all the time I spent over there – thanks y’all. I've accepted the reality that I will not create a museum centerpiece - I just hope that something I make stays together so I can take it home!

Antarctic AAA from 11/06/07

Antarctic AAA

So imagine yourself cruising along in your plush Pisten Bully over the beautiful, aqua-blue sea ice enjoying the spectacular scenery of Granite Harbor on a lovely spring day. All of a sudden, you realize something is really wrong with your vehicle. There’s no power. The engine sputters and then goes silent. What do you do? Back home you might get out your cell phone and call a good friend or family member that knows about cars, or a favorite mechanic, or if you’ve paid for the service- call AAA to come and check out the problem. But what do you do if you’re in the middle of Antarctica?

Unfortunately, we’ve had this problem come up here at camp. Antarctica’s harsh environment is tough even on vehicles that were meant to work in very cold, snowy conditions. One of the Pisten Bullys seems to have an ongoing mechanical problem. It could be battery problems, faulty wiring, or even computer malfunctions. Our field party includes a couple of very handy guys, Andrew and Kyle, that seem to me like the kind of guys that could fix most anything, but not being that familiar with Pisten Bullys they had to call in some help. Instead of a cell phone, the camp manager got on the walkie talkie to MAC Ops- the signal bounced from the transmitter on top of nearby Mt. Brooke and picked up in McMurdo Station 100 miles south. MAC Ops transferred the call to the mechanics shop and in hardly any time, Josh Knopik and Branden Thorpe were on their way out to our camp by helicopter.

This was actually Josh and Branden’s second visit to our camp and we’re all old friends now. Josh is here from Minnesota for his second season, but probably won’t be back next year because he’s hoping to be in graduate school. His background is in environmental studies with interest in ecology and geology. This is Branden’s first year here. He’s from Silver Spring, Maryland and is a diesel mechanic back home. They’re great guys and seem to work well together. They even fixed the camp generator that had just conked out. The weather took a nasty turn back in McMurdo and the helicopters were grounded so Josh and Branden stayed overnight and enjoyed Joan’s great cooking.

So far the Pisten Bully is running fine. After looking through the manufacturer’s brochures that the guys had with them, I’m wondering if these vehicles are designed for lighter use than what our group is putting them through.

Still Grounded in McMurdo

In my blog post on Monday I told you that we weren't able to head out to field camp. Well, it's Wednesday afternoon and we're still here. The weather cleared up for a little while and we thought Helo Ops (the helicopter port) was going to call us down at some point in the afternoon. No such luck, and now another low pressure system is moving in and snow is blowing past the window again. I took this photo last night at about 10:30pm. The cloud ceiling lifted just enough to give us an incredible view of the Transantarctic Mountains glazed with sunlight.

Since I seem to have some time on my hands while we wait to hear about helicopter flights I thought I would give you an idea of who “we” are, where we’re heading, and what we’ll be doing once we get there. The “we” is a field party of ten people. Myself, two graduate students-Luke and Taylor, an undergraduate student-Jacob, a core driller-Kyle, a cook-Joan, an air gun technician-Andrew, a Geophysical Engineer-Marv, a Glacial Sedimentologist-Ross, and a mountaineer-Tim. We hope to have another core driller and another teacher joining us soon. We're know as Little ANDRILL. We will be setting up camp about 100 miles north and a little west of McMurdo Station in an area known as Granite Harbor. If you can find Cape Roberts on a map of Antarctica we’ll be just around the point from there. I’ve been told it’s really beautiful out there with granite cliffs on shore and blue sea ice under foot (I hope I don’t slip and fall). What we hope to accomplish while we’re there is to complete a seismic survey of the sea floor in the area of the Mackay Sea Valley, capturing Holocene sediment records. I’ll show you more of what this operation looks like once we get to our destination and start to work.

From Professor of Geophysical Engineering at Montana Tech Marv Speece, “We drill a 13 inch hole into 2-m-thick sea ice and then lower an air gun into the hole down into the water column. We then release 2000 pounds per square inch of pressure in the air gun as an air bubble into the water. The energy from the bubble travels through the water down to the rock layers. At rock layer boundaries some of the energy is returned as a reflection back through the water column and then back to the surface of the ice where we record the returning energy using geophones. Geophones measure the shaking of the ice caused by the returning reflections. We then use these reflections to build a picture of what the rocks look like under the sea floor.”

This is a sample of what seismic data looks like.
Geologists will study the seismic data we collect to determine the best location for a future core drilling operation to retrieve the sediment records that Ross Powell is seeking.

Dealing with Disappointment

Well, Monday has come and gone. I woke up at 5:30 am to blowing snow and strong winds. An over land traverse to the Mackay Sea Valley (MSV) field area seemed unlikely, and a helicopter flight seemed even more unlikely. But I was distracted by other things. I had injured my back with all of the preparation for the field. I wanted to show that my 5'0" frame was just as strong as everybody else's - and I overdid it. I could barely move.

I struggled to get dressed, and got myself over to breakfast where I spoke with members of both the ARISE Team and the MSV Survey Team. I was informed that we were not going anywhere today due to the weather - and that this was my chance to go to the doctor.

By 6:30 am, I was in the doctor's office. Harry, a very sweet doctor, gently examined me, knowing I was on the manifest for the next helicopter out. When he was done he took my hand and said, "Robin - you know what I'm going to say, don't you?"

"I'm hoping I'm wrong," I replied.

"Try to imagine schlepping all of your gear down to the helicopter pad. Climbing aboard a helicopter. Getting all buckled in. Climbing out of the helicopter on slippery sea ice. Setting up tents... Your back is in no shape to do that."

Huge disappointment overcame me. For 5 months I have looked forward to the day I would be back in the field, surrounded by the vast solitude of the deep field. Studying the rocks and bringing some of their mysteries up to the surface - and out to all of the people following my journey - this was a thrilll I have been so excited to share. And now I am grounded for an unknown amount of time.

Dr. Harry said that it does not appear to be a disk - but is just severe muscle spasms. He will check me again in 4 - 5 days, and meanwhile he will treat me, and I will see the physical therapist here on base.

I don't disagree with the decision. I can barely put my socks on or roll over in bed, let alone shovel snow and set up a 100 pound tent. But I am angry at myself for treating my back so badly, and very sad to be postponing the opportunity to head for the field. I'm also sorry to be throwing a curveball at the MSV Survey Team.

By morning's end, an array of ideas were suggested about who should replace me in the field, and for how long. It may be awhile before I can get out into the field, since helicopters will not be flying out that way very frequently. But hopefullly this will give my back a chance to heal, and allow the MSV team to have the necessary bases covered for productive field work.

The bright side is that I can continue to write blogs! You can look forward to more dispatches from McMurdo.

Meanwhile, McMurdo Station is completely socked in with weather - and travel is at a standstill. This is one of the realities of life at the bottom of the world!

Grounded by a Category 2

As Robin wrote yesterday, we've been working really hard to get ready for our trip out to the field camp. We've been hauling and packing and checking for days now. Robin and I made sure the alarm was set for 5:30 am to get the rest of our things packed, get a quick breakfast and join the rest of the MSV team (affectionately referred to as "Little Andrill") for our 7:00 am meeting. But when we looked out the window of our dorm room it looked like we were looking through a film of marshmallow fluff. A category 2 low front had moved in overnight. The wind was blowing snow from every direction and it was difficult to see anything clearly.

The meeting took place at the scheduled time only to confirm that all flights are off and the visibility wasn't good enough for the caravan of Piston Bullies, sleds and snowmobiles to head out either (I'll have to tell you about Piston Bullies and the Thunder Sled in another blog- stay tuned).


This photo is missing a very large object that residents of McMurdo would know was missing. The building in the foreground is the Crary Science building. Just behind the buildings in the background rises the very tall, steep Observation Hill. You can't see it at all in this photo because it's hidden behind swirling snow. I hope to climb up to the top sometime while I'm here, but I don't think today is the day. I wouldn't be able to observe very much. I know the people in the red coats were really struggling against the wind to get into the Crary Lab.

It's even a little difficult to see the dorms clearly behind Simon Nielsen. He's the Head Curator for ANDRILL's SMS drilling project (affectionately referred to as BIG ANDRILL).

I'm safely inside my dorm room working away on keeping you posted... and I'm watching the Red Sox vs. Indians game 7 live. top of the 7th, 3-2 Red Sox. I hope we'll get out to camp soon. I'm really excited about taking my first ever helicopter ride and living on blue sea ice so I hope the weather clears. In the meantime, I guess I'll go do my laundry.