...and two years later, one of my post ice projects

This video was created as a result of my ARISE project proposal, to show the science of ANDRILL through artistic expression. I hope you enjoy it.

Back from Field Camp

Actually, I've been back in McMurdo for almost a week now. I've been a little busy doing laundry and catching up with some other project work, but I finally have a moment to post some photographs from my last days in Granite Harbor.

Sunday, the temperature reached the melting point. 32 degrees feels REALLY warm here in Antarctica! I had a few spare moments to soak up some sun, after applying spf 70 sunscreen (don't forget that were living under the hole in the ozone layer down here). I spent most of the rest of Sunday collecting all of my smelly wool socks and tracking down my missing glove to pack for my return trip. I felt really sad about leaving my camp buddies and the beautiful scenery, but I was also really looking forward to a shower and clean clothes.

The first of two helicopters arrived at camp exactly on time at 2:20 carrying two ARISE educators- Robin and Ken. You might have read Robin's blog about hurting her back and the disappointment of not going out to camp with me. Robin and Ken are replacing me and Bob. I had a little bit of time to show them around camp while the helicopter went to get a sling load of fuel to resupply the camp. We climbed aboard when it came back- just in time because fog was rolling down off the glaciers.

The trip back was incredible. We flew over many icebergs. As they calve off glaciers they float out into the Ross sea and then get frozen into the sea ice during Antarctic winter.

I've been busy in my new role now helping out in the core lab. It's fun work, but also very important to the scientists. Read Joanna's blog titled Core Curating from 11/09 to get the details.

Snow Day from 11/08/07

Snow Day- 11/8

The weather wasn’t very good for doing science yesterday. The crew went out for a bit, but had to come back to came when snow started to fall making visibility a problem. Dr. Marv Speece entertained us in the afternoon with a lecture on geophysics. We went to bed last night with fluffy snowflakes falling through still air. Sometime around three this morning the wind started howling so that the tents were all flapping frantically. Needless to say, no data collection again today. It’s hard to tell if it’s currently snowing or are the 20+ mph winds just blowing the fluff that fell yesterday. Current temperature is around 17F, positive numbers thank goodness. Anyway, it’s hard to see much except shades of white and gray, and even more difficult to function outside for very long.

Our chief, Dr. Ross Powell, Glacial Sedimentologist from Northern Illinois University, continued our lecture series on glaciers in the science tent. Ross first visited Antarctica in the 70’s as a graduate student and has been here numerous times since then. He’s been particularly interested in the Mackay glacier over the last ten years and is very keen to get some good sediment records showing up on our seismic survey. On days that we’re working at the survey site, his primary responsibility is supervising the data collection process and pondering the great complexities of glacier behavior.

Today’s lecture focused on different types of glaciers, their behaviors and sediment records based on climatic differences, and how that all relates to future climate changes. I asked Ross to explain what we’re all doing here in Granite Harbor and gave him a two paragraph maximum.

Ross says, “On the continental shelf around Antarctica are some very deep troughs and basins that were scoured and eroded out when the ice sheet was much larger and expanded over those areas. Since the ice sheet last started to shrink and retreat, some of those troughs and basins, which can reach over 900 meters below sea level, have been special repositories for marine sediment. Ocean currents have carried and concentrated sediment in the basins so that it accumulates very rapidly, at a rate of several millimeters every decade. Because these basins have been exposed and have been receiving this sediment over the past 20,000 to 7,000 years as the ice sheet retreated and opened-up the continental shelf, thick accumulations of these geologically very young sediments has been stored in the basins, some now reaching up to 200 meters thick. These thick piles of sediments are made mainly of the remains of marine plants or algae named diatoms that form the basis of the food web in the highly productive Southern Ocean. These marine plants need sunlight and a good supply of nutrients from the water to flourish; some even like living in sea ice that forms every winter around Antarctica by sea water freezing. Nutrients are best provided by strong winds blowing across the water surface causing deep waters that carry the nutrients to rise up to the surface where the diatoms live.

What we want to do is core one of these types of sediment records that now lie at the bottom of the Mackay Sea Valley, and look for periods of time in the core when diatoms were flourishing and when they weren’t, going back over the last 7,000 years. Other types of sediment accumulate when diatoms are not abundant, because waters are either less nutritious or perhaps were covered with very thick sea ice cutting down on the sunlight reaching the upper seawater layer. These types of records can tell us a great deal about the ocean circulation changes over time, which we want to understand, and compare those changes in Antarctica with what has happened in lower latitudes such as around New Zealand and even in tropical waters closer to the equator. We need to understand how these ocean waters in different areas of the world are linked to each other, so we can better predict how they may change as global warming continues. It is especially important for Antarctica because of the possibility of all of its ice melting as Earth continues to warm.”

Thank you very much, Ross!

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.

Camp Cuisine from 11/7/07

Camp Cuisine

11/07

I just hung up from an Iridium phone call back home with a very dear friend of my mine who was concerned that we might not be eating very well out here at camp. I could tell him that we’ve been having excellent food, which made me think I’ve been remiss in describing that part of camp life for you.

Our camp cook is Joan. She lives in Wyoming when she is “home”. We’ve become good tentmates and enjoy the infrequent quiet afternoons at camp when we can wash our hair. I’ve noticed the dinners over the last few days have become much more interesting to the palate, rather than just being good food that fills you up. Joan said she’s feeling much more in her element and in a creative mood now that we’ve really settled in. After earning her degree in geology, Joan began her culinary training in Philadelphia. She’s had many interesting experiences since then including outdoor education instructor and being a ranch hand. Cooking and the outdoors seem to be recurring themes. Joan said, “Cooking is a way to go places, because everyone needs to eat.” Brandon and Josh, the mechanics that joined us for dinner last night will attest that we don’t just eat, we’re Dining.

I wish I had taken a photo of last night’s dinner. Sautéed chicken breasts with sundried tomatoes and mozzarella, accompanied by tortellini with pesto and lovely green beans. Joan made a beautiful presentation. Tonight’s menu, Thai green curry with chicken and shrimp. The tangy aromas are making me very hungry as I sit here writing, maybe I should move over to the science tent instead!

I’m amazed by Joan’s creations given what she has to work with.

The outside photo shows the refrigerator/ freezer, or as Joan calls it, the “grocery store”. Photos inside the kitchen show the inside food stores and the stove/work surface. And of course, a very happy Joan after we all enjoyed her Thai curry. (p.s. It was REALLY good!!!! )

This reviewer gives restaurant Granite Harbor G-049, a four star rating. Reservations suggested.

Diatom Ice

It's the afternoon of November 13th. I'm back in McMurdo and very happy to finally post blogs I wrote last week. This is one is from November 3rd.

So, I noticed when we first started shooting off the air cannon to conduct the seismic survey, some of the ice that came up with the sea water and air bubbles looked it was formed from root beer. Here’s a more scientific description: irregularly shaped chunks of translucent ice ranging in size from approximately three to eight inches in length with mottled internal yellowish brown coloring. I know from the scientists here with ANDIRLL that the coloring is colonies of diatoms. Diatoms are plants that are about the size of the head of a pin and are made of silica (a sand-like substance). Most of the diatom ice slides back into the hole with the receding sea water when the air gun ceases firing. Hopefully, the diatoms go on living and no harm done.

One morning when we arrived at the survey line to begin our day, I noticed a chunk of diatom ice on the surface of the area of the last hole we shot from the afternoon before. It had sat out in the bright sunshine all night. Instead of the usual brownish color I’ve become used to, it was a lovely shade of green. I took a photo of it lying on the aqua colored sea ice with the toes of my “bunny boots” (seriously, that’s what these boots are called-why, I don’t know!) to prove to everyone that Antarctica isn’t only shades of white.

Here’s a science question for you; why was it green now and not still brownish? Why is that important? To test my hypothesis of why that happened, I collected some other pieces of brown diatom ice and left them out in the sun by the last hole of the day. My prediction was that they would be green the next day. My prediction was correct. When we came back the next morning they were green. For comparison I collected another piece of brown diatom ice and photographed them next to each other. The brown ice is the piece on the left.

So, what’s happening with the diatom ice? And why is it important?

Field trip to the Mackay Glacier

A couple of days ago we completed our tasks for the day a little early so our chief scientist, Dr. Ross Powell, took us on a field trip out to see the Mackay Glacier up close. Our seismic survey is mapping sediment deposited by the Mackay and this was a great opportunity to understand the depositional process better. To get there from our camp we had to take a very bumpy, 45 min. Pisten Bully ride over multi-year ice. Our camp and survey line are located on single season ice, which means the ice breaks up and flows out to sea every season. That can be a little dangerous as the season goes on, but the ice is fairly smooth and easy to travel over. The multi-season ice is not smooth, at all!!!!

[Note that there was a movie that should be inserted here, but it is too large to insert - Ed.)

Once we had our brains unrattled (which isn’t really a word, but I’m exercising artistic license) we were amazed to find ourselves dwarfed by ice.The Mackay is an outlet glacier from the east Antarctic ice sheet flowing from a high mountain plateau. It ends as a tongue that sticks out onto the sea ice. The forward edge of the tongue shoves the sea ice ahead of it, creating sea ice chunks that often stand vertically reminding me of sculptural works.
In those areas melt pools form this time of year and are great places to find seals. Around the edges of the melt pools delicate ice crystals form. You do have to watch where you step in these areas to make sure you don’t fall into a crack. Some can be fairly deep,but Galen the mountaineer/field safety specialist makes sure we don’t get into trouble.

As the glacier makes its way to the sea, it flows over and through granite and dolerite formations. The sea ice gets shoved up against the cliff sides causing great undulations.
The younger, darker dolerite sits on top of the older, lighter color granite.
Jacob, a student from University of Nebraska, was very excited to examine the crystalline structure of this boulder up close.
As we walked through one of the glaciers canyons, we spotted pockets of clear ice that form when melt water within the glacier refreezes.
If you look closely you can see some sediment trapped in the clear ice. These sediments are carried out to sea and as the glacier melts, drop to the sea floor creating sediment layers that show up in the seismic survey data.
Some members of our party in the distance behind me were trying to find clear ice without sediment to bring back to camp to cool their beverages. I’m not sure why they need ice when you can just stick drinks outside for a couple of minutes! But then, how many times in your life can you say you’ve eaten ice that’s thousands of years old.

Feeling Safe

Tim Cully is a part time Mountaineer in Antarctica. In his off-ice life he is an Emergency Room nurse in Wyoming. On very short notice, in late September, Tim, a seasoned Antarctic mountaineer and veteran to McMurdo in a wide range of roles, was asked to come lead our Mackay Sea Valley field team, since the original mountaineer was no longer able to go. Tim was only able to take a few weeks off of work, but his expertise was needed to get the team safely out to the field area over sea ice, and to set up camp on the sea ice near Granite Harbor, around 100 miles from McMurdo Station.

The chief scientist eagerly accepted his limited availability, and said he would patch coverage for the field team with different mountaineers after Tim left.

I was puzzled why they would go to the expense of flying someone out for such a short time, when they would still have to involve other mountaineers soon after the project started.

Then I met Tim.

From the very first meeting, Tim took leadership. He introduced himself to the team in a manner which seemed to say, "We are a team here and I value your ideas as well as your safety." It was the first time I had confronted my fears about traveling over sea ice, which has many potential dangers. Cracks. Thinning ice. Heavy vehicles passing over potentially invisible cracks.

Immediately our first meeting focused on the task ahead: to plan our 24 hour traverse, without stopping for the night, since it would be a huge task to set up camp in the middle of the ice, rather than to press on and set up a permanent camp. Was I scared? Heck yes! But somehow Tim laid it out and dealt with the dangers in a very calculated way, and presented to the team what his plans were to minimize the dangers and keep the journey safe. After giving us the facts and sharing his thoughts, TIm said something I never thought I would hear. He said, "Is everyone comfortable with this plan? We won't move ahead unless everybody feels okay with it."

Wow. So the 47 year old teacher from Michigan, who wasn't feeling as young as she once was, could still say, "Hang on, guys. I'm scared!"

Well, I didn't say it out loud. But I was relieved to have a team leader who was sensitive to the fact that I had two children at home to whom I wanted to return safely. It was clear that Tim wasn't the type to gamble with our safety. He also left nothing to chance. From double checking every tent, to triple checking fuel supplies, to securing three different radio types to take to the field, Tim took no shortcuts at ensuring our safe field season. He maintains the priority of getting the scientists out into the field, collecting data, but he does so in a way that does not jeopardize safety or challenge common sense.

In the end, the traverse ended up involving only half the group, and the rest of the team flew (minus me, who will fly out in a week or so) by helicopter. The traverse ended up stranded for 2 days due to equipment difficulties and poor weather which prohibited mechanics from flying out. But I know that the traverse party was warm, comfortable, and safe, even in their "stranded" state.

I saw Tim today when he helicoptered out of the field to prepare for his re-deployment to Christchurch tomorrow. He assured me that all was well with the team, that camp was established, and that they were well engaged with the seismic survey. I can only hope the other mountaineers inspire as much trust as Tim, since we will have a month in the field, followed by the long journey home to McMurdo.

Thanks, Tim, for making me feel safe!

Arrival at Mackay Sea Valley

NOTE: Julia is in a remote field camp, and she will have limited access to technology. Her journals will be posted when they are available. In most cases, pictures will be posted when she returns. We were lucky with this post, because a helicopter brought her CD back to town with these pictures and a handwritten journal. Enjoy!

Journal from October 24, 2007:
Mackay Sea Valley Camp on the sea ice.

We finally made it out to our camp on Wednesday, October 24, 2007. The helicopter ride was amazing. Guys from the carpenter shop came out to our site ahead of us and set up one tent for a kitchen and one for a science tent--both with heat! We set up pyramid-shaped Scott tents for sleeping. My job was to organize the science tent and arrange work areas for computer work, storage and a clothes dryer section.

We finally started the seismic survey yesterday and completed twenty-five holes--only 375 to go! Weather has been beautiful and we've had a couple of excursions to see the seals--even some seal pups! See the cute baby in the picture below.But life can be harsh in Antarctica. One sorrowful mother seal was mourning her dead pup--so sad to see that.

Have to run--off for another day in the field.
Julia's bunny boots on sea ice.

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.

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.