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Week 2 - November 4, 2001 to November 10, 2001
Date: 11/10/01
Latitude: 77 degrees, 51 minutes South
Longitude: 166 degrees 40 minutes East
Temperature: –9°C( 16°F)
Wind speed: 12 knots
Wind Chill: –22°C( –8°F)
Wind direction: Southeast
Meters of ice collected: 0
Notes on daily life:
A strong wind kicked up during the night, wakening those of us who sleep with our windows open to sound of stuff blowing around inside our rooms. By morning when we walked to the dining hall for breakfast, it was sometimes difficult to stay upright. The upshot of the strong winds was that our snowmobile trip to Cape Royds was postponed until Tuesday. It certainly would have been possible to drive the route along the sea ice, but none of us enjoyed the prospect of the drive home with our faces into the wind – we get enough of that when we get to the field.
With some unexpected time on our hands, we spent the morning doing a risk assessment for our field program. Every science team heading into the deep field is required to complete such an assessment. Cobi led the discussion of potential hazards and likely mitigation strategies. We covered topics including environmental risks and human risks. Some of the risks are obvious, like encountering crevasses, being injured by some of the heavy machinery or vehicles, and food hygiene. Each member was asked to voice their single greatest concern. Some were quite surprising – Dan, for instance, was concerned about being left behind if the traverse starts moving while he is still visiting the bathroom. Hopefully we convinced him that the risk was minimal.
In the afternoon, many of us worked on material we had brought from home. Susan studied for a class project. Paul and Gordon worked on proposals. Others took off for recreation – climbing Observation Hill or taking a sauna – before meeting for dinner in the dining hall. Sunday is a day off for the contractor staff in McMurdo, so there is a palpable sense of the end of the work week in town tonight.
Date: 11/09/01
Latitude: 77 degrees, 51 minutes South
Longitude: 166 degrees 40 minutes East
Temperature: –6°C( 21°F)
Wind speed: 25 knots
Wind Chill: –34°C( –29°F)
Wind direction: South
Meters of ice collected: 0
Notes on daily life:
The last member of our team arrived in McMurdo today. Mark Wumkes flew in on the C–141 flight from Christchurch this morning, after making the trip south from Fairbanks, Alaska. With him, he brought a re–engineered model of a new lightweight ice core drill. If the drill works we will use it to collect ancillary shallow cores in the vicinity of the deep cores which will be used to assess the spatial significance of the long records. The new drill collects a smaller diameter core – 2" compared to the 4" diameter of cores from the Eclipse drill – resulting in a smaller volume and weight of core samples to be transported back to the laboratory. Because fewer measurements are made on the ancillary cores, we do not require the large sample volume of a 4" diameter core at these sites.
Mark's flight arrived just before lunch which was good for two reasons: (1) by afternoon it had started to snow and visibility was greatly reduced out on the sea ice runway, and (2) awesome red and green enchiladas were served in the canteen at lunchtime.
In the afternoon we met as a group to learn about the email capability of the Iridium satellite phones from Blue, and for a short instruction/refresher course by Gordon on the use of the GPS units we will be using for navigation on the traverse. Blue has been experimenting with the data transfer capability of the phones and has figured out a way for us to be able to send digital photographs from the field back to the museum. So, look for photo updates throughout the season.
The evening featured a slideshow presentation for the station community given by Cobi. Most of the slides were taken during last season's expedition, but some also featured her off–season exploits in the mountains of Alaska.
Tomorrow we will drive out to Shackleton's hut at Cape Royds and Scott's Discovery expedition hut at Cape Evans. The trip will be an excellent opportunity for team members, especially the new ones, to experience polar travel and navigation prior to heading in to the field. And at the same time we get to visit some very special sites of historic interest.
Date: 11/08/01
Latitude: 77 degrees, 51 minutes South
Longitude: 166 degrees 40 minutes East
Temperature: –1°C( 30°F)
Wind speed: 25 knots
Wind Chill: –31°C( –23°F)
Wind direction: Southeast
Meters of ice collected: 0
Notes on daily life:
The weather had cleared a little from last night, although there were still occasional snow showers. Most of the exposed rock and dirt around town are now covered again with a thin covering of snow.
After our morning meeting, the team members who just arrived on Monday attended the mandatory waste management briefing. The briefing describes the procedures for dealing with the various types of waste we encounter in McMurdo and in the field. The US Antarctic Program has a very thorough waste management program that results in almost all waste generated on the continent being shipped back to the United States for proper disposal or recycling. An enviable 80% of waste is recycled, but that figure requires everyone to be careful about disposing of their waste in sorted containers.
The rest of the day was spent packing the final items of science cargo. Many of us have been coming to Antarctica for years, so we all appreciate the friendly help of Juan who has worked in Science Cargo for as long as we can remember -he keeps us straight about packaging and numbering and makes sure everything gets forklifted to the cargo yard in time for its flight to the field camp.
Blue and Dan spent the afternoon working on getting email to work via the satellite phone system so that we can use it from the field. They reported a moderate amount of success but just as they were nearing the final test, the phone battery failed.
Steve and Lynn are at Byrd Station digging out equipment wintered–over from last year. By all accounts, the weather out there is pretty bad at the moment, although radio communications with them are being hampered by intense solar flare activity.
Date: 11/07/01
Latitude: 77 degrees, 51 minutes South
Longitude: 166 degrees 40 minutes East
Temperature: –6°C( 21°F)
Wind speed: 20 knots
Wind Chill: –30°C( –20°F)
Wind direction: Southeast
Meters of ice collected: 0
Notes on daily life:
We began this morning as usual with our group meeting in the lab at 8:00 am. Although we usually see each other frequently during the day, these meetings are an opportunity for all of us to get together at the same time and keep abreast of developments. This morning we learned that Jan had broken her ankle the night before and was lying in bed in the clinic awaiting a flight north to Christchurch, and further treatment. The news was definitely a shock, but we were all thankful that the accident happened here in McMurdo where medical facilities are available and transport to Christchurch is relatively easy; in the deep field, things are not so straightforward.
Today's primary task was to pack all our non-frozen food and enter it into the cargo system; the frozen food was collected a few days ago. Cobi took on the monumental task of putting together menus and calculating requirements for our eight weeks in the field. Our job for today was to gather and pack the 840 person days of food we will need. The food is stored in the Food Room, the upstairs floor of the Science Cargo building. It is the closest thing Antarctica has to a supermarket. There are several aisles stacked with boxes, cans and packets of most types of food – cereals, pasta, rice, beans, soups, crackers, spices, chocolate, drinks, etc. Allan spent the morning and most of the afternoon cruising the aisles with a shopping cart, filling it with the items Cobi had selected. Dan took care of the drinks. To cut down on waste generated in the field, most of the extraneous packaging was removed and some items were repackaged in plastic bags. Brian and Dave loaded the items from the shopping carts into large boxes, each weighing about 350 pounds. These were very gingerly lowered down a flight of stairs where other members of the group sealed the boxes and assigned them a cargo tracking number. The whole process was very efficient, so that we were done by mid–afternoon – not bad for a job that was projected to take two days.
In the evening, Paul gave the weekly Wednesday night science seminar. There are two lecture series in McMurdo during the summer season: a Sunday night talk aimed at a general audience and the Wednesday talks which are usually more detailed science presentations for groups working in the Crary Lab. By late evening, snow was starting to fall pretty steadily.
Date: 11/06/01
Latitude: 77 degrees, 51 minutes South
Longitude: 166 degrees 40 minutes East
Temperature: –8°C( 18°F)
Wind speed: 6 knots
Wind Chill: –14°C( 8°F)
Wind direction: East
Meters of ice collected: 0
Notes on daily life:
Now that everyone that will be on the traverse has arrived, we all met first thing in the morning to introduce ourselves and review some of the details of the trip. We come from all over the U.S. and it's the first time since the logistical meeting in Boston that we've met as a group. Gordon handed out the map of the traverse route and Paul brought us up–to–date on the radios and satellite phones that we'll have. We also went over to the NSF Chalet to meet with the staff that is coordinating the trip and providing logistical support. Everyone is very pleased that we will be using two Challenger tractors this year so that we can travel a lot faster than they did last year. We will now be able to travel 10–12 kilometers/hour. Watch out Mario Andretti! Our first leg to the first drilling site is 300 kilometers, so we will be traveling about 30 hours. The plan is to alternate drivers so everyone can sleep at some point.
After lunch everyone went off to take care of any unfinished business. Most of the people who just came in had to go to a snow–school refresher course. I walked over to Scott Base, which is the New Zealand Station here. It is much smaller than McMurdo and they ask that no Americans go there unless it is to visit the store or to go by invitation. Scott Base is on the other side of Observation Hill and is between McMurdo and where they hold snow school. It is a nice half hour walk along a dirt road and I enjoyed seeing a different view of the mountains. One neat thing I saw was the boundary between the sea ice and the land ice. They push against each other to form
I'd like to introduce a few more members of our expedition: Steve Arcone, Allen Delaney, Dave Schneider, Blue Spikes and Mark Wumpkes. Steve and Allen are working together to use radar for finding crevasses so we can avoid them while traveling. They will also be using the radar to study the layers in the ice and snow for the past two hundred years. Dave will be analyzing the ice cores for the stable isotopes of oxygen and hydrogen. The isotopes preserved in polar snow are used to help understand how climate has changed in the past. Blue will be helping Gordon measure how fast the ice sheet is flowing and how much the ice sheet is thickening or thinning. They do this by tracking the movement of markers in ice with GPS (Global Positioning System) receivers. Mark is our drilling specialist and will be operating an electromechanical drill to produce 3–4 inch diameter ice core samples. We expect to drill between 60–150 meters in depth, depending on our location.
Date: 11/05/01
Latitude: 77 degrees, 51 minutes South
Longitude: 166 degrees 40 minutes East
Temperature: –7°C(19°F)
Wind speed: 8 knots
Wind Chill: –30°C( –20°F)
Wind direction: East
Meters of ice collected: 0
Notes on daily life:
Our job for the day was to pack up all the frozen food we'll take with us on the traverse: meat, shrimp, fish, chicken, tofu, vegetables, bread, butter, cheese, and some frozen blueberries and strawberries. Cobi did a great job organizing the menus for 15 people for 2 months–quite a challenge, I would think. We packed two weeks worth of food in each box for a total of four boxes. Then the boxes were weighed and labeled for shipment. Friday and Saturday we will pack the dry food.
This only took half a day, so Dan and Susan caught up on email and school work while Markus and Brian worked on their equipment. Since it was a relatively warm day and the wind was low, Jan took the opportunity to hike uo Observation Hill. This is a hill on the edge of McMurdo that has great 360° views. At the top there is a cross that was erected in memory of Robert Scott. I could see Scott Base, the New Zealand base, a socked–in Mt. Erebus, Hut Point, and of course, McMurdo. It is not a long hike (1/2 hour), but it is steep. It was actually easier to hike up than down because of the slope. At one point coming down, I was sliding on my butt! It's a little scary because if you pick up too much momentum, you know you won't be stopping until you reach the bottom Luckily, that wasn't the case for me.
Gordon Hamilton and Paul Mayewski arrived today. Gordon is Scottish and is an assistant professor at the University of Maine. His primary research is studying changes in glaciers and how these changes are related to sea level and climate. He used satellite imagery to decide where we'll be going on the upcoming traverse. His choice of routes was based on safety (to steer clear of crevasses) and possible drilling sites that would provide useful information about the ice sheet. He will also be studying how fast the thickness of the ice sheet changes and the change of snow accumulation. Gordan came to my school two years ago to speak to my class, and he also called us from the ice. It is very exciting to actually be working with him now. Paul is the field leader of the traverse. He has led more than 30 scientific expeditions to Antarctica, the Arctic, the Himalayas, and Tibet. He even has a mountain named after him in Antarctica.
Date: 11/04/01
Latitude: 77 degrees, 51 minutes South
Longitude: 166 degrees 40 minutes East
Temperature: –11°C( 12°F)
Wind speed: 7 knots
Wind Chill: –19°C(–1°F)
Wind direction: East
Meters of ice collected: 0
Notes on daily life:
Sunday is a day off for most people. It is spent doing laundry, reading, or other recreational activities. Now that I've been here a week, I feel much more adjusted to the routine of McMurdo life. I have been getting a lot of email messages about what it is like in town, so I thought this would be a good time to describe the culture and daily life. Anyone here other than a National Science Foundation employee or a scientist is an employee of for Raytheon Polar Services. This is the company that is in charge of keeping the town running, making sure the scientists have what they need, and arranging travel in and out of town. Numerous people quit their jobs in the states and come work for Raytheon just to come to Antarctica. Everyone has a story to tell. For instance, I met a woman pharmacist who quit her job and is now doing janitorial duties here in town. It is worth it to her to just be here. Another woman is a chemist in the states and is now an administrative assistant. Their sense of adventure calls them to the continent. The station is a community of adults who work together to achieve one goal: to study various aspects of the continent to better understand its influence on our world.
The station reminds me of a small college campus. We sleep in dormitories with 2 people to a room and share a communal bathroom. Our meals are prepared in a cafeteria, called the galley. The food ranges from ok to very good. It is typical food that you would have. Breakfast consists of a choice of cereals, eggs, pancakes, and a variety of juices. We have a choice at lunch between deli sandwiches, soup, and a hot entry. Dinners are also typical of what we would normally eat and there are usually two choices. So far we've had barbeque chicken, lasagna, barbeque ribs, fried fish, and roast beef. Everyday there are fresh salads and fruits available ("freshies" in McMurdo lingo). I am taking great advantage of the freshies while I can because they won't be here much longer. Soon, the Air National Guard will have to start using smaller planes and there won't be as much room on them for fresh vegetables. We will take a supply with us on the traverse, but they won't last too long.
Recreational activities are organized by Raytheon and are very important to keeping up moral. There is a small office of people just for this purpose. They recently organized a Halloween party, and they organize outings to the ice caves also. There is a gym here that has numerous exercise classes, volleyball games, bowling, and basketball games. A coffeehouse is available for evening get–togethers, and one night it sponsored a wine– tasting party. We can also rent cross–country skis and do a little exploring on our own. Every Thursday evening we are invited to go down to Scott Base, New Zealand's counterpart to McMurdo. They have a much smaller station, and we are only allowed to go by invitation, otherwise we would run them over with people.
The community is very interested in what research is taking place, and lectures by the scientists occur about three times/week. Tonight someone is presenting his work on suiting penguins up with camcorders to record their underwater activity. Tomorrow night is the 2nd lecture in a series of 8 that will discuss the exploration history of Antarctica. I am particularly interested in going to this since I haven't delved much into that aspect of the continent. On Friday evening, Cobi will discuss the ITASE expedition that I will be going on.
Other facilities here include a sauna (can you believe it?), an infirmary, a small store that is stocked with snacks, souvenirs, and videos for rent; a post office; and a fire department. There are no McDonald's or other restaurants.
