Date: December 5th, 2006
Location: Taylor Dome
Latitude: 77 degrees, 47 minutes South
Longitude: 158 degrees, 43 minutes
East
Temperature: −27°C (−17°F)
Wind Speed: 20 knots
Wind Chill: −41°C (−42°F)
Elevation: 2,365 meters (7,759 feet)
Written by: Lora
Meters of core drilled: 100
Notes on daily life
Another typical day at Taylor Dome, sunny with wind. The entire team is here and getting the sleds ready for the traverse. Edgar, the welder, is working hard on fixing the sleds’ hitches. He is welding while lying on the cold snowy ground. He has a windbreak and insulation but it is still a cold job. He has finished one sled and has two to go. Brian and Steve are working on the radars. Cathy, who had a slight cold, is feeling better and back to cooking. We are happy to have her back. Andrei, Paul, Dan B., Gordon and Dan D. are working with their science gear getting it set up and running. The science gear is being sorted, ready to go on the cargo sled. In the afternoon, the Siglin sleds were loaded with two air force pallets each on the bottom for support. The pallets were strapped together and are ready to be loaded with cargo. We loaded all the ice core boxes on the first Siglin sled, the second will carry the fuel and the third food. Siglin sleds are new to us this year. They are huge sheets of plastic that should float over the snow. They look much like the sledding sheets children use now, only much, much larger and heavier. See photos.
The camp is more crowded with everyone here. There are 3 people sleeping in the mechanics tent, 7 in the Blue Room, 1 in the Radar sled and 2 in the kitchen. Edgar prefers to sleep in his own tent. We all pack into the kitchen to eat meals together which is nice.
You may be wondering what we do with all the garbage we are creating while camping out on the ice sheet. No trash can be left on the continent. If you pack it in you must pack it out. The garbage is sorted, then shipped to McMurdo where it is stored until it can be loaded on ships to return to the United States for disposal.
All garbage must be sorted in Antarctica. We have 6 garbage cans in our kitchen. The first is for food waste, second for burnable material, third for waste water, fourth for plastics, fifth for recyclables and the sixth for non-recyclables - these are the most common types of garbage. We also sort out metals and bio-waste. The garbage is sorted in the field and put in labeled bags, which are loaded in large tri-wall boxes. The boxes full of waste are flown out on the retro flights to McMurdo. Almost 95% of the garbage created in Antarctica is recycled upon returning to the United States. We try to minimize waste every way we can. This means that if we do not finish all of our dinner at night, we will be eating it for lunch the next day.
Date: December 6th, 2006
Location: Taylor Dome
Latitude: 77 degrees, 47 minutes South
Longitude: 158 degrees, 43 minutes East
Temperature: −26°C (−14.8°F)
Wind Speed: 7.8 knots
Wind Chill: −36°C (−33°F)
Elevation: 2,365 meters (7,759 feet)
Written by: Joe
Meters of core drilled: 100
This morning brought the arrival of the last Herc (US Air Force LC-130 cargo plane) flight that we will see until our departure from the field at the end of the traverse. The environmental clean up group from McMurdo, who have been sharing ‘own’ with us for the last month, has broken down their camp and headed back to the raging metropolis of MacTown. They have been out here digging out old pallets of materials that were left here during the mid 90’s. This is when the last group of scientists were here conducting research. They have spent tireless hours searching, digging, and removing materials buried under as much as 14 feet of hard–packed snow. I think they are all excited to get back to McMurdo and enjoy a hot shower and a break from the unpredictable, and often harsh, weather conditions that have become the norm here at Taylor Dome. See you guys when we return from the field!
Edgar, the welder who is here helping us prepare the trains for our adventure, continued to work on improving and strengthening the hitches on the Berko sleds. The Berko’s are the 3 large sleds that house the kitchen, blue room, and mechanics shelter. Steve and Brian were busy trying to work out the bugs in their radar systems before we head out on the road so that they can record the best possible data during the traverse. Mike, Andrei, Paul and Dan D. tested out the Pico drill, a small hand powered drill used for taking shallow ice cores, and also worked on getting the 2–inch ice core drill up and running. Rick and Josh drove the 2 Caterpillar tractors around camp, helped load the cargo on the Herc and also staged cargo around camp in an organized fashion so it is ready to load onto the sleds. Gordon and Dan B. worked on getting their density instrument working under the cold conditions we experience here in the field. Lora and I spent the day doing odd jobs around camp: helping the environmental group with last minute loading of cargo, gathering and melting of snow for water, digging trenches under the sleds so Edgar can work comfortably, and writing logs to keep those following along at home updated!
The incoming flight today brought with it mail that included copies of news and other interesting stories printed out by friends at home which is always enjoyable to read. Sometimes we feel secluded and cut off from the outside world, so any connection to home lifts our spirits tremendously. We also received a box of ‘freshies’ (field speak for fresh produce) that included avocados, my personal favorite. Cathy cooked up some delicious wraps for lunch with all the new goodies. Our days of fresh fruits and vegetables are numbered as we will only have one or two more resupply flights during the course of our journey, so we are enjoying what we have while we have it. There are no grocery stores on the East Antarctic Ice Sheet!
Date: December 7th, 2006
Location: Taylor Dome
Latitude: 77 degrees, 47 minutes South
Longitude: 158 degrees, 43 minutes East
Temperature: −24°C (−14°F)
Wind Speed: 8 knots
Wind Chill: −34°C (−29°F)
Elevation: 2,365 meters (7,759 feet)
Written by: Lora
Meters of core drilled: 100
What a busy and successful day! Everyone was busy around camp and at the drill site, finishing all the science projects at Taylor Dome and getting the train ready to roll. Andrei, Dan D., Gordon, Josh, Mike, and Paul took the Pisten Bully out to the drill site and drilled an eight meter firn core with a Pico hand auger. Strong winds at the drill site caused a bit of a chill for the drillers. Joe and I dug another pit for my shallow radar and took measurements of metal rods placed at different levels in the snow pack. At lunch, Brian’s deep radar was not working. However, by dinner, he had the radar running again and his spirits were lifted. Dan B. is working on his density logger. He has it set up with a few 2–inch firn cores to practice with. Currently, he is working on some of the software. Edgar finished welding the sled hitches. This means the sleds are ready to be hooked up in a train. Edgar is now working on finishing the final hardware component of the train, the spreader bars for pulling sleds side by side. This should help to stop the sleds from getting stuck in the snow. There are two spreader bars, one will tow a Lehmann cargo sled, the blue room, the kitchen, and a Siglin. The second will tow another Lehmann cargo sled, the mechanics shelter, and two Siglin sleds. The Radar sled, the Drill sled, and the Polar Pooper sled will be towed behind the Bercos. Rick is assisting Edgar by moving the spreader bars with the forked CAT. The spreader bars are so heavy, 900 lbs each, that they must be moved with the forklift. Cathy had her head in large boxes all day consolidating the food. When I looked over at camp all I could see was Cathy’s legs sticking up in the air above a box!
Spirits in camp are high and we are anxious to leave. Tonight was the first time that movement seemed imminent. I am getting excited to see our trains on the move. We have been at Taylor Dome for a long time; 25 days for Joe, Andrei, Brian, Mike, and me, 32 days for Cathy, Josh, and Rick, and 3 days for the rest. The sleds will be loaded and the spreader bars finished tomorrow. Perhaps we will get to leave Taylor Dome for our next drill site in the next 3 or 4 days.