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2007

Date: November 9, 2007
Location: McMurdo Station
Latitude: 77 degrees, 51 minutes South
Longitude: 166 degrees, 40 minutes East
Temperature: −9°C ( 16°F)
Wind Speed: 48 knots
Wind Chill: −23°C (−10°F)
Elevation: 50 meters (164 feet)
Written by: Dan D.

Still condition 1 down on the ice runway. No flights in or out today. It was quite breezy around town as well, this turned my usual errands into mini adventures! The good news is that the weather is supposed to be clearing up tomorrow.

After meeting with the McMurdo Flight–Ops Manager, Julie, I was relieved to hear that my flight out onto the ice is scheduled for Monday 12th November. Of course, that date is wholly dependent upon the back log of flights being cleared up by the end of the day tomorrow... We shall see.

I just heard some bad news from our team in the field. It seems that the main cooling fan on the Dozer CAT came loose and shattered, destroying the radiator in the process! Luckily, the McMurdo logistics machine is already in motion... I spoke to Cara, our POC (Point Of Contact) here in McMurdo and she has already found the spare parts that we need back in the USA (and some in Belgium! – there are no spares of this type anywhere on the base or in the whole of New Zealand!). The new radiator and fan are being express delivered to Christchurch and should arrive early next week. After that, how long we have to wait just depends on the weather. Let's hope it stays clear.

 

Date: November 9, 2007
Location: ITASE Winter Over Site
Latitude: 80 degrees, 18 minutes South
Longitude: 144 degrees, 41 minutes East
Temperature: −40°C ( −40°F)
Wind Speed: 7 knots
Wind Chill: −53°C (−63°F)
Elevation: 2191 meters (7189 feet)
Kilometers Traveled: 0
Ice Core Drilled: 0 meters
Written by: Nicky

Today is the first day since our arrival in which the weather has not been absolutely amazing.  There is a strip of low, gray, ominous looking clouds on the horizon that eventually cover the sky.  The covering of the sky is foreshadowed by a huge halo around the sun.  Today is also the day we have chosen to move the trains into a configuration closer to that which we will have when driving.  So, it's a little bit like we're racing the advancing weather (which to be honest turns out to be not so bad).  Lining the trains up goes very well, the biggest task is to put all the loose things around the Blue Room and the Polar Haven into their proper homes. 

When the fuel sled is hooked to the kitchen and trailed by the Blue Room the train in towed around by the Fork CAT to ensure that all the connections have been made well.  Luci, Elena, and I use this event as an opportunity to see what riding in the kitchen will be like.  Our surrounding topography is relatively flat, so our ride is smooth, or at least it feels that way.  The only way to get a real indication of the topography is to watch the movement of the Blue Room out the kitchen window.  When you do that, it looks like you're on a roller coaster!  Dan B. watches the movement from inside the Blue Room to make sure that everything is battened down properly.

In addition to getting the trains set up, today is a monumental day in that we finally have all 12 jugs of water filled. Now all we have to do is maintain our supply.  We seem to be using one and a half 5-gallon jugs per day, which will likely mean melting snow every other day.

 

Photos

Date: November 10, 2007
Location: McMurdo Station
Latitude: 77 degrees, 51 minutes South
Longitude: 166 degrees, 40 minutes East
Temperature: −7°C ( 19°F)
Wind Speed: 42 knots
Wind Chill: −20°C (−3°F)
Elevation: 50 meters (164 feet)
Written by: Dan D.

The weather has improved considerably today. The clouds are brighter and the winds are less strong, still extremely brisk though!

Good News! By the end of the day, McMurdo Flight Ops has managed to clear out many of the back-logged flights and my departure date is still set for Monday Nov 12th. I had an urge to get some climbing exercise while I was still able, so I decided to walk round the base of Observation Hill and climb up from the Scott-Base side. All I can say is it's a shame the winds had not died down a little more - Brrrr!

 

Date: November 10, 2007
Location: ITASE Winter Over Site
Latitude: 80 degrees, 18 minutes South
Longitude: 144 degrees, 41 minutes East
Temperature: −24°C ( −11°F)
Wind Speed: 2 knots
Wind Chill: −28°C (−18°F)
Elevation: 2191 meters (7189 feet)
Kilometers Traveled: 0
Ice Core Drilled: 0 meters
Written by: Nicky

With so much time ahead of us before we begin moving and so much of our cargo still to come, it seems like there might not be much to do today.  This appearance leads Paul to decide that, this being a science traverse, we should do some science.  Or at the very least learn the skills that will help us to do science at a later point.  So, he teaches Elena and me the necessary skill of snowpit digging.

In the first scenario, the pit we are digging is supposed to be for chemistry. This means the upwind side of the pit must be kept clean (i.e. not walked on, not covered in snow from inside the pit).  As we dig our meter and a half-deep pit the snow really piles up on all the available sides and it gets to the point that the individual resting has to begin to push back snow at the top while the person in the pit throws snow out.  Elena and I, never having spent much time digging, don't have well developed digging muscles, so we take a lot of breaks.  But the weather today is amazing, so it's okay.  Once we're at the right depth, we dig out a section from top to bottom to look at the stratigraphy.  As anticipated, we appear to be in a drift between berms from last season.

In the second scenario, our chemistry pit becomes a backlit pit.  This requires digging another pit of equal size right next door.  However, because the day is so fine, we have attracted spectators and those spectators (Mike, Dan B. and Brian) decide to become participants!  Having dug pits before, much to the relief of Elena and I, the new crew completes this pit in a flash. The wall between the two pits is whittled down to approximately 3 inches and then both pits are covered with plywood from Mike's drilling shelter.  The end result is amazing.  The stratigraphy is so clear and the blue color is beautiful.  Despite having no scientific value (since it's in a snow drift and wasn't dug cleanly) we all feel that digging the snow pit been an incredibly useful exercise.  At the very least, it illuminates the advantages of a backlit pit (more detailed stratigraphy record) and in the very least it has been useful to me to see the stratigraphy in the context of its surroundings, rather than as single 3 inch core sections on a light table.

In other parts of the camp there is activity as well.  Mike begins to build the Eclipse drill and the outhouse is moved closer to the new train (among other things).