77 Degrees South

The End

2006-01-09T11:59:00.000+13:00

I have returned to London, and returned to the sedentary life of a graduate student. Thank you for the comments and I hope you enjoyed my small efforts at communicating wonders and interests of my trip.

Last hours in McM

2005-12-21T13:53:00.000+13:00

Our time in Antarctica is quickly dwindling. The last five days have been busy with last minute Science, mad packing, and a final trip out to the Lake to collect the remaining field gear. The trip out was a fitting end to the season, with a beautiful sunny day.

The ice on Bonney has been collecting the Sun's heat and is melting into fantastic shapes. In some places, meltwater pools lurk under thin sections of apparently-solid ice to soak the feet of the unlucky. Fortunately, I am light as a butterfly, so my feet stayed dry.

We are scheduled to fly to Christchurch tomorrow. Of course, "weather permitting" is key to any Southern travel, so our last-night-on-the-Ice party this evening may only be a practice event.

I hope you have enjoyed the pictures I have posted. Once back to North America with a proper connection to the Internet, I will upload a more complete photo set.

Stranded in the Dry Valleys!

2005-12-12T16:51:00.000+13:00

Saturday we were stranded out on Lake Bonney by fog (later turning to snow). Apparently, the helo pilots prefer to see where they are flying. While the samples we collected did not survive the extra time, we had a lovely time at the camp. Another group was also staying the night at Bonney Camp, so we had dinner, played some cards and went for a hike.

The day opened clear and still on Sunday. The change in twelve hours was dramatic. Plus we made it back to Mac Town in time for Sunday brunch.

Penguins!

2005-12-09T14:22:00.000+13:00

By popular demand - penguins. These pictures were taken at the rookery at Cape Roids where thousands of birds nest. All that penguin, uh, activity makes the air a little stinky, but they are fun to watch waddling about the rocks.

Penguins! (II)

2005-12-09T14:18:00.000+13:00

Penguins! (III)

2005-12-09T13:48:00.000+13:00

So, what are we doing down here?

2005-12-04T16:57:00.000+13:00

It is the tale of two lakes, well, one lake that is split into two parts. Lake Bonney is divided into two lobes by a 15m deep sill. The bottom waters of both lobes are very cold (< 0 degrees C) and very salty (> 3 times as salty as seawater), and water cannot exchange between the lobes. The surface waters, on the other hand, are fresh, but covered with ice, and can flow freely across the sill. In the picture, the west lobe is hidden behind the hill in the middle (called Bonney Riegel) and the east lobe is in the middle of the frame extending to the bottom.

Our project is trying to determine the activities of the bacteria in the bottom waters of the two lobes are different. In the west lobe, the bacteria are active yet the east lobe bacteria are barely functioning and compounds which are normally consumed by bacteria have accumulated.

Active bacteria are found everywhere: trapped in glaciers, in brine pools at the bottom of the ocean, in hydrothermal vents, in veins of rock. Yet the bacteria in the bottom waters of Lake Bonney appear to be unable to take advantage of the supply of nutrients. So we are trying to figure out "why?"

However, we do seem to find time for other activities, such as posing on the Taylor Glacier.

Glaciers!

2005-11-27T08:41:00.000+13:00

Can't talk about Antarctica without talking about the Ice. The scale and inexorable movement of the glaciers is humbling. From the right perspective, I can almost imagine seeing the slow movement of the ice, like down the ice fall of the Hughes glacier (above). The view from the helos suggests the liquid nature of the huge ice sheets (Commonwealth Glacier, below).

The region where the Ventifacts live behind Bonney Camp has an old lava flow, which has now been eroded into a hillside and plain of dark, irregular pebbles. The strong winds (responsible for the carving of the ventifacts) ensures that the surface is smooth and uniform. The Sollas glacier comes down into the valley and the contrast between the matte lava rocks and bright Ice is beautiful.

The Taylor glacier is the tongue of the continental ice shelf that flows into the Taylor valley and forms the west wall of Lake Bonney. I can imaging the flow of Ice down the valleys, leaving mountains and high places isolated.

Closer to the face, the scale and enormous volume of ice becomes easier to judge. The ice fractures and splits from the parent glacier and water can seep from the ice forming streams and lakes.

Ventifacts Deux

2005-11-20T19:51:00.000+13:00

Ventifacts

2005-11-20T19:37:00.000+13:00

Behind Bonney Camp (and up around 500 m) is a plateau covered with wind-carved rocks. The shapes are organic and fantastic.

Lake Bonney Camp

2005-11-20T19:23:00.000+13:00

Contrary to rumours of death-by-juvenile-penguin or burial-by-snow, I am still alive and active. We returned yesterday from a stay at the Lake Bonney field camp, where we setup the research sites. My tent was the second from the left and in the middle you can see the Korean War-vintage shelter which was the kitchen and living room.

We had beautiful weather for the entire stay and the view was fantastic. I am very fortunate to have gone and stayed at Bonney camp.

I am a Happy Camper

2005-11-11T13:40:00.000+13:00

I spent Tuesday and Wednesday at Snow School (also known as Happy Camper). The morning was spent with classroom instruction about cold weather survival and injuries, then it was off to the ice shelf to set up our camp for the night. The snow out on the shelf was construction-grade, and we made a quincy shelter, a couple of walls and the more artistically-inclined did some sculping.

I decided that I would build my own shelter, which consisted of a shoulder-width trench with a roof made of snow blocks. At the end of the day, I wormed into the trench, and struggled into my sleeping bag for the evening. With the aid of a bottle filled with hot water, I was perfectly content to sleep outside at 77 degrees South. I recognize that the conditions were damn near perfect for Antarctica, with little wind (~15 knots) and warm temperatues (~ -10 °C), so I should not overestimate my fortitude.

Yesterday (Thursday) we took a day trip out to the research site at Lake Bonney. I have decided that I want a helicopter for Xmas. The ride (my first helo trip) was amazing. Again, perfect weather with clear skies, no wind and warm temperatures. Taylor Valley is rock, dirt, snow and ice - and spectacular. Pictures to come.

Barnes Glacier

2005-11-07T21:49:00.000+13:00

Scott Party's Cross

2005-11-07T21:41:00.000+13:00

First days in McMurdo

2005-11-07T21:21:00.000+13:00

McMurdo strongly reminds me of Dutch Harbour. Snow and rock and dirt, with permanently-temporary buildings, and always activity and movement. Of course, when I look beyond the bounds of the base onto the McMurdo Ice Shelf and across to the mountains, the physical similarity diminishes. Yet the atmosphere and culture ring true.

A pervasive thread is the motivation for the work. The majority of people on the Ice are "support" staff. They are here to provide the facilities and services necessary for science and life (not necessarily in that order). I feel that anyone who works in Dutch for any length of time, and I think the same is true here, is not motivated only by the dollars in the bank, but also by pride in doing a good job in an interesting but challenging place.

The cross in memoriam of Scott, Wilson, Oates, Bowers, and Evans at the top of Observation Hill (which overlooks McMurdo and Scott Base). "To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yeild" (Tennyson). While the goals and motivations of explorers and scientists in Antarctica and of the men who go down to the sea in ships are different, I think that their status in our culture is similiar. Perhaps a large portion of the similarity stems from the environment. The Sea, she can be a pretty tough broad, and the same is true of the Ice.

I spent the day today at Sea Ice training, which was essentially a trip out out the McMurdo Ice Shelf to examine a working crack. We travelled out to the base of Barnes Glacier at the foot of Mt. Erebus. After profiling the ice crack, and looking at a group of Weddell seas hauled out on the ice, we were visited by four Adele penguins. Although I received a number of requests for penguin-based souvenirs, I refrained from any fowl abductions due to the large audience.

Arrival!

2005-11-05T08:43:00.000+13:00

Arrived yesterday on the Ice. The flight was comfortable and easy, complements of the U.S. Air Force. I learned afterwards that 3 out of 4 pilots had never flown to Antarctica, including the pilot at the controls. It was a very smooth landing, greenhorn or not.

McMurdo is an ugly collection of brown buildings huddled on the side of a hill of lava rock and dust. But it is home for the next little while and I think I will be too busy to do any renovations or painting. The accomodations are relatively luxurious, with a real bed, lots of storage space and only one roomate. Perhaps my standards are a little different thanks to the cruises.

Captain Robert Falcon Scott

2005-11-03T11:07:00.000+13:00

"I do not regret this journey which shows that Englishmen can endure hardships, help one another and meet death with as great fortitude as ever in the past." --Scott's Diary

The quote makes me wonder at what was being said about Englishmen that would prompt such a demonstration. And who was doing the saying. The man's middle name was Falcon, which would put a couple of marks in the Fortitude and Endurance column in my books.

I am still in Christchurch, waiting for the weather to clear. Apparently, the pilots don't enjoy landing large jet aircraft onto the middle of a frozen wasteland during strong winds and zero visibility.

Christchurch

2005-11-01T09:41:00.000+13:00

Arrived safe and tired in New Zealand yesterday. I noticed while updating my location that I flew from 43 degrees N to 43.5 degrees S (Insert tired-arms joke here). Which is almost the same distance as from the equator to the pole.

The Canterbury museum has a good Antarctica room; plenty of gear and pictures from past expeditions. I am certainly glad to be headed to the Ice in the current age, rather than the early Twentieth century. While I am sure that the pemmican was quite good and nutritious, six months of canned beef mixed with animal fat probably will not compare with the food at McMurdo. I will see if my assumption is true.

Pictures will be forthcoming. My provincialism has betrayed itself. Although I expected vehicles to travel on the other side of the road (as they should in a proper daughter of the British Empire), I forgot that electricity does not necessarily come from sockets with the North American shape. So the result, no electricity for the computer and no pictures until I reach the Ice. I am off to get my ECW (Extreme Cold Weather) gear at noon, followed by one last night in civilization before the flight tomorrow.

It is alive!

2005-10-28T10:25:00.000+13:00

36 hours of comfort and ease in London remain. I board the shuttle bus to the airport at 0800h on Saturday and (hopefully) disembark in Christchurch, NZ at 1000h on October 31st. Somewhere along the way I travel in time...