HALLOWEEN

Halloween is a big deal at McMurdo, probably because it gives people something to which they can look forward and for which they can spend time preparing. There was a big party Saturday night at the gym. People spent the days before the party searching out a costume. The options are to fashion one out of what you can find on base or to borrow one from the stock that has accumulated over the years. Some people planned ahead and brought a costume with them!

The cold can make it difficult. As you can see from the top picture, sometimes you just have to wear "big red" over your costume to keep from freezing to death. The middle picture shows that some folks may have wished they wore their coats. This centurion was running like mad from the gym to his or her room, probably because the temperature was 15 below zero (F) and there was a fierce wind blowing. The dude in the bottom picture is David, a leader of this ANDRILL project. I think the hair suits him.

Unfortunately, those of us blessed with working the night shift were unable to attend the party. However, we were visited by costumed partygoers and were able to watch the parade of costumes out the lab window.

I'm told that the Halloween party is rivaled by the Skirt Party at New Zealand's Scott Base (just over the hill from us). This is a party where all the men dress as women. Sounds interesting, given all the big hairy men down here!

ANDRILL team

Here's a picture of the ANDRILL on-ice team, consisting of scientists and educators from four countries: USA, New Zealand, Italy, and Germany. Not shown are 7 others, who work full-time at the drillsite, located about 35 km away on the sea ice. See if you can spot me among the red parkas, lovingly referred to as 'Big Red.'

ON ANSWERING THE CALL OF NATURE IN ANTARCTICA

No discussion of life in Antarctica would be complete without including a discussion of the intricacies of…um…well, peeing in Antarctica. People have asked how it’s done at thirty below. If you’re offended, stop reading now. Otherwise, here goes.

At McMurdo Station itself, there’s absolutely no problem. As you might imagine, the buildings are equipped with modern toilet facilities like you’d find anywhere in the US.

Out in the field or when hiking in the area around McMurdo, however, it’s another story. The Antarctic Science, Tourism, and Conservation Act of 1996 places tight restrictions on the introduction and disposal of materials brought into Antarctica, including human waste.

Happy Camp, discussed earlier in this blog, was where I first came to grips with the intricacies of relieving oneself in an area where there’s nothing to hide behind and the wind chill is on the order of 50 below.

The options are as follows:

(1) Pee in a designated spot. These spots are marked yellow “Pee Flags.” If you’re lucky, there may be an outhouse, which is basically a crude shelter that sits over a hole in the snow (sometimes a bucket that’s occasionally transported out and disposed of). The toilet seat, about 4 inches high, is made of Styrofoam, something one can’t stick to, even at cold temperatures.

(2) Use what’s called a “Pee Bottle” and carry it away with you (or empty it at the next Pee Flag you come across). Campers especially prize these bottles, as they save a trip outside in the middle of the night. Pee Bottles are wide-mouthed Nalgene bottles marked prominently with the letter P (so as not to get mixed up with one’s water bottle). Pee bottles are all right for men, but pose some difficulties for women! To deal with this, women are issued with “Pee Funnels;” these also make peeing in the open a little easier. I’ll leave further description to the readers’ imagination.

PHOTOS AT TOP: Outhouse and Pee Flag at Happy Camp. Pee Bottles (photo credit to Stream Team).

CHRIS HAS A HAPPY BIRTHDAY

ABOVE: (top) Chris was kind enough to share his birthday cake with others. (bottom) Chris and others, taken in 1997 around the time of his 40th birthday, also in Antarctica.

Chris turned 50 today. We had a cake at midnight -- lunch for those of us on the night shift -- and there's a party planned for later today. It was quite an undertaking to get a cake. Luckily, ANDRILL's McMurdo contact, Leslie, was able to procure one for us. Thanks, Leslie!

Chris also spent his 40th birthday at McMurdo Station. I wonder where he'll be on his 60th -- here again?

CONDITION 2 AT MCMURDO, CONDITION 1 AT THE DRILLSITE

ABOVE: (top) Yesterday’s weather report for McMurdo, showing most areas under Condition 1. Under Condition 1, no travel is allowed, and all persons must be accounted for.

The weather changes constantly at McMurdo, and can go from being relatively benign to deadly very quickly. Here, the weather is classified into three categories. McMurdo residents are kept informed of the current conditions through the McMurdo intranet, a television weather channel, and a scrolling sign in the main building. We’ve been in Condition 2 for the past 2 days. It’s been much worse at the drillsite, where they’ve reached Condition 1. The drilling and core recovery has continued through this, but it’s not been possible to deliver core from the drillsite to McMurdo. As a result, we’re not too busy now. The downside is that we’ll have an awful lot of catching up to do when conditions improve.

The three conditions are defined as follows:

Severe Weather Condition 1 is issued when at least one of the following conditions is occurring or imminent: (1) Sustained wind speed greater than 55 knots, (2) Wind chill temperature colder than -100°F (-73°C), or (3) Visibility is less than 100 feet.

Severe Weather Condition 2 is issued when at least one of the following conditions is occurring or imminent: (1) Sustained wind speed 48 knots to 55 knots, (2) Wind chill temperature -75°F (-60°C) to -100°F (-73°C), or (3) Visibility is 1/4 mile to 100 feet.

Severe Weather Condition 3 is issued when all conditions exceed criteria for Condition 2.

Until yesterday, we'd been almost continuously under Condition 3.

If you want to see what Condition 1 is like, I recommend this video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qz2SeEzxMuE

I hope I don't experience it!

HOME AWAY FROM HOME

We’re living in dormitory rooms eerily reminiscent of my undergraduate days. The rooms are simple: two twin beds, a desk, a nightstand, and closet space for two. Separate bathrooms for men and women are down the hallway. Each building has a lounge with a pool table and television. We get a few TV stations, including the armed force’s network. Two other stations play movies (without commercial interruption!) around the clock. We are in one of the nicer dorms. Apparently there are others with four to a room!

Noise is an issue, and it’s been hard to get a good night of sleep. This is mainly because lots of people wear boots, and the clomping echoes down the hallways. Those of us on the night shift are often awakened by dayshift people who can’t seem to resist stopping by the dorms during the day.

CHRIS, NIGHT-SHIFT SEDIMENTOLOGIST EXTRAORDINAIRE

ABOVE: (left) Chris squirts acid on a core to test for calcium carbonate content. (right) A glacial deposit called a ‘diamictite.’ It’s a mixture of mud, sand, and gravel that was essentially bulldozed up by a glacier and eventually deposited at our drillsite in McMurdo Sound. The comings and goings of such deposits in the core provide clues about changes in the extent of glaciers (and, hence, climate change) through time.

Chris’ job down here is to describe the core itself, in terms of changes in sediment types, fossil content, etc., and to provide an interpretation of the environment in which the sediments were deposited. He works with a group of 5 others to do this each night.

Core is delivered from the drillsite by helicopter each night at around 10 PM. While I’m busy squeezing pore water from samples, Chris and the others are down the hall describing the core. Each morning, they provide a show-and-tell for the day-shift folks, who then work to determine the age of the sediments and to provide more detail about depositional environment.

THE NIGHT SKY

Today the pictures speak for themselves. Suffice it to say that the night sky here is beautiful. It never really gets dark, but is like a perpetual sunset between the 10:30 PM to nearly 5 AM. The sun moves along horizon, from west to east, at an amazing rate. All the photos were taken from my laboratory window.

A VISIT TO SCOTT'S DISCOVERY HUT

Yesterday after work I took a walk out to Hut Point, which lies to the west of McMurdo Station. The point is named for the presence of Discovery Hut, built by Robert Falcon Scott for his Discovery Expedition of 1901 to 1904. It was built to serve as a land base for sledging treks on Ross Island and onto the ice shelf. Ernest Shackleton and three companions used the hut in 1909. The hut later served as a supply depot for Scott’s ill-fated trek to the South Pole (Terra Nova Expedition) in 1911-1912, when he and his companions died on their way back to base after reaching the South Pole. They were within 11 miles of a food depot that would have saved their lives, which illustrates Antarctica’s harsh climate. I was unable to go inside (one needs to be accompanied by a guide), but I understand that it is just as it was left almost 100 years ago.

The Discovery Hut was prefabricated in Australia and brought in by ship. Insulation was provided by felt placed between the inner and outer wood plank walls. Apparently, this was insufficient, and the expeditioners preferred to live aboard their ship, which was ice-bound nearby. The hut was heated using seal blubber, which stained the interior walls, the contents of the hut, and probably also the epeditioners’ lungs! The mummified corpse of a seal, presumably brought to the hut to use as a fuel source, still lies outside. It’s extremely well preserved, given that it’s been lying exposed to the elements for over a century. It almost looks like it’s smiling.

On a knoll that overlooks the hut is Vince's Cross, a wooden cross erected in 1902 to commemorate Seaman George T. Vince. He died after falling down a steep slope and into the water during a blizzard.

ANDRILL SCIENCE

I’ve had some questions about what it is we’re trying to achieve here, so I thought I’d say a few words about that. The purpose of our work here is to establish a robust, long-term history of past Antarctic ice sheet variation and climate evolution. Results will provide a context, or a baseline, for understanding current and future climate change. The Antarctic was chosen because the poles are most sensitive to climate change. In other words, global climate changes are typically seen first and most obviously at the poles and later and less obviously at the lower latitudes.

To achieve our objective, we are drilling a 1000 meter deep drillcore into the sedimentary layers that lie in the Ross Sea. The figure above shows the type of drilling rig we’re using. It’s set up on the sea ice about 35 km from McMurdo Station (I’ll be visiting it later this week, and will post pictures then). We anticipate sampling sediments that range in age from 0 to 17 million years. Environmental conditions in the spot where we’re drilling will be reflected in the sediments we recover. As will drill more deeply and back through time, changes in the types of sediments we recover will record things like changes in the amount of sea ice, the proximity of glaciers and, by proxy, climate.

Our team includes the following types of geologists:
Sedimentologists, who describe the core and provide an interpretation of depositional environment;
Petrographers and geochemists, who examine the chemical composition of the sediments and the waters contained in the sediments. These data provide information about the source regions of glaciers and the type of weathering regime; Paleontologists, who examine the fossils contained in the core. Their data will provide information about the age of the sediments and changes in local ecology that often relate to climate change; and
Geophysicists, who study the physical properties of the core.

I am part of the geochemistry team. My role is to extract and analyze the waters that are contained in the sediments. These are waters that are buried along with the sediments. Most often, the water is seawater. However, we know that the glaciers have advanced and retreated several times in this region. As such, we also expect to find glacial meltwaters buried in certain sediment layers. I extract the water, which is held in the pore space of the sediment, by squeezing samples of the sediment in a metal piston using a hydraulic press. The water comes out a small hole in the base of the piston, and it is collected in a syringe. Yes, that’s me in the second picture, squeezing the bejeezus out of a sediment sample. Using the press, I can apply up to 40,000 pounds of pressure. So far I’ve been getting about 30 ml of water out of sediment sample that is 125 cc. I’ll get less and less as we drill more deeply and the sediment becomes more and more compacted.

Do you like the lab coat? I found it in the supply closet and just had to have it. With everything down here white and gray, a little color is a nice thing.

SITE ORIENTATION -- WHERE IS MCMURDO?

I thought I’d take the opportunity afforded by having to stay up all night to fill you in on the local geography. The image above, assuming it is readable on your screen, is a landsat image of the local region. The inset of Antarctica shows the approximate location of the landsat image. McMurdo Station sits on the end of a southward-pointing peninsula of Ross Island.

Ross Island comprises three volcanoes, namely Mt. Erebus (3794 m), which is still active, Mt. Terror (3230 m), and Mt. Bird. Ross Island served as the base for many of the early Antarctic expeditions, as it is the southernmost island that can be accessed by sea. Some of the huts built by the early expeditioners (Scott and Shackleton) still stand and are preserved as historical sites. McMurdo Station looks out across the sound toward the Royal Society Range.

I have a fantastic view to the south out of my lab/office window, from which I can see Black Island, White Island, Mt. Discovery, Mt. Warning, and up toward the Scott Coast. The view changes daily. Sometimes it’s so clear that I can see beyond Mt. Discovery and Mt. Morning. There have been other times, however, when blowing snow makes it difficult to see anything beyond the shoreline, which is located about 400 m from my window. The photo above doesn't do the scene justice, but gives a general idea of the view on a clear day. Just try to look beyond the buildings in the foreground.

ARRIVAL OF THE FIRST CORE & THE NIGHT SHIFT

This evening, around 10 PM local time, we celebrated the arrival of the first core, which arrived by helicopter from the drillsite some 35 km away. The helicopter arrived just at sunset, but the scene was lit up by the glare of the core paparazzi (aka. scientists so excited that they braved the cold to photograph the event).

Work will now begin around the clock. Those of us lucky enough to work the night shift have a long night ahead of us! Sunset was at 11 PM, over two and a half hours ago, as I write this. However, it still looks like dusk. Sunrise is at 4:30 AM. It seems it won’t ever get truly dark while we’re down here.

TRACY AND CHRIS WERE HAPPY CAMPERS

Earlier in the week, Chris and I attended a two-day snow survival skills course. Attending (and passing) the course allows us to leave McMurdo Station for travel to the drilling rig, which is remote, and to the Dry Valleys on a planned field trip. Around here the course is referred to as Happy Camp, but I'm sure you can imagine that this is somewhat of a misnomer. After a half day of lectures on survival in extreme cold, we were taken out to our camping spot on the sea ice. There were 18 of us, and we were put to work putting up two Antarctic (so-called Scott) tents, four regular mountain tents, and a wind break made out of blocks of snow we carved out of the ground with a steel saw. Two industrious guys dug a snow cave and slept in it. Our instructors then left us to make dinner (dehydrated packets of pasta that we added hot water to), endure the night, then break camp in the morning by a certain time.

The night was excruciating, although the snoring that rang around the camp suggested that at least two people were able to get a full night of sleep. The air temperature was 22 below zero Fahrenheit (that's 33 below in Celsius), with a wind chill of 62 below. Chris was able to get a bit of sleep, but I spent most of the night awake and shivering. I did situps, drank water, and ate chocolate to keep warm. Getting up for a bathroom break was out of the question, but you can ask me about the mechanics of that some other time...

The next day we went through some drills to simulate emergency situations. One exercise was meant to simulate a situation where a team member becomes lost in a white-out. We wore white buckets on our heads to simulate the conditions. We were given a rope and told to make a plan. What a learning experience! Trying to communicate was virtually impossible because we couldn't see or hear anything. We found our victim, but managed to get ourselves so tangled in the rope that if the situation were real we would have found it difficult to find our way back to the shelter.

We were more successful with the next situation. In this case, we were told that the vehicle we were traveling in had caught fire and burned to the ground. A big storm was coming, and one of our team members was going hypothermic. We needed to set up an emergency camp, and fast! We ripped open the survival kit (provided whenever anyone travels remotely). It included a tent, a sleeping bag, a stove, a shovel, and some food. We also managed to salvage the ham radio from the car. Our task was to pitch the tent, stabilize the hypothermic person, build a wind break out of snow blocks, boil some water, set up the radio, and make contact with the base. All this in under 20 minutes. To our great surprise, our group managed to do it -- and all in a howling wind.

Both Chris and I came back rather worse for wear. I had a low-level cold going in, and now have laryngitis. Unfortunately, Chris has frostbite (2nd degree) on three of his toes, and now has to be extremely careful while it heals.

Upon reflection, the experience gave me a huge appreciation of the early explorers who braved the conditions for months at a time. I also have a much better sense of my own capabilities and the extremes that I can endure.

UPDATE: Chris' toes are completely healed. We both look back on the experience with appreciation, as we have a good sense of what we would do if we were stuck somewhere remote in bad weather.

ARRIVAL IN ANTARCTICA

Just a short message to let you know that we arrived safely and are now based at McMurdo Station on Ross Island. After a day of rest in Christchurch, New Zealand, we were sent to the US Clothing Distribution Center to be issued our Extreme Cold Weather Clothing. This was basically lots of hats, gloves, socks, coats, etc. The best parts are the big red parka and the so-called bunny boots. These are huge, white rubber boots that look ridiculous, but are supposedly very warm.

We flew across in a large military jet (C-17). There were about a hundred of us, along with quite a bit of cargo. We sat mostly in jump seats, which were surprisingly comfortable given the flight time of about 5 hours. The crew allowed us to visit the cockpit when we flew over the Transantarctic Mts.

Since arriving on Oct. 5, we've been setting up our workspaces in the Crary Laboratory in preparation for the arrival of the first sediment core. We're living in dorm rooms and, yes, Chris and I luckily got a room together. We weren't sure ahead of time that this would happen.

Tomorrow we're off to what is called Happy Camp. This is a two-day snow survival school. We'll be building snow shelters and then will sleep in them overnight. It's supposed to be fun.

The temperature today is 15 degrees below zero Fahrenheit with a wind chill of 36 below. It's supposed to be a few degrees warmer tomorrow. With that I'll sign off until our next update. I hope everyone at home is keeping well.

Why a blog?

This blog is meant mainly for family and friends who wish to follow my adventures in Antarctica.

I traveled to Antarctica in October 2007 to take part in an international geological study that goes by the name of ANDRILL (ANtarctic DRILLing). ANDRILL's objective is to recover cores of sedimentary rock from the sea floor beneath the Ross Sea, which will help us to interpret Antarctica's climatic history over the past 50 million years. The results will provide a long-term context within which climate changes going on now may be assessed. More information on ANRILL may be found at www.ANDRILL.org. Follow the links to Project Iceberg to see lots of photos and even video.