A FIELD TRIP TO THE DRY VALLEYS

Yesterday I had the most amazing geology experience of my life. I was lucky enough to travel to Wright Valley, one of the Dry Valleys on the western side of McMurdo Sound and on the Antarctic mainland. These are valleys that receive almost no precipitation and so have little to no snow cover. The eight of us traveled by helicopter, leaving McMurdo Station around 8 AM.

We flew across the sea ice, past the ANDRILL drilling site, and into the Wright Valley. We flew first to the head of the valley to view a feature called the Devron Six Icefalls (below). This represents the very edge of the Antarctic ice cap, as it travels from the polar plateau and spills into the head of the valley.

We then touched down on a nearby mesa called the Dias, which splits the valley in two. From here, we had fantastic views up and down the valley. Shown below is a shot looking seaward (away from the icefalls). The U-shaped valley profile is typical of valleys carved out by glaciers. The lake in the center is called Lake Vanda. It is one of the saltiest bodies of water on Earth. It is frozen over during most of the year, but melts around the edge to form a moat at the height of summer. Although frozen at the top, temperatures at the bottom (~200 feet down) are around 75˚F (25˚C). This is due to the high refractive index of the salty water and the activity of microbes (bacteria) that live at the bottom of the lake. Along the sides of the valley are smaller alpine glaciers that don't quite reach the valley floor.

Below is a closer view of the alpine glaciers. This shot was taken from the air.
The valley floor is covered by loose cobbles and sand, which was transported by glaciers that have filled the valley at times in the past. It made for difficult walking! Below is a picture of the valley floor. The black rocks, called ventifacts, have been polished and faceted over hundreds to thousands of years by the wind.

There are numerous seal carcases around the place. Radiocarbon ages suggest that some are several thousand years old. Most are young males. It's thought that they were driven away from their groups by older males and wandered off to find harems of their own. Unfortunately, they chose to wander landward and ended up too far from the sea.


On the trip back, we flew across the mountain ranges before heading out across the sea ice. Below is a view looking toward Mt Erebus, which lies behind McMurdo Station on Ross Island. The sea ice edge is visible in the middle left part of the picture, where the white sea ice meets the blue water. The sea ice is melting, and the edge is creeping ever closer! Summer is coming to Antarctica.

TURKEY TROT & THANKSGIVING

Thanksgiving was celebrated at McMurdo on Saturday 24 November. This was to allow most people on the base to have a day off. The big events of the day included the annual Turkey Trot, a 5 km race out to the ice runway and back to base. About 200 people participated, some in costume, some taking it very seriously, and many walking. It was a beautiful day with clear skies. The second big event was the Thanksgiving meal, served to 1000! It was very traditional, from the relish tray to the pumpkin pie.

The top photo shows the runners stretched out along the ice road. The second photo shows Chris, who finished in a time of 27:19, not bad considering the cold temperatures and the slippery footing. He was in the top 10 of the "over 40's." I walked the course with others, and, frankly, we were more interested in taking pictures and enjoying the day than winning a race. Nonetheless, we finished in about 1 hour. The third picture is of me with Mt Erebus (volcano) smoking in the background.

OBSERVATION HILL

I just returned from a midnight hike around and up Observation Hill, which overlooks McMurdo Station. It was a beautiful night, with almost no wind, clear skies, and temperatures around 25˚ F.

The top picture shows McMurdo Station as viewed from the sea ice road that leads to the ice runway (airport). Ob Hill sits at the right side of the photograph, and is around 750 ft high.

The second picture shows a view of McMurdo Station from the top of Ob Hill. The cross was erected in 1913 by the surviving members of Scott's fateful Terra Nova Expedition, a successful attempt to reach the South Pole that ended in tragedy when the party members who set out to reach the pole died on the return trip. They are pictured in the bottom photo, taken when they arrived at the pole. Scott is in the top row, center. The photo was found in the tent in which the bodies were discovered by a search party.

The third photo shows the view across the sea ice toward White Island (left) and Black Island (right). Most of the bad weather here makes its way toward us in the space between the two islands. The sunlight made the sea ice almost look like water.

A TRIP TO THE DRILLSITE

I finally made it out to the drillsite, located about 20 miles from McMurdo Station (see map). The drilling rig is draped by a big white shroud, which serves to keep the weather out and allows the drillers to work in a warm environment. Associated with the drilling rig are a series of containers that are outfitted with work stations at which people carry out various analyses on the cores. Other containers are used as living quarters for the 30 people who live at the drillsite. The trip took about 2 hours by Mattrack truck, on a road across the sea ice that is maintained by an army of plows and monitored constantly for cracks that start to develop as the weather warms. The sea ice right now is between 6 and 8 feet thick. This might seem thin considering the water below is several hundred feet deep, but it's thick enough to land C-17s and other large jets. The route is marked by a series of flags mounted on bamboo poles, located about 20 feet apart. This seems a close spacing, but there are times when the visibility deteriorates to the point where it's not possible to see from one flag to the next.

WILDLIFE ENCOUNTERS

Temperatures are warming, the sea ice is thinning and breaking up, and wildlife is beginning to appear around McMurdo Station. In the past couple of days, I've had the opportunity to take trips away from the station, and each time I've been lucky enough to encounter some Antarctic icons.

From top to bottom, these are:
The skua, a scavenging bird, which feeds on other birds' eggs, various young animals, and many other things too disgusting to mention here. They are adept at spotting food being carried from the galley across McMurdo Station, and commonly swoop down and snatch items from peoples' hands. It pays to look up when leaving the galley, as they tend to perch above the doorways.

A Weddell Seal, lying next to the hole it's made in the sea ice. The seal lay on its back and peered around at us. The Royal Society Range is visible in the background.

An Adelie Penguin, which crossed the road as we were travelling in a Mattrack across the sea ice. It was alone and seemed to be lost.

PROJECT ICEBERG VIDEOS

Megan Berg is putting out a series of videos documenting ANDRILL and the history behind it. There is a new one each week. The videos may be found at:

http://www.andrill.org/iceberg/videos/2007/index.html

There are different download options, depending on whether you have a quick connection or a dial-up connection.

Chris and I are in the 2nd video, entitled "Antarctic Geology." The first video provides a good overview of what it's like to travel to Antarctica and work at McMurdo Station. The third video talks about the history of Antarctic exploration, and emphasizes the last International Polar Year, which took place in 1957. Several of the scientists who took part in some of the first Antarctic research efforts are interviewed.

FRESHIES

Fresh vegetables and fruits are much sought after down here. We depend largely on military transport planes to bring fresh food to us. However, when the weather is bad or other types of cargo take precedence, we may not see fresh fruit and veg -- called "freshies" -- for weeks at a time. Today, after about 14 days with no freshies, we were happy to see some lettuce laid out for the evening meal. What a treat!

McMurdo does have a greenhouse, pictured above from outside and inside, but it isn't big enough to supply the ~800 people here now. The greenhouse was built in 1989 from existing buildings by a group of volunteers. I'm not sure where the produce ends up, but whoever gets to partake is lucky!

STEPPING BACK IN TIME: WHAT'S INSIDE DISCOVERY HUT?

ABOVE: (from top to bottom) Discovery Hut, as viewed from McMurdo Station. Views from inside the hut, including a lamp box stamped with the expedition name, the kitchen, complete with a meal that still waits to be cooked (What are those strange lumps in the frying pan? Seal meat?), and two pairs of pants hung up to dry in the kitchen.

Discovery Hut was built by British explorer Robert Scott for the Discovery Expedition (1901-1904). The expedition wintered over in 1902 because their ship became locked in the sea ice. The original plan was to utilize the hut, but it was found to be very difficult to heat. As a result, many of the expeditioners preferred to live on the ice-locked ship. The hut was built on one of the most exposed points on Ross Island. Why? Because this is one of the few places that remains snow free. Unfortunately, the reason the area remains snow-free is because it lies exposed to strong winds that sweep the snow away. The hut was subsequently used as a staging post and/or storage area by later expeditions of Shackleton and Scott, and was abandoned in 1913.

The hut is an interesting place to visit. It is a protected site, so we needed to find a guide to let us in and show us around. It was like stepping into a time machine. The food, cooking gear, and other items are laid out as if we can expect the explorers to come back at any moment. Seal blubber, used for heating, cooking, and lighting, lies trimmed and stacked neatly in the front room. The walls and ceiling are stained black with the soot. The lamp box pictured above is stamped with the expedition information from Scott's Terra Nova Expedition, on which he and the other members died while making their way from the South Pole. From the hut, the memorial cross for Scott is visible on Observation Hill, which overlooks McMurdo Station.

The most common food items in the hut are digestive biscuits, dog biscuits, oatmeal, and cocoa. I've never seen so many biscuits in one place. There are even a few lying around with bites taken out of them. There are also a couple of carcases hanging in the larder. The food is apparently still edible, and has remained this way because of the extreme cold and aridity. There are some folks down here studying this phenomenon in order to learn more about long-term food storage.

BIG RED

Down here, Big Red is your best friend. Big Red blocks the icy winds and keeps you warm.

Sometimes it's hard to keep track of one particular Big Red, as there are so many other big reds about. When not being worn, Big Red is hung on a rack, along with many other big reds. It's a bit like parking a car in a WalMart parking lot or a 10-story parking garage. You'd better remember which spot you left it in, or it may take awhile to find it!

I'll miss Big Red when I'm back home.

TODAY SHOW BROADCASTS LIVE FROM MCMURDO

Ann Curry, a correspondent for NBC's Today Show, broadcasted live this morning from McMurdo Station. Her broadcast formed part of a chain of live broadcasts from the Arctic, Equator, and Antarctic billed as "Ends of the Earth," which focus on the issue of global warming. This is the first time that a live broadcast of this sort has been made. There will be two more live broadcasts, which will show on Tuesday and Wednesday morning in the US (middle of the night here). The crew have been filming down here for about a week, and indicated that the broadcasts will include stories about the various science projects going on down here, including ANDRILL. Stay tuned!

BEST FISHES FROM ANTARCTICA

On the lower level of the Crary Science and Engineering Laboratory is a room full of sea water tanks that house some of the fish and invertebrates that live offshore (and under the sea ice).

My favorite is the Antarctic Toothfish (aka Antarctic Cod). These guys have adapted to the extreme cold in some curious ways. They have antifreeze proteins in their tissues and blood because the seawater is colder than the normal freezing point of tissue. They have a very slow metabolism, with a heartbeat once every six seconds. These cods have a lifespan of about 40 years and can reach lengths of over 6 ft and weights that exceed 250 pounds!

The toothfishes in the Crary tanks will come up to the surface to say hello. These are young ones, less than a foot in length, caught offshore in about 500 ft of water. Aren’t they cute?

LOCAL TRANSPORTATION

ABOVE: A few interesting vehicles used around McMurdo, including (from top to bottom) Ivan the Terra Bus, a Delta, a Tucker Sno-Cat, a Pisten Bully, and a Mattrack pickup.

There are a lot of interesting vehicles down here, which are designed for getting around on the snow and ice. I’ve included pictures of some of the more interesting ones. In addition to these, there are standard vehicles, pickups and vans, which have been modified for the cold and snow (4-wheel drive, large snow tires, engine-block heaters, and hydraulic emergency brakes). When parked, vehicles are “hitched up” to electrical outlets to keep the engines warm. There are also a lot of bulldozers and tractors that are used in maintaining the roads. A few lucky people get to use the skidoos.

My first ride, from the airplane to the base, was on Ivan the Terra Bus. It's so big, the door entrance was at head level. We were taken to Happy Camp in a Delta, with 18 of us packed into the back. I'll soon be traveling across the sea ice to the drillsite, in either a Pisten Bully or a Mattrack.