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Viewing the Snow Pit

The biggest news was that yesterday was crystal clear. Ken and I had been waiting for a sunny day to film our snow pit. Since I had scraped the dividing wall between the two pits to only 15 cm thick (6”) it was primed and ready for viewing snow/ice layers. We ran out there before 6 am and it was perfect timing as the Sun was shining into the open pit. One of the pits is completely open on top and the one you stand in to view the adjoining wall is completely covered with plywood sheets. Once your pit is darkened you can see the light illuminate the wall, and it was a spectacular view of beautiful wind blown and storm layers. Last summer’s hoar frost layer was easily identified so the accumulation of snow for the last two years can be determined. The snow accumulation rate here is ~85 cm per year (25 cm of ice), so in our ~2 m deep snow pit you can see almost all of two year’s worth of snow.

Cargo In, Cargo Out

A C-130 (airplane) came in today. It carried out about 6 people and what we call retro cargo (cargo that goes back, in this case to McMurdo) and brought us about 8 more people and some gear. It was not a particularly sunny day but clear enough to land. Without the direct sunlight the light remains, as we call it, flat. In flat light you can often not even see small snow banks or exactly where the “ground” is. I have often tripped on a small snow mound or fallen down a small snow slope because I could not see the surface. Even on sunny days the snow surface is often so smooth that it is hard to tell where it is without any shadows.

Poetry on Ice

I have a special treat for you. Antarctica is not just about science. The whole place is full of beauty and wonder and promotes all kinds of creativity. While we were inMcMurdo there was a special program organized by many of the women that work in McMurdo. Their program titled “The Women’s Soiree” has been on-going in McMurdo every year for about 12 years. This event is a charity event and raffle tickets are sold with all proceeds going to benefit a charity in Christchurch NZ to thank that town for all it does for the US Antarctic Program and the thousands of scientists and support staff that travel through there each year. This year over $4,500 was raised.

Setting up the 3d Quadrat

The glue on my 3-d quadrat seems to have hardened properly so I installed it outside the communications building as close as possible to the meteorology (weather) station. Since there is already a professional grade weather station here, I have decided to use it for most of the weather data. All of the data should come from inside the 3d quadrat but you use what you can - and the meteorology station is right next to the 3d quadrat - and I did add my 2 data loggers to my 3-dquadrat, one on the snow level and one at the top, one meter up, a wind indicator (flag) on the upright bamboo poles that support the 3d quadrat, and a snow depth indicator. The data loggers I am using automatically record temperature and light intensity every hour, 24 hrs a day, for about 3 months. The relative humidity, additional temperature, and barometric pressure will come from the WAIS meteorology station.

Christmas Day

Yesterday and today are our days off for most folks. Though there was certainly a lot of work being done around here for a day off. Largely everyone did some work today with a little skiing, reading, movie watching thrown in. The biggest impact was that the cooks John, Karen, and Sue were also off. That means that we eat leftovers all three meals. One of our community jobs each day is being House Mouse. That means that we share washing dishes /clean-up responsibilities. Today I had House Mouse at supper time. I worked my shift with Brent and Elizabeth our camp supervisor. Both are really terrific great at dishes.

Calm Christmas Eve

It turned out to be an absolutely super day. The weather was fair, a plane landed and brought us our remaining three ice core handlers stranded n McMurdo, a National Ice Core lab person to help when we start drilling and collecting ice cores, and the person from McMurdo who is in charge of our camp personnel’s travel from McMurdo to WAIS Divide camp – and it turns out she is one of the most important people on the continent. Other than be very organized and professional, Sharon, is a very talented writer (we will publish one of her Antarctic poems on this blog soon) and makes the flags that are so important to all the camps and travel on the ground in the US Antarctic program. I have mentioned flags and flag lines a number of time on the blog and after this last big storm we understand exactly how important flags are. We have hundreds of red and green flags in this camp to mark pathways from tents to other camp buildings and black flags for danger. You might not be able to image how important these ~12” x 10” flags are to us here. I learned just days ago how vital they are to our safety when I could not see the 50’ between them as I traveled (barely) around camp during storm.

Change in the Weather

Yesterday morning was unbelievably clear and calm. This morning is overcast and lightly snowing. Yesterday we were supposed to get a plane in to pick up two passengers and fuel on its way to a camp at Patriot Hills but by mid afternoon the visibility was really poor and snowing lightly and the plane could not land here but went to a different location in West Antarctica. The image I added today is a view looking from the snow pits we finished digging yesterday toward Anais’s downhole temperature logging project. The picture was taken about 3 pm and you can see how poor visibility was at that time. I know that the image is very small but you can see the edge of Anais’s project area outlined by the black flags. If you look very very carefully about halfway up the flags you can barely distinguish the horizon line. If you think that it is tough to distinguish between sky and snow surface in this image believe me it is not any easier in real life. We often struggle to make out the horizon on these overcast days.

Digging Out

Last night the storm cleared away by 7pm. Suddenly the camp emerged from the storm and you could see from the galley about ¼ mile to the airfield and to the drill dome about ¼ mile in the other direction. As I mentioned yesterday, there is something very exciting about only being able to see flag to flag as you make your way to your tent but it would get very old very fast. Everyone is back to their usual game which is heavy on digging out. It is truly amazing how snow drifts. We have about a dozen yellow Arctic Oven tents and each one is oriented slightly differently in respect to the wind direction. Only one tent actually had snow inside and most only had minor drifting around the edges. Around my tent the wind scoured what looks like a moat (no alligators). The snow surface around my tent is about 2 feet higher than the floor level of the tent so I have to step down to get in to my tent. It was actually produced by a combination of scouring and snow accumulation that caused the snow bank/moat around the tent. Though out the whole storm there must have been only a couple of inches of real snow accumulation. The rest was from somewhere else in West Antarctica and blown here for our amusement.

Welcome to Antarctica!

Another day in the middle of a good Antarctic storm. No flights in or out today. The pilots are excellent but even they can not land if they can not see the surface. So, more around camp chores, frequent warm-up breaks, and lots of chatting about the good ole days when you could actually work outdoors in West Antarctica. Recently someone researched old records and found that in 1914, when Robert Scott and his crew died on their return from their trek to the South Pole, it was also a particularly stormy season. I do not know about 1914 but it is a lot stormier here now than it was when I was at this almost identical location in 2000.

Arrival in New Zealand

Zach is finally on his way to Antarctica! It takes many hours to actually get to the final destination of WAIS Divide, and New Zealand is the first stop outside of the United States. Here Zach will be outfitted with all of his cold weather gear, fill out necessary paperwork, gather the last bits and pieces of his gear, and receive additional training for his adventure in Antarctica. All of this is extremely important as he prepares to make the leap from the island of New Zealand to McMurdo station on the continent of Antarctica.

Preparing for Departure

Check in to see what Zach is doing as he prepares for his trip to the WAIS Divide field station in Antarctica. Having gathered all of his equipment together and checking it over once, twice, three times, he is ready to set out for the the most southerly of continents. Weight is a critical factor while packing and everything needed for this many week adventure has to fit into just a few bags. Drop in and find out how Zach managed to pull this off.