Home Sweet Home

One final post for all our faithful readers. You will be happy to know that we're are all back where we came from: Rob is in Wellington, I'm in Cambridge (England), and Robert and Jenny are back at Harvard. 

All in all, this entire expedition has been an amazing experience. We were exposed to active research in a relevant and exciting scientific question, experienced the ambiance of scientist-filled McMurdo, were awed by the staggeringly stunning Dry Valleys, and gained valueable knowledge about just how a field expedition is run. 

Unfortunately, results from this fieldwork won't be in for months to years. But fieldwork is only part of this research - the data is what we're really looking for. And getting the data takes a lot of processing time. 

On a related note, I ran across a documentary called Ice People - our Olympus Range camp site can be seen at 0:30.

Thanks again for following the blog, and please feel free to post any last comments/questions. We had a great time, and we hope you had funr reading about it.

Christchurch Part Two and the Case of the Faking Duck

Hello to all our faithful readers. Despite the fact that we aren't in Antarctica you are still reading this blog, and for that I commend you. After one night in Christchurch, the group dispersed; Robert headed to Akaroa with an old friend, Jenny caught the first plane north that she could, and I lazed around Christchurch. Although I'm sure my day would be the one you would least like to hear (at least from first description I think it sounds the most potentially boring), I'm the one with the Internet connection. So tough luck.

It's summer down here! Yes, this was in theory known while we were in Antarctica, but when it's sunny and 29C (85F), this fact hits home a little bit better. This, of course, was part of the reason I wanted to stay in Christchurch another day before heading back to inevitably colder and drearier Boston or Cambridge. So, after walking around to pick up a sandwich, I decided it was just too hot and plopped myself down in Victoria Square Park in central Christchurch. Jenny so kindly left behind Bill Bryson's "In a Sunburned Country" for me, so I amused myself with that. Yes, it is about Australia, but I'll call it close enough. I would recommend the book to anybody who wants to go to Australia, and if you didn't already it will make you want to roadtrip the Outback.

As I was sitting in the park I pulled out my tasty chicken sandwich lunch. Within minutes a couple ducks came waddling over to beg off some crumbs. I (being infintely charitable) shooed them away. A couple minutes later another duck came over - this one was limping though, in an even-more-awkward-than-normal-duck-waddle sort of way. I almost felt sorry for it and gave it a piece of bread, but I stuck to my principles and enjoyed the sandwich myself. And as it saw me put the last morsel in my own mouth, it waddled away. Yes, waddled. It had been faking a limp for sympathy and a crust of bread. I tell you, these ducks are going to take over the city soon.

I know what you're thinking: After such a momentous lunch, how can the day get any better? Well, there was a lot more reading in the park and then dinner and drinks with some other friendly grad students who just got off the Ice as well and one of their Kiwi friends. Although it would be nice to have more R&R time in Christchurch, it's time to come home. See you all soon!

The Ungone

Allen, Robert, and I are all set to fly back to New Zealand tomorrow morning at 6:30 am. We've cleaned up and returned our gear, boxed and banded the rest of our samples, vacuumed our rooms, and packed our bags. We've even gone through "bag drag," the process in which we haul our stuff up to the cargo area and get everything weighed and checked in. Now that we've bag dragged, we've entered a state of being referred to by Robert as "the Ungone." Having only access to the contents of our carry on bag, we'll wander around McMurdo with nothing to do until we board our plane- this state doesn't last long if the weather holds until take off, but after a few days of delay the Ungone do begin to resemble zombies... or so I'm told.

In between all of our departure preparations, Allen and I have found a few opportunities to enjoy Antarctica while we still can (and frolic in the lovely summer weather we've been having). Yesterday we rented skis and headed back to Castle Rock to hike to the top. Though the snow was a little crunchy beneath our skis, the climb was pleasant and the clear sky provided an excellent view of Mt. Erebus.

The approach trail to Castle Rock with a steamy Mt. Erebus in the background

Going up Castle Rock (behind Allen is the sea ice)

Today, after banding 21 rocks boxes into a large wooden cube and returning our last item (a drill) to the BFC, we headed out again- this time to hike up Observation Hill. The weather was so warm today (~41 degrees F) that we had to strip down to short sleeves by the time we made it to the top.

With the weight of all the boxes and pallet included, this cube of samples weighs ~1490 lbs

Antarctica, Shmantarctica - it's not that cold here...
(Disclaimer: Antarctica IS cold in places like South Pole and the top of Mt. Erebus. Our friends who were up on Erebus said that -20 degrees C was a good day for them)

A view of Scott Base from the top of Observation Hill

McMurdo Station (or part of it) as observed from the top of Observation Hill

The Return of LIDAR

Our hearty quartet has been reduced to a mere band of 3 as Rob the mountaineer left Antarctica yesterday evening to go back to work in a land where energy is consumed to keep frozen foods cold and people are expected to change their clothes on a 24 hour cycle (it's a harsh world). In tribute to our kiwi friend, I encourage you to read this article describing one example of New Zealand's technological dominance over the US that Rob brought to our attention.

In other news, we went back to Sessrumnir Valley to get some more LIDAR data with Marianne today and while she was doing her scans Robert, Allen, and I went off to collect yet more rock samples. Although the weather was colder than it's been recently (dropped down to -8 degrees C), it was great to be back out in the field- if only for a few hours.

Plus, the helicopter trips between McMurdo and Sessrumnir Valley provided yet more fantastic views:

The LIDAR machine

The ice ponds at the bottom of the pothole features have increased in size since we were last in Sessrumnir Valley due to the additional melt water from the warm temperatures. Allen, perhaps lost without Rob's guidance, felt compelled to slide across the slippery ice on his belly.

Cold base glaciers creep into Taylor Valley

Geology by color: light brown = sandstone, dark brown = dolerite, white = snow/ice

Skua's eye view of Sessrumnir Valley

Happy New Year!

Although it might not be 2009 in Boston yet, it is in Antarctica. We celebrated (like everybody else in McMurdo) with the annual Icestock concert. There was a wide range of bands, from rock to bluegrass. But the midnight favorite that got the entire crowd dancing (yes, Robert and Rob too) and counting down in the frigid sunshine was a funk cover band called Porn Spill.

Just before midnight, Father Time interrupts the band to pass responsibility onto Baby New Year

Not too much else exciting going on down here. We've started sorting and cleaning gear and packing up samples to ship back to Harvard. Since everything is closed here today, we took a hike to see the Discovery Hut and a nearby ridge.

Looking out at the Trans Antarctic Mountains across the thinning sea ice

A LIVING Weddell Seal lounges on the sea ice (the first living non-skua-non-algae wildlife we've seen in Antarctica)

Discovery Hut - alas, we couldn't go inside without a guide

For all those dying to know about the poll...Drumroll please....around 320 samples was the final count! So congratulations to those who voted for 300-399. Ask Jenny about your prize. And of course, vote in our newest poll.

And in case you were wondering, the newest Blog header is from Sessrumnir Valley, home of our first camp and also where we'll be heading for a daytrip on Saturday.

Operation Sky-Hook

We're back in McMurdo! Now we can enjoy the luxury of solid structures to sleep in, running water with which to maintain proper hygene, and an internet connection that will enable/force us to interact with the real world again. Hooray.

As it turns out, the weeks of mild Antarctic weather we've experienced served only to lure us into a false sense of security with respect to this continent of extremes. As Allen mentioned in our last post (2 posts in 1 night, internet addiction anyone?), the winds sweeping down the valley of our camp had picked up a bit since we'd left earlier in the day. Well these strong winds (the Robs estimate an upper limit of ~60 mph) held steady over the next two nights, leading to the downfall of both Allen's mountian tent and Robert's "bombproof" Scott tent. As you may recall, this meant that 50% of our initial tent population had died in the field.

The miserable carcass of a dead mountain tent

Fortunately, we were nearing the end of our field season anyway and were planning on returning to McMurdo today(Dec. 30th) anyway. But with the winds howling down the valley and ripping our shelters to shreds as they were, it seemed unlikely that a helicopter pilot would feel safe touching down long enough for us to load up camp and escape. So, with the full understanding that our departure could be cancelled at the last minute, we broke down camp and carried as much as we could about 1/4 mile down valley to a somewhat less gusty pick up site. And, in case you were curious, large duffel bags DO act as a sails in these conditions.

Once everything was packed up (or at least, everything but the last Scott tent, which we kept up just in case we'd have to stay the night), we waited outside for the signs the helicopter. Eventually we heard the distinct noise of our get away vehicle as the helo appeared over the ridge and, after confirming with the pilot that he would indeed be landing (though he wouldn't power down), we quickly took down our tent and made one last dash out to the pick up site before heading back to Mac Town.

Here are a few beauty shots of our scenic flight back to McMurdo:

Ah, nothing but rock and ice.

The blue patches represent pools of meltwater on the surface of the ice.

Oh and as for the title...

B2, I sunk your Battleship Promontory

Dec. 25th:
Merry Christmas (and happy non-Christian winter holidays as well)!
Yesterday we moved to our 3rd and final camp out below Battleship Promontory in the Convoy Range, a 40 minute helicopter flight north from our Olympus camp, but our move was not without incident. As usual, we flew out first to the new site, along with half of our gear. Upon arrival, we set up our big cook tent (remember that it’s called the Endurance), tied it down to several stakes and began to eat lunch inside. In the middle of our meal, we heard the helicopter returning with the second half of our gear (all wrapped up in a sling load) and we all went out to help as the load was dropped off. Unfortunately, the drop site was a little too close to our cook tent and the combination of rotor winds and the worn state of the tent fabric quickly caused the whole tent (including table, chairs, and food) to rip from over half of its moorings and take flight into the air. With the helo still overhead, the airborne tent dumped its contents out into the blowing winds and Robert and I ran about grabbing these smaller items while Rob and Allen took hold of the tent itself. It wasn’t until the helicopter finally flew out of the valley and we had collected everything that had escaped during the “unscheduled release” that we realized the extent of the damage to our beloved Endurance tent- the entire length of a crucial seam had ripped apart! Luckily, we had been travelling from camp to camp with an extra Scott tent (just in case) and we were able to set this up for use as our new cook tent – so camp life has not been significantly affected by our little mishap. We’re just cozier now.
In other news, to celebrate the holiday, we made ourselves a hearty breakfast and headed off for a little fun on the glacier just a few miles down valley. I never thought I’d be ice climbing on Christmas before, but what else does one do in Antarctica for the holidays?

Dec 28th:
It’s been a couple days since we’ve posted, but that’s because we’ve been hard at work. The past couple days have taken us to the top of Battleship Promontory, a beautiful location flanked by huge sandstone cliffs, a prow (as the namers of the location thought) sticking out into the sea of dolerite around and below. Sheer on the sides, one would expect the top of the promontory to be fairly flat layers of sandstone – instead the entire area is dotted with potholes sunk down up to 50 feet in places. Everywhere you turn, there are more of these features, some connecting in channels, sometimes sharing snowbanks, and often toppling debris into themselves. Many of the holes have ponds (liquid in nice weather) at their bottoms. We’ve been sampling in the bottoms, on the ridges, up the channels, and everywhere in between – even dragging up the large DGPS to measure elevation change in these features and make small 3D maps. Today, after a longish breakfast necessitated by all our extra food, we headed down the Alatna Valley, hooking around Battleship Promontory to sample all the features at its base. Again, we found a lot of potholes, and a fairly large lake right beneath the Promontory. We could even see a darkened area where liquid water was leaking down the side of the cliffs and feeding into this pond – we were stunned to see so much liquid water around! We also found part of a mummified seal; originally described by Jenny and Rob as looking like a cabbage with bones, it seems to have been fragmented and transported (really far from the coast) by the wind. Of note is the amazing weather we’ve been getting. Hovering around freezing on Christmas, 4°C (~39°F) on the 26th and 8°C (~46°F) yesterday! Even though it got back to more normal (maybe even freezing) temperatures today and we have fairly high winds this evening which made hiking home a challenge, it’s been pretty constantly sunny. Yup, it’s a harsh continent. And made so much harsher by the absolutely stunning locale – Battleship Promontory’s sheer sandstone cliffs, the two glaciers draining into Alatna Valley before us, and the Convoy Range rising behind us. Certainly, it’s a very tough life out here in the field. Trust us.

Giant Pothole at base of Battleship Promontory

Sandstone Cliff, as viewed from the bow of Battleship Promontory

Looking into Alatna Valley from the top of Battleship Promontory

Sandstone erodes in some amazing ways...

The Thing! Or a mummified seal...

Allen basks in the warmth of the Antarctic Sun

Jenny ice climbs a glacier

The Convoy Range (Battleship Promontory is on the right)

Cold based glaciers in Alatna Valley

Rob and Allen search for a good climbing spot

Sandstone cliff as viewed from the bottom

Muppet Rock (unofficial name...)