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.
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:
About this Blog
This blog is dedicated to a research expedition to the McMurdo Dry Valleys in Antarctica. Through field mapping of geomorphic evidence, sample collection, and cosmogenic nuclide concentration measurements in the Noble Gas Lab at Harvard, we hope to better understand the behavior of the East Antarctic Ice Sheet during Miocene (~23 to 5 million years ago) and Pliocene (~5-1.8 mya) times. The Early Pliocene is the most recent period in which global temperatures were significantly warmer than the present, therefore providing us with a potential analog for a warming climate. This research is generously funded by the NSF Polar Science Program.
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
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