Week 4: Down in a Hole, Touching Critters & Standing By to Head to the Field!

Hopefully, this was my last full week here at McMurdo and this time next week, I’ve already been living in my tent for a few days! I will have less Internet out in the field than McMurdo, so if I’m able to get a weekly blog out, it will most likely be text only. But more to follow!!!

Last week’s post finished off when I got back from Scott Base. I continued my evening with the weekly Sunday science discussion. This week’s lecture was about the oldest ice on Earth that was found at Allen Hills in Eastern Antarctica and is dated to ~ 6 million years old. While WAIS Divide, where I will be going, has the longest ice core at ~3 miles long, it is only approximately 80,000 years old. Allen Hills ice cores are significantly smaller, but older due to glaciers moving exposing ice that otherwise will be significantly deeper. To read more, check out: https://news.oregonstate.edu/news/six-million-year-old-ice-discovered-antarctica-offers-unprecedented-window-warmer-earth

On Monday, we got the opportunity to go out to the observation tube under the sea ice! It was an incredibly awesome experience. Climbing down about 10-15 feet below the surface of the water in an enclosed capsule. I was touching all sides going up/down, but it does open up a bit more at the bottom, so I wasn’t too claustrophobic or worrying about getting stuck. Not too many creatures but some small fish, and it was neat seeing the sea ice and the “brine-sicles” underneath it. This is a result of the salt separating from the water and then the outside freezing before the waterline, which is below the freezing point. This apparently is NOT a yearly thing, so it was great luck that we were able to experience this before headed out to the field, since it will be open water by the time we get back.

Tuesday was Veteran’s Day and they put together a slide show that played through out the galley and had a meet up at the VIP house (aka Hut 10) with cake, pizza, and pop. Also spent the afternoon helping out the lodging office with cleaning doors and chipping away ice and snow.

Wednesday we finalized the remaining outstanding items to get into the cargo system and went on through our field put in plan. That evening, there was another great talk with out artist in residence, Lily. She works with scientists to bring art to the science world and science to the art world. This year, she was working with the divers for inspiration under the water. For more about her work, check out: https://lilysimonson.com/

On Thursday we had a chance to check out the touch tank in the lab. Scientists here are studying the animals right here in the McMurdo sound. I was surprised on the abundance of sea life in a place so dark and cold under the ice. In the afternoon, I went out for another hike and got to check out the seals, as well, as view some memorials dedicated to those who have lost their lives here.

Friday was supposed to be the first put in flight out to the field camp. However, weather was not co-operating at the camp site. The last time folks were at this location was back in February, so the conditions have to be close to perfect since the aircraft has to go full VFR and since there isn’t a real runway/skiway in place, the surface and horizon definition needs to be good.

We got a chance to tour the Power Plant here and it’s quite fascinating what all goes into powering the base. Currently, the base operates mostly on diesel. We do have some windmills for supporting wind power and back in the 1960s they do have nuclear, but the cleanest and safest way to operate down here has determined to be diesel. And fun fact, the person running the power plant is a formal SWO Nuke Naval Officer. She’s pretty awesome!

Additionally, I finally got a chance to link up with the McMurdo weather folks and launch a weather balloon! McMurdo weather personnel are under a different contract than those of us who go to South Pole and the Field Camps. They have a full time contingent in Charleston, SC and then they deploy folks from that company down to McMurdo for the respective seasons. Down at my field camp, I will be launching ceiling balloons as needed.

Saturday was the 2nd attempt for our put in flight to go out, but we already knew it wasn’t going to happen due to the weather conditions. At best guess, next week we will at least get one, if not both flights out there. Sunday was my day off and I started it with another fantastic brunch! From there, I FINALLY went into the vinyl room to check it out. There is so many records in there that I would take years and years to get through, but I spent a good hour checking out the “card catalog” and playing some Iron Maiden, Nirvana, and some Ozzy.

Went back to Scott Base in the afternoon to pick up a few more souvenirs and since I’m a vet, I was able to get one of their coveted military coins. Otherwise, I’m going to spend the rest of the day getting packed up to hopefully be heading out by Wednesday.

Not sure what the blog will look like going forward, but I will do my best to provide updates as I’m able to. I love sharing this adventure with you all! Thanks for all the support and hopefully next post will be from my tent city!