First message from Antarctica
McMurdo Station, Antarctica
November 14, 2003
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| Molly Miller in Antarctica |
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Graduate student Nichole Knepprath
and I have been in Antarctica for a week now. Our route took us
from Nashville to Christchurch, New Zealand, where we were issued
Extreme Cold Weather (ECW) gear. Last Friday, decked out in our
ECW clothing, we squeezed into the web seats of a C-141 military
transport plane and within five hours landed on the frozen ocean
just off the coast of McMurdo Station, Antarctica.
So far, the weather
generally has been excellent, with high's around 15 degrees (F) and
light to moderate wind. Remember, it's summer here in Antarctica.
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Tim Cully, left, and
John Isbell packing for the two-month field expedition
Photo by Molly Miller |
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Since arriving, the Vanderbilt group (myself, Nichole, and mountaineer
Tim Cully) and our collaborators, John
Isbell of the University of
Wisconsin with students Pete
Flaig and Zelenda Koch, have been preparing to travel to the Beardmore
Glacier area where we will unravel clues about ancient climate and
ancient freshwater ecosystems that are hidden in the rocks in the Transantarctic
Mountains towering about the ice.
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Antarctic researchers
practicing how to traverse crevassed areas safely
Photo by Molly Miller |
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Preparations are done with care,
because it is imperative to have needed gear (tents, sleeping bags,
Coleman stoves, radios, etc.) in good operating condition and plenty
of food. Planning meals and packing food for six (hungry)
people for 60 days calls for a level of organization not required when
there is a Kroger nearby!
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Nicole Knepprath
practicing how to climb out of a crevasse
Photo by Molly Miller |
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Tim Cully also has been giving lessons on safe travel in the snow, which commonly
covers and hides crevasses (large cracks) in the overlying ice. We practiced
traversing crevassed areas while roped together, as well as how to extract someone
on the rope who has fallen into a crevasse using rope and pulley systems, and
how to climb out of a crevasse on a rope. Equally importantly, we learned to
stop ourselves when sliding down a steep slope using an ice axe. Sliding downhill
on your stomach is fun, but headfirst on your back is more daunting.
Most of the group practiced snowmobile travel during a trip across the frozen
Ross Sea to the hut used by Robert Scott on his ill-fated trip to the South Pole
in 1912. The hut and its contents are well preserved, frozen in time.
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Mt. Erebus
looms over McMurdo Station
Photo by Molly Miller |
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Looming over McMurdo Station is Mt. Erebus, a 12,000
foot high active volcano. It belches steam more or less constantly, and is
continually monitored. For real-time photos of Mt. Erebus' crater and more
information, go to http://www.ees.nmt.edu/Geop/mevo/mevo.html .
Although the Vanderbilt work is concentrated in the
Beardmore Glacier area, undergraduate Kelsey Bitting is undertaking
a project that will be conducted in the aquarium at McMurdo Station. Animal
shells, such as those of clams and snails composed of calcium carbonate,
tend to dissolve in very cold water. That raises the question of how these
animals can secrete shells that would seem to be constantly dissolving.
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Aquarium
tanks at McMurdo are maintained at a chilly 28
degrees Fahrenheit
Photo by Molly Miller |
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To check the rate of dissolution, Kelsey examined clam
shells at Vanderbilt using both a binocular and scanning electron microscope.
We took the shells to the McMurdo aquarium were the water is 28 degrees F
(the salt keeps it from freezing). The shells will sit in the cold water
until January. We will bring them back to Vanderbilt and, during the spring
semester, Kelsey will evaluate the amount of dissolution that took place.
The group leaves in two days for the
Beardmore Glacier. Before then we will test our “climbing out of
a crevasse” techniques – supported physically and emotionally by team members who have
anchored ropes and are great cheerleaders!
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