Journey to the Ice

Leaving the Ice

2010-01-05T20:54:00.002+13:00

Well thanks everyone for playing along and reading all of my posts for the past three months. I was going to leave today, but due to weather the plane was delayed. They will try again tomorrow, but the forecast doesnt look good. Since I was to board the plane today, all of my stuff is packed up. I have about three more things to write about, but have none of my computer stuff and consequently no pictures. Please check back soon, as I will put a few more Antarctic posts. On the way home I am stopping in Sydney, Australia and Honolulu, HI for a few vacation days before classes start. I should be able to put some pictures up from those stops. Looking forward to getting back to Montana for skiing, hockey, and classes! Geomicrobiology and Soil and Environmental Microbiology, I cant wait!! Check back soon!

Happy New Year

2010-01-03T22:11:00.003+13:00

This past New Year's Eve was the most unique celebration I have ever experienced. For 22 years now, this has been a celebration that occurs in the night and darkness, usually with a large group of people watching Dick Clark and the Times Square ball drop. This year there was no TV for the official time. The 10 of us that were at Lake Hoare all had different times on our watches and so the nomination of official time was arbitrary, but still important so we knew when to pop the cork. Other reasons that made this celebration strangely intriguing was the fact that we relaxed on the sand beach of Lake Hoare in the bright sun. The air temperature was a comfortable 33 F and the bright sun made it feel like low 40's. I have to include one picture that is for Burkle. I would send it to him, but, once again, Coe email doesnt accept pictures. Here you go Burkle, I wish I could be there to see you win another national title. Since I cant be there, I send my support from Antarctica. Happy New Year everyone.

Merry Christmas

2009-12-29T17:06:00.004+13:00

Merry Christmas!

It is a bit past, but I thought I would fill everyone in on what Christmas is like in Antarctica. Throughout the week there are several events each night. The different departments around station host a party or event during the week. It is fun to go to these because they are held in the buildings which house the different departments, so just going to the events is an interesting experience. The first one we went to was the acoustic concert in the Waste barn. It sounds gross, but they cleaned it up and one would never know it is where all the trash from station is sorted. The concert was great because it was very relaxed and interactive with the audience. Some people weren't as good as others, but they made it quite funny by joking with the audience. There were three acts that really stood out. The best was a guy who played the banjo and sang Feliz Navidad. It was awesome! Christmas eve was the main Christmas party at the Vehicle Maintenance Facility, basically a huge shop building with lots of space for mingling, relaxing, or music and dance. Much of the station showed up for this party. Christmas day was nice because we took the day off and I hiked to the top of Observation Hill. The wind was really blowing and the cloud cover obscured the view of station, but still nice to have a break and go for a short hike. I couldn't go without watching National Lampoons Christmas Vacation, so we had a viewing of that during the afternoon. Christmas dinner was amazing with lobster tail and prime rib. After Christmas dinner was the MAAG (McMurdo Alternative Arts Gallery). This is a open event for people to display work that they have produced while on station. Actually some really interesting pieces of art displayed. Later in the evening I went with some other people to the live band karaoke in the Berg Field Center. In the end, it wasn't Christmas at home, but keeping busy with work and different activities made enjoyable.

Merry Christmas,

Alex

Sampling for my project!

2009-12-29T17:05:00.006+13:00

Greetings,

I have neglected to write for the past few days, as I have been in McMurdo, and no one wants to hear me drone on about packing for the field, processing Thymidine samples, or doing other routine lab work. I went back into the field on the 27th to Lake Hoare Camp. I used a day trip on the 27th to do the first sampling for my project. I have not mentioned the details of my project yet, so here is what I am doing!

The reason the dry valleys are so interesting to work in is the lack of higher organisms. Food chains down here are extremely simple. The different trophic levels are still present, but when nematodes and rotifers at the top of the food chain, and the only primary producers are cyanobacteria, phytoplankton, and mosses, it becomes obvious why it is a wonderful system to work in. I am interesting in the cyanobacterial mats that inhabitat the stream and lake environments. They also inhabit the areas of meltwater that are sporadically wet, which showcases their ability to survive extreme dessication, as the rarely get wet even in the summer. I am looking at two different genera of cyanobacteria, Phormidium and Nostoc. These occur commonly throughout the Taylor Valley.

(The orange color is a Phormidium mat in Priscu stream, which leads into East Lobe of Lake Bonney)

More specifically, I am interested in the bacterial communities found within the network of filamentous cyanobacteria that dominate the mats. The bacteria living with in the mat are most likely there for a symbiotic reason or just transient in nature. The two major hypotheses being tested are will the communities present be significantly different when mats from different aquatic habitats are compared and will the communities present in the mats dominated by cyanobacteria from different families. Essentially, these hypotheses test the effect of stream and lake water chemistry and cyanobacteria physiology on bacterial communities. I have collected about 50% of my samples so far, and analysis will be carried out back in Montana.(This is a picture of Lake Chad. It is one of my sample sites. I put this up here for Garber, as I promised I would send it to him, but since Coe email doesnt accept pictures, this is best I can do.)

My departure date is now set at January 5th. I need to get back for classes which start on the 12th of January. There will be posts after I leave the ice, as I will be traveling to Sydney for 2 days and Hawaii for two days. Hopefully some cool pictures to come!

Take Care,

Alex

Fryxell Hike

2009-12-21T11:46:00.004+13:00

The best thing to do when there is free time in the Dry Valleys is go for a hike. When we were at Lake Fryxell last time, there was an open afternoon and I used the opportunity to climb a peak behind camp. It was not a long hike, but straight up mostly. I dont have too much to say about the hike other than the views were incredible at the top and on the way up. I wish I knew more about geology and could describe in detail the amazing rock intrusions and formations that I saw along the way. My attempts would be adequate, but I know there are some geologists out there to correct me. Sorry Mr. Foreman, I remember a lot from 9th grade Honors Earth Science, but the geology details have escaped me. Enjoy the pictures and view!

(Lake Fryxell on the right, Commonwealth Glacier in the middle, and Mt. Erebus in the background)
(This is an aerial view of the Canada Stream which is an Antarctic Specially Protected Area (ASPA). There is a very high abundance and diversity of microbial mats, mosses, and other fragile living things in the area. As the name suggest, it drains the melt water off of the Canada Glacier into Lake Fryxell.)

Take Care,

Alex

Busy Weeks

2009-12-16T18:21:00.006+13:00

Hello once again,

Well it has been some time since my last post, so I will need to get everyone up to speed. for the past two weeks we have been working on the second round of sampling of the Taylor Valley lakes. This round of sampling has been very busy, as we do not have to drill and melt the holes again. This causes 4am sampling mornings to come about every three days. I apologize for the lack of posts, but it has been busy. Now that we are back in McMurdo I am planning on posting about our sampling experiences and hikes that I went on.

I promised a map a long time ago, so here is a map of Taylor Valley, which is one of the valleys of the area know as the Dry Valleys. (Click on the map to make it larger) The Dry Valleys are in a region of Antarctica known as Victoria Land. This area is to the west of Ross Island, which is just north of the Ross Ice Shelf. If one were to look at a common map of Antarctica the Ross Ice Shelf is very easily spotted. Usually Victoria Land is labelled as well. On to the map.... In the middle of the map you can see the large Taylor Glacier. This glacier is the western limit of the Taylor Valley area that we study. Directly to its east is Lake Bonney. The lobes of Bonney can be seen as well. The narrows separates the two lobes of the lake. Interestingly, the narrows between the lobes of West and East Bonney is the site of one of the first data points collected in the Valleys. While Scott was exploring this area, he measured the width of the narrows. It was something very small, on the order of a few meters. Now it is about 30-40 m wide. Obviously, the lakes are on the rise since his observation in the early 1900's. When we sample the Taylor Valley lakes, we start in the east at Lake Fryxell and move our way west towards Bonney. So that summarizes our movements during the two limno runs. More to come soon!

Take Care,

Alex

The Ice Edge!

2009-12-04T17:28:00.004+13:00

Hello!

Yesterday we went to the ice edge to drop our CTD instrument. There have been problems with the pressure sensor which determines depth. Dropping it into at least 50 m of sea water will give us a comparison to see if the pressure sensor is off due to the changing salinities in the Dry Valley lake. Some of them (East and West Lobe of Lake Bonney) go from freshwater under the ice to five times sea water. The helo landed and immediately three Emperor Penguins jumped out of the water onto the ice. There were two safety people that came with us that checked the ice and helped us rope off before going to the actual edge of the ice. Once secured with ice anchors, we could safely walk up to the edge and drop the instrument. It was incredible to watch the currents push the floating chunks of ice into each other. The amount of power that was being generated by the currents was stunning. Before we could really do any work, several Emperor Penguins came up to us out of curiosity to check out who we were and what we were doing. Also coming to visit were a few Adelie Penguins. Emperors are the largest penguins. They have a very noble and serious appearance. Something about the expression and the way they carry themselves gives me that feeling. The Adelies are like little kids that like to have fun. They look so funny when they waddle fast and slide along their ventral surface. I really had a blast watching the Adelies play. Enjoy the pictures. I had a blast taking them and if it looks like they are close, they are. We just sat and they came up to us. This was another interesting feeling to have a wild animal come up to you out of curiosity, with out fear.

We leave for Lake Fryxell tomorrow as long as the weather holds out. Look forward to some more pictures from the beautiful Dry Valleys, this time with streams flowing and the melt season in full swing. Cant wait to get back in the field!

Lastly, I am attempting to get together a website that is an internet based image hosting site. That way I can put up lots of pictures for you to look through.

Take Care,

Alex

Scott's Discovery Hut

2009-12-01T21:22:00.006+13:00

Hello Again!

Two days ago I had the opportunity to tour Scott's Discovery Hut at the end of Hut Point. This is a small hut about a mile from McMurdo. It was built for Scott in 1901 for his use throughout his four voyages to Antarctica. Shakelton used it during one of his trips as well. The history is preserved very well in the many years of cold. Their sheep and other animals that they had for food are still well preserved in one of the rooms. Old food tins and scraps of clothing still litter the floor and shelves on the inside. The old tattered clothes hanging from the rafters and laying around were interesting to see how they actually dressed back then. A lot different than our "Big Reds" (nickname for our big, puffy red parkas which I have not worn in about 3.5 weeks because it has been so warm). Comforts of home were hard to come by in this hut. There was a stove for cooking and a small science type area. It was warm, but drafty. I cant imagine being in there on a cold "spring" or "fall" day. The construction was actually well done. We were told that the hut was a prefabricated design that was constructed else where, then assembled on site. Almost the entire hut was 6 inch wainscoting, with nothing but blanket-like material for insulation. Enjoy the pictures and check back soon for my posting about our trip to the ice edge. You wont want to miss this next one!

Best,
Alex

Thanksgiving

2009-12-01T20:21:00.003+13:00

Happy Thanksgiving!

I know this is late, but I did want to include some pictures of Thanksgiving on the ice. We ate Thanksgiving dinner at Lake Hoare Camp. Rae and Becky, camp manager and assistant camp manager, respectively, made a wonderful dinner. Thanksgiving was an off day for us, so we hung around and slept in to recover from the busy sampling day before at Lake Miers. We returned Friday afternoon to McMurdo right in time for the large town Thanksgiving dinner on Saturday night. It was a really nice dinner, with amazing desserts! So after two Thanksgiving dinners I am finally full and now trying to run it off. The Limno Team competed in the Turkey Trot 5K on Saturday. It was a race that was more a test of how crazy are you, rather than fast you can run it. I finished 15th out of 115 with a time of 22 minutes flat. Personally, my worst 5k time ever. I won't make any excuses like the 30 knot wind that was blowing frozen snow or the straight up hill route or even the low air temperatures. I was really out of shape and that is why I ran slowly.

More to come later!

Alex

Lake Miers

2009-11-28T19:57:00.004+13:00

Greetings,

On Wednesday before Thanksgiving we took our day trip to Lake Miers. This was an absolutely beautiful helo ride from the Taylor Valley over the Ferrar and Blue Glaciers.

(Looking down the Ferrar Glacier towards the ocean)

Along the way there were snow capped peaks, ice bergs, and large ventifacts. Since this lake is done as a day trip only, we made a complete day of sampling out of the trip. The hole drilling took a little longer than excepted, as there was a pesky water layer about one meter below the surface. This meant that we were dealing with freezing slush and water through all 4.3 meters of ice. Couple this with several thick sediment layers that are quite prone to dulling auger blades and you get a hole that does not want to be drilled. I wish we would have gotten a picture of the entire drill with the five flights that it took to get through the permanent ice cover. Sampling was slightly abbreviated, as we did not perform the 24 hour 14C incubation for primary productivity. To go along with the claims of sampling, here are some actual pictures of science.
(Casting the Profiling Natural Fluorometer (PNF))

Similar to Lake Hoare, Lake Miers is classified as a freshwater lake throughout the entirety of the water column. Due to the freshwater of Lake Miers, the filtering performed on the samples once back at Lake Hoare went quickly.

(Lake Miers from the helo. Off in the distance is the ocean, which Miers drains will drain to when the melt begins.)

With the completion of sampling Lake Miers, we are through with the first Limno Run on the Dry Valley lakes. Currently we are back in McMurdo for 8 days to process samples and prepare for the next Limno Run. After spending 25 days camping in Taylor Valley, I find only one description of this place adequate. I must quote one of my team members, Loralee Ryan. She described Antarctica once as, “toeing the line between ecstasy and insanity everyday.” This is very true because of the uncanny beauty that is only complemented by the unpredictable nature of the continent. Despite the fact that we did not encounter any violent, unannounced storms, we still got a taste of how it feels to be at the will of nature.

Enjoy the pictures from Lake Miers!

Take care,

Alex

Lots of Posts

2009-11-24T10:07:00.010+13:00

Before I begin, I need something from those that are reading. If you have any suggestions for posts or pictures that you would like to see, please put the suggestions in the comments section. This way I can cater to the requests of those reading!

Sunday, November 15, 2009

The dates on the actual blogger site are going to be off for the next few as I have written them all at Lake Bonney where there is no internet. To keep everyone on track, I have included the date that my stories actually occurred.

Sunday was another off day for us, as the helos do not fly on Sundays and we had completed sampling Lake Hoare on Friday. To avoid staying cooped up in the Jamesway with everyone else, Amy and I went on hike on top of the Canada Glacier. The Canada Glacier separates Lake Hoare from Lake Fryxell. It was not really high in the air for good views, just novel to be walking on top of a glacier. Oh the other exciting thing is Sunday was shower day. They turned one of the old labs into a shower. Bathing here is interesting, as all water must be melted from glacier berries and then collected to be dumped into the grey water barrel. It did feel really good. I would have taken a picture, but I promptly became dirty again.

Monday, November 16, 2009

We moved from Lake Hoare to Lake Bonney. It is really crowded here with 14 people, plus 2 more are coming tomorrow. This lake has two lobes (east and west) which are separated by a sill protruding forth from the Bonney Riegel. This is significant from a limnology stand point because the inputs into the west lobe are significantly different. For one, Blood Falls is an outflow from a subglacial environment which has ancient marine brine flowing from it. Secondly, the largest glacier in the valley ends at the western extent of the west lobe. Together, these factors influence the water chemistry of the west lobe. The interesting thing about the sill which separates them is that, for the most part, keeps the two lobes isolated from each other. Although, when examining profiles from near the sill, the influence of west lobe on the east lobe can be seen. Of the lakes in Taylor Valley, Lake Bonney is the deepest and hyper saline in the bottom water layers.

To get to Lake Bonney, one may hike or get a helo ride. Since our flight was not scheduled to leave Lake Hoare until 1645, I opted to hike and set up camp before the rest of the group left Hoare. My hike took me west along the bottom of the Taylor Valley, past the Suess Glacier, Mummy Pond, and finally to Lake Bonney. The walk was about 4 hours total, and would have been shorter if not for several photo opportunities that could not be passed up. Along the walk I did see my first sign of life, other than the mummified seals. The small glacier pond to the west of the Suess Glacier was melting very slightly on the edges. There was a dark rock with a thin layer of microbial mat covered by an even thinner layer of water. Just under the water surface were bubbles originating from the mat. Which was most likely oxygen as a product of photosynthesis from some type of cyanobacteria. In the end, it was really exciting to see life recover from 8 months of cold and darkness to live and metabolize once again.

Sunday, November 21, 2009

Lake Bonney has really been a crazy few days. There are 16 people here and the camp is designed to hold 6. The reason for the craziness is the ENDURANCE team is here. This team is using an underwater robot to map and take water chemistry samples of the entire west lobe of Lake Bonney. The robot is about 12 ft in diameter and weighs close to 2000 pounds. This project will help to further understand the effects of the sill that separates the two lobes, stream input, and glacial effects. It is quite amazing the engineering that has gone into this robot. I won’t begin to try explaining the intricacies of the bot because I would not do it justice. The part I can explain is the Conductivity, Temperature, and Depth (CTD) sonde that it can deploy. These are basic measurements that allow for It is such a powerful tool for understanding the lake because of the volumes of data that it can obtain while it swims. Furthermore, the lake floor pictures and mapping of the lake’s bathymetry are useful in the goal of fully understanding the lake.(This is a picture of the west lobe of Lake Bonney. Off in the distance you can see the "bot house" which is significantly larger than the polarhaven that is next to it. It is comparable in size to a large garage that an RV could be parked.)

Our sampling went quite quickly as the holes were already drilled and melted before we got there. We did limno runs back to back, so that equates to lots of sampling and lab work in the past few days. But that is why we are here and I would rather be busy then sitting idle. We did take a few hours to explore around the Taylor Glacier. We did see Blood Falls, the site of a 2009 Science paper. As explained by the paper, the brine has been trapped in the glacier for 1.5 million years and is composed of a anoxic, hypersaline brine that is released from the area known as Blood Falls. Interesting to me is the microbiology, which is composed of a mostly marine assemblage. The brine does have an actively metabolizing community of bacteria (1). The polar plateau is just up from the Taylor Glacier, which is where Blood Falls comes from. Bonney camp is the farthest up-valley camp, which causes it to be on of the windiest. The wind was quite powerful during sampling and instrument days.

1. J.A. Mikucki et al., Science 324, 397 (2009).

All for now. Currently we are at Lake Hoare after flying from Lake Bonney. From Lake Hoare we are going to sample Lake Miers, which is in the next valley to the south. It is done as a day trip, but we need to fly there and its snowing again.... This means we are delayed once again due to weather. Hopefully we can get the sampling in before Thanksgiving.

Take Care,
Alex

More on Lake Hoare

2009-11-12T22:02:00.006+13:00

Greetings,

We had our second Limno Day today to sample Lake Hoare. I am really tired, since I have been up since 4 am. I will just put up pictures and write more tomorrow. Enjoy the pictures.
(This is my tent location at Lake Hoare Camp. Canada glacier right behind it!)

(Penguin tracks. Closest thing to a penguin that I have seen.)

(Sampling hut before it all began.)

(You know its cold when all the doors into buildings are freezer doors....)

Take Care,

Alex

Hike and Snow

2009-11-11T21:19:00.005+13:00

Greetings,

It has been a few days since I have posted anything, so I should catch everyone up. Sunday (actually your Saturday in the states) we had an off day. Our plan was to take a long, all day hike, but the weather was not good. We waited around all day and finally it cleared late afternoon! We headed east towards the Commonwealth Glacier. The initial plan was to just hike up to the glacier and look around. I was hiking with Amy and the two of us together have a bad case of the "next bend" which means that we always want to see what is around the next bend or over the next peak. It was an amazing hike. We got to see ventifacts, the top of the Commonwealth Glacier, and amazing views of the icebergs out in the McMurdo Sound. The vast emptiness and desolate nature of this continent has an uncanny beauty that the pictures will never do justice. The other interesting thing that happened yesterday is that it snowed. This doesnt not sound too thrilling as this is Antarctica, but we are in the Dry Valleys. The Dry Valleys are classified as the windiest, coldest, and driest deserts in the world. That means that any kind of precipitation is very out of the ordinary. The snow is still hanging around and will contribute to a significant melt season coming up in December.

Monday, we packed all of our gear and took a short helicopter ride over the Canada Glacier to a new lake. We will be at Lake Hoare for the next few days. I have inlcuded a map to show you our location, and the lakes that we are sampling.

I know I wanted to comment on the style of life that happens in Antarctica and more specifically the Dry Valleys. There are many standards that we have to live by per the Antarctic Treaty. Low impact camping means pack in and pack out, which is what most people should do when they are camping in the BWCA or national parks. The nice thing about that is one can leave behind certain items, say certain human "waste" material. Here in the Dry Valleys everything has to be packed out. Granted it is no impact camping, but at the same time we utilized fuels for heating and cooking, but all of our electricity is generated by solar power. They are currently increasing all of their renewable energy sources, so we can move away from using the fuels. Camps are usually set up with a heated Jamesway or common area with kitchen and sitting area. No running water at any of the sites. All water is derived from "glacier berries". These berries are chunks of glacier ice that have calved off and we bring them inside to melt above the heater. All grey water is collected in drums and processed back in McMurdo. The camps at the three major lakes (Fryxell, Hoare, and Bonney) have a Rad lab, chem lab, and electronics lab. For sleeping arrangements, as seen in previous pictures, we have our personal space of the tent. My tent at Hoare is in an incredible spot. It gets the sun all night and is located near a glacier. As I am falling asleep, I can hear the glacier growning. I have not heard a calving event, but I hope to soon. The only disadvantage to this tent site is the sun goes behind the glacier early in the morning and it gets chilly. I have not logged temperature in the tent, but it usually is a comformtable 10 degrees F overnight. The camp at Lake Hoare is more modern with a common area with real walls and common bunks for lounging.

More pictures to come!

Best,

Alex

Limno Day!

2009-11-06T21:12:00.004+13:00

Greetings,

Today was Limno Day. This is the day that we actually go out to the sampling hut at 5am to sample the water column. The actual sampling did not take long. At each depth we take dissolved oxygen, pH, dissolved inorganic and organic carbon, and then 2 liters of water for anions and cations, DOC, chlorophyll a, and other parameters (nitrate, nitrite, hydrogen sulfide, etc.). The instruments will go out tomorrow to collect conductivity, temperature, photosynthetically active radiation (amount of light). The other reason why we get up so early is to start all of the radioisotope incubation to obtain a full 24 hours of incubation with most of it occurring during peak sunlight. The rest of the day (9am to 8pm) was taken up by filtering. Most of the parameters comes from the 2 liters of raw water that we collect at each depth. So finally after all that preparation, we finally got samples! I was so caught up in the sampling rush that I did not take any pictures. I do have some others pictures from a few days ago that I have not posted yet, so I will show you those.

(The ole Jiffy drill with 4 flights of a 4 inch hole, that's one heck of an ice fishin hole! That didnt even punch through, we had to melt it the last half meter. Interesting thing is this lake had an ice thickness of 6m in 2004-2005)

(In the middle of the picture you should see a small blue tent looking structure. That is our sampling hut. It looks far, but it is only about 1km or less. It is some really rough terrain.)

Tomorrow I will tell you a little more about the particulars of each of the experiments that we do out here in the field. Eventually I will give a little more history and geographic picture of my current location. So many things to talk about and I don't want to give it all away in one day. Enjoy the pictures.

Take Care,

Alex

Lake Fryxell Day 2

2009-11-04T23:41:00.007+13:00

Sorry I did not write much yesterday it got kind of late last night, and it is late again tonight but I will explain the happens from the day as well as more pictures!(Lake Fryxell camp, from left to right solar panel, generator shed, Rad lab, electronics lab, lab, Jamesway (kitchen, living room, etc.))

So now two days in the field and much drilling and melting and still no samples but I have seen the lake water. The lake ice is about 3.94 m thick. With a normal Jiffy drill and auger bit, that would be a full four flights! Many of you dont ice fish, so that is about 12 feet of ice before even getting to fishable water.

(Some of the bluest ice I have ever seen, beautiful!)

Well there are no fish in this lake, which is cool because the whole trophic structure happens on a micro scale. The transfer of energy and fixed carbon can actually be traced through the different trophic level, which is one reason why these lakes are so interesting to study. We drilled two more holes today and finished melting the first one. Will include pictures of the sampling holes once they are all completed. Sampling will begin on Saturday! We walked around for quite a while tonight, so I took some pictures of very unique ice structures on the lakes. At one point I was sitting, just listening to the ice crack and whine.

(Some of the coolest ice structures I have ever seen. Look like the fruiting bodies of a slime mold)

During that time, an event occurred that I had never seen before. I small piece of ice popped and shot straight up in the air about 5-6 feet. I was not moving, so it was completely due to natural forces. Well enjoy the pictures, also some from the helicopter flight is in yesterdays post.

(Home for the next week, then off to another similar looking home! Off in the distance you can kind of see the Commonwealth Glacier)

Take Care,

Alex

Lake Fryxell!

2009-11-03T23:21:00.004+13:00

Hello from the Dry Valleys!

We made our flight to the Lake Fryxell field camp. The Limno team is the only group here, so it is peaceful. This is an amazing place, to good for words to describe. The lake ice is so blue and clear. Dr. Duane Moser told me to listen for the silence once the last whump-whump of the helicopter fades away. I did and that was very true. The silence is heavy and complete in this area. Here are some pictures from the area and flight. It is kinda late, so I will let the pictures do the talking. More to write tomorrow.

(Flight picture up an valley I dont know the name of)

(Look carefully, there is an iceberg off in the distance!)

Take Care,

Alex

Halloween and Field Preparations

2009-11-02T11:51:00.004+13:00

Greetings,

Sorry it has been so long since the last post. The limno team has been quite busy getting all of our gear ready early so that it can be at the helo hanger a few days before our flight. There are so many things that need to be accounted for when traveling to a place that is a highly protected site due to the fragile ecosystems present. People always talk about "low-impact" camping and I have done much of this myself, but this is on a whole new level. I would classify it as "no-impact" camping. Things that one normally does not think about while camping need to be considered and plans for removal need to be developed. Hopefully more on this once we are actually in the Dry Valleys and I can comment with pictures. In conclusion, I am very excited to get out into the field! Now for some light-hearted comments, Halloween!

Being Halloween, the lab decided to make costumes and go to the Halloween party/costume contest. The initial idea was to be beakers. I embraced this idea and went to work constructing a beaker out of cardboard that I could wear. This was going to be a solid beaker, well put together and accurate. When Tristy saw it, she commented that it looked like a spent roll of toilet paper. I have never been the most creative or artist person, so when I heard that it sounded to me like an original idea for a costume; I ran with it. So I give you the two golden beakers, Amy and Tristy (right and left, respectively), and myself.Enjoy! Please be sure to check back soon, as the post will become very interesting with a new location and sampling occurring!

Take Care,

Alex

Weather

2009-10-29T21:23:00.003+13:00

Greetings,

Today we had the closest thing to condition 2 weather that I have seen since arriving. Condition 3 is good weather with no restrictions. Here is how it is stated for McMurdo officially:

Condition One
Weather conditions when visibility is less than 100 ft., or wind speed is greater than 55 knots (more than 60 mph), or wind chill is greater than -100°F (-38°C).
Condition Two
Weather conditions when visibility is less than ¼ mile, or wind speed is between 48 and 55 knots (about 55 mph to 65 mph), or wind chill factor is between -75°F and -100°F (or between -24°C and -38°C).
Condition Three
Weather conditions, from anything better than a Condition Two, up to a beautiful sunny day.

Today everywhere but McMurdo station was at condition 2. I would have taken some pictures, but as I said it was only really windy in McMurdo. Hopefully I will see a cool storm by the time I leave. Bottle washing is done! Now it is just packing all the boxes for the trip to the field. This is exciting because that means that the field science portion of the trip is coming soon! Hopefully I will take some more pictures from around camp, lab, etc. and post those pictures tomorrow.

If for some reason you need to send me something while I am down here, my address is:

Alex Michaud, Project B-422
McMurdo Station
PSC 469 Box 800
APO AP 96599-1035

Hope all is well!

Take care,
Alex

Happy Camper School

2009-10-28T18:31:00.012+13:00

Greetings once again!

I just returned from Snow Craft I aka Happy Camper School. This is the class that teahces us how to survive in Antarctica. It was a good course about hypothermia, frost bite, camping, etc. I had knowledge of many of the things taught in the class, but some of the specifics for this harsh continent was helpful. The most difficult thing to deal with down here is the weather that can come up out of absolutely no where. It was amazing weather during our entire class, sunny and warm (single digit degrees F). At one point, a very strong wind showed up and blew for about 2 hours, again, good weather for here. We did simulations of situations of lost people in condition 1 weather (the absolute worst) and getting lost with only a survival bag. The highlight was the camp that we set up for our overnight experience. We built snow block walls to protect camp and the kitchen (term used loosely, as we just boiled water for dehydrated meals and hot drinks), set up Scott tents, and mountain tents (Wilderness Field Station Alums do well in these situations!). The best part was learning how to dig a trench, which is what I dug to sleep in for the night. I spent a long time on it, as you will see we were on the permanent sea ice with in the McMurdo Sound...kinda desolate and nothing to do, might as well make your trench a deluxe model! So that is what I did, complete with storage for my personal bag, cold sinks and a two-step staircase. First time I have ever been camping and didnt sleep on a rock or root, also they told me to take food to bed with me, that was cool too! But the night was good and my snow trench kept me warm. (This is a picture laying down and taking the picture towards my feet) I wish I had a thermometer in it, but the outside air temp was somewhere between -10 degrees F and 5 degrees F. Quite comfortable actually.

On a different note, those from Coe will appreciate the fact that I have introduced many people to caf sitting. Although here in McMurdo the caf is called the Galley, so I have altered the terminology to Gal sitting. I have had some great Gal sits in the past few days. On Saturday night, we Gal sat for about 1.5 hours, it was a good one. I go to 7:00 breakfast club every morning, but I am the only member from my group that attends, so I sing Its a Great Day to Be Alive to myself. Haha also I got up this morning, sat straight up in my snow trench and starting singing that song to myself. It was a good time. I hope those that understand this get a kick out of it! Enjoy the pictures! Until next time!

Best,

Alex

Training

2009-10-26T22:46:00.007+13:00

Greetings,

Today was a busy training day. We went to radio, mechanical (generators, ATVs, Jiffy Ice Augers which I didnt really need to be trained on, as I have been running them since I was 5), lab safety, and environmental protection. Then between training we washed bottles and kept preping for the field. I walked around tonight and found some cool pictures. I will leave you with a few pictures, as tomorrow I attend a two day survival school. We spend the night outside Tuesday night, so I will be back posting in a few days. Check back soon! Here are some cool pictures that I got.

Same picture as yesterday, only with a little more color. Sorry Jordyn not 8am, closer to 11pm. Good guess though, you were close!

I finally found the McMurdo sign. Looking out over the McMurdo sound. Towards the end of summer this bay to the right will open and allow the ship to come into port.

Off in the distance, you should see Scott's Discovery Hut. Soon I will hike there and get better pictures, but here is one for now.

Quick Thoughts

2009-10-25T23:07:00.006+13:00

I wanted to post a few pictures to play a little game. I will post a picture and you can guess what time of day it is. Now it isnt very striking right now, as the weather is poor. We will play again during a nice day. Here is a picture looking down the hill towards to sound. To the left is Crary the lab building. Now, guess what time it is!

Just wanted to give a shout out to my followers, especially the dedicated Sachem members who comprise 29% of my followers. You guys rock, to honor!

Arrival

2009-10-24T20:27:00.007+13:00

Greetings from the bottom of the world! I arrived in Antarctica yesterday about 2:30pm our time. We took a 5 hour ride on a C17 from New Zealand to the ice. We landed on the ice runway which is a quick 5 minute shuttle ride from McMurdo. The sea ice is 8.5 feet thick when we landed the huge plane on the ice! Here is a picture from the flight in the Air Force Plane. After getting off, it is tradition to take a picture of your first few steps on the continent. Funny thing is when this picture was taken, I wasnt on solid ground yet. Living in building 155 which is where they house those people that will be in and out of the station. We leave for Taylor Valley on November 3rd. Right now we are preparing all of our sample gear for the deployment to Taylor Valley. Tomorrow I am going to make a point to take lots of pictures from around the station to give you a better idea of where I am. Plus once we get out into the field, there will be interesting science to discuss rather than bottle washing and packing. Until then, I will provide cool pictures of sunsets...just kidding, that doesnt happen. I woke up in the middle of the night and the sun was pouring in the window. I was so confused. Lastly, here is a picture I took as I walked out of the plane.The mountain smoking in the far background is Mount Erebus. Like I said, better pictures to come. Enjoy!

All my best,
Alex

Travel and New Zealand

2009-10-22T11:27:00.005+13:00

Hello Everyone!

I made it to New Zealand! It was a long flight from Bozeman to Denver to LA to Sydney to Chrsitchurch, but I slept on the 14 hour plane ride from LA to Sydney so all is well. We are staying in Christchurch today (22 Oct) to get all of our gear issued to us. Then we leave tomorrow at 5 am to fly to the ice. We got in yesterday at about 2:45 pm, so there was ample time for exploration of the city. I walked around downtown Christchurch, but the highlight by far was walking to the Botanical Garden. This was by far one of the greatest city attractions I have ever been to. It was enormous! The flowers are almost all in bloom, as it is spring and the smells were amazing! We are staying in a small Bed and Breakfast called the Windsor. Hopefully you can see the pictures of the B&B and the botanical garden. After clothing issue today, I think we are going on a hike near the coast or to the Museum in town. I apologize that I will not post until late tomorrow, as I have to pack my computer for the flight today. I will not get my "checked" baggage for awhile, so I will post when I get it back!

Best,
Alex

Welcome

2009-09-17T07:32:00.003+12:00

Welcome, everyone, to my Blog. I have never done this before, but hopefully it helps me to share my stories with friends and family. I dont know how much time I will have to write, but I will do my best. I will probably put up lots of pictures and allow them to tell the tale. Enjoy!

Take Care,
Alex

The Journey Begins

2009-08-20T08:20:00.003+12:00

Well I leave for Montana in two days. Look for posts to start during the middle of October, as that is when I leave for Antarctica. Have fun with the first weeks of school!