Sleeping and Eating

I thought I would do a quick post about where we sleep and where we eat since so many people ask about that!

View of the three buildings in Mactown I spend time in. Labels added too

I am in a dorm room with 1 other roommate. Most rooms have space for 3 people so I lucked out by being placed in a room with only two beds. McMurdo can house over 1000 people at a time so there is quite a bit of dorm space when you add it all together. My building is only 2 stories but some of the other dorm buildings are 3 stories. I don't really see my roommate that often because he leaves for work at about 7 AM and gets back to Mactown at about 6 PM but he's a really nice guy.

My cramped room

Cramped dorm room

We work in Phase 1 of the Crary Lab. I've already done a post about the lab.

The cafeteria is inside of the big blue Personnel Building. Lots of central services are housed in the same building like the barbershop, computer lab, human resources office, store, finance office, etc. The cafeteria is free and it's all-you-eat. The food isn't all that impressive but you have to maintain the perspective that it's free and you're in Antarctica! They usually give you lots of options for every meal so I have always been able to find something to eat. There's also a soft-serve ice cream machine called Frosty Boy that can always lift your spirits if you weren't satisfied by the main course! There are desserts at both lunch and dinner too. Good thing I'm not going to be here for very long or I might start gaining lots of weight!

Part of the seating area for the cafeteria

Cafeteria

Trip to Lake Bonney and Garwood Valley

I would like to apologize for all of the pictures. I have hundreds of pictures from yesterday alone and I picked only the very best!

We went to the south side of Lake Bonney yesterday to sample and apply experimental treatments to the final set of BEE plots. I plan to go into more detail about our sampling techniques in a later post and I've already talked about the specific treatments at the BEE plots in a previous post.

The BEE plots with the Taylor Glacier in the background

Lake Bonney is still in Taylor Valley, which is the same valley I have been in for all of my field work. Of the three main lakes in Taylor Valley (Fryxell, Hoare, and Bonney), Lake Bonney is the farthest away from the ocean. It is a saline lake not because of influence from the ocean but because salts don't have a good way to escape. I was at the west end of the lake near where the edge of Taylor Glacier is at.

We had 3 hours of ground time and we were able to finish all of our work within an hour and 45 minutes, so we used the rest of our time to do some exploring! We walked to the edge of Lake Bonney because we needed to take a water sample for another researcher as a favor. The lake had a moat around it (the lake edges were melted) but we thought it might be worth it to test out the ice to see if we could walk on it. Sure enough, it supported us! The only part in question was the very edge of the ice where it was obviously melting away, but we found a rock jutting out a little bit and we were able to step right onto the ice. It gave a slight cracking noise but didn't break! (I let someone heavier than me go first! Smart thinking, huh?)

Deciding if we wanted to go out on the lake ice. That's the rock we ended up using!

The ice is safe to walk on in the thick areas. In fact, there is a shelter on the ice permanently since it never thaws. You can easily see the thin parts while you're walking on it.

An example of some weak areas in the lake ice. Taylor Glacier in the background

We walked over to take pictures of Blood Falls at the edge of Taylor Glacier, which is famous enough to have its own Wikipedia entry. The color is due to iron oxides that emerge from a pool hidden inside the glacier. The color is not as bright right now as it can be (like if you compare my picture with Wikipedia's).

Taylor Glacier. There is actually a small waterfall at the base of the glacier if you look closely! It's easier to see when you can see the water moving

Standing on Lake Bonney with Blood Falls of the Taylor Glacier in the background

Blood Falls, Taylor Glacier

Rhone Glacier with Lake Bonney in foreground

After we were done, we walked back to the helipad to wait for the helicopter. A helipad at a site like this is just a flat spot with a collection of rocks arranged in a square with little flags marking it.

While we were out sampling, the PIs (Principal Investigators aka the professors who lead the project) were in Garwood Valley doing some reconnaissance work for a new experiment that they want to set up. The helicopter pilot wanted to save time by cramming all 7 of us passengers in the chopper with all of our gear (the Bell 212 has room for 8 passengers in the back) so we got an amazing scenic helicopter flight from Lake Bonney down to Garwood Valley. This whole area is almost entirely free from human interaction. Taylor Valley is built up a little bit with a few scattered huts, a handful of experiments, etc. but Garwood Valley and the area in between is not like that at all.

An example of one of the many amazing views from the helicopter window. This was when we were over the Kukri Hills

A glacier with an amazingly circular moraine (the moraine is the earth that has been pushed in front of the glacier)

Garwood Valley. Joyce Glacier in foreground

Joyce Glacier. The valley is quite active hydrologically (meaning there's lots of water), making it interesting to study the soil ecology

Garwood Glacier

 Well, that's about all I have to say about yesterday. It was an incredible trip and definitely a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

Second trip to the worm farms at Lake Hoare

Yesterday, we went back to the south side of Lake Hoare to do some more sampling and treatments. Everyone calls the areas where our experiments are set up the "worm farms" because that's where we go to collect our nematodes.

We were doing work at the BEE plots at Lake Hoare. If you remember, I've been to Lake Hoare to sample the LTM and Algae plots and I've been to Lake Fryxell to sample the BEE plots, but this time, we were sampling the BEE plots at Lake Hoare.

BEE plots at Lake Hoare

Near the helipad with the Suess Glacier and Matterhorn in the background

The BEE plots are established at Lake Fryxell, Lake Hoare, and Lake Bonney. Each one has 24 plots and has the exact same treatments applied, so I'll just refer you back to my previous post about what we did to the other BEE plots at F6 (Lake Fryxell).

While we were there, we went down to the edge of Lake Hoare so Zach could sample 3 of his own plots and so we could collect a water sample for a researcher at Colorado State. There is a seal carcass down near the water's edge so I took some pictures of that. Seals occasionally wander up into the Dry Valleys but they don't survive because there's no food for them.

Seal carcass near Lake Hoare

Next to Lake Hoare with the Canada Glacier in the background

We were scheduled to do our work at Lake Hoare and then the helicopter was supposed to come shuttle us to Lake Bonney, but we didn't leave on time yesterday morning because of ice fog. When the weather conditions are just right, a thick fog covers the sea ice. The helicopters won't fly if they can't see the ground so we didn't leave until the afternoon. We're leaving in about an hour to go to Lake Bonney to do the last BEE plots. I'm excited to go there because I haven't visited Lake Bonney yet!

Merry Christmas from Antarctica!

Well it's Christmas here in Antarctica!

I should probably back up and explain yesterday first. We had our Christmas dinner at 3 PM. They pulled out all the stops, so there was lobster, beef wellington, duck, pork, steak, etc. Lots of yummy desserts too. I had the beef wellington, some pork, and some duck, along with mashed potatoes and a roll. That was the first time I can remember having duck and it was actually pretty good. I also had some chocolate dipped strawberries and some fudge for dessert. Afterward, we went to watch some movies and hang out in one of the lounges.

Later on, we went on another hike up to the top of Observation Hill. I already made a blog post before about the view from the top with lots of pictures, so I won't repeat all of them. I'll just put two of the highlights below. It was extremely windy when we got to the top so we didn't stay for long.

All of us except our photographer Byron

The cross on the top of Ob Hill with Mount Erebus in the background

After the hike we went straight over to MAAG (McMurdo Alternative Art Gallery). Basically, it's another excuse for everyone to get drunk, although as you can tell from the pictures below, the art is a can't-miss event for those of us who were sober! It looks like Bacon Santa is up for sale if anyone is interested!

A MAAG submarine

Entrance to MAAG

The famous Bacon Santa. Apparently the bacon has faded quite a bit since his initial appearance years ago

An interesting sculpture

After MAAG, I decided to go to bed since it was already 11 but most of the guys stayed up drinking and watching movies.

This morning, I went to the Chapel of the Snows with Byron to have our own little LDS services. We sang some Christmas hymns and just talked about stuff since neither of us received permission from our bishops to do sacrament (Byron emailed his this morning). After about 45 minutes, we sang another hymn and had a closing prayer and left.

Chapel of the Snows, McMurdo Station, Antarctica

We had a Christmas brunch in the late morning and since then we've been in the lab working. Yes, I know, we're working on Christmas, but there's still a lot to do! We're supposed to be leaving tomorrow morning for a collecting trip if the weather is good so we have to get stuff prepared. The festivities tonight include more movies to watch with a special focus on zombie movies. The guys dubbed it the 1st Annual McMurdo Zombie Movie Christmas Marathon. Not sure if I'll stay up to watch any of them since we have to be at the helo hangar at 7:45 AM tomorrow.

Merry Christmas tomorrow to everyone back in the States!

The lab

Three of the most common questions I've received are "Where do you work?", "Where do you sleep?" and "Where do you eat?" I decided to do a post about each one.

These are pictures of our lab. As you can tell, it is stuffed full of stuff! We don't have enough room, but we make do with what we've got. The other side of the lab is the same size but that's where the soil biogeochemists work so I don't spend much time over there. We all work on the same samples though and we are part of the same project.

One of our inverted microscopes we count nematodes on. There is a sample of nematodes in the dish with the light shining down on it. This scope has a camera mounted to take pictures of interesting stuff. It gives us 40X, 100X, 200X, and 400X zoom, although we only use the 40X routinely and the 100X if we see something interesting. Since it's an inverted scope, the light enters from above and the objectives are below the stage. You can see a tabulator off the left side that we use to actually count nematodes. It is quite common to find 500 nematodes in a sample (some samples even push into 1000!) so we need a convenient way to keep track. We determine things like species, sex or juvenile, and living or dead for the nematodes we see and use the tabulator to keep track of the counts for each group. We are all experienced enough to use the tabulator while we're scanning through a sample without having to look at the tabulator. We also have a mechanical stage which means that we can move the sample dish around using dials instead of moving the dish with our hands. The dials are on the pole mounted downwards on the right side of the scope. The stage is a lifesaver because it moves the sample very smoothly and evenly. The counting dishes have a grid engraved on them so we can easily scroll through each line and keep track of the area we've already covered.

The two microscopes we use

The lab as viewed from the window (near where the microscopes are at)

It is Christmas Eve here at McMurdo. We're actually having our Christmas dinner today at 3 PM. We had to sign up for a time slot and everything! They moved dinner up to today since Christmas is on a Sunday this year. They always have a special Sunday brunch, so they'll stick to that schedule tomorrow.

There was also a great article published by the BBC explaining all the animals that we see down here! The author interviewed 2 of the professors who lead our team (including Byron, the professor I work with at BYU) and another professor from New Zealand who we've worked with as well. Here's the link: http://www.ouramazingplanet.com/2177-weird-wildlife-real-animals-antarctica-penguins.html

Condition 2 storm

Well, I've survived my first McMurdo Condition 2 storm! It was snowing yesterday, but the bad part was the howling wind.

McMurdo has a classification system for the weather. Condition 3 is normal weather and normal activities can proceed. Condition 2 is pretty bad, and condition 1 is insanely bad (you're not allowed to leave the building you're in). It was condition 1 out at Pegasus Airfield yesterday, which is where the flights to Antarctica land. Usually it only gets condition 1 at McMurdo during the winter.

My Youtube video of the wind. This wasn't the worst of it

Here's the definition for what qualifies as condition 2:

Severe Weather Condition II

• Winds 48 to 55 knots sustained for one minute, or
• Visibility less than ¼ mile, but greater than or equal to 100 feet sustained for one minute, or
• Wind chill -75°F to -100°F sustained for one minute.

I think we got to condition 2 because of the wind and visibility. Our maximum wind gust from yesterday was 45 knots/52 mph. The lowest temperature yesterday was 23 degrees Fahrenheit, but the wind chill had it down to 1 degree!

There are actually restrictions on what you can do once we get condition 2. Here's the list of restrictions:

Severe Weather Condition II

Restricted pedestrian traffic only between buildings is allowed. Vehicular travel is only allowed in radio equipped, enclosed vehicles, and check out with the Firehouse is required.

Of course, today is calm with blue skies!

Also, I made a new blog post on the Nemablog http://nemablog.wordpress.com/2011/12/23/sampling-the-bee-plots/

View out of our lab window

Here's some pictures out the window of our lab. My next field trip isn't supposed to be until next week, but with views like this, I can't complain too much!

Lab window

View to the right (northwest)-- the area of Taylor Valley and most of the Dry Valleys

View to the center right (to the west)

View to the center left (to the west)

View to the left (to the southwest)

New 'official' blog post

So I wrote up a post for the Nemablog! Here's the link to that blog http://nemablog.wordpress.com/

The blog posts there are more technical about the science that we're doing down here. This one has been checked by 3 PhD's so it's accurate!

Last night, we went on a walk to the top of Observation Hill. You can see McMurdo and a lot of the surrounding area from the top. We had a good view of Mount Erebus for a few minutes before it was obscured by clouds, as usual. We couldn't see the mountains and valleys across McMurdo sound where the Dry Valleys are at, but we could see White Island and Black Island to the south.

By the way, there is a difference between an ice shelf and sea ice. An ice shelf is formed on land and eventually flows out to sea. I did my Happy Camper school on the Ross Ice Shelf/McMurdo Ice Shelf. It has fresh water. When ice breaks off an ice shelf, it becomes a glacier. An ice shelf is formed through snow falling over thousands of years on land and forming layers. Sea ice is much thinner and it is frozen salt water. When it breaks off, it forms thin pancake ice that doesn't travel very far.

Mount Erebus

The New Zealand base

McMurdo with the Ross Sea in the background (sea ice and then open ice on the horizon)

Crary Lab in the center in gray

F6 - Lake Fryxell

Today, we went to the F6 camp at the south side of Lake Fryxell in Taylor Valley for some field work!

We were sampling some plots known as the Biotic Effects Experiment (BEE). The experiment was set up at F6 during the 1999-2000 field season. The same experiment is ongoing at two other locations in the valley. This particular one has 24 plots. You can see some cones on some of the plots-- those cones are called ITEX chambers. They have an open top and are designed to warm the soil by protecting them from the wind (acting like a greenhouse almost). They only heat the soil about 4 degrees Celsius but it is enough to make a difference. A side effect of the cones is that they also trap a ton of sediment that blows through the valley.

Kitchen at F6 camp

Lab space at F6 camp

F6 camp from a distance

In Taylor Valley

Me watering one of the chambers. F6 camp in the background seen with mountain tents

The BEE plots with Lake Fryxell and an ATV parked on the lake ice

Another view of the BEE plots, Lake Fryxell, and the Commonwealth Glacier

Von Guerard Streambed

Von Guerard Stream outlet to Lake Fryxell with a stream gauge set up by the LTER Stream Team

So some of the plots have no treatment applied (the control), others have water added once each season, others just the ITEX cones (so increased temperature), and the final group has ITEX cones and water added.

Once we arrived, we sampled each of the 24 plots first. Some of the water plots still had frozen water right near the surface from last year! We had to chisel out some dirt from those locations. Then we added some new water to each of the plots that needed it. The last thing was some routine maintenance on the plots to be sure they can withstand another harsh Antarctic winter (the extremely strong winds in the Dry Valleys can reach greater than 100 mph and really do a number on our experiments if they're not secured properly).

You might be wondering why there's a camp set up in the middle of nowhere. There are actually camps spread throughout the Dry Valleys, most of them owned by the US. These camps serve as staging, camping, and emergency survival locations for science researchers doing field work. Some of the scientists end up spending weeks in the Dry Valleys. In particular, the LTER Stream Team stays in the valley for weeks hiking around to different stream gauges measuring flow rates. F6 camp is next to Von Guerard Stream at Lake Fryxell. One of the field camps, Lake Hoare, has a dedicate camp manager who stays the whole summer there. The ATV you see is parked on lake ice that never thaws out completely. The lake will form a moat as the summer progresses with melted lakewater ringing it. ATV's can only be driven on ice because they are too disruptive to be driven on the soils.