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 |
No comments:
Post a Comment