It's a harsh continent

February 7th at Midnight

2009-02-08T12:31:00.002+13:00

Last night was the first time I've seen any pink in the sky...

Antarctiramic? Panarctica?

2009-02-01T17:18:00.007+13:00

It's been a long time coming, but I've finally completed nearly 50 panoramic images from my four seasons down here in Antarctica. You have two viewing options:

View Slideshow - slideshow will open within your browser window

one note: if you're running Firefox with Adblock Plus, you must disable it. If you have Adblock, it will show up as a red stop sign in the top right corner. Click on the down arrow and choose "Disable on chrisgardner.smugmug.com"

Alternatively, you can go directly to the gallery. Then click the "Slideshow" button in the upper right corner. This will give you a full-screen slideshow, which I think is more immersive.

The View From Above

2009-01-27T17:35:00.004+13:00

(from the helicopter, when the glare isn't too bad)

Way to go Peter

2009-01-23T22:37:00.002+13:00

Peter Doran, a PI (Principal Investigator) in our group was recently quoted on CNN regarding the "debate" about global warming within the scientific community. According to the article, 82% of the 3,146 scientists surveyed believed global mean temperatures have risen due to human activity. but lets look closer...Only 47% of petroleum geologists agree, but 97% of climatologists believe that the increase in mean average temperatures are due to human activity (I wonder who those 3% are - that seems high to me!). Bottom line - people who know what they're talking about believe global warming is real and caused by the burning of fossil fuels. From Peter: "The debate on the authenticity of global warming and the role played by human activity is largely nonexistent among those who understand the nuances and scientific basis of long-term climate processes"

The article:
Surveyed scientists agree global warming is real

The Golf Ball

2009-01-23T21:28:00.003+13:00

Today Nik gave us a tour of the Golf Ball on the hill. It's actually an antennae that tracks and downloads data from polar orbiting satellites. As you might imagine, it's impossible to photograph inside without a fisheye lens.

What is that?

2009-01-20T21:39:00.002+13:00

Abstract McMurdo, Up-All-Night

2009-01-20T01:34:00.007+13:00

Well, I went for a midnight hike up Ob Hill and ended up shooting a lot of photos. Now it's 1:30am, I'm WIDE awake, and all I can think to do is blog. It's boring enough to possibly make me tired. Looks like the endless sun is finally getting to me. Anyway, I've also uploaded some more Abstract McMurdo shots. I'm sorry for my obsession with the green buildings...they just looked really nice in the midnight light. Click below for more!

Abstract McMurdo

Balance

2009-01-19T20:51:00.003+13:00

The Role of Silliness in Global Warming

2009-01-16T17:14:00.014+13:00

Since I work with a bunch of scientists, sometimes I forget that there are still people out there that don't believe in global warming. Every once in a while I feel compelled to comment on it. It's been pretty cold during the past couple months in much of the U.S. I've read on the Internet and heard people talk (before I left Ohio) about doubt in global climate change because it's been unseasonably cold recently. No, I'm not kidding.

Let's look at the term "global climate change" for a moment. First, there's the word "global." That means the "entire planet" - not just where you live. To put this into perspective, the area of the state of Ohio is about 117,000 km2. Let's say you live in Columbus and watch the local news to see how cold it's going to be tomorrow. I'm going to estimate that the Columbus market is about 25% of the state. I'd say that's conservative since there are several other television markets that serve Ohio - Cleveland, Toledo, Dayton, Cincinnati, and Wheeling, WV. That means that the area for which your forecast is made is about 30,000 km2. The surface area of the earth is about 510 million km2. So "your weather," defined here as the area covered by your local television station (which I'd say corresponds to the weather you see when you walk outside), represents .006% of the earth. The land area of the U.S., including Alaska, is 9.8 million km2. That means the entire country (most of which you've probably never been to) represents 1.9% of the surface of the earth. Here's my point - your observations about the weather outside your house is completely meaningless and absolutely irrelevant in the scientific discussion of climate change.

That brings us to the word "climate." What you see when you look out the window is weather - it's variable. That's weather, not climate. From Wikipedia: "Climate encompasses the temperatures, humidity, rainfall, atmospheric particle count and numerous other meteorological factors in a given region over long periods of time, as opposed to the term weather, which refers to current activity." In the context of global climate change, the "region" is the entire earth.

I was thinking about including links to some of these ridiculous pseudo-scientific news articles (that people actually read and probably even believe), but I don't want to be responsible for increasing their traffic. What I will link to is RealClimate - climate science by climate scientists (they have a great article "new global cooling science" on Lou Dobbs from Jan, 14 2009).

www.realclimate.org

I could go on and on, but I have to go to dinner. My apology for the use of the word "you" throughout this entry. I know everyone that reads my blog accepts the science of climate change. This is just in case somebody I don't know stumbles on this page ;)

Weather

2009-01-16T16:53:00.003+13:00

So...I know I do this every season, but I can't resist. Taken from Weather Underground at the same time.

Columbus, OH:

McMurdo, Antarctica:

Perspectives

2009-01-16T14:49:00.003+13:00

When I was flying out of Lake Hoare the other day I saw Mike, who is here on an Artist and Writers grant (see his awesome blog here), laying on a rock and I snapped a picture:

...At the same time he snapped a picture of me:

Princely-ness

2009-01-15T20:36:00.002+13:00

There was guy here today that claimed to be Prince Albert II of Monaco. However, he was not wearing any flowing robes, nor was he carrying a septor. I remain skeptical. I saw him signing the Crary Lab guestbook, so I found it high time I do the same. Sure I just work down the hall, but aren't we ALL "visitors" here?

More Abstract McMurdo

2009-01-09T21:18:00.002+13:00

McMurdo is an ugly place. Like last year, I'm trying to make it more visually appealing by searching out interesting colors and shapes. Click the gallery below for my latest entries:

Thank you for flying with the Air National Guard

2009-01-05T21:45:00.006+13:00

You can travel to McMurdo via air in varying levels of comfort. In 2004, I came down in a Kiwi C-130 Hercules (Herc) and landed on the annual sea ice in front of McMurdo. I would classify it as uncomfortable:

On the way back that season I flew on a C-141, which was a little more comfortable than a Herc, but since decommissioned. It felt like a big long tube, but at least it was a jet, so it was faster. Sitting with a helicopter only added to it's tube-like appearance:

And then there is what I call the Cadillac of Antarctic travel, the C-17. It's nice and BIG and comfortable:

Until now, I thought this was the best there was. Well, some members of our team got bumped from their flight south by a bunch of Italians, and were put on an Australian Airbus. I'm more than a little bitter. They had windows, seats (not only that, but 1st class seats), and a beverage cart.

So this brings me to this season. When you get used to the relative comfort of a C-17, you kind of expect it. And when you hear that your friends got to fly in a first class Airbus with beverage service, you start hoping. Well... due to budget cuts, they aren't flying the C-17 (which uses more fuel) until the end of the season. So I got an LC-130 (ski-equipped Herc). It is slooooow (~8 hours).

And there was NO beverage cart:

But we did have a window:

I stood most of the time to keep the blood flowing.

I had plenty of time to read the instructions on the EPOS (Emergency Passenger Oxygen System). Don't forget to remove the plastic bag from your head when you run out of air. This guy looks too happy:

The USAP/ANG actually maintains a lot of these aircraft, many for flying back and forth to the Pole.

Finally, here is a self portrait. No, my nose didn't grow. I know I kind of look like Sloth from the Goonies. It's because I used an ultra-wide lens and it's about 6 inches from my face:

And one more...

30 minutes in the Christchurch Botanic Garden

2009-01-04T20:25:00.003+13:00

On New Year's Day I was catching some rays in the Botanic Garden, and I noticed there were all kids of birds around me. So I took some pictures. There were a lot of ducks. They just followed each other back and forth to the water:

This one thought he was a fish, diving underwater and eating stuff off the bottom of the river:

There were also a lot of smaller birds. This guy was pretty shy, and moved really fast, so I couldn't get a good picture. He's got a perpetual weird look on his face:

I just noticed that a fly is enjoying this guy's lunch as well:

New Year's Eve in Christchruch

2009-01-01T13:00:00.004+13:00

Here are a few photos of New Year's Eve in the square in Christchurch last night. It wasn't much of a crazy evening...we walked back to the hotel right after midnight. 36 hours of traveling will make you pretty tired. Especially when you're on the plane next to screaming babies. Those things even make noises when they're happy (really irritating noises, I might add). Is it bad that I fantasized about shaking babies in my sleep? That's how you get them to shut up, right? Brain damage Schmrain damage.

The band was playing Sweet Home Alabama and Blister in the Sun. No matter where I go I can't get away from crappy bar-band covers:

But we did get bag-piped into 2009:

Heading south again

2008-12-29T09:17:00.003+13:00

Well... I'm flying to New Zealand tomorrow and heading even further south on Thursday, January 3. This will be my last trip down to Antarctica (at least for a while), since I'll be starting a new job when I get back in March. I'll do my best to keep up my blog, but I'm usually more interested in posting photos than writing.

In the meantime, click the photo below for some of my favorites from past seasons, as well as some photos from post-ice travel to New Zealand, Australia and Hawaii last year:

Breaching Humpback Whales and Albatross

2008-02-23T08:47:00.002+13:00

I'm back in Ohio, but I've posted my photos from Hawaii. I didn't take too many because I mostly just sat on the beach, but I do have some good photos of wildlife. Thanks for reading!

Hawaii

Australia

2008-02-19T11:50:00.002+13:00

Well, I'm leaving for home today. It is 80 and sunny on the North Shore of Oahu right now, and snowy and gray back in Columbus. I've managed to skip most of the winter by escaping to the austral summer, but alas I must return. As promised, I've uploaded some of my photos from Sydney. Stay tuned for photos of breaching humpback whales and Albatross in Hawaii!

Sydney and Beyond

The sky is full of bats

2008-02-18T12:35:00.004+13:00

Hello from Hawaii. I wasn't able to get any wireless in Sydney, which is why I haven't been able to update anything. My favorite part of Sydney was the number of bats. And they're giant bats - up to a 6 ft wingspan. They are called Grey-Headed Flying Fox, and they're everywhere. I stole this from some other guy's blog (sorry dude):

There are a lot of them in the Royal Botanical Gardens, and they fly out at night to look for food. It looks exactly like this (taken from the Wikipedia entry linked above):

Keep in mind that these are the size of a fox with 6 ft wings. Sorry I don't have any of my own photos of them, but you know, they're flying around at night and pretty difficult to photograph. Anyway, I'll post some of my own photos of Sydney soon. For now I must go to the beach.

In and around Christchurch

2008-02-10T18:52:00.001+13:00

Well, I suppose I've been in New Zealand long enough (sigh), it's time for me to go to Sydney. I wanted to post some photos first because I'm unsure of the Internet situation in my Sydney hotel. Here ya go!

In and Around Christchurch

Photos from flying north

2008-02-07T22:51:00.000+13:00

Greetings from New Zealand. I'm a man of leisure for the next few weeks, so since I don't have anything better to do, I thought I could post some photos from my flight north:

It was snowing pretty good when we got out to the ice runway (built on the ice shelf), so I was a bit skeptical that the plane was going to land, given the limited intrument landing system. It did indeed land, and didn't even run over any vans:

Preparing to fuel the aircraft in the snow...strangely one of my favorite photos:

me:

C-130 taking off for the pole:

Antarctic jet way:

Peaking through the clouds out the port hole:

Notice the beards. That's how you can tell we're going north:

Going North

2008-02-04T21:15:00.000+13:00

So my time in the south has come to an end. Tomorrow I'm taking C-17 back to the South Island, New Zealand. But fear not! I'll continue to post photos from New Zealand, Australia, and Hawaii as I take a slight detour back to Ohio. If you've spent time in Ohio in February, you know why I'm taking my time.

Doesn't this look Antarctic?

2008-02-02T10:11:00.000+13:00

NSF helicopter flying over the Swedish icebreaker Oden.

Melting seasonal sea ice by Ob Hill.

A Day Trip

2008-01-31T20:30:00.000+13:00

Yesterday we went for a nice short day trip to sample some meltwater ponds in Taylor Valley. One interesting event was that we found a bunch of old trash from the 1940s - camp fuel containers, smoke flares (the navy used to just throw out smoke flares to see which way the wind was blowing), and somebody's old tin of marmalade. Today, you can't leave anything behind in the Taylor Valley. You know the old naturalists' saying "take only photos and leave only footprints" - we're not even supposed to leave footprints! Seriously. Back then they obviously didn't have those rules. Funny thing though - if the trash is really old, say from Scott's Discovery Expedition in the early 1900s, it's an Antarctic Heritage site and you're not allowed to touch it. Here is an example of such garbage at Cape Royds left by Ernest Shackleton's Nimrod Expedition in 1907-1909 (I took this photo in 2005):

But I suppose if it wasn't an early explorer, it's considered trash. NSF keeps track of this stuff, so we took GPS coordinates and hauled it outta there (don't worry I have trash photos below!). We weren't actually there to be garbage men, of course, so we did collect our water samples as well. Sorry for the quality of some of the photos - many were through a helicopter window, and the day was very bright and hazy. A bad combination for great photography. Anyway, click below for photos - I even put captions on them this time!

Meltwater Ponds

Me Working. Hardcore.

2008-01-27T20:12:00.000+13:00

It's too cold to look for whales

2008-01-24T17:50:00.000+13:00

I finished my work for the day so my co-worker Gregg and I walked down to hut point to see if we could find any whales. Since the ice-breaker has been in there is a lot of open water down there. It was so cold that my camera wouldn't focus because the battery died, and so windy that we couldn't hear each other talk 2 feet away. So I got this one poorly-focused shot before it stopped doing anything (it's a Minke whale):

But don't worry, I still rock super-hard in my big red parka:

Canada Stream

2008-01-23T20:38:00.001+13:00

I realized that I continue to post my favorite Taylor Valley glacier photos, but they lack scale in a human dimension. Here is one with LeeAnn in a red coat that might help:

I took some other nice photos that day. Click below to see:

Canada Stream

Some photos around Lake Hoare Camp

2008-01-22T20:40:00.000+13:00

I've made a new album of photos I took around Lake Hoare Camp last week. Hopefully it gives you an idea of what it looks like out there...

Photos from Lake Hoare 07-08

Lawson Stream and Blood Falls

2008-01-20T20:11:00.000+13:00

The other day I helped LeeAnn (on sabbatical from Alaska) collect some samples for trace metals along Lawson Creek in Taylor Valley. We walked up slope and then back down (it was too steep for the helicopter to land at the top) collecting samples along the way. We also made a brief excursion to Blood Falls, which you can see in the photos. Sorry if I went overboard on the glacier photos - there are a lot here! Click below for the album. Enjoy...

Lawson Stream and Blood Falls

A photo

2008-01-19T19:53:00.000+13:00

Just wanted to share this photo of a skua and the Swedish icebreaker Oden:

Keeping McMurdo McMurdoing

2008-01-19T19:31:00.000+13:00

A few days ago I went on a tour of the power plant, water plant, and waste water treatment plant. The amount of resources required to keep this place going is quite amazing. Good-bye small carbon footprint.

The current powerplant consists of 6 diesel generators - the extra heat produced during the process is used to heat buildings and water:

They are in the process of switching over to a new high-tech powerplant with only 2 diesel generators. So shiny:

The water system in McMurdo is desalinated seawater by multi-stage filtration, including reverse osmosis:

There are no water towers to gravity-feed water, so everything must be pumped from these tanks:

And if you're curious about what happens to the water AFTER it's used, don't worry, I have pictures of that too. Strangely, before 2003 all waste water was simply chopped up and discharged into McMurdo Sound. Not too environmentally friendly to say the least. I guess NSF is making up for it by the high quality of their new wastewater treatment facility. Yes, the brown water under the floor in this photo is full of microbes eating poo:

More abstraction

2008-01-14T18:46:00.000+13:00

If you enjoyed "Abstract McMurdo," I've added a few more:

Abstract and Industrial McMurdo

Flying into Taylor Valley

2008-01-10T10:05:00.000+13:00

First, a quick update on what I'm up to - We are gearing up for our site review, for which other scientists and representatives from the National Science Foundation (NSF) come into the field to review our science, outreach, information management (that's me!) and site management. We'll give presentations and talk about science and fly them around our field site. They'll talk to students, technicians, and PIs and write up a review before they leave.

Now, as you may remember from last season, I work in Taylor Valley, which is part of the McMurdo Dry Valleys. Here is a description of the area taken directly from our website (part of my job is maintaining and designing that site).

--
The McMurdo Dry Valleys (77°30'S 163°00'E) on the shore of McMurdo Sound, 2,200 miles (3,500 km) due south of New Zealand, form the largest relatively ice-free area (approximately 4,800 sq km) on the Antarctic continent. These ice-free areas of Antarctica display a sharp contrast to most other ecosystems in the world, which exist under far more moderate environmental conditions. The perennially ice-covered lakes, ephemeral streams and extensive areas of exposed soil within the McMurdo Dry Valleys are subject to low temperatures, limited precipitation and salt accumulation. The dry valleys represent a region where life approaches its environmental limits, and is an end-member in the spectrum of environments included in the LTER Network.
--

Below is an image of Taylor Valley I made by draping a LANDSAT satellite image over a DEM (Digital Elevation Model) made from a USGS topo map. I've also added ephemeral streams, stream flow gauges (red squares) and meteorology stations (bright green):

And also for you're viewing pleasure - last season I sat shotgun in an A-STAR and set my camera to take a photo every 30 seconds or so. See if you can follow the flight line in the oblique LANDSAT image above: the slideshow starts in the lower right corner above the sea ice, and ends at Lake Hoare, which is on the left side of the second glacier in.

Me

2008-01-10T10:02:00.000+13:00

Here is a picture of me:

Yes, it's windy:

Seriously, it's windy:

Photos from the last couple nights

2008-01-08T12:51:00.000+13:00

I've uploaded a few photos taken from McMurdo, mostly of the Transantarctic Mountains and Mount Discovery across McMurdo Sound. Here are a couple of my favorites (go here for the entire album):

Abstract McMurdo

2008-01-05T09:46:00.000+13:00

McMurdo is an ugly town. It is a mess of crappy old buildings, ugly new buildings, power lines, dumpsters, water and sewer pipes (they're all above ground), milvans, blowing dust, dirty trucks and heavy machinery. My challenge was to come up with something a little more pleasing without leaving town. Click on the image below to view the album (by the way, I never use any weird photoshop colors or effects. The only edits are brightness, contrast, and minor color saturation.):

Abstract and Industrial McMurdo

A Dancing Skua

2008-01-03T22:00:00.000+13:00

Sometimes it's hard to think of blogging topics ("bloggics" - I now own this word and you may use it if you provide me with compensation. Pay up.) Especially since I did this last year (read those archives here). I suppose this year I'll have to be a little more creative. Hmm...

In the meantime, I went for a walk this afternoon because I finished my lab work and let the autosampler do the work for most of the day (see also: What Would You Say Ya Do Here?). So I walked up Hut Point Ridge Trail that starts at Scott's Hut (1902)...

...and climbs a mountain of volcanic rocks along the coast...

As I was walking I came across a Brown Skua taking a bath. This big mean dirty seagull-looking bird can usually be found dive bombing for sandwiches outside the galley or trying to steal eggs from Adelie Penguins. It's nice to see that they at least practice good hygiene. I've never seen a skua taking a bath - I suppose because there isn't a lot of fresh (melted) water around here. Luckily I wasn't with anyone, so I could sit there with my zoom lens for a while. Don't worry, I didn't break the Antarctic treaty by approaching it too closely. Click play to view the slide show below, or view bigger images here.

The Dancing Skua:

View the album (higher resolution)

Made it

2007-12-30T19:21:00.001+13:00

Well, after 3 days of travel I made it to McMurdo on the 29th. I arrived in Christchurch, NZ at 9:00am, but my checked bag didn't. We went directly to the CDC (Clothing Distribution Center) for our gear and found out that our reporting time was 2:15am for a 5:00am flight. I spent most of the day in Christchurch buying clothes and toiletries because they told me my bags weren't going to make it. I got up at 1:00am after 2 hours of sleep and we proceeded to sit on the plane until about 7:00am. Then they let us off to wait some more. THEN they told us to go home. THEN when we got to the hotel they told us to come back! Luckily by this time it was 11:00am and my bags arrived. The rest was an uneventful 5 hours. I did get to sit across from 16 pallets of beer and some gas canisters. I'm glad we didn't have a hard landing because it just doesn't seem safe to sit next to 5000lbs of cylinders in a big steal cage.

Today was also Ice Stock and the Chili cook-off (I got here at the beginning of a long 2 day weekend). Here's a bird's eye view of the scene with some super-hard-core rocker chicks shredding on stage.

It's pretty nasty and muddy today:

Sorry, I haven't taken any pretty pictures - the weather has been pretty ugly so you can't see much of a view. I'm also not feeling very motivated to write anything witty. Maybe later.

Leaving Tomorrow

2007-12-26T08:02:00.001+13:00

So this has nothing to do with Antarctica, but I thought it was cool. Last night (Christmas eve) there was a (almost) full moon, so I decided to try to take a picture of it with my new lens. I didn't expect much, since I was just hand-holding it (i.e. no tripod) and pointing it upward. It turned out pretty amazing (click for a bigger photo):

Look at the upper-right corner: you can see the relief created by the craters. I realize that this is just another picture of the moon, but I think is amazing that I could do this with a hand-held camera! For other camera nerds (I'm sure I'm not the only one): Nikon D80, 70-300m VR lens, F5.6, 1/1000, ISO 400.

Less than 2 months now...

2007-11-07T05:25:00.000+13:00

So I have finally finished all of my medical tests so I can be PQd (Physically Qualified) to go down to the ice. I had to update my blog because I added a link to all the bloggers on our McMurdo Dry Valleys LTER research website and didn't want to look delinquent. Kathy is already down there (read her blog here), and so is NBC's Today Show. They have a few good videos about life and research in Antarctica:

The Melting Mysteries of Antarctica

Life in Antarctica's Largest Community

You can also see Jason Box from The Byrd Polar Research Center (where I work) talk to Matt Lauer about global climate change in Greenland:

Matt Lauer Reports from Greenland

That's all I have for now - make sure to subscribe to my blog so you're automatically notified as I post.

I'm gone

2007-02-03T21:13:00.000+13:00

Well, I've officially left the ice, having arrived in Christchurch at 4:30am this morning. The day before I left it was snowing more than it had in a month and in the morning we were operating on a weather delay. Luckily, it cleared up and we started the 1 hour transport out to the ice runway. It's not really all that far away, but the vehicles are really slow. It's good that we weren't delayed because we 'bagdragged' (or bagdrug?) the night before. This is the process of bringing all our bags up to the MCC (Movement Control Center) to get weighed and packed up - all you can keep is a carry-on. I've definitely known people to walk around in the same shirt for a week during bad weather.

So that's about it - now I'm off to the New Zealand beaches to kayak with fur seals. I'll put up some New Zealand photos after I get home. Peace out. -Chris

P.S. The International Panel on Climate Change IPCC recently came out with a new report stating that "The evidence for warming having happened on the planet is unequivocal" and that it is caused by the burning of fossil fuels. Duh. They've been saying that for years but now the media is starting to pay more attention and 3/4 of Americans think global warming will get worse, but they don't think it is a top priority for the US government. Duh. Leaders around the world are calling for political and economic change. The Bush administration still opposed mandatory cuts in CO2. Big surprise. Anyway, read about it.

Ms. Dowling's 2nd Grade Class

2007-01-30T16:55:00.000+13:00

My friend Erin teaches 2nd grade in Columbus and I believe they're studying a different continent each month. Any guesses as to which continent they're learning about this month? Each student in her class asked a different question...

Thanks everyone for your great questions about Antarctica. I enjoyed answering all of them and included pictures when I had them. Here were go…

1. How big of an iceburg have you seen? Max

Hi Max – it’s hard to say how big the icebergs are because I usually see them from a helicopter from miles away. Here is a photo I took out of the helicopter window, these are a least a couple hundred feet long:

There are also small icebergs all over the place:

2. Is it beautiful there? Emma

Hi Emma – Yes! Many people think that Antarctica is the beautiful place on earth because there is no pollution and there aren’t people and buildings all over. Here are some of my favorite pictures:

3. How warm is it during the summer?

Believe it or not, it’s not all that cold in the summer here at McMurdo. As I write this, it is 32 degrees here (and sunny) and only 14 degrees in Columbus! I even saw a girl walking around in shorts today! The sun also never goes down here, so it doesn’t get really cold at night. This picture was taken at 2:30 in the morning!

However, it is -25 at the South Pole Station right now – it’s a lot colder there.

4. What foods do you eat there? Aaron

Hi Aaron – it depends. Sometimes we work and camp outside and prepare our own meals, but usually we eat at the galley, which is like the school lunch room. They make eggs for us in the morning and sandwiches for lunch and all kinds of things for dinner – pizza, chicken, and steak. Here's a picture of the hut where we eat in the field:

5. How many penguins have you seen? Chad
Hi Chad. I have seen a lot of penguins! The most common type of penguin around is the Adelie:

But there are sometimes Emperor penguins too (the kind in the movie The March of the Penguins). I’ve only seen an Emperor penguin from a helicopter, but here is a photo that my friend Kathy took of Emperors:

6. Have you seen any seals? Josiah

Hi Josiah – Yes! The most common type of seals around here are Weddell Seals, which sun themselves in front of McMurdo Station, where I am staying. Down here, the ocean is frozen and the seals just lay around on the ice and look like giant lazy slugs. I rode on an icebreaker the other day and took the pictures below. The only way for boats it get to McMurdo is for an icebreaker to first come though and break up all the ice.

7. Have you seen any really hard ice?

I have seen all kinds of ice here. I’ve seen glaciers, frozen lakes and ponds, frozen rivers, and like I said, even the ocean is frozen down here! Here are a couple of my favorite ice pictures:

Frozen lake ice:

Frozen pond ice (about 5 feet thick):

Glacier "ice falls" - basically like a waterfall, only with ice! (and a lot slower moving)

8. Have you seen any oil in the water?

Luckily, no, I haven’t seen any oil in the water. Since Antarctica is very clean and far away from humans and pollution, everyone is very careful not to spill anything on the ground or in the water. In fact, in parts of Antarctica, you’re not even allowed to dump your drink on the ground!

9. How tall can a penguin be? Abha

Hi Abha – The emperor penguins that I showed in Chad’s answer are the tallest penguins in the world. They are about 4 feet tall and weigh 75 pounds! Adelie Penguins are much shorter and only about 2 feet tall.

10. Have you touched any of the wildlife there? Anna

Hi Anna – no, you’re not allowed to touch any animals in Antarctica. In fact, you’re not even allowed to get close enough to them that they turn around and run away because they see you. These rules are in place so we don’t disturb the natural environment.

11. Have you seen baby penguins or eggs? Maria

Hi Maria – unfortunately no, I haven’t seen any baby penguins. However, some of my friends have seen babies, and they took some pictures. These are Adelie penguin babies at a rookery, which is where hundreds of penguins live together. Thanks to my friend Ryan Fimmen for the photos:

12. If it is noon there, what time is it here? Zack

Hi Zack – if it is noon in Antarctica, that means it is 6 at night YESTERDAY in Ohio. This part of Antarctica is in the same time zone as New Zealand, and is a little less than a day ahead. And think about this, if you are exactly at the South Pole, you are in all time zones at the same time!

13. Have you ever seen a leopard seal chasing a penguin? Sean

Hi Sean – nope, in fact, I’ve never seen a leopard seal around here, only Weddell Seals. There are definitely leopard seals here, I just haven’t seen them.

14. Are there polar bears? Chris

Hi Chris – no, polar bears only live in the Arctic (north pole), not the Antarctic. Polar Bears live in the north and penguins live in the south. Have you seen those Coke commercials at Christmas where a cartoon polar bear hands a Coke to a penguin? Those are wrong! Polar bears and penguins do not live in the same habitat!

15. Have you seen a penguin hatching from an egg? Mary Beth

Hi Mary Beth – No. Remember how I said that you’re not allowed to touch any wildlife or even get so close that they turn around and run away? That means you can’t go close to a penguin’s nest. If they come up to you, that’s ok, but you can’t walk up to them.

16. What do scientists do for Christmas?

The same thing you do! We had a Christmas party and Santa even showed up on a snowmobile:

We also had a nice meal in the galley with our friends!

17. What if you forget something? Are there stores?

Actually there is a station store here that sells things like toothpaste, soap, and snacks. It is also a gift shop where you can buy t-shirts, hats, and stickers with pictures from Antarctica.

18. Have you ever been in a situation where the ice started cracking under you? MaKayla

Hi Makayla – thankfully no! We do work on frozen lakes, but luckily I’ve never broken through. But one time ice started cracking above me: We were taking some glacier samples and we heard a loud sound that was like a cannon exploding. Right next to us a huge chunk of ice (think 10 feet high) fell off the front of the glacier. Needless to say, we got out of there quick! Here is a picture of the glacier - see where the ice is missing?

19.What is your job?

I work at Ohio State for a research project that studies the streams, soils, glaciers, lakes and weather in a certain part of Antarctica called the Dry Valleys. This is the biggest part of Antarctica that isn’t totally covered in ice. We do things like see how much the glaciers melt, how much the streams flow, and study tiny organisms in the lakes and soils. The Dry Valleys are very simple – there are no plants or animals that you can see without a microscope! Here is a picture of the science lab where I look at glacier, ice, and streams samples:

20. Have you made ice sculptures? Dylan

Hi Dylan – I’d love to make an ice sculpture but alas, I’m not much of a sculptor. However, Sir Edmund Hillary (the first person to climb Mt. Everest and the first person to stand on both the north and south pole) was here last week and he gave a speech on a podium that was carved out of ice! Here he is:

21. How many people are there?

There are about 1,000 people here at McMurdo Station, which is the biggest station in Antarctica. Here is a picture of McMurdo with an ice breaker too:

And here is another picture of McMurdo - see the volcano erupting? McMurdo is basically built on an active volcano!

When we go camping, there are only about 5-10 of us! Here are some pictures of the camps in the Dry Valleys:

22. Have you seen a penguin slide on its belly? Josh

Hi Josh – Yes, they seem to slide on their bellies a lot. Maybe they’re just tired of walking around! If you click on this picture taken by my friend Liz, you can see them sliding on their belies in the background:

23. Do you have electricity? gas stations? cars?

Yes – we have a powerplant that powers McMurdo Station, and when we’re camping we have solar panels (these work especially well in Antarctica in the summer because the sun never goes down!). Here is a picture of the solar panels at one of our camps:

There aren’t any gas stations that you have to pay for – there isn’t anyone that lives in Antarctica all the time – just people that work here. We don’t necessarily have cars, but we have regular trucks, just with bigger wheels, and sometimes even tracks like a tank:

There are a lot of interesting vehicles in McMurdo:

Thanks again for all your questions! -Chris

Icebreaker Joyriding

2007-01-28T19:34:00.000+13:00

This morning my friend Kathy and I went for a ride on the US Coast Guard Polar Sea Icebreaker.

(I'm totally cheating there - that is a photo of the Polar Star from two years ago, but they're sister ships so they look exactly the same). The Polar Sea, along with the Swedish icebreaker Oden:

...carved the channel through the sea ice to allow fuel and cargo resupply to McMurdo. Since all has gone well this season (favorable winds and no giant icebergs blocking the flow of ice out of the channel), they held a lottery for two cruises of 200 people each to go for a 3 hour ride down the channel. I was an "alternate," but luckily enough people were too hung over from the night before to wake up at 7am.

The Polar Sea pushes about 75,000 horsepower and can cut through up to 6m (21 feet!) of ice by riding up on the ice, and letting the weight of the ship drop through. We did this once as an example of it's capabilities and it was pretty amazing, though it wasn't 21 feet of ice. It can also cut through 2m (6 feet) of ice continuously at 3 knots.

Anyway, the wildlife is probably more exciting - Weddell Seals, penguins, and Minke whales. Here are a few photos from this morning:

Icebreaker Joyride

Last Night...

2007-01-24T19:08:00.000+13:00

The Marr Glacier

2007-01-23T18:59:00.000+13:00

We did some water sampling from the meltwater ponds at the base of the Marr Glacier in Taylor Valley. This is a really nice spot because it is the highest elevation on the valley floor, with great views all the way from the Taylor Glacier to the west (outlet glacier of the East Antarctic Ice Sheet) to McMurdo Sound and Mt Erebus (about 50 miles away) to the east. Enjoy...

Marr Glacier

Ventifacts

2007-01-20T16:27:00.000+13:00

Ventifacts (wind-sculpted rocks) are one my favorite features in the Dry Valleys. As I mentioned in an earlier post, the valleys have small meltwater streams that flow 4-12 weeks per year during the summer as the glaciers melt. However, since these are constrained to small areas of the valley and there hasn't been real rain in the valleys for a really long time, wind is the current dominant erosional process in most areas. This is especially true at high elevations where there is a lot of wind (duh). Below are 34 photos of ventifacts I took the other day - some of them are a little out of focus because (big surprise) it was really windy and cold up there and hard to hold the camera still. Enjoy!

Ventifacts

Canada Glacier

2007-01-14T11:51:00.000+13:00

Here are some photos of Canada Glacier that I haven't posted yet. This is the glacier right next to Lake Hoare camp. These are some of my favorite.

Canada Glacier

Day Trip to Commonwealth Glacier

2007-01-12T15:44:00.000+13:00

Yesterday I took a day trip to the accumulation zone of the Commonwealth Glacier to help Joel, our post doc, collect some snow for carbon characterization analysis. The photos aren't so exciting, but I put them up anyway...

Commonwealth Glacier

On the way back we flew along the sea ice edge, and it really felt like Antarctica. There were seals laying on the edge, big groups of penguins running along the ice, and orcas surfacing in the open water. Sorry, no photos!

Suess Glacier

2007-01-11T20:23:00.000+13:00

I finally got around to posting some photos from around the Suess Glacier, which is an hour or so walk from Lake Hoare camp. These photos were taken on January 6. Enjoy...

Suess Glacier

The Ice Edge is Coming

2007-01-10T17:02:00.000+13:00

The sea ice edge has moved pretty dramatically in the past 5 days. Here is a satellite photo from January 2:

And on January 7:

You can also see the channel cut by the icebreakers in the above photos. Anyway...I just wanted to share that dramatic change that has happened in the past 5 days. Thanks Kathy, for pointing this out.

Around Lake Hoare

2007-01-09T22:03:00.000+13:00

I just posted some photos I took around Lake Hoare, the main camp in Taylor Valley. It has a camp manager who takes care of everything (not to mention she's a phenomenal cook), so it's pretty easy to live there and pretty hard to leave. I just accept the fact that I have to endure McMurdo for a chance to get out there every once in a while...

Around Lake Hoare

I think I missed Penguin Day

2007-01-08T19:56:00.000+13:00

I just got back from camping out in the field for a few days, which is a blog I haven't gotten around to posting yet. In the meantime, everyone loves penguins...

Apparently town experienced a flurry of penguin activity this weekend and poor little old me was stuck playing on glaciers in the Dry Valleys. When I was in the field the Swedish icebreaker Oden pulled in, followed by the U.S. Coast Guard Polar Sea.

The sea ice edge is also getting close very quickly, so the wildlife reports have been increasing. People have seen a lot more Weddell Seals and Orca pods, and of course, Adelie penguins all over the place. Or so I hear. I found about 20 at Hut Point when I went looking today before dinner...

My friend Liz was around for the prime photo ops yesterday. Take a look at her blog for some better close ups. I've seen Adelies up close and personal before, but I thought it would be lame to put up photos from two years ago. I'm sure there will be more soon.

The Dry Valleys

2007-01-05T22:11:00.000+13:00

As I mentioned in an earlier post, our research site in Antarctica is in the McMurdo Dry Valleys. I am in a field camp at Lake Hoare in the Valleys right now - about a 45 minute helicopter ride from McMurdo. I came out to help the Limno Team first, which is the group doing work on the perennially frozen lakes. They drilled and melted holes through the ice several weeks ago, and they're sampling and deploying instruments down through the water column for the third time this season. Starting tomorrow I'll be helping Joel, our post-doc, collect samples from streams and supraglacial streams.

Anyway, it is a lot easier to just link to a photo album than actually embed all the photos within the blog. I've included captions on all the photos anyway. But just to get you up to speed, the first day I flew to the valleys and went directly to East Lake Bonney, then on to Lake Hoare Camp. Today it was overcast and windy, and we flew to West Lake Bonney. We deployed some instruments and then the helicopter came back to tell us that we had to leave soon because there were 50 knot winds across the Sound (they fly back and forth from McMurdo). We obviously didn't want to sleep on the lake, so we obliged. So we've actually spent most of the day hanging out and eating at Lake Hoare. Tomorrow I'm going stream sampling, which is not helicopter and therefore weather dependent. I'll put pictures up afterwards! Click below for photos from the last few days...

The Dry Valleys

A splendid evening for photos

2007-01-02T23:44:00.000+13:00

I usually try to avoid taking pictures of the Transantarctic Mountains visible from McMurdo because the conditions are never right. It's always either too sunny and washed out or too cloudy. Well tonight was one of those rare occasions where the sun was illuminating the mountains, but the sun was filtered on this side of the Sound. Most importantly, I was also motivated to get my lazy butt outside with my camera and VERY useful new polarizing filter. The photos don't really do it justice, but some of them came out pretty good. No, they are not photoshopped beyond some cropping and minor contrast improvements. That's really what it looks like here. Too bad I can't take a picture of the wind though...

Click above for photos

What would you say ya do here?

2006-12-31T11:11:00.001+13:00

I haven’t blogged for a while, but I also haven’t done anything particularly exciting. This is probably a good time for the most boring post ever - what it is I actually do here. I might as well get it out of the way now...

I work for a Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) project. The McMurdo Dry Valleys LTER (I designed and maintain that website - another part of my job) is one of 2 Antarctic sites (the other is Palmer Station, a marine-based site on the Peninsula) out of a total of 26, most of which are in the U.S. The Dry Valleys are the largest ice free region of Antarctica (about 4,800 sq km) and our site is by far the coldest and driest in the LTER Network. In fact, it is considered a desert, with less than 10cm of precipitation per year. The site consists of alpine glaciers that melt and create small streams that only flow about 4 - 10 weeks each summer. These streams ultimately flow into perennially frozen closed-basin lakes, which are very salty due to continuous evaporation. Here is a good overview shot of Taylor Valley, the main part of the Dry Valleys in which we work. (photo by Karen Cozzetto)

You can also view a LANDSAT 7 Satellite image of the area. That link is a large 9MB download, but it is also very cool - the Dry Valleys are to the left side of the image (it's also not oriented correctly - north is to the left).

We have PIs (Primary Investigators - the lead profs.), students, post docs, and employees (me) working on the physical properties, biology, and chemistry of the glaciers, streams, lakes, and soils in the Dry Valleys. There are also 13 permanent meteorology stations. The McMurdo Dry Valleys are a good place to do all of this because they are "on the edge" between ice and water. Things like temperature, albedo (how much light is reflected), wind, and precipitation control how much the glaciers melt, and therefore how much water is available for life in the ecosystem. Very small changes in these parameters can have dramatic impact on the biology and chemistry of the streams, lakes, and soils. Also, the Dry Valleys contain the simplest ecosystem in the world, and the only ecosystem where nematodes (microscopic roundworms) are at the top of the food web. There are no higher plants or animals in the Dry Valleys, except the occasional skua (big brown mean seagull) or the rare penguin or seal. If they're in the the Dry Valleys though, they're probably lost.

At home I am the “Information Manager” for the site, where I take care of all the data, maintain the website, etc. Down here I analyze glacier, stream, and lake samples for their organic carbon and total nitrogen content as people send them back from the field. I also help keep track of all the samples that come in for chemical analysis (we also have people measuring major ions, nutrients, chlorophyll, etc.). I also get to go out in the field and take some stream and lake samples myself. I work in the Crary Lab, which is actually a really nice facility - much nicer than any lab I’ve worked in back at OSU.

Crary Science and Engineering Building:

Inside my lab:

And a photo or 2 down the hall...

I'm going into the field next week, so hopefully my next post be a little more exciting. By the way, my friend Kathy wrote a good post of "McMurdoisms" that is worth reading.

Christmas in Antarctica

2006-12-25T17:14:00.000+13:00

As you may know, I am on the other side of the international date line, so your Christmas Eve is my Christmas. We had a big Christmas party at the Heavy Shop (a big garage for big vehicles) on Saturday and then Christmas dinner on Christmas Eve. Here is a photo of Kathy, Liz, me, and Nik with Santa.

It was buffet style, as all meals in the McMurdo are, but we had to sign up for a time so they could limit the number of people in the galley. It was actually pretty amazing considering all the people they had to cook for. We had Beef Wellington (really good), duck, and lobster tail, as well as a huge desert spread. Notice the fresh fruits and vegetables - we definitely didn't have these when I was down 2 years ago.

I decided to work in the lab today on Christmas, because to be completely honest, there really isn't a whole lot else to do (I'm not going to pretend to be super-motivated). It seems like a lot of people sit around and watch TV today, but I'm just really not into TV. We wanted to do a hike to Castle Rock, which is about 9 miles across a glacier under the shadow of Mt Erebus (just what I need - more Mt Erebus pictures). Despite this positive sounding forecast,

It is actually only 16F, overcast with snow on and off, and probably very windy up on the unprotected glacier. Hopefully I'll get out there soon though - it is supposed to be above freezing tomorrow.

It's not always nice here

2006-12-24T13:47:00.000+13:00

It's sunny here most of the time, as you can see in my photos. But then again, I really only go outside and take pictures when it's nice out. It was cold and really windy the other day, so we went out and took some pictures to prove that it's not always so perfect:

I'm really hoping for a Condition 1 sometime, which means you're not allowed to leave the building you're in. It's defined by wind speeds greater than 55 knots, wind chills less than -100F, or visibility less than 100ft. Doesn't that sound fun!?

Well, it's Christmas Eve here and our big dinner is tonight. I believe we're having duck, lobster tail, and beef tenderloin. It's a harsh continent...

Just a few more photos around MacTown

2006-12-23T08:46:00.000+13:00

I just added a few more photos I took around town. The first are from Hut Point, where Robert Falcon Scott built Discovery Hut during the 1901-1904 Discovery Expedition. It is now an historic monument. The rest are from Ob Hill, a 750 ft cinder cone that's right next to town. It's a really short hike, but there are incredible views. I calculated that you can see about 70 miles from the top.

Around Town

Anyway, we have a Christmas party tonight so I may put up some pictures of the craziness tomorrow.

Food Waste

2006-12-22T10:57:00.000+13:00

With the exception of sewage, everything that is taken to, or created in McMurdo will eventually be shipped out. All food waste (food from the galley that is not eaten) is compacted into these containers, shipped frozen on the vessel back to the States, and converted into energy. It's pretty amazing how much food waste is generated:

Pretty much everything is recycled in McMurdo, in fact there are 20 different categories! I don't remember the exact figure, but I think the recycle rate here is about 60%.

Fame

2006-12-20T13:11:00.000+13:00

Some of us (NOT ME) were mentioned in the Columbus Dispatch in a recent story about scientists spending Christmas away from home. Read it here.

Lake Hoare, mentioned in this article, is the main camp in Taylor Valley where we usually stay while doing field work. Here is a nice panoramic shot I took about 2 years ago (click for panoramic version):

A Giant McMurdo

2006-12-18T20:40:00.000+13:00

I posted a giant photo of McMurdo from the sea ice so you can really zoom in and look around. The Crary science lab (where I work) is the weird looking 3 level tan-ish building prominently in the middle. It's really not an attractive town, is it? Just click below for the full resolution file:

Believe me, the view the other direction is much better - miles and miles of the Transantarctic Mountains.

A little hiking on the ocean

2006-12-17T22:12:00.000+13:00

The combination of sun, warmth, and a day off is perfect for hiking. We went for a short hike (maybe about 6 miles?) from McMurdo, out across the sea ice to Scott Base, and back. The sea ice is several meters thick and very safe, though there are the occasional (and well-marked) cracks marked with bamboo poles in the shape of an "X". Below are a few photos (there are more in my web album - click the slideshow button at the top, it's pretty neat).

Mt. Erebus is the most active volcano and formed all of Ross Island, which holds McMurdo, and Scott Base (New Zealand).

And here is one with my ugly mug:

The safe route is marked with flagged bamboo poles:

Erebus is pretty much always erupting:

Scott Base. I don't know why they have to make everything the color of a kiwi.

I think Liz is happy to be in Antarctica:

Pressure ridges form on the boundary between the sea ice (frozen sea water) and the ice shelf (basically a glacier that flows over top the ocean).

Whew, 4 days later, I finally made it

2006-12-16T08:58:00.001+13:00

So my friend Liz and I flew out of Cincinnati on December 10 and made it to Christchurch, New Zealand on December 12. We spent 2 days in Christchurch where we mostly ran errands, got our ECW (Extreme Cold Weather) gear, drank, and ate Thai and Indian food. Then it was a short 5 hour plane ride to The Ice on December 14.

I stayed at The Windsor in CHCH, which is everyone’s favorite hotel. It is a B&B where they ring a bell at 7:30am and chime “Goooood morning, it is 7:30 and this is your first call for breakfast. Wakey Wakey!” over the loudspeaker. This sounds annoying, and it is, but it’s also so goofy that it is really hilarious. Then it is on to a breakfast of spaghetti and baked beans. Here are a few photos around town to make you jealous that it isn’t late spring in the northern hemisphere (it was 75F degrees and sunny if you can’t tell from the photos):

It typically takes about 4 days to get to Antarctica. The first 30 hours or so are spent getting to New Zealand, and the next day you have an appointment at the CDC (Clothing Distribution Center, not Center for Disease Control). This is where you get your big red parka that keeps you alive down to -40 or so, among other pre-used clothing. I’m not weird about wearing another man’s pants, but I draw the line at anything underneath. So I passed on the long underwear. The next morning your flight leaves. In our case we had an 0400 arrive time, meaning we had to wake up at 3:00am. This is me soon after:

You get a short briefing and board a military aircraft for your southbound flight. This is the first time I’ve gotten to ride on a C-17 Globemaster, the Cadillac of Antarctic travel:

It may not look all that comfortable, but consider the alternative… This was inside the LC-130 Hercules I took down 2 years ago (keep in mind it is also a 7 hour flight because it is slower):

The plane lands on the Ross Ice Shelf, and we take “Ivan” the Terra Bus across the ice shelf and frozen sea ice into McMurdo.

Sorry, I haven’t taken any pictures beyond that, but I’ve put up some additional photos on my online photo album here. Aside from the travel, there hasn’t been too much going on. I’ve spent most of my time organizing the lab and preparing for samples. Let me know if there is anything you’re curious about or anything you’d like to see photos of. Just leave a comment by clicking on the ‘comments’ link under the title of the post.

So you think Antarctica is cold?

2006-12-05T03:34:00.000+13:00

I'm leaving in less than a week now, and the weather in Ohio today is making me feel better about it. Observe:

Some more photos from the 2004-2005 Antarctic Season

2006-11-14T10:36:00.000+13:00

New Zealand 2005

Antarctica 2004-2005

Oh wait, I'm still in Columbus

2006-10-11T11:56:00.000+13:00

So I'm not actually in Antarctica yet, but I thought I'd put up some photos from the last time I was down before I leave so I can figure out this blogging thing. So here they are! Lenticular clouds over Mt Erebus, Adelie penguins, Mt Erebus from Cape Royds, and Taylor Valley.