My first iceberg: Nascent (south)

The first flight I was scheduled to go on was to the Nascent Iceberg. The word “Nascent” means “about to be born”. So, if you can guess by the name, it is actually not yet an iceberg. The Ross Ice Shelf calves off massive icebergs every 50 years or so. The Nascent Iceberg will be the next big iceberg. Right now, it is a rift zone- a place where the iceberg is slowly separating from the ice shelf.

We already had a station on the north side of the rift (north is the side becoming an iceberg). At that station we have a seismometer, weather station, and even a camera that looks into the giant rift zone! So our group was actually going to the south side of the rift. What we want to do is put GPS on both sides (north and south) so that we can measure the rate that the rift zone is spreading. We also believe the rifting is caused by the tides, so we want to watch and see whether or not the rifting is continuous, or if it corresponds with tides.

So, for my trip, I was going to the south side of the rift to put the GPS equipment up in two different locations. Later, a team would go to the north side and put up another GPS.

Here is a picture of the plane we flew in, called a “Twin Otter” and a picture of three of us inside (myself, Ronald, and Doug). I had a cold, so all of the pressure made my head hurt! It felt like my eyeballs were popping out, but the flight was still beautiful.





Instead of landing on wheels, the Twin Otter has four skis. Below is a close-up of one of them. The pilot would bring the plane down very gently, ski over the snow, and pull back up. They would then fly back around, looking at their ski tracks. If they looked solid, they know that there are no crevasses, and that it is safe to land there again.



For our trip to Nascent it took many attempts before landing- not because there were crevasses, but because the snow was so hard. They couldn't find their tracks to land in again! Once we finally landed, I tried to make a snow angel, but the snow was too hard! Here is a nice picture of the rift area.



Here is a picture of Jonathan on the plane. You can see that he is wearing a headphone so he can talk to the pilot, because the plane is too noisy to talk normally. The flight to Nascent was about 1.5 hours.



When we did land, we got to set up our equipment. Here is a picture of me setting up some GPS equipment. You can see the white antenna, the yellow tripod, and the blue solar panels. In the wooden box is a battery.



There were four people to set up the equipment, and two pilots. Often the pilots will volunteer to help (we have a lot of shoveling and setting up to do) but that can be dangerous- we wouldn’t want our pilot to be injured! We need someone to fly us home!

We also tested some radar equipment. The radar is used to measure how thick the ice is. Here is a picture of Doug setting up the equipment.



A week later, another group went to the north side of the rift. They also put up GPS equipment, and we’d already had a seismometer that they had to take back home. They also had to remove a camera that wasn’t working. The camera took pictures of the rift zone (people had to wear ropes to go near the camera, because we wouldn’t want anyone to fall into the rift!). This is a great picture. It was taken by Jonathan from the plane. You can see the rift, the camera, and the plane! (Look closely for the camera- it is on a tripod right by the plane shadow).



When we were at Nascent, Ronald (in middle of picture) wanted to collect snow. He and his wife are getting married on Friday (Nov 11th) and they both were in Antarctica together. So he thought it would be nice if everyone drank water from Antarctica. So here we are, right before leaving, collecting snow.



It was very beautiful standing out there, where so few people have been. The weather was wonderful, although I am definitely bundled up (last year they got trapped there for over four days due to the weather!). There are lots of things to see at McMurdo, but on the ice shelf it was flat in every direction you looked, as you can see in this picture of me.

Oh, the weather outside is frightful...

Well, this is the fourth day we’ve been sitting in our office waiting for the weather to clear. It is just too windy to fly! At some point, I’ll post stories about my flights, but today’s weather reminded me of my first recreational hike, which was on Sunday, October 23rd. It was a fairly small hike, maybe 30 minutes up and less going back down, at a place called “Observational Hill” or just Ob Hill. We started off around 2:30 in the afternoon, and it was a beautiful day. Climbing up was harder than I thought- I wore the boots that I was issued (“Bunny Boots”) which are hard to walk in. But it was still a fun hike. Here I am hiking up the mountain, with Olga ahead of me.



You could see McMurdo station from the hill. Here I am with Mac, with McMurdo in the background. We are maybe half-way up the hill at this point. You can see my huge “Bunny Boots”



Most of the clothes I’m wearing were issued for me at the CDC (clothing distribution center) in New Zealand. We call the coat “Big Red”, and we all have nametags. Nametags are very important, since about 1000 people here have the same coat! The hat I actually bought at a garage sale in Michigan for 10 cents.

When we finally reached the top of Ob Hill there is a cross, called “Scott’s Cross”. Scott was a man who was the second explorer to reach the South Pole (missed being first by only a few weeks) but he died trying to come back. And so the rest of his crew put the cross up there. Here is a picture of us with the cross behind us. It was super windy at the top of Ob Hill. So windy we had to sit down and stay behind rocks so we didn’t get blown off!



We decided to hurry back down the hill because the weather was starting to get really bad. I spent a lot of time on my backside so I wouldn’t get blown over. It wasn’t quite windy enough to be completely scary, but it was definitely exciting. If you weren’t paying attention, you could have been blown-off! At one point, I tried to put my spare mittens more tightly in a pocket, and one blew away! It flew right off of the side! (Fortunately, I had a spare pair). Here is a picture of Mac, pretending to fall off the side of the hill. Good background of McMurdo again.



Walking down the mountain was so much fun, and you could see the wind rolling over the ice shelf. When we finally reached the bottom, I felt like I was in The Wizard of Oz. You know in the very beginning, where everything is brown? And it is the start of the tornado with all the barns in the background with dust flying? Well, as you can see from the pictures, much of McMurdo is brown, and the buildings do look very barn-ish. The wind was blowing, but it was mostly dirt, not snow. It was very interesting. Here is a picture of the wind, but it doesn’t do it justice.



So weather forecasts in Antarctica are different than in the United States. Here, we only have 3 conditions. If we are in “condition 3” it means the weather is very nice. “Condition 2” is bad, and if we’d been hiking any where, you should probably check out with the fire department so they can keep track of people. And “condition 1” is super bad weather- you aren’t allowed out of the building if “condition 1” is called. So if I had been in my office, I’d have to stay there until the weather was better- even sleep in my office!

Every day before this hike had been “condition 3” (the good weather). But that evening, it was called “condition 2”! I was excited, because it was my first real storm. Actually, everywhere but the station was at condition 1! (So for example, the Ice Runway, where planes land, was at condition 1).

So this is what counts as each condition:

Condition 3: when wind speed is less than or equal to 48 knots, visibility is great than .25 miles AND wind-chill temperature is greater than -75 degree F

Condition 2: When ANY of the following is true: wind speed is greater than 48 knots but less than or equal to 55 knots OR visibility is greater than 100 feet but less than or equal to .25 miles OR wind-chill temperature is greater than -100 F but less than or equal to -75 F

Condition 1: When ANY of the following is true: wind speed is greater than 55 knots OR visibility is less than or equal to 100 feet OR wind-chill temperature is less than -100 F.

So, now image how easy you get off for a snow day! Our “snow day” corresponds to condition 1!