Arrived at Bonney Camp!
This morning I flew with my team from McMurdo, across the frozen sea ice of McMurdo Sound, to the Dry Valleys. We were transported in a Bell 412 helicopter along with ~ 600 lbs of scientific and personal gear, all of which is weighed and tagged to help with weight distribution and fuel allocation for the journey. The Bel 412 is the bigger of the two types of helicopters operated by the US Antarctic Program and flies with both a pilot and a helicopter tech, who helps with the loading and off-loading of cargo. Bonney camp is the most inland and farthest from McMurdo of the four Dry Valleys field camps. We were treated to spectacular views of the mountains, hanging glaciers and all three of frozen lakes we will be sampling as we made our way up the valley. I loved being able to see the system from above- because of the lack of vegetation it was so easy to see the watershed at work from that scale- streams running off of the glaciers running into the slushy moats of the frozen lakes.
This morning I flew with my team from McMurdo, across the frozen sea ice of McMurdo Sound, to the Dry Valleys. We were transported in a Bell 412 helicopter along with ~ 600 lbs of scientific and personal gear, all of which is weighed and tagged to help with weight distribution and fuel allocation for the journey. The Bel 412 is the bigger of the two types of helicopters operated by the US Antarctic Program and flies with both a pilot and a helicopter tech, who helps with the loading and off-loading of cargo. Bonney camp is the most inland and farthest from McMurdo of the four Dry Valleys field camps. We were treated to spectacular views of the mountains, hanging glaciers and all three of frozen lakes we will be sampling as we made our way up the valley. I loved being able to see the system from above- because of the lack of vegetation it was so easy to see the watershed at work from that scale- streams running off of the glaciers running into the slushy moats of the frozen lakes.
When we arrived at camp, we went to work setting up the lab space to prepare for the upcoming sampling of the Western Lobe of Lake Bonney. The "limno" team of the McMurdo LTER (aka the lakes group) samples three big lakes in Taylor Valley, but because Lake Bonney is separated into two distinct lobes with only a narrow channel connecting them, they are treated as two separate water bodies: West Lobe Bonney (WLB) and East Lobe Bonney (ELB.) The camp is situated on the shore of the east lobe, so traveling to the West Lobe takes some work. Luckily, we are able to drive ATV's on the lake ice (which is 3+ m thick!) to get to the West Lobe sampling hole. The hole itself was already drilled earlier in the season, which significantly decreases the workload for the subsequent rounds of sampling, considering both how thick the ice is and the wide diameter of the hole (3' across.) They do refreeze between sampling trips- part of today's work involved traveling out to the West Bonney sampling hole to both stage gear and start chipping out the partially refrozen hole. Once the ice was chipped and scooped out, I took a moment to lay on the lake ice and look down through the hole... and the icy walls just kept going down into the water! I was impressed with 17" of ice on Mirror Lake last winter- but this is a whole (hole?) new level! Ice twice as thick as I am tall!
Headed to the Dry Valleys today!
Headed to the Dry Valleys today! We are flying to Bonney Camp, located on Lake Bonney, the farthest inland of the three lakes in the Taylor Valley. Over the next few days we'll be doing the second round of sampling on both the eastern lobe and the western lobe of Lake Bonney. More on that when I get in to the field!
Headed to the Dry Valleys today! We are flying to Bonney Camp, located on Lake Bonney, the farthest inland of the three lakes in the Taylor Valley. Over the next few days we'll be doing the second round of sampling on both the eastern lobe and the western lobe of Lake Bonney. More on that when I get in to the field!
The images below were taken by AWI Operations Manager Sue O’Reilly in 2015 during her time working in Antarctica.
Arrival
I've arrived at McMurdo Station! I'm glad to be here after 5 days of delays. Our flight finally left Christchurch around 9am yesterday (Dec 6th) and landed on the ice in the early evening. We were greeted by clear views of Mt. Erebus (the world's southernmost active volcano,) the Royal Society Range, and lots of snow and ice. Life in McMurdo over the next week will mostly consist of trainings covering everything from field survival skills to proper chemical waste disposal in lab as well as some prep work for the field and lab work later in the season. If all goes to plan, I'll be heading out to the Dry Valleys on Tuesday.
I've arrived at McMurdo Station! I'm glad to be here after 5 days of delays. Our flight finally left Christchurch around 9am yesterday (Dec 6th) and landed on the ice in the early evening. We were greeted by clear views of Mt. Erebus (the world's southernmost active volcano,) the Royal Society Range, and lots of snow and ice. Life in McMurdo over the next week will mostly consist of trainings covering everything from field survival skills to proper chemical waste disposal in lab as well as some prep work for the field and lab work later in the season. If all goes to plan, I'll be heading out to the Dry Valleys on Tuesday.
The images below were taken by AWI Operations Manager Sue O’Reilly in 2015 during her time working in Antarctica. They were taken on the Pegasus Runway where wheeled aircraft land during mid-summer on the ice in front of McMurdo Station. The Kiwi C-130 is the same type of aircraft Lija flew on.
Flying!
Waiting for flight orientation and boarding! So far, signs point to flying to Antarctica today! If so, it will take about 7hrs to fly from Christchurch to McMurdo Station.
Waiting for flight orientation and boarding! So far, signs point to flying to Antarctica today! If so, it will take about 7hrs to fly from Christchurch to McMurdo Station.
More Delays
As I was about to head down to check out of my hotel and head to the flight, we were notified of another 24 hr weather delay. Disappointing, but not unusual. Fingers crossed for tomorrow!
As I was about to head down to check out of my hotel and head to the flight, we were notified of another 24 hr weather delay. Disappointing, but not unusual. Fingers crossed for tomorrow!
Greetings from Christchurch, NZ
Greetings from Christchurch, NZ, gateway to Antarctica! I was scheduled to leave on my “ice flight” this morning on a C-130, but we have been put on a 1 day delay due to weather. This gives me more time to gather “freshies”- the last fresh food I will have for a few months! The last few days have been filled with orientations, Covid testings, and the cold weather gear issue. Every US Antarctic Program participant is loaned a set of extreme cold weather gear for the duration or their time on the continent. I've been enjoying meeting the other people in my cohort- a mix of contractors and scientists, all doing different interesting things: surveying work for new construction projects, maintenance on weather stations all over Antarctica, astronomy research using the high tech telescopes at the South Pole, flying drones to study melting permafrost, Weddell seal research out on the sea ice, to name a few!
Greetings from Christchurch, NZ, gateway to Antarctica! I was scheduled to leave on my “ice flight” this morning on a C-130, but we have been put on a 1 day delay due to weather. This gives me more time to gather “freshies”- the last fresh food I will have for a few months! The last few days have been filled with orientations, Covid testings, and the cold weather gear issue. Every US Antarctic Program participant is loaned a set of extreme cold weather gear for the duration or their time on the continent. I've been enjoying meeting the other people in my cohort- a mix of contractors and scientists, all doing different interesting things: surveying work for new construction projects, maintenance on weather stations all over Antarctica, astronomy research using the high tech telescopes at the South Pole, flying drones to study melting permafrost, Weddell seal research out on the sea ice, to name a few!