Offshore New Harbor 2008 Expedition Blogstag:blogs.qc.cuny.edu,2009:/blogs/ONH2008//12892008-11-04T19:22:09ZMovable Type Enterprise 1.02OCTOBER 25- MOVING FORWARD WITH FINISHING THE SEISMIC SLEDtag:blogs.qc.cuny.edu,2008:/blogs/ONH2008//1289.115532008-10-25T10:32:53Z2008-11-04T19:22:09ZYesterday and today have been the best and the worst of times. Yesterday, we were beset with 43 knot (~50 mph) winds and near white out conditions. Today in contrast, we had clear skies, near calm winds and relatively warm...Stephen PekarThe weather forecast for October 24th. The weather summary for October 24, 2008. Brian, Howie, and Ross (left to right) working outside the seismic sled.Diminishing visibility during the storm.
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OCTOBER 24- the gods intend to tease and play with ustag:blogs.qc.cuny.edu,2008:/blogs/ONH2008//1289.115522008-10-25T10:15:58Z2008-10-25T10:47:09ZI woke up at my usual time of 6 am and marched over to the office to check the weather. Although the winds were light, a thick overcast had enveloped the sky and a feeling of approaching bad weather was...Stephen PekarDave working in the carp shopHowie and Brian bolting 10 inch bolts through the floor of the seismic sled.
Ross and Stian working on the compressor and fuel tank in the front of the seismic sled.
I was also glad that I was there. It felt good and kept me from getting down that we were losing another day. In fact, in the end, I think that it was a blessing as it showed what had to be done and showed me what the next steps are and allowed me to strategize what I had to do. It was also a total adventure. I worked with tools and experts in building like never before. I also had never done carpentry in a raging snowstorm with high winds and low visibility.
October 24 weather extremes at McMurdo Station
There was also the intensity of the work, with three groups working at the same time on the sled in different parts. I also watched a 500 kilo compressor get lifted by a large fork lift that most delicately inched into its place on the seismic sled. Ross and Stain had drilled holes for its feet and somehow the operator of this huge contraption prodded and slid it into place. Then as we started to wind our work down, the storm stopped and the clouds began to part, first over the Trans Antarctic Mountains, lighting up patches of the snowy peaks. Golden rays of late afternoon sun shone through the clouds at low angle revealing a wind swept landscape of iridescent hues being cast on snowy hills, with the silhouette of the Trans Antarctic Mountains looming high above them.
The sun's rays on the foothills with the Trans Antarctic Mountains looming in the background.
What I have decided is that basically, if the weather improves (and it is improving immensely now with sun streaming through the clouds and relatively warm temperatures), I will send a small set of people out to set up the camp while 6-7 people stay behind and try to finish the sled. The goal is to finish it by Sunday night (late Saturday for you) and bring out the sled on Monday. The Marble Point traverse is happening on Monday, so they would be able to bring the sled out. Therefore, Luke would not have to go all the way back to town in the Challenger tractor to pick up the seismic sled. So the plan is to go all out tomorrow and Sunday and hopefully be ready for Monday's traverse.
I feel that if we had not been delayed and Ross and Stian had to work alone, the sled would not have gotten finished until later the following week as it is a huge job. My battle cry is, "do whatever needs to be done", always look for opportunities to seize to make things happen". And everyone is doing just that.
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OCTOBER 23- the day before heading out to the field camptag:blogs.qc.cuny.edu,2008:/blogs/ONH2008//1289.115512008-10-25T10:15:01Z2008-10-25T10:15:45Z The decision was made to put-in to the camp on October 24th. The team finished up all of the final pieces of the puzzle and now we all waited for the morning. The only concern was the pace of...Stephen Pekar
The decision was made to put-in to the camp on October 24th. The team finished up all of the final pieces of the puzzle and now we all waited for the morning. The only concern was the pace of the seismic sled. Although Ross and Stian were working on it flat out, it still seemed to be many days from being complete. I had asked Marv and Brian to stay behind. I wondered if that would be enough. The evening ended with a beautiful setting sun although at this time of year, it never set below the horizon. Everything was set for the ONH expedition to finally head out to camp and begin collecting some data.
OCTOBER 22- PUTTING IN THE PIECES INTO THE "PUT-IN" PUZZLEtag:blogs.qc.cuny.edu,2008:/blogs/ONH2008//1289.114452008-10-22T07:17:58Z2008-10-22T08:08:55ZIn the last couple of days there has been a great deal of work in trying to get us out of McMurdo Station and to our field camp offshore of New Harbor. This included getting a number of pieces into...Stephen PekarThe plans for us going out to the Offshore New Harbor Field Camp.
Here is a first draft of the possible layout for the field camp.
STOP THE PRESS AT 8 PM NZT OR 3 AM WEDNESDAY EDT, THE MECHANICS FINISHED REPAIRING THE CHALLENGER TRACTOR AND IS NOW READY FOR OUR USE. THE LAST PIECE IS GETTING THE FUEL TANK SLED FROM WILLY FIELD AND GETTING A FEW OTHERS TRAINED ON THE CHALLENGER. ]]>
OCTOBER 19THtag:blogs.qc.cuny.edu,2008:/blogs/ONH2008//1289.113192008-10-19T07:51:21Z2008-10-20T08:54:44ZProgress is being made on all fronts for deploying albeit with some snags resulting in minor delays. Everyone here is working flat out in trying to get everything ready for getting out to camp. New Schedule for Deployment - As...Stephen Pekar
New Schedule for Deployment
- As of today, we are planning to leave from McMurdo Station on October 23rd.
- The Marble Point Traverse will depart on the 24 or 25 and should be able to stop by our camp to fork lift some of gear off the sleds.
- The Seismic Sled is progressing albeit slowly and we hoping that it can go out to the field over the weekend.
On Sunday, Ross, Stian, Brian and I worked on finishing the metal shelves for the seismic sleds. Ross and Stian took turns welding and sawing the angle iron, while Brian and I drilled holes and cleaned up the metal for welding.
Stian weldingRoss sawing through some angle iron.
At the end of the day, all of the goals were met, allowing us to work on the electricity and plumbing in the seismic sled.
At the end of the day, I went over to my favorite place to spy the sunset: behind the church overlooking McMurdo Sound. The light snow that had fallen had stopped hours ago and the sky was beginning to clear in the west, revealing the dying sun cutting through the thinning clouds. The result is shown below.
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OCTOBER 18 RECON HELICOPTER FLIGHT TO OFFSHORE NEW HARBORtag:blogs.qc.cuny.edu,2008:/blogs/ONH2008//1289.112832008-10-18T04:35:16Z2008-10-18T06:08:54ZOCTOBER 18 Today was the second day of Happy Camper School for most of the team, while Luci, Luke, Eric, Marv and I remained in town. Luke and Luci continued preparing for the traverse for perhaps as early as Wednesday....Stephen PekarLooking up the coastline north of McMurdo Station.
We were able to identify where the multi year sea ice ended and the first year sea ice began. While the first year sea ice is thinner, it also had a number of cracks that formed some ridges that we will have to deal with when we start working on the first line. Our thoughts are either letting the big tractors ride over them to break off some of the sharp points. We will not have the same trouble we had back in 2005 as the new seismic sled will be on an Allanor sled, which has suspension.
One of the ice cracks in the first year sea ice. Marv and I at the eastern end point for the Seismic line ONH -1.
We also drilled through the ice to test ice thickness for safety. We found that that at both sites on first year ice, the thickness was about 1.8 to 1.9 meters, more than thick enough for even the heaviest of our vehicles, which needed no more than 30 inches (~0.8 meters of ice thickness).
The flag at the eastern end of seismic line ONH2. The background is Ferrar Valley.
We continued onto the location of our field camp. The view looks right up Ferrar Valley. The scene was exquisite, with Ferrar Valley and the back of the valley in plain view.
The view looking up Ferrar Valley.
The tops of the Royal Society Mountains to the southwest, Mt Discovery to the south, and Mt Erebus to the east. The sea ice was also incredibly flat and smooth and is among the best places for a camp set up.
At the Offshore New Harbor field camp.
An additional bonus was that a large iceberg was frozen into place less than two kilometers from our camp. Its massive sheer cliffs, had large snow drifts that will provide much needed water IF there is not much snow by the camp.
The Offshore New Harbor iceberg of 2008.
We planted our flag and moved on to the western end points for the two seismic lines. Each view was spectacular. At the western end of seismic line ONH1, we were looking at New Harbor up Taylor Valley.
Looking toward the New Harbor camp and Taylor Valley.
At the western end of seismic line ONH2, we had an even closer view of Ferrar Valley.
The view from the western end of seismic line ONH2.
One of the potential issues that we recognized was that there were several old icebergs that may line in our path for seismic line ONH2. If that were the case, we would simply move the line a few hundred meters to avoid it. Just another little twist in the plot of this expedition.
One of the old icebergs with Mt Erebus smoking in the distance.
The flight back once again showed the transition from the first year to multi year ice, with Mt Erebus smoking in the east and little McMurdo station nestled among the volcanic hills stretched out along the coast. All in all it was an amazing day.
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OCTOBER 17- THE TEAM IS OFF TO HAPPY CAMPER SCHOOLtag:blogs.qc.cuny.edu,2008:/blogs/ONH2008//1289.112582008-10-17T09:52:51Z2008-10-18T04:33:33ZToday the majority of the team went off to "Happy Camper School" (i.e., survival school). Plus with Luci going out on sea ice training, left a small contingent of us back at McMurdo (Me, Marv, Luke, Kyle). In the morning,...Stephen PekarA photo of Marv along our Skidoos after Snow Machine class. This is out on the sea ice a few hundreds yards off the shoreline.
That evening as we ate our dinners in a comfortably warm room, our thoughts went out to the rest of the team that was out at Survival School. The weather for the most part was nippy but not brutal. However there were a few times that the winds picked up and our thoughts immediately went out to the team making hot water for their freeze dried foods over a little stove while huddled either in their tents or behind the snow walls that they presumably built.
The temperature this evening at around 7 pm.
The weather readings at McMurdo Station at about 7 pm on October 16. It should be noted that conditions at the Happy Campers School could be quite different. Eric was out there filming today and noted that just as he was leaving, it started to get much colder.
This was also an evening for Marv, Luke, Luci and I to schedule the deployment out to the field. At this point a team of four carpenters will go out by helicopter on Monday, October 20 to set up the two large tents we will use for dining and for science. They will stay over night and return on the 21st. The first convoy for Marble Point Station should leave today, baring mechanical problems, with a second one going out on October 22nd. The Marble Point Station is a refueling station for the helicopters, a team of three people who stay out there for about five months. It is located about 15 miles further north than where our camp will be located. In fact, the traverse to Marble Point goes within a mile or so of where our camp will be. This was actually planned in advance. The Marble Point Traverse is not a road on the sea ice per se, but as the convoy travels they typically will knock off the ice that is sticking up owing to pressure from the surrounding ice.
After discussing a number of plans, we decided to go for a deployment to the camp of October 22nd, pending mechanical and weather delays. This was an exciting development as we had been too busy to really finalize this before as the seismic sled is not yet finished. The idea is to go with the Marble Point traverse convoy on October 22nd, with Luke driving the Challenger tractor, which will pull the Alaner sled (a large sled about twenty feet long) that will carry much of our gear. The Pisten Bully (a tracked vehicle that has two cabins, one for the driver and passenger and second cabin in the back that can have up to eight people) will tow the drilling sled and the Hagglund sled (a smaller sled that will carry much of the seismic equipment). At least two Skidoos will also go with us to the camp on the 22nd. A small group will stay behind and help readying the seismic sled. The exact number will depend on if the carpenters can use some of our students to help out.
As the traverse is about 70 km (About 40 miles), it should take about 5-7 hours to haul all of the gear out to camp. The snow mobiles can go much faster and could arrive earlier.
This is a schematic of how the Offshore New Harbor Expedition will deploy out to the field camp on October 22nd.
The goal is for the first group to set up camp, flag the lines and basically have everything ready for collecting data. Setting up the camp includes putting up the Scott Tents (unheated sleeping tents for two people), setting up the kitchen area and moving some of the food inside or at least into more convenient places, and setting up the science tent. We also need to drill holes in the ice to set our flag poles. The poles have to be positioned accurately as this is where we will lower the air gun for collecting the seismic data. They will be spaced 100 meters apart and have to go in a straight line in one case for 20 plus miles. We will be doing two seismic lines, they will be 20 and 10 miles long.
One of the last sunsets at McMurdo Station.
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OCTOBER 16- THE FOOD PULL AND STAGINGtag:blogs.qc.cuny.edu,2008:/blogs/ONH2008//1289.112572008-10-17T09:33:37Z2008-10-17T09:34:07ZToday was a day of intense and steady work by every member of the team to reach our many goals. The day started off with a screeching wind and rapidly falling temperatures, creating wind chills of at least negative 40...Stephen Pekar
Today was a day of intense and steady work by every member of the team to reach our many goals. The day started off with a screeching wind and rapidly falling temperatures, creating wind chills of at least negative 40 fahrenheit. We had not had anything like this and team responded with bundling up and therefore being prepared for such weather even when working outside for hours on end. The team was split up into welders, two helping the carpenters, and the rest helping with staging equipment and helping Luci do the food pull. Actually the day started with six of us learning how to ride the Piston Bully. Half way through the training, the bunch of us realized how cold it was and immediately afterwards went back to the dorms to bundle up with the clothes needed to exist outside with such cold conditions. The first part of the day was pulling food from the little grocery store on the second floor of the Science Cargo Building, then it was to the freezer to pull frozen meats and such. Meanwhile, Luke and others were working out on the sea ice transition getting our equipment onto the large sleds that we would be hauling across the ice to our remote camp over 40 miles away from the station. The day wore on, with a second food pull at the galley and the frozen food warehouse across from the galley. Everyone formed chains so we could move the food as fast as possible, but still the day was quickly fleeting and at 5 pm we were in back of the Science cargo building, with dozens of relatively small boxes of frozen food and few thick cardboard boxes (called tri walls as they have three layers of cardboard instead of the normal two like we usually have). People were getting tired and so quickly Luci came up with a great idea of getting one of large boxes (probably 8 feet long and four feet wide). Quickly Luke jumped into the box, Luci handed out fat markers to a bunch of people so they can write on the sides of the box where each of the foods are located in the box and the rest of the team started to pass the frozen food boxes up to Luke. He proceeded to place them in an order that Luci could find them later, and also with having nearly NO empty space. It was an incredible scene to witness; everyone moving fast, either passing boxes, marking where the food was going, sorting the foods so the box would be organized and Luke at the center, actually inside the box, with lightening speed placing boxes, reorganizing boxes and in the end filling the box with every last frozen piece of food. In fact, we had no boxes left and no space in the box. It all worked wonderfully. This operation took a little more than an hour, after which we all headed to the galley exhausted but feeling like we accomplished so much in one day. Howie and David also had a successful day helping the carpenters immensely. Meanwhile, Ross and Stian had worked their butts off finishing up much of the welding for the seismic sled. All in all it was a great day.
Tomorrow most of the team heads off to do a two day survival class, which includes sleeping out with minimum tents and in some cases, making small dug out trenches to sleep in. It should be a real adventure for them.
OCTOBER 14TH AND 15THtag:blogs.qc.cuny.edu,2008:/blogs/ONH2008//1289.112562008-10-17T08:27:05Z2008-10-17T08:58:48ZTuesday and Wednesday October 14th and 15th continued preparing for departing for the traverse across the sea ice to the offshore New Harbor Camp. Each day was filled with meetings, training, discussions, and organizing and pulling and boxing gear and...Stephen PekarWind blown snow high up on the hills surrounding McMurdo Station
As I walked around McMurdo, there were times when I was able to relax and enjoy the place. The location is spectacular, with the transAntarctic Mountains looming far across McMurdo Sound (probably at least 60 miles away). But with the clean and crisp air, they appear far closer and far more majestic than one would expect for that distance.
While on our first evening, I was able to see Venus and Jupiter, the sky is now far too bright to see even these planets and alas the nightless days are now upon us. ]]>
MONDAY, OCTOBER 13THtag:blogs.qc.cuny.edu,2008:/blogs/ONH2008//1289.112532008-10-17T05:16:52Z2008-10-17T08:26:53ZMonday, October 13 With most of the community being off on Sunday, McMurdo returned to life on Monday, with a buzz in the air as there was a lot of ground to make up since many people had been delayed...Stephen Pekar
Monday, October 13
With most of the community being off on Sunday, McMurdo returned to life on Monday, with a buzz in the air as there was a lot of ground to make up since many people had been delayed in Christchurch for over a week. The team started off with an environmental briefing, which was followed by the team splitting up to do various jobs for getting ready for deployment. This included getting office supplies and going to science cargo to start going through the gear.
We also had our meeting with the carpenters. This was a big disappointment as little had been done and the original designs for the sled were incorrect. So while the carpenters could put the floors down, they would have to wait to put up the rest pf the structure until the designs for the sled were finalized. Stian and Ross took the lead on this and worked through the night to put together a workable design. It was an incredible job, but they pulled it off. My concern is that we have a time constraints on how long we can work out on the sea ice as by latest November and early December, the sea ice starts to get wet and sloppy. The area where we will be working by that time is over five meters thick, so there is little chance of it breaking out. However, the wetness would be a problem.
OCTOBER 11- IN SEARCH OF EVERYTHINGtag:blogs.qc.cuny.edu,2008:/blogs/ONH2008//1289.112512008-10-17T04:22:47Z2008-10-17T09:02:28ZSATURDAY, OCTOBER 11 On our first full day at McMurdo, we started with our first McMurdo Breakfast and then the entire team went to the NSF Science Chalet for the in brief for the grantees. Grantees are people who are...Stephen Pekar
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 11
On our first full day at McMurdo, we started with our first McMurdo Breakfast and then the entire team went to the NSF Science Chalet for the in brief for the grantees. Grantees are people who are brought down as part of the NSF grant. Others, like our marine techs are paid not directly through the grant but are employees of Raytheon.
The rest of the day was spent looking for cargo, finding our gear that was stored for us by the camping personnel in what we call the cage. This is a room enclosed in wire where our camping gear is kept until we begin to take it out and stage it for the expedition.
The G049 cage with all of the camping gear. The camping gear in the Cage for the offshore New Harbor expedition.
One of the more disappointing things we found over the weekend was that the seismic sled had not been built. In fact, there was only a sled with snow on it. We were all hopeful that the carpenters could get things done quickly so we can leave on the traverse to the offshore New Harbor camp within a reasonable time frame.
The Seismic Sled on October 11.
On Sunday, I gave the science lecture at the galley. It was well attended and I got a lot of insightful questions after the talk.
Afterwards we went out to the non smoking bar called Gallagher's Pub for a few celebratory beers. ]]>
LANDING AT MCMURDO - OCTOBER 10tag:blogs.qc.cuny.edu,2008:/blogs/ONH2008//1289.112492008-10-17T04:11:24Z2008-10-17T04:22:01ZThe last forty minutes I sat there excited and anxious as the first part of the expedition was about to begin. Without windows to look through, it was difficult to sense where we were, but we turned several times and...Stephen Pekar
It was a 30 minute ride back to town as the sea ice runway did not open this year owing to budget constraints. We were left off at Building 155 and went straight to the galley (eating place) for the our indoctrination and info briefing. After getting our baggage at the post office and unpacking a bit, we waited around for the midnight dinner called mid rats. There we had a late night bite to eat before crashing after a long and exciting day.
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ON THE C-17 - OCTOBER 10tag:blogs.qc.cuny.edu,2008:/blogs/ONH2008//1289.112482008-10-17T04:00:40Z2008-10-17T04:10:05ZOn the flight to Antarctica It is a five hour flight from Christchurch to McMurdo Station. Most of the way was cloudy, but about an hour out of McMurdo Station, the clouds parted and suddenly below us was the continent...Stephen Pekar
On the flight to Antarctica
It is a five hour flight from Christchurch to McMurdo Station. Most of the way was cloudy, but about an hour out of McMurdo Station, the clouds parted and suddenly below us was the continent of Antarctica in all of its glory. Majestic mountains soaring above the vast frozen plains below in every direction. One can sense the isolation and stillness of the territory that laid below us.
Early on the 10th
The day was sunny and warm and the team was excited and thrilled that we may actually leave today. The weather had been improving at McMurdo Station and the USAP decided to combine two flights resulting in packed plane as well as moving a flight cargo flight to after this one. The result was an opportunity for us to stay on time. A small group of us arrived early to check in our excess baggage, which resulted in us being ready by the time most of the rest of the flight personnel arrived. We had some good times enjoying the last warm day that we would have for about 6 weeks, with some eats at the Antarctic Center. The center is a science museum about Antarctica complete with stuffed penguins and even a Hagglund for tourist to drive around in. No one from the team took up the offer of driving in one.
After some short video briefings, we went through security and boarded buses for the C-17 military transport jet airplane. The plane is huge, with a spacious interior that feels like you are entering a cathedral with high lofty ceilings. This is due to that we enter near the bottom of the plane as opposed to commercial planes in which we enter in the upper half of the plane with the baggage going below. This extra height in plane is presumably for getting large equipment (e.g., tanks).
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ON THE C-17 - OCTOBER 10tag:blogs.qc.cuny.edu,2008:/blogs/ONH2008//1289.112472008-10-17T03:56:53Z2008-10-17T03:58:11Z Shakira and Howie on the C-17 heading for McMurdo Station....Stephen PekarShakira and Howie on the C-17 heading for McMurdo Station. ]]>
LOOKING OUT THE C-17- OCTOBER 10tag:blogs.qc.cuny.edu,2008:/blogs/ONH2008//1289.112462008-10-17T03:54:12Z2008-10-17T03:55:37Z This is a picture of the C-17 military transport aircraft while we still in Christchurch....Stephen PekarThis is a picture of the C-17 military transport aircraft while we still in Christchurch. ]]>
The weather summary for October 24, 2008.
Brian, Howie, and Ross (left to right) working outside the seismic sled.
Diminishing visibility during the storm.
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Howie and Brian bolting 10 inch bolts through the floor of the seismic sled.
Ross and Stian working on the compressor and fuel tank in the front of the seismic sled.
I was also glad that I was there. It felt good and kept me from getting down that we were losing another day. In fact, in the end, I think that it was a blessing as it showed what had to be done and showed me what the next steps are and allowed me to strategize what I had to do. It was also a total adventure. I worked with tools and experts in building like never before. I also had never done carpentry in a raging snowstorm with high winds and low visibility.
October 24 weather extremes at McMurdo Station
There was also the intensity of the work, with three groups working at the same time on the sled in different parts. I also watched a 500 kilo compressor get lifted by a large fork lift that most delicately inched into its place on the seismic sled. Ross and Stain had drilled holes for its feet and somehow the operator of this huge contraption prodded and slid it into place. Then as we started to wind our work down, the storm stopped and the clouds began to part, first over the Trans Antarctic Mountains, lighting up patches of the snowy peaks. Golden rays of late afternoon sun shone through the clouds at low angle revealing a wind swept landscape of iridescent hues being cast on snowy hills, with the silhouette of the Trans Antarctic Mountains looming high above them.
The sun's rays on the foothills with the Trans Antarctic Mountains looming in the background.
What I have decided is that basically, if the weather improves (and it is improving immensely now with sun streaming through the clouds and relatively warm temperatures), I will send a small set of people out to set up the camp while 6-7 people stay behind and try to finish the sled. The goal is to finish it by Sunday night (late Saturday for you) and bring out the sled on Monday. The Marble Point traverse is happening on Monday, so they would be able to bring the sled out. Therefore, Luke would not have to go all the way back to town in the Challenger tractor to pick up the seismic sled. So the plan is to go all out tomorrow and Sunday and hopefully be ready for Monday's traverse.
I feel that if we had not been delayed and Ross and Stian had to work alone, the sled would not have gotten finished until later the following week as it is a huge job. My battle cry is, "do whatever needs to be done", always look for opportunities to seize to make things happen". And everyone is doing just that.
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STOP THE PRESS AT 8 PM NZT OR 3 AM WEDNESDAY EDT, THE MECHANICS FINISHED REPAIRING THE CHALLENGER TRACTOR AND IS NOW READY FOR OUR USE. THE LAST PIECE IS GETTING THE FUEL TANK SLED FROM WILLY FIELD AND GETTING A FEW OTHERS TRAINED ON THE CHALLENGER. ]]>
On Sunday, Ross, Stian, Brian and I worked on finishing the metal shelves for the seismic sleds. Ross and Stian took turns welding and sawing the angle iron, while Brian and I drilled holes and cleaned up the metal for welding.
Stian welding
Ross sawing through some angle iron.
At the end of the day, all of the goals were met, allowing us to work on the electricity and plumbing in the seismic sled.
At the end of the day, I went over to my favorite place to spy the sunset: behind the church overlooking McMurdo Sound. The light snow that had fallen had stopped hours ago and the sky was beginning to clear in the west, revealing the dying sun cutting through the thinning clouds. The result is shown below.
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One of the ice cracks in the first year sea ice.
Marv and I at the eastern end point for the Seismic line ONH -1.
We also drilled through the ice to test ice thickness for safety. We found that that at both sites on first year ice, the thickness was about 1.8 to 1.9 meters, more than thick enough for even the heaviest of our vehicles, which needed no more than 30 inches (~0.8 meters of ice thickness).
The flag at the eastern end of seismic line ONH2. The background is Ferrar Valley.
We continued onto the location of our field camp. The view looks right up Ferrar Valley. The scene was exquisite, with Ferrar Valley and the back of the valley in plain view.
The view looking up Ferrar Valley.
The tops of the Royal Society Mountains to the southwest, Mt Discovery to the south, and Mt Erebus to the east. The sea ice was also incredibly flat and smooth and is among the best places for a camp set up.
At the Offshore New Harbor field camp.
An additional bonus was that a large iceberg was frozen into place less than two kilometers from our camp. Its massive sheer cliffs, had large snow drifts that will provide much needed water IF there is not much snow by the camp.
The Offshore New Harbor iceberg of 2008.
We planted our flag and moved on to the western end points for the two seismic lines. Each view was spectacular. At the western end of seismic line ONH1, we were looking at New Harbor up Taylor Valley.
Looking toward the New Harbor camp and Taylor Valley.
At the western end of seismic line ONH2, we had an even closer view of Ferrar Valley.
The view from the western end of seismic line ONH2.
One of the potential issues that we recognized was that there were several old icebergs that may line in our path for seismic line ONH2. If that were the case, we would simply move the line a few hundred meters to avoid it. Just another little twist in the plot of this expedition.
One of the old icebergs with Mt Erebus smoking in the distance.
The flight back once again showed the transition from the first year to multi year ice, with Mt Erebus smoking in the east and little McMurdo station nestled among the volcanic hills stretched out along the coast. All in all it was an amazing day.
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The temperature this evening at around 7 pm.
The weather readings at McMurdo Station at about 7 pm on October 16. It should be noted that conditions at the Happy Campers School could be quite different. Eric was out there filming today and noted that just as he was leaving, it started to get much colder.
This was also an evening for Marv, Luke, Luci and I to schedule the deployment out to the field. At this point a team of four carpenters will go out by helicopter on Monday, October 20 to set up the two large tents we will use for dining and for science. They will stay over night and return on the 21st. The first convoy for Marble Point Station should leave today, baring mechanical problems, with a second one going out on October 22nd. The Marble Point Station is a refueling station for the helicopters, a team of three people who stay out there for about five months. It is located about 15 miles further north than where our camp will be located. In fact, the traverse to Marble Point goes within a mile or so of where our camp will be. This was actually planned in advance. The Marble Point Traverse is not a road on the sea ice per se, but as the convoy travels they typically will knock off the ice that is sticking up owing to pressure from the surrounding ice.
After discussing a number of plans, we decided to go for a deployment to the camp of October 22nd, pending mechanical and weather delays. This was an exciting development as we had been too busy to really finalize this before as the seismic sled is not yet finished. The idea is to go with the Marble Point traverse convoy on October 22nd, with Luke driving the Challenger tractor, which will pull the Alaner sled (a large sled about twenty feet long) that will carry much of our gear. The Pisten Bully (a tracked vehicle that has two cabins, one for the driver and passenger and second cabin in the back that can have up to eight people) will tow the drilling sled and the Hagglund sled (a smaller sled that will carry much of the seismic equipment). At least two Skidoos will also go with us to the camp on the 22nd. A small group will stay behind and help readying the seismic sled. The exact number will depend on if the carpenters can use some of our students to help out.
As the traverse is about 70 km (About 40 miles), it should take about 5-7 hours to haul all of the gear out to camp. The snow mobiles can go much faster and could arrive earlier.
This is a schematic of how the Offshore New Harbor Expedition will deploy out to the field camp on October 22nd.
The goal is for the first group to set up camp, flag the lines and basically have everything ready for collecting data. Setting up the camp includes putting up the Scott Tents (unheated sleeping tents for two people), setting up the kitchen area and moving some of the food inside or at least into more convenient places, and setting up the science tent. We also need to drill holes in the ice to set our flag poles. The poles have to be positioned accurately as this is where we will lower the air gun for collecting the seismic data. They will be spaced 100 meters apart and have to go in a straight line in one case for 20 plus miles. We will be doing two seismic lines, they will be 20 and 10 miles long.
One of the last sunsets at McMurdo Station.
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The G049 cage with all of the camping gear.
The camping gear in the Cage for the offshore New Harbor expedition.
One of the more disappointing things we found over the weekend was that the seismic sled had not been built. In fact, there was only a sled with snow on it. We were all hopeful that the carpenters could get things done quickly so we can leave on the traverse to the offshore New Harbor camp within a reasonable time frame.
The Seismic Sled on October 11.
On Sunday, I gave the science lecture at the galley. It was well attended and I got a lot of insightful questions after the talk.
Afterwards we went out to the non smoking bar called Gallagher's Pub for a few celebratory beers. ]]>
It was a 30 minute ride back to town as the sea ice runway did not open this year owing to budget constraints. We were left off at Building 155 and went straight to the galley (eating place) for the our indoctrination and info briefing. After getting our baggage at the post office and unpacking a bit, we waited around for the midnight dinner called mid rats. There we had a late night bite to eat before crashing after a long and exciting day.
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Early on the 10th
The day was sunny and warm and the team was excited and thrilled that we may actually leave today. The weather had been improving at McMurdo Station and the USAP decided to combine two flights resulting in packed plane as well as moving a flight cargo flight to after this one. The result was an opportunity for us to stay on time. A small group of us arrived early to check in our excess baggage, which resulted in us being ready by the time most of the rest of the flight personnel arrived. We had some good times enjoying the last warm day that we would have for about 6 weeks, with some eats at the Antarctic Center. The center is a science museum about Antarctica complete with stuffed penguins and even a Hagglund for tourist to drive around in. No one from the team took up the offer of driving in one.
After some short video briefings, we went through security and boarded buses for the C-17 military transport jet airplane. The plane is huge, with a spacious interior that feels like you are entering a cathedral with high lofty ceilings. This is due to that we enter near the bottom of the plane as opposed to commercial planes in which we enter in the upper half of the plane with the baggage going below. This extra height in plane is presumably for getting large equipment (e.g., tanks).
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