http://blogs.qc.cuny.edu/blogs/ONHnews/ en Copyright 2009 Fri, 28 Nov 2008 21:49:32 -0500 http://www.sixapart.com/movabletype/ http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Breaking camp Brian about to depart on a skidoo. We left on skidoos, with the Pisten Bully pulling the two Hagglund sleds and the Challenger pulling the Aalenor sled, the seismic sled, and the fuel sled. T The Challenger and Pisten Bully leaving camp. The skidoo team blazed back stopping to take pictures and was back before 2 pm. The rest of the team followed and by 5:30 the entire ONH team was back in camp. A view of the Trans Antarctic Mountains on our way back to McMurdo Station. Steffan's skidoo on a patch of blue ice. The rest of the evening was washing up and enjoying the comforts of being back in town. ]]> http://blogs.qc.cuny.edu/blogs/ONHnews/2008/11/november_26_leaving_the_offsho.html http://blogs.qc.cuny.edu/blogs/ONHnews/2008/11/november_26_leaving_the_offsho.html Fri, 28 Nov 2008 21:49:32 -0500 Flying over the mountains toward Victoria Valley Landing in Victoria Valley. Ron had a special treat for us and directed the helo onto a hilltop over looking Victoria Valley. It was here that large granitic boulders had been eroded by the wind blasting. What was so interesting about them that it seemed that the wind had eroded them from the inside out. Ron explained that the surface of the rock are changed by the wind blasting, leaving them with a kind of varnish that seemed to protect them. View image A ventiform that looked like a helmet. The result was that they formed shapes that Ron described as walking through a zoo, with many of the rocks resembling animals and other forms. The incredible shapes that we saw amazed everyone. Granite sculpted into a penguin with a long beak. A snake head? A Scott tent made of granite. A granitic tunnel Also, the vista here was exquisite, with the various valleys extending out in different directions, surrounded by high peaks. Our walk down allowed us to see what Ron was working on, which was the polygonal shapes formed from expansion and contraction of the ground. While the process is slow, within a short amount of time (geologically speaking) the ground would slowly completely resurface itself. It is amazing that in this frozen world that processes can actually rework the entire surface. The ONH team in Victoria Valley. The ONH team walking with Ron toward his camp in Victoria Valley. Victoria Valley also has a frozen lake that has been wind blasted, resulting in the surface to be smooth. This allowed us to be able to peer through the transparent ice that was lined with cracks down to the lake bottom. It was here that green and brown algae was proliferating. Additionally, the algae was also growing upward and then became frozen resulting in a white delicate forms that laid below us. The ice was so transparent so it felt like we were walking on air, gliding across this underwater wonderland. The brown and green algae seen through the clear lake ice. Victoria Lake with Victoria Glacier in the background. Ron’s camp was also in a remote valley far from other field camps. It was a six-person team, a bit larger than Alan and Adam’s camp, but still without the comforts we have at our larger camp on the sea ice. I tip my hat to them, while it is an extraordinary place to work, it is also a tough place to work. Ron and Steve in Victoria Valley. Luke and Luci in the Helo ]]> http://blogs.qc.cuny.edu/blogs/ONHnews/2008/11/november_25th_our_second_field.html http://blogs.qc.cuny.edu/blogs/ONHnews/2008/11/november_25th_our_second_field.html Fri, 28 Nov 2008 21:21:20 -0500 The Ferrar and Taylor Valleys. The Friis Hills camp is in a remote and isolated part of the Dry Valleys, up slope from Taylor Valley and nestled and surrounded by mountains. It was a small camp, consisting of three people (the last being a student of their's). But what it lacked in size was made up in plenty by their hospitality and enthusiasm. After a conversation in their dining tent, we set out immediately to see what they were finding. There finds were incredible. Fossil leaves and branches that were deposited in fine lake beds with ash dates that suggest an age at least 20 million years old. What these fossils clearly show is that Antarctica was far warmer than today, with alpine vegetation growing. The ONH team was mesmerized by the fossils they were collecting. Although we had three hours, the time flew so quickly that I felt that we had only barely started to scratch the surface of this enchanting and scientifically exciting place. We continued down taylor valley by helo to our next destination: the New Harbor Camp along the coast of Explorer's Cove. Here along the coastline, the sea ice has been twisted and distorted by pressure from expansion and contraction, melting and refreezing and forces of from a far that have heaved up the ice in all manner of ways (see the 2007 blog for words about what it looks like). The coastline at New Harbor, with the sea ice roughness clearly shown. This evening was the last time that the entire ONH team was together as Howie, Andrea, Joanna and Shakira were leaving for good from the field camp to do video conferencing with students from the around the US. ]]> http://blogs.qc.cuny.edu/blogs/ONHnews/2008/11/november_24_a_field_trip_to_th.html http://blogs.qc.cuny.edu/blogs/ONHnews/2008/11/november_24_a_field_trip_to_th.html Fri, 28 Nov 2008 00:17:50 -0500 ON NOVEMBER 21, WE FINISHED COLLECTING SEISMIC DATA!!!! WE HAD COLLECTED DATA AT 473 HOLES OR 47.2 KM ALONG TWO LINES. The Offshore New Harbor team has done an amazing job of working flat out since we arrived in Antarctica, first to build the seismic sled at McMurdo, fix all of the equipment break downs that we had while in the field and then setting records for collecting seismic data over the sea ice using this method. Records set by the Offshore New Harbor Expedition Team Seismic data collected on sea ice Most seismic data collected in a season 47.2 km Longest dip line 15.2 km Longest non-dip line 32.0 km Longest distance of seismic data collected in one day on first year ice 4.0 km (done on 11/4) Most seismic data in one day on multi year ice (6 meters plus) 3.4 km (done on 11/20), previous record: 3.2 km on 11/13 Here is the daily record of seismic data collected over the past three weeks. NOTE: On line one, the first 18 km were on first year ice and 14 km on multi year ice. On line two, the first 2.8 km were on first year ice and the rest was multi-year ice. Multi year ice was between 6.2 and 6.6 meters thick on Line one and between 6.5 and 7.2 meters on line two. We tried to finish off the last 7 holes on November 22, but the drilling equipment broke before we could finish one hole. Clearly, the spirits of Antarctic science thought we had done enough. So we started the break down of equipment and of the camp and that night celebrated well into the early morning. That evening, the clouds were producing spectacular vistas for us to view lighting up the camp with gentle hues and shadows that reminded us how special this place is. ]]> http://blogs.qc.cuny.edu/blogs/ONHnews/2008/11/november_23_we_have_done_it.html http://blogs.qc.cuny.edu/blogs/ONHnews/2008/11/november_23_we_have_done_it.html Sat, 22 Nov 2008 18:25:11 -0500 Stian and Dave by the airgun. On November 18th, one of our drillers (Kyle Webster) left our camp for permafrost drilling with Ronald Sletten in the Dry Valleys. Kyle was fantastic, working his tail off day in and day out on the drill rig and a great person to have a beer with in the evening. He will be missed. We had another penguin sighting today. The Challenger with Mt Erebus in the background. Later, at 6 pm, the video conferencing team (Joanna, Eric, Steve, Dave, and Shakira) left back to McMurdo Station. Mt Lister and the Royal Society Mountain Range from the Helicopter. It was an evening of doing laundry and waking up at 2 am for the video conferencing. the students have been incredible, with great questions and interesting dialogue. I look forward to seeing them next week. When we returned the next day on November 19th, the seismic team had completed 2.6 km more seismics. The seismic team from the air. Today, we set yet another new record for obtaining seismic data over the sea ice by doing 3.4 km. we now have only 3.3 km to do. The team is psyched to finish it tomorrow. Today, when I worked with the drilling team, it was all focus and little time for play as we drilled each hole in 15 minutes or less. Mind you, the sea ice thickness ranged from 6.6 to 7.2 meters. Just incredible. ]]> http://blogs.qc.cuny.edu/blogs/ONHnews/2008/11/november_20_new_records_set_an.html http://blogs.qc.cuny.edu/blogs/ONHnews/2008/11/november_20_new_records_set_an.html Thu, 20 Nov 2008 01:50:26 -0500 Some of the broken up ice that we had to work through to complete line one. The Challenger with Mount Lister in the background. This linked the first 13 km of seismic data we collected before the air compressor problems, with the seismic data that went over the old drill site (CIROS-1) and further westward to where a possible future drill site might be located. We then picked up the seismic cables, all 1,500 meters, with the geophone (sensitive microphones that can pick up the echo of sound waves bouncing off the sedimentary layers below the sea floor), moved over to the beginning of the second line and laid them out. Brian laying out the seismic cables before we started line two. We were able to do 1.7 km more of seismics on the second line before we called it quits for a total of 3.4 km of seismics collected today. The weather forecast is for more great weather on Monday and now we are hopeful to finish sometime during the week before Thanksgiving. ]]> http://blogs.qc.cuny.edu/blogs/ONHnews/2008/11/november_16_we_are_onto_the_se.html http://blogs.qc.cuny.edu/blogs/ONHnews/2008/11/november_16_we_are_onto_the_se.html Sun, 16 Nov 2008 02:16:08 -0500 The challenger with the Royal Society Range in the background. We had to quit by 1:30 as we had a helo arriving to pick up our current drill rig and swap it out with the one that they were bringing out. The geophones actually picked up the approaching sounds of the helicopter as it approached, which resulted in a quick evacuation of the seismic sled to watch its approach as well as aid in helping. The Challenger with the helicopter sling loading our new drill rig. ]]> http://blogs.qc.cuny.edu/blogs/ONHnews/2008/11/november_15_excellent_progress.html http://blogs.qc.cuny.edu/blogs/ONHnews/2008/11/november_15_excellent_progress.html Sat, 15 Nov 2008 02:04:28 -0500 Steve holding up the most westerly flag for the ONH -1 seismic line. This represents 32 km from the start of the line and only about 6 km from shore. As we moved along the line over the past couple of days, more of Taylor Valley came into view. It is a majestic scene, with mountains that have had their sides sheared off by the enormous forces of ice sheets now long gone from this valley, resulting in their sides to seemingly all align as one gazes up this valley. Large glaciers lie on top of these mountains, hiding their full nature from our view, but overflow off the sides of in some cases precipitous rocky pinnacles, collapsing down into the valley. At this moment, Stian and Marv are pulling the seismic cables back to flag 130, which is we stopped when we were still limping along with a malfunctioning compressor and decided to move into the thicker ice so the drillers would not have to wait for the seismic team to shot a hole. Our plans are to start doing seismics on the first year ice tomorrow. We will have to stop at some point as we will have to swap out our drilling rig for another as our’s is needed for Ron Sletten’s permafrost drilling. Hopefully this mix up will not cost us too much time. The plan is to know when the helo is expected and break down the drill rig and then install the new one in about an hour or so. I hope that all goes well. We have been doing so well in making up for lost time over the past week. Even with this delay, I expect to have the first line completely done by the end of the weekend. Then it is on to the second line, which is half as long as the first line. ]]> http://blogs.qc.cuny.edu/blogs/ONHnews/2008/11/november_14th_another_great_da.html http://blogs.qc.cuny.edu/blogs/ONHnews/2008/11/november_14th_another_great_da.html Fri, 14 Nov 2008 00:29:32 -0500 Mt Erebus, an active volcano, and the iceberg we mine for our drinking water. The ONH seismic team as we head closer to Taylor Valley. The seismic team with the Ferrar Valley and Glacier in the background. The seismic team with Taylor Valley behind. Marv and Dave]]> http://blogs.qc.cuny.edu/blogs/ONHnews/2008/11/november_13_another_great_day.html http://blogs.qc.cuny.edu/blogs/ONHnews/2008/11/november_13_another_great_day.html Thu, 13 Nov 2008 02:24:07 -0500 The last two days have seen steady progress. On November 10th, the seismic data extended over the CIROS-1 borehole drilled twenty years ago. This marked one of the goals we had set out, to collect MCS data so we can image the greenhouse world sediments recovered from this borehole. On November 11th and 12th we collected a total of 4.6 km of seismics, which extended the line west of CIROS-1 and most probably would be a location for a possible future drilling project. If the weather and equipment hold up, we could be finished with the first seismic line in 3 to 4 days. Stay tune for more pics and updates........ http://blogs.qc.cuny.edu/blogs/ONHnews/2008/11/november_12_excellent_progress.html http://blogs.qc.cuny.edu/blogs/ONHnews/2008/11/november_12_excellent_progress.html Wed, 12 Nov 2008 02:12:04 -0500 The Challenger tractor on the left pulling the seismic sled and the Pisten Bully on the right pulling the drilling sled. In the background is the Ferrar Valley. The Challenger Tractor with its reflection in the blue sea ice. It the weather holds out and the equipment can perform okay, we can be done in two weeks. We are all hopeful that we can finish the second seismic line. David and Brian in the Challenger. Steffan working the drill.]]> http://blogs.qc.cuny.edu/blogs/ONHnews/2008/11/november_10th_sesimic_data_con.html http://blogs.qc.cuny.edu/blogs/ONHnews/2008/11/november_10th_sesimic_data_con.html Mon, 10 Nov 2008 18:42:59 -0500 A singing & dancing penguin. He was probably celebrating yet another hurdle overcome by the Offshore New Harbor team. We had yet another obstacle thrown at us: the air compressor that charges the air gun suddenly stopped working. This is a certain showstopper as the only means to shot the air gun is with an operational air compressor. While the flagging team was off setting another record for flagging the line using a transit, the seismic team, with Marv and Stian began to develop a number of options. Firstly, Stian went to work trying to work around the most probable problem; namely that the computer was giving false read outs which caused it to shut off the compressor. People back in town also went right to bat for us and quickly firstly find and get the parts for a compressor that was at the station. The third option that was seized on was calling the manufacturer Bauer, and get a replacement computer for the compressor. All of these options were already in motion by the time the flagging team returned back to camp. Yesterday and into the night, Stian worked on the compressor and in the end believes that he was able to solve the problem at least temporarily. Today, the seismic team was able to get another 21 holes done, even with the problems of the air compressor. The decision was made to move up to the multi-year sea ice for now so the drillers would not have to wait for the seismic team and the air compressor. On another positive note, flagging was completed today for a total of 481 flags. Steve was on the team most of the time, resulting in walking over 40 km of the lines. It is nice that this part of the work is done. Steve and Howie at the end of the second seismic line.]]> http://blogs.qc.cuny.edu/blogs/ONHnews/2008/11/november_8th_overcoming_yet_an.html http://blogs.qc.cuny.edu/blogs/ONHnews/2008/11/november_8th_overcoming_yet_an.html Sat, 08 Nov 2008 02:37:30 -0500 The Seismic Sled being pulled by the Challenger tractor as we went to shoot another line. A photo of the two drillers, Kyle and Steffan on the drill sled. Preliminary examination of the data by Marv and his students (Dave and Brian) shows that the data is fabulous and that we are optimistic that Marv (lead geophysicist) will work his magic as he has done for the previous two MCS surveys on the sea ice. Meanwhile, the flagging team set a single day record today for most holes flagged using a transit of 9.0 kilometers. With the use of the transit, we have been getting incredibly straight and accurate lines. We will finish up the 48 km of flags (that is 480 holes and flags), with the expectation of obtaining that much seismic data. A photo of Andrea with the transit while working with the flagging team, a smoking Mt Erebus behind.]]> http://blogs.qc.cuny.edu/blogs/ONHnews/2008/11/november_6_collecting_seismics.html http://blogs.qc.cuny.edu/blogs/ONHnews/2008/11/november_6_collecting_seismics.html Fri, 07 Nov 2008 19:30:52 -0500 This photo shows Howie drilling a hole a flag for the line, while the Challenger pulls the seismic sled and the Pisten Bully pulls the drilling sled in the distance. Also, in the background are two skidoos following the seismic team. They are all heading out to the end of the line to start collecting the data. ]]> http://blogs.qc.cuny.edu/blogs/ONHnews/2008/11/november_3rd_finally_the_seism.html http://blogs.qc.cuny.edu/blogs/ONHnews/2008/11/november_3rd_finally_the_seism.html Mon, 03 Nov 2008 19:36:07 -0500 The arrival of the Marble Point Traverse. The ONH traverse ready to go. The hitching of the sleds and then the exit out along the road out to Offshore New Harbor. ]]> http://blogs.qc.cuny.edu/blogs/ONHnews/2008/10/october_27th_the_first_group_a.html http://blogs.qc.cuny.edu/blogs/ONHnews/2008/10/october_27th_the_first_group_a.html Mon, 27 Oct 2008 02:34:28 -0500