tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-61835724798841832002024-03-05T08:54:07.008-08:00Research in AntarcticaAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06290827360478832887noreply@blogger.comBlogger41125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6183572479884183200.post-79660876187957963592016-02-02T20:11:00.000-08:002016-02-02T21:06:38.086-08:00Back to the Big CityWe arrived in McMurdo on Saturday which was a bitter sweet day. We had to leave Ray, Renee, and the Valley that has been our home for the past three months for the big city. The plus side was that upon returning we were able to take a shower and change into clean clothes, which really is an amazing feeling after a while without either. This week we have been busy returning gear to the work centers we borrowed them from, and storing equipment for next year's team.<br />
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Last week we did the annual lake levels trip, which is a whirlwind tour of the Dry Valleys that the stream team looks forward to every year. One of the Limno teams measures the elevations of the Lakes at the beginning of the season, and Stream Team is in charge of measuring the elevations at the end of the season. The elevations of the lakes are of interest because these lakes are closed basin lakes (they have no true outlet to the ocean). The input to the lakes is virtually entirely glacial meltwater, and the water outputs are evaporation of the open water on the moats, or sublimation (direct phase change from solid to gas) of the lake ice. Keeping a record of the lake elevations informs us on how much water is entering and leaving the lakes. The current trend is rising lake levels (more glacial meltwater in than evaporation and sublimation) and has caused a couple of camps to actually be moved uphill. The new Fryxell hut that was shown in a previous post is the result of rising lake levels.<br />
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This was an amazing day of flying because we got to fly up the Taylor Glacier to Lake Joyce and Lake House (shown below). <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRM5K31HzkOc0RFoVK1efpJ3UFkl13iw9D-3JGRG0eoFNlPYZzg0B7QG8oWhWL51j5Ugf3OBRA8lD8zS3F7yemk-AuQddd4tZ91xAxFTyhFtYL34PeXLNoIV1HuFWY7w5hb2VDMhsq-hh9/s1600/IMG_20160127_093249861_HDR.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRM5K31HzkOc0RFoVK1efpJ3UFkl13iw9D-3JGRG0eoFNlPYZzg0B7QG8oWhWL51j5Ugf3OBRA8lD8zS3F7yemk-AuQddd4tZ91xAxFTyhFtYL34PeXLNoIV1HuFWY7w5hb2VDMhsq-hh9/s400/IMG_20160127_093249861_HDR.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lake Joyce</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgz4X4GSPsHcrQ4MtPo_dMe6pFR7Cfn4dOTAVhKgNJkT0nu26IlVt6lKfpmjuoDRzGIkvJwrmjb4SfWFlQp2RVYUDO6ykAJctuFixT5sXKpg12bI2F_Q-zRXcG4Nm4sSLy-Rccd_pnfookD/s1600/IMG_20160127_113212681_HDR.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgz4X4GSPsHcrQ4MtPo_dMe6pFR7Cfn4dOTAVhKgNJkT0nu26IlVt6lKfpmjuoDRzGIkvJwrmjb4SfWFlQp2RVYUDO6ykAJctuFixT5sXKpg12bI2F_Q-zRXcG4Nm4sSLy-Rccd_pnfookD/s400/IMG_20160127_113212681_HDR.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lake House</td></tr>
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Then we crossed up and over the Western Asgard Range into the Western Wright Valley near the Air Devron Six Icefalls and the Labyrinth. The Air Devron Six Icefalls are a truly spectacular sight. I wish I could have captured a picture of them, but it just wouldn't have done them justice throught the helicopter window. The icefalls are an area where the ice from the polar plateau cascades down a massive dolerite and sandstone cliff of hundreds of feet and terminates at the bottom of the cliff to form Upper Wright Glacier. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVefxwtK_V75wfKNQfpfsajDq0g6BXp-wEoyTE4kKrcNN7ZMj4iad69C19GiEfzVLDXmwmZ77LBhhBfwaJZP8RcBAzD4hkAlAE5x-zZlp1jpRbc10Z1n4A9ppf82EbWWe8x3sLQumfjPN0/s1600/IMG_20160127_115916364_HDR.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVefxwtK_V75wfKNQfpfsajDq0g6BXp-wEoyTE4kKrcNN7ZMj4iad69C19GiEfzVLDXmwmZ77LBhhBfwaJZP8RcBAzD4hkAlAE5x-zZlp1jpRbc10Z1n4A9ppf82EbWWe8x3sLQumfjPN0/s400/IMG_20160127_115916364_HDR.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">View over the Laybrinth</td></tr>
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Down valley of the glacier there is a system of canyons called the Labyrinth. These canyons have formed from what is believed to be massive glacial outburst floods. This is where glacial meltwater pools up over time, usually dammed by ice or sediment, and in one catastrophic event it drains the melt pool. As you could imagine this process has carved out some amazing canyons through the Western Wright Valley. This place is reminiscent of photos I have seen from southern Utah. Here is a photo of us flying above the Labyrinth. Renee said it might be the prettiest view she has ever seen, and I would have to agree.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwR-tvoWQPtZV81-AusX20NFAM2o9akLfzuZ11vGb5UI1Qz0o4sXwXVpQaGqQBsgyDgSq1tht6lhpLVIXb54pvFpBpxGMXe-EG9-SClgd42KPGkjxNTL6ttL28yb1-K8-y5vIGppdbz40I/s1600/IMG_20160127_124356368_HDR.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwR-tvoWQPtZV81-AusX20NFAM2o9akLfzuZ11vGb5UI1Qz0o4sXwXVpQaGqQBsgyDgSq1tht6lhpLVIXb54pvFpBpxGMXe-EG9-SClgd42KPGkjxNTL6ttL28yb1-K8-y5vIGppdbz40I/s400/IMG_20160127_124356368_HDR.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Don Juan Pond</td></tr>
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After flying through this area we landed at the saltiest body of water in the world, Don Juan Pond. I asked a geologist what the theory is concerning the high salinity of Don Juan Pond and he basically said that you have water picking up salts from the surrounding landscape and dumping into the pond. The water evaporates and leaves the salt behind. It was a strange place. The water was only a couple of inches deep, the bottom sediment was covered in salt that had precipitated out of the water, and there were large rocks placed about everywhere like a sculpture garden. I could have gotten really artsy with some photography here and Forrest got a great shot. Unfortunately this is the best one I was able to take. Yet another place in the Dry Valleys that feels out of this world.<br />
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Mikey and I had a day trip yesterday to another unique place called University Valley. We weren't on the schedule, but were told to be ready because if they were unable to fly up to Erebus they were going to fly our mission instead. We were notified around 11:00 AM that we were flying at Noon so we scrambled our gear and headed down to the helo hanger. The flight out along the sea ice was pretty spectacular. The majority of the McMurdo sound sea ice has broken up and drifted away, leaving a beautiful open bay between McMurdo and the Dry Valleys. The helicopters are not allowed to fly over open water, so luckily for us they have to skirt the edge of the Ross Ice Shelf (this is extremely thick ice that does not clear out of the sound from year to year) which adds quite a bit of flight time to get out to the valleys. Also convenient for us is the orcas like to patrol the edge of this shelf hunting for their next meal. So we got to do a bit of whale watching on the way out. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEij8nYkgckEo0KuOupWnmcyIxufvwARsItwhVivUzyS4Ag5MV9jCtxDFHhwglJ8RDeQ7HZ3OxMhWm68_wLPC8rdJUOaqK16nhV7DGnl6kkGZRYnoKKu5Ny_eKuKqehcN_-iQ0sB4KKIRyYe/s1600/IMG_20160201_162245390_HDR.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEij8nYkgckEo0KuOupWnmcyIxufvwARsItwhVivUzyS4Ag5MV9jCtxDFHhwglJ8RDeQ7HZ3OxMhWm68_wLPC8rdJUOaqK16nhV7DGnl6kkGZRYnoKKu5Ny_eKuKqehcN_-iQ0sB4KKIRyYe/s400/IMG_20160201_162245390_HDR.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sea ice breaking up. If you look really close and have a super high definition monitor you can see an orca popping up to breathe. It is 2/3 the way across the photo from left to right and in the little gap of open water amongst the ice sheets.</td></tr>
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Once we hit the valleys we cruised up the Taylor Valley and hit some strong headwinds once we got up to the Taylor Glacier. It was another half hour of flying up the taylor glacier to finally arrive at University Valley. Once we arrived we went and downloaded some data off of a meteorological station and did a little exploring. This was probably the most other worldly spot I had been to yet. It is fitting that the team trying to film shots for a TV series called "Red Planet" is trying to get up there.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUFbSZipFyKP_yY0evg1Gr4nWQ9QpR6NCmMNvfe-MWYKApUbDGKvRSAetqV6YFvMzMj6pDO7azssEncac3-DJH1ipwy-hkp11OoMNUfK7v_eNFnb5mGEJLQujUuGZPex4sJ5CctYw3xQ93/s1600/IMG_20160201_135713807_HDR.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUFbSZipFyKP_yY0evg1Gr4nWQ9QpR6NCmMNvfe-MWYKApUbDGKvRSAetqV6YFvMzMj6pDO7azssEncac3-DJH1ipwy-hkp11OoMNUfK7v_eNFnb5mGEJLQujUuGZPex4sJ5CctYw3xQ93/s400/IMG_20160201_135713807_HDR.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">University Valley</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNA8UnB5XiS9iY4sXFPai5lhGihDrTTBCOeOZ3tY2ckuoAMF7zIUWc7WphF5xdRQrpyRs-xkLWzAORpYhwRPpBp4lpcBahBPL5eJcCrOSSZiaShtmGNHzoR-6MZLMm4wZsOJZ4Mp7Vkz53/s1600/IMG_20160201_135838961_HDR.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNA8UnB5XiS9iY4sXFPai5lhGihDrTTBCOeOZ3tY2ckuoAMF7zIUWc7WphF5xdRQrpyRs-xkLWzAORpYhwRPpBp4lpcBahBPL5eJcCrOSSZiaShtmGNHzoR-6MZLMm4wZsOJZ4Mp7Vkz53/s400/IMG_20160201_135838961_HDR.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ventifact in University Valley</td></tr>
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Today has been pretty non-eventful. We are nearly done with our field work, except for one possible trip to the penguin rookery at Cape Royds which I am really hoping for. Other than that we have just been cleaning up and trying to stay busy. Most of us don't leave until February 8, so we have some down time which has been nice. Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06290827360478832887noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6183572479884183200.post-59001410899597876202016-01-19T11:16:00.001-08:002016-01-19T12:12:42.235-08:00The Home Stretch<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Well, I officially have become terrible at keeping this thing up. I will save the excuses and try to catch up!<br />
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Things have been crazy busy here at F6. Stream team is busy with our usual routine of sampling and gauging all of the Fryxell Basin, Bonney Basin, and Hoare Basin streams in a week. We have had a bunch of visitors at F6 which has been a bunch of fun, but things can get crowded at times. We had some folks (worm herders as they are affectionately known) last weekend that are studying soil microbes (nematodes). And this week we had some geologists, and some scientists studying aerosolized (airborne) microbes. As someone put it, walking around F6 is like playing that puzzle game where you only have one open space, and you slide the little blocks around to get them to fit. My solution has been to wake up at 5 AM so I can have the hut to myself with excellent internet access.<br />
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We have also been having some weird weather. It has generally been warm and the stream flows have picked up to maybe three quarters of where they were around Thanksgiving. There has been a lot in the way of fog and clouds which has limited the helicopter flights. This has given us some necessary exercise to work off the hundreds of cookies consumed at Lake Hoare. Last weekend in Renee's cookie lab a peanut butter, chocolate chip, bacon cookie was created. These are the ultimate field snack filled with calories, protein, and goodness.<br />
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This week we have been busy closing all of the gauge boxes for the season. This means we grab the data storage module from the gauge box that has been collecting data all summer, and swap it with a a blank one to record the rest of the fall and into the winter. Then we survey the elevations of our instruments and control structures to make sure things haven't moved since the beginning of the season (things do move because of the constant freeze thaw cycle of the ground). Finally we put a ratchet strap around the gauge box to secure the doors during the winter storms and we wish them luck!<br />
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A couple weekends ago we got a chance on Sunday to head out and hike the Matterhorn which was a fantastic hike with a killer view.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">View from the top of the Matterhorn looking towards the McMurdo Sound. That is Lake Fryxell at the end of the valley.</td></tr>
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Last week we sampled and gauged the streams in Miers Valley. On the return flight we stopped to get stream samples and do algal sampling on the Garwood River. The Garwood Valley never fails to deliver. Might be my new favorite river.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">View looking up the Garwood River towards the Royal Society Range.</td></tr>
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Last weekend we got out on Sunday to do the Classic Nussbaum Riegel hike. It is a fairly mellow day filled with amazing hiking. Definitely will be included in my book of top hikes to do in the Taylor Valley.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgm52FVpsxwJfKp7P6IreE2UMiEj6bnz91LC_mOR-iBakxkuFlPDuO6YcBUGTt40EQodzfWPGo7qD9QJ_2oR0IXcPEBcCktDzYoLhayeI8bC2KTKmbCia0G2LC4b9rOVTxnnq_2ba230YlN/s1600/IMG_20160117_150824179_HDR.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgm52FVpsxwJfKp7P6IreE2UMiEj6bnz91LC_mOR-iBakxkuFlPDuO6YcBUGTt40EQodzfWPGo7qD9QJ_2oR0IXcPEBcCktDzYoLhayeI8bC2KTKmbCia0G2LC4b9rOVTxnnq_2ba230YlN/s400/IMG_20160117_150824179_HDR.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">View looking up the valley towards the Taylor Glacier.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Looking up the valley under a ventifact. My dad liked the photo I took of this spot last year, so I tried to recreate it.</td></tr>
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The other morning I woke up and there was absolutely no wind at F6. No wind! This never happens so I took the opportunity to snap this photo of the Asgard Range reflecting in the Lake moat. What a strange little valley we live in. I swear it is on another planet.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKwb0uUvmIiaU_Zd_LzKYIS98_yNe3QVOJTJJi8meFh33VzTN7-ZTg9yJqkZMCESZYCeS2Uh5b4fsAgE8wbJtCwSAevQg5nhAvhC_gsBiElNx5qGuAO_N1A5eCdZqA93IkFHGzCbQwx5R5/s1600/IMG_20160119_050641351_HDR.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKwb0uUvmIiaU_Zd_LzKYIS98_yNe3QVOJTJJi8meFh33VzTN7-ZTg9yJqkZMCESZYCeS2Uh5b4fsAgE8wbJtCwSAevQg5nhAvhC_gsBiElNx5qGuAO_N1A5eCdZqA93IkFHGzCbQwx5R5/s400/IMG_20160119_050641351_HDR.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">View from F6 towards the Canada Glacier.</td></tr>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06290827360478832887noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6183572479884183200.post-37348490156159426312016-01-08T02:28:00.002-08:002016-01-08T12:10:12.967-08:00Happy 2016!This past weekend was a fantastic break that I think all of us on the stream team needed and fully appreciated. We flew back into Mac Town on Friday to take a little hiatus from the field and enjoy the New Year celebration back in town.<br />
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The flight into town was pretty fun. We were all buzzing on the excitement of heading back to civilization and our pilot was nice enough to fly us by some seals and emperors. We set down on the helo pad right next to the limno team. They wasted no time bragging about how they flew down the edge of the sea ice and got to see pods of orcas on the prowl for tasty penguins. Our jealousy wore off quickly as we took in the commotion of Mac Town, and headed to drop our stuff off at Crary (the science and engineering building in town that houses all of the labs and offices). In Crary we ran into a bunch of people that we hadn't seen since early November. We were stoked to see them, however they were hesitant to stand too close. During our stay in the field we acquired a particular musk that we no longer noticed. The limno team made sure we were fully aware of this, and we quickly dropped our gear off to head for the nearest shower. After using a solar shower (once a week) for a month and a half, hot running water is a truly magical thing. New clean clothes were also a real treat. I was happy to find that after washing my socks they were no longer rigid.<br />
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We took the first night back into town pretty easy because Ice Stock was the next day. For those of you who aren't familiar with McMurdo, Ice Stock is an annual music festival held on the New Year's weekend on base. Saturday morning we washed some more stream sample bottles in the lab because it wouldn't be a proper day in McMurdo without doing so. Then time rolled around to check out the bands.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ice Stock (photo credit: Forrest McCarthy)</td></tr>
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The set up was amazing, there were three flat bed semi trailers parked next to eachother to make the stage, the sound system was huge, and there were even bleachers. It looked like a legitimate concert venue. There were some "shops" set up around the perimeter that offered free burgers, dogs, and even coffee with baileys in it. The bands started playing at around 2:00 PM and didn't stop until about 2 AM. I really can't say enough about how talented the bands were. My favorite was a funk band that had an unreal horn section. The mosh pits for the metal bands were pretty fun too. It was absolutely amazing to see the musical talent McMurdo has to offer. This could not have been a better way to take a break and give my brain a break from the field.<br />
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We had a lazy day Sunday and enjoyed some of the luxuries that town has to offer, like 24 hour pizza at the galley. Mikey and I also headed down to the gym to do some climbing on the rock wall. It has been ages since I had done any actual climbing with a harness, so I was pretty excited. Turned out I was pretty good at it and it was a bunch of fun! Guess I will add it to the long list of hobbies I'd like to get into.<br />
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We tried to fly out Monday, but our flight was canceled due to weather. We had finished all of our work in town on Sunday because we thought we were flying out so we really didn't have much to do. I wandered the labs asking my friends in other groups if they needed help, and was able to kill some time bugging them. We ended up renting a couple of movies and watching them in this little theater they have set up. There is a long arched building (called a jamesway) with a big screen at one end and four rows of couches on either side of an aisle. It is really dark in there and that probably explains why I was unable to keep my eyes open the entire time for each movie.<br />
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Tuesday we were put on weather hold again so we went down to the gym to mess around until helo ops figured out our flight. They finally scheduled us for a 7pm flight. We went and killed the rest of our day playing monopoly in the galley. We loaded everything up and took to the skies. Our pilot was kind enough to fly us along the edge of the sea ice which was an amazing experience. We were able to see adelie and emperor penguins hanging out on the sea ice, and jumping into the dangerous waters below where the orcas wait. We were lucky enough to see some orcas on the prowl along the edge of the sea ice. Such cool animals, I wish we had all day to spend flying around and whale watching. We landed at F6 and settled back into home sweet home.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sea Ice Edge</td></tr>
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This week has been crazy hectic with more weather delays and more work than time allows for. That is my excuse for taking so long with this post. I don't have too many pictures which I apologize for. I will try to add some to this post once I get to Lake Hoare tomorrow and have a little free time. I hope everyone had a great New Years back home! Have a good weekend everyone!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06290827360478832887noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6183572479884183200.post-63986766905428910272015-12-29T21:41:00.002-08:002015-12-30T02:08:41.931-08:00Merry Christmas! A couple days late...Merry Christmas everyone! Sorry I was a little late in posting that, but I finally found some time to get around to writing again. Christmas was amazing at Lake Hoare as always. Rae, and Renee worked so hard baking, cooking, and decorating. They really do their best to make things feel as close to back home as possible, and we all really appreciate their hard work. <br />
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On Christmas we spent most of the day decorating a gingerbread house and setting up decorations with the classic Christmas songs playing on repeat. Most years I am driven to the point of breaking with the same old Christmas music on every radio station. However, without hearing these songs for an entire moth prior, I hate to say I actually really enjoyed them. The gingerbread decoration took a solid couple of hours.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lake Hoare gingerbread house</td></tr>
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Here is a picture part way through the decoration. I wish I would have taken one later in the night because it looked amazing with all the lights out in the hut and candles illuminating the hard candy stained glass windows. I wanted to snap a picture of my helicopter before the frosting failed and it fell apart... You should take note of the carefully placed chocolate chip behind the reindeer.<br />
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When dinner time rolled around Mikey and I were responsible for blacking out the hut. We put black fabric over the skylights, and closed the shudders on the exterior windows to block all sunlight from entering the hut. It got very dark very quickly, which was a strange experience when you haven't experienced darkness for a couple months. We lit candles and dished up an amazing dinner. We had crab legs, ham, salad, some cheesy casserole dish, and mashed potatoes for the main course. What a harsh continent indeed. Even with the amazing ham and crab legs, I have to admit, I think my favorite part was the salad. It was amazing, I haven't had a fresh fruit or vegetable in what feels like forever. It is funny because 20 years ago if you asked my Grandma Gail if I'd ever grow up to like vegetables she would have laughed at the thought. She used to encourage me to eat them against my will, but now I would give anything for a fresh carrot! Thanks Grandma for teaching me to love my veggies. I wish you could convince the USAP that your grandson needs more fresh vegetables.<br />
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Dessert was so delicious. We had ginger spice cheese cake, and bread pudding. I wish I could describe these desserts to do them proper justice, but I that is beyond my abilities this late at night. Just take my word they were amazing! Thanks Renee and Dave! <br />
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We proceeded to the white elephant gift exchange after dinner. There were some pretty creative gifts. One of the popular ones was a bottle of nice whiskey, a tumbler to drink it out of, and a glacier berry for ice. Another was some wool socks and nice coffee, because everyone truly appreciates the value of those two necessities down here. I ended up with a homemade crossword puzzle, some Baileys, and some great coffee. The crossword puzzle was quite creative. Most of the words in it are unique to life down here, so the clues are pretty funny. I was happy to discover that I was able to make significant progress on this crossword puzzle, because typically I am only able to get a word or two in the Sunday Times before I give up. Mikey made a stream team t-shirt, he also included some merino wool socks, and a steamy romance novel "The Bride of a Wicked Scottsman." Rae had knit a hat, and included a flask which was a great gift but impossible to keep from getting stolen. There was a homemade cribbage board, some silly puddy that changed colors, and another gift I can't fully remember. Oh and mine was a homemade hammock, which included a merino wool beanie, and some cake batter lip balm. It was pretty awesome to see how creative everyone was, and I think everyone left the game with a really cool gift. I should have taken more pictures, I just was too caught up in the moment to bother grabbing my phone.<br />
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The day after Christmas was pretty rough weather. It was cold and cloudy with snow flurries. Not to mention we were all recovering from our overindulgence in sugar the day before, so we didn't have much motivation for a hike. We ended up just walking down Lake Hoare to Lake Chad and sampling the few streams that run down on that end of the lake.<br />
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The next day we were lucky enough to fly back to F6. The weather wasn't looking much nicer than the day before. There was a really low cloud ceiling and it was lightly snowing. So the pilot was not sure if he wanted to fly up the valley to come get us and risk getting stuck. Lucky for us he decided to take a shot at it and the visibility ended up being a lot better than he expected. After we unpacked, and settled in at F6, we took the ATV around the lake to check and see if any streams were running. It turned out that all of the streams in the Fryxell basin had shut off for the time being. This is pretty amazing considering we just passed the summer solstice, and now the streams that were raging around Thanksgiving have turned off. I guess it just goes to show how dependent the hydrologic cycle here is on solar energy.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhQgRYUG5lC1sTtxdcQTtf8u9suKTT-cNv97Q_NvoTw0SlG0tZSIFIAV9knf-jKmxQ0dpLu5PhCkureGPBQ0iXfgGTouvt2Lv_EmJ6cR2na7i6yPSsQ2xxkYI-Yt8zub00JeV4vPbSeulM/s1600/IMG_20151227_154833590.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhQgRYUG5lC1sTtxdcQTtf8u9suKTT-cNv97Q_NvoTw0SlG0tZSIFIAV9knf-jKmxQ0dpLu5PhCkureGPBQ0iXfgGTouvt2Lv_EmJ6cR2na7i6yPSsQ2xxkYI-Yt8zub00JeV4vPbSeulM/s400/IMG_20151227_154833590.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our new john boat.</td></tr>
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Overnight the weather improved so we set out to check for flow again. When we didn't find any we decided to take matters into our own hands and seek out new streams that were flowing at higher elevations. We headed up the west side of Commonwealth Glacier, and hiked up a steep ridge to what is known as Falconer's Ridge. The ventifacts here were out of this world, and the view of Lake Fryxell was really impressive. However, we were unable to find any new streams up here, so we headed back down. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Crazy ventifact.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lake Fryxell from Above</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTlx2Del4_YmiZZN9v5G404q4jtopqx0LzM5uJBvTy8xN7jaVU-nbCmOIh4nlwskWqDd0zZfWsQ3J8w2uRPhVNAF-dyKDh_8QFEOW0xSigT48yYTAS0JlEElmyceq4FUis-gClJmVWcwZM/s1600/IMG_20151228_145328984.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTlx2Del4_YmiZZN9v5G404q4jtopqx0LzM5uJBvTy8xN7jaVU-nbCmOIh4nlwskWqDd0zZfWsQ3J8w2uRPhVNAF-dyKDh_8QFEOW0xSigT48yYTAS0JlEElmyceq4FUis-gClJmVWcwZM/s400/IMG_20151228_145328984.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lost Seal Tributary</td></tr>
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On the way down we did find one stream flowing that is a tributary to Lost Seal pictured here. However, when we made it to the Lost Seal gauging station the flow wasn't anywhere to be seen. I guess we beat it down the hill. On our way back to F6 we passed McKnight and Aiken and finally found some flow. So we went back to F6, re-grouped and headed back out to collect some data.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Gaarwood River</td></tr>
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Yesterday we flew over to Miers Valley again. The flow had slowed down significantly since our last visit. At the outlet of Lake Miers we measured 1.2 cfs, as opposed to 30 cfs two weeks ago. We also stopped at Garwood Valley to sample the Garwood River. This was a spectacular valley that was home to a river with a lot of interesting features. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3NsTs_0O380xU1qOiWcYdbb_o956O2XTiU4qVhgjusiQHSLRq9rEvp5Bp7uxJ82L-PmNJ6k8htlGNoF-G8PocYltCogjguU0QrWKz9bYq7Y7618i3E94w-RLUDmi4spWXKvL9NoNSmDH3/s1600/IMG_20151229_135900486.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3NsTs_0O380xU1qOiWcYdbb_o956O2XTiU4qVhgjusiQHSLRq9rEvp5Bp7uxJ82L-PmNJ6k8htlGNoF-G8PocYltCogjguU0QrWKz9bYq7Y7618i3E94w-RLUDmi4spWXKvL9NoNSmDH3/s400/IMG_20151229_135900486.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Thawing ice wall on Garwood River</td></tr>
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There is one spot on the river where it runs along and under a buried ice wall that is about 60 ft tall. The ice wall is melting because the river is undercutting it, and the soil overlaying it is being warmed by the sun. I was on the wrong side of the helicopter to get a good view, but here is a shot of it.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Garwood River with the Royal Society Range in the background</td></tr>
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We flew up the river to the point where it runs along the Garwood Glacier. The river gets pinched between a mountainside and a glacier. When the glacier wall breaks off and calves into the stream bed, the river pools up and has nowhere to go. In some spots the river has tunneled into the mountainside, and in other spots it tunneled under the glacier. I wish I was able to photograph it better from the helicopter. There is a location where the river has hollowed out an area underneath the glacier, and the ice above collapsed leaving a massive hole in the glacier. It looked like something straight out of Star Wars. We landed above the glacier and sampled below Lake Colleen, shown here. Just an awesome end to a good day of stream work.<br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06290827360478832887noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6183572479884183200.post-91377049839326425072015-12-22T20:46:00.002-08:002015-12-22T20:46:20.674-08:00Happy Solstice!Hey Everyone! As I am sure you are aware, yesterday was the summer solstice down here, or the winter solstice for most of you. The sun has now reached its highest point in the northern sky. This is an event of interest for us down here, especially because the sun is the primary control of stream flow. The days won't be getting any shorter now (still 24 hours of sunlight) but the sun will begin to spin around our heads lower and lower in the sky.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMlJg9pWKyCycAzVlkZdWGDKxBWeYrjKpSfn6Hd2Gr3bVbwPbbbyrjgJe-fsGcY8ONvlGPvoxTov5QE5Jepon1S7cXsMqahQFAwDptdaYJcB9HOdwhi2h-xHBIlkLkjmvedW1DIboWLVQi/s1600/IMG_20151222_115251549.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMlJg9pWKyCycAzVlkZdWGDKxBWeYrjKpSfn6Hd2Gr3bVbwPbbbyrjgJe-fsGcY8ONvlGPvoxTov5QE5Jepon1S7cXsMqahQFAwDptdaYJcB9HOdwhi2h-xHBIlkLkjmvedW1DIboWLVQi/s400/IMG_20151222_115251549.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">165 cfs flowing at Vanda gauging station.</td></tr>
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It was fitting that we visited the largest river in Antarctica on this day, and even more fitting that we measured such a large flow rate. The Onyx River at the Vanda gauging station (near the outlet of the river into Lake Vanda) was measured with a flowtracker to be flowing at 165 cfs. <br />
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<i>Flowtracker Explanation:</i><br />
If I haven't described what a flowtracker is yet, and if you are just dying to find out, I will explain. The flowtracker is what we use to get an accurate manual measurement of the volumetric flow rate (volume of water passing a certain spot per unit time) of a stream. The flowtracker is an acoustic doppler velocimeter, which I am sure you all are very familiar with. Many times scientists, engineers, and others with poor social skills like to come up with big words to make what they are doing seem important or advanced, and this name is an example of that. This piece of technology sends out sound pulses that bounce off of particulates in the water (small sediment particles) and based on the return of the sound signal it can estimate the velocity of the water at that point. It uses the Doppler effect to measure the velocity. This is the same phenomenon that makes a train sound different when it is traveling towards than when it is travelling away from you. So, the instrument determines the velocity of the water at a specific point in the stream. We measure the velocity of the stream at 20 to 30 equally spaced points across the channel at a cross section that is perpendicular to the stream flow. The depth of our measurement is simply 40% of the depth of the stream at that point. For example if the stream is 1 ft deep at a point, we would measure the velocity at a depth of 0.4ft (see figure below). <br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4R-UN22vbjEZPbgZYtQlidUGAHA5-T5aWnNBM61hwX_Kg8pNSkxjCY-NFLjzl_obtweVt2-CBWMhcd9jgA1ZxrVObkUGT946Fc6NqsSv9hI6tWJ44h-9RZdRO6zkIYh4_DAwx0xHQgaX0/s1600/m_veloc.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4R-UN22vbjEZPbgZYtQlidUGAHA5-T5aWnNBM61hwX_Kg8pNSkxjCY-NFLjzl_obtweVt2-CBWMhcd9jgA1ZxrVObkUGT946Fc6NqsSv9hI6tWJ44h-9RZdRO6zkIYh4_DAwx0xHQgaX0/s320/m_veloc.jpg" width="279" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">trincoll.edu. <br />
Where <i>d</i> is depth, and the x-axis represents velocity of the stream at each depth. i.e. a value of zero at the bottom due to friction with the stream bed, and maximum velocity at the top of the stream. Average velocity is 0.6d from the top or 0.4d from the bottom.</td></tr>
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The reasoning here is that, due to friction on the flow from the stream bed, this point is the depth averaged velocity (add up velocities at all depths and take the average). The velocity, the location across the stream, and depth of each velocity measurement is recorded in the flowtracker program.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhf_bVt-TAvSjB1b2t1CjuUJUb4zgG1OvXi4tGyuu_RQ_MMwB1_i4ZiYIKDkk0yR1lHpZwg5a-pPtDBVvyzpKM78M4BHZEKJjmZQK17s5E2lnNOSdZGJUCJyIgdT179h8YnvE3yIQq3rdZs/s1600/r_channel.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="273" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhf_bVt-TAvSjB1b2t1CjuUJUb4zgG1OvXi4tGyuu_RQ_MMwB1_i4ZiYIKDkk0yR1lHpZwg5a-pPtDBVvyzpKM78M4BHZEKJjmZQK17s5E2lnNOSdZGJUCJyIgdT179h8YnvE3yIQq3rdZs/s320/r_channel.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">trincoll.edu<br />
Cross section geometry of the stream as measured with the flowtracker. Each area slice is calculated, the average velocity of each slice is then determined, and the two values are multiplied to yield volumetric flow rate per slice. The flow rates are then summed to determine a total. </td></tr>
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Using these three pieces of information we can estimate the volumetric flow rate. The distance between measurements and the depth of each measurement allow us to estimate the cross sectional area of the stream. The cross sectional area is broken up into little slices that are bounded on each end by a measurement location (see figure above). The area of each little slice is multiplied by the average velocity of that slice. Area multiplied by velocity gives us a volumetric flow rate for that little slice. This is done for all slices across the channel, and the results are summed to yield a total volumetric flow rate.<br />
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We attempted to measure the flow at the upper reaches of the Onyx at the Lower Wright gauging station, but the stage of the river was too high to safely wade across.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsAf7UCKsFAoHYe-UdK0-AhfDTHB6XRLmpgrhjelTNMX7e6ziFMYlEZCfItiHFUIXqbUFMH4piOOSN0SdT7f2c5xaamPYBoqrc1pJDSzrPb0QAtYa76BaDX__er13oNfawRKtQGnGtUmd0/s1600/IMG_20151222_132047882.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsAf7UCKsFAoHYe-UdK0-AhfDTHB6XRLmpgrhjelTNMX7e6ziFMYlEZCfItiHFUIXqbUFMH4piOOSN0SdT7f2c5xaamPYBoqrc1pJDSzrPb0QAtYa76BaDX__er13oNfawRKtQGnGtUmd0/s400/IMG_20151222_132047882.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Stage was too high to safely wade across the river and gauge flow at Lower Wright Valley gauging station (beginning of Onyx River)</td></tr>
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Some weather rolled in last night and has been hanging around today. I don't think it has impacted the helo schedule too much yet, but it has really affected our streams. Von Guerard (the stream running by our home here at F6) turned off today, along with Harnish. It makes our lives a little easier when there isn't any flow present. However, Christa (one of my teammates) has a PhD project to work on that requires a decent amount of flow, so hopefully things turn back on for her sake.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4jbh5BvzYL064gbozShIhvXM7DPePWAT_OqyxO17j05rDutil-QC0am2NzmhdWbBSFW8D_tI1Jlm_zEialS4ufAxjQezKIv-DOVwaNPT7h7GXDF2k7S4uUAUiRfTEqklYb4FAThsSiAq9/s1600/IMG_20151222_195310501_HDR.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4jbh5BvzYL064gbozShIhvXM7DPePWAT_OqyxO17j05rDutil-QC0am2NzmhdWbBSFW8D_tI1Jlm_zEialS4ufAxjQezKIv-DOVwaNPT7h7GXDF2k7S4uUAUiRfTEqklYb4FAThsSiAq9/s400/IMG_20151222_195310501_HDR.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Some nasty looking clouds rolled in over Taylor Valley yesterday afternoon.</td></tr>
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<br />I also have been getting some Christmas gifts this year which has been such an amazing surprise! I feel like a little kid when South Pole Santa (the helicopter pilot) hands you a package from back home. My mom and Annie sent packages, and I would feature them here if I hadn't already ate all of the contents of them. Thank you so much guys! My aunt Natalie sent me the card and zombonis featured below. These are little wind up zambonis driven by zombies that you assemble yourself. Mikey and I built one each and raced them. He had a little bit better craftsmanship, so his drives straight. I haven't won yet, but I am hoping for a Christmas miracle. Thanks so much Natalie!!!<div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJvFQHjPM3fAGzPxnnYY6UcLACYWAsI_5xW65X2M1fB9eBdcWT6JJdyL349by12-57VOHz6-066SrLWToB-dbhZbvDDueDPQ3A98N3wxu9afwhu2UjTHnGkMxDSlYCwqFXcWeL1e1WluPO/s1600/IMG_20151221_113503044.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJvFQHjPM3fAGzPxnnYY6UcLACYWAsI_5xW65X2M1fB9eBdcWT6JJdyL349by12-57VOHz6-066SrLWToB-dbhZbvDDueDPQ3A98N3wxu9afwhu2UjTHnGkMxDSlYCwqFXcWeL1e1WluPO/s400/IMG_20151221_113503044.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Racing zombonis</td></tr>
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I just received a package today from my Grandpa and Grandma Sudman. I apologize for not waiting for Christmas day, but since nobody is here to tell me otherwise I broke into my presents early... They sent some tasty brownies, and cookie bars, along with a super great letter, and this awesome book. Mikey was talking about this book earlier in the season. He said he read it last season and it was really nice to read about someone in a warm climate while you are freezing your butt off. I thought it sounded super interesting and I was bummed he didn't bring it down. Well ask and you shall receive! Sure enough this book showed up along with a large detailed national geographic map of the area to follow along with Teddy Roosevelt's trip through the jungles of the Amazon . Thanks so much guys this is amazing!!<br />
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To all my friends and family back home reading this, I miss you guys and wish I could spend the holidays eating bunches of cookies and drinking too much eggnog with you! Thanks for all the emails, phone calls, letters, and packages. It sure helps to make the holidays great even away from home. Another thing that really helps is that I am surrounded by such great friends down here!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjs9a39g3m2w72fQu-q3AYOOgKQdCLTuawH2SXEEQ-wr2eFbkXFWVlKmVm8wLtZa7u6-dCH-V7x_oPv4xW0E31PYEyonANoQY3eumHJhH18RAKZEiEP_iD8-wyU7p4H9lovzola7bkqptMS/s1600/IMG_20151223_153710073_HDR.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjs9a39g3m2w72fQu-q3AYOOgKQdCLTuawH2SXEEQ-wr2eFbkXFWVlKmVm8wLtZa7u6-dCH-V7x_oPv4xW0E31PYEyonANoQY3eumHJhH18RAKZEiEP_iD8-wyU7p4H9lovzola7bkqptMS/s400/IMG_20151223_153710073_HDR.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Goodies from Grandpa and Grandma Sudman!</td></tr>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06290827360478832887noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6183572479884183200.post-9343460766571916712015-12-19T13:58:00.005-08:002015-12-19T13:59:36.237-08:00Another Wild Week<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
On Monday we hiked back from Lake Hoare and hit the streams on the south side of Lake Fryxell. It was insanely windy, constantly holing at around 40 mph with gusts up to 70 mph. We were hoping everything at camp was right where we left it, especially our tents. When we returned we were happy to find everything still in its place. Some of our tents were a little jostled around, but they fared much better than the tents left up at Bonney. The Limno team had their tents up at Bonney and we heard a helo pilot announce over the radio that the remaining tents were flattened and one was completely gone (still hasn't been found).</div>
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Tuesday we flew south out of Taylor Valley, up over the Ferrar and Blue Glaciers and dropped down into Miers Valley. It was a beautiful clear, calm day which was especially appreciated after the winds yesterday. To give you an idea of how harsh the conditions were, we were doing our work in t-shirts. </div>
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Miers Valley has two little glaciers, the Miers and the Adams, which sit at the upper reaches of the valley. These two glaciers have streams that form at their terminus that share the same names as the glaciers (oddly enough). On our first visit in late November, there was a trickle of water running through Adams Stream, while Upper Miers was dry. Now they are both really going at around 30 cfs. We half expected this because Renee had been in the Miers Valley earlier in the week with the Limno Team, and she had told us that the streams were raging. She was also kind enough to take a couple of bonus water samples for us which was great!</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAaTxPuYLCyBZ16uCv_5nA-AHahqnHQvx0qJndlxM_C8Yc8aOEQMu1VZ-us6UNTECxG8wNk6l8s9Sa9aaaYvxzCf7QRhZN0Kup8BAeQsShGahLFjxefvwFgPzB0KY6ADNY5UW6L1ca8v4r/s1600/IMG_20151215_134157935.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAaTxPuYLCyBZ16uCv_5nA-AHahqnHQvx0qJndlxM_C8Yc8aOEQMu1VZ-us6UNTECxG8wNk6l8s9Sa9aaaYvxzCf7QRhZN0Kup8BAeQsShGahLFjxefvwFgPzB0KY6ADNY5UW6L1ca8v4r/s400/IMG_20151215_134157935.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Outlet of Lake Miers with the beautiful Royal Society Range in the background.</td></tr>
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These two streams flow down valley into Lake Miers, which has an outlet that flows down the valley to the McMurdo Ice Shelf. The outlet of Lake Miers is also gauged, so we stopped here for our second stop of the day. Mikey said that last year they never saw more than a trickle at the outlet. This year, as you can see above, the outlet turned out to be providing a bit more than a trickle. It turned out to be a killer blue bird day in Miers (which is not always the case), and all of our equipment was cooperating, which makes the day so much sweeter.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMNpYnWngaIfQsyXFon25IyFF5Qj9jB-Rn5OLsHNFKiDtv_BWxORT5vbULrseUOOBpEJCnWPJZpmphrEElykkuCUVDwRafs67_COe4R_-5Y3UYEzC1iO0dloeN6esdncT-wiX3GxMyIAFJ/s1600/IMG_20151215_140044633.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMNpYnWngaIfQsyXFon25IyFF5Qj9jB-Rn5OLsHNFKiDtv_BWxORT5vbULrseUOOBpEJCnWPJZpmphrEElykkuCUVDwRafs67_COe4R_-5Y3UYEzC1iO0dloeN6esdncT-wiX3GxMyIAFJ/s400/IMG_20151215_140044633.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Ferrar Glacier with some melt pools, and super-glacial rivers.</td></tr>
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This picture was taken on the return flight to F6. This is the Ferrar Glacier which consumes the next valley to the south of Taylor Valley. From this view you can see some really crazy stuff. Glaciers are often times described as giant rivers of ice. You can see this description in action by looking at the parallel cracks running along the length of the glacier. The ice at the outer edges flowing along the valley walls experiences more resistance from the walls, which causes the outside edges of the glacier to flow more slowly. The ice in the middle of the glacier flows at a faster rate due to less resistance. The longitudinal, parallel cracks you see are the result of the ice sections flowing at different speeds. The pattern you see in the different speeds of ice is very similar to the different speeds of water you see in a river (with liquid water). There are also some really cool super-glacial lakes and rivers on top of the Ferrar that are crazy shades of blue. <br />
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I was reading a new book (thanks Annie!) called <i>The Worst Journey in the World </i>by Apsley Cherry-Garrard who was part of Robert Falcon Scott's tragic expedition to the South Pole. In the intro he gives a bunch of Antarctic exploration history, and history on the McMurdo Sound area. He gets into who all the geographic features were named after, which is pretty fun to learn while you are sitting in the spot he is talking about. Anyways, he mentions Scott's first expedition and he says that Scott and a team walked up the Ferrar glacier to the polar plateau. I just think it is a pretty special experience to be able to read about these unique historical events that unfolded right spot I am sitting. It also amazes me how recent these events unfolded. It was only about 100 years ago when Robert Scott reached the South Pole on January 16 1912, only to be beaten by 5 weeks by the Norwegian team lead by Roald Amundson. I do have to say I think our life down here is slightly more plush these days. It sounds like the majoirty of their transportation of supplies and gear was in the form of sledging (man hauled sleds). Why they didn't use helicopters is beyond me. They also ate a lot of seal and penguin, which unfortunately is not allowed here anymore. Needless to say, things have come a long way in 100 years.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7lA-fuMUPugSsvgewPnxB6050gk-HsPjBn14Ff_83HHUqW_-IqVSOgUOddi62jzVed78gEm1QDJShVtBVVQYc8wIbKIEABoPZ5B2tnOEokTmRycUq4KDxn6jyCloMMiaWvme4sEL2kGx8/s1600/IMG_20151216_063812142.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7lA-fuMUPugSsvgewPnxB6050gk-HsPjBn14Ff_83HHUqW_-IqVSOgUOddi62jzVed78gEm1QDJShVtBVVQYc8wIbKIEABoPZ5B2tnOEokTmRycUq4KDxn6jyCloMMiaWvme4sEL2kGx8/s400/IMG_20151216_063812142.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Gloomy morning outside of F6.</td></tr>
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This is the scene I woke up to Wednesday morning. We were supposed to fly over to the Wright Valley to replace a leaking nitrogen tank, but I didn't think we had a chance of flying in this weather. About two hours later, the clouds lifted and the helicopters started flying.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2qfHaWaORAuTh82hkjMpMn8nk_KKcBXPJA6nseTB2pgPJ6gYXJH1CXGqEoVDe4FPTCX46yzk7icpdNwfnyWIZc_xHy0mYMV6Tt09gnv35ZCwZCSklc_RB1hk7EhoMaG4dJgAIV-xHsRSU/s1600/IMG_20151216_105412568.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2qfHaWaORAuTh82hkjMpMn8nk_KKcBXPJA6nseTB2pgPJ6gYXJH1CXGqEoVDe4FPTCX46yzk7icpdNwfnyWIZc_xHy0mYMV6Tt09gnv35ZCwZCSklc_RB1hk7EhoMaG4dJgAIV-xHsRSU/s400/IMG_20151216_105412568.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">View looking up Wright Valley over the Onyx River.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKJK64jvTNYGX5C72bJspuX4pyymvViGofnj722g2A96Ci9_DeEWLPwLNgzTGvH4AKfpcMTn82q1JI9dy0Ku-ICBMiCFG_-8B4Kvv17LsjQ88DPiDkhpkmOI5xxnXZX7guFSUG9HPFDYVu/s1600/IMG_20151216_105432327_HDR.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKJK64jvTNYGX5C72bJspuX4pyymvViGofnj722g2A96Ci9_DeEWLPwLNgzTGvH4AKfpcMTn82q1JI9dy0Ku-ICBMiCFG_-8B4Kvv17LsjQ88DPiDkhpkmOI5xxnXZX7guFSUG9HPFDYVu/s400/IMG_20151216_105432327_HDR.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">View from the same spot looking down Wright Valley. If you look hard you can see the helicopter parked down there. It was a pretty awesome little spot he found to land. Our pilot flies heli-skiing operations in the off-season, so I don't think he was too sketched out by landing here.</td></tr>
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After landing down at Vanda and replacing the leaking nitrogen tank, we flew up to Mt. Loke. There is a radio receiver and a satellite phone modem here that collects our stream gauge data and met station data from Wright Valley and transmits it back to Boulder, CO. We had to change a program on the radio because it wasn't working properly. As you can see the view was pretty terrific.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDAv1uKhdWzZXjHZW4Rb4GpjOqwjWEil7uedZzd-v7X84QmmHqyD10SIMMYvabpuNykWPU2gEUtz0U4d9SNpl74l1kCY05tWt_ZUK5utA6dVEkWP_eH3OUKdxDG1Zgi5U-zXLROFeQyeMV/s1600/IMG_20151217_102454430.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDAv1uKhdWzZXjHZW4Rb4GpjOqwjWEil7uedZzd-v7X84QmmHqyD10SIMMYvabpuNykWPU2gEUtz0U4d9SNpl74l1kCY05tWt_ZUK5utA6dVEkWP_eH3OUKdxDG1Zgi5U-zXLROFeQyeMV/s400/IMG_20151217_102454430.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">We finally had to inflate our zodiac for crossing the moat to the ATV. Mikey is pumped that rafting season is finally here.</td></tr>
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The warm weather continued throughout the week. As a result, our moats only increased in size. It was finally time to inflate the zodiac. You know it's been a good day when you get to travel by helicopter, boat, and ATV. The real trick is pulling the boat up onto the lake ice far enough to step out and not fall in. I am going to do my best this year not to join the Lake Fryxell swim club.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgn7zXAo4EQ9KdmvJCjHStO1JfNAXUJF8ojZrq7Tvdq0sW5Yp8JDVwUqkrN54zphJW3V8uJnA5jVYwEOvsecC2vc_iPaF2vNJ0w4OIysulmOpuLko5CPpcV7Kx47s1i9vfkadMcOcV1uSP0/s1600/IMG_20151217_112132814.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgn7zXAo4EQ9KdmvJCjHStO1JfNAXUJF8ojZrq7Tvdq0sW5Yp8JDVwUqkrN54zphJW3V8uJnA5jVYwEOvsecC2vc_iPaF2vNJ0w4OIysulmOpuLko5CPpcV7Kx47s1i9vfkadMcOcV1uSP0/s400/IMG_20151217_112132814.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">New double wide trailer at Lake Fryxell. Should be some pretty sweet digs when it's all done.</td></tr>
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Working on the rest of our Fryxell run on Thursday, we stopped by Camp Fryxell where the carpenters were working on moving the camp to a higher elevation as well as building a new hut. The old hut was a cozy jamesway (you can see what a jamesway is below in the Lake Bonney photo), but this new one looks pretty spacious. I wish they were completing it in time for us to break it in.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhonx88laI5pQY8zR_9wPuDXOUN1ZF8VWTepRRFxysiGN36grG5ngB8fZBS-rmK9sKK6b0UgjSlZP9OEzbzHrqrZ6FImvgEhn0CsEk9_kHg-DmI_jdPSVvWfOqkOGcM4WN8g5Lji2S9rT35/s1600/IMG_20151218_143003757.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhonx88laI5pQY8zR_9wPuDXOUN1ZF8VWTepRRFxysiGN36grG5ngB8fZBS-rmK9sKK6b0UgjSlZP9OEzbzHrqrZ6FImvgEhn0CsEk9_kHg-DmI_jdPSVvWfOqkOGcM4WN8g5Lji2S9rT35/s400/IMG_20151218_143003757.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Four balled snowman at Lake Bonney</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRW-ln54_6VTyjRVsBf9ZERRPuP9mrcQ7Zca_MG8v8o0wNwe9FbV5Ei5WhhfQKyrTshQntawUUzRIGMkqUG4M5OjKsM2TOoSX6C63CrEgwUthe3ktIVx10XYMd77OqK6MZT0cTE1apfTgQ/s1600/IMG_20151218_143450819_HDR.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRW-ln54_6VTyjRVsBf9ZERRPuP9mrcQ7Zca_MG8v8o0wNwe9FbV5Ei5WhhfQKyrTshQntawUUzRIGMkqUG4M5OjKsM2TOoSX6C63CrEgwUthe3ktIVx10XYMd77OqK6MZT0cTE1apfTgQ/s400/IMG_20151218_143450819_HDR.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">What people back home picture every day here looks like.</td></tr>
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Friday we were planning on flying up to Lake Bonney to complete our work up there, and spend the night at Bonney Making x-mas cookies and hanging out. The weather had different ideas for us, as it usually does. The day started off with low dark clouds rolling through the valley. The hillsides were getting dusted with snow, and every once in a while the valley floor would get a flurry. We thought there was no way we were flying, so we were suprised when we heard over the radio that our helicopter took off from McMurdo. We were picked up and flew up the valley to check out the weather. The clouds were creating a barrier on the west edge of Lake Hoare, so we were forced to circle back and land at Hoare to wait things out. It couldn't have been better timing because Rae had just pulled out fresh baked bagels from the oven when we landed. We sat down, enjoyed some bagels and coffee at the local cafe on the way to work, then hopped back in the helicopter to try again. This time the clouds had cleared enough to make it through to Bonney. When we landed we were greeted by a four balled snowman, and some suspicious looking friends. They were all huddled around the heli-pad and had arm fulls of something. When we exited the helicopter (and were far enough away from it to ensure no damage was done) we were pelted with snowballs. The snow was so much fun! I felt like a little kid on a snow day, and it definitely helped things feel a little bit more like Christmas. It reminded me of when I was a kid at my Grandparent's lake home for Christmas and all the cousins would go out and drive ATV's and snowmobiles on the lake ice pulling sleds and tubes behind. Of course we would never dream of doing anything like that now that we are mature adults.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdaeZVDNPnjFXgXBSH_hpVaBPqBsxRi-tSMoOOLCdnx8eSbM-VQY-fr4pJQdIG0iJJxWG8Vy7AKw4ZkG16pB7nuvj46nzAxMth5qeica3vZlmXb1gxDz-GV2R2w0s5t-1USkd0x5t993xy/s1600/IMG_20151218_164718110_HDR.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdaeZVDNPnjFXgXBSH_hpVaBPqBsxRi-tSMoOOLCdnx8eSbM-VQY-fr4pJQdIG0iJJxWG8Vy7AKw4ZkG16pB7nuvj46nzAxMth5qeica3vZlmXb1gxDz-GV2R2w0s5t-1USkd0x5t993xy/s400/IMG_20151218_164718110_HDR.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Rhone Glacier</td></tr>
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We headed out on the ATV at Bonney to complete our work for the day. It was amazing how the streams reacted to the recent change in weather. The snow on the glaciers, and the clouds blocking the sun reduced stream flow significantly, but it wasn't enough to turn them off completely. All of our work went pretty smoothly, so we headed back to Bonney Camp for dinner and cookies. It sounds kind of funny but it was pretty great to hang around and make/eat cookies with Christmas music on (as much as that music drives me nuts). I have to admit I did more eating than decorating as I usually do. Oops.<br />
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Yesterday we set out from Lake Bonney and Hiked back to Lake Hoare. We completed our work on the streams we passed on the hike back. It was a pretty long hike, especially with a cookie hangover, and all of our sampling gear. We are pretty beat from a busy week so the three of us are still here at Lake Hoare lounging around at 10:00 AM on a Sunday. This is kind of unusual because normally we'd be going for a hike, but I think things finally caught up to us. <br />
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Right now I am going to get back to reading that book. Somehow next week is already Christmas. This season is flying by right before my eyes. Take care everyone!</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06290827360478832887noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6183572479884183200.post-69108971699820430052015-12-15T01:08:00.001-08:002015-12-15T01:08:21.017-08:00Mount RayWell with C-511's departure on Saturday morning, things were sadly a bit quieter around Lake Hoare this weekend. Some of us were feeling well rested Sunday morning, so we rallied for a hike to the top of Mount Ray, which is the mountain that Lake Hoare Camp resides under.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBi1x5VV-4B-07CCb9xGy7RVDyHRaW6T_YzZ34zHyPVqQiuYN8rFhuF7towSC6SgaHb-P_wnpGhIEWJgl-3TTJ2HmU3BGRVIk83BGTLN3okSb8PNrDS4LPwk0Lk-RAZfEyrcJavxxc3wzQ/s1600/IMG_20151213_112829572.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBi1x5VV-4B-07CCb9xGy7RVDyHRaW6T_YzZ34zHyPVqQiuYN8rFhuF7towSC6SgaHb-P_wnpGhIEWJgl-3TTJ2HmU3BGRVIk83BGTLN3okSb8PNrDS4LPwk0Lk-RAZfEyrcJavxxc3wzQ/s400/IMG_20151213_112829572.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Perfect hiking weather.</td></tr>
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I was a little nervous about the weather as we headed out. As you looked up the mountain we were hiking it was socked in about half way up, and there weren't any signs of the weather changing. It looked like a pretty grueling hike just to get to the top and have 100 yds. of visibility. I think we all just assumed that the weather wouldn't do that to us after putting in all the hard work. The first half of the hike was pretty windy and chilly, and the wind only got worse as we hiked into the clouds.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmcFlsdzLa1BacjyMODYBzCGUmgPQlk6sV2XR3qLqSqF9EwI1IkixcByP3DeVyDt3Xm0T54KLre4otnRpEzLXAAYwtXPxHssDaB3N3DDxLCcSbUJ9wxzpLl5rKhbemkufEH-utNkF19O-6/s1600/IMG_20151213_114112056.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmcFlsdzLa1BacjyMODYBzCGUmgPQlk6sV2XR3qLqSqF9EwI1IkixcByP3DeVyDt3Xm0T54KLre4otnRpEzLXAAYwtXPxHssDaB3N3DDxLCcSbUJ9wxzpLl5rKhbemkufEH-utNkF19O-6/s400/IMG_20151213_114112056.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Forrest contemplates the meaning of life, as we begin to break out of the clouds.</td></tr>
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It isn't a very long hike, but it is pretty strenuous, with 4500 ft of elevation gain over about 2 miles. We hiked and bouldered our way up to the top at around 1:40 PM. Well I guess it wasn't the true peak. The true peak was a couple hundred feet higher, and on the other side of a big ice field. But we still were able to capture a pretty killer view.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg98Zt5KFaOeW1Y96Gq5pgEspzgQPoEPMRyWo3Hc21QUnqHpikQ_7bX8dSME0eYhYDZRFwjebl6Hj9e09xqQJ9DzzcHBax5NR_R7E_T8RJFH3_q9ZNEwWpE1WnjmZ9-f9c663DchiMY3bOs/s1600/IMG_20151213_123215199.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="166" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg98Zt5KFaOeW1Y96Gq5pgEspzgQPoEPMRyWo3Hc21QUnqHpikQ_7bX8dSME0eYhYDZRFwjebl6Hj9e09xqQJ9DzzcHBax5NR_R7E_T8RJFH3_q9ZNEwWpE1WnjmZ9-f9c663DchiMY3bOs/s400/IMG_20151213_123215199.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Above the sea of clouds.</td></tr>
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The way down wasn't as harsh as I thought it would be. We did however make a slight navigational error. When we hiked back down and got into the clouds it was hard to see where we were going. We just followed the ridge line we were on because it was the same one we used to get up. The only thing is, while we were in the clouds we didn't see that our ridge line split into two separate ridges. The one to the right was the one that we took up, while the one to the left took us to the ice falls on Canada Glacier. You can guess which one we took. It wasn't too costly of a mistake, and honestly we may have accidentally shaved some time off of our hike, and almost certainly saved some strain on our knees.<br />
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By the time we returned, the clouds that had hung around the mid-section of Mount Ray all day had finally burned off. All of a sudden I was nice and warm with the sun shining on me. I felt great after that hike. I of course was oblivious to the fact that I would remain sore from the hike for what is now going on two days. All in all it was a great day to be out with some even greater company.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuOnsM-oR28zZjtKGxwawZ8uAjAnXZWvGp0uTTtKUTy9vqS5JWPAnOEhYn5oCc_Hm4kr5jp34bfGYX24WW5a05sZvE6XJq7R2PPCBek4TpSypqLTul9F7LOpxDggfTEg7yTMgvyb_vMhCy/s1600/IMG_20151213_152339917_HDR.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuOnsM-oR28zZjtKGxwawZ8uAjAnXZWvGp0uTTtKUTy9vqS5JWPAnOEhYn5oCc_Hm4kr5jp34bfGYX24WW5a05sZvE6XJq7R2PPCBek4TpSypqLTul9F7LOpxDggfTEg7yTMgvyb_vMhCy/s400/IMG_20151213_152339917_HDR.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ice Falls on Canada Glacier.</td></tr>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06290827360478832887noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6183572479884183200.post-89352730154574013932015-12-13T11:09:00.000-08:002015-12-13T11:09:12.851-08:00I Spoke Too SoonOh man where has the time gone? I began this blog post about a week ago and am just finishing it. Well the melt was on a roll, and then I opened my big mouth. Just like everybody had said, it can get cold again, and things can slow down. Well sure enough, on Monday evening some weather rolled in and started cooling things down. Here's a picture of what it looked like up valley from F6.<br />
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It really didn't get terribly cold, the ambient temperature still felt like it was in the 30's, but the clouds really cut down the amount of solar energy reaching the glaciers and substantially reduced stream flow. It was kind of a bummer. I was getting my hopes up a little that this might be a big flow year (which still isn't out of the question). The stream that flows by our camp (Von Guerard) completely stopped running which was kind of a bummer. It was our new source of drinking water, now that the moats are too melted to chip ice. Now we might switch to just drinking moat water from the lake. I just asked a limnologist and she said that the lake moats are really fresh (non-saline), so we should be alright.<br />
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On Tuesday we were supposed to fly to Wright Valley to tackle a couple of projects, but from the moment we woke up we had our doubts. The clouds were really low in the valley, and visibility is the most important factor for the helo pilots. One pilot was explaining that flying in clouds can be pretty disorienting, and it becomes even more dangerous when flying through white clouds over a white glacier. Sure enough we got put on a weather hold until noon. Then we got a call from the helo coordinator who asked if we minded if our flight was moved to Wednesday. We didn't mind, so we had to come up with a new plan for the day. It was pretty windy out, and it would have been really easy to just hang around inside all afternoon and be lazy. Luckily we were able to find the motivation to get dressed and head out. <br />
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It is pretty funny because it really wasn't that cold out. The majority of last year's season was much colder than this weather and windier, but we had grown accustomed to the calm warm days last week. We hiked out to Commonwealth, which was ambitious considering the conditions. We brought the waders because of our river crossing experience last week, but as it usually works out, the waders were completely unnecessary this week. We hiked back and hit Aiken on the way back. It turned out to be a pretty productive day, and it was nice to knock those streams out early in the week.<br />
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Wednesday the helicopters were able to fly. The weather still didn't look that great in the morning, but our flight came. I knew we had a possibility of getting stranded in the Wright Valley so I was sure to pack some extra food. We were meeting some carps (carpenters, not to be confused with fish) over there so they could fix a staff gauge plate we have out there. A staff gauge plate is essentially a ruler that we have in the water for us to read the water level. The staff plate at Vanda (which is the lower end of the Onyx River, the longest river in Antarctica) is a little crooked, as you can see in the photo below. So the idea was that the carps were going to build a new one that was straight for us. We landed at the lower end of the Onyx River (the largest river in Antarctica) and the flow was a little bit higher than the carps had expected, and they needed to borrow our waders. We surveyed the setup before they made any changes, so we could relate the new staff plate readings to the old one. We finished up our regular routine of gauging the river and collecting water samples, then we hopped in the helicopter to work on our station up at the upper end of the Onyx River. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Control at Lake Vanda. You can see the crooked staff plate in the middle of the stream.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghK__4juSquiD6Dqb-jSObRa7H40DHF0m7Dum_734M_rMfWmtepAmJTY6c2HRVaTRFWYMdgffI0NXCUmPcuogtUcJ0Ddey8cQBnbLSLV6I1BYFonOwuTg4jgJbjyq8mlSo9LOPnFciGziI/s1600/IMG_20151209_123957119.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghK__4juSquiD6Dqb-jSObRa7H40DHF0m7Dum_734M_rMfWmtepAmJTY6c2HRVaTRFWYMdgffI0NXCUmPcuogtUcJ0Ddey8cQBnbLSLV6I1BYFonOwuTg4jgJbjyq8mlSo9LOPnFciGziI/s400/IMG_20151209_123957119.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">View looking downstream over Lake Vanda</td></tr>
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Up at our gauging station called Onyx at Lower Wright Valley (very confusing because this is the beginning of the Onyx River, however it is the Lower Wright Valley because the Onyx actually flows inland from East to West. Anyways, we hopped out of the helicopter and the pilot told us we should hurry up because the weather was closing in. Luckily everything went smoothly and we were able to wrap everything up within an hour.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHx93sir1_lwDybRMwbe4NkEof1JoMMUU9HKNONBAklBYnp30nw5iqrUZgyxd5KRNHs19VpqUj7VHKRDhcHlARSWuJ0hfpHsJehDA3Z_3GffnONxL9JbjbUEtBHZr44wrvIINK95AWDRsD/s1600/IMG_20151209_132952068.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHx93sir1_lwDybRMwbe4NkEof1JoMMUU9HKNONBAklBYnp30nw5iqrUZgyxd5KRNHs19VpqUj7VHKRDhcHlARSWuJ0hfpHsJehDA3Z_3GffnONxL9JbjbUEtBHZr44wrvIINK95AWDRsD/s400/IMG_20151209_132952068.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mikey hard at work gauging the flow with our FlowTracker</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvOTAWddGNX0nm9UEeDv4I7ELQ1Osza7CbkOzXNY9tCrEUxIRaM7qafnhk1WnSHBzH-mSSCrynzfl4Z0SQDJ6jhv9w5MHSp6-_wbKSEwa20FnQXHGYhK0juqoB3pATTj19NmizoIu6XE7j/s1600/IMG_20151209_133013951.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvOTAWddGNX0nm9UEeDv4I7ELQ1Osza7CbkOzXNY9tCrEUxIRaM7qafnhk1WnSHBzH-mSSCrynzfl4Z0SQDJ6jhv9w5MHSp6-_wbKSEwa20FnQXHGYhK0juqoB3pATTj19NmizoIu6XE7j/s400/IMG_20151209_133013951.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Trying to show the clarity of the Onyx River. Some of the purest water I have ever seen.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0_cVG9AwACtFbf0DqGv1KgwrDJv6prK-qVWsUalMfkk9mDA704ng3x7YKYn4WeHceHVg8zS_u3vGh6mFjkme98ql25drw87kkp59udemHsiqidS40Io94lN3kGl7_O-qSGoEOAgA1fZ2t/s1600/IMG_20151209_133023871.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0_cVG9AwACtFbf0DqGv1KgwrDJv6prK-qVWsUalMfkk9mDA704ng3x7YKYn4WeHceHVg8zS_u3vGh6mFjkme98ql25drw87kkp59udemHsiqidS40Io94lN3kGl7_O-qSGoEOAgA1fZ2t/s400/IMG_20151209_133023871.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Weather rolling in.</td></tr>
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The plan was to drop us off at Marble point (helicopter refuelling station), and the pilot would go back to Wright Valley to pick up the carps so they didn't get stuck there overnight. We had to navigate the low lying clouds to make it back to Marble safely, but we made it back without too much issue. We touched down and headed inside. They have a pretty cool little set up at Marble and they seemed really excited to have guests. We came in and were treated to cookies, and some coffee. One of the coolest perks there that I appreciated was a TV and real couches! We put in a movie and kicked up our feet, not knowing when we were going to be picked up and if we would make it back to F6. After the movie we caught word over the radio that our pilot was headed back with the carps and we would be getting a ride home. As we were leaving we couldn't help but laugh at how much we felt like little kids getting cookies, and a movie, then to top it off we were sent home with soup. All the staff at Marble were amazing, if you ever find yourself flying around the Dry Valleys I would recommend a stop. What a great spot to get stranded for a few hours. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsDyQnDZumbNvUAZnYN-OZM2RrUxMGVNaVMg0-nEHiZz_hJbBLmlHCHBYC3TWurPUsvxHXiTfVbx1I5ZUwpJRiJlluR4DWsTFzseV4YOqrAkrqNSy-FiQp-_Gd32-2AAYtvdbLNtbjVuQF/s1600/IMG_20151209_144607799_HDR.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsDyQnDZumbNvUAZnYN-OZM2RrUxMGVNaVMg0-nEHiZz_hJbBLmlHCHBYC3TWurPUsvxHXiTfVbx1I5ZUwpJRiJlluR4DWsTFzseV4YOqrAkrqNSy-FiQp-_Gd32-2AAYtvdbLNtbjVuQF/s400/IMG_20151209_144607799_HDR.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Marble Point.</td></tr>
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Due to the fact that it took me a whole week to get this post up, weather conditions have changed. Friday things began to warm up again and the streams once again are flowing at relatively high discharges. We went on a hike yesterday up on Mount Ray right behind Lake Hoare Camp. It was a straight up hike with a killer view. I will be sure to post some pictures soon. Today we have some crazy down valley winds gusting at 44 knots (50 mph). I hope the holiday shopping is going well back home. If you are having a hard time trying to find a gift for me, just browse Cabela's and it shouldn't take long. Miss you all!<br />
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06290827360478832887noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6183572479884183200.post-84518130320443398732015-12-09T01:25:00.002-08:002015-12-09T01:28:39.335-08:00Map of Fryxell BasinHey everyone. I realized I am now throwing out all of these arbitrary stream names as if you know where they are. I thought it'd be nice to give you some context. Here is a zoomed in map I made of the Fryxell Basin. The Orange boxes represent our gauge boxes, and the green triangular symbols are the camps. I apologize it isn't quite as nice as something a GIS wiz like Breezy would make...<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjj2WiZgJJeAYXwwknsaiKMgxiyD6zb7xVU1d7eH5b_DoJK0xJR2O2Vz8Ed3Dng1znZogmgc63wgcltdRo8K0F3fNvJz0WpWOAyMB16YNC9hrfQhP2vFXPxjm9baZoj0OZdkySub5yFQPb4/s1600/FryxellBasin1.tif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="402" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjj2WiZgJJeAYXwwknsaiKMgxiyD6zb7xVU1d7eH5b_DoJK0xJR2O2Vz8Ed3Dng1znZogmgc63wgcltdRo8K0F3fNvJz0WpWOAyMB16YNC9hrfQhP2vFXPxjm9baZoj0OZdkySub5yFQPb4/s640/FryxellBasin1.tif" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06290827360478832887noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6183572479884183200.post-53270611839248011642015-12-06T03:00:00.001-08:002015-12-07T22:10:11.382-08:00Things are MeltingWith this recent stretch of warm weather, most of the streams in Taylor Valley have begun to run, and they are flowing at rates that are already greater than the peak flows we saw last year. The warm weather has been surprising to us, but the veterans down here aren't overly impressed. I think they are just accustomed to how sporadic the weather can be down here. I personally think it's going to be a big flow year because of the early high flows, but everyone reminds me that the weather can change in an instant causing the streams to shut off within a matter of hours. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHmSr4eVSDDNDg6dFTxns5fRJuXKVI-a0cA2cgjwHTZfgmggqJdDEjUxZ65GOrFdh1DX4Vw-bNPSiAjVqO3kg_1W6aK1wQIAPzrT8qgeTMZUJOkWS0D8Y18fiTYRcZu4NRAlGU1TT06dUJ/s1600/IMG_20151204_111620724.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHmSr4eVSDDNDg6dFTxns5fRJuXKVI-a0cA2cgjwHTZfgmggqJdDEjUxZ65GOrFdh1DX4Vw-bNPSiAjVqO3kg_1W6aK1wQIAPzrT8qgeTMZUJOkWS0D8Y18fiTYRcZu4NRAlGU1TT06dUJ/s400/IMG_20151204_111620724.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This is Aiken Stream flowing higher than we ever saw it last year. You can see how cloudy this first flow is as the stream flushes the sediment and dead algae downstream.</td></tr>
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Friday we hiked out to Commonwealth stream, located on the eastern side of Commonwealth Glacier. It was running when we checked it the week before, however it looked as if the flow had more than doubled since then. We had finished all of our work in the rest of the Fryxell basin earlier in the week, so we had a little bit of time to explore around the stream. We hiked down the stream to it's outlet to the ocean. This area is pretty interesting because the stream flows through an old glacial moraine. The stream has carved a pretty impressive canyon through the permafrost and ice-cored ground. There are massive canyon walls that are slowly slumping, and melting into the channel, and even spots where the water has melted the ice beneath the hillside and tunnelled underground.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHJe8bTzVPLljtdUAgNSY8DVg9NixuGzYvwZPUvCOgKF0YdpBz_Po1V_P85ZFl-UJyxchy3pbicQaXObZ-g83phLN5EsVq37e8sZxEuZjMiCjmNgruc3Q2YL8fnhlsailIow3_rcQ99TUC/s1600/IMG_20151204_131707546.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHJe8bTzVPLljtdUAgNSY8DVg9NixuGzYvwZPUvCOgKF0YdpBz_Po1V_P85ZFl-UJyxchy3pbicQaXObZ-g83phLN5EsVq37e8sZxEuZjMiCjmNgruc3Q2YL8fnhlsailIow3_rcQ99TUC/s400/IMG_20151204_131707546.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">In the center of the photo you can see a dark spot in the hillside where the water is gushing out. It is hard to make out, but that is a tunnel underneath the hillside that the water has cut out.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqTimMVrPk4F-6dS5794bWVgmT96Z5l6p00yKJvNJicIsWv_38wu70bQgTE-v7A_CP1VK11v2V17ryGA7BfbA8fs_Pti_tatS2IM292hAjk2DtGD5pvSK9brgisrwGnc8us3mSfG5xQpIg/s1600/IMG_20151204_132201046_HDR.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqTimMVrPk4F-6dS5794bWVgmT96Z5l6p00yKJvNJicIsWv_38wu70bQgTE-v7A_CP1VK11v2V17ryGA7BfbA8fs_Pti_tatS2IM292hAjk2DtGD5pvSK9brgisrwGnc8us3mSfG5xQpIg/s400/IMG_20151204_132201046_HDR.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I like this picture because you can see the changes happening right before your eyes, even in a still photo. There is a scientist who is taking a picture every day and creating a time lapse of this hillslope eroding which would be insane to see.</td></tr>
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We eventually worked our way down the canyon and made it to the beach. The beach was a welcome change of scenery from the valleys, and the lack of wind was refreshing. It was slightly different than a lot of the beaches in more temperate climates. I usually prefer the water to be a little warmer, and Mikey said the surf was too rough, so we skipped the surfing. However, it sure made for a nice spot to eat lunch. You can see Mt. Erebus in the background, and the crazy cloud patterns it was forming above it (Breezy that is where your crystal came from). The water from Commonwealth stream was steaming as it flowed across the beach to the ocean, which I thought was odd. We were curious what the temperature was, so we went over and measured it. It was 55 degrees Fahrenheit! It is pretty insane that a glacial melt-water stream can get to that temperature in such a short distance (a little over 2 miles).<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyRJ4YXbhV54uTnMWFP393yvJIw9Mb-M3_ssdUgLMGnJc0LBs4p2qYOrz6PStV7Px0Dia7uCotuozkHNncrbJjeflwcm5bDJQ4lgBs3esWYkmel3Zb0es6Fw7l7SXu0i14yVXvv4Fg9-kG/s1600/IMG_20151204_135057796.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyRJ4YXbhV54uTnMWFP393yvJIw9Mb-M3_ssdUgLMGnJc0LBs4p2qYOrz6PStV7Px0Dia7uCotuozkHNncrbJjeflwcm5bDJQ4lgBs3esWYkmel3Zb0es6Fw7l7SXu0i14yVXvv4Fg9-kG/s400/IMG_20151204_135057796.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The beach at Explorer's Cove with Erebus in the background. We should have brought the volleyball...</td></tr>
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After lunch, we hiked back up the stream and got to work on sampling and checking the gauge station. Crossing the stream was a difficult endeavor. We didn't expect the stream to be so high, so we didn't bring any waders to cross in. I found a narrow spot and was able to jump across, managing to only submerge one foot. The way back across was a different story. We thought we found a better jumping spot so Mikey went to test it out. The stream was flowing under some overhanging ice and snow. It was too difficult to see how far the ice and snow were overhanging, but it supported his weight on the way over, so we figured it would be fine to cross back. I guess this logic was flawed. As Mikey went to jump the ice gave way and he ended up getting a little wet. Luckily it was about 40 degrees out with almost no wind. It didn't take long before the dry air here completely dried him out.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivD2-6M3AQKlM3Lqza3Snb41xWxGW1dDo3V0Ebd6rvhb-ofpLllvcrPUtqUMFsDtCam57sxNMeMcamVvRkgLX9qRJffVC4oB145KoWIgjvU2zMBzNxvtJvPkn4zJbN_sXkk7oTDNsrYjqe/s1600/IMG_20151204_153030198.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivD2-6M3AQKlM3Lqza3Snb41xWxGW1dDo3V0Ebd6rvhb-ofpLllvcrPUtqUMFsDtCam57sxNMeMcamVvRkgLX9qRJffVC4oB145KoWIgjvU2zMBzNxvtJvPkn4zJbN_sXkk7oTDNsrYjqe/s400/IMG_20151204_153030198.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mikey scoping out a safe crossing route across Commonwealth Stream.</td></tr>
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On the way back we witnessed a pretty cool event. We were walking along a pretty small stream on the way back to F6. It was confusing because I had remembered walking up a channel on the way out to Commonwealth that was bone dry. This one, however, had a decent sized stream flowing through it. We were going back and forth on whether or not this stream had just started flowing when we walked around a corner and saw the end of the stream. It was such a cool sight! This little stream was beginning it's first flow of the season, and we were witnessing it as it filled up little pools, spilled over, and clumsily found it's way down the old dry channel.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhj2iH8PLx5x_Q4j2mhulBPJ8JQ-Zohr_S8vsIyGXjZLbleStjZCaCQEueXrzzU7nOdq7A2QzhbPhuDjvK9rjCCs8gw8wt7ehZ2dv_uCeJFL077TmfY7qn2RDCRDvU62HbKZ3-bVbPYg9_u/s1600/IMG_20151204_163604965.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhj2iH8PLx5x_Q4j2mhulBPJ8JQ-Zohr_S8vsIyGXjZLbleStjZCaCQEueXrzzU7nOdq7A2QzhbPhuDjvK9rjCCs8gw8wt7ehZ2dv_uCeJFL077TmfY7qn2RDCRDvU62HbKZ3-bVbPYg9_u/s400/IMG_20151204_163604965.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The first flow on this unnamed stream that feeds Many Glaciers Pond.</td></tr>
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We got back to F6 and learned that our friends from C-511 (they study the physical properties of the lakes) were coming over to spend the night after doing some work in the Fryxell Basin. The Limno Team (focused on the biology of the lakes) just flew into Lake Fryxell camp that day, so they also were planning on heading over for dinner. A group BBQ at F6 was discussed at Thanksgiving, but with everyone's crazy schedules we didn't think it would ever be a realistic possibility. All the stars aligned, and we were ready for the First Annual F6 BBQ. The weather couldn't have cooperated any better. It had to have been mid 30's with no wind, and clear skies. The trusty F6 grill was uncovered from last winter, and we fired it up to cook some delicious burgers courtesy of Limno Team. These weren't just any burgers, they were monster juicy lucys with garlic, pesto, and cheese in the middle.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1ooWPd6VJBOd85lZtd_EM0W9Ba6_euZuBVgwgB55hSpm3IuqLzW2E9BSk-EqRoGYhLSL00Jk3uIKReqmu1_zJ9bnINTG4mV_9xlCRaAZJH13mTFTHKZ1cWA5edg9WJpRImzmcjIJkyydv/s1600/IMG_20151204_211319497_HDR.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1ooWPd6VJBOd85lZtd_EM0W9Ba6_euZuBVgwgB55hSpm3IuqLzW2E9BSk-EqRoGYhLSL00Jk3uIKReqmu1_zJ9bnINTG4mV_9xlCRaAZJH13mTFTHKZ1cWA5edg9WJpRImzmcjIJkyydv/s400/IMG_20151204_211319497_HDR.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The First Annual F6 BBQ on a beautiful December day.</td></tr>
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We were all hanging out eating and enjoying cold beverages when I noticed some movement down by the stream bed. I thought the stream was flowing, but I realized that wasn't likely (first flow was around Jan. 5 last year), but I walked over there and sure enough it was flowing, and fast. It was so exciting (nerds get excited about funny stuff) that everyone was there and got to witness the first flow of Von Guerard stream. The Stream team sprang into action. We got samples, and measured the flow almost immediately after the first pulse of water. It was a pretty cool addition to an already memorable night.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKVO9cRi6B60p9ukZ0nMZUl2sjXMoJbo8aWwwDJ9dkMzuvknqubYiqlZFAzNzIoPyUtW-Q567dJe_13kUjgXKREIDXcdMTsmKyYQvQbelHJCizK7lMz0RU5en_nwWdLshDRJ3RjuM8q8Pq/s1600/IMG_20151204_230525176.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKVO9cRi6B60p9ukZ0nMZUl2sjXMoJbo8aWwwDJ9dkMzuvknqubYiqlZFAzNzIoPyUtW-Q567dJe_13kUjgXKREIDXcdMTsmKyYQvQbelHJCizK7lMz0RU5en_nwWdLshDRJ3RjuM8q8Pq/s400/IMG_20151204_230525176.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">First flow on Vonguerard Stream. It was amazing how much flow came down with the first pulse. By the way this flow has now dropped to a trickle because of the recent clouds.</td></tr>
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The next morning came pretty early. We were scheduled to fly at 12:30, but it got bumped up to 10:30. We flew up to Bonney to sample and gauge the streams up there. It was a really nice day again, which makes it so much nicer to get out into the field to do work. The warm weather had all of the streams flowing that we normally sampled, which means we collected 9 water samples. This may not sound like much, but our record for last year was 8. I was the lucky one in the rotation that had the responsibility of filtering all of the samples from the day. Mikey stopped in the lab before he went to bed and asked if I wanted to hike with him and Renee in the morning. I really wanted to go because I hate wasting an opportunity to go hiking in such a unique place, and because hanging out with those two is a blast. I regretfully declined because I knew I should catch up on sleep and give my legs a break.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRxrN7lO1nQlND0JEYv1_toISkhD-wRE8y_kZmdCwaC8IaM177yDXfFUykBTHJyi-WGGoziyUkPnwMBpzdY86WjJRnEk7InxR3_gCAazA0i2gG8DJ_rlsKUIbrXekHlfS5uZh9X0ABB-87/s1600/IMG_20151205_155752762.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRxrN7lO1nQlND0JEYv1_toISkhD-wRE8y_kZmdCwaC8IaM177yDXfFUykBTHJyi-WGGoziyUkPnwMBpzdY86WjJRnEk7InxR3_gCAazA0i2gG8DJ_rlsKUIbrXekHlfS5uZh9X0ABB-87/s400/IMG_20151205_155752762.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">It is hard to get a sense for scale, but this is a waterfall shooting off the edge of the Suess glacier seen from an helicopter.</td></tr>
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So I don't really have much to write about from today. I was able to sleep in, which was needed badly. I ate way too many cookies (Renee makes dangerously good cookies). I got some work done finishing up the samples from last night, and inventorying everything the Stream Team has here at Lake Hoare. And I spent a little bit of time working on this. Oh and I got a shower! The weather has changed a little bit overnight. Today it was gray, cloudy, windy, and a little colder. Anderson Stream, which runs right by Lake Hoare, was flowing notably less this morning than it was when I went to bed last night. It just amazes me how quickly these streams respond to the amount of solar energy hitting the glaciers. I think I am going to go to bed now. Tomorrow we fly back to F6 to start another crazy week. I hope you all are doing well back home!<br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06290827360478832887noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6183572479884183200.post-29153926230466806332015-12-02T10:44:00.000-08:002015-12-06T02:54:03.280-08:00Back to WorkIt has been a slow struggle getting back into the work groove, especially with this tighter beltline. I don't doubt this is a slow week of work for most of you as well. The fun of Thanksgiving is officially over, so I am struggling finding anything to write about. Instead of fun hikes and cool pictures I'll just have to inform you with the day to day activities that constitute our "work" (it is a bit of a stretch to call this experience "work"). <br />
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This week we have been back at F6 getting things done in the Fryxell Basin. We have been checking boxes to make sure the electronics are working properly, and to check the nitrogen systems for leaks. The electronics have been solid with one exception, but the nitrogen systems have been giving us the most trouble. We are using old tanks that have seen their fair share of seasons and regulators that have some pretty rough threads. Not to mention there is sand that is blown everywhere that gets into the threads. This combo makes for plenty of leaks that are nearly impossible to detect. As a result a couple of our systems were drained of nitrogen over the week, and now need to be replaced. We ran out of spare tanks so we are waiting to get them from town, along with a new satellite phone, some food, and miscellaneous supplies. <br />
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We have also been surveying the elevations of our control structures, and orifice locations. We have known established benchmark elevations at every stream gauge (bolts in large rocks), and we reference the other elevations to these to ensure the ground isn't shifting and changing the elevation of our instrumentation. All of this takes quite a bit of time at each gauging station and it involves a lot of standing around. This is pretty brutal just because you can get cold pretty quick, but the weather has been insanely nice the past couple of days. It has been in the mid 30s (Fahrenheit) with minor winds. I don't know how long this weather is going to keep up, but I am not complaining.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvlrHaaBSK_QViVBPzLWyW-yaMy6sWCjiy2xs3MQwJ8Y_VNku7wU82HrNqQxq5CoLRHUFJ0YoTXAh4ZByGFY9xwYu29IloqsRgAMqXhpdcnjfjV3o8PkdqTyx9JqpHdHeRt4n94Ecvnwxq/s1600/IMG_20151130_233328663.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvlrHaaBSK_QViVBPzLWyW-yaMy6sWCjiy2xs3MQwJ8Y_VNku7wU82HrNqQxq5CoLRHUFJ0YoTXAh4ZByGFY9xwYu29IloqsRgAMqXhpdcnjfjV3o8PkdqTyx9JqpHdHeRt4n94Ecvnwxq/s400/IMG_20151130_233328663.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I took this before going to bed one night. I thought that we were going to get hit with a pretty good storm, but it cleared up and we woke up to another beautiful day.</td></tr>
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The past couple of nights we had some free time around camp, which has been rare this season. I took a camp chair and my guitar to the leeward side of the hut and jammed. I am admittedly pretty rusty right now just because I didn't play all fall with hunting, but I think I am picking it back up alright. The hardest thing is the callouses on my fingertips that I have had for the past 10 years are gone. Now I know why new people to guitar complain so much (Luke... haha just kidding bud!). Anyways, it was a refreshing experience to have some alone time and just play to an empty valley in the warm sun. I also went on my first run of the season last night. It was pretty cold to start out, but I soon warmed up. Running uphill in sand isn't quite as enjoyable as you might imagine, however when I turned around to come downhill it was a blast. I hope the weather keeps up so I can run more often.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06290827360478832887noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6183572479884183200.post-3082824120408525582015-11-30T02:23:00.002-08:002015-11-30T09:27:04.183-08:00Free TimeThanksgiving dinner was unreal. It was almost better than grandma's... but not quite. It is pretty impressive what Rae and Renee are able to create given the resources available. I really appreciated all of their hard work to make Thanksgiving as fun, and close to being back home as possible. We stuffed our faces on the thanksgiving meal, and then played a bunch of snow volleyball the rest of the night. Mikey brought a volleyball down from the states, and really wanted to get some games going. So, we set up a court on the lake where some snow had drifted up which made for a nice flat, soft surface, that was almost beach like. We propped two bamboo poles up, and fashioned a net between them. We started by trying to actually weave the net. This lasted for about two rows. We then realized that it would be Christmas before we ever were able to weave a net worth playing on. So instead we made a makeshift net. I guess to call it a net would be a stretch. It didn't stop many balls, but it did the trick enough to know if it was a point or not.<br />
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The next day we were all pretty lazy. We kind of just lounged around and watched movies here. We got out and took some samples, and tried the ice skates out on a smooth part of the lake. Yesterday, we made it out on a hike. We hiked Vosslips, which is right across the valley from the Lake Hoare Camp. It is a deceivingly long hike (9 hours, and about 11 miles round trip), but the view from the top was unbelievable. Here are a couple shots that just don't do it justice.<br />
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Yesterday we did a little bit of work, and one of the guys here took us to one of his favorite spots in the Dry Valleys. This little hideout was pretty crazy. There were rivers and ponds all cut through the ice as if it were bedrock. It also was sheltered from the wind, which is almost impossible to find in the Dry Valleys. When we were sitting on this little beach Mikey said, "This is the warmest I have ever been in Antarctica." It was true. We were sitting there in t-shirts soaking up the sun. It had to have been 40 degrees and dead calm. Just insane weather for down here especially this early in the season. A lot of people think it is shaping up to be a big flow year because the glaciers have very little snow on them, and it has been unseasonably warm early. Low snow pack might cause you think that it would be a low flow year, because this is how things work back home. However, low snow pack here means that the glaciers are dirtier (they don't have a fresh new white coating on them), the dirtier the glacier, the more the glacier absorbs solar energy, and the quicker it melts.<br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06290827360478832887noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6183572479884183200.post-33650061827561378742015-11-25T10:36:00.004-08:002015-11-25T10:36:51.274-08:00Happy Thanksgiving!Happy Thanksgiving (for me) from this side of the globe! Today we are at Lake Hoare celebrating Thanksgiving, and I can't wait for dinner. Rae and Renee the camp managers have been cooking, and baking all night and day preparing for today. Last night the hut was at about 100 degrees F because of all of the pies they had been baking. It will surely be worth it come later today.<div>
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Yesterday was a pretty terrific day of "work". Our flight was scheduled for 11:45 to Miers Valley. Miers Valley is a couple valleys to the south of Taylor Valley, and is a little bit less traveled than Taylor Valley. This was my first trip to this part of the Dry Valleys, so I was pretty excited. There is also a fantastic view of the Royal Society Range as you are flying over the glaciers on the way to Miers (shown below). When we landed there we were baffled. There was no wind, and the temperature was about 35 degrees F. This is probably warmer than what you poor people are experiencing back in Minnesota at the moment. We were able to work without jackets on which is a rare occurrence, especially in November. We got our work done without any hiccups, and then we headed out on our side mission for the day. Some of the UNAVCO folks had a gps antenna mount that was left on the peak of Mount Holiday, which is located in Miers Valley. Since we were going to be over there they asked if we would pick it up for them. We agreed, but the only clue to help us find it was the gps points. This turned into quite the easter egg hunt via helicopter. We hovered over the exact coordinates for a while and were unable to find it from the air (this thing was an aluminum bracket that was about 4 inches in width). So, our pilot suggested that we land and search on foot. It took him a while, but he was able to find a little landing spot near the peak. This place was like a landscape of another world. Unlike anything I had hiked through in the Dry Valleys yet. This peak juts up between the two glaciers in Miers Valley, and has been carved and scoured by the wind and sand. Turns out the wind has a pretty wild imagination when it comes to carving rocks.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I have bagged some peaks on foot, but I much prefer this method.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">There isn't much for scale but that large rock on top is at least 12 feet tall.</td></tr>
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We hiked around up there and finally found the piece we were looking for. We retrieved it, checked out the Martian landscape for a little longer, and then headed out for our next stop down at Miers stream. We opened everything up at Miers Stream, and began the 30 minute helicopter ride back to Lake Hoare. We got back to Lake Hoare, and took it pretty easy. Just tried to stay out of the way of the kitchen. It was such a good weather day filled with new places, this will be a hard one to beat.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJe5dqWw_aM1pwJ_lby41xS7G8-otEiBeppU5-6vomY2gXC1Q5JBJTMp-VQOeWXSF_WQrJ_MjiWaLr93ZfpuPVJYo48XhJ3lSbcxcEIoJH-weUdSa71n6I0MeubLgGvzzcyr43N-jIC3UZ/s1600/IMG_20151125_153344483%255B1%255D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJe5dqWw_aM1pwJ_lby41xS7G8-otEiBeppU5-6vomY2gXC1Q5JBJTMp-VQOeWXSF_WQrJ_MjiWaLr93ZfpuPVJYo48XhJ3lSbcxcEIoJH-weUdSa71n6I0MeubLgGvzzcyr43N-jIC3UZ/s400/IMG_20151125_153344483%255B1%255D.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Commute</td></tr>
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I am looking forward to stuffing my face here, however I will be missing home today. Hope all is well back there! I have to say I am thankful for all my friends and family back home who are enjoying a nice break from me, but giving the illusion that they miss me! I think most of all I will miss my grandmas cooking, and all of the booze fueld arguments about politics. Happy Thanksgiving eve to you all back home! </div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06290827360478832887noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6183572479884183200.post-14208877154748662172015-11-24T09:47:00.001-08:002015-11-24T13:47:10.643-08:00Wright Valley TripYesterday turned out a little better than expected. We headed out on our way back to F6 so we could be there to help unload the helicopter with all of our gear. We were driving across Lake Hoare on the ATV, but the ice was already getting pretty bad so we stopped halfway across the lake and started walking. We were all pretty quiet on the hike, I think we were all pretty hiked out from the day before. We all waved at a helicopter fly over us while we were walking along side the Canada Glacier. We waved and joked about how nice it would be if we could hail helicopters like you hail a cab. About ten minutes later the same helicopter flew over from the other direction, and pretty low. Then all of a sudden he landed in front of us. We hit him on the radio, and he asked if we wanted a ride back to F6. We all piled in and he flew me back to the ATV we had stashed on the lake and took the other two back to F6. It was a pretty awesome morale booster, and it saved us about an hour of walking and driving the ATV. It was quite the literal pick me up. We always joke about how helicopters are like magical gods here. We completely rely on the helicopters here, they bring us food and supplies to survive, they bring us mail, they take us everywhere we need to go, and they provide all of the good gossip from town. They also have a pretty good sense of humor, "studying global warming at 110 gallons per hour."<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPogIwoGShU2yu-JZOP7S28lIGrvv5q-CaY6HV5l7DDRU_L7CWO5NP7AxVAi1FR8rWeFPDJ8B8OvucbFPCdfhycGO4O3tXDgWNM4gqLrq_GUIcJe9SN0GHuZMQAP0jWWibPsNyUWDy-PYw/s1600/IMG_20151124_111543647.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPogIwoGShU2yu-JZOP7S28lIGrvv5q-CaY6HV5l7DDRU_L7CWO5NP7AxVAi1FR8rWeFPDJ8B8OvucbFPCdfhycGO4O3tXDgWNM4gqLrq_GUIcJe9SN0GHuZMQAP0jWWibPsNyUWDy-PYw/s400/IMG_20151124_111543647.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The flight over the Asgard Range into Wright Valley</td></tr>
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We arrived back to home sweet home and got settled in again. Within an hour another helicopter came and dropped off more food and supplies. We had some time to chat with the pilot. He served as a pilot in Iraq, and did contract work in Afghanistan. Not surprisingly he said he was really enjoying the flying down here. He said these deserts were a little less hostile, and his clients were a little nicer.<br />
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Today we flew over to the Onyx River in Wright Valley. The Onyx is the largest river in Antarctica at about 20 miles in length. We have a gauge at the outlet into Lake Vanda, and at the beginning near Lake Brownworth. It was a pretty smooth day. Everything worked as expected, and the flight to and from Wright Valley is pretty amazing.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlO-LYcXnc58g4wCK1c0CXhDmXkEbJFErJYtzoxmZDkQnpNW0JuEKZlpCA1k91vZdNSSrA-58xAXuX7gdCg6-0NyUCaMCaGjWZndDATiWQLPuN77Kem9irlNLgnlxLJtA4ytivjD37_Lm7/s1600/IMG_20151124_113923381.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlO-LYcXnc58g4wCK1c0CXhDmXkEbJFErJYtzoxmZDkQnpNW0JuEKZlpCA1k91vZdNSSrA-58xAXuX7gdCg6-0NyUCaMCaGjWZndDATiWQLPuN77Kem9irlNLgnlxLJtA4ytivjD37_Lm7/s400/IMG_20151124_113923381.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Onyx River (not flowing yet) looking downstream towards Lake Vanda</td></tr>
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On the way back from Wright Valley we were dropped off at Commonwealth stream which flows off of the eastern edge of the Commonwealth Glacier. It was actually flowing which was exciting, but unfortunate. This means that our gauge didn't collect the first couple days of flow data, but that is the way it goes sometimes.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhj3gZvXa2wLMY_bemaOyay9Id1ed742l1wGjQGJaHo-fDlXc2mnYxMTrRy7UbwaPwflDbxq6jstQk3Uoc0Cbs5Nhf2xqas5goHDhMaCgsfmgRz8k5Sup81Hb0A9mt2EECUOqgiE_x5V4So/s1600/IMG_20151124_141249800.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhj3gZvXa2wLMY_bemaOyay9Id1ed742l1wGjQGJaHo-fDlXc2mnYxMTrRy7UbwaPwflDbxq6jstQk3Uoc0Cbs5Nhf2xqas5goHDhMaCgsfmgRz8k5Sup81Hb0A9mt2EECUOqgiE_x5V4So/s400/IMG_20151124_141249800.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Here we are doing some surveying of the control points and the orifice of the Onyx Lower Wright gauge (beginning of the river) to make sure our elevations haven't changed from year to year</td></tr>
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Tomorrow we are headed to Miers Valley to open our final two unopened gauges. I am pretty excited because I have not been to this valley yet, and apparently the flight is pretty spectacular. I'll try to take some pictures. Anyways, after that trip we are headed to Lake Hoare for Thanksgiving festivities. It sounds like Thanksgiving is quite a party there. I am sure it will be fun, but I really wish I was home with friends and family to get uncomfortably full on turkey and stuffing and pass out on the couch watching a bad football game.</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06290827360478832887noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6183572479884183200.post-23985079614274258682015-11-22T21:20:00.000-08:002015-11-22T21:20:10.293-08:00Lake Hoare for the WeekendI apologize I haven't got around to updating this in a few days. We have been pretty busy trying to get all of the gauges opened up before the flows start. Saturday we were supposed to fly up to Lake Bonney and open two gauges up there, but the weather was too poor in town so all flights were canceled for the day. We still wanted to head over to lake Hoare for some R & R, and of course a hot shower.<div>
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We took the ATV down to the east end of Fryxell, hiked the face of the Canada Glacier, and then were picked up on Lake Hoare with another ATV. This early season traveling with the ATVs is so convenient. You can easily travel up and Down Taylor Valley in a reasonable amount of time while the moats are still frozen. The moats are the seasonal lake ice, that run the entire edge of the lakes. These are like highways for the ATVs because due to the annual thawing and freezing they are typically very smooth and make for an enjoyable ride. They are also pretty interesting to look at because they tend to be a bright turquoise color with amazing bubble patterns in them. This convenience will be changing soon. Usually starting early December the moats begin to thaw which makes getting onto the lake ice a real challenge (typically they can be 10 to 100 ft from the shore to good ice), and forces us to use the ATVs on the rough permanent ice, which significantly reduces our speed. </div>
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We didn't have much work to do around Lake Hoare, so we used the rest of our day to pick ice berries. The competition for largest berry got pretty ambitious at one point. We even plowed out a road through the snow to make sliding the berries easier. Hopefully we have gotten enough to last Lake Hoare a while, because the ice around the glaciers is already getting pretty thin.</div>
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It was somebody's birthday here (sorry I don't use people's names unless I ask, it is just easier to keep most people anonymous), so we celebrated by heading out to the beach and playing some frisbee and bocce ball. The beach is a pretty awesome feature at Lake Hoare. I posted a picture on last year's blog of us playing frisbee on it in our bare feet. It is a sand dune positioned right up next to the Canada glacier. It formed because there is a hollowed out section of the glacier that the wind gets trapped in, thus trapping any sand being blown by the wind. At night, when the sun is in the west, the beach is under pretty intense sunlight which warms the sand up enough that it can be comfortable to stand around in your bare feet.</div>
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Sunday rolled around and we needed to get some work done. Even though Sundays are our day off, sometimes we shift our day off (or don't get it at all) depending on our schedules. We decided that we should open the Bonney gauges soon because these streams are typically first to flow. With the weather warming up, and reports of some streams already producing a trickle, we decided to make the hike. We got a ride to the west end of Lake Chad, where we began our hike west through what is known as The Defile. This is a pretty crazy trail that runs between the Suess Glacier, and Andrews ridge. There is a small slot between the glacier and the hillside about 20 ft wide to walk through (shown below).</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyqAsTKH8ozPIKixd58u8nNd0zs7vphtuciLLbResvCzLqWQ4Nl2pU7YQ6B8MsWkvKgpqMHF8qjmniKUr5FL2LUwYCLc0OgfNOxDWtuBuCysahLxh8XjPKUQT_AzDpKSJv4SZlq-oiknYk/s1600/IMG_20151122_105125915.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyqAsTKH8ozPIKixd58u8nNd0zs7vphtuciLLbResvCzLqWQ4Nl2pU7YQ6B8MsWkvKgpqMHF8qjmniKUr5FL2LUwYCLc0OgfNOxDWtuBuCysahLxh8XjPKUQT_AzDpKSJv4SZlq-oiknYk/s320/IMG_20151122_105125915.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Defile</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-rVwE0KEGXgPD9Wf2cfXU3BUbvC_0DjSjRPcr6Hf4bB3VcEI-ETOBvgOm34JtswUyHVKit1BppE3zop6_ixYyRrulH03xL46_7PnH0RytXxenh5FkwcgSoCvQIkzc1uAwZlZ79dXHn0dV/s1600/IMG_20151122_120202047_HDR.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-rVwE0KEGXgPD9Wf2cfXU3BUbvC_0DjSjRPcr6Hf4bB3VcEI-ETOBvgOm34JtswUyHVKit1BppE3zop6_ixYyRrulH03xL46_7PnH0RytXxenh5FkwcgSoCvQIkzc1uAwZlZ79dXHn0dV/s320/IMG_20151122_120202047_HDR.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Suess Glacier from the west end of Mummy Pond</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiE2f8F1uN9JZzg6OrlReT2fFomrlt7ekGOuQ47rZKR42j1RFnNiQVVjuW6YHLkw9T0bg-YHoduxIiZNLpKrqQOIjAJaxIyccokwbpk8l_ZhUSMdP8b3EnRuKSN42A0uJL8FlinYMQhIWtR/s1600/IMG_20151122_175123043.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiE2f8F1uN9JZzg6OrlReT2fFomrlt7ekGOuQ47rZKR42j1RFnNiQVVjuW6YHLkw9T0bg-YHoduxIiZNLpKrqQOIjAJaxIyccokwbpk8l_ZhUSMdP8b3EnRuKSN42A0uJL8FlinYMQhIWtR/s320/IMG_20151122_175123043.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Floodplain of Priscu Stream</td></tr>
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We walked west around the Suess Glacier, past mummy pond, through an area known as the Ventifact Knobs, walked down Priscu Stream and finally ended up at Lake Bonney. We had contacted the Limno (Limnology) Team earlier in the morning to set up a ATV ride from the east end of Bonney to the west end which was awesome. I have walked part of that stretch before and it is brutal. Getting chauffeured around the Lakes was super nice, and it was fun to interact with some of the other groups out here. We opened up Lawson Stream gage which is on the west end of Lake Bonney right near Blood Falls (seen below). We had some extra time so we decided to look around at some of the other un-gaged streams to see if they were flowing and we came across the first flow of the season on Santa Fe.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUkOaEUHmpAmJwpPGeDKWvHTKoIjaH14zQt9VLj3WWefZc_lYCQnCwUR4oTdZYnd24KcOd9Y_18TaSl0zPY-yQasL3oYf5_rooO_tv1iOLHmxqAiJ-GuQgObDqofBdGzEipUbLV3Cj5k3q/s1600/IMG_20151122_150514274.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUkOaEUHmpAmJwpPGeDKWvHTKoIjaH14zQt9VLj3WWefZc_lYCQnCwUR4oTdZYnd24KcOd9Y_18TaSl0zPY-yQasL3oYf5_rooO_tv1iOLHmxqAiJ-GuQgObDqofBdGzEipUbLV3Cj5k3q/s320/IMG_20151122_150514274.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Blood Falls</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiK-WpTOnM9CrZXVsGjZBC5eclKeTwiXSUKoPgF9rk54Kh4BYlqX-sA06GnxSQ4YSTvQXdUlb2pFcoiQh158mpwXHU6Hbb_DUfuC60_zsPxgWRbwfx9t_F0nZ82KiT47sVfk6mq_HTi8Az0/s1600/IMG_20151122_153436904.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiK-WpTOnM9CrZXVsGjZBC5eclKeTwiXSUKoPgF9rk54Kh4BYlqX-sA06GnxSQ4YSTvQXdUlb2pFcoiQh158mpwXHU6Hbb_DUfuC60_zsPxgWRbwfx9t_F0nZ82KiT47sVfk6mq_HTi8Az0/s320/IMG_20151122_153436904.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Santa Fe and the first flow we have seen this season.</td></tr>
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I forgot to mention. Saturday night when we were all out enjoying the beach, we heard a loud thundering noise. I immediately dismissed it as a helicopter or airplane, but it was pretty late at night. Someone noticed that it was an odd hour to hear a noise like that and pointed out the LaCroix glacier had a plume of ice cascading down it. It was pretty crazy to see, but I wish we had been closer to witness it. Here is the picture of the LaCroix as we walked by it on the way to Bonney. We couldn't really see any evidence of the calving event.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinrGfc7Tuv4D2od4RNHF7iehYQZL_BUdDKMWwgVsgjLPjiounmEi6rGxA8kGH2y3X-d7ROHy9XT6jKlvnnSXH8-MoQ9ITEcFhczqNbVCWGb6WZ4ZC1Ae-_Wo8E55lm_whtP8dEF8JT37L8/s1600/IMG_20151122_123903030.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinrGfc7Tuv4D2od4RNHF7iehYQZL_BUdDKMWwgVsgjLPjiounmEi6rGxA8kGH2y3X-d7ROHy9XT6jKlvnnSXH8-MoQ9ITEcFhczqNbVCWGb6WZ4ZC1Ae-_Wo8E55lm_whtP8dEF8JT37L8/s320/IMG_20151122_123903030.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">La Croiox Glalcier</td></tr>
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Anyways, we were able to open the gauges up on Lawson and Bohner (pronounced Bah-ner. some of the helo pilots get creative with the pronunciation...). It was a pretty long day of hiking, but it was made way less painless with the ATVs. We finally made it home at around 8:00. We were lucky enough to walk into the hut to some killer chili and corn bread. Then we were finally able to take a hot shower (weekly Sunday showers at Lake Hoare), which felt amazing. Such a good end to a long day.<div>
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Today we are hiking back to F6 so we can help unload the helicopter that supposedly has the rest of our gear. Today will likely be kind of a slow day back there which should make up for the fact that we worked on Sunday. It feels like we are finally starting to get some work done. With the streams already beginning to flow it should be a fun year!</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06290827360478832887noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6183572479884183200.post-40172340144016642742015-11-20T00:53:00.002-08:002015-11-20T00:53:48.673-08:00Map of Taylor ValleyHere is a map I made of Taylor Valley. It is kind of junky because the western edge is cut off, but it is the best I could do with the limited bandwidth we have. Hopefully this gives you a feel for the scale, and location of things.<br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06290827360478832887noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6183572479884183200.post-32802359036566116762015-11-20T00:10:00.000-08:002015-11-20T00:10:08.310-08:00Wind VideoHere is the video I took as we were getting blown around by the wind. This is what a typical day in Taylor Valley looks like.<br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06290827360478832887noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6183572479884183200.post-63986715500594430152015-11-19T13:22:00.000-08:002015-11-19T13:22:01.478-08:00Made it to F6<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Tuesday was an interesting day. We were supposed to fly to F6 at 11:00 am to open it up and move in. I woke up pretty early because I wanted to make sure I had all of my stuff packed and just wanted to drink coffee and eat cookies for as long as possible at Lake Hoare. Well 10:00 rolled around and I had given myself more than enough free time. By this time I had drank too much coffee and stuffed myself with all the cookies I could handle, and then Macops came over the radio informing us that all helo flights were canceled until noon. I was starting to get stir crazy in there trying to keep myself busy. Some people got an idea to try to go grab a huge glacier berry for the Lake Hoare camp. </div>
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I don't remember if I explained this or not (a lot feels like repetition from last year), but the drinking water at Lake Hoare is produced from melting glacier berries (glacier berries are the little chunks of the glacier that shatter when the glacier calves and hits the lake ice or the ground). Anyways it helps to gather really big ones because they shrink from ablation (conversion directly from a solid state to a gaseous state) over the summer, and there reaches a certain point in the summer where the ice gets too thin and grabbing berries with the ATV becomes impossible.</div>
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Anyways, some people wanted to get a really big one and I was all for a fun challenge to get me out of the hut while we waited on the helos. One of the mountaineers already picked out his suspect and had dislodged it from the berry pile. It wasn't the biggest one that has been dragged over to Lake Hoare, but it was still over 500 pounds. We initially positioned the sled beneath the berry and tried to manhandle it onto the sled. This didn't work because the berry was too heavy to move by hand. So we grabbed the ATV, and used some ice screws to secure a rope between the berry and the hitch of the ATV. With this setup we were able to pull the berry onto the sled and bring it back to Lake Hoare. We didn't set any records for size with this one, and as always the picture just never does it justice, but below is our trophy. There isn't much for scale, but the sled is about 8ft long.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnLCWj3OzqYc2JPe9hdcCUvQFbT7SM5Kml48NG5Jrunk1XaE_Qj-L7CBgjUxOB1LZrgXSMequwCY5ekqrkoSj_QjpU1KrdIC1vjSVCfUfgqDajJ1hh9I0InLzertfdqtGv81Qoh_ieOOuz/s1600/IMG_20151118_130511549.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnLCWj3OzqYc2JPe9hdcCUvQFbT7SM5Kml48NG5Jrunk1XaE_Qj-L7CBgjUxOB1LZrgXSMequwCY5ekqrkoSj_QjpU1KrdIC1vjSVCfUfgqDajJ1hh9I0InLzertfdqtGv81Qoh_ieOOuz/s320/IMG_20151118_130511549.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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At noon we received word that all helo flights were canceled for the day. I was kind of bummed out, because by this point I was ready to get to F6 to start moving in and working. I couldn't complain too much, because if there is one place you want to be stranded in the Dry Valleys, it is Lake Hoare with the fantastic cooking and company. Finally, after a couple hours of sitting around reading and working on this blog business, we got word that helo flights were resuming. <br />
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We got a lift from a 212 to our new home at around 3:00 pm. We unpacked, turned the heat on, and got to setting up our tents. The wind was pretty nasty which made setting the tents up a real treat. Then we got around to unpacking all of the gear that was waiting for us at F6. We started going through everything and quickly realized that half of our stuff was missing, and we had no food or beer. The helicopter schedules got a little crazy, and no one knew exactly when we were getting to F6 so somehow we landed there without any food. It wasn't too bad though we had a lot of dehydrated stuff still hanging around from last year, and there were still some frozen tater tots in the freezer. Our first night at our new home we treated ourselves to a nice dinner of tater tots and rice.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBs43bIp9i4LFpld_i38E8m2w-2BtXvq1qBxFzw1geLOP6eyNxELUhbJKOKrK8n117Pm1fUQq3pGSOALzfJpElCQzz_NBjJUCJROwFuUazjoZ0p-2zzbg_rOxeHrNCMx5RhU5tq_H3HTtM/s1600/IMG_20151118_153517368.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBs43bIp9i4LFpld_i38E8m2w-2BtXvq1qBxFzw1geLOP6eyNxELUhbJKOKrK8n117Pm1fUQq3pGSOALzfJpElCQzz_NBjJUCJROwFuUazjoZ0p-2zzbg_rOxeHrNCMx5RhU5tq_H3HTtM/s320/IMG_20151118_153517368.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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The next morning we had an interesting breakfast. If you have never tried powdered eggs, well then you aren't missing out on much. We weren't too concerned though, because although flights were canceled today, we could go raid Fryxell camp which is across the lake, and on the way to the stream gauge boxes. By the time we worked our way over to Fryxell we were pretty cold and hungry. We walked in, and the previous tenants had turned the heat off. No worries, because a nice big lunch would warm us up better anyways. However, the previous tenants also made sure that there was not an ounce of food left at the camp. This was a big bummer because we were planning on grabbing some food for dinner as well. We slowly made the drive back to F6 on ATVs and stopped to open up one more gauge. On the hike back from the gauge the wind got pretty nasty. I really don't think I had ever experienced wind this strong before. I have a video that I will try to load that shows the wind literally blowing us across the ice. It was pretty fun, and a good way to lift our spirits. When we got back to F6 we ate some snacks that were laying around, and we got word that someone was gonna hike from Lake Hoare with some food. We picked them up with the ATV, so it was a pretty quick hike for them, but they brought us all kinds of goodies.<br />
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Here are some pictures of home sweet home for a little while. The far tent is mine with a great view of Lake Fryxell and the Commonwealth Glacier. The next picture is the F6 hut, the barrels in the foreground contain our fuel, and gray water, and then the solar panel provides us all of out electricity. It sound impressive that all of our electricity comes from solar, but there isn't much electricity use because our heater and refrigerators run off propane.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWHl5zvhy8s6jyBx3obo7NqbPwFwoPhKn_IHviKkGA77z9nB7qlQCE62TAJ3ofksSqBF8H7wRK-oGMqB410KSK2ko8xrM-zSwZBZNXkzkkz_s7NSvgNXJfNfZJc4InQ66u2S8yhyphenhyphen8AsOyL/s1600/IMG_20151119_211142855.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWHl5zvhy8s6jyBx3obo7NqbPwFwoPhKn_IHviKkGA77z9nB7qlQCE62TAJ3ofksSqBF8H7wRK-oGMqB410KSK2ko8xrM-zSwZBZNXkzkkz_s7NSvgNXJfNfZJc4InQ66u2S8yhyphenhyphen8AsOyL/s320/IMG_20151119_211142855.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Here is our water source. Unfortunately the glaciers are too far away, where picking glacier berries isn't as efficient as it is at Lake Hoare. We chip the lake ice with the ice chipper, scoop up the chips into the bucket, and then put the bucket on our stove to melt it into drinking water.<br />
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Here is the American flag that I helped Mikey put up last night. Pretty nice touch to F6, and the pilots really appreciate being able to see the wind speed and direction when they are landing.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRLQ-bNjtEnh2S_mCo53i60lBHCXwME9ij7MPODgYx2sk0jnxu6b8QKdgtJp8OPId9X0BBzuJY7TJsu-2cAQvva97A0-SbI_FW8v_jdciSMaZYvTNDJmMewxZSzyDJfIysocQN03yAkLYn/s1600/IMG_20151119_214701260.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRLQ-bNjtEnh2S_mCo53i60lBHCXwME9ij7MPODgYx2sk0jnxu6b8QKdgtJp8OPId9X0BBzuJY7TJsu-2cAQvva97A0-SbI_FW8v_jdciSMaZYvTNDJmMewxZSzyDJfIysocQN03yAkLYn/s320/IMG_20151119_214701260.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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We just got done putting all of our food away. Our shipment just came in on a helicopter. Opening the boxes was like Christmas morning, never knowing what kind of tasty treat you are gonna find. Well I should probably go get some work done today. Hope everyone is doing well back home!</div>
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06290827360478832887noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6183572479884183200.post-50960021951915730232015-11-17T00:28:00.001-08:002015-11-17T00:28:14.813-08:00Finally in the Field<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
We finally made it out into the field and we couldn't be more excited. It was great climbing back into a helicopter. I have to be honest it is probably my favorite part of this job. The way those machines defy gravity is mind blowing, and I am terribly spoiled to get to ride in them for this job. Here is a picture of an iceberg that is on the way to Taylor Valley. It is trapped in the sea ice from the last time the sound completely opened up. With how close the edge of the sea ice is already this year, people think that the sound might open up again this summer. I kind of hope it does because we would be able to see whales, penguins and other sea life from town, and maybe even from New Harbor which is about a two hour hike from F6. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiahvcxphTGV-SPSvx_46K_rZb2u9oxLxr5mrHN7h7-j26sXt2quFOojrjad_onYhEoUBim0XMUC-nzxhyphenhyphenuG9hxx-ta3bi0dASRkRBVpgBFcPi6u9gz-LQGLR-W_ApGZCzxUwRo_QTT3MrN/s1600/IMG_20151116_084921517.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiahvcxphTGV-SPSvx_46K_rZb2u9oxLxr5mrHN7h7-j26sXt2quFOojrjad_onYhEoUBim0XMUC-nzxhyphenhyphenuG9hxx-ta3bi0dASRkRBVpgBFcPi6u9gz-LQGLR-W_ApGZCzxUwRo_QTT3MrN/s320/IMG_20151116_084921517.jpg" width="180" /></a></div>
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Here is the Commonwealth Glacier in Taylor Valley. This is in the Fryxell Basin right across the Lake from F6. These massive glaciers are pretty cool. Looks like someone spilled some pancake batter out into Taylor Valley.<br />
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Here is my new vacation home at Lake Hoare. If you look at the pointy triangle tent, mine is the little purple and orange dome tent to the left, and Mikey is in the same type of tent but back behind mine closer to the glacier. This is called the Canada Glacier, and it defines the eastern edge of Lake Hoare. While you are laying in your tent you can hear the glacier crack and expand during the night. It actually sounds just like the ice cracking on the lakes back home.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9drBd3SZzkAR_W_1SWCkkG31B2uy87tWwpk4WMspvGBxKwpMxA1-eJiv52STeMkbWZMn8yXVlsYMpwHdGPTb2Lbc9fO7t1A8jkpQ6Xz4ltfXSlPVDWfWjKrG_4r5N7DWS_u2-epp73qH8/s1600/IMG_20151116_123649618.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9drBd3SZzkAR_W_1SWCkkG31B2uy87tWwpk4WMspvGBxKwpMxA1-eJiv52STeMkbWZMn8yXVlsYMpwHdGPTb2Lbc9fO7t1A8jkpQ6Xz4ltfXSlPVDWfWjKrG_4r5N7DWS_u2-epp73qH8/s320/IMG_20151116_123649618.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Here is a picture looking the other way towards the buildings on the Lake Hoare compound. I debated on whether or not I should include this photo on the blog. The picture above makes things look pretty epic and like we are pretty rugged (like a camp a Kiwi would use). Then the photo below makes us look pretty spoiled, and well I guess we are. The three blue buildings on the left are labs, the larger building that is hard to see behind the labs is the Lake Hoare hut where we hang out and eat, the green building is the jamesway which has extra sleeping room and is where we take our showers, and the other two buildings to the right of that are the tool shed and the generator shed. So maybe we aren't roughing it like some of the early Antarctic expeditions, but things here are still pretty primative. Just to give you an idea of the adverse conditions we deal with, usually our wi-fi is pretty dang slow, and the best beer they have to choose from is Coors Light. <br />
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Today we hiked to open two stream gage boxes at Green Creek and Canada Stream. To do this we crossed Lake Hoare, and walked around the Canada Glacier over to Lake Fryxell. As I am throwing out all of these names and places I am realizing that a good map would be useful. I will try my best with the limited internet access to get a quality map on here to give some context. Anyways to open up the gage boxes we have to replace the nitrogen tank in each box, grab the data module that has collected the winter data, replace it with an empty data module, and then make sure the system is working properly. It is pretty painless minus hauling the heavy nitrogen tanks around. </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbsPJdRSXpThBKo-g4zJ0QXkazht9JgZCwQEOpAs1Sbjppv9av09WWtW7Yx-cQkXYzujUfaMq7sq_fnRa1QNAELKFxr_2ye4YES-ybb0nQYxx-momiaudGdEr4yMS0RhyphenhyphenfFOvj9wpjbNXH/s1600/IMG_20151117_103342060.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbsPJdRSXpThBKo-g4zJ0QXkazht9JgZCwQEOpAs1Sbjppv9av09WWtW7Yx-cQkXYzujUfaMq7sq_fnRa1QNAELKFxr_2ye4YES-ybb0nQYxx-momiaudGdEr4yMS0RhyphenhyphenfFOvj9wpjbNXH/s320/IMG_20151117_103342060.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This was taken from Lake Hoare looking west toward the always picturesque 1882. </td></tr>
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The picture below was taken on Lake Fryxell. We were walking near the shoreline on some insanely clear ice. The ice was about 3 feet thick, and it extended all the way to meet the bottom of the lake where we were. We kept noticing these crazy looking structures inside of the solid ice. These would protrude from rocks on the lake bed, and they look like a plant, almost like some sort of seaweed. However, there is nothing inside of these structures, they are just bubbles in the ice. All of the structures had some algae attached to the end of them, so there is something biological going on here, but I'm still not quite sure how these are formed.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjf57QflR4wFmyoH5xh-p_jVyjBwnup_0qFQXGhsETN4SqSULvevGVogz-fNrZRNIqdmc2H8ouQseegG0gtbgc1hQ0_i7qYhUQaxV5QyrJNXWykWCPQywEwB6Bmw69jCkI7bzmYl6JM3rux/s1600/IMG_20151117_141222345.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjf57QflR4wFmyoH5xh-p_jVyjBwnup_0qFQXGhsETN4SqSULvevGVogz-fNrZRNIqdmc2H8ouQseegG0gtbgc1hQ0_i7qYhUQaxV5QyrJNXWykWCPQywEwB6Bmw69jCkI7bzmYl6JM3rux/s320/IMG_20151117_141222345.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This is the stream team heading up the east side of the Canada Glacier on the hike back to Lake Hoare. Lake Fryxell can be seen in the background.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEif_bBs1ig7F5Tj9lngfCX41Ik6BkLe-XnAKsRu8rKwPlScpDzAHiHCbOI3VkaRNEoI_aQOGUdBVKBwt_Eg_koaA3vK0fg0mBMmmDTOEaLNO_0JcoDs7oSh0FuVKhpOfU_a8x-RaqhE2v4i/s1600/IMG_20151117_145645346_HDR.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEif_bBs1ig7F5Tj9lngfCX41Ik6BkLe-XnAKsRu8rKwPlScpDzAHiHCbOI3VkaRNEoI_aQOGUdBVKBwt_Eg_koaA3vK0fg0mBMmmDTOEaLNO_0JcoDs7oSh0FuVKhpOfU_a8x-RaqhE2v4i/s320/IMG_20151117_145645346_HDR.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Here we are up on the Canada Glacier. Mikey is checking out the ice falls coming down from the Asgard Range. I don't know what he is thinking but if I had to speculate I think it would be something like, "rad".</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtt_Ot9Q57N9ATbuU1uj8SNnGkAA6i4dnGLa6rI6jX7bUjSG1m2PPBa1UGYGLAcDVjU-ShLScSPjBdHBV2LSzxWzAkKETdqg51Y44Zx2Q3UiaDG8EBtX2LR7Z-zJEyIsVfHhLXS16wDEBe/s1600/IMG_20151117_145658997_HDR.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtt_Ot9Q57N9ATbuU1uj8SNnGkAA6i4dnGLa6rI6jX7bUjSG1m2PPBa1UGYGLAcDVjU-ShLScSPjBdHBV2LSzxWzAkKETdqg51Y44Zx2Q3UiaDG8EBtX2LR7Z-zJEyIsVfHhLXS16wDEBe/s320/IMG_20151117_145658997_HDR.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Here is a view from up on the glacier looking west towards the Nussbaum Riegel, which is the non-snowcapped spine in the middle of the valley</td></tr>
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This was an excellent first day of field work. Everything worked as it was expected, which is always a plus. The weather was awesome, there was almost no wind which never happens in Taylor Valley. And most importantly we got to go on a pretty spectacular hike. Oh yeah and we got some work done too. <br />
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Hope all is well back home! Miss you guys.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06290827360478832887noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6183572479884183200.post-8700413565121144512015-11-16T02:20:00.001-08:002015-11-16T02:20:27.322-08:00Sunday 11/15<div class="MsoNormal">
Sunday was our first day off since we have been here, and the
break was certainly needed. We enjoyed Sunday
brunch which is actually a pretty nice treat once a week. We were feeling lazy, but somebody brought up
hiking up Ob Hill, so we figured we might as well take advantage of the day
off. I had never done the hike before, so I was
pretty interested in what we could see from the top. We scaled up it pretty quick and pretty soon
we were looking over McMurdo and the sound.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A view of McMurdo from halfway up.</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">There were two Kiwi’s who hiked up the other
side of the hill and came to the top at about the same time we did. It was pretty funny the one Kiwi commented on
how McMurdo looked like a little kids play city with all of the tonka trucks
and helicopters. I thought that was
pretty spot on, and it kind of is a playground for big kids. The other Kiwi was an older guy (late 60's sorry if you don't think of this as old) who was
sharing history about the surroundings. He
pointed out the site of the nuclear reactor that the US used to operate at
McMurdo before it leaked. He also told
us a little bit of background on Robert Falcon Scott’s party’s memorial up on
this hill (shown below). This memorial
commemorates the party led by Scott that died on their way returning from the
South Pole in 1912. It was erected in 1913, and is made of timbers from Scott's ship. He delved into people’s
opinions of Scott, and how a lot of people think that he was a bad leader, but
he argued that Scott always thought of his team before himself. This guy also had a bunch of stories. He told us of how he and his buddies were the first people to snowboard at the South Pole. He said they arrived there and everyone was sleeping. They were bored so the found a sled, cut it up, put some straps for your feet and went snowboarding. He said it was a half inch of powder with a 10,000ft base. I told him we could use more Kiwi's in McMurdo to spice things up a bit, because the base, and America in general, is becoming so uptight. He said everything these days is so focused on saftey and rules that there isn't any room for fun. I couldn't agree with him more. He said yeah we hurt some people back in the day with the stupid stuff we did, but they had it coming. </span></span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Scott Party Memorial on Observation Hill</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">The Kiwi's said goodbye and started heading down part of the hill that had no trail. It was an </span><span style="line-height: 17.12px;">extremely</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"> steep grade with ice and snow. They just sat on their butts and scooted down it. We were left feeling like chumps because this sixty something year old man just hopped off the trail and scooted down on his butt like a little kid, while we took the trail. After this Mikey and I decided that we should try to be a little bit more adventurous like the Kiwis. We even have been working on our accents to see if that helps.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><br /></span>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">View over McMurdo Sound</td></tr>
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We also found some other words to live by (or to die by in Scott's case) on the hike. This is the quote engraved on the memorial. It is hard to read because it has been weathered so much, but it says, "To strive to seek to find and not to yield." It is pretty amazing to me the determination, and sense of adventure these early explorers of Antarctica had. It just blows my mind, and motivates me to be more adventurous in my own life.<br />
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We flew out to Lake Hoare today, and it is great to finally be in the field. I finally found some free time to write about yesterday, but I don't have the energy tonight to stay up and write about today. Hopefully I can write some tomorrow and post some of the pictures from the helicopter ride over.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06290827360478832887noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6183572479884183200.post-70993320548818122922015-11-13T18:43:00.001-08:002015-11-13T18:43:16.424-08:00Done Washing BottlesIt has been a long week in McMurdo, and we have successfully cleaned over 3800 sample bottles. I am happy to say that is the end of bottle washing for the season, and if asked to do more I may have to fake an injury. We have packaged them all up and sent them down to the Helo hanger for shipment to F6 and Lake Hoare. We also packed up all of our field gear and personal items. I was pretty excited, I went to check out the gear issue and they had some guitars you could loan. I found myself a really nice one, which is gonna be a great way to pass the time out in the field. I wish I had more to talk about, but there hasn't been much personal time to do much of anything other than wash bottles. I think I am going to go for a run at the "gerbil gym" it may be the last run I go for in a while.<br />
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Here is a picture I took from the Crary Library when I found some free time to relax. This is a view looking to the west over McMurdo Sound. If you look on the far right of the picture you can see the mountains that define Taylor Valley, where we will be headed on Monday.<br />
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Here is a picture of one of the loads we took down to the helo hanger with some of our stuff, and this still isn't everything. This doesn't even include the important stuff like our food and beer. It is pretty amazing how well we are supported here to do our work. There is the helicopter operations crew who flies all of our gear and ourselves to camp (they even deliver our mail, which is the coolest way to receive a letter), the BFC who gets all of our outdoor gear ready, the Crary staff who gets all of our science equipment together, and then all of the awesome staff who do the behind the scenes jobs like cooks and janitors to make life in McMurdo run seamlessly. I know none of them are reading this blog (other than maybe my aunt Natalie) but a big thanks goes out to all of them.<br />
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I also just received news about the tragedy that is unfolding in Paris right now. Makes my heart sad to hear that, and makes me wonder why so much evil exists in the world.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06290827360478832887noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6183572479884183200.post-48263488376513675092015-11-11T01:07:00.000-08:002015-11-11T01:07:15.534-08:00What exactly am I doing down here?I realized that for those of you who did not read my blog last year, you may be curious as to why I am down here. As I try to figure that one out myself, I will do my best to explain the purpose of my trip.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A view of hut point, and part of McMurdo or "town" to give you an idea of what it looks like.</td></tr>
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This year I am a member of what is known as the McMurdo LTER (Long Term Ecological Research) project. This is a interdisciplinary group who's goal is to study the aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems of the Dry Valleys over a "long" time period (began monitoring in 1993). Within this group there are sub-groups who focus on different aspects of each ecosystem. There are groups that focus on glaciers, lakes, soils, ect., and our group focuses on the glacial runoff streams of the Dry Valleys. Which explains our extra cheesy name the "stream team". It may come as a surprise to you that there is flowing water in this extremely cold and dry environment. However, the solar radiation is great enough during the austral summer to melt the glaciers and produce glacial runoff streams which eventually flow into closed basin lakes. These streams are pretty unique because instead of precipitation being the main control of flow rate (like streams back home) it is the sun that has the most influence on stream flow. This unique control causes highly variable stream flows from day to day, and even season to season. Therefore it is important for the scientists studying these ecosystems to have a record and characterization of the flow of these streams. That is where the stream team comes in. We measure the flow of the streams, as well as collect water samples to test the nutrients, alkalinity, cations, anions, and dissolved organic carbon.<br />
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We gauge the flow on 16 different streams in the Dry Valleys. Most of the streams are in Taylor Valley (where I will be living and spending most of my time). The other streams are located in Wright Valley, and Meirs Valley. To get to the streams we either hike, use ATVs on the lake ice, or fly via helicopter. <br />
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The gauging process is the same process used by the USGS which I am sure all of you are very familiar with... In case you need a refresher on that I will explain it in gory detail (you may want to skip the next two paragraphs). We have gauge boxes at each stream which have instrumentation that measure the depth of the water at a specific location in the stream. These measurements are taken every minute and recorded on a memory device on site. This gives us nearly constant measurements of the depth of the stream over time. To convert this depth to a flow rate (volume of water over time) we need to take manual flow and depth measurements at the stream. This allows us to create a relationship between the flow and depth of the stream. With enough flow measurements you can develop what is known as a discharge rating curve (shown below). The points would be the manual flow and depth measurements and the line is the interpolated discharge rating curve. As you can see from the image, with an accurate discharge rating curve you can translate any depth measurement to a flow measurement. We make this translation with all of our stream depth data, which ultimately gives us flow measurements every minute for the duration of the season.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">(wikipedia.org)</td></tr>
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Our manual flow measurements are taken using a Flowtracker which is a device that measures the velocity of the stream at a certain point. We take about 20 velocity measurements across the stream channel and with a knowledge of the stream cross sectional area we can convert these measurements to a flow rate. If you made it this far into this painful explanation congratulations. This will be the most dense part of the blog, I just thought I would explain the nuances of what I do for the nerds out there.<br />
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So our main goal over the coarse of the season will be to take flow measurements and water quality samples at as many streams as we can. Currently we have been stuck in Crary Lab in McMurdo (shown below) washing bottles for the collection and processing of our samples. The goal is to fly out to our field camp next Monday.<br />
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Thanks for reading and let me know if you have any questions or if I need to explain anything further.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our Lab in Crary where we have washed thousands of bottles this week.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeQshPMGX4omjPOvLfUDHBEtovzl9DLFFQnUePhXLsrexmDXpYcNTA_ljfeJ8eVD_vte8GPjVlUOF9hdD97QnIEvNVclkK28QT-G9grfsJsHQLYppDiS8EshYnRSjGFrSw-CcMRJkNhrM3/s1600/IMG_20151111_064606013_HDR.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeQshPMGX4omjPOvLfUDHBEtovzl9DLFFQnUePhXLsrexmDXpYcNTA_ljfeJ8eVD_vte8GPjVlUOF9hdD97QnIEvNVclkK28QT-G9grfsJsHQLYppDiS8EshYnRSjGFrSw-CcMRJkNhrM3/s320/IMG_20151111_064606013_HDR.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Nice view walking into the lab this morning (Crary on the left). Mount Discovery is the peak you can see across the sound<br /></td></tr>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06290827360478832887noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6183572479884183200.post-7027289274184091282015-11-09T15:09:00.002-08:002015-11-09T15:09:50.592-08:00Field Work PrepAs I mentioned in the last post we will be busy prepping for field work this week. It isn't the most glamorous or exciting part of the job, but it is extremely important that we do it and do it well to ensure a successful and smooth field season. Yesterday we broke up the monotony of washing bottles with a trip out to discovery hut. This was a hut built by Robert Falcon Scott's party during the Discovery Expedition of 1901. This hut is just a short walk from McMurdo Station, but they only open it up to visitors from town every once in a while. It was in pretty good shape for being such an old building that exists in such harsh conditions, but I know the Kiwi's have been putting effort in to restore the historic huts around Ross Island. When we first walked in we poked our head around the corner and saw two sheep carcasses hanging. They were surprisingly not that decomposed for being 100 years old. I assume, like the mummified seals we come across in the Dry Valleys, that there isn't enough microbial activity in the short summers to break them down much. <br />
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Around the next corner was a pile of partially decomposed seals. <br />
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There were a bunch of cool old boxes, bottles and cans piled up in the hut.<br />
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Not sure what kippered herrings are but they sound tasty. Haven't seen these in the galley yet.<br />
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And some killer long underwear and pants. Not sure of the brand but it looks like Northface, probably a merino wool polyester blend?<br />
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Then outside of the hut on the sea ice there were some Seals rolling around. They looked pretty content, but I was freezing so this was the best picture I was able to get...<br />
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I can't imagine what life would have been like for the first men that lived here. They must have had a crazy sense of adventure, and a lot of whiskey. I'll try to keep the tour of the hut in mind if I ever start to complain about F6 (my home in the Dry Valleys).<br />
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I wish there was more to talk about today, but things were pretty slow. We finished up the last of our training, which is a huge relief. Now we are working on washing sample bottles for the collection and processing of stream water. We have around 3000 bottles to wash, and it takes quite a bit of time, with different protocol for different bottles. Monotony would be an understatement, but I guess this is part of the price we pay to get the opportunity to work in such a unique place. This will all be worth it once we get out of here and into the Dry Valleys, and that can't happen soon enough.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06290827360478832887noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6183572479884183200.post-51383893038320580432015-11-07T02:34:00.000-08:002015-11-07T02:34:28.753-08:00Back in Mac Town!Hi guys! So after a couple days of long flights and layovers I finally made it back down to "the ice". I had a long layover in Sydney so I was able to leave the airport and I took a ferry to Manly Beach. It would have been nicer if it wasn't cold and rainy, but the fact that it was made for a pretty wild ferry ride. There were large swells out in the harbor, and the boat got to rocking pretty good making the bumpy ride worth the fare. <br />
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We also had an afternoon in Christchurch to roam around. My teammates and I headed down to Sumner which was a great little beach town on the Southern edge of Christchurch. A teammate and I went swimming despite the fact that it was only about 60 degrees outside with frigid water. I figured it would be the last chance I'd have for a while to play in the surf. <br />
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We had to check into our "ice flight" at 5:30 so I went to bed pretty early. I was pleasantly surprised in the morning when I saw the plane we were about to board. This year I had the pleasure of flying down on a C-17. Which is a huge jet (shown below) instead of the monster warehouse with propellers that is a C-130. This jet is able to make it from Christchurch to McMurdo in about five hours as opposed to 8.<br />
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It is strange, as I walk around McMurdo it feels like I have only been gone for a week or two. Not much has changed over the winter here, and I am already running into some familiar faces around town which is fun. Yesterday we had the introductory briefing, we got settled into our rooms, we enjoyed the early season fresh food options at the galley, and went over some logistics for the week ahead of us. Today was more training and briefings. It is amazing how much information they throw at you right when you show up. After dinner we finally had some free time, so we headed down to what is know as the "ob tube" for observation tube. It is a 20ft tall steel tube that has been lowered into a hole in the sea ice of the sound. The bottom of the tube has windows so you can climb down a ladder and take a look at the sea life below the ice. Unfortunately the pictures I tried to take down there turned out terribly, but it was pretty spectacular. The bottom of the sea ice was insane looking I never knew how crystallized and irregular the bottom of the ice was, There were also huge schools of little fish swimming around and these mini jelly fish looking things. I really wish I could have spent more time down there, but there were a bunch of people waiting and it was about 5 degrees F and windy.<br />
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This week we are going to need to track down all of the gear that has been issued to us and get it ready for the field season. We also need to wash the thousands of bottles that we will use for the water sample collection and processing which will be a real treat. Most importantly this week we will be required to attend the many safety training sessions to make us aware of all of the fun we shouldn't be having down here. <br />
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Hope all is well with everyone back home!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06290827360478832887noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6183572479884183200.post-12686485509837484392015-01-25T16:04:00.001-08:002015-01-25T16:04:55.409-08:00Stuck In McMurdo Again<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I was supposed to get on a flight this morning northbound to Christchurch, but as I have learned all too well this season, sometimes Antarctica has different plans for you. Needless to say, I now have some free time to kill in McMurdo. Unfortunately for me, the vessel is supposed to get into town today. The vessel is the cargo ship that brings in the majority of supplies to McMurdo every year, and takes out the waste. This is a rough time to be stuck in town because all of the stores are closed, the bars are closed, and a lot of roads are closed down.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Since I have been back in town I have been working hard to get all of my samples processed before I left. I took a bunch of sediment samples from Crescent Stream and these had to be processed before I left. I dried the samples for 24 hours in an oven to remove all moisture from the pores of the soil, then I sieved each sample, and recorded the resulting grain size distribution. This data helps me characterize what the surface, and subsurface of the stream bed is made out of. This took a bunch of time, just because the sieving process is so tedious. All of the work, on top of trying to keep up with saying goodbye (having a few beverages) with all of my new-found friends I have exhausted myself pretty well. It would have been nice to know that I wasn't going to be flying today, so that I could have spread the work out more evenly, but I guess I will just enjoy my free time.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">On Friday the Nathaniel B. Palmer research vessel was offering tours of the ship. This was awesome! There were so many interesting tools and resources they had available it was really unbelievable. I apologize, I forgot to bring my camera...</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Saturday night I walked out to hut point which is a short walk from my dorm room. At the time I thought it would be my last night to enjoy this view. It was quite and really peaceful out there alone. I saw a lonely penguin just standing there. I also could see the breath from whales that were breathing out in the channel that the ice breaker had cut.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The little black dot in the photo below is the penguin.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Last night there was a Sunday Science lecture that was pretty amazing. This lecture was about the WISSARD project which stands for the Whillans Ice Stream Subglacial Access Research Drilling. This is a huge project that is focused on drilling to remote bodies of water buried under the ice to investigate the melting rates of Antarctica's Ice Sheets, among other things. In the past they drilled to lake Whillans, a buried sub-glacial lake, and found a microbial community in this water. This year they drilled to an area where the Ross Ice Shelf meets the continent. This column was 750 m of ice with 10 m of sea water and then ocean floor below. This location was located 530 miles from the edge of the Ross Ice Shelf, so they weren't quite sure what they would find there in terms of life. Due the fact that this area is so far from any possible photosynthesis for primary production, they expected to find a small microbial community. Instead they were amazed at what they found. They found fish, small arthopods, and jelly fish to name a few things. They were blown away by what they saw on the camera they dropped down the hole. These findings are so recent (couple of days old), and the team is made up of glaciologists and geologists, so they have no idea if these are new species or not. They showed the reaction of the team sitting in the room watching the camera when they saw the first fish. It was pretty cool. To be in McMurdo, and to see the scientists reporting on these very cool brand spanking new discoveries was pretty special. The whole community was there to see this, and you could feel there was a sense of pride not just by the scientists who worked on this project but with the cooks, the janitors, the pilots, and all of the support staff who were able to see their hard work pay off by witnessing some amazing new discoveries. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Here is a link to a somewhat misleading article by Scientific American about the findings <a href="http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/discovery-fish-live-beneath-antarctica1/" target="_blank">here</a>. The author makes it seem as if this part of the sea is completely sealed off from the ocean. This is not the case, it is in complete connectivity with the ocean, it is just 530 miles from the edge of the Ross Ice Shelf, which makes it very remote in terms of distance from an energy source (the sun). But it has some good pictures of what they found.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /><br /> <span id="goog_280965599"></span><span id="goog_280965600"></span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/"></a></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06290827360478832887noreply@blogger.com0