November 4, 2009

My new Ride

This week I finally finished the training for proper safety for riding in the helicopters and now am able to travel to some field camps that are a little further away. Today I took my first ride and it was awesome! Flyin in these things are pretty damn cool. There's two main types of helicopters we fly around in down here, the A-star and one they call the 212 (which is bigger - it can carry more cargo and passengers). The A-star fits maybe 6 people total, but probably only 4 comfortably (including the pilot). The A-star is pictured above.

Me in my helmet:

Today we flew to two different sites in the dry valleys. The dry valleys are actually on the mainland of Antarctica (not on an island - McMurdo Station is on Ross Island). The dry valleys have stricter environmental rules because they are protected areas and are classified as an Antarctically Specially Managed Area (ASMA).

A brief description of them is that the Dry Valleys "are the largest expanse of ice-free ground in Antarctica. They contain cold desert soils millions of years old, unusual biological communities, special geological features and minerals and spectacular scenery...The region encompasses a cold desert ecosystem, whose climate is not only cold and extremely arid, but also windy. The landscape of the Area contains glaciers, mountain ranges, ice-covered lakes, meltwater streams, arid patterened soils and permafrost, sand dunes, and interconnected watershed systems...thirty percent of the ground surface is largely free of snow and ice."

Our (meaning the envt. group that I am working with) purpose for visiting was to do an envt. evaluation of two field camps in the dry valleys. To make sure they have the proper secondary containment around fuels and waste, are dealing with solid and liquid wastes appropriately, to test the drinking water supply, to look at camp footprint, to document any issues regarding camp life, to follow-up with any past issues, etc. We visited Blood Falls and Lake Joyce camps.

Here's a picture of our ride flanked by mountain ranges and a frozen lake. The A-star landed next to the first camp, Blood Falls, that we visited. Near Lake Bonney and Taylor Glacier.

Here's the same setting, but from a different angle with the frozen lake, glacier, and mountain ranges in the background.

This is a picture near the next camp we visited. Taylor Glacier is in the background and the foreground is actually Lake Joyce, frozen over. Portions of the Lake melt at different rates as can be seen somewhat in the picture. The lake in the foreground is melting quicker, partially because there is soils and rocks that have blown onto that part of the ice. The white area in the background that abutts up to the glacier and is smoother is actually still the frozen lake. Actually I believe the lake never (rarely?) completely melts but is generally characterized as having a thin overall surface layer with a watery moat that forms on the outer edges later in the summer season.

This is the A-star landing at the Lake Joyce site.

Here's a panoramic video taken from Lake Joyce-

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nGJD9p8czRI

Some of the research that was being conducted at one of the camps (Blood Falls) involved cutting an ice tunnel into Taylor Glacier using chainsaws. This is a picture of my coworkers outside the ice tunnel:

This is a picture of the tunnel into the glacier:

This is the back end of the ice tunnel that opened up into a little room, where the researchers cut out chunks of ice to take back for research. I believe this group was looking at the living organisms in the ice. The brownish band in the wall is the soil and rocks.

Here's a pic from the heli flying above Taylor glacier, looking towards Lake Bonney.




These are cold shot glasses that the researchers made out of chunks of glacier ice.

This is a picture of some other modes of transport. The first one is of the Baslars. I think they were brought in mainly to try and get flights to the South Pole from McMurdo earlier in the season. The second picture are the LC-130s Hercs that are used later in the season, and I guess maybe they are harder to land logistically at the Pole until later in the season. Maybe because of plane weight and/or landing gear and ice conditions?

Here's a picture of "Home" or McMurdo Station...