The December Days of McMurdo

“Instructions for living a life: Pay attention. Be astonished. Tell about it.” This quote, by American poet Mary Oliver, is one that continues to emerge at the forefront of my mind, and a sentiment that I strive to work to embody every day. I appreciate how she encourages us to be present, to be curious and amazed, and to share our experience with others. I love thinking about the ways in which we can do this – within science, within nature, within interpersonal relationships – and the ways in which this creates connection and inquisitiveness within ourselves, within our community, and within the world. I am not going to try to pretend that I do this all of time, but I aim to keep these wise words close to my heart. And to me, being in Antarctica and a part of an excellent scientific endeavor is an exceptional time and place for this. Being astonished is not that difficult here, as many moments within the day offer something new to me, or make me look at the world slightly differently. It is difficult sometimes to convey these in such a short compilation of thoughts and updates; however, some I will try to include. As always, I hope what I share of this experience throughout will benefit others in some way.

Awaiting deployment This last week has been a combination of awaiting to be deployed to South Pole Station, figuring out logistics, and Thanksgiving festivities. The main short-term plan: to fly to South Pole to acclimatize for several days, to conduct some surveys as part of a side project that was initiated last year at South Pole, and then fly to our field site, Hercules Dome, which is about 400 km from South Pole. The limitations so far, in brief: our field site has a generally rough and hard surface with large sastrugi (ridges on the snow surface caused by wind transport and deposition). It also has never been a landing site for a large Herc (LC-130) aircraft, which we hope will be the mode of transport for our gear there. These factors create some logistical complications: if and how long two of our team members should groom a runway at our site for the aircraft, who assesses the safety of the landing site, and alternative plans if landing a large Herc is not possible. Combined with intermittently poor weather, our plans were halted a bit last week. Two of our team members, Knut and Andrew, departed last week Thursday ahead of the rest of us and are currently at South Pole. They will be part of the grooming party at Hercules Dome. The rest of us four graduate students have remained at McMurdo Station, within a strange sort of limbo period, awaiting any information about what is happening with our other team members, and when we will deploy. There have been days in which we have had to cope with cargo mishaps (2,000 pounds of our 25,000 pounds of our cargo were shipped to South Pole and not Hercules Dome), some days when we have thought we would fly in a week or week and a half, others when we thought we would fly within the next couple of days, and still others when everything would be indefinite. This amount of uncertainty seems unfortunately commonplace in Antarctic field work, due to the dependence on so many moving pieces, as well as the miscommunications that unfold within complicated logistical planning. I find our generally unknown schedule unnerving at times, and can only think that this must be a lesson in dealing with and relating to uncertainty which no doubt is a part of life, and is a worthwhile skill to keep developing.

Acclimatization You may be wondering: why do we need to acclimatize before heading out to Hercules Dome? Well, Hercules Dome sits at an altitude of about 8,370 feet. Any camp located upwards of 8,000 feet is, maybe surprisingly, considered a “high-altitude camp” in Antarctica. We can think about altitude either as “physical altitude” or “pressure altitude,” and the latter is more useful when considering physiological response. The basic principles: the body needs oxygen to survive, and the higher in altitude you go, the less oxygen exists. Interestingly, it is the air pressure (the weight of the column of air above you in the atmosphere) that pushes oxygen into the lungs so that it can integrate into the blood to serve the purpose of survival. However, the column of air above us is not uniform throughout the world – in fact, it is thickest at the equator (~ 10 miles), thins as you move higher in latitude, and is quite thin at the poles (~ 5 miles). This is where the concept of “pressure altitude” comes into play. At a given altitude, there will be less air pressure if you are nearer to the poles than if you are nearer to the equator. The implications: effects of altitude on the body can occur at as low as 7,000 feet (physical altitude) in Antarctica. South Pole, at 9,300 feet, feels like 11,000 feet back at home. Hercules Dome will likely feel close to 10,000 feet. For context, McMurdo Station, where we currently reside, is close to sea level and we will make the trip to South Pole within four or five hours. Thus, we are required to adjust our bodies to the high elevation at South Pole for several days before heading to Hercules Dome.

South Pole Geophysical Survey Now that we have covered why we need an acclimatization period, what is this South Pole survey we will be doing in our next block of time? A subglacial lake exists near the South Pole (yes, a lake of liquid water beneath the ice!), which is around 6 miles in diameter and 2.5 miles wide, and one of hundreds of lakes underneath the Antarctic ice sheet. It is relatively small comparatively – the largest subglacial lake is Lake Vostok, at ~160 miles long and 30 miles wide. Why do we want to study subglacial lakes, and why this one in particular? There are many reasons we want to study this lake: to learn about subglacial hydrology (how water is routed underneath glaciers), thermodynamics, and the ice-dynamics setting of the South Pole. Some questions we are keen to answer: Why is the lake here? What are the basal melt rates and ice-flow velocities of the ice here? Can this give us information about past ice flow here? Because this lake is only about six miles from South Pole Station, it offers a prime location for study. Subglacial lakes are also interesting because they are particularly isolated bodies of water, some isolated from the world for millions of years, and can be thought of as an analog for study of extraterrestrial subglacial lakes (Are there very old organisms locked away in there? Alas, we will leave this to the biologists to investigate.). Last year, several of our team members, including Ben and Knut, conducted geophysical surveys above the South Pole subglacial lake, collecting nearly 100 miles of ice-penetrating radar profiles, 12 phase-sensitive radar sites (a type of radar that records the phase of the return wave; through repeat visits to a site over time, these records of the phase of the wave can be compared and ultimately offer millimeter-scale resolution of englacial movement), and nearly 750 miles of kinematic GPS profiles. This year, we hope to complete a similar survey over three to five days at the South Pole after acclimatization. (Fun side note: Knut reported the other day that they were having a “warm” day of – 25 degree Celsius temperatures … Needless to say, South Pole is cold, and can dip down to – 50 Celsius with wind chill right now, and will likely be the coldest weather we work in.)

Thanksgiving The waiting we have experienced here in McMurdo, though sometimes frustrating (we want to get out to do the science!), has allowed us to experience the special festivities of Thanksgiving, and allowed us to explore the surrounding landscape through many hiking adventures.

Many members of our team were unsure whether Thanksgiving would come and go as if just another day. For some of us, it was difficult to be away from family and friends on this day when we normally connect with the people in our lives that what care most about, and celebrate the people and occurrences that we have appreciated during the past. I was pleasantly surprised and thankful that McMurdo cultivates a notable accumulation of festivities during the holiday (celebrated on our Saturday here). Notable events included a 5-kilometer turkey trot, free coffee at the wine bar, holiday lights and decorations, and a wonderful characteristic Thanksgiving meal in the evening (with many vegetarian-friendly options!). The festivities, along with the comradery within our group, promoted a warm and enjoyable holiday. It is interesting to me how the feeling of McMurdo seemed to change – it became even more friendly, and you could feel the joy, appreciation, and freedom of sorts within the air. To me, the presence of a holiday seemed even more obvious here in McMurdo than back in the US, and I wondered whether people found heightened comradery because they reside within this small town in such a remote place away from family, or whether that was just my perception. Or perhaps I was even more participative within holiday activities. Other activities that we have occupied ourselves with: writing our research papers, visiting Scott Base (the nearby New Zealand research facility), yoga classes (yes, they have them here!), guitar, and cribbage sessions.

Hiking near McMurdo Adventuring around McMurdo has been another endeavor of ours as we await deployment to South Pole. Through many winding trails within the vast, icy, white, and mountainous landscape, we have found our way around and to the tops of small basaltic/scoria lava domes and cones that comprise the Hut Point Peninsula of Ross Island (on which McMurdo sits), and onto the nearby sea ice that is beginning to undergo collision and break up. Along the way, we have found community in the silence of nature; the quiet crunch of our steps within the snow; the strong whir of the wind seeping into our hooded jackets; debates about work ethic, advantageous ways to set yourself up for a job, and different long-term career options; and shared conversations about why we are motivated to do science and graduate school, how this relates to our strengths and to what is needed in society, and what priorities we have as individuals within our graduate-school experience. These trails are only the beginning of our journey on this trip, but have brought us closer as a group, and closer to this incredibly remote and beautiful place that we will be becoming even more familiar with during the coming weeks within the field.

Arrival Heights Loop Arrival Heights Loop takes hikers out to Hut Point, and up the volcanics to Arrival Heights. A region of Arrival Heights is designated as a “quiet” site for upper atmospheric studies, and is considered an Antarctic Specially Protected Area (ASPA). Broad views of the entire horizon and town can be found here, as well as a few Weddell Seals that lay motionless and resting on the sea ice.

Observation Hill Summit and Loop “Ob” Hill overlooks McMurdo Station and the McMurdo Sound (full of sea ice at this time of year), with views of Mt. Erebus, Mt. Terror, Scott Base. It is a volcanic dome, part of the volcanics of the Hut Point Peninsula. A well-maintained trail winds its way up the dome’s several hundred-foot side. A memorial cross dedicated to Robert F. Scott and his team, who all perished in 1912 on their South Pole expedition, sits atop the summit of Ob Hill. In 1913, the cross was placed at this location, chillingly inscribed with the final line of Alfred Tennyson’s poem Ulysses: “To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield." The cross faces the Ross Ice Shelf, where the party spent their last days. This cross is one of many dotting the notable overlooks in this region and is considered a historic monument within Antarctica.

Pressure Ridges near Scott base Walking among the pressure ridges near Scott Base probably gives the best example around town of the dynamic nature of this landscape. Ocean currents and wind drive the sea ice to compress against the shore and other slabs of sea ice, resulting in long-wavelength ridges and broken pieces of sea ice jutting above the normal sea-ice surface. Weddell Seals seem to particularly enjoy these locations to soak up the sun with their pups. Because of the nature of the sea ice here, we followed two tour guides through this area. Green flags marked the locations on the sea ice that were safe to travel, and black flags showed areas that were cracked and unsafe.

Crescent Rock/Castle Rock This was our longest and most remote hike so far, about 3.5 miles one way across ice to a magnificent close-up view of Castle Rock, on the central backbone of the Hut Point Peninsula. The rock was discovered by Robert F. Scott, who named it because of its castle-like appearance. Because the trail takes us out away from town, we were required to carry a radio, and check in and check out with MacOps (the McMurdo Operations Facility). The solitude of this hike, and the views of the giant Mt. Erebus and the Royal Society Range extending forever north, reminded me of how expansive, pure, and relatively untouched this area is. As I end sharing this section of our experience, I cannot help but again recall the attitude that Mary Oliver was describing. How amazing this earth is. And how amazing that we get the chance to try to understand it. As always, I feel like I have undergone a transformation after walking through the natural world, reminding me of a quote by my idol John Muir: “In every walk with nature, one receives far more than he seeks.”

Looking forward One final note on recent developments: Our two team members at South Pole, Knut and Andrew, were able to fly out to Hercules Dome on smaller Twin Otter aircraft, and found a suitable landing site for a Herc. This means that the four of us at McMurdo are scheduled to fly to South Pole on Monday. Our journey is kicking into high gear! So long, McMurdo, you have been our home for three weeks. We will meet again in January.

Thanks for reading! Until next time, Annika