Heading South

Hi. As Barry told you I will be writing this blog while he's away. He also had mentioned in his previous post that the Twin Otter's flight to the South Pole was cancelled yesterday. The reason is that between McMurdo and the South Pole the plane has to land 3 times to refuel. It lands at locations on the plateau where oil drums have previously been left. (While refueling, we will be taking 20cm snow core samples. These samples will be frozen and analyzed later to look at the snow photochemistry happening in these places.) Because of all these refueling stops in order to leave the weather must be good at McMurdo, the South Pole, and these 3 stops. And it must be good weather for the next 10-12 hours (how long the whole trip will take). Luckily, the weather was good enough this morning to leave. So 3 of the 11 members of the team headed to the South Pole. Another 3 members (including Barry) went to "Happy Camper." This is over-night survival training where they teach you how to build ice huts and be able to survive if you are stranded. Because I already took this class, I remained behind. Myself and the remaining 4 members of our group had the job of packing up the tent we've been using as an office (above). This is because the runway where the Twin Otter has been located is moving. McMurdo is located on Ross Island and up until now the runway has been located on the sea ice surrounding it. However, this ice will start to melt and in February an ice-breaker will break up the ice (hence the name). This allows supply ships to dock at McMurdo. To the right is a picture of the runway now (you can almost smell the VOCs) and at bottom is a picture after the ice breaker comes through. The new runway for McMurdo is called Williams Field (aka Willie Field) and is located on Ross Island.