Antarctica360

This is PhD student Elizabeth's first trip to Antarctica. Below she shares her pre-departure thoughts: In a few short days I will depart the sunny coast of southern California and arrive at McMurdo Station, a research center on the south tip of the Ross Island at the far edge of the Ross Ice Shelf in Antarctica. As unbelievable as that sentence still sounds to me, it is true, and I am excited! [ 254 more words ] http://antarctica360.net/2016/10/great-expectations/

We are gearing up to depart for a new field season in just two weeks time. We'll update you on our preparations soon, but in the meantime, here are a few panoramic photos from our last field season. http://antarctica360.net//warming-up-for-a-new-field-seas/

Warning - shameless self promotion follows... Geo friends: If you are interested in hearing me talk about rocks and stuff, have your institution sign up (it's free!) http://www.minsocam.org/msa/Lecture_Prog.html#lecturers_b Mineralogical Society of America

Here's a video of our field season made by Demian - enjoy! http://antarctica360.net/2016/01/video-of-our-field-season/

An Über ride from my house in Goleta to the Santa Barbara Airport, a short hop from there to the confusing, labyrinthine mess they call LAX, a trans-Pacific flight spent watching movies and appreciating the effects of Unisom tablets, a short hop between Australia and what’s left of Zealandia, and we deployed, with the help of the United States Airforce, to the driest, windiest, coldest, most remote, and most desolate continent, spending a few days in the relative comfort of McMurdo Station before the helicopters took us out into the field and essentially out of reach of civilization. [ 677 more words. ] http://antarctica360.net/2016/01/palindromes/

I am currently back in my apartment in Santa Barbara, enjoying a cup of coffee and cinnamon rolls on my couch, in the warm sunshine by the window. It has been strange adjusting to normal life again: sitting at my computer during the day, going to restaurants to eat, walking in the rain, actual darkness at night, driving cars, Xmas shopping, palm trees, and watching raccoons steal things out of the dumpster. [ 122 more words. ] http://antarctica360.net/2015/12/coming-out-of-the-field/

McMurdo Base is a very different place from when we left for the field, the most noticeable thing being that it’s about as dry as the Dry Valleys now: the snow is all gone. Two different trips to Hut Point Peninsula, one taken before and one after our time in the Dry Valleys, did a nice job of demonstrating the difference. [ 696 more words. ] http://antarctica360.net/2015/12/the-antarctic-summer/

A few people have asked what it's like to camp in Antarctica, so here is a brief summary and some photos of our home for 40+ days. Basically, think car-camping, except our car is a Bell 212 helicopter capable of lifting 3000lbs of gear... Key to the whole operation are two Bright yellow Polar Scott tents - pretty much the same design as that used by the original Antarctic explorers. [ 384 more words. ] http://antarctica360.net/2015/12/camping-antarctica-style/

Yesterday we discovered that one of the rear suspensions on the skidoo had busted. Today we fixed it. Since it was 20 knot winds blowing heaps of snow, we came up with a plan. We would put the skidoo into the tent where we would all be protected. We cleared out half of the Endurance tent (our main kitchen and work tent), we dug out the makeshift toilet behind the tent, we unzipped the tent from its base, and then literally drove the skidoo into the tent. [ 56 more words ] http://antarctica360.net//how-to-be-an-antarctic-skidoo-m/

We’re finally en route to our next camp location in the Transantarctic Mountains after a cold month in the Miller Range. Realistically only about three or so weeks of that were actually cold considering a long delay in which we were trapped in a single tent trying to stay warm. I had never spent that amount of time in a sleeping bag. [ 294 more words ] http://antarctica360.net/2016/12/antarctic-oasis/

This time last week, we and all 4000lbs of our camping equipment were loaded into a DC-3 Basler and flown 2.5 hours, or about 650km, south from McMurdo Station to the Miller Range. After quickly unloading all of our gear, the plane departed leaving the three of us to set up our home for the next three weeks. Since arriving, we've had near-constant winds of 20 - 30 knots which makes doing fieldwork challenging, but the daily skidoo commutes and the stunning scenery more than make up for frozen hands and faces. [ 118 more words ] http://antarctica360.net/2016/11/dispatches-from-the-field/

Tomorrow our three person team, and ~5000 lbs of gear, will depart via fixed-wing aircraft for the Miller Range in the Transantarctic Mountains. There we’ll set up the first of two small remote field camps that we’ll use throughout our six-week field season. Our camp locations this year are farther afield and more southern than last year and, consequently, we’ll be exposed to lower temperatures and more hazardous terrain, including glacier travel. [ 196 more words ] http://antarctica360.net/2016//make-antarctica-great-again/

Elizabeth fills us in on her travels and arrival in Antarctica. The last several days have felt much longer than a week. A lot has happened. I packed my bags and then made the long haul to Christchurch, New Zealand. There I was issued my ECW (Extreme Cold Weather) gear at the CDC (Clothing Distribution Center) before the final deployment by the US Antarctic Program. [ 337 more words ] http://antarctica360.net/2016/10/we-have-landed/