So where are we exactly? After a good night's sleep in our rooms, it's time to get oriented. There are so many differences between Delaware (where we left) and McMurdo Station, Antarctica (where we are).
We're here! I can't believe we finally arrived.
McMurdo Station is located on Ross Island, a small island in the middle of a frozen sea. Well, at least, it's frozen right now. You can see in the map that we are below New Zealand, which makes sense because that's where we left from. Other parts of Antarctica are south of where you live. Those of you reading this from the United States, the Antarctic Peninsula is south of South America (and North America, where you live).
You can see our location in relation to New Zealand, the South Pole, and the Antarctic Peninsula. Can you identify the other continents?
There's another way to tell people where you're located. Have you learned about latitude and longitude before? Latitude and longitude are imaginary lines drawn on maps to help people find and discuss particular locations easily and quickly. You might know some of the most important lines of latitude and longitude. We actually crossed two of them during our journey here. The line that divides the Northern Hemisphere from the Southern Hemisphere is called the equator or 0˚ latitude. We also crossed the Internation Date Line or about 180˚ longitude.
So, if you want to find McMurdo Station, Antarctica, here is our latitude and longitude: 77˚ 51' S, 166˚ 40' E
If you were on the ground, it looks like this.
This is the view looking down over McMurdo Station from Observation Hill.
It's actually a small town of about 85 buildings that we will need to learn to navigate. Each building houses a different group of people who perform a different function at McMurdo. For example, Building 119 is the Carpenter's Shop. Building 160 is the Berg Field Center. Building 142 is the Medical building. Building 203C is my dorm, where I sleep. We need to know all of this because we need to coordiate with all of these groups to achieve our scientific goals.
Cold!
It's VERY cold here compared to Delaware. We have arrived at the end of McMurdo Station's winter. The folks who stayed over the winter report that it was pretty cold and snowy. A lot of snow isn't ordinary for McMurdo, but this winter has produced quite a bit.
McMurdo has received a fair bit of snow this year. Check out this pile of snow that Dr. Stacy Kim, Annamarie Pasqualone, and Steph Guida just had to climb.
This is how many windows look around McMurdo Station right now. The snow is just covering everyhing!
The average temperature for August is around -18˚F. That's very different from Delaware, where we were have a lot of days +90˚F! Getting used to living and working safely in the colder temperatures is priority number one.
Dark!
I'll talk more about this in another journal, but I should point out that it is dark for most of the day, right now. We are getting about 4 hours of low-level light and 20 hours of darkness. It's a little strange to not see the sun very much. We'll talk more about seasons later this week.
During the end of winter, the light never gets really bright. Everything is low-level light, like sunrise or sunset.
Dry!
Gulp I am finding Gulp that I need Gulp to drink Gulp more water here in McMurdo. Antarctica is actually very dry. Most people don't realize that with all the ice and snow. In reality, it's that the air is dry, or has low humidity. Everyone in our group is talking about how dry their skin feels or how much they are drinking. I am drinking about 4-5 Liters of water in addition to drinks at meals, and putting lots of moisturizer on my skin. My favorite drink in Antarctica is hot chocolate!
My trusty water bottle. I carry it everywhere. Hydrating has becoming something of a full-time job.
I love hot chocolate! Good thing there isn't a shortage of it down here.
High!
Antarctica has the highest average elevation of any continent. McMurdo Station isn't elevated very much above sea level, but scientists and workers traveling to the South Pole or onto the main continent sometimes struggle with adjusting to the elevation. Most people don't really notice it just walking around, but really notice it when they try to do something physical, like shovel snow. Everything feels harder at elevation. I wonder why that is? Maybe you could do a little research on that.
I'm really grateful that we have a few days to settle in and get used to our surroundings before we begin working hard. It takes time for your body to adjust!