Everyday is sunny, and G-063 is getting into the science of things down on the lake and that's been really rewarding! We've been drilling an average of about two holes a day. Once a hole is open, we clear the hole of slush. We measure and record the thickness of the ice (about 4 meters) by dropping a weighted tape measure down the hole. We drop the cameras into the hole to see what kinds of shapes the microbial communities are growing in. It's been fun for everyone to review the video footage afterwards.
Megan with a grab sampler that’s too big to fit in our 5 inch drill holes.
However, we've been running into a few issues, and we are so remote that we really need to be self-reliant and figure them out. For example, right now I'm fixing dinner but the others are trying to extract a camera that got frozen in the lake while we were using it. I'm sure we'll get it out, but it does require some creative problem solving, and in this case a heater to melt it out.
We've had problems with our water source, too. At first, we melted snow but it was full of sediment, which wasn't appealing. We were able to drill a hole in the lake, but this morning the hole was frozen shut, so Justin and I tried chipping it out with a heavy metal bar called a chipper bar, with no luck. Now, we are melting ice from the lake, which takes a lot of energy. We'll do that until we can drill another water hole, and hopefully keep it open. In the next couple of weeks, it should be warm enough to stay open on its own. You can think of us the next time you turn your faucet on!
Me, trying to clear our water hole. The chipper bar is lying next to me.
Operating the drill is a constant problem-solving adventure. I’ll write a whole journal just about this in the near future. For now, I’ll just say that its remarkably easy to get the drill stuck in the lake ice, and not so easy to free it.
Sasha measuring ice thickness.
We’ve also had to do some troubleshooting with our scientific equipment. Tyler also had a short in the circuitry for the drop camera, and the problem will be remedied by using a solar power source instead of the battery. We also discovered that our device that records conductivity, temperature, and depth (the "CTD") has some corrupted software and needs to be fixed in order to work... but we don't have flushing toilets, let alone a usable internet connection. So, we need to wait for the update to be delivered via thumbdrive on the next resupply helicopter. Meanwhile, we rely on another device called a pressure transducer to tell us how deep the lake is (we are aiming for between about 10-13 meters, where the webbed pinnacles grow). Finally, we brought a grab sampler to scoop samples from the lake bottom, but it's just slightly too big to fit down the 5 inch drill holes. We hope to get a smaller one with our helicopter resupply.
And Now, Your Questions
I've received some really wonderful questions from all of you, and because of my imperfect communication abilities, it's much easier to respond in a journal. I appreciate all of your kind thoughts and thanks for following along! I especially appreciate questions from Ms. Seff's students at Spring School:
Just wondering how deep is the snow where you are now?
In the Dry Valleys, there is very little snow, and most of it is in drifts of about 6 inches thick. Very little snow falls here, and it's so dry that it sublimates rather quickly, leading to little accumulation. However, high above us are the arms of glaciers wrapped around the mountains, and those are very thick indeed! There's one in particular that has an avalanche nearly every day.
Setting up camp sounds like a challenge, especially when wearing big mittens. Has the team been practicing set-up?
During our training in McMurdo, we did practice setting up both the endurance tent and the Scott tent so we would know how they work, which was very helpful! Doing anything with mittens on is problematic though because of the loss of dexterity. There doesn't seem to be a way around that, even with practice. We end up whipping our hands out, try to do what we need to do as fast as possible and retreat back into the mittens. Hand warmers waiting for us in the mittens really helps!
With all of the gear on, are you uncomfortable?
I really thought the ECW (extreme cold weather gear) would be too much. It's bulky and I don't want to work out in it... but its also so cold that I'm grateful for it and find that putting on lighter clothing is what's really uncomfortably cold. We expect the weather to warm up soon though. It seems like the daytime temperatures are around 15°F.
How many types of microbes are you expecting to find?
We expect to find about 100,000 different types of microbes. The ones that are easy to see and identify under a microscope are diatoms and cyanobacteria. We can also see a lot of other microbes under a microscope, but we may not be able to identify them by sight.
Have you seen a leopard seal?
We are far enough away from the ocean that we are unlikely to see any wildlife where we are. In fact, the lack of any animals burrowing into the microbial communities is one of the reasons we are so interested in Lake Joyce.
How much wind would it take to knock over the "endurance"-style tent?
The endurance tent is so strapped down that it would take a vicious windstorm to knock it over – one I hope we never have. The winds we had the other night were probably 60 mph. Although in training, they told us about a snowmobile that actually flew through the air... so you never can tell.
I know that Antarctica is usually always cold but because you're closer to a lake is it colder?
Mountains shield the Dry Valleys from the cold air of the rest of the continent and stay warmer as a result.
I was wondering, do the big drums that store the waste ever stink up the place?
So far, its been so cold that all of the liquids are frozen, which is easy on the nose. I may have a different answer once it warms up.
Comments