An End to the Required Training
We finished up our required training today with a McMurdo Dry Valleys/Antarctic Specially Managed Areas training and Communications training. With our training completed we are now eligible to go to the field and collect samples.
Josh Heward visited Mac Ops (Emergency Management and Station Communications department) as part of communications training before heading into the field for the first time.
Preparing Field Equipment
We also did inventory on our field equipment: daypacks, water bottles, urine bottles, signaling mirrors, field toilet, sleeping bags, sleeping pads, tents, crampons, climbing harnesses, ice axes, rope, kitchen supplies, coolers, duffel bags, first aid kits, hammers, shovels, tool kits and a few other odds and ends. We are scheduled to go out in the field tomorrow but there is also a storm system moving in so our flight may be canceled.
Processing Samples
This afternoon we started processing a few samples that were collected by some New Zealand researchers. Each soil sample collected is separated into three fractions. The first part of the sample is used to measure soil moisture. The second part of the sample is used for extracting all of the soil animals and the third part of the sample is archived for future use.
Matt Hedin is separating a soil sample into three parts for separate tests: soil moisture, soil organisms and an archived portion for future research.
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