Submitted by Anonymous on Tue, 10/20/2009 - 12:01

Dear Mrs. Knippenburg, Greetings from South Lake! We sure do miss your sunshiny disposition here at school, but I know you are warming up Antarctica with your effervescent personality. I looked at the photo of the valley where you have set up camp. It doesn't look like what I pictured Antarctica to be! Your site says that the valley has low temperatures, limited snowfall, and salt accumulation. I understand why it has salt accumulation, but why the low temperatures and limited snowfall? What about the geographic location causes these two things? Also, have you started to dig your ice tunnel yet? What was your first thought when you landed in Antarctica? Stay warm! Mrs. Murphy

Lindsay Knippenberg

Hey Murph,
My first thought when I stepped off the plane, was that Antarctica was really bright. With all the sun and snow, you need sunglasses all the time. My second thought, of course, was that it was really cold. 
As for the Dry Valleys, I have been here for five days and it is amazing. Everything is so big that it throws your scale off and everything seems small until you start hiking somewhere or you see a helicopter next to what you thought was a hill and it looks like the size of an ant. Why is it so cold? Well compared to where I was, it is farther south towards the south pole ao you get a little colder that way, but you get wind coming down the glaciers and the ice cools it like a refrigerator making it much colder. Why is it so dry? The first reason is our latitude. Areas this far south tend to not get much moisture and teh snow never accumulates where we are at. The Dry Valleys have a lot of exposed rock which warms up and causes the little moisture that falls here to evaporate quicker. 
Thanks for checking in and I miss your smiling face too!
Lindsay