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Microorganisms in Antarctic Glacier Ice

Hi Lindsey! We have had so much fun following your progress. You've had some amazing pictures and I love the activity ideas and lessons you have given us . One of my classes had some questions for you: 1. Amber: How tall is the glacier? How do they know where to drill? 2. Isaac & Noah: why do we only see one layer of sediment? 3. Have you found any frozen organisms? 4. What is the temperature inside the glacier tunnel? 5. What keeps the tunnel from falling from the weight above it? 6. Do you refill the tunnel? (to make it safe) Thanks, Lollie and grade 6 :D

Tue, 11/10/2009 - 01:21

Lindsay Knippenberg

Hi Lollie and Lollie's Class!
Thanks for following my expedition and sending me some great questions. Here are some answers for you...
1. Amber: How tall is the glacier? The glacier is about 30m high.
    How do they know where to drill? We know that there are sediment layers throughout the glacier and there is going to be sediment on the bottom of the glacier where the glacier is running across the land (basal ice). So choosing a site to make our tunnel is not so much about looking for the sediment because we know where to find it. It is about safety. We chose our tunnel site because it was a pretty secure location and the ice around the tunnel didn't look like it would fall on us (that would be bad). 
2. Isaac & Noah: why do we only see one layer of sediment? We were really lucky. When we were cutting our tunnel, we ran into the perfect sediment band and stopped there and sampled. We did some cores and found other sediment layers above and below our tunnel site, but it was a lot easier to take samples from the one right in front of us. Sediment layers form as the ice moves across the land and picks up sediment from the surrounding land. The glaciers have been forming for thousands of years so they have had plenty of time to pick up lots of sediments and form different layers on their journey.
Have you found any frozen organisms? If you don't count me...While we were in the field we grew some microorganisms that were living in the ice. I also saw a dead penguin, but that is it. The Dry Valleys are such a harsh environment, that no large organisms live there. 
4. What is the temperature inside the glacier tunnel? Inside the tunnel it is a constant -15 C.
5. What keeps the tunnel from falling from the weight above it? The crystalline structure of the ice makes it extremely strong. I will admit that I was afraid to go inside a glacier at first, but the glacier isn't moving that fast and it seems pretty sturdy when you are inside it. Once we started tunneling, I was so busy that I didn't even have time to think about it being unsafe.
6. Do you refill the tunnel? (to make it safe) We do not refill the tunnel. Over time the glacier will calve off ice from the side of the glacier and our tunnel will eventually disappear. The tunnel site from 2007 already is missing huge sections and it has only been 2 years.
Thanks for all of the questions. Feel free to send me more anytime.
Lindsay