New and improved with dual chainsaw action!!!

After completion of the tunnel and sampling room, we must construct a small "freezer" to store our samples inside the tunnel until they can be flown out by helicopter. Otherwise, any samples stored outside the tunnel would be subject to direct 24-hour sunshine.


To construct this "freezer", Tim and I use the same technique we used to build the tunnel last week: Cut a tic-tac-toe pattern into a wall, and then smash the ice out with a demolition hammer. Because of the increased space of the sampling room (4x3 meters), were able to hook up two chainsaws to speed up the process (we also both possess Totin' Chips)!

A Tour...Inside a glacier...

Nearing the end of the tunnel

Sorry for the late update. The repeater which allowed us to have internet at our field site was offline for a few days after a storm.


Lindsay Knippenberg hikes back up the glacial apron pulling the "ice removal" sled behind her. Notice the large pile of ice we have created in the construction of the tunnel. Last season we removed over 55 metric tons of ice during the tunnel excavation. We might be close to beating that record this season.

Lindsay and Tim inspect the "sampling room's" rear wall as it nears completion. The large dark band in the middle is a layer of sediment entrapped in the glacier. Currently, it is not fully understood how these layers form.
A look from the inside of the tunnel out.
Myself inside the tunnel.
Pretty cool photo of an A-Star which just dropped off some more supplies at camp via sling load (cargo net carried underneath the chopper).

P.S. Anyone is able to post comments or questions in the comments section below each post. It is not reserved for only the SHS students.

Into the glacier we go...

We have completed our first three days of tunneling and have already reached 6.0 meters! A few more meters inwards and we will being to dig downwards and prep for sampling. The idea is that once we tunnel far enough inside the glacier we will reach an area where the glacial ice is not highly deformed from margin effects. The margins, the edges of a glacier, are often deformed due to events such as calving (breaking off of a large mass of ice from the glacier) or melting.


Once we feel we are sufficiently inside the glacier, we will dig a pit down to sample the sediment-laden striated ice underneath. It is in these sediment layers we have detected high levels of CO2 paired with low levels of O2, indicating a possibility of microbial aerobic respiration! Additionally, we have found increased areas of methane, another possible signal of microbial activity in ice.

Some photos from Antarctica!!!

This is a view of the Ferrar glacier on the way to Taylor Glacier.

We land at camp and unload all our gear from the Bell 212 Helicopter. Our camp is now officially in the field and goes by the call sign "Bravo Two Three Six - Blood Falls" over radios comms.

Working as a group to set up a Scott tent at camp. This tent serves as our bathroom.

A few of our personal tents in which we sleep.

Here's a few from Lake Bonney towards our main camp. The red polar haven is our kitchen/food tent where we cook and eat our meals. The blue polar haven serves as a heated storage tent for storing items which can't freeze (i.e. canned goods, cokes, etc...).

A close up of the main polar haven.

We all have our laptops out checking our emails. Most of us had dozens of unread messages to check due to the internet downtime this past week.
Melting glacial ice from Taylor for drinking water.

Amanda Achberger cutting stairs into the glacial apron leading up to our tunnel with the gas-powered chainsaw.
Amanda and Brent work on the very beginning of our tunnel into Taylor Glacier. At this point we have moved to using electric chainsaws. The gas powered chainsaws release too much exhaust to use safely in the tunnel.

Possible Internet Outage

I have been assured that we will have internet at the field camp this season, but it may take a few day to be setup correctly.

Just a heads up back to you guys in the states that I might be unable to post for a few days.

Regardless, I'll have lots of great close-up pictures of camping in Antarctica and the construction of our new tunnel coming soon.

If you have any requests for images of anything in particular, don't hesitate to let me know!

-Shawn

Delayed!!!

Our helicopter flight out to the field camp was delayed until after the weekend. Before we are allowed to deploy, McMurdo sends out carpenters to build the Polar Havens. These are large, durable tents which we use for our kitchen and storage. Because of weather delays earlier in the week, they weren't able to build them in time for us to deploy on the weekend.


This isn't our polar haven, but it is very similar to what ours will look like.