15 November, 1999

McMurdo Station, Antarctica Monday

Another glorious day on the ice! The high temperature was -4 Celsius (+25 Fahrenheit) and the low temperature was -7 Celsius (+19 Fahrenheit). The winds were calm and I shed my bulky parka for the less weighty wind jacket. I think that I am acclimating somewhat to the weather although I really do not spend that much time outdoors.

We prepared for our expedition to Lake Bonney today, loading boxes with bottles and tubing and rope. On our first field day at the lake, we will be taking water samples from 10 depths in the west lobe of the lake. All of these samples will come from a hole that has been drilled into the ice. The ice is 4 meters thick! We will be measuring chlorophyll concentration, salinity, temperature, oxygen level, and nutrients at each of these 10 depths. This is called a control depth profile. One of the questions we are trying to answer is "where is the oxic/anoxic interface?" That is, where does the water switch from having oxygen to not having any oxygen? This depth used to be at 17 meters. We will also collect water samples from all 10 depths for metal analyses and denitrification experiments.

Answer to yesterday's question: In addition to preparing our technical gear, it was also necessary to plan our meals on the lake. At the science cargo center we shopped for the food that we would take with us. What do you think we packed? It is important to stay well-fed when you are working in such cold temperatures. The food acts as burning fuel in your body. Without this fuel we would have no energy to work but also, our body would have no internal way to maintain an adequate temperature. Therefore, it was necessary to pack high calorie (high energy) food. We chose tuna, sardines, peanut butter, dehydrated bean soups (we'll add hot water from our Thermos), cabin crackers, gorp ( mix of nuts, raisin, coconut, and chocolate chips), and my favorite, Cadbury chocolate bars! For drinks we packed juice boxes and hot cocoa packages. Because the weather can change rapidly and we could possibly be stranded on the lake for a night, we also packed dehydrated dinners. These dinners are intended for two people, but we were told that we should eat the entire meal! You burn a lot of calories working under these conditions! We choose, from the gourmet section, Fettuccini de Leonardo, Chicken and Rice, Turkey Teriyaki, Beef Stroganoff, and Red Beans and Rice. I hope that this sufficiently answers the question that I asked!

Today's question: Look at a map of Antarctica with the peninsula at the upper left and Ross Island (McMurdo Station) at the lower right. The Dry Valleys are to the right of McMurdo, on the continent. In what direction will we be flying when we leave McMurdo tomorrow morning on the helicopters?

Polar Profile: Today I want to begin another section to my journal entries. I have met so many interesting people and I would like for you to get to know them and the jobs that they do here in Antarctica. The first Polar Profiles will include my own team. Dr. Bess Ward, our principle investigator (that means, the head honcho), is an oceanographer. Currently, she is a professor in the Department of Geosciences at Princeton University in New Jersey. She has also been a faculty member of the University of California at Santa Cruz and was employed by Scripps Institution of Oceanography in San Diego, California. Most of Bess' work has been conducted on research vessels at sea. She has traveled to the North Pacific, the South Pacific, the Gulf of Alaska, the Black Sea, the North Atlantic, the Caribbean, and the Arabian Sea (part of the Indian Ocean). Her primary research interest involves bacteria and nitrogen cycling. As I said, Bess has worked primarily on the sea. Why would a lake in Antarctica be of interest to Bess? Research suggests that unusual nitrogen cycling occurs in Lake Bonney when compared with other lakes and the ocean. Bess' interest in nitrogen has brought her here!

Sharon

JUST FOR KIDS!!!!! Another glorious day on the ice! The high temperature was -4 Celsius (+25 Fahrenheit) and the low temperature was -7 Celsius (+19 Fahrenheit). The winds were calm and I shed my bulky parka for the less weighty wind jacket. I think that I am getting used to the weather!

We prepared for our expedition to Lake Bonney today, loading boxes with bottles and tubing and rope. On our first field day at the lake, we will be taking 10 water samples from the west part of the lake. All of these samples will come from a hole that has been drilled into the ice. The ice is 4 meters thick! We will be measuring the temperature of the water and how much oxygen is in the water. This is called a control depth profile. We will also collect water samples for other experiments.

Answer to yesterday's question: In addition to preparing our technical gear, it was also necessary to plan our meals on the lake. At the science cargo center we shopped for the food that we would take with us. What do you think we packed? It is important to stay well-fed when you are working in such cold temperatures. The food acts as burning fuel in your body just like the gas that you would put in a car. Without this fuel we would have no energy to work but also, our body would not be able to stay warm. It was necessary to pack food that had a lot of energy. We chose tuna, sardines, peanut butter, dried bean soups (we'll add hot water from our Thermos), cabin crackers, gorp ( mix of nuts, raisin, coconut, and chocolate chips), and my favorite, Cadbury chocolate bars! For drinks we packed juice boxes and hot cocoa packages. Because the weather can change rapidly and we could possibly be stranded on the lake for a night, we also packed dried dinners. These dinners are meant to feed two people, but we were told that we should eat the entire meal! You burn a lot of calories working under these conditions! We choose, from the gourmet section, Fettuccini de Leonardo, Chicken and Rice, Turkey Teriyaki, Beef Stroganoff, and Red Beans and Rice. I hope that this answers the question that I asked!

Today's question: Look at a map of Antarctica with the peninsula at the upper left and Ross Island (McMurdo Station) at the lower right. The Dry Valleys are to the right of McMurdo, on the continent. In what direction will we be flying when we leave McMurdo tomorrow morning on the helicopters?

Polar Profile: Today I want to begin another section to my journal entries. I have met so many interesting people and I would like for you to get to know them and the jobs that they do here in Antarctica. The first Polar Profiles will include my own team. Dr. Bess Ward, our principle investigator (that means, the head honcho or boss), is an oceanographer. She is a professor in the Department of Geosciences at Princeton University in New Jersey. She has also been a teacher at the University of California at Santa Cruz and worked at Scripps Institution of Oceanography in San Diego, California. Most of the time Bess works on research vessels at sea. She has traveled to the North Pacific, the South Pacific, the Gulf of Alaska, the Black Sea, the North Atlantic, the Caribbean, and the Arabian Sea (part of the Indian Ocean). Can you find these bodies of water on a globe?

Sharon

Dr. Bess Ward working at the lab bench.