9 November, 1998

Monday, November 9, 1998

Hi everyone! Things here are heating up…no, not the temperature, but the activity in the Crary Lab associated with the Cape Roberts Project! We had our usual 10 AM meeting today, and I learned some facts that I want to share with you.

We had 6 new boxes of core to look at and sample today. The depth of these cores was between 149.13 meters and 169.04 meters. The drill is now down to over 200 meters. Some of the words that the sedimentologists used to describe today's core were ones that I am gradually becoming more familiar with…sandstone, siltstone, mudstone (predominately silt with some clay and sand mixed in), carbonite cemetation, brecciation (broken up rock), shelly bits, and fragments. There was some discussion about the rate of sedimentation…how many centimeters of sediment accumulated in a certain amount of time. The scientists are also interested in the coarseness of the sediment, which in some cases is related to the depth of the water that the sediment was deposited in. The teams working on nannofossils and microfossils looks for evidence of diatoms, dinoflagelates, and other microscopic plants. They also might see forams…micro-organisms.

Peter Webb and Ken Verosub both helped me understand a little about the "mud" that the drillers have been waiting for. It was supposed to arrive on yesterday's C-141 flight, but that plane didn't come down because of mechanical problems. The "mud" is really a chemical (man-made) mud…made in a factory using potassium chloride and a polymer gum. It is used at the drill site. The mud is forced down the center of the drill hole where it is cutting the rock. It keeps washing the rock away from the drill bit, to keep it from jamming up. This liquid is a different weight (heavier) than the sediments they're trying to push out. I will be able to tell you more after I get out to the drill site. This trip should be coming up in the next couple of weeks.

Ken also taught me about "ice rafted debris"…the pebbles we see in the core. These came from glaciers on shore. As the glaciers moved and picked up pebbles, some of these eventually ended up stuck in icebergs that broke off from the glacier and floated out to sea. These icebergs melted, and the rock (pebbles) dropped down to the sea floor. The cores tell the story of geology in and around Antarctica for millions of years!

New Topic! I also wanted to tell you about the C-5 Galaxy…Ken and Fabio did some digging around and found some great web sites that can give you even more info than what I'm about to tell you. Try them out and write to me to tell me what you learned or what you liked! The first site is: www.lmasc.com and you should go to the section that says "The Hangar" to learn more about the planes made by Lockheed Martin. Another site: www.altavista.com and when you get to the home page, type in C-5 Galaxy and then click on "search." Both of these are cool sites!!

Here are MY favorite facts on the C-5 Galaxy:

** The cargo compartment of a C-5 can carry 100 Volkswagen Beetles or 6 Greyhound buses.

** The paint on the exterior (outside) of the C-5 weighs about 2,600 pounds! ** The distance the Wright Brothers flew was less than the length of the cargo compartment of a C-5.

** Each wing of the C-5 weighs over 40,000 pounds!

** The C-5 contains over 103 miles of electrical wiring, 4 miles of hydraulic tubing, and 5 miles of control cables.

** The C-5 carried enough fuel for the average American car to make 130 round trips between New York and Los Angeles, or over 31 trips around the world! ** Cruise Speed: 540 miles per hour.

** Each plane costs about 184.2 million dollars.

** Primary function of the C-5 is massive strategic airlift.

** Range: Unlimited with in-flight refueling.

** Fuel capacity: 51,000 gallons

** Date first deployed: June 1970

** Total number in service: 126 aircraft

I couldn't believe all I learned by looking at the information from the web sites…Hope you will take some time to do the same. I kept working in the lab today using the Molspin demagnetizer, with Fabio on the spinner magnetometer. We worked until 1:30 AM. We are working on shifts now, and Gary, Fabio and I seem to be the night owls who like to stay up late and sleep in a bit. Talk with you tomorrow.

Betty :)

This is a long shot of the C-5 Galaxy taking off from McMurdo today. Yes, we had another one fly in/out today. They are really trying to move the cargo between he re and Christchurch, New Zealand. We got to see it land and take off from the window in our lab. We have the best view of the ice runway.

Each time we work with one of the machines in our lab, we must put on a wrist band attached to a cord (looks a lot like a phone cord) . This prevents static elect ricity. Here I am..working with samples using the Molspin demagnetizer. I worked on samples and then handed them over to Fabio for measurements on the spinner magnetometer.

This is a close up shot of the lid on the spinner magnetometer.

Here's what the spinner looks like inside. See where the sample is placed...in the plastic holder in the middle. This gets closed up tight and then the other lid is put over top.