Journal

Research Update

This morning our team made sure our soil sampling plan is accurate. Andrew Klein and Carl Green also made sure the GPSA Global Positioning System (GPS) is a satellite-based navigation system used to track the location or position of objects on the Earth’s surface. was working. Terry Palmer did a proficiency dive, making sure he felt comfortable collecting sediment samples underwater. In the afternoon, we collected sediment samples from Arrival Heights.

Andrew Klein makes sampling sites.
Andrew Klein overlays sampling sites on a map.

Arrival Heights

Arrival Heights is just northwest of McMurdo Station. It was named by Robert Falcon Scott during his 1901-1904 expedition and sits high above the Station. The area is an Antarctic Specially Protected Area (ASPA). This means it is a protected place where humans cannot go without a good reason (and a permit). Groups that study the atmosphere house sensitive equipment there, since it is not disturbed by electromagnetic noise from below.

Sampling at Arrival Heights
The research team enters Arrival Heights, a protected area. Carl, at left, uses a powerful GPS to find sampling locations.

Collecting Sediments

Our team went to Arrival Heights to collect a control set of sediment samples. Although we have control samples from Cape Bird, we also get control samples from Arrival Heights, since the sediment is in the same location as the polluted areas that we study. Since Arrival Heights is an ASPA site, it is protected and is not seriously impacted by humans.

Collecting sediments
In the foreground, Terry Palmer and Steve Sweet collect depth and slope data for a sampling site, while Carl Green identifies sampling sites and Andrew Klein collects sediments in the background.

Carl used a giant GPSA Global Positioning System (GPS) is a satellite-based navigation system used to track the location or position of objects on the Earth’s surface. to locate the precise sampling spots in Arrival Heights. Once Carl located a sampling site, Steve took a photo of the location and recorded the soil depth and slope of the site, which Terry and I collected. Andrew then collected sediments into a labeled jar. These sediment samples will be shipped back to Texas and will be analyzed for pollutants.

Michelle and the scoop
Michelle Brown proudly holds the scoop that is used to collect sediment.

Heading Back

After our samples are collected, we head back to McMurdo Station. Carl and I sat in the back of the truck and watched Arrival Heights diminish in the distance.

Carl and Michelle in the back of the truck
Michelle Brown and Carl Green enjoy the trip back to McMurdo Station in the back of a truck.

View of Arrival Heights
Arrival Heights as seen from the back of a truck.

Reunited with Old Friends

After brunch yesterday, I was able to re-connect with Bob Melville and Andy Stillinger. They are engineers from the New Jersey Institute of Technology whom I worked with in 2011. They, along with engineer Gil Jeffer, are back in Antarctica this year to update important space weather equipment both in McMurdo and the South Pole. I was invited to tag along with Gil and Andy yesterday as they went to update equipment at a hut in Arrival Heights.

Space Weather Monitoring Equipment

Once we arrived at the site in Arrival Heights, Gil and Andy jumped right to work maintaining and fixing equipment that studies the magnetic field.

Andy Stillinger at desk
Andy Stillinger uses a soldering iron to replace a resistor in the photometer.

Andy is fixing a photometer, which is an instrument that measures the intensity of light. The photometer can be used to help better understand storms from the sun. The sun is filled with gases that are burning at incredibly high temperatures (the surface temperature is around 9940 degrees Fahrenheit!) Storms on the sun create massive outflows of energy that hit Earth, among other planets. Luckily, our magnetic field funnels that energy away, protecting us from dangerous radiation. When this solar energy hits Earth, the atoms in the atmosphere are affected. The photometer can look at a very narrow spectrum of light, which corresponds to specific elements in particular parts of the atmosphere. By recording which atmospheric gases are being disturbed at which levels in the atmosphere, scientists can better understand sun storms and space weather.

Andy Stillinger and the photometer
Andy Stillinger unwraps the photometer he is fixing at Arrival Heights.

Engineering Time

Unfortunately, the photometer Andy has isn't working properly. When Andy subjects the equipment to different temperatures (by blowing on it!), the readings change significantly and are erroneous.

Andy Stillinger testing equipment
Andy Stillinger blows on the sensor of a photometer to test how it responds to changing temperatures.
Luckily, Andy is an engineer and can solve problems by investigating where the equipment is breaking down and can find a solution to get it working properly. To better understand the problem, Andy drew out a circuit diagram, which maps the electrical paths through the instrument. He then went piece by piece through the circuit and has started to figure out where the errors are coming from.

Circuit Diagram
A circuit diagram helps Andy Stillinger navigate how to fix the photometer.

Ice Picture of the Day

Today's Ice POD is about glaciers. We were able to visit a glacier when collecting control samples at Cape Bird two days ago. Can you find Terry in the picture? Look carefully!

To download a PowerPoint Slide of today's Ice POD, click here: 11_icepod.pptx

Ice Picture of the Day, day 11
The Ice Picture of the Day shows a glacier at Cape Bird.

Brought to you by...

Today's journal is brought to you by Ydalle, a 5th grade student from Corl Street Elementary School in State College, Pennsylvania.

Brought to you by Ydalle
Ydalle's penguin looks out the window at Crary Library, onto sea ice and mountains.

Details
Author
Michelle Brown
Date
Expedition
Human Impacts in Antarctica 2015
Weather Summary
Sunny
Temperature
14 F
Wind Speed
14 knots, gusting at 20 knots
Wind Chill
-2 F

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Documents
Attachment Size
11_icepod.pptx348.35 KB 348.35 KB

Comments

Tue, 11/17/2015 - 10:21

Michelle Brown

status: 1Dear Araz,

Great questions! Below are my responses to them:

1) Pollution definitely affects the sea life in Antarctica. There are not
many organisms that live on land here (mostly penguins, seals and birds),
and those that are on land don't seem to like living near people, which is
where the historic pollution is from. There are Skua (birds) that try to
take food from people as they leave the cafeteria and that used to eat
garbage out of a landfill that is no longer here, so perhaps they were
affected too. In the seafloor, there are certain organisms, like worms,
that can be found near some of the pollution (specifically the sewage
outflow area), and other organisms that are not as frequently found in
those areas.

2) Pollution like trace metals and hydrocarbons in the ground doesn't
affect the temperature in the air/ocean as far as I know. Having trash on
the ice, or any dark object on the white snow or ice, does cause that area
to melt more since darker objects reflect less light and retain more heat
than lighter objects. Of course, burning fuels puts more CO2 into the
atmosphere, which has been known to affect temperatures world-wide, and the
affects of climate change are more elevated in Antarctica since we have
glaciers which can melt.

3) The ice thickness changes over time here. Typically I would say it is
about 8 feet near Ross Island. I can ask and see if it is different in
other locations.

4) I mentioned in #3 that dark objects on the ice cause it to melt
faster--I would say that is a key way that it affects the ice.

5) Pollution definitely affects the samples we take--it is why we are
taking samples in the first place. We are looking at samples in highly
polluted areas (from the past--the USAP does a really good job of keeping
waste out of the ground here) to monitor how pollutant levels are changing
over time. Luckily we are finding that in most places things are not
getting worse--they are staying the same.

Tue, 11/17/2015 - 12:22

Calista B

How many different samples of sediment are you and your team planning on collecting?

Tue, 11/17/2015 - 16:18

Olivia L.

How can you tell if it's a good spot to collect sediment samples? What tools do you use to record the soil depth and slope of the site?
Thank you!

Wed, 11/18/2015 - 10:24

Michelle Brown

status: 1Hi Calista,
So far we have 9 seafloor sediment samples and we should eventually get 27
- 36 samples, and around 250 hundred samples on land but it depends on
conditions. Great question!

Wed, 11/18/2015 - 15:25

Michelle Brown

status: 1Hi Olivia,

Thank you for writing! On the land, we use the pre-determined GPS locations
to determine where to sample, so we don't choose the best spot. Once we are
the location, we collect sediment within a square meter area. We choose
places within that square meter that have the smallest grain sizes
(smallest sediments), because they are easier to test. In the seafloor, the
divers look for spots that do not have too many spicules (mats of biotic
material, left from sponges after they die). We use a stainless steel rod
which has 10 centimeter increments marked on it to measure soil depth. For
the slope, we use an inclinometer--a tool that you place on a surface, such
as the ground or the metal rod, and it shows the angle of the slope. Great
questions!

Fri, 11/20/2015 - 05:01

Lucas Springs …

How high is Arrival Height?

Fri, 11/20/2015 - 05:04

Lisa Seff Scie…

Hi, Michelle. I have a question on global warming and how it is affecting the Antarctic. How fast is the snow and glaciers melting.

Sun, 11/22/2015 - 00:34

Michelle Brown

status: 1Great question Lucas! Arrival Heights ranges from 150 - 280 meters high!

Sun, 11/22/2015 - 00:34

Michelle Brown

status: 1Dear Kimberly,
This is a question that scientists are currently working on understanding
here! Glaciers are melting faster than they were in the past. They are
losing 310 cubic kilometers of ice a year! Melting glaciers are not the
only effects of climate change--I just came from a lecture about how
warming ocean temperatures and a rise in CO2 is causing sealife in
Antarctic waters to suffer. The acid created by carbon dioxide eats away at
their shells and could cause harm as temperatures continue to rise.

Mon, 11/16/2015 - 11:36

Samuel M.

How tough is it to work in the foreverlong cold temperatures?

Mon, 11/16/2015 - 11:39

Samuel M.

What are the usual conditions at night?Any Storms? Snow?

Mon, 11/16/2015 - 11:40

Samuel M.

How long is your stay in Antartica? Will you move to different spots in Antartica or the world?

Mon, 11/16/2015 - 16:14

Araz D

1. Does pollution affect the land and sea life in Antarctica?2. Does pollution affect the temperature of both the air and ocean in Antarctica?
3. How thick is the ice there?
4. Does pollution affect the thickness of the ice?
5. Does pollution affect the samples you take?

Mon, 11/16/2015 - 19:19

Michelle Brown

status: 1Luckily we are here in the summer -- although it is 14 degrees Fahrenheit
out, we wear warm layers and keep active. When we are in dive huts, they
are heated so we stay warm. We also spend time indoors in a lab. Some
scientists work out in the field and their warmest work areas are tents,
but they stay surprisingly warm too. Some workers who are out in the cold
definitely need to be mindful of the cold conditions, but everyone is
trained to stop and take care of your body temperature and make sure to get
in a warmer environment if you can't get warm.