Research Update

    Today the team made preparations for their upcoming camping trip to the Barwick Valley,which is in the Dry Valleys. In the afternoon we flew to Cape Royds to collect sediment samples. Cape Royds is used as a control site since most of the land is not disturbed by humans. However, the team also collects sediment samples at the helicopter landing sites there. Cape Royds also has a penguin rookery and a historic hut which we visited!

    The Research team collects sediments
    Our research team hikes up to a sampling site to collect sediments at Cape Royds.

    Shackleton's Hut

    Ernest Shackleton is one of the great Antarctic explorers from the early 20th Century. He first came to Antarctica on Robert Falcon Scott's initial expedition in 1901, but returned again on his own in 1907. Shackleton built a hut at Cape Royds, which sits on the coast between McMurdo Station and Cape Bird. The hut was brought over from London, where it was pre-made in 1907 and purchased for 155 pounds. It was constructed over 10 days and by three weeks it was insulated.

    Shackleton's Hut at Cape Royds
    Shackleton's hut at Cape Royds sits amidst volcanic rocks.

    Although this is our second historic hut in two days, the magic of stepping back in time is as great as it was yesterday at Cape Evans. I can imagine Shackleton and his men spending 14 months inside the small room.

    Inside Cape Royds Hut
    A view of the inside of Shackleton's hut.

    Shackleton and 14 men spent over a year at the hut while conducting science expeditions. Shackleton had his own bedroom, but the other men shared 2-bed cubicles. The men built their beds out of cases and boards from shipping containers. They put wood shavings under blankets for mattresses. The men enjoyed decorating their cubicles. For example, two men created a book shelf out of cloth and placed Charles Dickens books on top of it. They called their cubicle "Number 1 Park Lane", a reference to a London Street. Professor David and Douglas Mawson, famous men on Shackleton's expedition, had scientific equipment in their cubicle and called their bunks "The Pawn Shop." Scrawled by beds were names of people on Shackleton's expedition--I wonder if they wrote those names on the walls themselves.

    Mackay on Wall
    Alistair Forbes Mackay's name is scrawled by a bed (presumably his) from Shackleton's 1907 - 1909 expedition. He was an assistant surgeon on the expedition.

    A bed in the hut
    A bed with clothing on it is lit from a window in Shackleton's hut.

    Although there were tight quarters, the team had some creature comforts. For example a cast iron cooking stove sits at the end of the hut. Shackleton and his men ate freshly baked bread and three warm meals every day from that stove.

    Cast iron stove
    A cast iron stove sits at one end of the hut, once the source of many warm meals.

    Want to check out the hut for yourself? Find out more information and take a Google Tour of the hut here.

    Penguins!

    With our sampling complete and tour of the hut finished, we all had time to watch Adelie Penguins as they nested in their rookeries. This rookery is visited by Jean Pennycook--a former science teacher who now does research on the Adelies and communicates the science to educators and the public through her website: penguinscience.com.

    Adeie Penguins at Cape Royds
    Adelie penguins take turns lying on eggs near the shore at Cape Royds.

    Ice POD

    Today's Ice POD is about lenticular clouds -- we saw some starting to form over Mt. Erebus as we waited for our helicopter to take us home! You can download a PowerPoint Slide of today's Ice POD by clicking here:18_icepod.pptx

    Ice Picture of the Day, day 18
    Lenticular clouds start to form over Mt. Erebus in today's picture of the day.

    Brought to you by...

    Today's journal is brought to you by a student from Ms. Martinez's class in Eagle Pass ISD.

    Brought to you by Mrs. Martinez's class.
    Today's journal is brought to you by a student from Ms. Martinez's class in Eagle Pass iSD.

    Date
    Location
    Cape Royds, Ross Island, Antarctica
    Weather Summary
    Sunny and partly cloudy
    Temperature
    28 F
    Wind Speed
    3 knots
    Wind Chill
    25 F
    Documents
    Attachment Size
    18_icepod.pptx199.22 KB 199.22 KB

    Comments

    Emily Yoder

    What is your favorite color? AND what is your most exciting research that you have found. Well not research but facts.......

    Emily Yoder

    What is your favorite color? AND what is your most exciting research that you have found. Well not research but facts.......

    Emily Yoder

    What is your favorite color? AND what is your most exciting research that you have found. Well not research but facts.......

    Emily Yoder

    What is your favorite color? AND what is your most exciting research that you have found. Well not research but facts.......

    Michelle Brown

    status: 1Hi Emily,
    My favorite color is sky blue! Carl's favorite color is dark, forest green.
    I'll try to find out what everyone else on team's favorite colors are too.
    This is a very important question! I think the most exciting fact we have
    uncovered is that the concentration of pollutants is decreasing over time
    in Winter Quarters Bay--an area with a very polluted past. It may not be an
    amazing fact, but it is interesting to understand more about why this is
    happening!

    Emily Yoder

    What is your favorite color? AND what is your most exciting research that you have found. Well not research but facts.......