Apologies for the long gap between posts, everyone! Between fieldwork and traveling, we had very little technology access for weeks. So here is a long overdue update!!
The Velvet Ice team left…
Science on the Ice
The last section of camp is the area where most of the science at WAIS Divide has taken place. It consists of the Arch and two tents. This area is the farthest from town, about a…
All about the WAIS (not the treble)!
The Science of Wais Divide
About 11-12 years ago, a group of scientists, including Erin Pettit (my lead researcher for Velvet Ice), first came to scope out the…
The Paleo-Climate Record
The neat thing about ice is that it is one of nature's best preservatives.
Think about your refrigerator at home... we put food in the fridge and keep it cold because it…
All about the WAIS (not the treble)!
Stratigraphy
In the summer at WAIS Divide, temperatures hover around -10C/14F, more or less. In the winter here, temperatures drop down to -50C/-68F. At…
All about the WAIS (not the treble)!
What is an Ice Sheet?
You may know that Antarctica is the highest, the driest, and the coldest continent on earth.
It's considered the highest, because there…
I've told you that we are at WAIS Divide, and a little bit about what life is like here, but I haven't told you much about what WAIS Divide is, why it's significant, and why we are doing our research…
WAIS Divide is a remote field camp operated by the United States Antarctic Program (USAP). At its height, it housed about 80 people, and right now, there are about 45. Within the next couple of…
Survival tips for winter camping
After the excitement of setting up my tent, I was looking forward to my first night in my home-away-from-home. I had pictured a quiet, restful evening snuggled up…
by Erin Pettit
One of the best aspects of McMurdo is the people – and the longer we are stuck here, the more we get to participate in the life of the McMurdo 'townies.' Everyone who comes to McMurdo…
Upon arrival at WAIS, our first order of business was to get our tents set up, so we'd have a place to sleep at night.
Luckily, the day that we arrived had beautiful weather. The sky was clear and…
On Sunday, January 4th, the Velvet Ice team woke up, as we had countless other times in the past three weeks, to prepare for Transport at 7:15am. (If you don't know what Transport is, check our blog…
