Submitted by Anonymous on Fri, 12/14/2007 - 06:43
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Antarctic Ice Sheet Studies

Brandon, Your father requests some seriuos information. Read into what you will. I was reading just the ther night and wondered in your opinion if the ice on mars was identical to the ice in Antarctica. I also saw it on T.V. so I know it is true. And if so, how did it get here. Let me know what the experts think. I hope your having a hole bunch of fun, Kalli says Hi and we love you. See you soon. Dad

Mon, 12/17/2007 - 16:57

Brandon Gillette

OK, after checking around, it appears that your comment my have some validity, and that your television program did have some correct facts.  While dry ice is believed to exist at the subsurface levels, it also appears that recent remote sensing of the ice caps on Mars have revealed water ice.  It's properties are somewhat different from those of the antarctic ice because of temperatures, however, it is H2O.  They have also found some interesting properties related to it's flow rate which also helped to give more validation to the idea of water ice on Mars.  Frozen carbon dioxide and methane have different flow properties that don't quite match new data being found from the planet.  It is also interesting to check out the sublimation patterns formed in the ice, sublimation being the direct change from ice to vapor, skipping to liquid phase.OK, I hope this helps.  It might even be that someone else reading this comment can add information or even help to clarify further.
~Brandon

Fri, 12/21/2007 - 05:40

Dad

Brandon, Kalli told Grandma Gillette that she wanted to wait till you got home to celebrateChristmas. Let us know what weekend you will be available and we will come down. I hope your having a lot of fun and tell the aliens under the ice hi. Have a great Christmas and go Hawks. We all love you and miss you. See you in a couple of weeks. 

Sun, 12/23/2007 - 17:06

Brandon Gillette

I made it back to McMurdo yesterday after a several days of canceled flights because of the weather.  Christmas dinner here is TODAY!  I'm quite excited!  As for coming home, the current schedule is to start the trek north on the 27th.  That should put me on a flight back to the states on the 28th or 29th, still not completely sure on that front.  Nevertheless, should be back sometime this upcoming weekend.  We'll schedule a time for Christmas soon, I just can't put dates since weather plays a large factor in flight schedules.I love and miss you all!  Have a Merry Christmas and stay warm from the recent blizzard!
~Brandon