Submitted by Anonymous on Thu, 11/08/2012 - 17:39
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Antarctic Sub Glacial Lake and Stream Studies

Hi Mr. LeBaron!

My students had so many questions! Here are a few:

Can you describe the sounds? How about the smells? Are you getting less sleep than normal because of the 24 hour daylight? What were some of the things you were taught about protecting the environment in Antarctica? Who puts together the equipment like the drill?
Is there staff at McMurdo year round?

I'm sure as you get more involved with your study they will have more questions.

Keep warm!

Thu, 11/08/2012 - 22:08

Mike LeBaron

Hello LNHS Earth Science Class! It's great to hear from you, and thanks for the questions.Sounds - there are all sorts of sounds and it depends on where you are. For one thing, sounds carry very well in the cold air. Can you figure out what is different about air at 10 degrees F versus 50 or 60 degrees F that wold make sounds more distinct and able to be heard from further away?
But the sounds here include normal sounds like people talking, cars and trucks running - just like in Mooresville. There is also an intense quiet when you are away from the main station - there are no animals and I've only seen a single Skua, so the quiet is amazing. The wind blows a lot so there is often that sound. The one sound that is most prominent is that of the snow crunching under foot. The snow is extremely cold and very dry, so it sqeals when you step on it - a loud crunching sound that can almost be like fingernails across a chalk board. It's enough to make hearing people difficult.
Smells - not many except when you're going by the cafeteria or next to a diesel engine that's running.
Sleep is also a challenge because it is light 24 hours. Last night i was leaving he lab building at 10:00 and it was just as bright as it had been at noon. Our rooms have heavy curtains to block the light, but it's still weird to sleep with full daylight. I'll be posting some pictures to help you understand the problem we have.
Let me answer the staffing question, and I'll get back to the drill and environment in a separate reply. Yes there is staff that stays here year round. During the summer McMurdo may have 1500 or so people here. In winter it's a couple hundred that are doing maintenance and keeping the place running. In winter the last flight in and out happens in March, and until the end of August there are no planes in or out because the weather is so bad. Those 200 people are literally trapped here and have no way to leave until spring arrives.
Thanks for the questions and I'll finish the other two shortly, but right now (it's 8:07 PM here) I'm going to the evening movie which is actually about preserving the environment of the Ross Sea, so it may give me some new information.
Take care and keep reading and asking questions.
Mr. LeBaron

Fri, 11/09/2012 - 12:10

Mike LeBaron

Hi guys - here's part 2 to your questions.Drilling equipment is assembled by the drill crew that will be running it. They currently have many, many crates, semi-truck sized containers, and many tanks and hoses sitting on the ice that they have to assemble. I'll get a picture of the drill itself soon. It's in a big red 40 foot container right now. Some parts of the equipment will be assembled and tested by the team I'm on. We just opened up our workshop container yesterday and did some electrical work to get it ready to "plug in" to the generator so we can turn on the lights and get a little heat in it.
Environment is a huge deal down here. Think of it this way - Antarctica is a continent that is 1.5 times larger than the U.S. It has no permanent population, and is about as untouched as any place on Earth. We want to keep it that way! So far since getting prepared for this trip I've had about 5 environmental awareness and procedures classes and reviews. The US Antarctic Program (USAP) makes sure that our impact on the continent is the absolute minimum that is possible. All trash is separated into about 15 categories for shipment back to the U.S. for recycling and disposal. About 65-70% of the waste generated here is reused or recycled.
Another example of the effort made to protect the environment is that even a single drop of fuel on the ice is picked up, bagged, and taken back to McMurdo for disposal. It's not left on the snow to flow into the environment. There is also no "yellow" snow around. All human waste is captured and put through a waste water treatment facililty before being discharged into the sea. At our drill site you bag solid waste and all liquid waste drains into a 55 gallon drum where it freezes. The drum is taken back for treatment.
I'll be doing a journal entry about the ways in which the environment is being managed here soon - watch for it.