Departing

Well, it's already the end of the season for some folks. We had about 20 folks leave on Wednesday. We're getting a few of the winter-overs in so the population is around the same - 245... just new faces.

SPIFF

Saturday was the showing of SPIFF. This is the South Pole Independent Film Festival. Anyone could have joined to make a home movie about anything. There were 2 showings - 1 for day shift and 1 for swings... with a total of 14 movies. Some were really interesting and good - quite a few talented people here on station.

I watched the 0130 showing... which technically was Sunday morning. As for snacks, I made sushi. A friend of mine sent me the makings which was an awesome care package. It turned out really well and was devoured within minutes. As with me, I guess people like sushi here wasabi and all.

So that was the end of my first week on swing shift. Not bad. It's a slower pace but I get to see and talk to more people. I guess I've been going almost all season without knowing a lot of people on station (only the 70 or so on midrats) and now I'm meeting the rest as they come through the dinner line.

Mt Erebus

Mt Erebus is the southern most active volcano. It's located on Ross Island in the Ross Sea near Antarctica and about 1.3 million years old. You can see it while at McMurdo Station. The elevation is 12,444 feet/ 3,794 m with a 90 foot in diameter lava lake in the summit crater. This makes Mt Erebus a rare volcano and only two others in the world are like it. The other 2 are in Erta Ale, Ethiopia and Nyiragongo in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Mt Erebus has been active since 1972 and in the last part of the 2005, blew up to 6 times per day spewing out hot rocks that volcanologists call 'bombs'. Most of these eruptions are small. The lava is also rare since most volcanoes have basalt lava. This is phonolite lava which is more explosive than basalt and contains the minerals feldspar and nepheline. Phonolite also contains rare gases - carbon dioxide, water, sulfur dioxide, carbon monoxide, lead, arsenic and mercury - which all have have been found here in the ice cores at South Pole.

A volcanologist from New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology stated that the last time Mt Erebus blew continuously was in 1984, and tossed out bombs measuring 10 meters in width and as far 1 1/2 miles away. 2005 was the 3rd most active period.

Although there are researchers and scientists studying Mt Erebus, it is a difficult task since 8 months out of the year people cannot camp at the mountain side due to the extreme cold and wind. And what equipment that is left, is destroyed by the elements.

Mt Erebus seen from McMurdo

Crater of lava

Phonolite

bomb - this one is approximately a foot long

Smaller bombs collected by the Andrill team at McMurdo. The bigger ones are about hand/ palm size.

swings

Monday was the first day in my new shift. I've moved to swing shifts 1-11pm. Today was my 2nd day. It's a bit different with a bunch more people and I'm cooking now instead of baking. I'm really looking forward to this change of pace. The course I'll be assigned is the vegeterian entree. I've not much experience in that field so it should be fun playing with the menu and trying out various protein substitutes that some I've never heard of before.

Yesterday was my first day on swings so I basically assisted and helped with the veggie dish - seafood portofino. That entree went faster than the meat entree. Anyway, today I made an eggplant dish with a jalapeno pinto bean-tomato sauce. I think I liked the sauce better as a soup skipping out on the fried eggplant altogether.

And I'll be working with a new set of co-workers. Will is the dinner sous chef and Stephanie, who also had high altitude sickness the same time I did. It's interesting working with different people because we're all from different parts of the US and have different specialties. Will has been in the cooking industry for 30+ years and his specialty is Italian. Stephanie is from Minnesota and lived in Chicago for a bit so she brings in I guess you would call them hearty classics - cooking is just a hobby for her although she's worked in a few restaurants.

Tonight was Will's day off so it was just Steph and I. Her experiment tonight was fried pickles. Yes, that doesn't sound too appetizing and I've only tried them once before because I lost a bet. I think it's a southern thing - at least that was loosely tonight's theme. It's kinda popular in Texas, since it's on the menu at the fast food chain Sonic. Surprisingly, people loved it. I think it was because everyone here loves fried food. I do have to say though, it was better than Sonic.

tunnels

OK, it's kinda gross but I toured the water and sewer tunnels this morning. The pipes are about 4 inches in diameter but stuffed with insulation that makes the pipes appear a foot in diameter.

The tunnel is 40 feet below the surface and remains a constant -56F. It's kinda neat - it goes all the way from the elevated station out to summercamp. There were even snow crytals hanging from the ceiling. This is from both condensation from people's breath working in the tunnels and from the pipes. It took a few years and a couple of different contractors to dig the tunnels. The walls are packed snow - it felt like ice. There are escape ladders throughout just in case you got trapped but instead of the ladders leaning they are straight up and down or leaning backwards due to the ice shelf moving.

An interesting fact is that we are drinking really old water. It's from the age of Jesus - hey, so we're drinking Jesus water! It's 100% pure - so pure that it is filtered (for germs just in case) and chlorine and minerals are added to it because the water systems (pipes, drinking fountains, sinks, etc) cannot work with it being so pure. The fountains actually break! Amazing, eh?

There were some interesting trophies in there. I guess a few people got bored some years ago and decided to store some 'artifacts'. There was a pig and a sturgeon.






A contstant -56F.














pipe with insulation



















Water pipe on top. Sewer pipe on bottom.


































The Russian sturgeon





















The pig shrine

Hanging snow crystals

And me... my nose got really cold and my eyelashes froze.

book

I just finished reading an inspiring book. It's called Tales of a Female Nomad by Rita Golden Gelman. It's a true story about her life and her life travels. She even has a website link:

www.ritagoldengelman.com

At 48 years old, she realized she was missing out on a life of adventure so she just went. She travelled Mexico, New Zealand, Israel, Bali and more - all over a span of 15 years.

temperature

It almost reached zero the other day. I was watching the screen all night. It went from -20F all the way to -0.8F... just barely zero. By the time I got back to my tent to get my gear and take a pic of the screen it went down to -1.1F and kept getting colder.

You can see in just 5 minutes, it went from -1.1F with a windchill of -11.9F and wind at 4.4 knots to -14.4F windchill and wind of 6.1 knots.
































Today it's currently -20F with a windchill of -35F.

Geographical South moved

The land mass of Antarctica is about 2 miles below the ice sheet we currently live on. Therefore, when the wind blows one way and the earth moves the opposite direction, the sheet slowly slides over the land mass resulting in the change of geographical South Pole. It moves annually about 30 feet.

BK (in blue), the summer site manager and NSF director, Jerry measure and drill holes to post the sign and flags.

BK drilling more holes

Moving the South Pole sign - Roger Bennett, network engineer, and Jim Walsh, communications technician.

Jesse Duffin, satellite tech, moving the US flag. He's the oldest veteran on station serving 21 years in the Navy and 2 tours in Vietnam.

Geographic Pole now closer to the ceremonial pole.

New brass marker for 2007. Each year there is a competition between the winter=overs on the design. This is the winner's design... Clayton Cornia, RPSC Electrician 2006

2007 Pole Marker Artist’s Description:

This season will mark the 50th Anniversary of the United States conducting scientific research at the South Pole and the International Geophysical Year (IGY). I wanted to submit a design reflecting these momentous facts and also recognize the special people who have made the research possible. The words 50 years of science and IGY surround an etched continent signifying the peaceful and cooperative purpose of this station along with other research outposts within the Antarctic Treaty area. The research done on this continent has helped humanity achieve a better understanding of our planet and universe. Thousands of people have come from all over the globe to help support this effort over the last 50 years. Many of them give up a year or more of their lives to support the research done in this remote and inhospitable location. I wanted to recognize all of these individuals and their contributions and give a special thanks to the 64 people who have chosen to be here this winter. The dimples on each side of the design, 16 on each side, represent the 64 winter-overs contributing to the 50th winter of science and support at the Pole, 2006. These dimples will catch the light as the sun rotates around the sky and will hopefully create some nice reflections in the brass. The South Pole is the only place where every direction is north and is represented by the points around the circle. The continent design is etched into the center circle so snow will accumulate there and provide a contrast for pictures. I am honored that my fellow winter-overs have chosen my design to represent the Geographic South Pole marker for the year 2007, and I look forward to seeing the design take shape.