Glacier adventures

and .... nothing

2012-01-11T21:10:00.000-08:00

On January 3, after more than a month of waiting at McMurdo, we finally boarded a LC-130 plane, and we found ourselves on the way to Pine Island Glacier (PIG). We landed at PIG main camp on a beautiful afternoon.

LC-130 arrival at PIG main camp

PIG main camp is impressive in its size. The photo below shows most of the bigger structures, which includes a large galley tent, and several tents for the helicopter operation, a medical tent, a comms tent, and a few others. Now all that was left was to wait for the helicopters to arrive. The plan was for two helicopters to be flown to PIG main in LC-130 aircraft. They would then be re-assembled and used to fly a hot water drill to the Pine Island ice shelf. We would then drill a hole through the shelf to make measurements underneath it. The main quantity of interest is the amount of melting under the ice shelf, because it determines its stability and fate.

PIG main camp

But all that was not to be. After all the planning, all the staging, and all this work, the transport of the helicopters was delayed by another day, a storm moved in, and the deadline passed, by which NSF thought that it was too risky and too late in the season to still fly helicopters so far out onto the ice sheet. Saturday morning we were told that the season was over.

Drifting snow

Most of our hot water drilling equipment had not been in use for the past two years, so we decided to fire it all up to make sure it still runs. The benefit was a nice hot tub in the middle of the Antarctic ice sheet.

Communal hot tub

An LC-130 (here on a take-off attempt) came and got most of the people out. But we managed to secure some Twin Otter support, to put out a network of seismic and GPS stations.
The flight to the ice shelf was spectacular. PIG is one of the fastest flowing glaciers in Antarctica (about 4 km/year). The fast flowing part is separated from the slower moving ice by a shear zone, where the ice is jumbled up into huge towers of ice that looks like it's been put through a grinder.

The shear zone

The shear zone is a distinct, several kilometers wide, zone, that extends all the way to the ocen (in the far distance in the picture below)

Pine Island Glacier shear zone

We enjoyed two days of phenomenal weather during which we installed five on-ice stations that will now collect GPS and seismic data for the next year. This involved a lot of skillful flying, expertly done by our Kenn Borek crew.

Sun bathing on a Twin Otter

GPS and seismic station on PIG ice shelf

Twin Otter with seismic and GPS station

Now we're back in McMurdo, waiting to go home. We are already full of ideas on what to do better next year to avoid another month of sitting and waiting. Stay tuned...

Still in McMurdo

2011-12-22T22:58:00.000-08:00

On December 1 we arrived at McMurdo station, the primary hub for US Antarctic Program activities. And now it's nearly Christmas, and we're still here. Our whole program is about a month late.
We came here to drill through the ice shelf at Pine Island Glacier. This is one of most rapidly changing glaciers on the planet and it is a big one. Much of the changes can be blamed on warm ocean water that is getting under a floating ice shelf and is melting it from below. We are planning to drill through it and then measure that process directly.
Getting out to PIG is not easy. The distance from McMurdo to the base camp exceeds 1500 miles (~2500 km). It is comparable to the distance from Seattle to Chicago (or Madrid to Oslo for the more European declined). Imagine moving a field party, a hot water drill and a lot of instrumentation across the coldest and windiest continent. Delays are inevitable, and bad weather, mechanical failures, and simply bad luck have all played a role.

Instead we are enjoying McMurdo. As much as I'd like to get out of here; it is an interesting town to explore. Its summer population is about 1,000 people. It could be like any small town in the Arctic, but one pretty quickly realizes that it's not the same. There are no kids, no elders, and no dogs. The town is entirely dedicated to supporting science and to a large degree to supporting the South Pole station.
The view above is from Observation Hill, a small volcanic cone above town. The small peninsula in the background is where Captain Scott set up winter quarters, just over 100 years ago. The hut can be seen in the picture below.

His bid for the South Pole ended tragically, and Scott and his men died on the way back from the pole, after having been beaten to the goal by the Norwegian explorer Amundson, who had already successfully completed the first navigation of the Northwest Passage in the Arctic (at least the first European navigation...). The 100 year anniversary of his arrival at the South Pole was commemorated last week. The Norwegian prime minister flew in for the occasion.
Scott's misfortunes are commemorated with a cross on Observation Hill. It was put up by surviving members who waited for his return in 1913.

McMurdo can be a nice place in beautiful weather. The mountain range across the sound (the Royal Society Range) is beautiful and beckons, but, alas, no heliskiing for us...
On the other side we are greeted by Mt. Erebus, one of Earth's most active volcanoes, and its southernmost. It always has a little puff cloud. Another set of nice looking slopes, but, again, off limits.
McMurdo is, of course, entirely dependent on outside support. This happens via ship (once a year) and via several airplanes during the Antarctic summer. Everything that was used gets shipped off the continent again and goes back to the US for proper disposal. In the process, there is a relatively elaborate waste separation program. Occasionally, somebody with a sense of humor enhances that program (see the one in the middle):
Under the cover of each recycling bin, one can find detailed instructions about what can and cannot be disposed of here:
One of the big challenges of McMurdo is energy. It is cold here and windy. Not so bad in the summer, right now temperatures are always around, but mostly above freezing. Almost the entire station runs on diesel that is shipped here. For the past two years, three wind turbines are operational. These mostly supply the neighboring Scott Station, which is operated by New Zealand, but some excess power comes to McMurdo.
Scott Station:
And to finish of: A picture of our team member Dale Pomraning (hot water driller) doing some indoor crevasse rescue training.

It's too cold in Fairbanks, I'm heading south

2011-11-30T23:58:00.000-08:00

We've had a chilly November in Fairbanks, breaking temperature records for several days in a row. So I wasn't too unhappy when the time came to leave for another field trip, this time to the South. First, a long flight led us to Christchurch, New Zealand. Christchurch was devastated by an earthquake last March. It is amazing to see the amount of damage. Downtown Christchurch is still mostly not accessible, and many buildings are torn down. A sad sight.

But life does go on. Even though aftershocks are still common, people have been innovative. A former popular shopping district now continues to do business in a serious of tastefully set up containers. There is even a 'retainer bar'.

A favorite stop before the journey to the far South is the botanical garden. It is quite large and beautifully maintained. It is early spring here and the flowers are in full bloom. We soak it all in before we head to the frozen continent.
One thing remains though: gear issue. Everybody assembles and gets briefed about all the things that can and cannot happen in Antarctica, and then we get issued with ECW (extreme cold weather) gear.One more night in Christchurch, and then we load up into a military plane, a huge C-17 airforce cargo transporter that brings us to McMurdo in a mere 4.5 hours.

And here we are now. The next week will be occupied by training, chasing cargo and then waiting for weather. We are attempting to get to Pine Island Glacier, where we will hot water drill into the ocean. More on that later.

Yakutat Glacier, the end of a project

2011-10-02T23:52:00.001-07:00

Two weeks ago we were back on Yakutat Glacier for one last time, at least with regards to this particular NSF funded project. It is amazing how much the glacier has changed. In fact, it has become two glaciers! The eastern branch (right side of the image) is no longer connected to the western (main) branch. During this three-year research grant, the glacier has lost several square kilometers of ice that has broken up into the lake. In fact, we almost lost some GPS receivers. We had to pick up two of them on icebergs that had already calved. They survived the event and were still recording.
This picture (from R. Motyka) nicely shows why this ice field is in trouble. It was taken a week ago, and nowhere on the glacier is there any sign of snow from last year. That means that the glacier is not gaining any new ice in most years, even at its highest elevations. It has to melt away. And things are only getting worse: As it's getting thinner, it finds itself at progressively lower (and warmer) elevations.
I'm curious how it will look in 20 years.

A boat trip to the fjord

2011-08-30T09:36:00.000-07:00

Most of the rapid changes in glaciers that we are currently observing are related to changes in the oceans. So it is increasingly necessary to make direct observations of ocean conditions in front of glaciers. But that's not always so easy:

The answer is to hire a small boat that can handle impact from ice
and a capable crew (skipper Hans and deck hand Peter):

We spent a week in the inner fjord measuring temperatures, salinities and currents in the ocean.
We also deployed some drifters that will float out with the water. They report their positions with measurements of the upper water column every half hour via Iridium satellites.
We spent the nights at a protected little bay, with beautiful sunsets (before the weather turned lousy), and reindeer and fishing nearby. Peter, the Greenlandic deck hand, is also an avid hunter and fisherman and provided us with fresh food.

Near our anchorage, one could still find the remains of foundations from Norse settlements. The Norse had lived in this area for several hundred years during the medieval optimum, and finally disappeared with only few traces left.

How fast does a glacier flow?

2011-08-29T13:15:00.000-07:00

One of the main things we are often interested in is the speed of glaciers, and how variable it is. For that we use a variety of methods. GPS works really well, but low down on tidewater glaciers, there are so many crevasses that we don't like to leave expensive instruments. This year we had an exciting opportunity to test a new method. It measures the displacement of ice by looking at the difference in returned radar phase. It is possible to get a velocity field within a few minutes of measurements only. The image below shows the instrument, which we had on loan from Gamma Remote Sensing.

To verify the results of the radar we also did some more traditional surveying. For this we deployed targets onto ice towers (seracs) from a hovering helicopter. These targets consist of a prism reflector, which is then surveyed with a total station from the side of the glacier.

Back in Nuuk

2011-08-28T18:20:00.001-07:00

We're back in Nuuk, Greenland. This is the key field work for our proposal, in which we try to better understand ice-ocean interaction. The planned work involves detailed observations of conditions in the fjord and of the variation and details of glacier flow near its front. We have two teams, one camped at the glacier front and one in a small boat.
Getting out was delayed a bit. Nuuk has been having problems with low fog. Even when we finally left, it was through a small hole in the fog. Just a little distance away from town, the weather turned nice.

The first task was to fly back to GPS stations that are far up on the ice and that are designed to run all year. At this particular station, a little over 1.5 m of ice had melted. The box with batteries and instruments slid around a bit, but everything was working fine. We don't always find things in such nice condition!The main work is to observe conditions at the glacier front, however. One important observation is the release of fresh water from the base of the glacier. Because it is fresh, it raises right to the top and creates a surface plume at the glacier front. The upwelling water brings lots of stuff with it, and when we fly over, we can sometimes see hundreds of birds feeding there.

Susitna Glacier

2011-08-16T16:18:00.001-07:00

Ok, so this comes a bit late, but in June I joined Sam Herreid on a quick trip to Susitna Glacier in the Alaska Range. We were putting in a camera to observe the glacier. It's a surge-type glacier, which means that it can accelerate to almost 100 times its normal rate of flow in a few months. It last did that in the 1940s. The combination of normal flow and surges creates these beautiful looped moraines.Susitna Glacier is also interesting, because there are serious efforts under way to build Alaska's largest hydroelectric power plant in its drainage area. This requires some careful thought about how the discharge will evolve, as the glaciers in this area are generally retreating, and how much sediment is being put into the river, in particular if another surge should occur.
We put in the camera by piggy-backing on another project, which got us a helicopter ride in. On the way back we relied on a pack raft, a first one for me.

Yakutat Glacier, still falling apart

2011-05-30T23:25:00.000-07:00

We are just back from Yakutat Glacier, one of the most rapidly retreating glaciers in the world. These icebergs came off the glacier last September and are currently stuck on an old moraine in the lake. The lake is generally very deep (over 300 m), but at this location an old sill keeps icebergs from floating down lake.

Yakutat Glacier has lost several square kilometers of surface area in the past few years, and no end is in sight. Large rifts are still forming on its floating tongue and further retreat is guaranteed.

Last year we measured the ice thickness using an ice penetrating radar, and we found that all of the glacier base is very close to sea level. Harlequin Lake, into which the glacier now calves, will keep growing for quite a while!

Icy Bay

2011-05-13T10:29:00.001-07:00

Icy Bay is located along the coast of Alaska, northwest of Yakutat. It must be among the most amazing places on Earth. My colleague Chris Larsen has led a project there to study tidewater glaciers and icequakes. We went there to help him rescue a camera. Glacier pilot extraordinaire Paul Claus got us there in his Supercup

There are several glaciers entering the bay. We went to Yahtse, which is among the few advancing glaciers.
It is quite overwhelming to stand in front of this large and unstoppable mass of ice.

The small orange box contains a camera to monitor the glacier advance. We came just in time to move it ahead of the advancing ice.Back from a successful mission, Chris is contemplating the vastness of the place...
The mountain goats love the steep slopes here. They seemed to be about equally curious about us as vice versa.
And on the flight back: A nice view of Mount St. Elias and the Tyndall Glacier. You are looking at 5400 m (18,000 ft) of elevation difference in this picture!

Bering Glacier surge

2011-05-13T10:22:00.000-07:00

Last week we did some flying in the Wrangell St.Elias mountains. The main purpose was to test an airborne radar. In the process we got to fly over America's largest glacier: the Bering Glacier. It is currently in a full surge and its surface is heavily crevassed.

The glacier is flowing several times faster than normal and is now in the process of advancing into a proglacial lake. Icebergs breaking off the glacier almost completely cover Vitus Lake now:

The glacier is heavily crevassed along its entire lower reach. Here is a shot looking up. The mighty St. Elias (about 5400 m or 18,000 ft above sea level) is in the far back (center), and Mt. Miller on the left:

Nuuk Fjords, Greenland

2011-04-21T06:08:00.000-07:00

We (David Podrasky and I) are back in Nuuk, in southwestern Greenland. This area is full of interesting and convoluted fjords with steep-walled mountains on all sides. Very spectacular.
Our goal for the trip was to retrieve data from various instruments (GPS, cameras, seismic monitors) and to install new instrumentation for the summer. The movie shows a timelapse sequence for the Kangiata Nunata Sermia (or KNS), with one image every day since last September:

In the same fjord system we looked at another glacier, Narssap Sermia, that just started retreating. The scars of ice are clearly visible along the valley sides, where the glacier was still attached just a few months ago:

The calving front at Narssap Sermia:

A day trip to Black Rapids

2011-04-16T04:15:00.001-07:00

Once a year I try to get to Black Rapids Glacier to keep a 30+ year mass balance series going. During the past few years Martin Stuefer has been a tremendous help, because he gets us there with a ski-equipped airplane. And he knows how to run a steam drill (see picture)

I don't have many pictures, because I forgot my camera, and the phone doesn't do too well in bright light.
From a first quick look, it appears that last year was again a year of strong melt, even high up on the glacier. Many of the survey poles that should be buried in snow were visible.

A day trip to the Larsen B

2010-11-19T15:50:00.000-08:00

Finally, a weather break. Yesterday late morning, all the weather signs looked good, and we took off in a Twin Otter from Rothera. It was cloudy here, but as we went north, the sky became totally clear and we were presented with phenomenal views of the Larsen C ice shelf. We were very surprised to see many melt pools this early in the season. It is shaping up to be a warm southern summer here.

Getting closer to Scar Inlet, a remnant of the former Larsen B ice shelf, another surprise awaits us: blue open water as far as the eye can see. This is the same area we were not able to access by icebreaker last year. Now, there is no sea ice in sight, and summer hasn't even really started yet. The picture shows the Leppard and Flask Glacier entering the Scar Inlet. We are interested in how these glaciers will react if the ice shelf falls apart.

The first landing side was on the Flask Glacier, where, last February, we installed a sophisticated weather station, that also measures the motion of the ice and uplinks data through the Iridium satellite phone system. We did some minor repairs here.

We had also installed a GPS station last February, which appears to be working just fine. So we didn't land there, but just flew by it. Imagine the surprise when we could still see the tracks that the airplane made (and even the sled tracks from hauling the batteries). These tracks were made more than nine months ago, before the southern winter. There was basically no snow fall here. At the same time, only a few kilometers away, at the top of the ridge, it has snowed about 10 m in the same time!
After a stop on Leppard Glacier to fix solar panels, we landed about 4 km away from a GPS station on land. This is used to measure the rebound of the land, as the ice load is reduced. We did a small upgrade to that station and had a late evening hike back to the plane.

Coming back to Rothera shortly before midnight we were treated with beautiful light as the sun was setting: the end of a successful day after two weeks of waiting.

2010-11-14T12:48:00.000-08:00

We've been stuck at the British research station, Rothera, for well over a week now, and no end of the stormy weather is in sight. Of course we are eager to get onto the glacier, but these are not the conditions to fly a plane in!

I always thought that Antarctica was supposed to be the driest, coldest, and windiest continent. I suppose the peninsula is a bit different. Windy, yes. Cold, not really (it's right around freezing most of the time). Dry, I wish. It's been snowing every day, although the snow tends to come more horizontally than vertically.

We do get the occasional clearing, but unfortunately it just hasn't lasted for more than a few hours.

In Rothera

2010-11-07T08:49:00.001-08:00

We're in Rothera now, a research station of about 50 people run by the British Antarctic Survey. The 5 hour trip was mostly above clouds and unremarkable, except for the lack of cabin heat. The first view of the Peninsula came only shortly before touchdown. It also revealed many layers of lenticular (lens-shaped) clouds, a reminder of the windy conditions we can expect in the field.
We were in Rothera last February, late in the Antarctic summer. It looks different now with more than 1 m of snow. The icebergs and seals add a nice touch to the scenery. Now we're getting ready to catch the first opportunity of a weather window.
The picture below shows the Dash 7 after the arrival from Punta Arenas. The same type of airplane is also used all over Greenland for passenger travel, so I was quite used to it.

On the way to the Antarctic Peninsula

2010-11-05T07:18:00.000-07:00

We're back in Punta Arenas, Chile, from where we departed on our ship-based journey to the Antarctic Peninsula earlier this year. This trip will be shorter (we think). The goal is to dig out a weather station that has seen about 9 m of snow fall since February and to do some upgrades on other instruments we have deployed. We will fly from Punta Arenas to the British station Rothera, from where we continue by Twin Otter. Right now we're waiting for the weather to improve, so we can get to Rothera.
While waiting, Ted Scambos and I got the chance to get on board a NASA DC-8. A team of about 40 scientists and research technicians is in town as part of NASA's Operation Ice Bridge to measure changes in the ice sheets.

The DC-8 is a spacious research platform, and more importantly, it can stay in the air for more than 12 hours. That way a large part of Antarctica can be reached from South America.

The aircraft is filled with instruments: two different kinds of lasers, an ice-penetrating radar, and a gravimeter. Our flight took us straight south, then in a long arc around the South Pole, and then back to Punta Arenas, flying directly over the South Pole (I pressed the shutter a few seconds too early)

We did indeed go around the whole planet yesterday. South Pole station was well visible, even from almost 40,000 feet, but we didn't notice anybody coming out and waving at us.
The ice sheet is a huge white flat place. And yet, there are often interesting things to see. Occasionally a mountain will peak through the ice cover. In the photo below you can see sastrugi, wind ripples that are common on snow. The larger patches are areas known as megadunes (I think), with large slightly darker patches, which are regularly swept clean of new snow. The very old hardened snow reflects light differently, so they stand out.

The most beautiful part was flying over the southern tip of South America though. Tierra del Fuego is a beautiful mountainous and glaciated landscape, and it is a rare treat to see it free of clouds.

A fall trip to Greenland

2010-09-12T13:40:00.000-07:00

We're back in Greenland for a fall trip. The main reason for the trip is to maintain cameras and GPS stations and help them be ready for the long winter. First, Mark and I went to Ilulissat, where we study Jakobshavn Isbrae, one of the largest and fastest glaciers in the world. The weather was not great on the ice, so I don't have many photos. But here is a view of the town of Ilulissat ('City of Icebergs'). The large ice bergs in the background are grounded on a sill, which is an old moraine left behind from an icier time.

After that we left for Nuuk and Kangiata Nunata Sermia. We measured velocities at the front of this tidewater glacier by repeat-surveying of targets that were deployed by helicopter. We're used to have 24 hours of daylight when working in Greenland, but now it is late enough that it gets dark again.

Part of the work involved flying up to the ice to retrieve and service GPS stations that we deployed in April.
A look up the glacier. The faster flowing river of ice stands out clearly.

And a look out the glacier into the fjord. This is the area where Nansen arrived after the first crossing of the ice sheet. He must have been happy to see these mountains!

The front of the glacier seen from our camp:

The area around the glacier and the fjord is beautiful. Caribous also like it:

The benefit of night is the return of the aurora. We had several night of beautiful displays and also enjoyed looking at the stars, so far away from all light pollution.

Yakutat Glacier again

2010-08-29T17:48:00.000-07:00

In early July we headed back to Yakutat Glacier to maintain GPS instruments and do some more radar. The lower few kilometers of the glacier are about to break apart into the lake and several large ice bergs have already become loose.

Here is Joanna dragging a radar sled over the ice
Icebergs are always interesting, as they came in all sorts of shapes and sizes. Here is one with a large circular conduit from a former englacial water channel.

On the way back to Fairbanks we flew across Icy Bay, an impressive bay north of Yakutat. The glaciers there have all retreated to the end of the bay and drop very rapidly from the high mountains to the ocean. The terrain rises very rapidly from sea level all the way to the top of St. Elias at 5489 m (18008 ft) above sea level over a distance of only about 30 km; surely some of the most amazing topography on the planet.

The International School of Blablabla

2010-08-26T05:07:00.000-07:00

Ok, so this post comes a bit late... From 7-17 June we organized the First International University of Alaska Fairbanks McCarthy Summer School of Glaciology or the 'International School of Blablabla' as it came to be known. It was hosted at the wonderful Wrangell Mountains Center, in the old hardware store, which is a leftover of the copper mining era that came to a sudden end in the late 1930s.

McCarthy must be one of the prettiest towns in Alaska. It is one of the access points to the Wrangell-St.Elias National Park, a park the size of Switzerland. Conveniently for a glaciology summer school, it is located right at the foot of the Kennicott Glacier. From the nearby Kennicott, which was the location of the copper mining activities, one can easily access the Root Glacier and enjoy the view of the enormous Stairway Icefall.The mountain sides are host to many rock glaciers, which are ice-cored talus slopes that slowly creep out of their valleys.
We had a one-day excursion to the other side of the Root Glacier to Donohue Lake which drains every year through the bottom of the ice. There was a nice channel cut into the ice, which was now empty and would have been big enough to park a car in (if you could get it there).

Yakutat Glacier

2010-05-25T23:55:00.001-07:00

I'm just back from a trip to Yakutat Glacier near the small town of Yakutat in Southeast Alaska. Yakutat Glacier has been retreating rapidly and is now in the process of loosing a large chunk of ice into a big lake. Many large rifts penetrate the ice and make it look more like the famous ice shelves in Antarctica than a glacier in Alaska.
We are documenting this retreat with cameras, but we also measure ice melt and ice velocities. Part of the program was to find the thickness of the ice. For that Andy Aschwanden and I dragged a radar across the ice surface. We found ice that was thicker than 600 m in places. This is quite impressive, because the ice surface had already dropped by about 400 m in some places during the past 100+ years.

Andy and I camped on the glacier, and once the sun was low in the sky we were surprised to find the snow surface turning black, as if covered in ash:Closer inspection revealed the source: millions of ice worms.

As soon as the wet snow started freezing, they disappeared again, digging themselves into the snow.

After the radar work we spent a few days working near the terminus and on the lake, operating from a beautiful camp site.

And finally, back in Yakutat, we stayed at a beautiful cabin on the beach and enjoyed a well-deserved beer and a camp fire.

The flight back from Yakutat to Anchorage along the coast of Southeast Alaska must be one of the most spectacular flights with a commercial jet, granting views of the most expansive ice cover in North America. First is the pancaked Malaspina Glacier with the enormous Mt. St. Elias in the background (5,400 m).

And then the beautifully sculpted Bering Glacier, the largest glacier in North America, and its big proglacial lake, Vitus Lake.

Glacier timelapse video

2010-04-27T17:48:00.000-07:00

We often use cameras to document ice front positions and glacier flow. Here is an example from three months of motion at KNS. Unfortunately, the glass on the camera box got sandblasted, so the quality is not great. But isn't it fun to see the ice flow like that?

Kangiata Nunata Sermia

2010-04-27T12:52:00.001-07:00

Kangiata Nunata Sermia is a glacier in Greenland where we just started a new study. We use KNS for short. 'Sermia' is Greenlandic and means glacier.
The glacier is at the end of a long fjord system with Greenland's capital Nuuk at the head of the fjord. The first picture is from just outside Nuuk.

The fjord landscape here is exceedingly complicated, fjords split into several arms, which sometimes rejoin. It is easy to see how one could get hopelessly lost without the help of a map and a GPS. These fjords were all carved by glaciers and the sides are often steep and have impressive walls.KNS is more than 100 km away from Nuuk. As you get closer to the glacier you can see the amount of ice retreat since the end of the Little Ice Age, some time in the 19th century. That line is quite distinct, because the newly revealed land is gray and almost void of vegetation, while the older land is covered in lichen, moss, and shrubs and appears brown. The picture below shows the line quite nicely with a distinct moraine. It also has an interesting lake that is now dammed by an old moraine. But it used to be dammed by ice (on the right side), and it is still possible to see the higher shore lines from that time.

Here is an example of a modern ice-dammed lake. These are quite common on the West side of Greenland.We set up camp near the front of the glacier on a beautiful warm day.

But then the weather turned and the next two days we only had occasional glimpses of the ice through fog, although we could here it rumble all the time.
When the weather turned nice again, we couldn't fly because the Icelanders had decided to send ash our way. But finally the weather and the ash cooperated, and we could fly again. We used helicopters to put GPS stations out on the ice to measure ice movement very precisely.
In this study we are trying to understand how the oceans eat away at the ice fronts and make the glaciers retreat. We cooperate with oceanographers from the Climate Center in Nuuk. Our job is to do glacier measurements, such as its speed and rate of advance and retreat, which can all vary seasonally. Here is a look down the glacier and out the ice covered fjord:The scale is difficult to grasp. It's a bit easier when there is a helicopter for scale. Here is a Bell 212, a helicopter big enough for 9 passengers and 2 pilots:

Can you still see it?The ice near the glacier front is just a jumbled mess, and it is near impossible to tell where the glacier ends and where the ocean starts. That's not so uncommon in late winter, and I expect things to clear out quite a bit in summer.

Sometimes one can find patches of ocean water near the glacier's front.
For now we're done putting out instruments. Let's hope it's all working, so we have lots of good data when we return in late summer. Stay tuned.

Flying to Greenland

2010-04-15T16:57:00.000-07:00

This year I don't spend much time at home. This time it's off to Greenland. From the US it can be a long way, either via Copenhagen or Iceland. As federally funded scientists we get to take advantage of military flights. About once a year, NSF contracts the New York Air National Guard to fly a C-5 Galaxy to Greenland. This is the largest aircraft in the US military and can transport up to 200,000 pounds. It is quite an impressive sight when it shows up at the airport in Kangerlussuaq (West Greenland)

Usually, we get to fly in the military transport workhorse: The C-130 Hercules. Here is one, looking tiny in the distance underneath a C-5 turbine. The Air National Guard operates C-130 on wheel skis, so they operate on the icesheet, both in Greenland and Antarctica.
For some reason, Kangerlussuaq also had a visit from the German military. The picture shows two C-160 military transport planes. These are supposed to be replaced with a new European transporter, the notoriously delayed and over budget A400M.
But here is the real workhorse of Antarctic and Greenlandic glaciology: The Twin Otter, flown by Kenn Borek Air from Canada. They have the largest Twin Otter fleet in the world.

A day trip to Black Rapids Glacier

2010-04-05T23:26:00.000-07:00

Today we did a quick trip to Black Rapids Glacier in the Alaska Range. I know this glacier well, since I spent a lot of time up there during my PhD thesis work. Now we're just trying to keep some basic mass balance and velocity measurements going. Because this work is not funded, I rely on the help of some pilots to get me up there. This year Martin Stuefer and Chris Larsen volunteered. Together with Sam Herreid we took advantage of a beautiful warm spring day to land on the glacier and measure our stakes.

Martin Stuefer's PA12 and Chris Larsen's Cessna 140 on the upper Black Rapids Glacier (the Trinity Basin, named after the three peaks in the background).

Mt. Hayes, on the way to the glacier.

During the M7.2 Denali Fault Earthquake several big landslides came down on Black Rapids Glacier. The rock protects the underlying ice from melting, so now it stands out quite prominently. The left side of the picture is glacier covered by rock, and the right side shows some clean glacier ice that has melted down several meters in the intervening years.
A few years ago the McGinnis Glacier in the Alaska Range had a short and vigorous surge, when the whole glacier started moving very fast for a few weeks to months. This picture shows what's left over. This is actually a glacier, even though it is entirely covered in dirt. But the steep front from the surge is still clearly visible after several years.

Exit Glacier

2010-04-04T23:20:00.001-07:00

We spent the last four days doing radio echo sounding work on the Exit Glacier near Seward, Alaska. Exit Glacier is one of the outlets of the Harding Icefield. It is quite easy to access, as a road leads to a National Park Visitor Center at the toe of the glacier. The road is closed in winter, so we used snow machines to access the bottom of the glacier and then proceeded on skis. The original plan was to fly to the highest part of the glacier and work our way down. But the weather was bad and the forecast didn't look promising, so we did it the hard way, and skinned up the glacier hauling our gear. There were five of us, Marijke and myself from UAF, Fritz, Mike and Chuck from the National Park Service. The goal was to measure the ice thickness on the Exit Glacier and along some profiles on the Harding Ice Field.

We had a nice tent camp at about 800 m elevation, from where we did daily trips with the radar equipment, dragging 30 m long transmitting and receiving antennas across the glacier. Every day the weather just kept improving and by Saturday we had a glorious day. We made it out just in time before the next weather system moved in. By Sunday morning there was snow and sleet in Seward, but by then we were on the way home.

Gearing up at the bottom of the glacier; no weather for flying.

Heading up Exit Glacier with sleds and heavy packs

Chuck likes digging, so we had a nice tent camp. Marijke and Chuck are getting dinner ready.
Pulling the radar sleds and antennas

The Harding Icefield
A view down Exit Glacier
Coming back down through the ice fall
The terminus of Exit Glacier, which has been retreating quite dramatically in the last decade or more.

Larsen B picture

2010-02-23T03:22:00.000-08:00

January 21: The Larsen B, finally

2010-02-22T17:19:00.000-08:00

We had a beautiful day on the East coast of the Peninsula yesterday, and an ok day on the West side. But it was good enough to fly. So Erin and I headed to Foyn Point with a seismic installation. I believe it is the only one in the Larsen B embayment and we expect great things from it when the remainder of the ice shelf breaks out. The picture in this entry is not the greatest, but it is my only one that shows the Larsen B. I took it out of a helicopter looking South. Most of the area shows the sea ice covered bay. All of this was covered by an ice shelf several hundred meters thick, that disintegrated during a few weeks in 2002. The only part that remains of it is the Scar Inlet in the distance.

When these ice shelves break up, the glaciers behind it accelerate and start dumping a lot more ice into the ocean. The Flask Glacier, where we were two weeks ago, is expected to react strongly when the Scar Inlet disappears. This is likely to happen in the next few years, because the ice shelf is already quite fractured.

February 20: Return to the ship

2010-02-21T17:35:00.000-08:00

Yesterday evening we returned to the Nathaniel B Palmer. Somebody on
Palmer Station had the idea that we could use another ship, the Laurence
M Gould, to get back. The Gould was just waiting at Palmer. So the five
of us got a taxi ride, and the two NSF Antarctic vessels met up in
Andvord Bay for a nice evening rendez vous.

February 19: Palmer station

2010-02-19T14:16:00.001-08:00

Yesterday the whole glaciology team (Erin, Ted, Terry, Ron, and myself) flew from the British Rothera station to the US Palmer station with a Twin Otter. Palmer is a relatively small and very friendly station (about 40 people). There was a great turnout of people to watch the rare occasion of a plane landing here. The Twin Otter landed on the ice cap behind the station, which drops off quite steeply on all sides, making for an exciting landing.

Palmer station is mainly devoted to biology and oceanography, so we are a bit different with our interest in ice. But we have been treated like kings. The food is great, last night we had a hot tub, and today we got a boat tour to a penguin rookery.

It is late season for penguins, and most have left the island by now and are out at sea again. But there are a few stragglers who are still waiting to finish molting and will head out to sea for fresh food as soon as their coat is fresh.

The current plan is that we will rejoin the ship tomorrow and do some helicopter work from there.

February 17: Boat trip

2010-02-18T06:08:00.000-08:00

We are still in Rothera. The weather is beautiful here, but not at Palmer Station where we are trying to fly to in order to rejoin the ship. While waiting we had the opportunity to join a boat tour of the area around Rothera with some beautiful views of icebergs and seals.

We stepped on a small island (Lagoon Island) that has a little refuge cabin. The island is densely populated with seals and skuas. Skuas are the ravens of the southern hemisphere. They are smart birds, but very ferocious. As I walked up a little outcrop, two of them took off and started dive bombing me, coming within centimeters of my head. This is quite impressive, as they are big birds (about the same size as a raven).

The whole area around Rothera is populated by seals of many kinds. We didn't see any of the Leopard Seals (also known as the wolves of the sea), but we did encounter many fur seals, some crabeaters, and elephant seals.

Fur seals are fun to watch. They behave a bit like dogs with frequent playing and fighting and barking.

The elephant seals are not very active. They are molting right now and basically just waiting for their new fur to grow. Basically they resemble giant farting and belching sausages.

Crabeaters seals.

February 16: Back in Rothera

2010-02-17T17:02:00.001-08:00

A little over two weeks ago we left Rothera by Twin Otter to do four glacier installations and some radar work. We came back yesterday. The Antarctic Peninsula lived up to its meteorological reputation and we spent much of our time in whiteout conditions. It all started ok, with a landing on the upper Flask Glacier. Our intended landing site was obscured by fog, so we were dropped off a bit further upstream. The picture shows the Twin Otter taking off on a beautiful evening. The next time it could land here safely was eight days later.

By the next day, the view changed to mostly white, a common theme for the following two weeks. Here is our camp:

The weather had changed too quickly to bring out the GPS installation, so we didn't have much of our equipment. However, we did manage to tow a radar across the glacier to measure how deep the glacier is. Erin is trying to navigate without much visual reference. I am dragging another sled with the radar receiver and computer behind me.

About a week later, the weather broke and we were treated to two beautiful days, and for the first time this field season, I saw a nice moon rise. This made me think of Sonja who promised to send kisses to the moon for me. So I sent one too.

This weather wasn't there to stay though. It took another week before we had flying days again and last Saturday we made it to the adjacent Leppard Glacier, and on Sunday to our final destination at Scar Inlet. This is the last remainder of the Larsen B ice shelf. It will also disintegrate in the next few years, and then the glaciers behind it will start flowing much faster. We are now well positioned to measure and document this change.

Now we are back in Rothera, hoping to rejoin the ship via a flight to Palmer Station.

January 29: In Rothera

2010-01-29T09:29:00.000-08:00

On Tuesday the ship came down to Rothera, a British Antarctic station. The passage down was spectacular. The picture shows the "Tickle Channel", named because of its very narrow passage. It's the first time the Nathaniel B Palmer traveled this route, and it was quite exciting. As usual on the Peninsula, the landscape was breathtaking. To me the peaks looked very alpine.
In Rothera we met Ted, Erin, Ron and Terry who had flown from the ice core site via Twin Otter. We unloaded cargo and some fuel to get ready to access some of our glacier sites via Twin Otter. The ship left again at midnight, after people had taken advantage of the station's bar.
We organized gear on Wednesday and have been waiting for a flight since then. The weather is continuously bad over the glacier, so we're standing by and are enjoying the hospitality of Rothera.

January 25: On the way to Rothera

2010-01-25T17:24:00.000-08:00

Today we received permission from the National Science Foundation to proceed to Rothera, the British research station. From there I will get off the ship and rejoin the rest of the glaciology team who flew there by Twin Otter from the ice drill camp. We will then do our glaciology program on the southern side of the Larsen B via Twin Otter and plan to rejoin the ship in about two weeks. In the meantime, satellite images show that the sea ice on the east side is starting to break up, so the ship is going to take advantage of that and head towards the Larsen B, where we wanted to be in the first place.

The weather today was strange, as usual. First, we received a phone call from the drill camp. They had blue skies, but we had very low clouds. Then the weather cleared and I took off with somebody to start installing a GPS station on the ice. But by that time, the clouds had moved over the glaciers and, again, we had to return to the ship. Today's picture shows the ship from the helicopter in a spectacular setting.

As I write we are at 66 1' S and 66 1' W, headed for Rothera, which is at the southern tip of Adelaide Island. We'll be following a very narrow channel to get there, which is faster and protects us from the open ocean swell. It is beautiful now, and the scenery just doesn't stop to be impressive.

After tomorrow I probably will not have email access, so this blog is likely to go quiet for a while. I'll report once we rejoin the ship or the civilized world.

January 24: One station done

2010-01-24T16:22:00.000-08:00

I remain the only glaciology member on the ship. Everybody else is at an ice core camp, which is about 20 km away from here. This is a somewhat unusual situation for me, as I usually try to be among the first ones out to a field site. Ted, Erin, Terry, and Ron installed an AMIGOS (Automated Meteorological Ice-Geophysics Observation System) and did some radar work see how deep the ice is and to look at layers in the ice. The ice core camp is run by Ellen Mosley-Thomson of Ohio State University and they are using the ice core to look at past climate in this part of Antarctica. We got one flight in early in the morning; and I already sat in the helicopter with rotors turning to take off on a reconnaissance flight. But once again, the weather closed in, and there was no more flying for the day.

The variability of the weather is amazing. I took the attached picture last night before going to bed, when several whales showed up right by the ship. We had a beautiful sunset with severe clear skies. Only 20 km away, the ice core camp was in a total whiteout.

While we were waiting for the other glaciologists to return, the marine science continues. We surveyed the entire Barilari Bay, which was previously unmapped. This is done via a so-called multibeam survey, where sound waves are used to map the bottom. The results are amazing. One can see where glaciers used to carve the bottom of the ocean, and where they have been digging deep marine basins. Marine geologists take cores and try to date them, because the retreat of the glaciers leaves clear signs in the ocean sediments.

January 23: Beautiful day in Barilari

2010-01-24T05:02:00.000-08:00

We had a gorgeous day in an amazing landscape; or should I say icescape? The bay is surrounded by steep mountains, all of which are draped by ice. Despite the warm and sunny weather by the ship, the mountain tops still had lots of clouds. A few successful flights were made to the drill camp, which is only a few kilometers away. The rest of the glaciology team is up there now, installing a weather station. They got stuck there in bad weather. I'm the only one in the glaciology team remaining on the ship. I was supposed to do some reconnaissance on the glaciers for installing GPS monuments, but the clouds in the glacier valleys never cleared sufficiently for us to do that. It is kind of amazing, given the nice weather here. Hopefully
tomorrow...

January 22: Barilari camp

2010-01-22T17:16:00.000-08:00

Yesterday we journeyed south to Barilari Bay (65 57' S; 64 37' W). We attempted to fly to the ice cap above us, where a team from Ohio State University is drilling an ice core. But we could never get there, because of blowing snow and low visibility. So back to the ship it was; the old story. But things are looking up. I took today's picture just a few minutes ago, at 10 pm local time. It has cleared up a lot and there is good hope that by tomorrow it will be clear. I'll keep my fingers crossed.

January 20: Visitors

2010-01-20T17:43:00.000-08:00

We woke up to find two ships in the neighborhood, one from the Chilean navy and a cruise ship. Later another cruise ship showed up. Then there was an airplane (see picture): a Chilean P3. Quite a busy place. I suppose we are not the only ones who think that this is a nice place. The weather is essentially unchanged. It's not bad, but we have solid low cloud cover that prevents any flying into the mountains. Some of the geologists were dropped off on small islands to look for evidence of land rebound: As the glaciers retreat the reduced weight of the ice causes the land to rise. They are also collecting erratic rocks that are then dated to find the time of
deglaciation.

In the meantime a program of marine measurements and coring continues. Last night a ROV (remotely operated vehicle) was in the water for five hours taking video of all the critters that live on the ocean floor. It is full of little fish, krill, octopus, squid and other things. No wonder the whales and penguins like it here.

January 19: Lots of wildlife

2010-01-19T16:12:00.000-08:00

We are still in Andvord Bay, doing marine science. It is an amazing place. The fjord entrance is relatively narrow, so in the inner bay you have this impression of being completely surrounded by ice. The waters here are rich in nutrients and consequently there is a lot of wildlife. We've been seeing lots of whales, and today a few penguins came close to the ship. Occasionally they like to porpoise along and at first look one might mistake them for dolphins.

The weather has not been too bad, but the cloud ceiling is quite low, which keeps preventing us from doing the glacier work. But we still have a month and a half to go; eventually it will have to clear up, I hope.

January 18: Andvord Bay

2010-01-18T17:11:00.000-08:00

Today we moved one bay to the north, to Andvord Bay. The bays here were all named by a Belgian Antarctic Expedition, after some people who presumably had something to do with it. The weather continues to keep us on the ship. The low hanging clouds just don't make great flying weather. The scenery is similar to Flandres Bay, so today's picture is not that different from an earlier one. There are lots of whales here though. I didn't get a good picture of any of them, but saw at least nine Humpbacks and one Minke Whale.

January 17: Back in Flandres Bay

2010-01-17T15:52:00.000-08:00

Last night we got back into Flandres Bay, much to my relief: No more ocean swells that roll the ship. For a while it looked like we would be able to fly, but then the ceiling kept coming down and that was it. So we started on marine work again. The ship goes along transects, and in regular intervals we measure physical properties of the ocean and look at life on the sea floor with a camera.

The bad weather actually makes for really nice scenery with low clouds hanging on the mountains, as in today's photo. We will move to the next fjord north tomorrow and keep hoping for opportunities to fly.

January 16: A day of marine science

2010-01-16T18:14:00.000-08:00

We spent another day out at sea, several hours west of the Antarctic Peninsula. The marine geologists got a 4 m long core from the bottom of the ocean (at 600 m depth). These cores can be used to see when the Antarctic Ice Sheet last extended to that point. The marine biologists deployed a camera to look for the creatures that are crawling around on the ocean floor. They call it a yo-yo camera, because it is deployed to the bottom, then raised a little bit so the ship can move, then they take another picture, etc. On a day like this, there is not much to do for us terrestrial people. I can't work for too long in a row on the computer before getting a headache when we are on the open ocean. At least today it was not as rough as yesterday. Now we are on the way back to Flandres Bay, where we were two days ago. If the weather is good, we'll fly, but the forecast is not promising.

Being out at sea gives us fewer opportunities for interesting pictures, so today I chose one from the ship. It shows my bunk, that I'm sharing with Ronald Ross, a Scottish engineer who lives in Australia and builds the glacier meteorological and geophysical stations that we will deploy. The room is not very big, but the ship offers plenty of space for lab work, computer work, watching movies, or holding meetings. So overall, we have a fair amount of space.

January 15: Bellinghausen Sea

2010-01-15T16:56:00.000-08:00

Today was quiet for us terrestrial people. The program was to wait for better weather while the marine geology team was going to get some samples of marine sediments. We had some hopes to get to Hugo Island and measure the ice thickness and accumulation rate of its tiny ice cap. But the seas were too rough for coring, so we spent the day acquiring multibeam data to map previously unknown ocean floor. Now we're heading toward Palmer Station and are at 64 deg 53' S and 64 deg 16' W.

When the seas are high, I tend to function badly at a computer screen, so I spent my day reading and watching movies, and hoping for calmer water. Now it is better again. Today's picture is actually a few days old, when two humpback whales joined us for a while and circled around the ship.

January 14: Skunked again

2010-01-14T15:33:00.000-08:00

This morning the weather looked great. Erin and I were ready and got into the helicopter to install a timelapse camera and a seismometer. But once we were in the air the weather looked suspicious on the other side of the mountains, where we wanted to get to. We climbed to 9000 feet and were presented with a view of solid clouds as far as the eye could see. So back to the ship. Today's picture was taken out of the helicopter on the way back to the ship. We will now embark on two days of marine science, measuring profiles of salinity and temperature in the ocean, deploying an ROV (remotely operated vehicle) and taking sediment cores from the bottom of the ocean to study the glacial history of the area.

January 13: Flanders Bay

2010-01-13T15:28:00.000-08:00

Today we arrived at Flanders Bay (currently at 65 deg 5 min S and 63 deg 12 min W) after coming down Gerlache Strait on the western side of the Antarctic Peninsula. I would have to rate this landscape as one of the most amazing I have ever seen in my life. What a privilege and treat to be here. We are in narrow fjords with steep walls that are covered in hanging ice that comes right down into the ocean. The mountains look a bit like the highest peaks in the Alaska Range, but sea level is almost at the peaks. There is rich wildlife with many sea birds and penguins. We also enjoyed a visit from some humpback whales who decided to circle the ship a few times.

We were ready to put in a timelapse camera and a seismic station today, but the clouds kept coming lower and we eventually had to give up on the plan. High winds are forecast, but hopefully it will clear up tomorrow.

January 12: Go West

2010-01-12T16:33:00.000-08:00

We are making our way south on the western side of the peninsula, and we are hoping to be able to do a lot of the glaciology from this side. This will involve flying GPS and meteorological stations over the crest of the Antarctic Peninsula to the glaciers on the eastern side. We are at 63 deg 25 min S and 60 deg 14 min W and it will take us another day to reach our target. This side of the peninsula is less protected, so we are exposed to waves again. But it is beautiful. There are large varieties of icebergs coming up from West Antarctica.

Today's picture was actually taken yesterday, as we were returning from the glacier. It shows the ship in heavy ice cover with the trail where it had been breaking ice. We turned around from that position yesterday evening.

January 11: First day on the ice

2010-01-11T17:48:00.000-08:00

Yesterday we reached the end of the road. Sea ice conditions became so rough that it was not practical to continue. The ship can cut through an impressive amount of ice, but it takes time and fuel. So we decided to head to the western side of the peninsula first, and do some of the glacier work from that side. But first, several science projects happened today to take advantage of the great weather. Various teams were sampling sea ice, doing oceanographic measurements, and collecting rocks for exposure dating (to find the glacial history of the area).

Erin Pettit and I had the opportunity to fly to the Roehss Glacier on James Ross Island to do some velocity and radar measurements. It was a fantastic opportunity in very beautiful surroundings. You can see from the picture that I was happy! By the way: the exposed bedrock in the background was almost entirely ice covered in 2006. Where I stand, the glacier has lost 100 m+ in elevation in just a few years.

January 10: Beautiful sun set

2010-01-10T18:15:00.000-08:00

Today we made our way through Prince Gustav Channel between the Peninsula and James Ross Island. We are currently at 64 deg 13 min S and 58 deg 37 min W. Most of the afternoon we were making our way through thick fast ice (ice that is still attached to the shore), but now we've stopped. The way ahead is full of very thick ice with many ice bergs (from glaciers) frozen in. So we are going to check the area out with a helicopter before proceeding or turning back and going another way. This is proving to be a year with above-average sea ice cover and we are having trouble getting to the Larsen B, where we really want to be.

In the evening we were treated to a beautiful sunset, and today's picture shows some of the marine techs at the bow of the ship enjoying the camera opportunity.

January 9: Navigating through heavy sea ice

2010-01-09T17:01:00.000-08:00

Today our progress south was stopped by heavy sea ice. It was impressive to see and hear the ship go through very heavy sea ice cover. But eventually it slowed us down sufficiently; so now we're headed north a bit to try a different way.
The ice here comes in a variety of size and shape. From the 1 m + thick snow covered sea ice to a variety of icebergs that can be hundreds of meters thick. Some are jagged and have turned over, others are very tabular in shape. They have come here from many different places, breaking off some of the big Antarctic ice shelves. It is quite likely that some of the bergs come from the recently broken up Wilkins Ice Shelf. Other, smaller, ice bergs are probably of more local origin.

Going through sea ice brings us frequently close to penguins and seals. So far we've seen the Crabeater seal and Adelie penguins (see picture). I also thought I saw a whale blowing in the distance.

We spent most of the day on deck going through some glacier travel issues and taught self-rescue and Z-pulley techniques to people who might accompany us to the glaciers.

In Antarctica

2010-01-08T16:19:00.000-08:00

Last night we reached the tip of the Antarctic Peninsula and with it first views of ice bergs. We spent the day calibrating the multibeam system to measure the bottom topography of the ocean. When it is operating, the transmitter emits a repeating click that can be heard on all the lower
levels of the ship and that will be with us for the next few weeks.
We (the glaciologists) are getting things ready. It will still be several days until we're within reach of the glaciers.

The Drake Passage

2010-01-07T21:21:00.001-08:00

The last two days we sailed through the Drake Passage. The first day held true to its promise: 50 knot winds and 30-40 foot seas kept most of the people horizontal. The first time I tried to eat was dinner. But today it all calmed down and the going is incredibly smooth. And we've almost made it. As I write we are at 61 deg 26 min S, almost at the end of the passage. In fact, we can already see some of the islands on the northern end of the peninsula.

One of the great things about being in the southern ocean is the opportunity to see albatross. Today's picture shows a young Wandering Albatross. You can tell it's young, because the wings are still mostly black. These amazing birds stay at sea for most of their lives. They are amazing gliders and can reach wing spans exceeding 3.5 m. It is a beautiful sight when they glide along the ship, easily keeping up and only make small changes to the shape of the wing, going for long periods without having to flap their wings. Unfortunately, these great birds are increasingly threatened by long line fishing (they eat the bait, get hooked, and drown), and by plastic garbage that floats in the ocean and accumulates in their stomachs.

Goodbye Americas

2010-01-07T07:59:00.001-08:00

We are just about 55 deg S and are about to leave South America. The picture shows Tierra del Fuego to the West. In the East we got a nice view of Islas de los Estados, an island with beautifully carved mountains, but unfortunately no glaciers are left there. Not too much is happening on the ship as we are all waiting to cross the Drake Passage first. The science will really pick up in a few days when we'll make it to the Antarctic Sound.

One of the nice things on a ship is the bird watching. It is a unique opportunity to see Albatross. Quite a few of those have been following the ship, and I even got to see the beautiful Wandering Albatross, which can reach a wing span of 3.5 m and is a master glider. In the evening we also saw several pods of porpoises who followed the ship for a while and were frolicking in the water.

Departing Punta Arenas

2010-01-07T07:58:00.001-08:00

We left Punta Arenas late afternoon after a two-day delay, because we had to wait for some critical cargo. Now we're on the way out towards the Atlantic from where we will cross the famous and feared Drake Passage. The picture was taken as we pulled away from the pier in Punta Arenas, and it shows the brand new British research ship James Cook. Currently we are still in Magellan's Strait and are enjoying a beautiful evening. Tomorrow morning we'll be out in the open ocean and things are expected to get a bit rougher.

Punta Arenas

2010-01-01T05:20:00.000-08:00

Happy new year!
Three days ago I arrived in Punta Arenas on my way to the Antarctic Peninsula. Punta Arenas is at the southern end of Chile and the South American continent. The picture shows a view of the famous Magellan Strait.

For the next two months we will be on board the Nathaniel B Palmer, a US research vessel. The ship is quite big, bigger than any I have been on, with generous lab space, meeting rooms, etc. While it looks big in port, it will feel like a nutshell once we're out in the Drake passage (between South America and the Antarctic Peninsula)

Below is a picture of the main deck on the back side of the ship. Yesterday was very busy, stowing all the cargo away. The cruise has marine biologists, physical oceanography, marine geology, and us land-based creatures. We will be using the ship as a platform to get to the glaciers in the Larsen B/C area of the Antarctic Peninsula. We have two helicopters available.

A view of the Nathaniel B Palmer (the closer one) and the British James Cook on New Year's Eve.

We won't have internet access on the ship (except for email), so I won't be able to update this blog. But watch for updates on http://iceshelf.wordpress.com/

Windless Bight

2009-12-03T02:25:00.000-08:00

So I spent the last two weeks in Antarctica, near the US station of McMurdo. Our camp was at a location called Windless Bight with a beautiful view of the Earth's southernmost active volcano: Mt. Erebus.

Our goal was to drill a hole through the ice shelf, which is about 180 m thick. Here is a picture of all of our equipment as it is being transported out to the field site on two trailers.

Here is how it looked like when it was all set up:

A hole that goes straight to the bottom of the ice into the ocean:

And here is a picture of the profiler that went down the hole. It monitors ocean properties under the ice shelf and communicates to its designers (Tim Stanton standing, and Jim Stockel) at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey via Iridium:

All in all a very nice and successful field season. Finally a parting shot of Mt. Erebus, peacefully puffing away: