Who we are and what we're doing!


Welcome to our project site! We are six National Science Foundation-funded researchers from Pacific Lutheran University, Berkeley Geochronology Center, University of Washington, and the University of Maine who are studying the glacial history of the Pensacola Mountains in West Antarctica.

Our 2011-2012 field season is almost underway! We will spend about two weeks in McMurdo equipping ourselves for another month in the Pensacola Mountains. We spent December 16th, 2010 through January 17th, 2011 in the Pensacola Mountains, where we mapped and sampled glacial deposits along the Foundation Ice Stream. This year, we will revisit last year's field sites, and map new regions of the mountain range.

Our work will track the thinning history of the Weddell Sea Sector of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet, and will also provide insights into ice sheet dynamics, and the history of sea level contribution from this sector of the ice sheet.

In the coming weeks and months, we will use this site to show you our preparations for the 2011-2012 field season, and to share our initial results as they emerge. Please check back to catch up with our progress. Thanks for finding us!

Sunday, January 22, 2012

December 19th - Cargo offload and LC-130 take-off!

Hi Friends,


In my last post, I described our flight from McMurdo to the Thomas Hills. In this post, I pick up where I left off. Upon touching down and taxiing in the Thomas Hills (see previous post), the LC-130 crew offloaded our cargo!
Pallets were released out a hatch at the rear of the plane. You can see the load master crouching down at the right of the picture. Thanks to the New York Air National Guard for superior field support!
The plane continued to taxi as pallets of cargo were released.
Once all of the pallets were off-loaded, the load master closed the hatch.
After the hatch was closed, the crew opened a side door for us  to hand carry our baggage to our site. In addition to carrying his personal baggage, Greg is carrying a satellite telephone in a small black carrying case. One of our first tasks upon stepping off of the plane is to make contact with McMurdo Station. 
We were excited to set foot in our new home!
We headed toward the cargo pallets, where we would eventually set up camp. 


Greg made contact with McMurdo Station and established our field camp location.
We also had to set up a shelter before the plane could take off. We quickly pitched a Scott tent to avoid delaying the crew.
We confirmed with crew members that we had contacted McMurdo, and then they headed back to the plane to prepare for take off. 
After a slight delay in our put-in flight (it was originally scheduled for the previous week), we were really excited to be in the field!
Plane take-offs are irresistible photo opportunities.
The crew had to prepare the jet-assisted take-off units before boarding the plane. 
The crew is ready for take-off!
One of the challenges of our field put-in was sastrugi, or dunes of windblown snow. Sastrugi can damage a plane during take-off. For example, a ski can get caught behind a large sastrugi and shear off as the plane is accelerating. 
While we couldn't hear the jet-assisted take-off units, the plume of smoke told us that they had fired!
Much to our delight, the crew buzzed our camp before heading back toward the South Pole!!

The LC-130 disappeared in the distance. The next time we saw an LC-130 was for our camp pull-out this past Thursday evening!
In upcoming posts, I'll show you our camps and our work in the Thomas Hills! Thanks for checking in with us,


Claire
Posted by at

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)