The Middle of Nowhere

Photos © 2005 Seth White

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Around the end of November I went out to the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) Divide camp for a few days (a link to this project's homepage is here). Why? The "short" answer is as follows. This camp exists to support a deep ice core drilling project which will yield a high resolution record of global climate change and stability of this ice sheet. This is the first year of 7 years planned for this project, and during this season several other science projects were done in the vicinity of the WAIS camp. One of these groups came to do deep radar studies of the ice structure around the vicininty of WAIS. This group, led by Kenny Matsuoka from U. of Washington, used UNAVCO GPS receivers to both precisely track the paths of their radar surveys and to measure positions of strain grids that they installed at various locations. So our base station was established at the WAIS camp to improve accuracy of their positioning measurements. Data from this base station was also used by two other groups doing work in the area this summer. But more than that, installing a "permanent" GPS station at the camp would also be useful for other science groups doing future work out there, as well as for surveys of the camp itself...or for anything else that could utilize a GPS base station. Because GPS is so useful for so many different applications, it makes sense to have a GPS station here as part of the camp infrastructure. The UNAVCO polar group is set up to provide exactly this kind of service, so Bjorn proposed this station. The idea was approved by NSF, so I was sent out to set it up. And, so, that is why I went to WAIS. I'm sure you're glad you asked. This photo is one of my favorites from this season. An LC-130 parked in the cul-de-sac next to the camp, props spinning, offloading fuel through this hose, while a crewman stands off the nose of the plane.
Here's another from the aircraft operations - a Tucker Terra poised to haul away some cargo from the rear of the plane while the operator and the ANG crewman have a chat. The noise while the plane is idling is wonderful. And it hasn't gotten old for me (yet). When a plane visits a place like this, whether it's Pole, Summit, or WAIS, I usually stop for a minute and check it out. The crew very rarely shuts down, and the noise really is something to experience. I never wear earplugs when I board a plane with the props spinning, and in fact I don't put them in until we've taken off. I like the sound of the engines spinning as I walk up to the door, and I like to feel the sound of the plane as it taxis down the skiway. The best moment is right at the start of takeoff, where the engines rev up and the whole thing shudders under the vibration of the engines and the prop wash. Yes, it's that cool. But anyhow, this vehicle is a new "prototype" made by Tucker (of legendary Tucker Sno-Cat fame). The USAP bought one of these things for evaluation at WAIS before deciding whether or not to purchase a fleet of them...yes, an astute decision! It's a modified version - evidently the cab was lowered so it would fit in a Herc, and presumably some other mods were done to the vehicle for Antarctic service. The crew at WAIS seemed to like it pretty well, so maybe we'll be seeing more of these on the ice in the near future.
While the fuel is being offloaded into the camp's fuel bladders, one of the camp staff stands by the bladders and waits for the ANG guy to signal when the fuel transfer is complete. So this person, he or she, stands around soaking in the cold...and looks something like this. It's a pretty mundane moment in the life of the WAIS camp, and in fact I don't even remember who the red-parka-clad person doing this job was today. But I like this photo. "I reckon that there fuel's gonna fill up this here bladder eventually. Yep."
Here's that same plane hurtling down the skiway after its stop at WAIS. It's about a 3 hour flight one-way, and is more or less due east from McMurdo.
Geographically, South Pole is more isolated than WAIS. But at WAIS I felt much more as if I was in the middle of nowhere. This had a lot to do with the fact that the WAIS camp was only two weeks old when I got there. The put-in crew had done an astonishing amount of work in those two weeks - several tents were up, vehicles were running around everywhere, and work at the foundation of the drill site had begun - but the camp was much less cushy than Pole or even Summit. The electricians hadn't yet been out to get the generators online, so we used small Honda generators for power. There was no galley structure, so the cooks were doing their thing in a Rac-tent. No shower structure was up yet, although the week after I left they did get one going. And the only comms to McMurdo were HF radio and Iridium phones. It was a new thing for me to see a camp like this so early in its existence, and quite interesting. This is the lunch tent, and a box outside with a dire warning to those who might make off with it...
Another one of Downtown WAIS. I've spent 21 months on the ice, 16 of them at McMurdo. And lemme tellya, it is easy for one to get dulled to the reality of Antarctica when living at this station. It's comfortable, not that cold (at least in the summer), full of activity, diversions, and attractions, and absolutely crawling with a wide spectrum of people. There is a recreation office staffed with 4 or 5 people during the summer, there are three bars, a bowling alley, and full-time internet connection (which was just doubled in capacity this summer...in a very smooth transition). For chrissakes, this station has an actual HR office which, incidentally, has ~50 photos that the HR rep posted of *herself* on the window (I'm not making that up). Yes, there are certainly many unique and challenging aspects to living here, and demands are placed upon a person which are not usually found in the "real world". Every person who spends any amount of time on the ice, whether it's at McMurdo or not, WILL be tested in one way or another, but in terms of your surroundings and comforts McMurdo is very easy. Fortunately, however, I have had the opportunity to visit a good number of places outside Greater McMurdoland and I always appreciate these experiences.
Due to weather, the WAIS camp put-in was delayed for several weeks. But the crew accomplished an amazing amount of work this season and, astonishingly, they actually got done early. I was very impressed by the dedication and motivation that most of them had to this project. Here are the living quarters as seen on an overcast night. This scene was much more common at WAIS this summer than the clear, sunny day.
Another WAIS scene, somewhat overcast, but with a dull halo around the sun.
This is the comms tent, a corner of which I used to build up the GPS base station. The station itself is contained inside the blue box sitting outside the door (with solar panel nearby). It was quite nice having a heated workspace in the tent to build up the system!
So here's the GPS base station in all its glory, sitting about 100 yards from the camp buildings. The blue box has the receiver, solar charger, and batteries, while the metal poles hold up a single solar panel. The wooden pole has the GPS antenna and antenna to transmit data back to a computer in the comms tent. The system worked flawlessly all summer and the science groups were able to get all the GPS base station data they needed...I feel pretty good about that, especially since I had to design, build, test, pack, and ship the entire thing in one day since some scheduling rearrangements moved up my flight to WAIS by a few days.
And now, a totally gratuitous and self-indulgent photo: the inside of the blue box, showing the guts of the system. I should mention that although I didn't need a lot of help installing the system, every time I did need something the crew was right on it. Especially Dave and Billy...I'm already looking forward to working with these guys again. I mentioned this before in a webpage earlier in the season, but now that the season is done I'll say it again. With only three or four exceptions, the support I got from people here was first rate. Even when someone would screw up, someone else would turn around and make things right. For example, my flight to WAIS got unexpectedly moved up by two days, so I had to scramble like mad to get ready. In a meeting with the fixed-wing coordinator to work out the logistics, this girl working there told me that I just needed to get my cargo to the Cargo office by the close of business the day before and it'd make it on the next day's flight. This was a relief, and since this girl has a ton of ice time and sounded confident about this, I didn't call Cargo to confirm. Oops. So after scrambling to build the system that day I showed up around 5:00 with my cargo...and got an incredulous look from Michael the supervisor. But after a minute he said they'd take care of it and sure enough all my stuff was on its way with me the next day. He was not obligated to scramble to make up for the bogus info the girl had given me (and for my lack of confirmation), but he did, and I really appreciated it. What's more, if he hadn't gotten my cargo on that plane, I'd have been stuck at WAIS for 8 extra days due to weather that set in around the camp right after I arrived back to McMurdo.
This is the ice-penetrating radar sled built by Kenny and his group. With all the antennas and other crap hanging off it, they dubbed it "Frankensled". They did several lengthy traverses out from the WAIS camp this season using this system to probe the structure of the ice in the general vicinity of the drill site (i.e. within a 100 km or so, if I recall right). They also set up some strain grids at various sites, and by using GPS positions of these grids this year and next year, they will be able to measure how much the ice is moving. We provided several receivers for their group during their traverses, but all did not work as smoothly as I had hoped. They got all the GPS data they needed, but there was a series of little bugs which afflicted the equipment I provided them. Ends of cables falling off, intermittent connections, batteries getting killed by some unknown gremlins in a solar charging system, and LED's on receivers not working. In fact, they had more little bugs like this than nearly all other groups put together...and we worked with over 20 groups this year. This bothers me, especially because this group was composed of some very cool people. They kept a very good dynamic and positive vibe throughout the season, and even in the face of some significant technical issues they kept things together and stayed focused...and ended up having a successful season.
This is a tent set up next to the drill site, with a Pisten Bully used to groom the area for the foundation of the drill tent. The snow at WAIS, so I'm told, is ideal for use as a structural material. And just a few dozen kilometers away in any direction, the snow surfaces and characteristics are totally different. I once heard that the Inuit have about 100 words for snow, and I do not doubt it.
Old and new: a vintage Skidoo Alpine snowmobile and the Tucker Terra. There were several of these old snowmobiles around the camp...machines which had seen a lot of service. Note the battle scars on the body and the old-style USARP sticker. Bet it has a lot of stories to tell. When I got there, I was cautioned that one of these snowmobiles only went in a straight line. No turns. One of the guys fixed it soon thereafter, but it was pretty humorous to arrive at a place like this and see this old beat up snowmobile that you had to *lift up* to turn around.
Inside one of the outhouses I found this: the PENGUIN OF DEATH. It made me laugh out loud, so after I was done taking a shit I went and got my camera.
The lunch tent. The guy on the left is Burmie, who I met at Summit last year. He, Billy, and Mark were all at WAIS this summer...all good people. It was nice to arrive out there and already know a couple people. This is the inside of a Rac-tent, by the way. The guy who designed this structure was actually at WAIS when I was there, but I can't remember his name.
A mechanic named Buck was also at the camp at this time to help assemble a Caterpillar bulldozer that had been flown in. Cool guy. He wanted to send out a few lighters...and here they are, along with the unbelievable overkill packaging job that is required to fly lighters around. That box behind the three (3) Bic lighters was full of bubble wrap and absorbent pads, and probably took somebody in the cargo department a good 30 minutes to pack, label, and ship. Note the sticker on the side - these three old lighters actually got their own TCN number for shipment. Ye gods.
Inside the comms tent - a beautiful sign made by Billy and some other people. The sign depicts the WAIS site, at the "continental divide" of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet. Ice to the west will flow to the Ross Sea, while ice to the east will flow to the Amundsen sea. In fact, this is the primary reason why this site was chosen for the ice core. The ice is not flowing much at this site, so snow that fell here will be more or less compacted straight downward into ice. Thus, records retrieved from the ice core will be as close to a uniform chronological history as can be found on the ice sheet.
On my flight back, Buck and I were the only two passengers. Surprisingly, we landed at Williams Field and not at the Sea Ice Runway that we'd taken off from on our way out. Turns out, we were the first passengers to land at "Willy" during the 2005-06 season.