ROSS IN THE POLES ... tales from the Arctic and Antarctica: Snowmobile Adventures

Snowmobiling out on the Ross Sea

In addition to our 2 main snow catching locations, we are also taking sea ice cores and snow samples from a transect leading right up to the sea ice edge. We are interested in seeing how the snow and ice chemistry changes moving closer to the Ice Shelf. Since these locations are closer to McMurdo, our mode of transportation is snowmobiling. Our first day out, I was psyched that our moralee was my friend Travis who works at the science lab on station. Since this was a last minute trip, the moralee request went directly to the science lab workers, rather than all of station. Travis only has the chance for one morale trip all season (and can somewhat choose when he goes), so we felt honoured that he wanted to join us. Seeing as the plan called for going right near the ice edge, there was high probability for penguin sightings (the real reason he probably wanted to come).

Frost flowers at the sea ice edge

Our first site was right near the sea ice edge, which also meant that we had some incredible views of freshly formed ice. Since we generally pass the edge every time we fly on the helos, we have been monitoring the changes to the edge over the last month. We had known that there had been some recent sea ice growth, and were psyched to see meteorological conditions had been ideal for forming "frost flowers." Frost flowers are small crystals (a few inches) that form when a crack in the sea ice refreezes, with very cold air temperatures and little wind. As these flowers are incredibly salty, it was originally believe that they were the main contributor to the bromine explosion and ozone depletion events. However, Rachel spent a good amount of her postdoc discovering that frost flowers are actually not the main driver for the transport of bromide, and thus we are examining blowing snow. The other general attraction usually at the ice edge is penguins, but they all must have been playing hide and go seek. WTF? This was the ideal location to see them, and we had sold this trip to Travis with that in mind. After a valiant search effort, we had to admit defeat in our wildlife hunt.

Emperor penguin on a mission

Retrieving the ice core was thankfully pretty uneventful (we are becoming old hands at this). The only "fun" part was that we were unable to start the drill, so we cored it by hand (as I said earlier, it was great having Travis there). Each core is usually its own adventure, as all of the fittings freeze up and become impossible to separate. After much trial and error, we have found screw drivers to be an invaluable tool for lining up holes and separating tubes. With the winds starting to pick up and temperatures falling, we decided to take only one sea ice core, five ice thickness measurements/surface snow collection, and return back to the warmth of a wood stove, hot cider, and log cabin (minus the stove, cider and cabin of course). Lo and behold, within spitting distance of McMurdo, we saw a lone Emperor penguin B-lining it southwards across the ice. Alas, Travis got to see his penguin!

Inside an ice cave

We continued the transect on Saturday with a moralee by the name of Kish. Once again though, the weather Gods wanted to test us, providing pretty chilly temps and the strongest winds we have measured while in the field at 30 mph (remember: we haven't been able to get out on the windiest days since we generally travel by helo). This all adds up to wind chills in the -40 neighborhood: perfect for a fun day in the field. Although our trip was a walk in the park in comparison, I couldn't help but think of Shackleton and his boat journey as we ventured off onto the ice (of course, Shackleton was in a beat-up 22-ft life-boat after having sunk his ship and been stranded for over a year on the ice, and we on fancy snowmobiles). Still, we had our fearless leader Shackleton (Rachel), the navigator Worsley (me), and the carpenter McNish (Kish). Rachel drove the lead sled with me as passenger and sled in tow, while Kish followed in a second machine. My job was to navigate to our predetermined field sites with the GPS (another fancy tool Worsley didn't have) with frozen fingers and batteries that only worked for seconds at a time. Adding to the challenge was avoiding being tossed from the snowmobile, using only my knees to hold on, as Rachel sped through a labyrinth of sastrugi (wind formed bumps on the ice), pressure ridges, and ice blocks. Kish, dutifully serving as our carpenter, did a magnificent job of tying the sled together and ensuring everything made it to the destinations. I'm a little embarrassed about the comparison seeing as we were never in serious danger nor were we ever stranded, but it was still fun letting the imagination wonder.

Sweet views inside the cave

Incredibly, we successfully retrieved two ice cores and snow samples/ice thickness at five locations. The trip home was a little more enjoyable (though still quite chilly) as we passed a seal haul-out (that's the official term for a group of seals hanging out on the ice). It offered some of our best photo ops of mother seals with pups (see below). As we hit the main road, I spotted a piston bully near one of the glaciers. We decided to be social (I mean seriously, how often do you see another vehicles driving in Antarctica on sea ice?). It turns out it was a photographer group examining an ice cave. What a find! We were able to crawl inside to witness a world like none other. For those of you who have been inside a cave, imagine a similar scene, but with everything made of ice and brilliant blue colors replacing the pitch black. Instantly, we all forgot about the cold (although we were now protected from the winds), and appreciated the serenity of the place. What a fantastic day!