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Blog Archive - January 200823rd JanuaryAnother lie up day unfortunately. We now have the confirmation that winter is coming too. It was –28 degrees C last night – a return to wearing a hat in bed. We might even have to start thinking about hot water bottles again too! The one good thing about lie up days is that Andy is always keen to bake some of his delicious bread. This went slightly awry today, however, as the dough exploded in his sleeping bag (he puts the tin with the dough in there to prove) – a disaster. Luckily, however, he was able to rescue the mixture and produce what in my opinion was the best bread of the season. A formidable performance! The bread motivated us to a marathon pub quiz session, where I displayed a scary knowledge of folk music, only surpassed by Andy Smith’s disturbing knowledge of GLAM ROCK!!!! Just to let you all know…this is the last update of the Lake Ellsworth blog that will be uploaded direct from the field. I will continue to write it however, and will update the next couple of weeks worth once we arrive back in Rothera in about 3 weeks time. Please come back and check out the final instalment then. We have a very busy time ahead in the coming weeks, both in terms of finishing the science work and packing up camp. Therefore, I would just like to take the opportunity now to say a big thank you to all our families, friends (old and new) for taking the time to read our blog. I have been given the impression (hopefully not wrongly) that you have all enjoyed it (and in some cases even found it useful for your school projects etc.?). It has made a huge difference to me whilst writing it to hear such positive feedback (in email messages and even in the occasional poem) from you all. It has been great fun. Thank you. Last but certainly not least, an extra special thank you to Andy W at Edinburgh who has very kindly been uploading my updates and photos throughout the field season. He is certainly due a beer or two upon my return. 22nd January Dan and I had toyed with the idea of doing the radar survey to the ice divide (the point where the ice flows in opposite directions) yesterday, but it really was just too cold and windy to drive the 30-40 km upwind. Today, however, was a different proposition, cold, but very sunny, so we set sail with DELORES to the ice divide in the early afternoon. Bar a little problem with the transmitter, which meant we lost 2 km of data, we came back with a full 75 km of RES data. A very successful day – the data looks extremely good too (there are some big mountains between Lake Ellsworth and the divide – up to 2000 m high!). Brilliant. The weather even played ball and celebrated us reaching the ice divide summit (well the plateau at least) with a remarkable sun halo, which included spectacular sun dogs (I can’t be bothered to explain this one you can look this one up or ask a meteorologist). ![[solar halo]](sun_halo.jpg "solar halo") Andy and John drilled and loaded the 4 or 5 holes that needed to be re-shot from the previous 5 seismic lines today. 21st January Our first proper lie up day for almost 3 weeks – something of a record for Lake Ellsworth! No radar data therefore, but we did go out and use some muscles that hadn’t been exercised for some time – we finished the last 5 metres (15-20 m depth) of pico drilling. This called for a celebration to mark this significant milestone, so we finished off the ITN whisky and had a pub quiz! 20th January 40 km of radar data today, mainly down at the bottom end of the lake. John went back to survey the shot points from seismic lines 4 and 5, whilst Andy continued the gravity survey along seismic line 1. 19th January Some running repairs to the radar system in the morning followed by the acquisition of 30 km of data this afternoon. Andy and John continued their seismic spot depth/gravity surveys along the extended seismic line 1. Highlight of the day today, however, was heating up the pork casserole that had kindly been sent down from the chefs at Rothera with the ITN/resupply flight for dinner. Thank you, thank you, thank you!! A delicious reminder of what we can look forward to upon our return to civilisation! The weather is certainly starting to take a turn for the worse (as Bob Dylan says: “…wintertime is coming, the windows are filled with frost…..”) – it is certainly colder than it has been during the first few weeks of this month. What was particularly noticeable tonight was how low the sun is getting in the early hours. I suspect that we might even see it dip below the horizon here at Lake Ellsworth before we head home. Mind you – the change in the weather does have its benefits – we have seen an extraordinary number of sun halos (a sort of rainbow around the sun) this week. 18th January Booo. Only 10 km of radio echo sounding (RES) data today. Unfortunately we had a problem turning at the end of the first line, almost simultaneously snapping an antenna and the spare fibre optic. Ooops. Back to camp for repairs and for figuring out how to trigger the data recording using the radar wave that travels through the air. The airwave arrives before the signals that come back from the inside of the ice so you can use it to start recording data from that point onwards. Not quite as reliable as the fibre optic, but it will have to do. Meanwhile, Andy and John have revisited seismic line 1, extending it by collecting spot seismic measurements 12 km to the south and north of the existing line. The aim is to give a rough topography (which will be confirmed by RES data that I will drive later) for the modelling of gravity data along the line. The aim is to see if we might be able to get a handle on the thickness of any sediment that might have accumulated below Lake Ellsworth. Suzanne the weather station has ended her brief strop today and is now reporting wind speeds again. Perhaps it was better that we didn’t know (both what the wind speed was and why she was in a strop!). ![[a polar bear in antarctica.....]](bear.jpg "a polar bear in antarctica.....") 17th January 50 km of radar data today, with one breakage of an antenna, which we managed to solder in the field. I never thought I would end up soldering in the open air, let alone on the top of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet!! Much more exciting than being on CNN! Andy and John shot seismic line 5. 16th January Another very productive day: 40 km of radar data, whilst Andy and John completed loading seismic line 5 in preparation for shooting. Feedback from the ITN reports (broadcast in the UK on 14th, 15th of Jan) is starting to arrive – it all sounds rather impressive, we will look forward to seeing them when we get back to Rothera. One of the BAS pilots apparently saw one of the reports on CNN or NBC whilst in Punta Arenas earlier in the week – it appears Subglacial Lake Ellsworth (SLE) has gone worldwide! 15th January Half a day of DELORES MK1 surveying = 27.5 km of data. Spectacular, perhaps we will manage to complete the basic grid of RES data necessary for the glaciological modelling. The excitement was tempered a bit by snapping an antenna during the turn before the final survey line of the day (why did I leave the soldering iron in camp????), but a more productive day in terms of radar than we had all season out of the MK 2 system. Andy and John shot the entirety of seismic line 4 (12 shots). 14th January Andy and John completed the loading and shooting of seismic line 4 and began on line 5, whilst I started to pack away D MK2 and put together D MK1. This gave Dan the chance to do what all GAs love – DIG! 13th January A big decision today – I have decided to give up on getting the DELORES MK2 radar system to work. After collecting further intermittent data using a different transmitter, and just as I began to re-wire the entire transmitter system I noticed that both it’s skis were broken. Presumably this is a result of the vicious sastrugi in the area, rather than sabotage. However, I do have a contingency plan. We had a spare radar (a DELORES MK1) flown in with the ITN team, so hopefully I will be able to use this super-sub (a sort of Ole Gunnar Solksjaer hopefully) to collect the data we need in the exceedingly short time left before we get uplifted to Rothera in early February. Ed – thank you for the loan of your system. From our perspective it is a good job you had a shorter season this year. To commemorate the temporary demise of the D MK2 system (it will certainly rise from the ashes at some point) Andy opened a bottle from his finest ‘Malt Whiskies of the Western Isles’ collection. Other news from today: Andy and John drilled and loaded the first 5 shots of seismic line 4, whilst Suzanne (the weather station) decided to stop relaying wind speeds for no clear reason whatsoever. Maybe she just wants to go home. 12th January After the media jolly of the last few days, it was back to work with a thump today. John surveyed the next two seismic lines (each short 12 shot lines) whilst Dan and I tried to make the radar work more regularly than intermittently. For some reason the transmitter keeps tripping out in the middle of survey lines so we end up with only parts of the data we require. Suspect a loose connection somewhere; either in the transmitter box itself, or in part of the wiring within the case it is housed in. 11th January It was a bit strange to wake up and have a Twin Otter parked outside our front door this morning. ![[alpha zulu 2]](alpha_zulu2.jpg "alpha zulu 2") After a very, very fun couple of days with ITN it was time to say goodbye to Bill and Luke. They departed late morning with a full planeload of equipment (the ITN tent and other essential survival equipment they need in case the plane couldn’t reach Rothera because of bad weather, plus science equipment we no longer need, and our rubbish). It must have been a long cold flight back to Rothera (5-6 hours) because our ice cores went back with them too, so this meant that they couldn’t put the heaters on. Bill and Luke – we really hope you enjoyed your time at Lake Ellsworth, we certainly had a great time whilst you were here. After waving goodbye, we all collapsed in an exhausted heap for a lazy afternoon (it was too windy to work) – until Dan and I came up with the idea of a fry-up for dinner. This comprised bacon, instant mash, de-hydrated eggs and a tin of plum tomatoes that had kindly been added to our re-supply of goodies. There might even have been the odd tot of whisky from the bottle generously donated by our visitors. A suitably appropriate way to conclude the last couple of days. 10th January An exceedingly fun but extremely busy hectic day. Highlights included front of camera interviews, lots of standing around posing and BIG, BIG, BIG explosions. The latter is a bit of a sore point for me, because by the time you read this I will have been the only person in the world not to have seen the show-stopping bang that was the trailer for the Lake Ellsworth news coverage. I was doing something equally exciting at the time: preparing the radar for a high-speed skidoo chase across the ice (I believe this has yet to be shown – it is instead being saved for the next James Bond film – finally the opportunity for them to make Daniel Craig look like a real man – oh boy, am I going to be in trouble when I get home for saying that!). ![[a basil brush moment]](bang.jpg "a basil brush moment") After a hard day’s working on the Ronne Ice Shelf and dinner at Patriot Hills (what, our de-hydrated chilli-con-carne not good enough???) Steve and co-pilot Dave B returned to Lake Ellsworth International airport this evening to make sure that they were in position to airlift Bill and Luke out to Rothera tomorrow in time for their live broadcast from a crevasse on Monday. The weather has been wonderful today, even allowing us the opportunity to relax with a cup of tea and a whisky on the porch of the pyramid tent this evening. It was great to catch up with all the gossip from Rothera (thanks Steve and Dave). There is no doubt that Dave B has had the most adventurous season of all the Beakers (scientists) down here this year, clocking up an impressive set of airmiles as a co-pilot to all sorts of exciting localities around the Peninsula. He might even have got some proper work done in between too. Well done Dave, we are absolutely 100% jealous. If he wasn’t such a top bloke we would have seriously started to dislike him by now! 9th January The ITN team arrived at 9 pm today, confirming all our suspicions that Patriot Hills is indeed the land of milk and honey – they brought fresh sandwiches with them!!! Real tomatoes and avocados – YUM, YUM, YUM. This was followed by a peach for dessert (don’t tell Andy and John – they just got an orange) and washed down by a can of fizzy pop (insert your own appropriate brand name here – unfortunately in my opinion they didn’t have any made from girders). After 2 months of de-hydrated packet foods this was an absolute delight. ![[tomato and avocado sandwich]](sandwich.jpg "tomato and avocado sandwich") The input of the ITN team (brought from Patriot Hills by BAS Twin Otter) also allowed a re-supply of goodies from Rothera. We are now fully laden with the essentials of life again – lime pickle (to keep the scurvy away), whisky, bacon and lots and lots of biscuits. Thank you to Crispin, Cyril and the rest of the team back at base who put all this together for us. ![[amazing what some people will do to get on TV!]](tv.jpg "amazing what some people will do to get on TV!") After a quick cup of tea for Bill and Luke, it was straight out to do some filming of us drilling ice cores and inspecting the GPS. If you see any of this on the news you should be aware that we wouldn’t normally be out working in conditions like those this evening – far too cold and windy for us!!! It is amazing what some people will do just to be on TV! 7th and 8th January A busy two days shooting the 24 shots of seismic line number 3 (18 shots on the 7th and 6 on the 8th). We were expecting ITN to be flown in from Patriot Hills at any moment, so we kept our eyes trained sky-wards as much as possible. No sign yet though, and no more weather balloons either! Bed by 1am on the 8th January – an early night!! 6th January A day of repairs to the transmitter box and it’s base plate for me, whilst Dan pottered around camp doing all the jobs that are required before a visit from an important media team. Andy and John have been preparing the third seismic line over the last few days so a busy spell of seismic shooting ahead for all of us. 5th January The day started positively with the realisation that the ‘washing line’ trial for the radar system has worked extremely well during the last few days of bad weather. The antennas, tow rope and fibre optic all survived, all we had to do was dig out the receiver sledge this morning. This joy was somewhat short lived, however, as it soon became apparent that the high winds have carved the snow surface up into large sastrugi (nasty elongate bumps of snow) that make towing a 300 m long radar system around a very unpleasant experience. A day of radar surveying was cut very short by the transmitter shearing completely from it’s base plate and skis during a turn, resulting in both an antenna and a fibre optic snapping. Ho hum. At least it allowed us the opportunity to dig a new P.O.D. tent for the upcoming visit of ITN. On a positive note we spotted a weather balloon today (from South Pole or Patriot Hills????), the first man-made object that we have seen (apart from what we have with us of course) for nearly 2 months. To be honest, it was all a bit weird as it hung around all day in the calm conditions, making some of us wonder whether we were being spied upon by aliens….. 2nd-4th January The bad weather has continued for the last few days allowing us to watch the entirety of the Lord of the Rings trilogy (what did you think all the laptops and solar panels were for, certainly not for work!). Apart from Andy baking some absolutely delicious bread, there isn’t much else to report. Lots of reading, the odd bit of digging (so that we can get out of the tent and scrounge cups of tea off Andy and John and be warmed by their kerosene rather than wasting ours!), and the occasional (and dreaded) discussions about whether we should go outside and finish off the Pico Drill borehole. The conclusion was always a negative (otherwise what else are we going to do during bad weather spells later in the month!!). 1st January After a very late (and cold) finish last night I am not embarrassed to say that our tent slept through the morning radio sched with Rothera. Luckily it wasn’t our turn anyway so Andy and John had it covered. 2008 hasn’t got off to the best of starts really as due to high winds we are stuck in the tent. Luckily I have some radar data to work on now (somehow this is a consolation). Andy and John popped their heads in to visit Dan and I later on today. Not the biggest surprise that they were our ‘First Foots’ of 2008! | ||
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