TheAntarctic SunNovember 26, 2000www.polar.org/antsun

Published during the austral summer at McMurdo Station, Antarctica, for the United States Antarctic Program

Helping hands Quote of the week

Communicationbreakdownpage 2

Snowy summerpage 6

A life in the skiespage 12

Drillingfor fuelpage 10

INSIDE

“I’m luscious. I want to be eaten.”

On Europa, one of Jupiter’s frozenmoons, a thin skin of ice hides what may bea liquid sea. If so, it would be the onlyknown place in the solar system besidesEarth where water exists in significant quan-tities. It is there scientists believe we mightdiscover our first aliens – a nation ofmicrobes.

But the training ground for this interplan-etary exploration is Vostok in Antarctica.

Engineers from NASA, Woods HoleOceanographic Institution and theUniversity of Nebraska are designing a pairof robots to penetrate the sea ice of Europaand sample the putative ocean. The cryobot,a device that melts a route through the ice,and the hydrobot, a small submarine thatexplores the sea below, may see real actionfor the first time in Earth’s largest known

They say you only experience your first time inAntarctica once. Gary Steel wants to know how thatplays out for newcomers to the Ice.

Steel, a social psychologist at Lincoln Universitynear Christchurch, New Zealand, is studying the&experiences

ExpectationsBy Jeff InglisSun staff

A search startsfor other life

Vostok

By Teri McLainSpecial to the Sun

Scott Base psychologist is comparing the two

- General assistant dreaming ofbeing a strawberry.

see Vostok on page 5

see Expectations on page 4

Volunteers worked the equivalentof 72 kitchen shifts last week to helpthe staff prepare food for yesterday’sThanksgiving Day dinner. Nearly900 people were expected to eat.“For us to do this nice of a dinner,volunteers are imperative,” execu-tive chef Jody Cheever said. “We’revery appreciative.”

Above: LoriePoole and BrenittaBrady top Briewheels with nuts,pesto and cranberries. Right: Cook LukeKearney stirspasta while meatthaws in the other kettle.Photos by BethMinneci.

Above: MikeSmith, left,and JustinHenkel pulldill leavesfrom thestems. Themen spent sixhours preparing theherb.

2 • The Antarctic Sun November 26, 2000

News In BRIEFSwedish Polar Ambassador

visits Ross Island

The New Zealand Antarctic Programplayed host to the Swedish polarambassador, Eva Kettis, last week.

She had been in Hobart, Tasmania,Australia, for a meeting of theCommission for the Conservation ofAntarctic Marine Living Resourcesand was invited to be a guest at ScottBase.

After several days on weather holdin Christchurch, Kettis arrived on theIce for her second visit. Her first visitwas to a site on the Antarctic Peninsulawhere a hut was built by an earlySwedish Antarctic explorer, OttoNordenskjold, in 1901.

Sweden, which signed the AntarcticTreaty in 1984, maintains two smallsummer-only camps in Queen MaudLand and cooperates with Finland andNorway in areas of logistics and opera-tions.

“We have subscribed totally to theAntarctic Treaty goals,” Kettis said.

While she isthe ambassadorfor both polarregions, Kettissaid she concen-trates most of hereffort on theArctic.

“That’s per-haps nearer to ourheart,” Kettis said.

She workswith the Arctic Council, a group thatincludes the eight countries that bor-der the Arctic and several groups ofArctic indigenous people.

“That is quite unusual for intergov-ernmental cooperation,” Kettis said.

The political issues, she said, arevery different in the north and southpolar regions. For example, since theArctic is largely ocean, no countrycan make territorial claims. Research,

on the other hand, is similar in thetwo areas.

“The science has a clear bipolaraspect,” Kettis said. “I think it has notonly polar aspects but global aspects.”

On her trip to the Ice, she visitedRoss Island’s historic huts, various fieldcamp locations around the Ross Seaand in the Dry Valleys, and visitedMcMurdo, where she was particularlyimpressed by the mawsonii in the oldaquarium.

“I never thought I would see a bigtoothfish,” Kettis said.

As well, she toured Scott Base andliked what she saw.

“They are very well equipped and itworks very well,” Kettis said.

She was unable to leave on schedulebecause of the weather, which frustrat-ed her a bit, but Kettis said she was gladto be able to see this part of “this hugeand beautiful continent.” �

- by Jeff Inglis

McMurdo Station has hit amilestone, although it’s one fewpeople will be celebrating. Internetusage has reached its peak, and there isnowhere else to turn. The link that suppliesour connectivity to the web is maxed out.

“Our internet pipeline is full,” said Jim Johnson, head ofinformation technologies. “There are nearly 700 computers onstation for a population of about 900 people. That’s pretty sig-nificant.”

All those people surfing all those web sites are creating dig-ital traffic jams, and some essential communications are at risk.

“Some of the critical data is not getting off continent,”Johnson said. “We’ve hit the threshold, and we’ve got to changethe way we do business.”

That change will affect everyone who goes on-line for anyreason.

Right now McMurdo gets its voice and data through a T1satellite connection. The information (whether it’s e-mail orweb pages or audio files or pictures) is transmitted on a first-come, first-served basis. The T1 is a fast link, but only abouthalf of the bandwidth is available for internet access.

Right now, larger data transfers sometimes get squeezed outby many smaller ones competing for bandwidth. The medicaldepartment has discovered an example of that limitation. Theclinic has a teleradiology machine, which transmits digital X-rays to the States for additional analysis. But for the last sever-al weeks none of the files have been able to go through becausethey are too large and their transmission times are too long.

To avoid this and other potential problems, a two-pronged

effort to make the system more efficientis under way.

The first step is to set up a localproxy server. That’s a computer

that will keep track of what websites people visit most often, and store

information from those sites locally. Thiswill make some web-surfing faster, because each addi-

tional user won’t have to download the same data individually.But there’s a catch. The less-frequented addresses will take

longer to load, because that same computer will want to firststore the words and pictures before it displays them on a screen.

The second step in getting a handle on the congestion will beto set up an automatic priority system that will act as a data traf-fic cop. This is more complicated and could take months ormore to put in place. It involves “boxes” at each end of the T1link. One will be here at McMurdo and one will be in Ames,Calif., where the line enters the information superhighway.

Each box will decide what information gets through, andwhen. It means the clinic’s X-rays will get uploaded right away,but a person downloading music files during their lunch breakmay get cut off mid-transfer. Some people may have com-plaints about the solution, but it could be worse.

“We could have shut down non-essential sites, like NationalPublic Radio and Napster, but we’re hesitant to do that, and sois the NSF,” said Johnson. “The only other option is to priori-tize.”

Ultimately, the internet logjam in Antarctica is a reflection ofthe growing reach of the technology.

“It’s amazing the difference five years has made,” Johnsonsaid. “It’s a different world from the days of DOS, whennobody knew about the internet.” �

Eva Kettis

By Josh LandisSun staff

Roadblock on the superhighway

the week in weather

around AntarcticaThe Antarctic Sun, part of the United StatesAntarctic Program, is funded by the NationalScience Foundation.

Opinions and conclusionsexpressed in the Sun are not necessarily those of the Foundation.Use: Reproduction and distribu-tion are encouraged with

acknowledgment of source and author.Publisher: Valerie Carroll,

Communications manager, Raytheon PolarServices

Senior Editor: Josh LandisEditors: Beth Minneci

Jeff InglisContributions are welcome. Contact the

Sun at AntSun@polar.org. In McMurdo, visitour office in Building 155 or dial 2407.

Web address: www.polar.org/antsun

McMurdo StationHigh: 28F/2CLow: 6F/14CWindchill: -31F/35CWind: 46 mph/74 kph

Palmer Station (Saturday)High: 43F/6CLow: 25F/-4CAvg. temp: 30F/-1CWind: 44 mph/70 kph

South Pole StationHigh: -13F/-25CLow: -31F/-35CAvg. temp: -23F/-31CWind: 29 mph/47 kph

around the world

Chennai (Madras), IndiaHigh: 86F/30CLow: 73F/23CScarborough, MaineHigh: 38F/3CLow: 26F/-3C

San FranciscoHigh: 62F/17CLow: 48F/9CColumbia, MissouriHigh: 49F/9CLow: 34F/1C

Saturday’s numbers

November 26, 2000 The Antarctic Sun • 3

Seuss-a-paloozaSites with Seuss parodies and writings

Minnesota native Ann Bancroft and Norwegian Liv Arnesen started a cross-country skiing trek across Antarctica. From the side of Antarctica near Africa, on theFimbul Ice Shelf, the women pushed off Nov. 14, aiming to reach McMurdo Stationwithin 100 days.

This is Bancroft’s second attempt to cross the continent. In 1993, Bancroft,McMurdo Station resident Anne Dal Vera and two other women stopped at theSouth Pole after 67 days of traveling, 882 miles from their goal.

They missed their mark, but still made history as the first team of women toreach the South Pole on skis.

Dal Vera is playing for the public a documentary made about their attemptMonday at the galley. The film, “Poles Apart,” features Bancroft, who was the firstwoman to reach the North Pole by land, Dal Vera and the rest of the team dubbedthe American Women’s Antarctic Expedition.

Bancroft and Arnesen’s start was originally planned for Nov. 1, but they wereheld up in South Africa when bad weather in Antarctica made flying to their jump-off point impossible. They hope to reach the South Pole by Christmas.

Dal Vera is from Colorado. She works in waste management and is in her fifthseason with the U.S. Antarctic Program. �

American, Norwegianhead for McMurdo on skis

Annual creative writing festivalThe Sun’s

Poetry (Maximum length 30 lines.)Fiction (Maximum length 500 words.)Finish this story... (Maximum length 500 words.)

Entry deadline: 6 p.m. Dec. 17Enter via e-mail to AntSun@polar.org, or at the Sun office in McMurdo’s Building 155.

Monday morning on the Ice Runway. It’s always a little slow out here after Sunday’s relaxation, but the weather’s clear and we’reloading planes. Me? I’m just sitting out here, watching the action, wasting time before I get to start my day’s work.

The past week has been pretty crazy. The holiday season is beginning, and the weather’s been wild for months now. My partner,Pat, and I are still planning to head over to Castle Rock when we get a chance.

Looking out the window of the big red van I’m in, I see a flurry of activity over on the cargo line, and the fuelies are walkingaround near their shed, waiting for the first pit stop of the day. A big dozer stops on the apron, and the driver hops out for a smoke.The firefighters are heading onto the runway to clear away a couple of penguins who have set up camp in the middle.

But there’s something different about today. Finish this story or submit your own.

•www.seuss.orgThe Center for Seussian Studies

•www.physics.purdue.edu/~northrup/old/seussshakespeare.html

“What if Dr. Seuss wroteShakespeare?”

•www.iwaynet.net/~wstocks/fun/seuss.html

Links to parodies, song lyrics, earlySeuss writings, analysis and links to links

SELECTED STORIES WILL BE PRINTED IN THE SUN

4 • The Antarctic Sun November 26, 2000

relationship between people’s expecta-tions about Antarctica and their actualexperiences.

The project, supported by AntarcticaNew Zealand and operating at ScottBase, involves talking to about 20 peo-ple at the base about their perceptions oflife in Antarctica and their predictionsabout what their perceptions will be likein the future.

This project began in October andwill continue with interviews at the endof the summer and, for winter staff, atWinfly and next October as well.

Steel is reluctant to say much aboutthe current project, because it is still inprogress and he doesn’t want to influ-ence the study group. He is looking atsimilarities and differences betweenexpectations and experiences and whythey may either be accurate or inaccu-

rate for different people.“I’m not sure what we’re going to

find,” Steel said. “We suspect thatthere’s a connection between the qualityof a person’s experience and the match,or mismatch, of expectations and actualperceptions.”

He did say, though, that some peopleare accurate and realistic about theirexpectations, while others are not. Someof that information comes from friendsor colleagues who have been toAntarctica before.

“It’s New Zealand. Everybodyknows somebody who’s been downthere,” Steel said.

He said the results, when the study iscompleted in a year, could be used toprepare first-time Antarctic workers, tohelp them better understand whatthey’re getting into.

Steel is an appropriate person to helppolar workers have more realisticexpectations. He is a psychologist inter-ested in people in extreme and unusualenvironments. In addition to theAntarctic, he has studied people work-ing in the Arctic and on submarines,spacecraft and isolated oil rigs.

Separate from his research, he is alsoa psychological contractor forAntarctica New Zealand. He hasresearch assistants or colleagues con-

duct the interviews for his studies, tokeep research information separate fromhis contract work.

In the past, he has studied otheraspects of life on the Ice. What he hadoften heard from the public was thatthey thought the weather would be thehardest part of living and working inhigh latitudes. But, he said, that’s not thecase.

“What we find is that it’s the socialenvironment, not the physical environ-ment,” Steel said. “Life is life, even inthe Antarctic.”

One of those studies looked at thepatterns of moods over the course of astay on the Ice. He had heard anecdotal-ly and from other researchers that at thehalfway point of a person’s work on theIce, the mood drops to its low point.

“We went looking for that,” Steelsaid.

What he found was that there wassome evidence of what he called the“third quarter phenomenon.”

“Some people do show that pattern,”Steel said, “but it’s not a particularlyreliable effect.”

And mood “drops” aren’t peoplesinking into depression.

“They come down from being basi-cally ecstatic to mellow,” Steel said.

He also looked at whether there is atype of person who is well-suited toworking in the Arctic or Antarctic.

“Is there a polar personality? Thereseemed to be,” Steel said.

He was part of a 14-country collabo-ration studying 450 cases. The resultsshowed that there is a tendency for polarworkers to have lower neuroticism,higher extroversion, higher openness toexperience, higher agreeableness andhigher conscientiousness than is thenorm among the U.S. population.

Steel expected to find more opennessto experience. The hiring process weedsout certain types of people.

“They were selected for their consci-entiousness,” Steel said.

The rest of the characteristics,though, were unknowns. People whohave the set of traits in a “polar person-ality,” Steel said, tend to be more stress-resistant and more emotionally stablethan the general population. He saidthose attributes are very useful for work-ing in extreme environments.

In general he said, people have posi-tive experiences and look back fondlyon their time on the Ice after they leave.

“People tend to do very well downthere,” Steel said. �

The social, not physical environment affects people’smoods more. “Life is life, even in the Antarctic.”

- Gary Steel, psychologist

Expectations from page 1

What has been your biggest psychologicalchallenge this season?Highw y1

oonnee

“Dealing with the constantsocial stimuli.”

Sheri “Peaches” Bluesteindining facility attendant

“My job. It drives me crazy.”Jason Raver

Materials person for dining facility

“Having to ‘hurry up and wait’when the weather cancels flights.”

Lt. Col. Dan DunbarOperation Deep Freeze Chief of Staff

“Very little darkness in13 years.”

Todd Fransonheavy shop worker

November 26, 2000 The Antarctic Sun • 5

subglacial body of water: Lake Vostok.Just one of almost 80 known lakes

beneath Antarctic ice sheets, Lake Vostokhas recently captured the attention ofglaciologists and microbiologists alike. Apristine body of water cut off from the out-side world for a million years or more, thelake has the potential for supporting previ-ously undiscovered microbial life forms,as well as holding clues to ancient cli-mates. It is a time capsule of sorts, buriedunder four kilometers of ice.

When the Russians opened VostokStation near the geomagnetic pole in 1957,they had no idea that it was situated overan ancient body of water more than 1,640feet (500 m) deep and 243 miles (230 km)long. And when they started drilling theworld’s deepest ice core in an attempt tounderstand recent global warming in rela-tion to the climactic cycles of the last500,000 years, they would not have pre-dicted that they would be stopped at11,886 feet (3,623 m) by a group of scien-tists concerned with contamination of thelake’s pure water.

This season, the National ScienceFoundation is setting up a camp near theRussian station to explore subsurface fea-tures of the lake.

Although early seismic surveys in the1960’s and 70’s indicated that water mightexist under the ice cap, it wasn’t untildrilling was well under way in the early1990s that satellite, seismic, and airborneradar data were put together to map theburied lake. “It was a ‘Eureka!’ moment,”said Martin Seigert, a University of Bristolglaciologist.

In 1995, the Scientific Committee onAntarctic Research recommended thatdrilling be stopped 400 feet from the lake’ssurface, until a sterile method could befound to tap into one of the oldest ecosys-tems on earth. Last year, microbiologist

John Priscu of Montana State Universityexamined bits of ice from the deepest partof the core and found bacteria.

It is still unclear whether thesemicrobes were deposited by ancientwinds, or if they are indicative of bacterialiving in the lake below. But it is tantaliz-ing to astrobiologists, who speculate that iflife can exist in Lake Vostok, it may alsobe present on Europa.

A multinational team of scientists andfunding agencies is assembling to devise amethod for drilling into Lake Vostok with-out contaminating it with drilling fluids orforeign bacteria. The first step will com-mence this week with test flights of theSOAR Twin Otter. Equipped with instru-ments for an aerogeophysical survey, theteam plans to conduct 69 flights this sea-son and produce a data set that will aid sci-

entists in understanding the lake’s physicalproperties and geologic origins.

The next phase could involve NASAtests of the robots. The cryobot would meltits way down to the lake where it wouldeject the hydrobot to explore the depthsand send back pictures and data to the sur-face via a cable. The final stage wouldinvolve deep coring to retrieve sedimentand water samples. The details of probingthe lake without introducing contaminantsare still being worked out.

It is a complex and ambitious effort thatwith the help of NASA technology willpotentially answer some fundamental ques-tions about the evolution of life here onEarth. And by giving scientists a testingground for the cryobot and the hydrobot,something may someday be discoveredabout the evolution of life on other planets. �

Vostok from page 1

Russian driller Valery Shoshkin displays the ice core room at Vostok Station last January.More than two miles' worth of cores were pulled from the ice beneath the station. Photoby Josh Landis.

6 • The Antarctic Sun November 26, 2000

MacWeather’s lead forecaster Joe Kramermonitors screens showing weather predic-tions and current weather pictures. Photoby Beth Minneci.

By now, the hills ought to bechocolate brown, the color of

volcanic rock that lies under the snow.During a typical November, the tem-perature should be mild by Antarcticmeasures. The sky should be a deepshade of blue.

Not this November. After nearly record snowfall – 15.6

inches counted on Friday – the groundis still solid and white. Yesterday, 18of 25 November days had beencloudy. And the temperature, typical-ly in the upper 20s and lower 30s, hasbeen mostly in the lower to mid-20s.

MacWeather forecasters say astormy weather pattern typical ofWinfly in August never left town. Andthey don’t know why.

“We have no clue,” MacWeatherlead forecaster Joe Kramer said. But

continued on next page

& what’s it mean for us?

McMurdo Station is closeto a record November

snowfallWhy Fleet operator Rowdy Branson pushes snow on theice runway. Photo by Beth Minneci.

By Beth MinneciSun staff

November 26, 2000 The Antarctic Sun • 7

they’re studying charts and graphs, trying to figure it out.The fluffy white stuff that piled up outside office windows

this month was a nice reminder of wintertime back home. But on the airfield, normally a bustling time for cargo and

passenger transportation, the only sure actions were bulldoz-ers moving snow and fuel workers scrambling to protecttheir lines.

Williams Field on the ice shelf is scheduled to open nextmonth, and the sea ice runway is scheduled to close. But thesea ice runway is valuable until then because larger planeswith wheels, which cancarry more weight, canland there.

November is typical-ly a good month for fly-ing, but not thisNovember.

Many scientists did-n’t get to the South Poleand field camps. Cargopallets stayed stacked on the ice. Thousands of pounds offresh food for Thanksgiving Day dinner arrived later thanscheduled.

Most Novembers, fuel operations foreman Scott Taubeand his crew deal with wind-made snow drifts, but the largeamount of snowfall this month compounded the fuel staff’swork.

Likewise for fleet operators. Too much snow on the ice not only impedes airplane traf-

fic, it traps heat, which deteriorates the sea ice that station oper-ations manager Bill Haals said everyone would like to pre-serve. A thin layer of snow, however, reflects sun off the ice.

Drivers moved an overwhelming amount of snow with atractor fleet that includes some rickety pieces of equipment.They pushed heavy snow off the airstrip and the ice runwayroad, then went back to spread a thin layer.

Fuelies had to keep their lines clear so that they couldreach the valves. On severe weather days, fuel operators fillthe 500-gallon runway generators every other day to keepthe power running in about two dozen huts out there.

With a mean November snowfall of 5 inches, snowfall isnot usually a big problem. This November, though, fuelieswere in snow-mode sometimes three or four days a week.

“It’s had a big impact on us,” Taube said. On a global scale, the weather’s been weird for about the

last decade. People have become accustomed to witnessingextreme weather events –record temperatures, heatwaves, rainfall and drought.

Back at MacWeather’soffices, forecasters are monitor-ing what’s happening thismonth and they’re scratchingtheir heads. They can see thestorm pattern: Storms that nor-mally circle the continent off-

shore are breaking on to land, over to McMurdo. It’s a pat-tern typical of August that has continued into November. Butthey don’t know why it’s happening.

At home, detailed meteorological records go back abouta century. Here, MacWeather’s numbers date back to 1956,and for the most part are not compiled to reveal any mean-ingful patterns.

Earlier this month, different MacWeather forecastersreported different snow inch counts. But Friday, they agreedMcMurdo Station was 5 inches short of the 1971 Novemberrecord of 20.6 inches. More snow fell Saturday.

The unusual weather keeps the jobs in and out of theoffice interesting.

“The weather patterns here are unlike anything we’veever seen anywhere else,” Kramer said. “They’re hard topredict. They change very rapidly.” �

❆❆

❆❆

from previous page

New Zealand Australia

AfricaSouth America

McMurdo❍

Atlantic

Oce

an

Southern O

cean

Typical November storm path

Current stormpath

This time of yearstorms usually circle the continent offshore.Forecasters arelooking into why the storms are breaking ontoland, following apattern typical in August,not November.

❆ Numbers provided byMacWeather. The last year inwhich snowfall extremes werecalculated was 1987.

inch

es

MEAN, RECORD AND CURRENT SNOWFALL

“The weather patterns here are unlike anything we’ve ever seen

anywhere else. ”- Joe Kramer, MacWeather

Graphics by Beth Minneci

8 • The Antarctic Sun November 26, 2000

"Poles Apart," documentary videointroduced byAnne Dal Vera, 8 p.m., galley

28

Science lecture:"Measurements ofcrustal motion in southern Victoria Land,"by Mike Willis, U.S.Geological Survey, 7:30p.m., Crary library

27

29 30

our Antarctic week

1

Game Night, 8 p.m., ScottBase. Sign up with the recreationdepartment.

Book exchange, 8p.m., Coffee House.Sign up on the boardin front of the recreation department.See recreation formore information.

Swing Gala, 7:30 p.m.,

gym

Monday

Wednesday Thursday Friday

Tuesday

Hey Dad, can I go outand play?

We can’t eat him.He’s done wet all

over himself!If you’re going to

play against the bigboys, it’s alwayssmart to have a

backup plan in caseyou want out.

Looks like we havea guest for dinner,

boys.

It’s Thanksgiving Day. Why don’t you go and findsomeone who hasn’t eaten,

and brighten their day?

Hi. I’m here toinvite the miserable

and wretched tojoin me this

Thanksgiving Day.

Ross Island Chronicles By ChicO

coldhardfacts(Saturday’s

Thanksgiving Day dinner)

Number of guests: 880Pounds of meat: turkey 1,300; ham150; Antarctic cod 200; salmon 40Gallons of gravy: 20Desserts: pies 150; pecan tarts 500Number of rolls: 3,000Pans of stuffing: 24Pounds of fresh fruit: 120Pounds of fried onions: 24Pounds of canned cranberry sauce: 200Pounds of cheese: 60

Seuss-a-

palooza7 p.m. Dec. 3 at the Coffee House

Readings, recitations, songs and skits of or inspired by the writings of Dr. Seuss.

OW. MY EYE!

November 26, 2000 The Antarctic Sun • 9

PGPS

Several scientists in the U.S.Antarctic Program use specific measure-ments and locations on the surface of theEarth as key elements in their research.They watch many processes, includingthe movement of glaciers, growth orshrink rates of ice sheets and rock layersand the melting of patches of snow inthe Dry Valleys.

These researchers use the GlobalPositioning System, originally createdfor combat use by the U.S. DefenseDepartment, to locate themselves andtheir study areas very specifically. AtMcMurdo Station each summer areGPS experts who provide equipmentand training for about 20 science groupson the continent.

“We’re supporting grantees who areusing GPS for their field research,” saidproject leader Bjorn Johns, of theUniversity NAVSTAR Consortium(UNAVCO), a group of 100 academicinstitutions, including the NationalScience Foundation, promoting the use ofhigh-accuracy GPS for scientific research.

Many people on the Ice and in theU.S. have their own handheld GPSunits, which cost around $200.

“It’s become a national utility,” Johnssaid.

Commercial handhelds provideaccuracy to within about fifteen feet ofan actual location, Johns said.

By contrast, the equipment Johns andhis colleague Chuck Kurnik issue areaccurate to within tenths of an inch, costaround $15,000 and involve a platter-size antenna and laptop computer-sizereceiving box.

GPS is based on a group of satellitesorbiting Earth and several ground sta-tions monitoring them. The satellitesbroadcast their position in space and theexact time from an on-board atomic

clock. By receiving the signals fromseveral satellites, a GPS unit on theground can calculate its location.

But that can be difficult at high lati-tudes because the satellites don’t passdirectly overhead, which would give thebest possible readings.

“They’re all low on the horizon in thepolar regions,” Johns said.

All of the positions calculated are rel-ative to other, fixed, known locations. Tobe precise, measurements need to becompared very carefully with the exacttrajectories of the satellites at the time ofthe reading.

“That typically means collecting andpost-processing data,” Johns said. Thatprocess can take a couple of days, hesaid.

Some groups need Johns and Kurnikto do GPS portion of their work, whileother researchers need technical assis-tance or data-processing help.

Johns and Kurnik also install bothpermanent and temporary stationaryGPS stations to monitor ongoing geo-logic processes and to improve accuracyof nearby readings.

This season, they put a station onMount Erebus to watch how under-ground activity changes the volcano’ssurface.

“If there’s any inflation or deflationof the volcano relative to McMurdowe’ll see that,” Johns said.

If anything significant happened onErebus, or anywhere else with a perma-nent GPS monitoring station, the datawould be valuable for scientists.

“When an event occurs, you’ve cap-tured it, with pre- and post-event data,”Johns said.

Another important element is fixingthe exact antenna position to the ground.If a measurement is accurate within frac-

tions of an inch, a human error in anten-na placement for observation couldappear to be a large fluctuation in sur-face movement.

To provide a stable platform, Johnsand Kurnik sink a metal rod into the rockor ice and affix a leveling platform to therod. The antenna screws onto the plat-form. Each reading, then, is taken fromthe same location relative to the rod.

If a location change is measured, itmeans the rod has moved, and thereforethe rock or ice surrounding the rod hasmoved.

This type of measurement is possiblearound the world using base stations andsatellite readings anywhere on the sur-face of the Earth. But Johns saidAntarctica is where GPS gets used mostheavily. He and Kurnik may support fivescience projects during the rest of theyear, and more than 20 during the sum-mer field season on the Ice.

The GPS work helps influence futureresearch, Johns said. This season atIcestream C, a group wanted to drill anice core in an area where the glacier isn’tmoving very quickly. Because of GPSsurveying last year, they knew whereone was.

GPS is also used to map the atmos-phere. Since GPS uses radio waves,which behave differently as atmosphericconditions change, GPS readings atknown locations can show variations inthe ionosphere and troposphere throughchanges in radio waves along differentpaths.

Johns and Kurnik don’t directlyinteract with the atmospheric mappingprojects, which are not based inAntarctica, but help people use GPS inall kinds of ways.

“Everyone has something they wantmeasured,” Johns said. �

inpoint precision

By Jeff InglisSun staff

geographic locators are accurate to within tenths of an inch

10 • The Antarctic Sun November 26, 2000

For decades a mystery hidbeneath the sands of VictoriaValley. Ahole one thousand feetdeep, full of diesel fuel, was

concealed. It had been drilled in the early1970s, but attempts to locate it again in the1990s proved unsuccessful. Hundreds ofgallons of fuel were out there somewhere,but nobody could say exactly where.

Until now.The U.S. Antarctic Program’s remedia-

tion team and three New Zealand drillersreturned to the scene last week to resolve apuzzle that started decades ago.

The Dry Valley Drilling Project tookplace between 1973 and 1975. It was aninternational effort to explore the geology ofthe region and better understand how the rarevalleys had formed. American, New Zealandand Japanese research programs collaborat-ed and drilled numerous sites throughout theDry Valleys and McMurdo Station.

One of the holes went in near Lake Vidain Victoria Valley.

In order to keep the hole from collaps-ing, it was filled with diesel fuel. Thiswould allow scientists to monitor tempera-tures at different depths. It was assumedsince the hole was drilled in bedrock, thefuel would simply remain where it was. Ashort length of pipe was pushed into theground to keep the "active zone" on the sur-face (which freezes and thaws) from melt-ing into the hole.

Sometime during the next two decades,however, the hole fell into disuse and thesection of pipe was wrenched out of place.According to Joyce Jatko, National ScienceFoundation environmental officer, it wasmost likely the result of Vida’s level risingand falling over the years. The ice on thelake’s surface probably pushed and pulledthe piece of metal out of place.

What brought the old hole to the NSF’sattention again was a team of scientists thatwanted to use it to take new temperaturereadings. They found the pipe, but couldn’tfind the shaft, and the search began.

“The cap of the borehole was notattached to any casing and was not even sit-ting on top of the borehole,” said Jatko.

Furthermore, there was an odor of dieselfuel in the area. It appeared that some fuelin the ground had leaked.

But how much? And where had it gone?There were a number of unpleasant pos-

sibilities, the worst of which would havebeen that the fuel was somehow releasedinto Lake Vida when the lake’s level roseabove the standpipe in the mid-1990s.

Fortunately, after the remediation team’srecent visit to the site, it doesn’t appear thatwas what happened. They were able to digaround and find the original hole. They alsodiscovered something very relieving: In 27years, the thousand-foot (305 meters) col-umn of fuel had dropped less than a foot (30centimeters).

“We were like, ‘Oh my god, we’ve got

it!’” said environmental engineer BillGilmore, describing the moment.

If only a foot of fuel is missing, it meanscleanup will be much easier than expected.Gilmore said initial core samples taken nearthe drill site last week indicate that the fuelthat managed to escape from the top of thehole penetrated no more than 6 inches (15cm) deep.

“This project went way beyond ourexpectations,” said Gilmore.

Still, there is additional testing thatneeds to be done to make sure the extent ofthe diesel plume is known. Any residualfuel would affect the purity of the areaindefinitely.

The remediation team is also faced withthe decision of what to do with the holenow that they’ve found it.

“We’re looking at a couple of differentoptions,” said Gilmore. “But we’re defi-nitely going to monitor it.”

Options include draining the old fuel,replacing it with water (which would sta-bilize the hole and close it for good), oreven leaving it as is so scientists can con-tinue to research the bedrock beneath thevalley.

“It’s good to know work that was donein the 70’s is still of value today,” saidJatko. “And it's a remediation project thathad a very happy ending. We found (thehole), it was in much better shape than weexpected, and we don't have a serous cont-amination problem.” �

Kirsten Wade, bottom right, was part of the team that went to Lake Vida lastweek to find out what became of a decades-old, diesel-filled bore hole.Drillers, background, set up their rig. Photo by Bill Gilmore.

VICTORY AT VIDABy Josh LandisSun staff

November 26, 2000 The Antarctic Sun • 11

L ast Sunday evening a piece ofhistory landed on the sea ice run-

way. Appearing to float slowly out ofthe sky and land gently on the whitesurface, the Basler BT-67 joined the airfleet operating out of McMurdoStation.

Built on the airframe of an oldDouglas DC-3, the Basler will be herefor about a month to fly missions withweight requirements that fall betweenthe smaller Twin Otters and the largerLC-130s.

“It’s a nice addition to the other plat-forms we have,” said Alana Jones,fixed-wing coordinator. “It will be anevolving process to see how it fits in tothe U.S. Antarctic Program.”

The Basler is a not-so-distant rela-tive of the historic aircraft, Que SeraSera. In 1956 that Navy R4D carriedAdm. George Dufek south to becomethe first person to stand at the Polesince Robert Scott’s party in 1912.

Throughout the years, the Navy flewcountless missions in R4Ds and othersimilar aircraft as part of OperationDeep Freeze.

The last time a plane like theBasler flew for the program was in1968. The Antarctic Journal docu-mented the day.

“Re-supply of the inland stationswent well, and on December 3, fueldeliveries were reported to be slightlyahead of schedule. At Hallett Station,where landings are made on the sea iceof Moubray Bay, rising temperaturescaused the runway to deteriorate, so itwas closed to traffic on Dec. 3.

“The day before the closing, an LC-117D made a round-trip supply flightbetween McMurdo and Hallett Stationsthat was routine in all respects except

one. It was the last flight over theAntarctic by a United States DC-3-typeaircraft….

“These veterans of Antarctic flyingare being dismantled and prepared forreturn home by ship, thus ending asaga that goes back to January 29,1947, when a C-47 with Admiral Byrdon board flew from the aircraft carrierPhilippine Sea to Little America IV, onthe shore of the Bay of Whales. It wasthe first aircraft in Antarctica to beequipped with a combination ski-wheellanding gear, and at that time it was thelargest plane to have reached the con-tinent.”

Retired Navy Chief Radioman

Billy-Ace Baker spent multiple wintersand summers on the Ice between 1963and 1980. He’s now an avid historianand chronicler of Antarctic achieve-ment.

“It is not known how many DouglasDC-3s remain entombed in theAntarctic, but only one ever claimedthe lives of men,” said Baker. “The ver-satile aircraft was immortalized on thecontinent by having three geographiclocations named after it: Dakota Pass,R4D Nunatak, and Skytrain Rise,”Baker said. �

Brian Stone contributed to thisreport.

Top: The Basler BT-67 landing on the sea ice runway at McMurdo last week. Photoby Josh Landis.Bottom: Gus Shinn examines the jet-assisted takeoff rockets on the Que Sera Seraat the National Museum of Naval Aviation in Pensacola, Fla., earlier this year. Photoby Jim O'Connell.

Modern plane and old history-maker ARE BIRDS OF A FEATHER

“It will be an evolvingprocess to see how

it fits in the U.S.Antarctic Program.”

- Alana Jones, fixed-wing coordinator

By Josh LandisSun staff

Profile

From a helicopter hangar near the sea ice,the distant mountain peaks look dark blue,almost purple. Strong gusts blow snow in thedistance and on the sea ice runway, makingeverything in sight look blurry.

The day is, in pilot speak, marginal.On the radio, Jack Hawkins is talking

with a pilot at Marble Point, a sort of heli-copter rest stop near the Dry Valleys. Themen are discussing whether it is safe for thepilot to bring home people he left to work inthe Valleys this morning.

If the conditions get worse soon, the pilotwill leave them, and they will camp. Thepilot will stay put at the stop-over at MarblePoint.

“They have survival bags but we don’twant to leave them out there with survivalbags if we can help it,” Hawkins said of thepeople waiting to be picked up.

From the window of his office in thehangar, Hawkins can see the gray tails ofLC-130s on the airfield sticking out of theairborne snow.

“I’ve got a good view of what’s happen-ing with the weather,” Hawkins said. Butstill, sometimes a pilot can’t tell how bad fly-ing conditions are until the pilot is in the air.

Earlier in the day, two pilots tried to reacha remote camp about 150 miles south.Visibility was OK, but the turbulence in themountains was too much. The helicoptersturned back.

“The weather was good at the camp, butthey would have had to go through somepretty rough territory,” Hawkins said.

Several other trips were canceled.Hawkins was scheduled to take cargo to acamp on Mt. Erebus, but low clouds kepthim on the ground.

Two New Zealand pilots turned backafter they saw bad weather on the other sideof Hut Point, only a couple of miles fromScott Base.

Not all days are like this, of course. Whenthe weather is good, Antarctica is a fabulousplace to be a helicopter pilot. The job, after all,entails shuttling cargo and scientists to some of

the most remote and majestic places on Earth.“It’s some of the best helicopter flying in

the world,” Hawkins said. “One day youmight be up 13,000 feet going to Erebus.Next you might be on the sea ice helping ascientist capture penguins. Then, you’re atthe Dry Valleys and lakes.”

Back in the states, for years Hawkins flewover the Gulf of Mexico, bringing peopleand equipment to drilling sites. On the Gulf,the ocean storms are fierce and mercurial.

“A lot of people think flying in the moun-tains is a lot harder than the Gulf,” he said.“The Gulf, day in and day out, is actuallypretty tough.”

In his fifth Antarctic season, Hawkins, 54,started a helicopter flying career in 1967 withthe U.S. Army. He served in Vietnam in 1968and 1969, where he first flew in mountains.

After that, the Texas native went home toearn a bachelor’s degree in forestry beforePetroleum Helicopters Inc., hired him in 1973.

He’s been with PHI ever since.Many McMurdoites can boast of travel-

ing the world, but not many have lived inforeign countries while earning a salary.Hawkins and six other pilots here work forPHI, a Louisiana-based company that sta-tions pilots all over the globe.

In Africa, Venezuela and Argentina,Hawkins flew people and equipment to andfrom work sites.

During a typical year, he spends abouthalf of it away from his wife, Ann, a teacher,and two grown sons, but the rest of the yearhe is working near home.

During college, Hawkins hoped to com-bine forestry with flying, but the closest he’scome was in 1989 with Alaska wildlife andfisheries employees he flew around thePrince William Sound after the ExxonValdez spill.

“That was fun,” he said, adding that hewas intrigued by the state’s efforts to assessthe environmental health of the area, andwith the kodiak bear, elk, salmon and trout.“Everywhere I went I took my rod and reel.”

Here in Antarctica, Hawkins is the only

one of seven pilots who is a military veteranbut not retired military. Collectively, thepilots have 173 years of flying experience.

Each morning, helicopter coordinatorRhonda Rodriguez hands out a flight sched-ule. But the schedule is flexible becauseflights can be canceled at the last minute andshuffled and rescheduled when the condi-tions change.

“We’re always on our toes,” Hawkins said.The pilots take cargo and passengers to

field camps. The passengers are usually sci-entists who may work in the field formonths. Or they might be there for an houror two to check data on instruments alreadyset up.

One pilot can take people out, then fly offto another destination, and another mightpick them up after completing a drop-offsomewhere else.

The majority of passengers are at ease ona helicopter, Hawkins said. But for thosewho aren’t, pilots emphasize the safety fea-tures of the aircraft to calm them down.

“The attitude of the pilot and a profes-sional manner can lay down a lot of appre-hension,” he said.

And nobody has ever argued with himabout canceling a flight for bad weather.

“Even though they want real bad to dotheir work, if you don’t want to go, the sci-entists don’t want to go because they want tobe safe.”

When asked if he’s had close calls in ahelicopter, Hawkins said, “Anybody who’sbeen flying for this long has been in scarysituations.

“You deal with them and you go on.You learn from them. The biggest thing isto avoid them. One way is by turningback.” �

12 • The Antarctic Sun November 26, 2000

Hawkins takes off with a double slingloadfrom the helo pad near the sea ice. Photocourtesy of Jack Hawkins.

Jack Hawkins

By Beth MinneciSun staff

Flies fickle skiesA PILOT WHO