The camp is near the shore of Lake Hoare, one of the terminal lakes in the Dry Valleys. It's major source of water is the ephemeral streams that flow off the Canada glaciers. Since the camp manager had to run up to another lake to clean up an oil spill (a really big deal in the area), my first order of business was setting up my camp.
This proved to be easier said than done since the sand is difficult to drive stakes into. Thus, all my guy-lines are secured to rocks. It works quite well when combined with the trucker's hitches that we learned how to make in Snow School to secure them. It's a little loose, and thus loud when the wind blows, but it's nothing my ipod can't drown out. At least until we get a katabatic -- then it might get a little too loud.
I've been getting questions about what we do for water. Well, the Canada glacier (the big hunk of ice in background of the picture of my Chateau) is fresh water and is calving near the margin. So we collect the "glacier berries" and pile them near the main hut both on the lake and in a tarp-lined box outside the main hut. As we need to, we pull them in and melt them in a huge metal pot in the main hut. Then we either purify it for drinking water, boil it for tea and cooking, or leave it plain for hand- and dishwashing. It tastes a lot better than the snow we were melting for drinking water during snow school!
On Saturday after I set up my Chateau, the Limno Team (they look at the chemistry of the lakes as part of the MCM-LTER) invited me on a hike up to the Canada glacier. I, of course, took them up on the offer.
The climb up was pretty steep. More vertical than I've done since my other trips to Antarctica and for a more extended period of time. It was neat to see the glacial moraines in this setting. The moraine to the left is a lateral moraine that formed as the glacier moved into the valley.
The view from the top was amazing. It was a clear day, so you could see all the way across McMurdo Sound to Mt. Erebus, which was steaming away. We also ran into the crevasse that the glaciology team (Hassan and Liz) had just flagged a few hours prior.
According to Hassan, the crevasse has been there for several years, but is bigger than expected. They also came across a formation that they think is a moulin, which is kind of scary. Moulins are one of the ways that water gets to the base of a glacier, except they aren't really seen in the Antarctic environment and glaciers. Global warming?
The hike down was pretty intense. Hiking up may be hard on the muscles, but hiking down really tests my ability to remain on my feet.
But I made it safely. Only one major spill, but all four of us managed to fall at the same spot. The ground was icey and we just couldn't keep our feet under us. No one was hurt, though!Sunday is usually the day of rest. Since I just got here, however, I decided to take a hike with multiple meanings: 1) it got me out and about and active, 2) I got to figure out how to use my crampons and break in my mountaineering boots, and 3) I got to do some reconnaissance on my sampling in the Lake Hoare/Lake Chad basin.
The lake ice is really beautiful. It's not quite moat season yet (when there will be liquid water around the margins of the lakes), but you can definitely see where the ice is starting to sublime and melt to a certain extent. This is especially true where there is any sediment on the lake surface. The dark color lowers the albedo of the ice and increases melting where the sediments are making an extremely uneven central portion.
Where the moats form, the ice is almost crystal clear. In most places you could see all the way down to the algal mats on the lake beds. One of the explanations I've heard for the bubbles in the ice is that the algal mats effervesce (CO2 in photosynthesizers) and as the gas bubbles force their way to the surface, their paths are preserved in the ice. This makes sense, theoretically, since ice is technically a fluid. Interesting!
The temperatures and wind weren't too bad until "twilight" hit. This occurs around 2-3PM when the sun makes it's way behind the Asgard Mountains and dims the valley for a bit. But all in all, the hike went very well. Sampling will be easy because there is dust everywhere on the Lake Hoare/Lake Chad complex.
I can see why scientists have been using the Dry Valleys as an analogue for Mars. When I opened my tent this morning the landscape directly outside my tent looked suspiciously like the pictures of Martian soils I've seen in textbooks. With the exception of the fresh water Canada glacier and the fact that I was breathing, it could have fooled me.
3 comments:
All I can say is , "Wow!"
Keep writing!
ehheeee, the Asgard mountains :D
that place looks amazing. especially the lake and the ice.
did you go on that second hike by yourself? is that dangerous?
what are crampons and why do they have such a funny name? are they those spiky-looking boots that let you walk on ice?
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