Science

Well, it’s New Year’s Day in McMurdo – a time for out with the old, in with the new. We moved the ANDRILL Coulman High camp yesterday from Site #3 to Site #4, which is close to Site #1. We’ve had a long string of poor weather days and no helicopter flights – we’ve only gotten one helicopter out to camp in the past two weeks, since December 16^th when Bob Zook and the SCINI team went out to begin diving operations with the remotely operated vehicle through the ice shelf (260 m-thick).

Well, I’m back in McMurdo but the view out on the sea ice has changed in the few days I’ve been away. The sea ice runway has been moved and all of the LC-130 airplanes are gone. This happens every year in December once the sea ice begins to melt a bit and the surface becomes uneven. The planes all move over to William’s Field or to Pegasus on the McMurdo Ice Shelf.

The gravity coring is continuing today and I’m taking more pictures of what’s going on in the MECC. Later today we’ll see the shot hole drilling, but right now we’re waiting to see what length of core is recovered.

The weather is good, so Bob, Ethan and I board the Kiwi helo for our trip to Coulman High with Rob the pilot. I’m sitting in the back – not much to see.

The flight is uneventful, but a bit windy. There is a haze over the ice surface that makes it hard to see features below. We can’t see the camp until we get pretty close, but then we land and rejoin the group. It’s good to be home.

The team ran the DOCTOR (Downhole Optical Caliper Tool for Observing Roundness) down the hole melted in the ice at Site #2 to continue our observations through the ice shelf and to the seafloor below. This time Mike Williams suggested that they also deploy a CTD (conductivity, temperature and depth) sensor as part of the run, so they were both sent down together.

The weather is good, so Gary, Daniel and Chris will fly out to camp today.

They are wearing their ECW gear and have selected helmets for the flight. Rob, the pilot gives them instructions about the helo and its time to board!

Walking outside of Crary Lab today, I saw the Kiwi helicopter conducting a sling load transport of fuel barrels from the heliport down the hill. This helicopter, designated HNF, is a different design from the USAP helicopters, which are A-stars or Bell-212s. The tail rotor is enclosed in a tunnel, which makes the helicopter very maneuverable and also very quiet.