Today we finished the ablation stake survey on the West Lobe, and once again took up arms against the vile nation of Generators. No clear victory was decided, with a win and a loss on both sides. The weather sucked today (clouds, wind, cold) and because of that and my being tired and in a generally terrible mood these past few days, I was pretty cold. Still, there was some salvage of the afternoon.
Today we went to Blood Falls (which is conveniently near one of our ablation stakes). Blood Falls is a section of Taylor Glacier that is very aptly named (see Flickr.com [search for jpwarnock] a few minutes after I finish this). It's an entirely geologic phenomenon (I can explain if you really care); biology has nothing to do with the color. Some people say it is the most interesting looking place on the continent. I'm not sure that I'd go that far, but it was pretty damn cool. Following our viewing of the Falls, we spent some time with one of the other science groups out here, who make their camp there. They're cutting (with chainsaws, dear god!) into Taylor Glacier. They've cut a tunnel, sevenish feet tall, three feet across, and some 20ish meters into the glacier. Then the started cutting down, to the glacier bed. They're looking for bacteria living in the ice. These organisms are especially prevalent near sediment, but do exist throughout. Seeing the entrance to their site (I couldn't go in the tunnel because a stream has flooded their entrance, just a day after they finished. Lucky boys.) is quite bizarre. It's like there's a door going into the glacier. Just a big, dark, rectangular hole in the ice, not a site I'm likely to see again (it will take about a year for the glacier to heal itself. all things considered, I think that's damn quick). I think in my own right I've spent a fair amount of time down the rabbit hole and through the looking glass, but this is something altogether different.
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3 comments:
Ok, Flickr is fighting me. It'll have to wait a bit.
So the Antartic struggles continue, and you push on where you can. I hope the elements and general day-to-day are not at the point of overbearing or overwhelming. I hope too that modern conveniences, like something as basic as relieving yourself, are soon yours to enjoy again. Hold onto that thought, time is winding down. Only about 3 weeks to go now. Who knows, you may even miss the white vastness and lack of civilization when you get back. If nothing else, you will probably miss the uniqueness of things like seeing glacier tunnels being created, ice goblins all around you, geometric phenomenons. Soon enough you will be back in the boring world of man and machines.
Carry on, stay positive, and most of all, stay safe and as warm as you can. I will email a separate message to you. Love you, miss you.
Beautiful pictures! So glad you had a chance to post some new ones. Watch out for that sun - bouncing off of the ice has got to be blinding. Getting a good tan now? Don't forget the sunscreen!
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