An enormous amount of logistics are required to plan and carry out "deep field" geophysical experiments in West Antarctica. We hit the milestone of one week in Antarctica today, and our calendar continues to be dominated by planning and training. Yesterday we had snowmobile training where we learned how to turn on, drive, and perform basic maintenance (e.g., changing spark plugs) on a snowmobile.
Snowmobile training was followed by Central Communications training where we discussed our daily communications plan for our field camp with Central Comms. When doing field work through the U.S. Antarctic Program, we always need to have at least two forms of communication with us. We will have satellite phones and HF radios for our primary forms of communication, and we will have a daily communication to check in and confirm our team's status when we're in the field. We learned that a highlight of using the HF radio every December is the opportunity to tune in to Christmas caroling from every field camp in Antarctica over HF radio. We are expecting a strong showing from the Siple Dome Camp this year.
In between trainings, we've been working on getting the remainder of our gear from the Berg Field Center (BFC), planning field food, preparing weight estimates of all cargo for flight planning, charging seismic nodes, charging GPS and radar batteries, testing our GPS instruments, discussing risk assessment matrices for our upcoming work, and much more! There is definitely a lot to keep us busy here!
However, we've also been carving out some recreation and relaxation time including evening hikes, yoga lessons, and an excursion to the observation "ob" tube where you can climb down a pipe and sit in a tube to observe the environment in McMurdo Sound under the sea ice. It was very peaceful in the bottom of the tube watching jellyfish and listening to the cries of seals.
The "ob" tube is a great reminder of the wonders around us: McMurdo Sound under the ice, the geology of Ross Island (the island where McMurdo Station is located), the nearby Ross Ice Shelf, and the sea ice in front of McMurdo Station.
I went for a walk this evening and saw a recently born seal pup with its mother on the sea ice. Even in this harsh, frigid environment, there are a rich variety of creatures who call Antarctica home.
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