What did the ice say to the seismometer?

Hi, everyone! This is Marianne writing, and we’ve reached Day 11 of managed isolation and quarantine, so it seems entirely appropriate to start telling Antarctica jokes! So here we go:

Question: What did the ice say to the seismometer?

Answer: Nothing! It just waved! :-)

Hahaha :-) Okay, moving on… Actually, managed isolation and quarantine has been very comfortable, and I’ve been impressed by all of the delicious vegan and vegetarian food selections served to my door at each meal time. The vegan dumplings, the cajun zucchini, and the stir fried tofu have been particular highlights. And of course, I’ve been appreciating the fresh salads and fruit in anticipation of the upcoming time in Antarctica with limited to no fresh vegetables and fruit. Last night, we received a Friday night treat of a make-your-own ice cream sundae - yum!

Friday night build-your-own ice cream sundae!

Between the Zoom trainings for the U.S. Antarctic Program (USAP) this week, I have been trying to finish a longstanding item on my “to do” list -- archiving the remaining unarchived seismic datasets my research group collected over the last 6 years! There were 12 datasets remaining on my list to archive, and so far in the past few days I’ve converted about half of them to the PH5 data format and am in the process of transferring them over to the Incorporated Research Institutions for Seismology (IRIS) Data Management Center (DMC). I am very grateful for the work of colleagues at the IRIS DMC and the Portable Array Seismic Studies of the Continental Lithosphere (PASSCAL) Instrument Center Data Group in creating tools for handling data and also providing support for those tools.

Speaking of PASSCAL, I visited PASSCAL in Socorro, NM last month for a field instrumentation training because our seismic work on Thwaites Glacier involves the demobilization of 14 broadband seismometers, Trillium 120PHQ seismometers with Quanterra Q330 data loggers. In the early autumn desert sunshine, we walked through how to demobilize seismic stations like the ones that we will be digging out of the snow in about 6 weeks on Thwaites Glacier. We will walk through the process again once we arrive at McMurdo Station with the whole field team.

Seismic training at PASSCAL Instrument Center in Socorro, New Mexico in September. The solar panels, instruments, orange enclosure box, battery packs, and cables are very similar to those we will recover from the blowing, accumulating snow on Thwaites Glacier.

Another view of the orange seismic datalogger and battery enclosure and the solar panel "lampshade" behind.

I have quite a bit of equipment from PASSCAL with me, including a blue/ gray backpack containing a laptop and various seismic-related instrumentation. This backpack was quite handy to use (just the right weight!) for a body weight workout put together by an athletic trainer for participants in the U.S. Antarctic Program heading to McMurdo. If you are heading to the ice, check out Body Weight Workout #3 in the McMurdo Strong program for the backpack workout! Thanks to our trainer and USAP for putting these together!

Baby Yoda supervising my McMurdo Strong workout today, including PASSCAL backpack lifts!

McMurdo Strong workout video demonstrating the backpack lift.

Another part of our time in Christchurch, New Zealand to be grateful for is the opportunity to go outside and enjoy walking around the patio and breathing the fresh air under the darkness of night. Once we arrive in McMurdo, we won’t see the sunset, sunrise, or darkness for three months because the sun shines brightly 24 hours a day during the Antarctic summer. During our late night outdoor time, when the weather cooperates, we can look for the Southern Cross and other constellations of the Southern Hemisphere!

Scenes from late night outdoor time.

I’m off to do some yoga and check on my data transfer before dinner. Have a great weekend!