Such Sweet Sorrow

Well, I’m back in the states! And what a journey it’s been. We had a 4a flight off the ice, which meant that we had to be on Ivan, the Terrabus, by 2a for the ~1.5 hour ride out to the white ice runway. But even before that, we had to get all of our baggage packed, weighed, and turned in in a process called Bag Drag. They call it Bag Drag because you literally have to drag your bags up a hill, where they process your baggage.

Here we are, getting our bags checked in.

After Bag Drag, some of us pulled all-nighters, waiting for the bus ride to the ice runway. I, however, was exhausted and took a quick 2 hour nap. And then, it was all aboard!

Here we are at Pegasus Runway. I’m standing next to Ivan, the Terrabus. We weren’t able to use the sea-ice runway that I landed on when I first arrived because it’s later in the summer season and the sea ice is not as thick or stable.

Here I am, very excited! (It's snowing).

Here’s the group – all together - ready to be going home!

The five hour flight was basically a big slumber party. Everyone slept because it was an early flight!

And then collecting our bags – sort of a challenge when everyone has the same standard orange issued bags.

Stepping out into the New Zealand (Christchurch) airport was like walking into the future. I couldn’t believe how strange it felt to be back in a commercial area – flat screen tv’s everywhere with colorful ads, moving walkways and conveyer belts, images everywhere filled with beautiful air-brushed people. It was spectacularly bizarre. I guess when you see it all the time, you sort of get desensitized to it. But when you see it for the first time in a long time, it’s a little overwhelming. After that first bit of culture shock, I was in for another reality check. Night time! Wow – I had forgotten how dark night really is. I haven’t been afraid of the dark since I was little, but my first few nights back home were a little nerve-wracking. I honestly can’t remember night time being so dark!

I’ve scheduled a ten day layover back home (in California) before I head back to Princeton, New Jersey. And since I’ve been home, I’ve vegged out in front of the tv, watched several movies, eaten lots of good food, and not done much at all. It’s been great! To be honest, it’s a necessary break – it really is quite a shock to come back from the field and the isolation and try to throw yourself back into work and society. A good mental and physical vacation is exactly what I need right now.

And with that in mind, I will say adieu and thank you to everyone who has read my blog. I hope you’ve been inspired to find the courage to do whatever it is that you want to do and make it work for you. I fell in love with geology and climate science as an undergraduate, and I’ve pursued it to some exciting extremes (…Antarctica – that’s pretty extreme…). I love what I do (obviously), and I'm really excited that I had the chance to share this experience with you.

Oh really?.......

MacTown!

So, I’ve been in Mactown for the past few days, taking care of a few tasks before our off-ice flight on the 7^th. There’s a few things that need to be done in preparation before we leave: preparation of our samples for shipment back to the states, return of all the gear we used in the field to the BFC (Berg Field Center – Antarctica’s REI), return of all the scientific equipment we used in the field to Science Support and Science Cargo (Antarctica’s science REI), return of left-over food to the Food Room, and turn-in of out-brief paperwork. These preparations actually take a few days to complete, so we’ve been basically working continuously to make sure everything is done in time.

Going through our gear at the BFC.

Here we are, cleaning out tents at the BFC before we turn them in.

And, going through the left-over food to turn in.

Working in the office on administrative stuff in Crary (the main science building).

                                                 

Besides that, life has been quite plush here in McMurdo. But surprisingly, I miss the field – I liked my down sleeping bag and fleece liner (it was squishy and warm). And I miss waking up and stepping out to a gorgeous view (McMurdo sort of looks a bit like a construction site). And I miss the feeling of being in the field, roughing it and enjoying the peace of Mullins Valley (McMurdo is a town with a lot of stuff going on – helo flights, trucks, and lots of people). The one thing I don’t miss, however, is the food. The galley serves some of the best food I’ve ever had – mmm…flank steak, King crab legs, lobster tails, fresh salad sometimes, and the deserts…..oh man. Don’t get me started on that. I definitely don’t miss the expired, packaged fatty foods from the field, that’s for sure. But, since I’ve been eating so much, I’ve also been working out a lot at the Gerbil Gym.

Run, Forest, Run

But, my time here is coming to a close, and I don’t know if I’ll ever come back, so I also took some time to wander around the base and surrounding areas. I took a tour of Discovery Hut, used by some of the first Antarctic explorers (Scott in 1901 and Shackleton in 1907). And I also took a walk out to Scott Base (the New Zealand base) roughly 2 miles away from McMurdo. I've been really fortunate to have had a week in MacTown to get a feel for what life is like here. McMurdo definitely has its charms. I’m going to miss this place.

MacTown is in the background. A small, but cozy place.

So, I'm set to leave tomorrow, the 7th. My bags are packed, and I'm ready to go. I've learned a lot here, but I'm excited to be going home. woot woot! Au revoir, Antarctica! Hope to see you again soon!

Leaving Mullins Valley

The season was extremely productive, and it gave me a really good perspective of where my ice is coming from. But, to be honest, I was pretty excited to be heading out of the field. A month in the field is the perfect amount of time to be here – it’s just long enough to get a good feel for the environment, experience living in the camp, and get things done in terms of science, and it’s just short enough that you don’t start feeling bored or that the novelty of being in Antarctica has worn off.

Penkleton. Antarctic explorer.

So, Jen and I scheduled a flight out for the 30^th of December to move most of our gear back to MacTown (nickname for McMurdo) and to begin the retro process (basically arranging for our samples to be shipped back to the states and to return all the gear that we borrowed from the science and field centers). Unfortunately, we were spoiled by 2 weeks of great weather – on the 30^th, the weather turned bad in McMurdo (lots of low lying clouds and snow, which is bad for helicopter flying), so we weren’t able to get out when we hoped. Antarctica is known for very changeable weather, so it’s always important to give yourself some buffer time. Fortunately, we were able to get out late on the 31^st – probably the last flight of 2010!

The helo landing. It's important whenever a helicopter is landing or taking off that you are in view of the pilot and low to the ground. Safety first!

It was really exciting – Jen and I got to sit in the front seat of the New Zealand base’s helicopter (Scott Base and McMurdo Station are very close). It was a gorgeous ride, and because of the bad weather, we were able to fly pretty low to the ground – it was awesome. Though, I got really air sick half way through the hour-long flight. I thought at one point I was going to throw-up, but luckily I made it.

Two happy passengers.

 

Flying low.

Being in the field was a great experience. I can’t believe how fortunate I am to have had this opportunity. I am even happier that I got through it safely. But I am happy to be coming home – I do miss my family and friends.

Since I’ve been back – there are a few things that seem different to me now

1. Chairs! It’s amazing how simple it is – but a good chair with a little bit of cushion goes a long way. In the field, we sat on rock boxes with crazy-creeks on top (basically camp cushions). It wasn’t uncomfortable at all, but sitting in a real chair, that makes a difference. You can stretch out your legs and lean back without the fear of falling over or the rock box top sliding off. It’s just so easy! Thank you, civilization.

Luxury seating.

2. Choosing clothes to wear. This was really strange. Picking out clothes everyday to wear – it’s strange to have options again. In the field, you’re pretty limited to what you choose: wind pants – check, thermal underwear – check, fleece top – check, little red – check, neck gaiter – check, hat – check, bunny boots – check, socks – check. And that’s it. But back in town, what shirt should I wear? should I wear my jeans again? Etc. Granted, I still don’t have that many options, but still – I actually have to think about what I pull on in the morning!

Yup - same clothes as every other picture.

3. Form fitting clothing and tiny feet! Along the lines of clothing, it’s also very, very weird to see and wear form-fitting clothing again. The wind pants we were issued were a bit big for me, and I was always bundled up in several layers. So, I pretty much looked like a blob all the time, as did most of us in the field. But now that I’m back in town, it’s strange to pull on clothes that hug my body and see people wearing clothing that actually fits them. It’s nice to feel fresh and put together again, though. You feel civilized again.

ECW (extreme cold weather) gear, not really a fashion statement. But practical.

4. People! For nearly four weeks, I saw the same three people. It was great because we all got along, and we spent a lot of time together, so we always talked or did something together. But back in town, it’s a bit strange. Everyone is friendly, so you smile or say hi, even if you don’t know them. But there’s still a level of separation – I don’t know most people’s names, I don’t hang out with them all the time like back in the field…..it’s strange. The distant friendliness I guess just comes built into civilized life.

The happy group. Talking science and thinking deeply.

5. Sitting at a computer and not caring about slow internet. This is probably one of the funniest things that has been different for me since coming back. Most people, myself included, tend to get a bit frustrated with slow internet (I still can’t believe some people use dial-up), but since coming back from the field, the fact that I even have access to internet is pretty incredible. So, I don’t mind waiting an extra ten seconds for a page to finish loading. It’s still amazing that it does! I mean, I’m in Antarctica – and there’s internet! That’s nice.

A peaceful moment sans internet.

6. Food – fresh fruit and vegetables. Fresh, unexpired food!!! Hooray! I still can’t get over how good fruits and vegetables taste. At almost every meal, I end up picking up a piece of fresh fruit – something I don’t usually do. But, to be honest, fruits and vegetables aren’t the only things I suddenly can’t stop eating. Bread and pastries here in McMurdo are delicious – made pretty much fresh every day. Oh man…..if I were in MacTown for more than a week – I’d be in serious trouble.

The typical spread in one of our dinner boxes.

7. Muscles! So after four weeks of hiking, moving rocks, and freezing my buns off….I’ve come back in probably some of the best shape I’ve been in for the past five years. I actually have muscles again….woot woot! And after all that hard work – I want to stay that way. So, I’ve been going to the gym here (gerbil gym, it’s called). It’s actually really great that they have these facilities here, especially for the people who have to stay here for a full 5 months or so for the summer season.

Jen taking a break from working out all those muscles.

8. Water – everywhere! Running water? Clean drinking water? What? Again, another thing to thank civilization for. It’s ridiculous how we take it for granted, but clean, running water is probably one of the greatest achievements of our society. Unfortunately, it’s something that a lot of countries in the world still struggle to provide for their people. I only got a small look at what life would be like without clean, running water (for drinking, bathing, cooking, etc). I really couldn’t imagine living like that permanently. That’s something that I really couldn’t understand, especially from my own, sheltered lifestyle, and I probably won’t ever fully comprehend. But I definitely empathize much more for those who live like this every day, often times not by their own choice.

Walking on a melt water lake near the head wall of Mullins Valley. There's lots of ice here, but we only use the snow for water.

9.  Not using duct tape to fix everything. In the field, the wonders of duct tape are endless. A hole in a glove, no worries! Duct Tape! Out of nails? Duct tape will work! Gear need to be packed up? Duct tape, please! It’s actually ridiculous how useful duct tape is. It’s sturdy, strong, and simple.

In the first week, I had already worn holes through my leather work gloves from moving rocks. By the end of the third week, I had worn through the duct tape I had put on my gloves. Good thing duct tape is plentiful!

10. Not having to rock everything down. The region of Antarctica that we were working in is known for a special type of wind, known as a katabatic wind, which is a wind driven under the force of gravity that brings high-density air from high to low elevation (they are especially intense along the edge of the Antarctic continent, where the high elevation of the ice sheet relative to sea level provides a steep slope). We had a couple katabatic events, one was so strong that it actually blew over one of our anemometers (a device that measures wind speed….how ironic, right?). Some of the highest recorded wind speeds in the area go up to 90 mph (that was the speed up to which one of the anemometers recorded until it also broke…..). Because of the unpredictability of the weather and the intense winds in the region, we always tied down and/or rocked down all of our gear, tents, and rock boxes (basically putting large heavy rocks on top of our stuff to keep it from blowing away).

Camp in lower Mullins Valley. Notice the millions of tie lines we rocked down....

Overall, my field experience has taught me a lot, not just about science, but about myself. I really think it’s a good experience to have – no matter where you go or what you’re doing, it’s good to get out and experience working or living in the field for a bit. Really, just going outside your comfort zone once in a while is a good thing probably – it gives you some perspective, you see what you yourself are comfortable with, and you have memories that will last a lifetime. 

ANTARCTICA!!!!!

Daily Life

A typical day in the field starts at around 8a. In the beginning of the season, I would wake up with frost on my face and the dread of unzipping myself from my warm down sleeping bag and fleece liner. But towards the end of the season, the temperature got closer to -5 C, and getting out of bed wasn’t as terrible. Generally, one person in the group would be responsible for calling into Mac Ops (McMurdo Operations Center) as a check-in, letting them know that everyone at the field camp was safe and sound. Then, we’d all settle in for a delicious breakfast – either hoo-hash (last night’s left overs) or a delicious bowl of oatmeal and granola. This was actually perhaps the best meal of each day (for me at least). And then, we’d fill up our water bottles, slather on some sunscreen, put on a few layers and our sunglasses, and get ready for a day out in the field. Typically, we’d work in pairs – I was usually with Jen. I spent most of my time in the field, supporting the research of both Jen and Sean because we weren’t actually drilling ice cores this year. But I was able to take some time towards the end of the season to dig some pits and collect some ice chips for my own lab analysis. (see The Science for more info).

Here's the inside of the Scott tent that Jen and I shared. Nice and cozy. We were given pretty comprehensive sleep kits that contained a cot, 2 sleeping pads, a down sleeping bag, and fleece liner. On cold nights, we'd also set up a white gas stove to heat up the tent a little bit, which inside the canvas tent, was really quite toasty.

Getting ready for a day in the field. That's Jen packing up her pack.

Most of the field work was conducted anywhere from just a few meters to several kilometers away from our base camp, so I had a lot of time to practice walking in bunny boots over the rocks in Mullins Valley. The work itself was pretty straightforward. Often times you would be doing some pretty mindless tasks, like counting rocks, collecting rock flakes, or moving rocks, so there was a lot of time to just think. I’ve done a lot of field work before, and I’ve always really enjoyed the peace and time to just let your body work and your mind wander. When you’re in the office, classroom, or lab, back in ‘real life,’ you never really feel like you have that time to just think about important things or not important things. In some ways, it’s rejuvenating to just do simple tasks, grounding yourself in more ways than you’d think.

A happy moment in the field.

Often times, we would work a bit too far from camp, so coming back to the Cook Tent would be just a waste of time. So, we’d pack snacks with us, like Bumper Bars (pretty much bars of butter with pieces of fruit in it), Cliff bars, gorp (bags of nuts, chocolate, and dried fruit), and other high calorie goodies. In the beginning of the season, all of these snacks would be pretty much frozen, which was a pain to eat, but you do your best. You might wonder why all the food we eat seems to be so high in energy, fat, and protein – well, not only are we very active out in the field, but we are also burning a lot of energy just because it’s so cold out here. Our bodies are typically around 37 C or 98.6 F, and the average temperature in Mullins is -10 C or 14 F, so to maintain that normal body temperature, we’re constantly burning energy and fat stored in our bodies. While out in the field, I developed a pretty healthy appetite – when you’re cold, you automatically eat more. But now that I’m back in McMurdo (typical temperature right now -3 C or 26.6 F), I’m not burning as many calories to stay warm, so I’ve had to start limiting what I eat a bit more now. Unfortunately, it’s been hard, especially when the food here is so good (and not expired)! I guess I should explain: a lot of the food we had in the field we noticed was expired. Some of the worst items: Mild Cheddar cheese (expired February 2008), Nature Valley bars (made in 2002), canned soups (expired July 2009), Cadbury chocolate (expired November 2009), and many many others. Some of the food doesn’t sound like it’s so terribly out of date, but when you think that these foods were made to be packaged for a long time (like canned foods), you get a little worried. What’s also interesting, is that you really lose any sense of ‘dirty food.’ Typically most people think even a ten-second rule (picking up and eating food that fell on the floor for less than ten seconds) is pushing it, but I ate some food off the floor that had been there for over 3 hours – we coined that the 3-hour rule. Well, we survived, so I guess it wasn’t terrible.

The end of one of the longer days in the field. I literally pulled my pack off and collapsed in front of my tent. It was probably the most comfortable position I've ever been in, and I didn't even know I was lying on a rock.

Typically during the day, we would carry our packs with us, bringing more sunscreen, chapstick, a full water bottle (it’s easy to get dehydrated out here – it is the Dry Valleys, emphasis on dry), an empty pee bottle (don’t want to contaminate an otherwise pretty pristine environment), some snacks, a camera, a radio (for communication between groups), and any scientific equipment we would need for the day. I would also bring a plastic bag with me and some toilet paper, just in case I would have to do a number 2 in the field (which happened many times, much to my chagrin). What’s interesting is that after being out in the field for a while, you start to just live with things. The expired food is one example. Another is not washing your hands. Another is getting used to a steady stream of snot dripping from your nose – it was actually a little ridiculous sometimes. It would get a bit difficult, especially when you’re trying to take notes in your field notebook, when all of a sudden a huge splash of snot lands where you’re trying to write and your pencil can’t write on the wet patch anymore….sigh). And another is getting used to drinking pretty dirty water. You might wonder how we get drinking water out in the field. So, we don’t melt the glacial ice, but we do melt snow for water. There are patches of snow that are relatively permanent fixtures on the landscape due to local topography (land forms). Generally, this snow contains bits of rock debris, which, compounded with the accumulated dirt and dust in your water bottle from 4 weeks of refilling your water bottle, is pretty gross. By the end of the season, I was doing my best to filter my water with my teeth before swallowing. But sometimes, you just have to close your eyes and say, ‘bottoms up.’

ANTARCTICA!! That's something we would occasionally yell in the field - just for good measure.

At the end of the day, we’d all head back to the tent, and whoever was back first would generally start cooking dinner (usually anytime between 5p and 8p). A lot of thought goes into the planning of food for 4 weeks. Before we head out to the field, meals are all planned out in advance. We prepare typically one rock box (wooden box) for each week we’ll be out there. In each rock box we have a series of meals that we cycle through: mac and cheese, mashed potatoes, pasta, stir fry, chili, and burrito nights. By the end of the season, we had a lot of random leftover food, so we started experimenting and mixing up our meals. One night, I made peanut butter noodles (that was a hit). Another night, Greg made pizza (which was also delicious). It was actually a lot of fun cooking in the field (when the stoves weren’t acting up).

The mess after dinner. The two stoves were run on propane, which was really great because it was so easy.

 

Post-dinner activities.

After stuffing ourselves, we’d usually sit back and talk, read, work on some science, or just stare off into space. And then we’d talk about our plans for the next day, and retire to our Scott tents. I’d usually read a little or write in my journal before getting ready for bed. It was always really nice to get ready for bed. Taking off my bunny boots was always amazing, and then my wool socks – also amazing. What’s funny is that sometimes my feet would steam after I'd take off my shoes and socks. Unfortunately, the bunny boots are rubber, non breathable shoes, so all the sweat tends to pool in them and get soaked up into the socks, which is why my feet would steam at night. It was a bit strange at first, but eventually I would get excited to see if my feet would steam or not that night. And then after brushing my teeth and hair, I’d crawl into my sleeping bag and fleece liner, zip up, and burrow deep. I’m fortunate in that I’m a deep sleeper, so I didn’t often wake up in the night, unless it was really cold. I think I got some of the best sleep out in the field that I’ve had in a while, actually.

All tucked in! Two essentials to go to sleep with: a sleeping hat (keeps you nice and warm) and an eye-shade (keeps the 24 hour sunlight from letting you get a good night's sleep).

 Hanging up my steaming socks to dry.

Night-night Jen!

The next morning, we’d start all over again. We didn’t take any days off except for Christmas, which actually wasn’t terrible. Somehow, the days started going really quickly, and I lost track of the days of the week at some point. But Christmas day was nice – we slept in (didn’t open any presents, though), ate lots of food (had some expired eggnog and ham), read a little, talked a lot, and overall had a good day off. Greg decorated the Cook tent with snowflakes, and we each called our families using the Iridium satellite phone we had. We also played a lot of Christmas songs – Greg and Jen both brought their ipods, which was nice. It was an amazing Christmas (Antarctica!! Woot woot!), but also a little lonely (you think of family and friends during the holidays, usually).

Yay! Snowflakes!

A penguin! Unfortunately, we don't see real penguins where we are because we're high up in the TransAntarctic mountains and penguins are typically coastal animals.

Jen using the Iridium satellite phone to call family.

A happy moment in the tent.

Overall, life in the field was surprisingly civilized. Once you adjust to it, there’s a lot about the simplicity of living in the field that you really start to enjoy.

Waking up to a beautiful morning. This is the view from my tent.

The Science

So, why am I in Antarctica?! I told you a little before about my research interests – studying the geochemistry of trapped air in glacial ice in the hopes of extending the current paleoclimate record (namely greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide). And the reason why we’re located in Mullins Valley, Antarctica: because some of the oldest ice and air is believed to be well-preserved here. But I’m sure you’re wondering what exactly I’m going to be doing out in the field, especially since my research focuses around laboratory work. This 2010 austral season we aren’t drilling and collecting more ice cores, but I will still have the opportunity to collect ice chips for analysis back in the lab. But really, the main goal of my trip out to Antarctica is to get perspective and help out the other researchers from Boston University whom we collaborate with. Some of the questions I hope to answer for myself: where does my ice come from? what are the unique aspects of Mullins Valley that allow ice of great antiquity to be preserved? how difficult is it to obtain glacial ice? what are the conditions like out in Mullins Valley?

You may be surprised by the lack of white in a lot of the pictures I've shown you. Mullins Valley is located in the TransAntarctic Mountains, a region with many exposed mountain tips, jutting out between many alpine glaciers spanning the region. In the distance, you can see a great exposure of the local rock formations: Beacon Heights Sandstone (light colored) and Ferrar Dolerite (dark colored) believed to be Jurassic in age (~170 Ma). The rock jumble you see in the photo actually lies directly on top of Mullins Valley glacier, which is buried anywhere between a few centimeters to nearly a meter in soil and rock. The overlying debris actually helps preserve the glacial ice from  melting and sublimating, which allows the ice to be as old as 4+ Ma.

As I was saying, I did have the opportunity to collect some ice chips as well as snow (which fell just after Christmas) for analysis back in the lab. My interests in the ice chips and snow are not for the air trapped in the ice, but actually in the frozen water itself. The isotopic* signature of oxygen in the ice can tell us a few things about the source water of the ice and the temperature of the ice during its formation. Using this information and age data for the ice, we can put constraints on regional climate during the glacial ice formation. 

*isotope = atoms that contain the same number of protons, but differing numbers of neutrons. Ex. Carbon-12 (6 protons, 6 neutrons) v. Carbon-14 (6 protons, 8 neutrons). Due to this difference, isotopes tend to have slightly different chemical and nuclear properties. These different properties result in different isotopic signatures, which are measured via geochemical laboratory analysis.

Here I am digging a pit - trying to reach the glacier surface so I can take some ice chip samples. It was pretty difficult because there were so many rocks to get around!

 Finally! Clean glacial ice!

Lots of chips later - a nice sample bag filled with ice, ready for analysis!

Some of the pits I dug were actually quite difficult because layers of ice cement sometimes overly the ice. The layer in the picture above is only a centimeter thick, but often times, you hit a layer that is several centimeters thick and nearly impossible to break through. When that happens, it's sometimes easiest to start digging elsewhere and hope you get luckier the next time.

Analyzing the ice chips is just one aspect of the research I do. I’m also interested in dating the air trapped in the ice cores, as well as analyzing the geochemical composition of the trapped air to reconstruct carbon dioxide concentrations. If you’d like to know a little more about what I do, check out my website - http://www.princeton.edu/~ayau/Audrey_M_Yau/Research.html.

The other researchers in the group have very different interests.

Jen Lamp is currently a PhD student at Boston University working with Dave Marchant. Her educational background is actually quite different from what her current degree is in. She completed a B.S. in Civil Engineering from University of Michigan and a M.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Virginia Tech. Her interests in Mullins Valley focus on rock fracture mechanics, specifically characterizing the mechanical breakdown of rocks by thermal stresses. Most of the field work she is doing includes conducting field experiments on temperature profiles of rocks, gathering data on the variety of boulder sizes with distance down valley, rock flake sampling, sampling transects of rock diversity along the valley, and collecting soil samples. Most of my time was spent helping Jen with her data collection.

 What makes a rock go from this....

 To that? Jen's research hopes to answer this question.

To help understand the rock breakdown process, we took several transects down valley, sampling the diversity of rocks along the transect. A transect is basically a path along which one collects data. You can collect any sort of data you choose, in our transects, we counted rocks of particular size and composition.

We also collected rock flake samples. The majority of the rocks overlying the glacier are Ferrar Dolerite, which exhibit a particular weathering pattern of flaking layers. Jen's interested in the flake composition and thickness with distance down valley.

Sean Mackay is also a PhD student at Boston University working with Dave Marchant. His educational background is also quite eclectic. He completed a B.S. in Physics and B.A. in Music from Southern Methodist University, and then completed a M.S. in Environmental Management at Oxford. His interests in Mullins Valley focus on geophysical analysis of the debris-covered glacier. He hopes to use Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) to construct a higher-resolution image of the interior of the glacier. Using this data he hopes to understand the development of the glacier through the past 4+ million years. I spent a good deal of time helping Sean with his GPR measurements, which consisted of building transects (moving rocks out of the way of the GPR machine), and then re-filling in transects after GPR analysis was complete. Rocks had to be moved out of the way of the GPR to allow the radar penetrate with as little interference as possible.

woot woot! science! Sean's in the background messing around with the GPR.

Taking a break from moving rocks. Those rocks are big and heavy!

The field season is just a 1-3 month period of data collection. The real science happens back in the lab or in the office, where we analyze the samples we’ve collected, analyze the data we’ve gathered, and start putting the puzzle pieces together. Hopefully looking at the Mullins' story from a geochemist and geomorphologist’s perspective will help pull the exciting history behind Mullins Valley glacier together.