SPICE ice
Antarctica

SPICE ice

The next major US-led drilling program is going to be at the South Pole for an intermediate-depth ice core (to ~1500 meters depth and ~40 ka). The drilling will start this southern hemisphere summer — progress will be posted as the drilling begins. Low annual average temperature (-50˚C) and relatively high accumulation rate (8 cm … Continue reading

Antarctica / Radar

Ground-based radar

The ground-based radar system we used is a coherent system; it records a time-domain voltage induced in the receiving antennas, and thus preserves both the phase and the amplitude of the echoes. The transmitted pulse is +/- 2000 volts and the center frequency of the mono-pulse depends on the lengths chosen for the antennas, which … Continue reading

Ice-shelf seismics
Antarctica / Research / Seismics

Ice-shelf seismics

During the 2012 season we conducted active and passive seismics on Beardmore Glacier, about 30 km upstream from the grounding line. During this season (2013-2014), we conducted seismic experiments on the Ross Ice Shelf a few km downstream of the Beardmore Glacier.       Paul installs GPS receiver (background) and Max installs a passive … Continue reading

Transantarctic outlet glacier dynamics
Antarctica / Research

Transantarctic outlet glacier dynamics

Work on Beardmore Glacier, an outlet glacier in the Transantarctic mountains, has been funded by the National Science Foundation Division of Polar Programs. I am part of this research project, led by Twit Conway (UW) and Paul Winberry (Central Washington University). Recent observations of rapid changes in discharge of fast-flowing outlet glaciers and ice streams … Continue reading

Put in: soon
Antarctica / Research

Put in: soon

I was optimistic for a timely put-in to our field work, but not unexpectedly we are waiting a few days for weather, planes, and destiny to cooperate. This gives time to reminisce about last year’s put in. First we will go to a location called “Central Transantarctic Mountains”, or CTAM. This was a base of … Continue reading

McMurdo Station and surroundings
Antarctica

McMurdo Station and surroundings

We have been and are still waiting in McMurdo Station for our flight to Beardmore Glacier. While waiting, I have a chance to put together some blog posts! The station has some highlights: interesting walks, interesting people, and interesting history. We went to visit Captain Robert Falcon Scott’s Discovery hut near the station. Built in … Continue reading