Antarctic Research

Week Six - Wednesday 4 October 2006 position 64.42°S, 55.18°W

(see latest position of the RV Polarstern here)

To coin a phrase the weather this week has been variable. Last Friday it was so warm that instead of snow we actually had do work in the rain! This was hardly what we had all come to the Antarctic for and there was considerable muttering along the lines of ‘this is what you expect in the Arctic, but not here”. But since Saturday afternoon the clouds have gone, temperatures settled around a comfortable –10°C and the sun has blazed. Off with the jackets and hats when working on the ice and on with the sun-block and sunglasses. The sun rises and sunsets at the moment are spectacular, the eerie light show being enhanced by the shapes and shadows of heavily deformed ice.

Ship reflected in sunglasses

The day after the ‘floe in the rain’ we were treated to the ‘penguin floe’. Soon after digging the snow pits, starting the generators and coring ice as if it was going to run out, a curious emperor penguin slid and waddled between the groups taking a long hard look at what was going on. A few hours later it was joined by a friend, and when we left the floe there were five of these splendid looking birds basking in the sun. By this time they had turned into rather aloof stars who simply know they are wonderful. They seemed to enjoy the attention of the inevitable photo-shoot by 40 camera-wielding scientists.
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We are still hoping to get to the Larsen B ice shelf region and are close to land again. The other morning we were able to spot mountain tops on the horizon. The ship is still making slow progress through the ice and the helicopters are being used a lot to help in the search for regions of thin ice and passages of open water for us to navigate through. Rather than large flat ice floes, the past few days have been spent in ice fields of heavily deformed ice. Predominant are the large pressure ridges (2 to 5 metres) comprised of huge ice boulders thrown up when ice floes ram against each other when blown by the wind or carried by the water. The pack ice in this region is a spectacular rubble field that highlights the awesome power of the ocean and ice. Despite all of this the only discomfort we feel on the ship is the odd violent lurching of the vessel as we grind our way, through, over and between the boulder fields.

After a dearth of icebergs in recent weeks, all of a sudden there are many spectacular bergs along our cruise track, some up to 6 miles in length. Close to the Peninsula we are in shallow waters, and many of this mountains of ice are actually grounded on the seafloor some 200 metres below us.

Icebergs take on many shapes of course, but also come in different colours. Some of the most spectacular are the ‘green icebergs’ which are formed from seawater that freezes onto the bottom of floating ice-shelves. The ice shelves eventually break up to form icebergs, and if these capsize and roll over, the marine ice is then on top and can look blue-green. We came across an iceberg that looked like one of these the other day. Dutifully the ship stopped and two scientists were hoisted into the air in a metal basket suspended from a crane. They were able to chip away chunks of the ice with crowbars, and these will be analysed back home. However, they also took a few extra chunks to put into the drinks that helped the celebration of two birthdays last night. The crackling sound of this ancient ice when it is warmed is a good start to any party.

Well it had to happen, when you have an Englishman and two Germans who have spent long periods of time in Australia: Three discarded ice cores provided the stumps, a shovel the bat, and sawed up 10cm sections of ice the balls. It wasn’t long before a cricket square was set up and an unorthodox game of the noble sport started. Bowling a lump of ice is not an easy task, and you certainly know about it if you are LBW when it hits your shins. However, the main problem was that when hit, the ‘ball’ tended to shatter instead of going all the way to the boundary. Needless to say, the experience came to an end when we realised that the only way to continue was to core some more ice cores to replenish the stock of balls.

Oh, and in case you are following the saga…yesterday afternoon we recorded our most concentrated ice brine samples - A staggering salinity of 134 (134 grams of salt per litre of brine), which were exactly the type of samples we aimed when dreaming up this trip.
David

Thoughts from Louiza

I have been extremely lucky this week to be able to experience a helicopter flight that gave me a snow petrel’s eye view of our surroundings. From the air you begin to get an idea of how vast and varied in both topography and colour this ‘icescape’ is. Even the Polarstern at 118m in length seems dwarfed when surrounded by ice floes. It is of course an excellent photo opportunity although keeping the camera steady in a helicopter is by no means easy. However, there is no such thing as a free ride. The aim of the flight was to map the ice thickness over a specified area and it was my job to take photographs of the ice types and GPS readings at regular intervals. But although there was work to do the awe inspiring spectacle still left me speechless for most of the flight and on a high for many hours after.

Thoughts from Stathis

In the middle of all the sampling of cold ice brines, iceberg watching, navigating through what looks like the floating marble ruins of some lost civilization, and celebrating colleagues birthdays, we had an auction. Scientists and crew dropped everything and got together and dined on roasted sucking pig, salads, beer and wine for the evening of the Bergfest. Soon after dinner, numerous items including pencils, coffee mugs, broken bits of ice corers, candles made from ice, t-shirts, samples of deep water in various types of container, preserved krill, elaborately put together maps, cruise plots and even old parts of the ships engine were sold off. The last tin of peanuts on the ship was also haggled after. By the end of it all 1350 (approx. £930) were raised, and the money will be donated to a children’s cancer ward in a hospital close to Rostock, Germany. The evening could not have been successful without the hard work and imagination of many on board, an Oscar-winning performance of the auctioneer, David, and his assistant, Louiza. The three-hour marathon left everyone fully entertained and perfectly satisfied with the outcome.