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The Antarctic Sun, December 24, 2000

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The Antarctic Sun, December 24, 2000 www.polar.org/antsun The December 24, 2000 PublishedAntarctic during the austral summer at McMurdo Station, Antarctica, Sun for the United States Antarctic Program Quote of the week Glad hands “Normal is something you set your dryer on.” - Veteran McMurdoite on weather in Antarctica Winging it Snow petrels visit island By Kristan Hutchison Sabbatini Sun staff "Pretty bird, pretty bird," Andy Klein shout- ed down to his fellow sci- entists, digging soil sam- ples from a hillside on Bratina Island on the A snow petrel other side of the in flight McMurdo Ice Shelf. Dianna Alsup looked up and saw a white A Spryte-load of general assistants waves to a passerby. Each year people from bird flying ten feet away, wings curved like a wide range of backgrounds become GAs. The job entails a broad spectrum of scimitars glinting in the sun. The snow petrel work, from shoveling snow and dirt to entering data and cleaning equipment. swooped past, then soared up the hill. See related story on page 12. Photo by Beth Minneci. "I don’t know why the dove’s the symbol see Petrels on page 5 waterlife and death in the valleys By Beth Minneci peaks. On the ground, tents and research huts Sun staff look toy-sized next to an 80-foot ice wall – the or just a few weeks in the Dry Valleys cliff face of Canada Glacier, and the subject of each year, glaciologist Thomas Nylen Nylen's intense scrutiny. Fcan hear a steady trickle of water flow- This afternoon, on soft, pebbly sand at the ing past the dome tent in which he sleeps. glacier's edge, water streams gently past Nylen's The rest of the year water is frozen, silent. boots, feeding Lake Hoare. He points with a In Taylor Valley, one of three in the area, the pole to ice blocks that have split from the edge, A seal, dead in the largest of the valley's science camps is nestled piled like rocks fallen off a mountain. It’s called Dry Valleys. among gigantic ice sheets plunging over cocoa see Valleys on page 4 INSIDE Underwater Antarctic GAs galore Tiny people, warriors relativity page 12 big vision page 6 page 9 page 14 2 • The Antarctic Sun December 24, 2000 Old practice, new problem By Josh Landis Sun staff cMurdo Station’s history of local trash disposal surfaced Mthis week when excavation for the new waste treatment plant uncov- ered a forgotten landfill. A bulldozer dug into the ground near the blasting site by Winter Quarters Bay on Wednesday, exposing an old pile of discarded food. A skua landed to investigate some of the 1960s-era sausages, but even it didn’t find them appetizing. They were in remarkable condition considering their age. They’ve most likely been frozen solid ever since they were thrown away. The garbage must now be disposed of again. "We’re going to dig out what we This week a bulldozer unearthed sausages can see and send it out as food waste," and other food estimated to be more than said Tom Vinson, McMurdo’s waste 30 years old. The garbage will be shipped management supervisor. His team will off the continent with the rest of McMurdo’s put the old food into boxes and keep it food waste. Photos by Josh Landis. frozen so it won’t spoil. After it returns Foundation in the 1980s and 1990s to the U.S. by ship it will be burned at however, the area looks virtually clean. an incinerator in Washington. From time to time, however, pock- In the early days of the program, the ets of old trash turn up. In this case the slope that leads down to the bay was amount of food waste was small used as a dumping ground for varying enough to be contained in 18 large, types of refuse. After remediation cardboard boxes and shipped off-con- efforts by the National Science tinent. I T ake your best shot! The Sun’s Photo Festival is only two weeks away! Share your vision of Antarctica with the world One entry per person Submit via e-mail to [email protected] Deadline: Saturday, January 6 Public judging will decide Home improvement winners in three categories: Paul Zahradka attaches a cone to his gingerbread house with icing Monday night. A dozen gingerbread houses were decorated this week by dining attendants and Scenic, Wildlife and Other volunteers in preparation for Christmas. Photo by Kristan Hutchison Sabbatini. December 24, 2000 The Antarctic Sun • 3 News In BRIEF LETTERS to the editors Helicopter ready to fly again First and foremost, a special world. We live in a world of new tech- A helicopter stuck on the edge of the sea ice since Christmas greeting to wish you the nology, global communication and Dec. 16 will be flown home as soon as the weather love, joy and peace that the Christ interaction. We think we are very clears, said Jack Hawkins, project manager for child brought to the world: may it be smart and sophisticated. The truth is, it Petroleum Helicopters Inc. yours personally and extend to your is nothing compared to the wonder The AS 350, or A-Star, was shifting a 1,500- family, friends and our community. that we celebrate at Christmas. pound (680 kilogram) gondola when the clamp hold- There is a simplicity about I’ve not been here at this time of the ing a cable failed. The cable snapped up and hit the Christmas that shines through the tin- year before. Now as I enter the chapel main rotor, nicking one of the blades. The pilot safe- sel, social demands and commercial- each morning and look at the simple ly lowered the helicopter from about 60 feet off the ism that can permeate the season. crib in front of the altar, then look out ground, Hawkins said. Somehow our hearts are touched by the window at the Antarctic moun- One inspection is left, but maintenance crews the humble Bethlehem setting with the tains, I’m somehow deeply touched by determined the helicopter is safe to fly once the rotor baby, the stable, shepherds, animals the contrast of the little crib of ‘our blade was replaced. PHI keeps spare rotor blades on and above all Mary and Joseph who creation’ and the wonder of God’s cre- station. were forced to be away from home ation that surrounds us. Operation a success and family at this special time to satis- My prayer is this: that the Spirit of An experiment on Pegasus runway with a fy a census demanded by a foreign Christmas will live in our hearts and wheeled plane went well last weekend, station oper- power – the Romans. touch our daily lives in the years ahead. ations manager Bill Haals said. An LC130 landed on For those of us who come to the May we learn some truths from a skis, then moved across the snow on wheels. The test crib with faith, a whole new world reflection on the Bethlehem scene that is part of an effort to build a summer snow pack stur- opens up because we believe that here ‘speaks’ to us of humility, simplicity, dy enough for Pegasus runway to one day take over lies the child of God’s promise. This joy, peace and love: my wish for you as a wheeled-plane landing site once the sea ice run- child that would come to be known as and all of us at Christmas and always. way closes each December. The runway is closed the Messiah, Son of David, Son of mid-November to late January. God, Savior of His people and the - Father John Coleman Almost all of the compacted snow held up, with the wheels breaking through in just a few places, the week in weather Haals said. More tests are planned this season. around Antarctica corrections McMurdo Station Palmer Station (Saturday) South Pole Station The Sun would like to clarify some statistics High: 36F/2C High: 51F/11C High: -16F/-27C on USAP waste management: The program Low: -14F/-10C Low: 30F/-1C Low: -23F/-31C reuses 34 percent of all waste, 29 percent of Windchill: -9F/-23C Avg. temp: 35F/1C Avg. temp: -19F/-28C solid waste and 55 percent of hazardous waste Wind: 31 mph/50 kph Wind: 28 mph/44 kph Wind: 21 mph/34 kph (in the form of oil and fuel). Last season a truck- load of paint and glue that was shipped to Latvia, not soap. Two buildings burn waste oil. around the world Saturday’s numbers Iqaluit, Canada Bergen, NY High: 34F/1C High: 26F/3C The Antarctic Sun, part of the United States Low: 22F/-6C Low: 17F/-8C Antarctic Program, is funded by the National Singapore, Singapore Dwight, Ill. Science Foundation. High: 86F/30C High: 22F/6C Opinions and conclusions Low: 75F/24C Low: 10F/-12C Bergen, Norway Springfield, Tenn. expressed in the Sun are not High: 38F/3C High: 35F/2C necessarily those of the Foundation. Low: 32F/0C Low: 24F/-4C Use: Reproduction and distribution are encouraged with acknowledgment of source and author. Publisher: Valerie Carroll, Communications manager, Raytheon Polar Services Senior Editor: Josh Landis Dreaming of an Christmas Editors: Beth Minneci ICE Kristan Hutchison Sabbatini • http://www.riv.co.nz/rnza/tales/antarctica.htm Contributions are welcome. Contact the A New Zealand artillery gunner’s tale of Christmas on the Ice Sun at [email protected]. In McMurdo, visit • http://hum.amu.edu.pl/~zbzw/ph/xmas/pcpra.htm our office in Building 155 or dial 2407.
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