November 19, 2006 Organisms abound below sea ice By Peter Rejcek Sun staff he occasional skua swooping around McMurdo Station scav- Tenging for food, or the odd seal lounging next to a crack in the sea ice, is generally the only reminder for many here that there is life in the Antarctic aside from human beings. SEE RELATED STORIES: But below the swath of seemingly The Antarctic The Sun impenetrable ice that separates the Foram superglue on page 11 station and the Royal Society Range, Room to breathe on page 12 about 65 kilometers away, a riot- ous and colorful marine community thrives in McMurdo Sound. See MCMURDO on page 9 Rob Robbins / Special to Crary Lab celebrates 15 years on Ice Quote of the Week By Steve Martaindale metal plaque was not. Now ence that wasn’t even on the “I’m so tired of Sun staff 15 years old, the Crary Lab, horizon when the 100-percent A plaque outside the Albert P. as it is more popularly known, design was approved.” looking at every- Crary Science and Engineering has proven to have the elas- Kottmeier, now director of one through trees.” Center at McMurdo Station tic qualities intended from its science support for Raytheon — Woman commenting on notes that the building was ded- inception. Polar Services Co., was among the number of fake plants icated on Nov. 4, 1991. That “The design of the Crary a group of scientists consulted in office spaces. was the original plan, but the Lab was very flexible to concerning requirements for a ever-unpredictable Antarctic accommodate the various dis- new lab. That was in 1984. By Inside weather had other ideas and ciplines of science that would the time plans were approved ceremonies were pushed back use it,” said Steve Kottmeier, and the first part of the building Road trippin’ to Marble to Nov. 5. “not only in a tactical sense was ready for use, new research Page 3 The event was obviously but also strategically so that it was already forcing the first flexible, even though the cast could accommodate new sci- See LAB on page 7 Rocking out in German Page 14 AntarcticSun.usap.gov 2 • The Antarctic Sun November 19, 2006 The core of the project Cold, hard facts All about us Race and gender White: 94.67 percent Black: 0.70 percent Hispanic: 2.90 percent Asian/Pacific Islander: 1.51 percent Native American: 0.23 percent Gender: 32.33 percent females Age Youngest: 18 Peter Rejcek / The Antarctic Sun Oldest: 68 Cliff Atkins, Cristina Millan and Terry Wilson (left to right) examine a fresh sediment Mean (average age): 37 core at the ANDRILL drilling site. ANDRILL is searching through geological history to Mode (most common age): 28 understand the past and future impacts of global temperature change on Antarctica’s ice mass. Next week’s Sun will contain full coverage of the massive undertaking. Most popular names Males: David Females: Susan Top three most-represented states: Colorado, Washington, California 48 states represented (no one claims Delaware or Rhode Island) These statistics are for the 863 RPSC con- tract workers on all stations and ships. Source: Cori Manka, McMurdo human resources specialist Level 1 Comix Matt Davidson The Antarctic Sun is funded by the National Science Foundation as part of the United States Antarctic Program (OPP-000373). Its primary audience is U.S. Antarctic Program participants, their families, and their friends. NSF reviews and approves material before publication, but opinions and conclusions expressed in The Sun are not necessarily those of the Foundation. Use: Reproduction is encouraged with acknowledgment of source and author. Senior Editor: Peter Rejcek Editors: Steven Profaizer, Steve Martaindale Copy Editors: Ben Bachelder, Rob Jones, Traci Macnamara, Cori Manka, Melanie Miller, Erin Popelka, Bethany Profaizer, Travis Senor, Emily Stone Publisher: Valerie Carroll, Communications manager, RPSC Contributions are welcome. Contact the Sun at [email protected]. In McMurdo, visit our office in Building 155 or dial 2407. Web address: AntarcticSun.usap.gov Subscribe: Click on the link on the right side of the homepage and follow the directions. November 19, 2006 The Antarctic Sun • 3 Sea ice strong-arms USAP into backup plan Fleet operations grooms new route to Marble Point for fuel, supply deliveries By Steven Profaizer Sun staff The iron grip of the sea ice has pre- vented the annual fuel tanker from reach- ing Marble Point Refueling Station since January 2004. No one yet knows if the sea ice will clear out this summer. But Marble Point is a crucial fuel stop for access to the McMurdo Dry Valleys, and fleet opera- tions isn’t taking any chances on it running dry. The department groomed a new snow route this season to facilitate the transport of regular supplies and about 350,000 liters of fuel to Marble Point’s thirsty tanks. Fleet operations will divide the fuel into four different trips down the nine-hour route to Marble Point. It will also make Photos by Gregory Murphy / Special to The Antarctic Sun two regularly scheduled supply trips along Above, heavy equipment operator Richard the new path. Vaitonis walks among ski-equipped tanks that The gnarled, old sea ice between are used to transport fuel to Marble Point McMurdo and Marble Point is covered Refueling Station. Sea ice has kept the station with ice defects like cracks and hollow from being refueled for the last three years. pockets in ever-increasing numbers. Last season, these features forced fleet opera- Left, the side mirror on a tractor shows the tions into canceling the second of its typi- fuel tanks in tow along the snow route to cal crossings to Marble Point and helped Marble Point. Fleet operations had to create necessitate a bulldozed snow route. and maintain an overland route to the refuel- “It would have been impossible to get a ing station this season. traverse over to [Marble Point] this year,” said Gerald Crist, fleet operations supervi- Reed and John “JP” McMullan. The two- there were some troublesome sections that sor. “The sea ice is looking progressively man team worked 15- and 16-hour days proved unavoidable. worse.” for a week to complete the 80-kilometer “The worst section was from Cape The surface between McMurdo Station path. Bernacchi to Marble Point – the last 12 and Marble Point is annual sea ice, which They had to use their best judgment to miles,” Reed said. “It had everything you is ice on top of the ocean that should be decide the exact location of the route, but do not want to see on a sea ice traverse: broken up and pushed out to sea each sum- they did have some help. pressure ridges, melt holes, rough ice from mer by the pressure of tides and the force At the end of last season and the begin- dirt blown down from the Taylor Valley. It of Antarctic storms. ning of this one, a fleet operations team had it all.” This has not happened completely since was able to take helicopter flights to survey He said it took about six passes from 2001 when a massive iceberg, B-15A, the sea ice between McMurdo and Marble each of the bulldozers to get this section stopped near McMurdo Sound and pro- Point. It determined the best possible path smooth enough that it wouldn’t put the tected the ice from the natural stressors and plotted a general course using GPS. fuel sleds at risk. that normally wipe the sea ice slate clean “It gets a little tricky at times operating each year. a dozer while following a [GPS] heading All USAP activities are subject to the “In past years, when the sea ice would and bouncing around on the ice,” Reed environmental assessment process, under go out annually, the surface, as a whole, said. the Protocol on Environmental Protection had the characteristics of a large pool The helicopter scouting mission proved to the Antarctic Treaty. Short supply tra- table,” said Marty Reed, Marble Point a success, and the team was able to elimi- verses, such as the traverse to Marble traverse leader. nate many of the major problem areas by Point, have been assessed as part of the The Marble Point route was made by planning the road around them. However, overall USAP program. 4 • The Antarctic Sun November 19, 2006 Perspectives Perspectives Leading the program in a new era By Christina Hammock Special to the Sun First there had been the question of what to use as my radio call sign. “Cryo Chick” had to be replaced with “Cryo Chris.” Next came inheriting the cryo shack, for- merly an admitted bastion of male pride Christina Hammock with its over-sized pipe wrenches, pres- fills a tank with sure gauges and intimidating giant tanks. liquid helium in the As a prank, I decorated it completely in South Pole station’s pink. Then there were those power meet- cryo building. She ings with the astrophysics principal inves- worked during the tigators when all the pressure was on the 2004-05 seasons only gal in the room. as the first woman These were some of the many unique cryogenic technician moments I experienced as the first woman at the South Pole. cryogenic technician at South Pole during the 2004-05 summer and winter seasons. Luckily, the interesting challenges of my job far outweighed the few bumps along the road. Pink décor wasn’t my only contribution to the cryo shack. During my tenure, a number of advances were made Courtesy of Christina Hammock / Special to The Antarctic Sun to the cryo operation – automation, com- the first female research associate has been tem and generate real-time sea ice images puterized monitoring and advanced supply a much easier transition.