The Antarctic Sun, January 10, 1998
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JANUARY 10, 1998 Every Two Weeks Published during the austral summer for the United States Antarctic Program at McMurdo Station, Antarctica. Polar Star Breaks Through Ballooning OverAntarctica story and photo by Alexander Colhoun Science at 125,000 feet ight feet of sea ice crumbled like story and photo by Alexander Colhoun Emilk toast under the weight of the USCG Polar Star as she battled her way into McMurdo Sound last week. A 399-foot-long icebreaker under Coast Guard command, the Polar Star is tasked with breaking through this season’s 16 miles of ice between the open ocean and Hut Point on Ross Island. From a helicopter circling far above the Polar Star, she looks innocent enough, resting quietly amid the ice ...cont. on page 5 INSIDE What’s in a Name? Siple Dome is the unofficial name of an elongated dome of ice in the Siple Coast region of West Antarctica, not to be confused with Siple Station, in Ellsworth Land, West Antarctica. Field Camp Christmas At a deep field camp far from home, happily Researchers fill their science balloon with Helium gas in preparation for its launch last Wednesday. “You couldn’t nested in a low spot among rocky ask for a better launch day,” said Steven Peterzen, project coordinator. “It was a flawless launch.” The balloon will travel above Antarctica for up to 20 days. moraines and hummocks, two Antarctic veterans compose a Robert Service Christmas poem. he balloon’s proportions alone are Bound for the oxygen-depleted upper When Fuel Spills In a matter of min- Timpressive. Fully deployed, the materi- atmosphere several miles above Earth, these utes 2,300 gallons of fuel gushed from al would cover 16 acres with 26 miles of balloons have been called the cheap seat to a 10-inch diameter metal pipe. Were seams. Inflated, its diameter is 518 feet, long space. Minus rocket fuel and astronauts, the it not for the attentive eye of a fuels enough for two jumbo jets to sit end to end balloons achieve many of the same objectives. team monitor, the spill could have inside. It is capable of carrying more than “We launch, monitor and retrieve these bal- been much worse. 5,000 pounds of payload. Filled with helium, it loons with an eight person staff,” said Steven Perspective Sun dogs, reminiscent of rises 125,000 feet in the air. Peterzen, project coordinator. “A rocket launch Greek legends and mythological These are no birthday party balloons. requires hundreds of people.” beings, bring visions of creatures the Made of transparent material that rolls And hundreds of thousands of dollars. Not ancients imagined swarming across between the fingers like cellophane wrap, the that the Long Duration Balloon project in the sky. balloons used by the National Scientific Antarctica is cheap, but relatively speaking, Profile A water-based marriage fits the Balloon Facility look like giant tear drops ris- there is no comparison: balloons are the worka- fluid lifestyle of Rhonda Rodriquez ing into the sky. Unlike tears, however, the bal- day ticket to space. and Otis Tavlin as they traverse the loons aren’t free, and cost up to $100,000 for Hard-working and perhaps wiser. There are globe on their sailboat, Kathi II. just one. many benefits, beyond cost, to research via ...cont. on page 10 2 January 10, 1998 The Antarctic Sun Siple Dome at a Glance by Alexander Colhoun ith up to 90 residents, 12 WJamesway tents, and two huge hot tubs, Siple Dome is the largest field camp ever established by the United States Antarctic Program. “It’s a large camp,” said Jill Ferris, ASA’s field services manager. “There isn’t just one [logistics] factor, you just need more of everything out there.” Getting cargo to Siple Dome can be a battle of its own. Despite being situated on a dome of ice just above the Ross Ice Shelf at an elevation of 2,415 feet, the site is sus- ceptible to foggy conditions. “The location rests on a main trajectory of systems crossing the Ross Sea,” said Randy Spink, a McMurdo weather fore- caster. “It sits in a moisture belt. They’ve been mostly socked in since the 19th of December.” Navy photograph While the fog has disrupted at least one Antarctic explorer Dr. Paul Siple, IGY scientist, makes snow temperature tests in December, 1956. project on site –an aerial survey of the ele- vation of the Antarctic ice sheet– many oth- ers are moving forward, unhindered by the weather. Siple Dome’s location is considered ideal for the support of ice core drilling What’s in a Name? projects. With compacted water accumula- tion of less than 12 centimeters per year and its relative isolation between glacial story by Julie M. Palais, Antarctic Glaciology Program Manager, and NSF Science Representative flows, Siple Dome may offer climatologi- cal data dating back 100,000 years. iple Dome is the “unofficial” name of Siple Dome is also the name of a field “It is an unusual piece of ice,” said Dr. San elongated dome of ice situated camp, the largest Antarctic summer field camp Tony Gow, a long-time ice drilling between Ice Streams C and D in the Siple ever deployed by the U.S. Antarctic Program. researcher. “It seems to have a long record Coast region of West Antarctica. Siple Dome The camp was constructed during the 1996/97 of accumulation. This site was not chosen is about 1000 meters thick and is well-situated austral field season, and this year is supporting at random.” Gow’s research is just one of to investigate coastal climate conditions and as many as 90 investigators and support per- more than ten projects that will collect data ✹ the dynamics of the Siple Coast ice streams, sonnel who are part of seven coordinated at Siple Dome this season. which drain the West Antarctic Ice Sheet. research projects studying the geology, geo- Although its name appears on maps of physics and glaciology of the region. with Admiral Richard E. Byrd on his 1928-30 Antarctica, Siple Dome is not formally recog- Siple Station, also known as “Siple” (by expedition to Little America. He returned to nized by the Advisory Committee on Antarctic those of us “old timers” who have been here Antarctica several times and was the first Names as an official place name. long enough to remember Siple Station), was Station Science Leader at the Amundsen-Scott located at approximately 76°S, 84°W, in South Pole Station. Paul Siple died on Ellsworth Land, West Antarctica. Siple Station ANTAR November 25, 1968. S CT TE IC A P The Antarctic Sun, part of the United T R S O D G E R T I A was first occupied by scientists from Stanford N M States Antarctic Program, is funded by There are four officially recognized fea- U ★ ★ ★ ★ the National Science Foundation. University doing magnetospheric research in ★ ★ tures named for Dr. Paul Siple, or his widow ★ ★ ★ ★ Opinions and conclusions expressed in N A N the austral summer of 1969-70. Siple Station T O I I Ruth, in Antarctica: Mount Siple, Siple Coast, O T The Sun are not necessarily those of the N A A D L S UN CIENCE FO Foundation. served as a year-round station for a number of Siple Island, and Siple Ridge. The first three Use: Reproduction and distribution is encouraged with years and then served as a summer-only sta- were named for Paul Siple himself and the acknowledgement of source and author. tion until January 1989 when it was closed last, Siple Ridge, was named in 1992 after Editor: Alexander Colhoun permanently. Publisher: Valerie Carroll, ASA Ruth J. Siple, widow of Paul Siple and Contributions are welcome. Contact The Sun at Siple Station was named after Dr. Paul A. Honorary President and active supporter of [email protected]. In McMurdo, visit our office in Siple, an internationally known U.S. scientist Building 155 or dial 2407. who first went to Antarctica as a Boy Scout Web address: http://www.asa.org ...cont. on page 8 The Antarctic Sun January 10, 1998 3 lack Island, Field Camp When I first arrived in BAntarctica– It’s 1992, I listened for the echo Christmas day with that tra- of those explorers’ voices in ditional conical form draped Christmas the stillness. Maybe we all with a string of tinsel. But do. Now I listen for the it’s not a 200-dollar Scotch story by Bill McCormick voices of friends coming Pine. It’s a yellow Scott over the radio from Siple Tent. Two of us are inside Dome, Downstream Bravo, and the decorations hang Skelton Neve and the rest of from the net drying rack the strange liturgy of field above our heads. A turbine- camps. Each camp within a like whine outside signals setting of vast glacial and the approach of another geologic time, and our pres- blast of wind. enceisas brief as the flicker The upwind side of the of the flame on a Coleman tent slams in and the col- two burner. umn of steam rising from The radio handset res- the cook pot jumps side- onating from the bottom of ways. Every gust is echoed our cook-pot speaker fills by a pressure shift inside the our Scott Tent with rousing tent. Christmas carols. After the Anne Vick and I raise choirs finish, we begin our eyebrows at each other: shouting our stanzas into the the subtext is, “Thank God microphone with cowboy we aren’t camped with the poet intonations: “There’s an fuel drums on the glacier!” austral Christmas story that The polished blue ice of the didn’t come from old Lake photo by Mike Neckerman photo by Chuck Kramer Koetlitz Glacier is at the Hoarey, but was born in center of this wind tunnel.