U.S. Antarctic Program Field activities October-November 1971

McMurdo Sound area Turtle Rock. (In 1970, 55 pups had been born at this location by the end of October.) The adult popula- Summer work in the McMurdo Sound area went tion, mostly nonpregnant females, fluctuated between into full swing on October 8, when the first regular 10 and 30 throughout the month. flights of the season arrived from New Zealand with On October 31, tissue and blood samples of nine scientists, support personnel, and priority cargo. The Weddell bulls were flown to the home institution for flights were made by two LC-130 aircraft of Antarctic laboratory study of cytochrome oxidase and mitochon- Development Squadron Six (VXE-6). dria. On November 19, upon completion of the field By that time, the two groups that had arrived on work, Dr. R. S. Wyburn, a New Zealander working the August 31 preseason flight were well into their with Dr. Hammonds group, accompanied four live, projects. Dr. Douglas Hammonds University of Cali- young seals on an airlift to Massey University, on New fornia (San Diego) party had occupied two portable Zealands North Island, where angiographic studies huts on the annual ice near Turtle Rock (about 10 will be conducted on the seals. km north of Hut Point) on September 13, and in 3 The other group that arrived on the preseason flight days had finished calibrating instruments to be used also established itself on the ice of McMurdo Sound. in measuring the temperature of newborn Weddell Dr. Arthur DeVries, from the University of California seals. These and other measurements are expected to at San Diego, and two assistants caught several Dis- clarify the mechanism of neonatal temperature regu- sostichus inawsoni, the largest of which weighted 42 lation that enables the newborn seals to survive in the kg, with a baited hook on cable lowered through a hole extremely low temperatures that they experience im- in the ice. A large amount of blood serum was col- mediately after birth. lected from these fishes and will be sent to the home Meanwhile, twice-daily seal counts were begun on institution for study of its glycoproteins, which have September 4 at Turtle Rock, and on September 25 a antifreeze properties that permit the species to exist seal survey was taken from the Erebus Glacier Tongue in sea water below 0°C. to Cape Royds, a distance of about 20 km. One crab- Other species of fishes collected included Tremato- eater and 50 Weddell seals were sighted at Cape mus bernacchii, T. borchgrevinki, T. cent ronotus, and Royds, and 150 emperor penguins were observed walk- Rhigophila dearborni. After building a refrigerated ing toward Tent Island. aquarium, the DeVries group subjected specimens of By October 14, births of Weddell seal pups appeared T. borchgrevinki to warm and cold environments in imminent, and an around-the-clock watch was begun order to study the physiochemical properties of its at Turtle Rock. Immediately after the first births of blood serum. With the arrival of warmer weather, the the season were observed, the rectal temperatures were refrigeration system was not able to maintain suffi- measured of four pups during their first 7 minutes of ciently low temperatures, and the acclimation experi- life. The pups were returned to their mothers and al- ments were discontinued. lowed to suckle for 2 hours, after which the tempera- Moving ashore in November, the team continued to ture was measured again. In addition, the skin tem- collect fish off Elliott Quay using hook and line in perature of five pups was recorded at various points 20-m deep water. They caught specimens of Gymno- on the body and flippers. To obtain an indirect meas- draco acutices, Trematoinus centronotus, and T. ber- urement of the temperature of the fetus, the body nacchii, and continued the studies of freezing resist- core temperature of two pregnant Weddell seals was ance on a few specimens of C. acuticeps. All species recorded every 30 minutes for 36 hours. By the end were subjected to analysis of blood-serum chemistry, of October, seven Weddell seals had been born at and preliminary results indicate that they are extremely

January—February 1972 19 resistant to freezing. By the end of November, attempts these glaciers by melt streams during a period of to isolate and purify "antifreeze" from serum of Dis- intense ablation thousands of years ago. No direct sostichus mawsoni were still in progress. evidence was found of significant incorporation of Photos were taken of crystals in various body fluids debris at the base of any of the glaciers examined. as they formed by freezing under the microscope. The Another glaciological project being carried out in initial results indicated that aqueous humor freezes in the McMurdo Sound area is that of Mr. and Mrs. a dendritic pattern similar to that of pure water, while McSaveney, who began their study at Meserve Glacier coelomic fluids freeze in a finely branched tree-like on November 4. They collected volcanic bombs from pattern, and blood serum as well as solutions of pure an ash shower that occurred after or coincident with "antifreeze" in a spicular pattern. Such results are in Alpine III stage glaciation and investigated a accordance with the hypothesis that glycoproteins ex- possible Alpine I shower. An active rock glacier or ert their antifreeze effects by binding to the surface of "dustifluction" lobe was found 50 m uphill from the ice crystals, thus effectively removing them as nuclea- Meserve Glacier hut. tion sites. Oblique aerial photos were taken to map dust One of the groups arriving on the October 8 flight layers cropping out on the glaciers surface. These was that of Dr. Donald B. Siniff, University of layers show deformation of ice associated with surface Minnesota, whose study of the population dynamics wave development. The 32-pole ablation strain net of seals is in its fifth year. The first 3 weeks were established in the 1969-1970 season was prepared spent preparing underwater television and telemetry for taping. Work was begun on a new strain net in equipment for observation of male Weddell seal a region of maximum development of antielastic activity patterns. By the end of October, radio trans- bending features and probable maximum rate of mitters had been placed on eight adult seals, and growth of wave amplitude. In this region, two wave their activity patterns were being recorded around trains coexist in a pattern closely resembling the the clock. Monitoring by the underwater television interdigitated folds of the Pram Point pressure ridges emphasized the observation of detailed behavior. near Scott Base. A mark-and-recapture program was begun to esti- The first group to finish its field work this season mate the number of males and barren females in was a six-man party led by Dr. William J . L. Felts, McMurdo Sound. Age is being determined by collect- University of Oklahoma Medical Center, studying ing toenails from the marked animals. the anatomy of seals. In an economical usage of During November, most of the work of this group animals, the party collected tissues and organs from was completed. The final surveys for the mark-and- Weddell seals killed by New Zealanders for use as capture study were carried out; preliminary analysis dog food. Dissections were made in the field and in indicates that sufficient data were obtained to make a specially built laboratory adjacent to the McMurdo good population estimates. The TV monitoring con- Station biological laboratory. Also, two Weddell tinued in November, but an early season plankton yearlings and one pup were embalmed whole and bloom toward the end of the month limited visibility returned to the home institution for more thorough severely. Blood samples (41) were taken and frozen analysis. Dr. Felts anatomical studies will be cor- for return to the U.S.A., where electrophoresis analy- related with the physiological and behavioral pro- ses of blood proteins will be continued. grams of other institutions. This work is expected Mr. Anthony J. Gow and a companion from the to reveal dramatic structural adaptations. The group Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory began its return journey to the United States on worked at a number of glaciers along the southern October 23. foothills of the Royal Society Range in November. Drs. Fiorenzo C. Ugolini (University of Washing- Their studies are concerned primarily with examina- ton) and Duwayne M. Anderson (U.S. Army Cold tion of debris patterns in the ice and with the Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory) collection of samples for later analysis at the home finished their investigation of the rates of ionic move- laboratory. The sites visited included the Walcott, ment in low-temperature soils in 2 weeks. Working Adams, Miers, Joyce, Garwood, Hobbs, Blue, Taylor, in the lower Wright Valley from October 27 to and Commonwealth Glaciers. The debris content November 10, they assayed nine sites in this ice-free varied considerably from glacier to glacier, but all area to determine soil particle size, distribution, and contained laminations of dust. In addition, the surface area. Five kilograms of soils were collected Garwood, Blue, and Taylor Glaciers contained thick for further study in the U.S.A. sequences of sand and gravel intercolated with bubbly Preliminary results from this study indicate that glacier ice. In these glaciers, larger-size debris oc- ionic movement does take place in the Wright Valley curred at levels that would preclude its incorporation soils. That conclusion was reached on the basis of at the base of the glaciers. It is opined that most of measurements with a Geiger-Mueller counter on the debris was deposited on the upper surface of samples that had been injected with Na22Cl in 1969.

20 ANTARCTIC JOURNAL A benchmark was established in October near the Starlifters and MAC-chartered commercial B-707s tide gage that had been installed in Winter Quarters and DC-8s. Prior to opening day 313 scientific and Bay last February (see "Tidal measurements at support personnel had arrived on one B-707, two McMurdo Sound," by Norman C. Venzke, p. 231- LC-130 and two C-141 flights. Between opening 232, September–October 1971 Antarctic Journal). day and the end of November, 67.5 tons of cargo Records from the gage for the period February 9 to and 845 additional passengers had arrived in October 25, 1971, were sent to the U.S. Naval Christchurch. Oceanographic Office in Washington. Based on these The initial flight to Hallett Station occurred on and other records, tides for McMurdo Sound have October 8, and Brockton Station was reestablished been predicted through March 1972 (see page 18). on October 9. Air Force C-141 turn-around flights As no studies are being carried out at the penguin also began on October 9, when Brigadier General rookery at Cape Crozier this season or next, per- Keith L. Christensen, commander of the 438th Mili- sonnel from the National Science Foundation and tary Airlift Wing, McGuire AFB, N.J., landed the the Navys Antarctic Support Activities removed the Jamesway hut and materiel that has accumulated over the past decade. Several helicopter loads of One aircraft lost materiel were returned to McMurdo Station for On December 4, an LC-130 crashed on disposal. takeoff from the polar plateau. The aircraft Three year-round programs are active at McMurdo had resupplied the French traverse party and Station. The University of Texas geodetic satellite was making a jet-assisted-take-off (JATO) observatory tracked 1,047 passes of five satellites in from the open field at 68 0 201S. 137031E., October. The McDonnell-Douglas geophysical ob- some 760 nautical miles from McMurdo Sta- servatory recorded a polar cap absorption (PCA) tion. Two of the 165-pound JATO bottles event on October 3, with maximum absorption of separated from the left side of the aircraft and 0.62 decibel at 30 MHz. No PCA events were re- struck a moving propeller. The pilot, Lt. Comdr. corded in November. Bartol Research Foundations E. M. Gabriel, made a successful landing, and cosmic ray laboratory recorded a 3-percent Forbush the ten crew members escaped without injury. decrease from October 6 to 9. Adverse weather prevented a rescue aircraft from arriving for almost four days. The sur- Air operations vivors spent 80 hours in survival tents and The successful opening flights on October 8 were experienced —25°F. temperatures and 40 mile- preceded by intense predeployment activity in the per-hour winds, a —100°F. chill factor. The United States and the transportation to New Zealand accident investigation team which rescued the of 34 passengers and 27.1 tons of cargo, including survivors inspected the aircraft and declared it two of the new UH-1N Iroquois helicopters, via a total loss. It was stripped of useable parts and \TXE-6 Hercules. abandoned at the crash site. Only two of the four LC-130 Hercules aircraft The loss of one of the four fixed-wing air- were available for the opening day flights. One craft available for airlift within Antarctica will Hercules was delayed en route at NAS Alameda, have a serious effect on this seasons activities. where fuel contamination was eliminated by a The programs are being evaluated to see where thorough cleaning of tanks and engine filters. The requirements might be altered. fourth Hercules—tail number 320—was engaged in an operational test of under-wing antennas for use in the remote ice-sensing project. The antennas were initially installed at the Naval Air Development 4 Center at Warminister, Pennsylvania, and the air- craft flown to Sonderstrom, Greenland, from which base successful sensing flights were made on Septem- ber 29 and 30. On the return flight to NAS Quonset Point, one engine became fouled and a replacement was necessary. Aircraft 320 departed for New Zea- land on October 7 and, after maintenance stops at Forbes AFB, Kansas, and Marine Corps Air Station El Toro, California, arrived in New Zealand on U.S. Navy the 11th. Remaining two JATO bottles on left side of LC-30 that Most of the personnel arrived in New Zealand crashed on polar plateau. Burned area was caused by the two JATO bottles that separated from aircraft. aboard Military Airlift Command (MAC) C-141

January–February 1972 21 first of more than 40 scheduled turn-around missions. verse party encountered ice conditions much worse General Christensen participated in the deployment than had been expected, and the weather approached to gain firsthand knowledge of the antarctic opera- whiteout conditions during much of November. tions supported by his wing. Progress was very slow, and at the end of November Six turn-around missions were completed during the traverse was about 10 days behind schedule. the next five days. These flights moved almost 400 passengers and 41 tons of cargo to Antarctica before flight operations were suspended. The cause of the Hallett Station suspension was a series of about ten low-pressure systems that originated in the South Pacific and Starting off the scientific work at Hallett Station followed a trough through the McMurdo Sound area were two persons from Iowa State University, who into Victoria Land. This series of storms dumped observed the embryology and incubational behavior 20.3 inches of snow at McMurdo between October of Adélie penguins in the rookery adjacent to the 14 and 18 and created 15-foot drifts. On October station. Dr. John R. Baker and an assistant arrived 15, the wind-chill index plunged to —109°F. at Wil- by air from McMurdo Station on October 26, and liams Field and to —77°F. at McMurdo Station. by November 5 had their instruments in order and This weather development was first discovered by the began work. Thermorecorders were installed to re- U.S. Fleet Weather Facility, Suitland, Maryland, on cord the temperature on three incubated penguin its satellite reports. The information was transmitted eggs, and 50 nests were marked for study of clutch to the Naval Support Force, Antarctica, advance size evolution. The team departed Hallett on Novem- headquarters at Christchurch in sufficient time to ber 12 on the last plane to leave before the annual- suspend air operations before the storm hit. ice runway at the station began to deteriorate. (The After the storm abated and the damage had been runway was closed on December 1.) A three-man corrected, MAC flew 28 additional missions in Octo- team from Iowa State is scheduled to arrive aboard ber and November, moving an additional 550 passen- an icebreaker in mid-December to carry on the gers and 487 tons of cargo to Williams Field. observations. One more partial turn-around occurred on Novem- ber 16, after Major General William G. Moore, Jr., commander of the 22nd Air Force, arrived in Christ- Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station church on a visit to observe MAC operations and 22nd Air Force units and facilities in the Pacific The first flight of the season to the South Pole was Area. He flew a load of cargo to McMurdo and then made on October 27, bringing relief personnel and departed for Australia. the first fresh supplies in more than 8 months. Aboard Two of the new UH-1N helicopters were flown was Dr. Walter A. Zurn, University of California at via LC-130 from NAS Quonset Point to Christ- Los Angeles, who replaced Dr. Bernard V. Jackson church. The four remaining helicopters arrived on as station scientific leader on November 7. Dr. Zurn M/V Cap Vilano and were subsequently flown to will hold that position through the 1972 winter, in Antarctica in LC-130s. The first UH-1N flights in addition to continuing his institutions measurements Antarctica were made on October 21. Helicopter sup- of earth tides. Also on November 7, Lt. W. R. Talutis port flights for the scientific program began on relieved Lt. K. P. Gallen as officer in charge at October 24. The next day, two New Zealand in- the station. vestigators and three tons of supplies were flown to The first summer program to get started was that Lake Vanda. Four of the Iroquois helicopters flew of Mr. John Rand, U.S. Army Cold Regions Research a skytrain mission to place a New Zealand party of and Engineering Laboratory, who arrived on Novem- five with 4,800 pounds of supplies at Mistake Peak ber 13 to set up equipment for obtaining a depth- in the Willett Range on November 18. temperature profile of the ice cap by means of a thermal pendulum probe. Descent of the probe began on November 29 and the initial progress was slow. International Antarctic Glaciological Project Except for the turnover of personnel, the year- round programs continued routinely throughout The 16-man French Antarctic Expedition team October. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric that will make an oversnow traverse from the French Administrations representatives continued an iono- Carrefour Station (located inland from the Adélie spheric program and meteorological measurements Coast) half way to the Soviet inland station Vostok, at the surface and aloft and collected air samples was flown to its starting point by a U.S. aircraft for determination of carbon dioxide content and on October 31. (An earlier attempt to field the team, radioactivity. Surface radiation and air turbidity were which had been at McMurdo Station since October also measured. The ozonesonde /radiometersonde 23, was thwarted by inclement weather.) The tra- flights were discontinued on October 15, and the 22 ANTARCTIC JOURNAL Dobson spectrophotometer program was instituted on Antarctic Peninsula the same date. Two new minicomputers arrived on Palmer Station is not supplied by air, and the first November 22 for use in the upper-air sounding pro- ships (USCGC Staten Island and R/V Hero) were gram. NOAA also operates programs of seismic and not expected to arrive until December 1 or 2; thus geomagnetic measurements. October and November were spent in the winter In the Bartol Research Foundations cosmic ray routine. By the end of October, the ground had program, a 4-percent Forbush decrease was recorded thawed, with extensive melting between heavy snows, on October 6. A cosmic-ray storm began on Novem- and the harbor was free of brash for 18 days. The ber 22 and was still in progress as November ended. British ship RRS Bransfield visited Arthur Harbor on November 28-29. Byrd Station One scientific program has been active this winter: a study of the population dynamics of arthropods by The first flight of the season to Byrd Station was Texas Tech University. In October, the two winter- made on October 11. over representatives completed temperature-prefer- Mr. Ian M. Whillans and four assistants from The ence experiments with halozetes, crytolaelaps, and Ohio State University were flown to Byrd Station Frisea and rH preference experiments with Frisea. on November 4 to remeasure the ice-strain net In November, the team set up grids on Torgersen originally laid out northeast of the station in 1963- Island for population studies in that area. Studies 1964. A camp was prepared for them 30 nautical at Bonaparte Point and the stations peninsula were miles north of the station on the 120°W. meridian, completed. and they occupied the completed camp on November On November 30, an HH-52 helicopter from 16. Three days later a storm arose, and the group Staten Island made the seasons first landing at Decep- was unable to communicate with other stations for tion Island, where an international expedition will 96 hours. Communications were reestablished on be working later this summer. November 23. By the end of the month, about 25 percent of the leveling had been completed, and distance measuring by geodimeter had begun. Packing of equipment and phasing out of programs Year-round occupancy of Siple Station began in preparation for the scheduled January 1, deferred for one year 1972, closing of Byrd Station. The auroral program that had been conducted by the National Research Several factors have combined to thwart Council of Canada in cooperation with the National efforts to make Siple Station a year-round Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration was shut facility beginning this coming winter, and it down on September 26, shortly after the sun returned. will not achieve winter status until 1973. The riometer and micropulsation operations will prob- It was discovered early in the season that ably continue until the station closes. Dr. Aleksandr V. time would not allow careful installation and Shirochkov, the Soviet exchange scientist who has complete checkout of station facilities, and the been at Byrd Station since January, continued his postponement decision was made in late Novem- riometer and auroral observations. NOAAs meteor- ber for safety reasons. As it turned out a few ology program was turned over to Navy weathermen days later, the loss of an aircraft would have on October 12. Stanford Universitys synoptic pro- prevented completion of the station anyway this gram of upper-atmosphere observations was termin- season. Some construction and checkout will ated on November 1. The NOAA representative take place, however. transmitted Byrds last seismogram on November 1. Dr. Michael J. Sites, Stanford Electronics Labora- tories, and two assistants arrived at Byrd Station in late November to dismantle the Unmanned Geo- Vostok Station physical Observatory and the wind generator. By the end of November, the work had been completed and At the Soviet station Vostok (78°28S. 106°48E.), the group returned to McMurdo. Mr. Dale L. Vance, U.S. exchange scientist, con- Mr. Peter Bucher, University of Bern, and three tinued upper-atmosphere studies conducted since De- assistants arrived at Byrd on November 18 to start cember 1970. He reported in early December that the carbon-14 dating program. A drilling site was much outside work was accomplished in November, prepared, and the CRREL thermal drill was re- including the removal of 2 m of snow from the sta- rigged. After a test run on November 24, routine tion area. The removal of snow from cables and an- drilling was begun on an around-the-clock schedule tennas improved the operation of the riometer. Mr. on November 29. Vance expects to return to the U.S.A. in January.

January—February 1972 23 Construction and maintenance two Peter Snow Millers. Necessary parts were en Two naval units are responsible for construction route from Switzerland as November ended. and maintenance projects at U.S. stations in Antarc- Installation of the new Brockton Station, consisting tica. Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 71 of three vans and assorted equipment that had com- (NMCB-71), led by Commander W. E. Crosson, prised Little Jeana Station, was almost complete by the end of November. CEC, is responsible for major construction; the Public Works Department of Antarctic Support Activities Private flight (ASA) is responsible for most of the maintenance at the coastal and inland stations. By the end of November, construction projects for Deep Freeze 72 were 27 percent complete, six percent behind schedule. Much of the delay can be ascribed to the mid-October storm. The task of receiving and inventorying construction materials was 42 percent complete, and on schedule. .11Itf Other projects in the McMurdo area on schedule were the completion of the Scott Base road reha- U.S Navy bilitation project, and construction of a 5,300 square- The first around-the-world solo flight across both foot pad for the sewage treatment facility, which poles was accomplished in November by Mr. Elgen M. was one-quarter complete. Two ASA maintenance Long, a professional pilot. Flying a twin-engine Piper projects—painting of flag quarters and removal of Navajo aircraft, he crossed the South Pole from four excess buildings—were also on schedule. Punta Arenas and landed at McMurdo en route to Several projects were ahead of schedule. These in- Sydney, Australia. By the time he returned to San cluded the reorientation of 15 antenna towers and Francisco, on December 3, Mr. Long had achieved 8 conical monopoles and securing them with guy wire eight "firsts" in aviation. anchors, installation of one JP-4 and one DFA four- inch pipelines some 8,000 feet to the Scott Base road terminus, and backfilling the 150 feet of Elliott Quay protective facing installed last season. Several other projects were behind schedule by Antarctic Research Series late November. The installation of the wastewater Volume 17 published dilution line at the PM-3A nuclear power plant was 71 percent complete, whereas preseason plans had Biology of the Antarctic Seas IV, the 17th volume called for its completion at this point. The delay was of the Antarctic Research Series, has been published. due to lack of pipe insulation. This arrived on The 362-page volume contains 13 papers, most of November 26 and the project was expected to be them concerned with the identification and distribu- complete before Christmas. The communications tion of marine plants and animals. transmitter building was only 31 percent complete, The Antarctic Research Series is supported by a a variance of 26 percent. The delay in this grant from the National Science Foundation. Copies 50 by 120 by 10-foot steel-paneled structure was are for sale by the American Geophysical Union, attributed to inoperative cranes necessary for placing Suite 435, 2100 Pennsylvania Avneue, N.W., Wash- the steel panels. The Williams Field berthing project ington, D.C. 20037. Volume 17 costs $30. and the helicopter airfield project were also behind schedule. Site preparation and installation of the utilidor for the new South Pole Station were behind schedule. Correction Site preparation was 16 percent complete, a variance of 29 percent. Completion of the utilidor, begun last Coordinates for Siple Station were listed incorrectly season, had not resumed. One cause of the delay in on page 246 of the November-December 1971 issue. site preparation was the continued down status of the The correct coordinates are 75°55S. 83°55W.

24 ANTARCTIC JOURNAL

r U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE: 0-1972 485335\3