See us installing a new GPS station in the video below. We previously assembled the tower, which contains solar panels and wind turbines, to charge the batteries. The batteries and the GPS hardware are in the gray cases. We use towers to keep the solar panels from being buried by accumulation and drifting snow. Note the old station in the foreground and how close it is to the snow surface. This video is played back at 15x speed.

We always have a handheld GPS on while we’re driving our snowmobiles, just in case we get lost or conditions change and we can’t see. This way we can know where we have gone and were safety lies. I compiled all of our GPS tracks and made this map.

This map our snowmobile tracks.

We have ten GPS station around the ice sheet, plus a few other locations of interest (seismic instrumentation or flag pole to re-measure) which we visited at least once each during our field season. I drove over 400 km during our 4 week field season.

Here we measure a flag pole to see how much it has moved since we measured it last (the year previous, in this case). Some times the flags were frozen into the ice and we couldn’t get them out. As a result we measure a location next to the flag and make careful notes about how far away our antenna is.

A snowmobile outfitted with a kinematic set up: simply a GPS antenna strapped to the side. We’re not moving in this picture, but are we record positions whenever we drive around.

We can use this kinematic set up to measure surface elevation and if we have multiple measurements, as in the image below, we can see changes in the ice surface topography.

In this image four kinematics GPS profiles are shown and the elevation differences between the two time periods are different. We can see that the surface of the glacier is changing rapidly. The reason for these changes are that highly pressurized water is creating a cavity below the glacier which floats the ice up. These cavities can also drain allowing the surface to deflate.

In this next video, also a time lapse of one image per minute, we set up our personal tents, where we each would sleep.

Part of the safety protocol is to have the field party pitch one tent before the plane can leave. This is in case something happens, weather or injury, there can be a haven out of the elements. In certain scenarios, it might just be the difference between life in death.

As you’ll see, we pitched our tent much too close to the plane and we were bowled over by the force of the propellers. Moments later the plane disappeared into a cloud of snow. Silence and we were alone.

Below is a table of all the dried food we brought with us. We had an additional frozen food, butter, bacon, sausage, etc, which is not included in the table. But this offers insights into our daily lives in the field.

Our pantry set up in the field in our main tent.

Here’s a menu for most of our meals. We were in the field until February 2. I forgot to record the menu for the last few days, but it continued in a similar trend.

Friday Jan 8

Lunch: Cabin bread and tuna
Dinner: Assorted freeze dried meals

Jan 9
Breakfast: Oatmeal with dried fruit
Dinner:Chili relleno w/ mozzarella quesadilla, corn and refried beans

Jan 10
Breakfast: Oatmeal with frozen Maine wild Blueberries
Lunch: corn and refried bean burritos with cheddar cheese
Dinner: coconut milk, vegetable, corn and tofu stir-fry with Thai peanut chicken

Jan 11
Breakfast sandwich English muffin with Canadian bacon and provolone cheese
Pea soup, dried carrots and bagels
Quinoa, three bean salad and curried tofu

Jan 12
Oatmeal with frozen strawberries
Bagel sandwiches with sun-dried tomatoes hummus and fried ham
Potatoes, boiled vegetables and chicken with mustard sauce

Jan 13
Onion and potato hash-browns with bacon and sautéed onion on English muffin
Lunch in the Field
Rotini with sun-dried tomato, mozzarella, spinach and chorizo tomato sauce

Jan 14
7 grain hot meal with dried cranberries
Bacon and English muffins
Pepperoni pizza, pepperoni and mushroom pizza and pepperoni and olive pizza

Jan 15
Oatmeal with frozen blackberries
Lunch in field
Spring rolls, oyster mushroom, carrot and green pepper quinoa with peppered chicken and asparagus

Jan 16
Oatmeal with dried cranberries
Roast beef on bagels
Chirozo, ground beef green chili and refried beans with mozzarella burritos

Jan 17
Bacon on toast
Lunch in field
Falafel, three bean salad, macaroni with pesto, TVP and mushroom sauce

Jan 18
Hot 7 grain meal with frozen strawberries
soups
Enchilada, beef and bean burrito sweet Italian sausage in vegetarian chili

Jan 19
Bacon on English muffin and/or bagel w/ cream cheese
Lunch in Field
Tortellini (cheese and tofu) in coconut thai sauce w/ green beans

Jan 20
Oatmeal with frozen strawberries
Polish (El Slawek’s) Potatoes, hash brown and Canadian bacon (late lunch)
Apple and blueberry cobbler (freeze dried)

Jan 21
Oatmeal
Lunch in the field
Angel hair w/ tomato sauce and sweet Italian sausage

Jan 22
Couscous w/ raisons and walnuts
Bacon and English muffin and/or bagels
Beef and bean burritos with fajita vegetables

Jan 23
Oatmeal w/ almonds, peaches and apricots
Bagels with cream cheese
Asian rice(coconut and curry sauce) with chicken and cauliflower, broccoli carrot mixed
vegetables

Jan 24
Oatmeal w/ fruit (apples and raspberries)
Bagels cream cheese
Roast Beef, hash browns (black olives and jalapeno), corn, peas and carrots

Jan 25
Oatmeal with mixed dried fruits
English muffins and bagels
Pork tenderloin, asparagus and carrots and quinoa

Jan 26
Hash browns with cheese
English muffins and bagels
Pizza (beef pizza, tuna pizza, Hawaiian pizza)

Jan 27
Hot dogs on English muffins
Hot dogs and pepperoni on English muffins
Burritos (pre-made frozen), chili relleno

Jan 28
Oatmeal with caned peaches and canned strawberries
English muffins with cream cheese, jelly and/or pepperoni

I have almost too much baggage to carry. Two backpacks a giant pelican case and a large tripod bag. Backpack on the front, backpack on the back, a wheeled case pulled by one hand and the tripod bag in the other. I could carry no more.

Waiting in line at ticketing, overloaded, a helpful agent of the airline came over to assist me. He recognized the pelican case as media equipment immediately, I can only image how many bags he must see.

After admitting that I’m not a professional photographer, although, I suppose it is an easy mistake to make. I began to explain what I was doing: Traveling to Antarctica to engage in scientific research; the need for outreach, I am funded through taxpayer money, and the efforts of the Exploratorium. Immediately, the questions began and his interested was revealed.

As he helped me get my tickets and check my bags, he waved nearly $150 USD worth of baggage fees because he appreciated what I was doing and excited to see what I am up to. I wish I had gotten his name, if you’re reading this, supportive Qantas Agent, thanks so much, you are a true gentleman.

Currently, I am drinking a glass of wine and eating pizza, my flight boards in about 1.5 hours and I figure, a full belly and a little night cap will make the first portion of the 14 hour flight quickly slip by.

San Francisco International Airport.

A sun dog over our camp.

So at the end and after another set of long Skidoo rides to prep the GPS stations for next winter and pick up the passive seismometers, the Basler came and picked us and our gear up and whisked us off to McMurdo. And after a few days of returning equipment and shipping other equipment home, we left for Christchurch, which is where I am writing this update.

Now that the Antarctica portion of the journey is over, you would think that the drama and excitement is over. However, with science, that’s not the case! Because our instrumentation is so sensitive, and we have collected so much data, it is often hard to know immediately what your data will yield – that’s why we have the rest of the year to toil in front of a computer screen! Our group is just now on the verge of making our little discoveries, because all the data must now be processed and interpreted, which is the fun part! It’s the scientific intrigue that brings people by the hundreds down South and the discoveries that come from that which makes all the bodily abuse worth it. The Antarctic continent has infinite mysteries still left to discover and we can only chip away at them one long and brutal field season at a time.

Professor Slawek Tulaczyk examines the data while still in camp.

The other science component of the project is to image the subglacial lake underneath Whillans Ice Stream. To do this, we set off a series of explosions, with instruments called geophones to measure the waves emanating from the explosions. Because the waves bounce off all the layers of the subsurface, we can then figure out how deep all the layers are and eventually produce a cross-sectional map of what lies beneath the surface! Have a look at this video of the explosions.

We had fairly windy weather the whole time we were out, but were left tent-bound by a storm that lasted about three days. This was the coldest time out on the ice, because the wind just finds all the seams in your clothes and you run from your personal tent to the cook tent, and sometimes to the toilet tent! This video clip was shot during the blow and gives you an idea of the conditions.

We spent the first week or so in the deep field visiting GPS stations that were left out on the ice over-winter and setting out passive seismometers. Whillans Ice Stream behaves in a unique way – it slips twice a day in episodes that are linked to the tidal cycle. The passive seismometers record this slip, because it is a rupture similar to an earthquake, but much slower.

Here I’ve dug a hole and then placed a passive seismometer in the hole. I am roped in due to crevasses in the area.

To get to all of our sites, we used Ski-doos with sledges attached to the rear with all our science and safety gear attached. During setup, at the beginning of the season, and takedown, at the end, Slawek and I would go on rides covering over 150 km and lasting 9-10 hours. It is hard not to hesitate getting on the Skidoos in the morning, when the temperature is at 20 degrees below zero Celsius and there is already a 20 knot wind blowing, knowing you will be going 30 mph sometimes directly into it!

Our Ski-doos with sledges attached to the rear with all our science and safety gear attached.

Because our bodies have to generate all this heat, it is important to stay well-fed and healthy out on the ice. One of the breakfast favorites was frozen eggs. In the video, you see a block of eggs sizzling on the pan. In order to break off a chunk from the main supply, a hacksaw and hammer/chisel are required.