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Pages and Posts Tagged ‘Dry Valleys’


And in a Blink of an Eye Summer is Gone

SOUTH POLE, ANTARCTICA-- Now as we approach mid-February, people are leaving by the bundles. A little less than 2 weeks ago we had about 250 people on station. Now we are down to about 125. There are 2 more major passenger flights out of here in which we will lose about 80 more people leaving us with about 48 people for the winter... {Read More »}



Greywater and Waste

BEACON VALLEY, ANTARCTICA- One of the more common questions that I am asked regarding the field camping experience is how do we dispose of our waste in such an environmentally protected region of the world? Nothing can be released into the soil. Everything must be contained and returned to McMurdo... {Read More »}



Beacon Valley Timelapse

BEACON VALLEY, ANTARCTICA-- There are two things that I never get accustomed to while in Antarctica: the beauty of the landscape and the rapid changes in weather... {Read More »}



Bad Weather Day

BEACON VALLEY, ANTARCTICA-- The early morning started out with blustery winds and soon snow from the polar plateau started blowing in; it was by far the worst weather we have experienced during this field season... {Read More »}



Welcome to Beacon Valley

BEACON VALLEY, ANTARCTICA-- On November 3rd the field team arrived into Beacon Valley where we will spend the next six weeks working, sleeping, and enjoying life in sub-zero (Celsius) temperatures... {Read More »}



The Oldest Ice on Earth?

Scientists suspect that a buried alpine glacier in the McMurdo Dry Valleys of Antarctica may be over 8 million years old. If true, it's the oldest ice yet discovered on our planet and may contain an archive of climate data stretching back to the time of the earliest hominids. {Read More »}



Glaciers and the Simple Life in Antarctica’s Dry Valleys

TAYLOR VALLEY, DRY VALLEYS, ANTARCTICA-- In this interview from in front of the Canada Glacier in Antarctica’s Taylor Valley, Hassan Basagic from Portland State University describes the essential role of polar glaciers in supporting the bare-bones ecosystems in the Dry Valleys... {Read More »}



Dry Valleys: Looking for Life on Mars

LAKE HOARE, DRY VALLEYS, ANTARCTICA– After spending time at the South Pole, flying to Cape Royds and Black Island, and otherwise keeping ourselves busy with webcasts and scientist interviews in McMurdo, Lisa and I hopped on a helicopter out to the Dry Valleys for a couple of days of hiking and camping in the coldest, driest desert on Earth... {Read More »}



Rye Rover Rivals Real Rig

MCMURDO STATION, ANTARCTICA-- Eighth grade science students at Rye Middle School in Rye, New Hampshire, got into the act in Antarctica. Under the direction of their teacher Robin Ellwood, they built a submersible robotic camera that was launched in the Ross Sea... {Read More »}



Diving by Proxy

MCMURDO STATION, ANTARCTICA-- Last week, we shot footage of our colleague John Weller preparing to SCUBA dive under the ice. I felt a definite pang of regret that I wasn't joining him in the 28 degree water... {Read More »}