A 9-member team from Cresis (Centre for Remote Sensing of Ice Sheets) Penn State Ice and Climate Research visited WAIS temporarily to assemble their equipment before traversing across the ice sheet to set up a field camp on Thwaites Glacier. They will camp at the glacier and conduct research for about 5 weeks. They each have a personal mountain tent or arctic oven. There is also a communal kitchen and equipment tent. The Cresis team will not be able to take any showers or wash their clothes and each person will take a turn making food for the camp. Meals consist of canned, frozen and dehydrated food (lots of pasta). Upon completion of their fieldwork, the team will again traverse in a caravan back to WAIS and use the air field to fly out the equipment (and people!). Rebecca has promised to tell more stories when she returns in mid-January. So, stay tuned!
West Antarctica is the fastest warming place in the world, and Thwaites Glacier is one of the largest outlet glaciers that drains the West Antarctic Ice Sheet. Our project involves carrying out seismic and radar surveys of Thwaites Glacier to characterize the basal properties in that region. These surveys involve sending pulses of energy into the ice (using explosives similar to dynamite), which reflect off the interface between the ice and the bedrock and are then sent back to our receivers at the surface. An ice drill will be used for placement of the explosives at depth. By analyzing the reflections we can assess the basal topography and the material the glacier bed is made of. This data helps us understand the behavior of the glacier and lets us make more accurate predictions of how the glacier will behave in response to climate change. Our 9-person team will be driving snow machines called tuckers, lugging an arsenal of heavy equipment behind them, and several snow mobiles over 200 miles across the West Antarctic Ice Sheet. If all goes well, the trip will take 3 or 4 days (max speed of 25 mph). We will also have air-drops of fuel and food resupplies. We are looking forward to a great season!
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