Journey to Antarctica

Our group (Ross, Mike, Elizabeth, and Becky) left Dartmouth very early Monday morning. The bad weather made us late to the airport and we almost missed our flight! We have now arrived in Christchurch, New Zealand late Wednesday morning. Because of the time zone difference, we traveled for almost 36 hours (1.5 days) but arrived in New Zealand over two days later! New Zealand is in the southern hemisphere, like Antarctica, so it is summer here. When we left Dartmouth, it was snowing and sleeting, and about 10 degrees Fahrenheit. Now, two days later in New Zealand, it is 70 degrees and the flowers are blooming!

While in New Zealand, we will get outfitted with all of the warm clothing we will need for Antarctica. Then, very early Friday morning (which will be late Thursday morning for most of the people reading this blog), we will board a plane to take us to Antarctica. In the meantime, I think I will enjoy the warm weather while I can!

In Christchurch, we went to the Canterbury Museum, which teaches about the natural history and human heritage of New Zealand. There is a whole section about Antarctica and the explorers that have been going to Antarctica since the early 1800's. It's amazing that people have been exploring and studying Antarctica for 200 years! People were going to Antarctica before there were great inventions like fleece and portable power generators! We saw some of the gear and huts used by explorers such as Roald Amundsen (who led the first group to reach the South Pole in 1912), Robert F. Scott (who was racing Amundsen to the South Pole, but lost and died on the way back), and my hero Sir Edmund Hillary (who has explored a lot of really neat places besides Antarctica, including Mt. Everest).

Meet your Researchers

Our group leaves for Antarctica on December 10, 2007. That's less than a month away! Before we go, I need to tell you a little bit more about what we do down there.

First of all, when you're on the continent of Antarctica, it's referred to as being on the "ice." However, the area we study is a polar desert called the McMurdo Dry Valleys. Just like deserts in the U.S., there's very little precipitation, so there's actually bare soil, not just ice and snow! The white dot on the map shows where McMurdo is located.

Our research is in the field of soil biogeochemistry, which is just a big word that means we study the way elements move in the soil. We are especially interested in carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus, since these three elements are so important for all forms of life. We also study the living organisms in the Dry Valleys. All living things in the Dry Valleys are microscopic (except for the scientists, of course). While other areas of Antarctica have penguins and seals, the Dry Valleys' largest organism is a nematode. A predatory nematode is the top of our foodchain- the equivalent to a lion in the Serengeti!

There are three soil scientists going to Antarctica from Dartmouth. The leader is Dr. Ross Virginia, a professor at Dartmouth who has been going to Antarctica for many years. Also on the team are myself (Becky) and Elizabeth. The fourth member of our team is Mike, from Indiana University of Pennsylvania. While on the ice, we work very closely with another group of scientists from Colorado State University. They are led by Dr. Diana Wall, and include Breana, Ed, and Byron (who's actually from Brigham Young University). Dr. Wall's group specializes in the nematodes (they have a special nematode blog), and together the eight of us study the nutrients and biology of the McMurdo Dry Valley soils.

I'll keep you updated with photos and stories of our adventures in research. Feel free to email me questions, and I'll answer them as best I can!

Welcome!

Welcome to the blog for the Dartmouth group of soil scientists working in the McMurdo Dry Valleys of Antarctica! I am your faithful blogger, Dr. Becky. I'll be keeping you updated with our adventures as we conduct our research this year on Antarctica.