Packing Up

Four days left before I leave for Antarctica!

We are busily packing up everything we'll need for our 2 months of field work. A lot of what we need is already at McMurdo Station, but there's a lot we need to take from Dartmouth.

There's a lot of different equipment we will need to do our field work. Most of it has already been shipped to McMurdo Station! We've sent down a few pieces of machinery to help us measure the chemistry of the air, water, and soil. This Irga on the right is just one of the machines we shipped down to use. We also pack up a lot of maps, books, and paperwork that are useful while we're working in the field and laboratory.

We also have to pack up our personal belongings that we'll need to live for 2 months. We can only pack what is most important, because we are only allowed to bring down two of these orange duffle bags! Most of what I pack are warm clothes. I pack a lot of wool and fleece socks and long underwear, hats, and gloves. I also have to pack everything I need to take a shower, protect myself from the sun, and sleep. I also pack a few things to do when I can relax, like books and music.
The strangest thing I pack is probably a pair of flip-flops. You might not think anyone would want to wear sandals in Antarctica, but they're nice to put on when you come inside. Those boots are big and heavy, and your feet get sweaty and tired! And you certainly don't want to put those boots on if you need to go down the hall to the bathroom in the middle of the night!

And, of course I have to pack my computer and camera so that I can blog while I'm there! Those will be the last things to get packed on Friday night.

12 Days to Go!

We have just a couple more weeks here at Dartmouth before we leave for Antarctica!

Katie and I will leave Dartmouth on December 6, which means we will land in Christchurch, New Zealand two days later on December 8! We will spend 33 hours traveling, which is not actually two whole days. When you fly to New Zealand from the west coast of the U.S., you cross the International Date Line. As soon as you cross it, it's tomorrow!

You can check out an interactive map of our travel by clicking here!

Once in New Zealand, we will have 2 days to be outfitted with our cold weather gear and pack for Antarctica. We are scheduled to fly from Christchurch to McMurdo, Antarctica on December 10 (New Zealand time).

(Elizabeth and Ross will be joining us in Antarctica a bit later, because they have to stay at Dartmouth long enough to finish teaching their classes this semester.)

Welcome to Season 2!

Welcome to another field season of research in Antarctica with the Dartmouth polar soils research group!

If you are new to the Polar Soils blog, here is some information that might be useful to you:

Where we go:
When most people think of Antarctica, they think of ice. 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, where the glaciers have retreated. Just like deserts in the U.S., there's very little precipitation, so there's actually bare soil, not just ice and snow! The red dot on the map shows where McMurdo is located:

What we do:
Our research is in the field of soil biogeochemistry, which is just a big word that means we study the way nutrient 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 study how the living organisms influence nutrients in the soil. All of the animals 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 animal is a nematode. A predatory nematode is the top of our foodchain- the equivalent to a lion in the Serengeti! We also study the mosses growing in the dry valley soil. Mosses are the only plants growing in the dry valleys and the only living things you'll find above the soil- the equivalent to the redwood forests in America!

Who we are:
Our research team is a little bit different from last year. There are four 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 me (Becky, a postdoc), Elizabeth (a graduate student), and Katie (an undergraduate student). While on the ice, we will continue to work very closely with another group of scientists from Colorado State University led by Dr. Diana Wall that specializes in the nematodes (they have a special nematode blog). Together all of us study the nutrients and biology of the McMurdo Dry Valley soils.

About the blog:
Our blog is designed to be an educational tool for elementary and middle school classrooms, but all readers are welcome to follow along! Teachers interested in using the blog in their classes are welcome to contact me (contact information available through my website, listed under my Profile on the bottom-right).
On the right-hand side, there are some links with additional information that is useful for both kids and adults. Many links are added throughout the season, so keep an eye on them!

Last Post from Norway

For fun the last week, a few of us went kayaking across the fjord, and we saw a ptarmigan with 9 youngsters.(click here to learn more about ptarmigans, and click here to hear their call!)

Then we had a exam... not very exciting. After that, it has been just packing up and a lovely hike yesterday. (I sent my camera-computer cable home, so no downloads) .

I am off to Tromso now, and then some traveling in the Lofoten Islands!

Norwegian cruise

Well, the 3rd week offered us something different! Our course contracted a small ship, the M/S Stockholm out of Gotenburg Sweden, for three days to take us to different places.

The first place, Alkhornet (above), had incredible cliffs full of nesting auks and guillemots.

(Click here to learn more about guillemots, and click here to hear their call!)

We measured nitrogen fixing by cyanobacteria in small chambers using acetylene gas as a proxy.

The next day we went to Sassen Valley (right) and did similar measurements, then cruised past a huge glacier (left) and saw a ringed seal, hauled out on a small iceberg.  

(Click here to learn more about ringed seals.)

We also saw a great number of puffins.

(Click here to learn more about puffins, and click here to hear their call!)

The 3rd day we headed off to a abandoned Russian coal mining town, Pyramiden (below).

It's very strange to see the building still in good condition with belongings still in the rooms and dead plants hanging in the windows. It was abandoned in 1998, when the coal ran out, and most of the people were moved to Barentsburg.

Norwegian animals

There are many tourist ships, and people come here to see glaciers and ice and the many beautiful flowers and mosses, the large numbers of birds, and they hope for a glimpse of the few land animals- polar bears, reindeer, and arctic foxes. There are also sea animals like whales and seals that are sometimes sighted.


Here are some photos of the animals that have been spotted by Elizabeth so far. Click on the animal name to learn more information about them!

Arctic tern:
(Click here, then click "play" to hear an Arctic Tern call!)

Barnacle geese:
(Click here, then click "play" to hear a barnacle goose call!)

Auks nesting:

Arctic fox:

No encounters with a polar bear yet!

About Svalbard, Norway

I have been giving the news, but thought a bit of background might be helpful.

Svalbard became Norwegian territory in 1925, though the Russians and others have kept mineral rights here and continue to mine coal. Svalbard is an archipelago of islands: three major ones, and lots of smaller ones and is the furthest northern settled land. The largest community is Longyearbyen, where I am at the University in Svalbard, but the town was named for an American who started the first coal mine here: John Longyear.

The latitude of the islands runs from 74 to 81 degrees N, and Longyearbyen is at 78 degrees. They do a small bit of coal mining here but all the coal is used to run the power plant for town, and it is the only coal-fired plant in Norway. Like our research area in Antarctica, there are about 4 months of continuous darkness in winter and 4 months of continuous daylight in summer. The temperature is a bit warmer due to the Gulf Stream, particularly on the west coast: the summer average is 40 deg F (5 deg C) and the winter is 10 deg F (-12 deg C).