Diving and Working
in Antarctica

Daily chores fluctuate, and everyone pitches in to get them done, so no one person does everything everyday. But... on a daily basis, things that need getting done include: dishes, sweeping out the Jamesway, emptying the grey water bucket into the grey water barrel, cooking, etc. Of course, everyone's work has certain daily chores - for us... it's diving, retrieving core and water samples, downloading data from instruments, etc. We also have to rotate the solar panels!

Weekly chores include rotating fuel drums, filling empty drums, checking the U-barrel (that's the pee barrel) - it can not be overfilled or it freezes and busts open over the winter, emptying the outhouse bags, etc. Not so pleasant!

Hal... Technically, Hal is a microprofiler. He is mostly a steel frame with motors to move parts of the frame up and down and left and right. We can attach up to 5 probes on Hal. Probes can be whatever we choose to put on him - as long as the probe fits in the probe holders. We are focus on pH, Oxygen, Sulfide, and Redox potential. His job is to automatically take measurements just above the mat surface and then down into the mat for about 5-10 cm. He takes measurments every 0.05mm! It is very precise measuring to give exact information about what is going on in the mat.

It's all relative to water pressure and how much ice is on top of the water. The ice acts like a cap. The water wants to get out - sort of like a balloon where the air wants to get out. There is higher pressure under the ice. If you put a hole in the ice (like putting a hole in a balloon) the water seeps up into it. How high the water goes from the surface of the ice depends on how thick the ice is. The thicker ice, floats more on the water, so the water can't get as high up into the tube. That's why the water level in the dive hole is lower in Lake Fryxell than at Lake Hoare. Lake Fryxell has thicker ice, thus it is floating on the water more, thus the water can't get as high up into the tube!

How do you break through the ice?

First, the sulfide layer is created by the decomposition of diatoms and cyanobacteria that are in the lake. It is a naturally occurring thing. It happens in all lakes, but in temperate lakes (like where you live), the layers of the lake get mixed due to wind and temperature changes that cause the layers of the lake to "turn over". There are often sulfide zones right close to the bottom of temperate lakes, but they are not as well formed as here. These layers are dangerous because sulfide blocks cellular respiration in humans - basically your brain and other cells eventually can't respire anymore, and stop working. It's somewhat like carbon monoxide poisoning. So - you don't want to spend much time in this layer because it can damage your cells, make you ill, and if you stayed LONG enough - perhaps even kill you. The danger is that it's easy to get "used to" the slight rotten egg smell, so you forget that you are in the layer. So knowing you have time limits, and having dive tenders on the surface to remind you to get out are helpful! No one is taking any chances with this one. We get what we need quickly and get out! The sulfide doesn't spread in this lake because there is no mixing of the layers. The ice on top, no currents, and VERY stable temperatures keep everything "in place".

The length of time it takes to get down the ice tube depends on each person's comfort zone. You could go as fast as you want. I choose to go slowly because I LOVE to look into the ice! I can't wait to get some tube pictures from this hole - hopefully today so that I can post them tonight! I also go slowly in order to keep my ears cleared. We also have a lot of cables going down the tube to all the various instruments, so going slowly helps prevent getting tangled up! So - you CAN go as fast or slow as you want.

Coming up is different. You never want to ascend faster than your smallest exhalation bubbles. This just helps keep any excess nitrogen that has built up in your body (from breathing pressurized air) from bubbling out. If you come up slowly, the nitrogen doesn't bubble in your body - that's a good thing!

 

In general, it is a good idea to dive with other people, but it is not the law. In Antarctica, however, you either have to be in the water with another diver, or have a dive tender on the surface - so I guess in Antarctica it is the law!

I have never felt such vast open space while diving as I feel in the ocean here - it's incredible!

It's crazy to think this, but it is the same temperature in Antarctica (30 degrees F) than in NH today (Nov. 22)! How weird is that? It's so hot here - we're all sweating to death! It's lovely to be outside, but then when we start working (in our fleece!) it gets hot quickly! It is freakishly warm today! Everything is melting! That is NOT necessarily a sign of global warming - it's just a warm (HOT!) day!

The lake water is about 30°F and the ocean water is about 28°F. It's chilly! Lake Hoare is about 3.5 miles from Lake Fryxell. The big Canada Glacier cuts right between the two lakes!

The time difference: Antarctica operates on New Zealand time which is 18 hours ahead of east coast U.S. time. You can either add 18 hours to get the time here, or you can count us as 6 hours behind you, but a day ahead! It's actually easier the second way once you get used to it. So for instance, when it is noon on Tuesday in NH, it is 6 am on Wednesday here (subtract 6 hours, add a day!). Confusing huh?!

How astute! Yes, a bathing suit under the dry suit would not be very warm! First, let's be clear that we are wearing dry suits, not wet suits. The difference: wet suits let the water into the suit, then your body temperature warms up the water and you stay warm for a while. That is not such a good option here! So, we use dry suits - which don't let water in at all. Different suits require different garments under the suit. I wear 2 pairs of socks, 2 pairs of expedition weight long underwear - tops and bottoms, and sometimes fleece as well! It gets a bit bulky, but it keeps me warm!

Yes, when my suit leaked, my clothes got wet and I got REALLY cold! But - I think all is well again with my suit, so hopefully that won't be happening again!

 

Let's see, the team has been coming here for 9-14 years (depending on the person) with this particular project. But, the diving only happens every other year. The team is usually in Antarctica for about 6-8 weeks. This team always comes in November and/or December. Other teams come at different times depending on what they are doing. Peter likes to come Nov/Dec, because the moats around the lake usually haven't melted out yet - so we can use them to travel from site to site, and it is warm enough to be outside working.

 

No - I don't seem to get scared before a dive. I enjoy being in there and doing interesting tasks. BUT...I was a bit nervous last night before my dive....not because of the dive, but because I was worried my suit was going to leak again. I don't like cold water coming in my suit! All was well for quite a while, but then water came in through the purge valve on my left arm. My arms got soaked. That was tolerable - the fleece under my suit kept me warm. But, then I had to stand and be a tender for the next diver - that's when I really started to get cold! Today's dives should be dry - I think I have fixed the issue! We'll see! (Nov. 19th)

 

This is a great question. There are LOTS of people who get claustrophobic in "the tube" - the ice here is 15 feet thick. We will be going to Lake Fryxell on Wednesday for about 2 weeks where the ice is even thicker. It's hard to imagine, but I actually LOVE it in the tube. The very first time I went through ice so thick, I got nervous before I went in the water. I was told that it is VERY common to feel trapped - as you fear you might. I was worried I would feel that way. But - one look inside the tube and my anxieties were gone. It is SO BEAUTIFUL in the tube - I could stay in there and just look at the ice for hours! You can see way into the ice. It's like crystals in there!

So - everyone feels differently about "the tube" - you just don't know until you try it! Luckily... I enjoy it and don't feel trapped at all.

Yep - that water is cold! Under my suit, I have on expedition weight long underwear and fleece, so that helps warm up the cold water that gets in, if there isn't too much! The lake water temperature is just about 30 degrees F; the ocean water temperature is about 28 degrees F. The ocean water temp can be below freezing and still be liquid because the salt in the ocean lowers the freezing point. I bubble tested my suit the other night to find the leak, and there doesn't actually seem to be a leak in the suit. So... it is a mystery how the water got in - perhaps through the neck seal. I am going to be extra careful being sure everything on the suit is in the proper place.... perhaps something was just out of position, so water got in. Not sure how that would happen though. At any rate.... it's another experiment!

Some people find it hard to sleep in the daylight, but I have no problem! I am typically a pretty good sleeper, AND we have worked REALLY hard all day, so by the time I get in my sleeping bag, I am out!

In the tents, there is no way to block the day light - well, I suppose you could hang a dark blanket, but that would mean you would have to bring one! In town, the windows have dark curtains to block out the sun.

The midnight sun occurs in the polar regions when the Earth is tilted towards the Sun for that particular region. For example, right now, the northern hemisphere is pointed away from the Sun - that's why you are going into winter and have short daylight hours. The southern hemisphere is facing towards the Sun - thus we are going into summer here. On either end, if you go far enough north or south (in my case south!), the region of the Earth is tilted towards the Sun! I am far enough south that the Sun never actually hits the horizon, thus "midnight sun"! Any time I go out side.... the sun is shining brightly!

 

Well - we aren't working 24 hours a day - we manage to get between 5 and 6 hours of sleep most "nights". Although the sun is still shining, and we could continue working... you're right - absolute exhaustion would set in. That's when accidents start to happen. No one wants that, so we make our best efforts to get 5-6 hours of sleep a night. We are tired though! Everyone is working really hard!

You are right - Hal is quite fragile... in certain areas and quite rugged in other areas. We try REALLY hard to keep the sensitive areas protected! The most critical part is where the probes attach. Each probe costs about $400, so we don't want to break them! We have a few extras, just in case, but everyone is hoping not to need them! I must say, I was a bit nervous when I lifted Hal off the bottom this morning to be refitted. I had to use a lift bag - not letting it bump into the instruments, put air with the "neumo" hose into the lift bag, control my own buoyancy as well as Hal's, and not let Hal get caught up in his control cables. It was quite the process! But all went well! It is very tricky getting Hal up and down the hole without hitting the other cables. Slow and steady, and so far, so good! The only way the experiment would be ruined is if we broke all the probes we have. We have 3-4 of each kind. So far, we haven't broken any! I hope that luck holds!

 

The dive holes freeze over on the surface every night. They usually get a 2-3 inch layer of ice over the top within about 7-8 hours. They slowly start to fill in on the sides too! Depending on how deep the hole is, it takes different amounts of time. The ones we drill in the lake here will take about 3 weeks to completely refreeze. After about 2 weeks, we either need to remelt the hole - because it's getting too small for us to fit through, or just let it close up and move on.