Our goal for the day was to get "Hal" into the water! Hal is a micrometer profiler machine used to record oxygen levels in the water and the microbial mat. Kay attached all the "hardware" and electronics to Hal and we sent him for a swim this afternoon. Hal is in the water overnight on a "test run", we will retrieve him tomorrow, make sure that all is working as expected/intended and then redeploy Hal to start monitoring the mat. Using Hal is safer for the mat because there is less chance of divers disturbing the mat near the monitoring station. Hal can be controlled from the surface so there doesn't have to be a diver in the water. We intended to do two dives today, but we only got one dive in. We had a few, very minor, dive equipment problems that need to be fixed before a diver goes back in the water. This is a difficult decision to make. There is work to be done! Technically, neither of the issues was that big a deal, but we don't want to get careless and/or sloppy with safety concerns. So, we put our second dive today on hold until tomorrow so we can make the necessary repairs. We need to replace a bolt on the umbilical cord and repair the communications connection to the dive helmet.
In the meantime, I visited with Matt for a few moments, who is studying the ice crystal structures within the glaciers of the region. From the size of the crystals that are present in the glaciers, Matt hopes to be able to predict how much sub-surface melt occurs. This helps to determine how much water is being fed into the local ecosystems compared to how much is being sublimated. Matt takes ice core samples from the glaciers, then cuts them into "burger" sized sections. He then takes each "ice burger" and melts them into very thin slices. The ice slices are put between two polarizing filters that are oriented perpendicular to each other. The filters expose the crystals. It is quite interesting, and pretty!
 |
This is just the framework for Hal. We call this "naked Hal." We were a bit concerned Hal may not fit down the dive hole, but he managed just fine! Kay attached a series of cables and sensors to Hal, before we sent him for a swim, in order for it to be able to collect the oxygen data. |
This is Kay getting Hal "suited up" for his big swim. This is the first time an instrument like this has been used in this context! It's exciting to be part of the big debut!
I will have pictures of Hal in the water tomorrow!
|
 |
 |
Matt is melting some ice core burgers. |
Time to flip the burger!
|
 |
 |
Can you see the crystals in the burger?
|
Here, the burger has begun to melt a bit too much and the crystals are starting to "smear" into each other. This is not much use to Matt, but it makes for a pretty picture!
|
 |
|
One of the other things we are working on is getting a second dive hole melted. Soon, this hole will be big enough to dive through!
The machine to the left is called a "hotsy". It is a glycol heater. Basically, glycol gets continuously cycled through the hose. Because it is heated, it melts the ice along the cables. At the bottom of the cables is a "hot finger" which also helps to melt the hole. |
This is a picture looking straight down into the ice from the surface.
|
 |
 |
In order to get water for the camp, "glacier berries" must be collected. Glacier berries are bits of the Canada glacier that have fallen off the wall face. The berries are collected and brought to camp to be melted and used for all our water needs at camp! Behind the glacier berry bucket are two water filters used for filtering drinking water.
|
•Ms. Ellwood - rellwood@sau50.k12.nh.us
Questions may be posted with the answers on the page below.
• Questions and answers about the trip.
|
Antarctica 2006 
Antarctica 2006 homepage.