U.S. members of the International Trans-Antarctic Scientific Expedition (ITASE) dig a snow pit during their2001-02 traverse across the West Antarctic Ice Sheet. This year’s team of 15 people is just beginning its journey and is scheduled to reach the South Pole in about six or seven weeks.

In the pitsNovember 24, 2002

Published during the austral summer at McMurdo Station, Antarctica, for the United States Antarctic Program

www.polar.org/antsun

Pulling facts outof thinning air

Page 3

“This really isn’t the real world.”Pole traverse anew challengefor ex-Olympiad

Page 14

Quote of the Week

— McMurdo worker about howthings work in Antarctica

Photo courtesy of Gordon Hamilton/ITASE

INSIDE

By Melanie ConnerSun staff

A collapse of the West Antarctic IceSheet could ultimately raise coastlinesaround the world, flood parts of Boston,Cape Cod and Florida, and wipe out someisland nations altogether.

Apocalyptic as that may seem, the theo-retical possibility exists because the WestAntarctica Ice Sheet lies on bedrock belowsea level. At about 3,000-meters thick, theweight of the ice sheet depresses bedrock to

an average of about 1,000 feet below sealevel, which could allow sea water to slip inbetween bedrock and ice and destabilize theice sheet.

“If sea water got in there it would lift theice just millimeters – it wouldn’t have to bemuch, but enough to apply a slippery film onthe bedrock,” said glaciologist GordonHamilton. He demonstrated the idea bypouring water on a table then placing a piece

By Mark SabbatiniSun staff

Almost any Antarctic enthusiastknows how Ernest Shackleton tried tocross the continent, only to be thwart-ed by the sinking of the Endurance.Surprisingly few remember the sup-port party waiting to meet him on theother side.

Kelly Tyler is hoping to drawsome attention to those 10 men, whofulfilled their mission of leaving pro-visions along the route even aftertheir ship was carried away by seaice. Three of the men died as the partymarched more than 1,500 miles andhauled more than 4,000 pounds ofprovisions, never knowing theirefforts were futile.

“Plagued by frostbite and scurvy,the party continued on, unaware thesinking of the Endurance has ren-dered the depots useless,” Tyler said,summarizing the party’s two-yearplight in a video segment featuringrecently discovered film footage. “Itwas the only successful part ofShackleton’s original plan.”

Reconstructing the party’s history,scientific research and the reasons fortheir struggles are Tyler’s goals thisseason as she visits many of theplaces they occupied in the Ross Seaarea. The longtime historian and film-maker plans to write her first book,“The Lost Men,” following her visitto Antarctica through the NationalScience Foundation’s Artists and

See Heroes on page 12See Icestream on page 11

Shackleton’sforgotten men

Slippery when wetIcestreams show how quickly glaciers move over mud

Writer seeks details ofexpedition’s ‘other side’

The Antarctic Sun is funded by the NationalScience Foundation as part of the United

States Antarctic Program. Itsprimary audience is U.S.Antarctic Program participants,their families, and their friends.NSF reviews and approves

material before publication, but opinions andconclusions expressed in the Sun are notnecessarily those of the Foundation.

Use: Reproduction and distribution areencouraged with acknowledgment of sourceand author.

Senior Editor: Kristan HutchisonEditors: Melanie Conner

Mark SabbatiniCopy Editor: Liz Connell

Publisher: Valerie Carroll,Communications manager, RPSC

Contributions are welcome. Contact theSun at AntSun@usap.gov. In McMurdo, visitour office in Building 155 or dial 2407.

Web address: www.polar.org/antsun

2 • The Antarctic Sun November 24, 2002

Diving recordsTime humans can stay underwaterwithout air: 3-4 minutes with spe-cial training.Age at which a Weddell seal canhold its breath that long: Less than10 days oldLongest a Weddell seal has beenrecorded diving in McMurdo Sound:86.3 minutes recorded early thismonth by seal researchers.Distance the record-setting sealswam in that time: 6,200 meters,from Fat City camp on the sea ice tothe coastline near Arrival Heights.Previous known dive record: 82minutes recorded by Castellini andKooyman in 1986.Depth Weddell seals can dive to:600 metersDeepest diving bird: Emperor pen-guin, to 500 metersDepth most scuba divers go to: 30-60 metersSources: Mike Castellini and icetrek.org

Cold, hard facts

Ross Island Chronicles By Chico

Katabatic Krosswords: Life at sea

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Across1. Less slender and longer fins than other baleen whales6. Fur seal hunted to near extinction8. This, not temperature, has greatest effect on marine life11. Seals with appetites for penguins, other wildlife14. Gathering of penguin chicks for protection against prey,weather15. Second-largest of the whales16. Seals that hunt squid, fish19. Krill food20. Largest penguin species

Down2. Whale ignored by hunters until ‘70s, then main target3. Staple food for whales, penguins and others4. Southern penguin most often seen by tourists5. Best-known of southern seals7. Most widely spread southern penguin9. Only dolphin species found in Antarctic waters10. Seal eats krill, not its namesake12. Largest southern seal13. Algae that live in polar region’s sunlit water17. Ultimate Antarctic scavenger18. Largest of the whales

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Hello son. Whatare you wearing?Halloween is over.

It’s protectionagainst neutrinos,subatomic particlesthat pass through allobjects in theuniverse

We’re constantlygetting violated bythem and I for onerefuse to lie down andsurrender to them. I’moff to gather newrecruits for the fightagainst evil.

Hey Bill, there’s a midget in aspace suit out here wanting toknow if you want to join the fightagainst evil.

Tell him that if he throws in a bar ofsoap and a snowmobile, I’m ready to go.

November 24, 2002 The Antarctic Sun • 3

By Kristan HutchisonSun staff

The Palmer Station doctor watches thewind as closely as a sailor, steppingoutside frequently to check if it isblowing off the glacier so she can

take unsullied samples of the air.The flasks of air are sent to a geo-

chemist in California, where the sampleshelp track changes in global oxygen levels.

“Antarctic air, just because it is so pure,is a fantastic measure of what’s going onin the rest of the world,” said Kristin vanKonynenburg, the medical doctor forPalmer Station. “Unless you’re samplingdownwind from a lot of penguins, seals orhuman activity, the fluctuation in the lev-els of carbon dioxide and oxygen aren’tdue to local effects, but are reflections ofglobal change.”

When the wind is blowing from thenorth, off the glacier, she walks up the hillbehind the station to a small hut and shoosaway any skuas. Then she reads or knitswhile monitoring the pump that fills threebasketball-sized glass flasks with air.

“It’s kind of nice to have to noticewhere the wind is coming from all thetime,” van Konynenburg said. “I’m get-ting good at estimating the knots as well asthe direction.”

The glass flasks van Konynenburgsends back to Ralph Keeling at ScrippsInstitution of Oceanography in La Jolla,Calif., look just as empty as when theyarrived. Keeling once had to bail a box ofthe samples out of customs when it wasseparated from its paperwork.

“What’s in the flasks?” the customsagent asked, looking at the apparentlyempty glass globes.

“Air,” Keeling answered.Figuring he was dealing with a

wiseguy, the customs agent responded inkind, flipping through his thick book ofregulations for a duty on air.

Keeling regularly receives shipmentsof air from nine sampling stations spacedout across the globe, from Ellesmere

Island in northern Canada and Cold Bay,Alaska, over the equator, to the NationalScience Foundation research stations atPalmer and Amundsen-Scott South PoleStations.

In a decade of measuring oxygen levelsaround the world, Keeling has noticed theamount of oxygen is actually dropping.Generally air is made up of 21 percentoxygen, 78 percent nitrogen and 1 percentargon, with just a dash of carbon dioxide.

Most people learn the oxygen cycle inelementary school – humans breath inoxygen and exhale carbon dioxide. Plantsuse that carbon dioxide and release oxy-gen.

“The chemistry I’m talking about isnothing more than that,” Keeling said.“Perhaps the only other twist is that fuelburning uses up oxygen.”

The intense burning of fossil fuels inthe past 200 years has been consumingoxygen faster than it can be replenished.At this rate, the world would run out ofoxygen in 50,000 to 60,000 years, Keelingsaid.

“It’s kind of the flip side of carbondioxide production,” Keeling said.

The rate of oxygen depletion can soundfrightening, and Keeling has people call-ing him worried that someday they won’tbe able to breathe.

“There is a very widespread phobiaabout oxygen supply,” Keeling said. Inreality, the decrease of oxygen is barelydetectable and humans would run out offossil fuels to burn long before we run outof oxygen to breathe.

“By the time we go through all our fos-sil fuels we’ll have used up a couple per-cent of all our oxygen,” Keeling said.

The rate of oxygen loss is less thanexpected based on the amount of fossilfuel burnt. Some of the lost oxygen isbeing replaced by increased production ofoxygen by plants on land and by theocean, which both exchange carbon diox-ide for oxygen.

“We’ve increasingly become aware

that the oceans are also contributing to thisextra oxygen production,” Keeling said.

Scientists are able to calculate whatthey call the oxygen budget almost like amathematical equation. They know therate at which carbon dioxide is producedby fossil-fuel burning from industrialrecords kept by the United Nations. Fromthere they can estimate how much oxygenis coming from the ocean, based on itsexpected response to global warming. Theremaining oxygen found in the atmos-phere reflects production by land plants.

The amount of oxygen plants produceequals the amount of carbon dioxide theyconsume. After observing the actualincreases in carbon dioxide in the atmos-phere, scientists can calculate how muchof the carbon dioxide the ocean must havetaken up to balance the equation.

In the 1990s fossil fuel burning used upabout 6.3 billion metric tons of carbon,increasing the carbon dioxide in theatmosphere by about 3.2 billion metrictons. The land took up about 1.3 billionmetric tons and the oceans took up about1.9 billion metric tons.

“It does seem like the Earth is kickingin and replacing some of what is lost, butit’s very unlikely that even if we stopped(burning fossil fuels), the earth would kickin and replace all (the oxygen) on any kindof humanly relevant timescale,” Keelingsaid.

Excess carbon dioxide dissolves intothe ocean, because seawater is alkalinewhile carbon dioxide is acidic. Togetherthey form carbonic acid. The SouthernOcean around Antarctica is a particularlyimportant area for the exchange of carbondioxide and oxygen, because the AntarcticCircumpolar Current creates a mixingzone where oxygen-depleted deep watersurfaces and absorbs oxygen and carbondioxide.

“The oceans everywhere are contribut-ing to removing excess CO2 from the

See Air on page 6

Photo by Jeff Otten/Special to The Antarctic Sun

Kristin van Konynenburg holds up a flask used tocollect air samples at Palmer Station.

Testing the airMeasuring the invisible, odorless and absolutely essential oxygen

By Markus Frey

The springtime ozone hole in the stratosphere aboveAntarctica is probably one of the most prominentchanges of the environment caused by anthro-pogenic activities. The ozone hole’s discovery in

the 1970s triggered the growth of a relatively youngscientific discipline: atmospheric chemistry. A partof atmospheric sciences, atmospheric chemistrytries to understand the chemical makeup of the atmos-phere, how its many constituents change over timethrough photochemical or physical processes, howmankind is altering the natural background atmosphere andultimately how climate changes through the so-called chemicalclimate feedback (e.g. greenhouse effect).

The remote polar regions, covered year-round with ice, repre-sent an ideal natural laboratory in which to study fundamentalatmospheric chemistry. Remote regions are suitable to measurethe very low background levels of atmospheric trace gases due tothe minimal interference by anthropogenic pollution sources, veg-etation or soil-covered surfaces. In addition, the polar day andnight, each lasting several months, provide two extreme experi-mental boundary conditions for atmospheric chemistry whosemain driver is solar radiation. Results from polar atmosphericchemistry research help to explain many issues that affect life ingeneral on our planet. Examples include the mechanisms leadingto the stratospheric ozone depletion or factors controlling groundlevel ozone, a major pollutant in big cities.

Longer records of atmospheric chemistry observations existonly at a small number of sites around the globe going back atmost a few decades. However, ice cores from the polar ice capsprovide scientists with the opportunity to extend that record backin time for many water-soluble species and gases. Based onreconstructed changes in atmospheric chemistry 100, 1,000 oreven 10,000 years ago, it becomes more feasible to predict thefuture of the atmosphere currently being altered significantly byanthropogenic emissions.

Two important atmospheric trace gases, hydrogen peroxideand formaldehyde, are water-soluble and therefore found in snowand ice. They are both linked to the budget of atmospheric oxi-dants, which determine the oxidation or “cleansing” capacity ofthe atmosphere. The oxidation capacity describes how wellatmospheric pollutants are oxidized and then removed from theatmosphere, and therefore has a key role in controlling the atmos-pheric build up of climate-changing greenhouse gases.

The interpretation of the concentrations of hydrogen peroxideand formaldehyde found in the snow is further complicated by thefact that after a snowfall these gases partially de-gas from thesnowpack back into the atmosphere. This temperature-drivenphysical exchange between snowpack and overlying atmospherealso modulates the concentration of many other atmospheric chem-ical species. Furthermore, it has been recognized that in the uppercentimeters of snow many not fully understood chemical reactionsare taking place, as in a reaction chamber driven by sunlight.

The U.S. ITASE (International Trans-Antarctic ScientificExpedition) traverse is collecting shallow ice cores over awide area in West Antarctica in order to reconstruct an envi-ronmental record over the past 200 years. An extensive

atmospheric chemistry sampling program has been incorporated onthis moving platform. The primary scientific objectives include mea-surements of atmospheric peroxides and formaldehyde in this region

and investigation of post-depositional processes of these gases, even-tually allowing for the quantitative interpretation of the ice core

records in terms of atmospheric chemistry change. Researchalso includes the interaction between the snowpack and the

atmosphere through physical and photochemical process-es.

During our three-day stay at each coring site avariety of experiments are conducted in the

field. The Atmospheric Chemistry Shelter housestwo custom-built atmospheric detectors for the con-

tinuous measurement of peroxides and formaldehyde.Air from outside is drawn constantly into the instruments

through a heated intake line, where it is passed over a flow-ing water stream. The respective gases dissolve in the water, a

chemical reagent is added and the concentration is determined bymeasuring the fluorescence of the molecules then produced bythat chemical reaction. A simple calculation allows one to derivethe original gas concentration in the air above the snow. A secondchemistry lab installed in the “Blue Room” is used to produceclean water from melted snow, and to prepare chemical reagents.Additional air filter measurements yield multi-day averages offurther trace gases belonging to the family of ketones and aldehy-des.

The same atmospheric detectors are also able to measureformaldehyde and hydrogen peroxide in short firn cores whichare drilled with a 2-inch drill, melted and analyzed the same day.The on-site analysis minimizes contamination of the samples andalso gives immediate information about snow chemistry andeven annual accumulation rates based on the seasonal signal ofhydrogen peroxide. The upper 30cm of snow are sampled with aspecially designed snow sampler, with the samples being trans-ported in clean, airtight glass bottles for further analysis back inthe Crary Lab at McMurdo Station.

Since ozone is an important player in the photochemistry ofthe lower troposphere, it is also monitored using a weather bal-loon. The balloon is filled with the gas helium, attached to a1,000-meter-long tether and then raised or lowered using an elec-tric winch, with an ozone sonde, a temperature and relativehumidity probe attached to it. The vertical temperature and ozoneprofiles of the lowest kilometer of the atmosphere give informa-tion about the layering of the atmosphere and the distribution ofozone, which are both additional aids for interpreting atmospher-ic chemistry measurements. Free balloon launches all the way upto the stratospheric ozone layer at more than 20km altitude areplanned this time at site 1 and Hercules Dome with the intentionto provide ground truthing for satellite ozone measurements.

Meteorological variables, such as pressure, air and snow tem-perature at various depths, relative humidity, wind speed anddirection and UV radiation are also constantly monitored in orderto better understand the observed changes in trace gas levels.

This year’s traverse, leading us from Byrd Surface Camp inWest Antarctica to the South Pole on the East Antarctic Plateau,will be especially exciting from a scientific point of view: We willbe able to test our current understanding about atmospheric chem-istry and atmosphere-snow transfer in very different environments,going from warm, high-accumulation sites at low elevation to verycold, low-accumulation sites at more than 3,000 a.m.s.l.

Markus Frey is a doctorate student at the University of Arizona in Tucson.The primary investigators on his project are Roger C. Bales of the Universityof Arizona and Joe McConnell of the Desert Research Institute in Nevada.

4 • The Antarctic Sun November 24, 2002

Global Change and Atmospheric Chemistry:Experiments conducted along the U.S. ITASE traverse

speaking

of science...

Seismic activityBy Tracy SheeleyPole correspondent

Our big science news for the week isthe arrival of SPRESO personnel at SouthPole. SPRESO (South Pole Remote EarthSeismic Observatory) is entering its sec-ond year of operations at Pole. The campis located five miles out from the station.The group will drill three holes about 300meters deep, then seismometers will beinstalled in the holes. Drill rigs are beingset up as this article is being written, anddrilling should be happening by the end ofthe week.

Seismology is the longest runningobservational science at South Pole – thefirst experiment began in the 1957International Geophysical Year.

We also hosted our first NationalScience Foundation visitors, including Dr.Robert Wharton, executive officer of theOffice of Polar Programs and MarthaRubenstein, Director of the NationalScience Foundation Budget Division.They spent several hours touring the sta-tion and becoming familiar with theunique challenges of South Pole construc-

tion and science.Joan Myers of the Antarctic Artist and

Writers program is also on station. She isa photographer capturing views of SouthPole station and its residents. She is work-ing on a book about Antarctica, and someof her photos already have been publishedin the New York Times.

Crews work round the clock on the newSouth Pole Station. Preparations are beingmade to raise the elevated station. Finishwork on the berthing rooms and the newgalley is also underway.

The station population is a little over200 – approaching our maximum of 220.With crews working 24 hours a day, wemanage to keep from stepping on eachother too much, but South Pole is a busyspot on the polar plateau during the sum-mer season.

We’ve been breaking some weatherrecords. On Nov. 17 the maximum tem-perature of –9.8F beat the temperature of–16.1F set in 1973. The following day wedid it again. Our temperature of –11.6broke the record of –13F set in 1980. Ofcourse, since then it’s been hoveringaround –40F, a bit on the cool side….

Boating beyond the limitsBy Tom CohenourPalmer correspondent

Only on very rare occasions are resi-dents of Palmer Station allowed past thetwo-mile boating limit — and for goodreason. Weather on the AntarcticPeninsula frequently changes suddenlyand drastically.

More often, changes are so subtle inex-perienced boaters easily can find them-selves trapped in densely packed brash iceunable to return to the station.

But brash ice wasn’t the reason ChrisDenker and Brett Pickering, researcherswith the Sea Bird Component of the LongTerm Ecological Research project didn’treturn to station one evening this week.

The two scientists had arranged tocamp out overnight before they traveled

six miles by Zodiac to seldom-visitedDream Island, where they were conduct-ing penguin research. As part of thearrangement, the Ocean Search andRescue (OSAR) team was put on alertwhile the scientists were out.

Doug Fink, OSAR team leader, is alsoPalmer’s boating coordinator. In thatcapacity, Fink facilitates safe and efficientboating for science and support as well asrecreation. On any given day Fink can befound performing duties such as maintain-ing boat motors, modifying science plat-forms on the Zodiacs, assisting scientists,repairing boats, monitoring weather andsea-ice conditions, or teaching boatingclasses.

“Zodiac travel is permitted only aftersuccessful completion of boating school,”said Fink. “Boating I and the IslandsCourse are required for all passengerswhile those wishing to be operators mustalso pass Boating II,” he added. A mini-mum of two operators must be among anyboating party leaving station.

Boating I is a classroom setting thatcovers an introduction to boating regula-tions and basic cold weather survival. TheIslands Course is a hands-on practicalclass taught in the Boathouse whichincludes the use of equipment such as sur-vival caches, tents, stoves, flares, radiosand hypothermia treatment.

Boating II takes place in a Zodiac onthe ocean. Students learn boat launchingand landing, knot tying, motor use, and

November 24, 2002 The Antarctic Sun • 5

around the continent

PALMER

SOUTH POLE

McMurdo StationHigh: 32F/-0.3C Low:6F/-14CWind: 26mph/42 kphWindchill: -29F/-34C

Palmer StationHigh: 41F/5C Low:26F/-4CWind: 39 mph/62kphMelted precipitation: 1.5 mm.Snowfall: 1 cm.

South Pole StationHigh: -10F/23C Low:-43F/-42CWind: 17mph/27kph

the week in weather

Photo by Mark Buckley/Special to The Antarctic Sun

A Caterpillar works at the South Pole withMapo in the background.

See Palmer on page 6

Photo by Cara Sucher/Special to The Antarctic Sun

At Palmer Station, Zodiacs are essentialtransportation.

6 • The Antarctic Sun November 24, 2002

boat care. An orientation visit around thesouth and north islands teaches studentswhere landing points and survival cachesare located on various islands. It con-cludes with a man overboard drill wherestudents practice methods to get a personback into the boat. The drill includes con-scious as well as unconscious victimretrieval.

A float coat is mandatory apparel forall boaters. The one-inch thick, brightorange float coats must be zipped up andthe beaver tail fastened to keep a personafloat. The beaver tail is an extension ofthe back of the coat that hangs down. It’sbrought up between the wearer’s legs andfastened to clips on the front of the floatcoat.

For withstanding the extreme stressesof frigid waters, rock and sharp ice in

Antarctica, inflatable Zodiacs are superi-or to wood, aluminum, or steel boats.Constructed of Hypalon, they’re flexible,durable and easy to repair. Large buoyan-cy tubes and a low center of gravity makea Zodiac practically impossible to cap-size while multiple air chambers make itnearly impossible to sink.

Palmer’s two-mile boating limitincludes nearly 10 square miles of openwater dotted with the jagged rockyshoreline of 20 main islands and dozensof small, nameless rocks. Eleven of the12 survival caches are within the boat-ing limit. The 12th survival cache islocated four miles outside the limit onDream Island.

Denker and Pickering had plenty ofsupplies on their planned overnight, anddidn’t need the survival cache that day, so

all the extra gear and those delicious milkchocolate bars, dried fruit and cashew nutsare still there waiting.

What science experiment reallyneeds to be done inAntarctica?

“We either need tofind the motherlodeof gold or get some

experiment thatwould populate

Antarctica.”Greg Weber

McMurdo electricianfrom Boise, Idaho

“I would love to see thescience that is already

being done accessible toregular non-science

folks...An outreach pro-gram for the generalpublic to understand

what we are studying.”Michelle Ferrara

Palmer researcher fromSeneca Falls, N.Y.

“I think you shouldreally test Twinkies as ahousing material. I’ve

heard they last 11 yearsin a normal environ-

ment. They’d last cen-turies down here.”

Dan KraySouth Pole cargo handler

from Oswego, N.Y.

Crossword on p. 2

Palmer From page 5

atmosphere. All parts of the ocean are importantand everywhere is struggling to keep up,”Keeling said. “There are regions that will saturatefaster than others and the region that will saturatelast is the Southern Ocean, because that’s wherethere’s the most deep water.”

Because of its position on the AntarcticPeninsula, sticking out into the Southern Ocean,Palmer is a particularly good area to see the effectsof the ocean on the oxygen supply. The levels ofoxygen around Palmer are lower because the oxy-gen is being drawn into the ocean.

Keeling has also noticed some seasonal varia-tions in the Palmer air samples. As the upper lay-ers of water cool in the winter it becomes easierfor the deeper water to rise and mix, decreasingthe amount of oxygen in the atmosphere. In thesummer the upper layers of water warm slightly,

holding back the deep water, and phytoplanktonliving near the surface expel oxygen.

Though the change in oxygen levels is imper-ceptible to a human, the change in the ocean iseasy to sense.

“At the beginning of the summer season thereis really no smell in the air – it’s just crisp andsmells like nothing, except maybe cold,” vanKonynenburg said. “When the phytoplanktonbloom later in the season you start to notice theocean’s rich, green smell.”

Taking the air samples has made vanKonynenburg more aware of the effects peoplehave on the atmosphere and the seasonal cyclesof carbon and oxygen.

“It makes me think twice about starting up mycar when I get home, that’s for sure,” vanKonynenburg said.

Air From page 3

Photo by Doug Fink/Special to The Antarctic Sun

Scientists take water samples out of a Zodiac,maneuvering through the brash ice near Palmer.

By Mark SabbatiniSun staff

One of the oddest collections of vehi-cles ever to take a road trip is about towrap up a four-year journey by deliveringsome unusual cargo to the South Pole:several tons of ice.

Not that there’s a shortage at the bot-tom of the world, but this isn’t just any ice.It’s part of a collection providing some ofthe first in-depth data about a large part ofAntarctica.

Those making the trip say the collec-tion, combined with similarly detaileddata about everything from the ozone tothe bedrock two miles beneath their feet,may help turn the continent from one ofthe least-known areas to the best when itcomes to environmental knowledge. Inturn, that may shed new light on world-wide matters such as long-term climatepatterns and global warming.

“I would say it’s one of the most com-prehensive glaciological scientific under-takings ever done,” said Dan Dixon, afield assistant at the University of Mainewho is about to begin his second trip.

This year’s 900-mile drive is the finalsection of the U.S. portion of theInternational Trans-Antarctic ScientificExpedition (ITASE), a project involving20 countries. Participants are primarilyusing ice samples, radar, balloons, satelliteimagery and other methods to learn moreabout weather patterns, ice flow, snowaccumulation, atmospheric conditions andother aspects of West Antarctica duringthe past 200 to 1,000 years.

Participating countries are traversingdifferent areas, with the U.S. coveringportions of West Antarctica and the SouthPole. U.S. organizers hope to make afuture two-season traverse inland of theTransantarctic Mountains.

Those traveling the final portion of theU.S. route this season cite a number of“firsts” to date, even though research inmany areas is years from completion.Most of the achievements cited involvegathering information using new methodsor at a level of detail not achieved before.

Two “trains” of assorted scientificsleds, each pulled by a large agriculturaltractor, have made round-trips on the WestAntarctic Ice Sheet during the past threeyears. This season the trains will make aone-way trek that ends by crossing over tothe eastern part of the continent.

“It’s really great to actually have a des-tination,” said Susan Kaspari, a graduatestudent at the University of Maine makingher second traverse. “The huge bonus iswe don’t have to turn around and back-track.”

November 24, 2002 The Antarctic Sun • 7

See ITASE on page 8

Photo courtesy of Gordon Hamilton/ITASE

Two agricultural tractors pull living, research and equipment sleds across the West Antarctic Ice Sheet during the 2001-02 U.S.International Trans-Antarctic Scientific Expedition. The “trains” are completing a four-season project this year.

Driving to the PoleITASE heads south from Byrd Surface Camp with a destination in mind

CClliimmbbiinngg ttoo tthhee bboottttoomm This season’s trip will be the second

scientific caravan to traverse to the SouthPole, coming nearly 40 years after MajorHavola led a group there in 34 days in1964.

“If you look at the configuration itdoesn’t look that different,” said PaulMayewski, the U.S. ITASE field leader,and a professor and director of theInstitute for Quaternary and ClimateStudies at the University of Maine inOrono.

The amount and quality of data collect-ed this time will be markedly different, ofcourse. Partly because the moderntrekkers plan to spend 40 to 50 days mak-ing the trip, but mostly due to technologi-cal improvements such as satellites, glob-al positioning systems, better ice drillingequipment and alternative sources ofpower such as solar panels and wind gen-erators.

Much of this season’s terrain will behigher, drier and colder than previous U.S.ITASE trips, since the Pole is about 4,000feet higher than the 5,000-foot-high start-ing point at Byrd Surface Camp. Theslope is gradual enough that no problemsare expected while traveling, but the con-ditions mean some differences — mostlyminor — are likely in how data is collect-ed and what results will be obtained.

There is less precipitation nearer thePole, for example, so sections of iceextracted there will probably feature thin-ner annual layers and therefore date fur-ther back in time than ice from snowierareas. Atmospheric chemistry measure-ments are likely to be different as the tra-verse moves away from the WestAntarctic Ice Sheet, with fewer maritime-influenced elements, such as sodium,detected.

“We’re going to have probably the firsthigh-resolution climate record from thePole since 1980,” said Eric Steig, a sci-ence investigator who is a professor at theUniversity of Washington in Seattle.

Team members packed more clothesand made small changes to equipment so

it will function better in colder weather.But three years of field experience havealso allowed them to fine-tune researchand travel methods.

“Last year was the first time there wereno mechanical problems,” Dixon said. “Sothis year, knock on wood, the (tractors)will perform well.”

The final step of the journey will behelping to pack up a 300-meter ice corebeing drilled at the South Pole by mem-bers of Ice Core Drilling Services at theUniversity of Wisconsin, led by TerryGaecke, which will be used for ITASE andother projects.

Participants said they haven’t noticedmuch extra attention being paid to thisyear’s traverse by the media or observersin the science community, although thePole destination is intriguing to many whohave been following the journeys.

“If we said we’re going to 87 degreessouth, 115 degrees west it would be a lotharder for people to identify with that,”Mayewski said.

LLiiffee oonn tthhee rrooaaddThere are a few newcomers this season,

but most are returning to a familiar routinein the field.

Participants spend long and oftenbumpy hours in the sled-mounted huts asthey are dragged at roughly 7 mph acrossthe icy landscape by the agricultural trac-tors. They stop about every 60 miles (100km) to dig snow pits, drill ice and takeother measurements.

Workdays can last 16 hours and sleep-ing arrangements are less than lavish for

most in the cramped nine-bunk “BlueRoom” trailer. The few leisure momentsmay be a game of frisbee if the weather isfavorable, or a DVD movie on some-body’s laptop computer if not.

“I’ve definitely lived and worked incramped quarters before, but nothing tothis degree,” said Jim Laatsch, a fieldassistant from Dartmouth College who isone of two first-time Antarctica visitors onthe trip.

There’s also a kitchen trailer where afew participants sleep, a storage trailer forice cores, a shelter for simple mechanicalwork, an outhouse and several sciencehuts with various equipment.

Previous trips may have worked outmany of the bugs in the system, but addi-tional planning and attempts at improve-ments were still a big part of the agendabefore deploying to the field. The teammade sure it had plenty of everything fromstorage boxes to Sharpie markers. Theyalso sought extras such as power outletsby each bunk (unlikely) and a watertightstorage box to thaw food so it won’t dripon people’s belongings.

Space will be a bit tighter than normalthis year since 15 members is one or twomore than past trips. Also, all of the iceand other material collected must be car-ried the entire trip. In past years the coreswere left until the return trip, but thatobviously isn’t possible on a one-waytrek.

“It probably just means more packingand shuffling around for us,” Mayewskisaid.

8 • The Antarctic Sun November 24, 2002

See ITASE on page 9

ITASE From page 7

Photo by Mark Sabbatini/The Antarctic Sun

Eric Steig, left, PaulMayewski, center, and

Gordon Hamilton discusspreparations at McMurdo

Station’s Crary Lab for thisyear’s ITASE traverse.

AA ddaayy aatt tthhee ooffffiicceeThere are 11 projects being conducted in

six fields of study, but participants arequick to point out there is considerableoverlap and sharing of data. Satelliteimagery helps chart the course in advance.Shallow and deep radar readings of the iceare collected as the trains move across thecontinent, providing further informationabout good sites to collect samples. At thesites, data collected from a variety of air,snow and ice experiments provides chemi-cal details sought by many researchers,such as the elements and reactions presentin the atmosphere in present and past years.

“All the science is the same,” Dixonsaid. “We’ve reached the fine balance withour disciplines. Each helps determine thevalidity of the others.”

Most of the field work is more physicalthan scientific, as snow and ice are packedinto special storage containers, balloonsare launched and automatic weather sta-

tions set up to provide future atmosphericreadings. Analysis of the materials anddata, by ITASE members and others, willtake years in many cases.

“The reality is most of our work is backhome,” Steig said.

Dixon said so far he is analyzing icecores from the first two years of the U.S.traverses, not those he collected last year.He said he’s hoping to do a more detailedstudy using all of them.

“It’s a several year job really, becausethere’s so much data,” he said.

Steig is overseeing the final year of hisproject, after sending his graduate studentson previous traverses. He is reconstructingthe region’s temperature history by usingsatellite imagery and measuring the ratioof heavy to light isotopes of oxygen in theice cores. The isotope ratio in the ice islargely affected by the temperature wherethe snow originally fell.

“If we’re able to figure out the relation-ship between isotopes and temperature ofthe ice for the past 20 years we can deter-mine temperature data as far back as thecore dates,” he said.

Knowing such details has implicationsthat go far beyond a remote section of theworld’s most isolated continent.

Global warming is a topic of worldwidediscussion, based largely on historicallyunusual warming in the NorthernHemisphere, Steig said. But he saidresearchers don’t know if that patternapplies to the Southern Hemisphere. Manylarge icebergs have broken off into theRoss Sea region in recent years, but at thesame time the East Antarctic Ice Sheet hasactually cooled off during the past 20years.

“One of the main things we’ve done sofar is we now have a beautiful map ofrecent ice sheet temperatures,” he said.Eventually, he said, that can be used tohelp determine if the cooling in East

Antarctica is part of a normal globalweather pattern.

ITASE participants also hope to findanswers in other related fields of researchfrom their traverses, but most said it’s tooearly to draw many conclusions fromwork done so far. Steig said it may takefive years before he has results he can pub-lish as definitive answers.

The trip also offers a final chance to testand refine equipment developed duringthe ITASE project, some of which partici-pants hope to use on future polar researchin Antarctica and elsewhere.

Drilling specialist Mark Wumkes ishoping this traverse will prove a portableice drill he designed is fully “road-ready.”If so, it could have a major impact onfuture field expeditions, since the 200-pound drill is much more portable and cancollect samples much faster than present

November 24, 2002 The Antarctic Sun • 9

See ITASE on page 10

ITASE From page 8

This season’s trip by the U.S.segment of the International Trans-Antarctic Scientific Expedition(ITASE) will feature 15 membersworking on 11 projects in six sci-entific disciplines. Among theprojects:

• The expedition’s field leader isPaul Mayewski, a professor at theUniversity of Maine who has ledmore than 35 Antarctic expeditionsand others in Greenland, theHimalayas and the TibetanPlateau. He and field assistantsDan Dixon and Susan Kaspari arelooking for past climate data byseeing how much sodium, calciumand other elements known as ionsare in the ice cores. The amountand mixture of various ions indi-cate likely weather patterns for theera being examined. It can alsodetect and provide informationabout “extreme” events such as thelarge-scale volcanic eruption ofTambora in 1815, atmosphericnuclear testing during 1950s and‘60s and what appear to be unusu-ally common El Nino patternsrecently.

• Steve Arcone, an investigatorworking at the U.S. Army ColdRegions Research and EngineeringLaboratory in Hanover, N.H., isexamining snow and ice surfacesat relatively shallow depths using ahigh-frequency radar that probesabout 330 feet (100 meters)beneath the surface. The shallowerreadings provide more detailsabout the surface layers than deep-er radar, allowing for the selectionof evenly layered sites to extractice cores, and better measurementsof snow accumulation ratesbetween core sites. A separateradar at the front of one of the“trains” detects crevasses duringthe traverse, although none havebeen spotted during previous trips.

• Gordon Hamilton and his doc-toral students Blue Spikes andLeigh Stearns of the University ofMaine are studying the distributionof snowfall across the ice sheet andmeasuring ice flow along U.S.

See Science on page 10

Markus Frey, a doctoratestudent and ITASE fieldassistant, releases a bal-loon to gather atmosphericchemistry data during astop in the team’s 2001-02traverse. He will continuethe experiments daily thisseason.

Sciencemobile

Photo courtesy of Markus Frey/ITASE

Roving researchers studyAntarctica eleven ways

10 • The Antarctic Sun November 24, 2002

equipment that weighs 1,200 to 2,000pounds.

“In 15 minutes you can do what youused to do in one day,” he said.

A major reason is the drill can collectsamples without requiring large snow pitsto be dug first, normally the most time-consuming part of the process, Wumkessaid. The snow pits are needed because thelarger drills lose the top meter of a corebecause they must be lowered below thesurface to start drilling. Digging a pit andcollecting samples can take most or all of aday, due to its size and the difficulty of get-ting “clean” samples unaffected by outsideelements.

Wumkes’ drill extracts cores two inchesin diameter, compared to the 3-inch coresobtained from the main drill on the ITASEtraverse. But he said his drill should pene-trate up to 200 meters deep —two to threetimes the depth of most cores being col-lected during the traverse — and that capa-bility will be tested for the first time thisseason.

If the drill is efficient enough it couldallow researchers to fly to a site and returnthe same day after extracting ice cores.Wumkes, who plans to build at least onemore of the drills after the traverse, said it’salso simple enough for scientists to usewithout bringing drilling personnel along.And while it can’t completely replace theneed for snow pits — which are needed fornear-surface data — fewer will likely beneeded for many projects.

NNoott tthhee eenndd ooff tthhee rrooaaddMayewski said the experience of

ITASE during the past several yearsproves Antarctic traverses deserve strongsupport in the future.

He said they have the potential toreplace and be more efficient than fixedfield camps. The large-scale equipment isalso sufficient to plough runways for sup-port planes and install remote data collec-tion instruments in isolated locations.There are also other fields of study thatcan be undertaken during the traverses.

“These 11 projects are by no means theonly ones that can be done,” he said, refer-ring to this year’s ITASE research.

There will be no U.S. traverse next sea-son, but Mayewski said he is confident thetwo-year trip from the South Pole toNorthern Victorialand along theTransantarctic Mountains will eventuallybe approved. Several members of thisyear’s traverse said they are interested incontinuing their work on the Ice if andwhen that happens.

It will probably take 10 years before theITASE traverses of all participating coun-tries have enough ice cores to allow for anin-depth climate and environmental histo-ry of the continent, Mayewski said. Hesaid Antarctica has only 10 to 50 years ofinstrument data, depending on the region,making the detailed reconstruction of a200-year time period in a relatively shortperiod all the more impressive.

“ITASE in a way is going to developthe giant missing link,” he said.

ITASE From page 9

ITASE routes using high-precisionGPS instruments. Markers left atthe ice drilling sites are being mea-sured annually to determine theirvertical velocity which, combinedwith snowfall rates, provide a wayto calculate thickening or thinningof the ice sheet. The group is alsousing satellite imagery to map thetraverse routes. Data collected bythe ITASE team in the field is lead-ing to better interpretations of thesatellite imagery.

• Markus Frey, a field assistantwho is a doctorate student at theUniversity of Arizona in Tucson, isconducting ice chemistry experi-ments by studying the makeup ofsnow samples, launching balloonsto gather ozone readings and ana-lyzing sections of ice up to threemeters (10 feet) beneath the surfacethat are melted in the field. He saidhe should collect a larger and moreconsistent amount of data this sea-son with the help of BetsyYoungman, a Phoenix scienceteacher who is spending her firstseason in Antarctica as a fieldassistant, since she will be able tolaunch balloons daily. Results fromFrey’s research will provide addi-tional atmospheric chemistry datain previously unmeasured regions,as well as information about othersubjects such as ozone depletion.

• Brian Welch, a postdoctoratefellow at St. Olaf College inNorthfield, Minn., is using a deepradar system to measure ice thick-ness down to the bedrock – abouttwo miles in some cases. Theresulting data can provide informa-tion about the flow of the ice, his-toric events such as volcanic erup-tions and geologic deposits fromthe bedrock.

Other members include EricSteig, a science investigator; MarkWumkes, the traverse’s drillingspecialist; Lynn Peters, chiefmechanic and camp manager; CarlHess, another mechanic; AndreaIsgro, the safety officer and cook;and field assistant Jim Laatsch.

Science From page 9“ITASE in away is goingto developthe giantmissinglink.”— Paul Mayewski,

U.S. ITASE leader

Photo by Joan Myers/Special to The Antarctic Sun

FFoollllooww tthhee IITTAASSEE jjoouurrnneeyyaatt wwwwww..sseeccrreettssoofftthheeiiccee..oorrgg

November 24, 2002 The Antarctic Sun • 11

of paper over the spill, letting it slip and slide on the thinfilm of water.

Parts of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet are already slip-ping to the sea at an accelerated rate in part because ofthe slick surface below.

According to Hamilton, scientists want to understandthese ice streams in order to create a computer model thatcould predict the future of the West Antarctic ice sheetbased on the most current and accurate data.

Ocean-bound iceLike frozen molasses creeping over a tilted tabletop,

glaciers are forced by gravity toward lower elevations. InAntarctica, the Transantarctic Mountain Range acts like adam for ice from East Antarctica. Just as spillways releasewater from dams, valleys release glaciers from the moun-tains, allowing ice to continue its seaward journey.

While the glaciers inch their way toward the Antarcticcoastline in West Antarctica, faster-moving streams ofice cut through the glaciers, sometimes moving threetimes as fast as the surrounding ice. These ice streams,some 40 miles wide, transport massive quantities of iceas if riding a conveyor belt toward the sea.

“Ice discharge is dominated by fast-flowing icestreams,” said glaciologist Howard Conway.

Moving an average 50 to 100 meters per year, icestreams are significant to researchers studying the WestAntarctic Ice Sheet because faster-flowing ice can act asindicators to larger glacial patterns.

Researchers monitor and study stream behavior usingsatellite imagery, seismic sensors and radar detections.They want to understand what creates the flow, whatkeeps it from solidifying with the surrounding ice andwhat holds the streams back.

“Nobody really knows for sure why they form,” saidHamilton. “There is something special probably happen-ing at the bed.”

According to glaciologist Sridhar Anandakrishnan,the sediments, water and topography of the bed couldalso help him understand the onset of rapid flow.

On satellite images of ice streams, mostly labeled Athrough F, such geological features as stream lines,crevasses or raised beds are visible. The streams oftenrespond in unpredictable ways to the features below.Researchers want to know what the bed would look likeminus the ice.

Ice on the goLike glaciers in general, ice streams flow due to a bal-

ance of lubrication and friction.Possibly related to friction, Ice Stream C stopped

flowing about 150 years ago. Scientists are unsure why.“A lot of people have been trying to figure out why Ice

Stream C stopped,” said Charles Raymond, a glaciologistwho has studied its boundaries, crevasses and other geo-logic features to help in understanding the phenomenon.

Ice needs more force to move over rough bedrock, justlike sanding wood, said Hamilton, who is mostly inter-ested in knowing what holds the ice sheet back.

Although scientists won’t know for certain whatbedrock features cause friction until further data is col-lected, stream beds are thought to be too weak to hold theice streams back. The beds seem to contribute to the icestreams moving faster than surrounding glaciers, in part

because of a wet, slippery bed, called “till.” “It is the muddy sludge that is taking the ice with it to

sea,” said Hamilton. “The studies are all about mud.”What keeps glaciers from slipping in mud and sliding

all the way to the coast is the friction created where thefast ice meets the slow ice or the shear margin. In theshear margin, where the speed of the ice decelerates toabout 2 meters a year.

“Glaciers are normally bounded by rock walls,” saidHamilton. “But ice streams flow through an ice sheet, it’sa channelized part of the ice sheet and rubs against theice around it.”

On the edge of the streams, the crevassed and jumbledice often forms seracs up to 20-feet high, making theshear margin the only visually identifiable feature on theexpansive white plateau.

“Everything is pushed, ripped, it’s like you’re lookingat a whitewater river,” said Hamilton. “It’s amazing. It’slike the eighth Wonder of the World. And the crevassesare an iridescent, bluish-black color that is impossible todescribe.”

Hamilton and others spent two austral summers study-ing shear margins. The science crew picked their waythrough crevassed terrain that more closely resembledSwiss cheese than a snow plateau. Roped together, theywalked over snow bridges and navigated the terrain,placing and retrieving aluminum poles to track themovement of ice flow.

“You could feel the crevasse bridges collapse beneathyou. We’d try to stay the hell alive,” said Hamilton. “Youcan hear the snap and you see the snow crystals depressand a wave would come toward us and a dark hole wouldopen up.”

To obtain data from many Antarctic ice streamsglaciologists have traversed the shear margins, plantedpoles to measure the following year and mapped thestreams with radar.

Using these methods, scientists learned that IceStream B is slowing down and its shear margins arewidening. It is possible that the inactive Stream C hasaffected it in some way, or that a widened channel mayallow more ice to flow. Streams D and E are less restrict-ed by their margins than B.

“I’ve claimed that if you were to fully lubricate those,that would be significantly different in terms of ice goingto the ocean and raising the sea level,” said Raymond. “Ifthese things can evacuate, then sea level would rise fiveto six meters.”

For now, researchers hypothesize the future and con-tinue collecting data that may increase the accuracy oftheir predictions.

“If the ice sheet increases, the sea level goes down. Ifit decreases, the sea level goes up,” said Anandakrishnan.“This is the Holy Grail of Antarctic glaciology.”

Icestream From page 1

“Everything is pushed, ripped,it’s like you’re looking at awhitewater river.”

— Gordon Hamilton,glaciologist

12• The Antarctic Sun November 24, 2002

Writers program.Tyler’s previous projects include pro-

ducing, writing and directing the two-hourtelevision documentary “Shackleton” forNOVA public television, and working asthe coordinating producer for the IMAXfilm “Shackleton’s Antarctic Adventure.”She said she has studied the Ross Seaparty for the past seven years and feels itdeserves wider recognition.

“I was fascinated with Antarctic histo-ry and the history of scientific explorationhere,” she said.

“It’s one thing to save yourself if you’reup a creek, but the driving motivation forthese men was a sense of loyalty andresponsibility for the welfare ofShackleton’s party.”

The RRoss SSea ppartyThe Ross Sea party arrived in

McMurdo Sound aboard the Aurora inJanuary of 1915, according to a narrativeof the expedition by Tyler and other his-torical texts. The men planned to maketwo sledging trips to leave supply depotsevery 60 nautical miles to Mount Hope,about 400 miles away. Shackleton’s party,anticipating a 120-day traverse of the con-tinent, planned to carry just enough provi-sions to reach the supplies left by theAurora’s crew.

The going was tough from the start, asmen and dogs struggled to drag over-loaded sledges across soft snow and sas-trugi in blizzards with temperatures as lowas –68F, according to the diaries of somemembers. They were soon forced to carrypartial loads and double back, thus travel-ing four miles for every mile of actualprogress. Within a month they were dan-gerously low on rations and the dogs,exhausted and underfed, started dying on

the trail.Part of the party returned to their base

while three men struggled to 80 degreessouth to lay the farthest south depot oftheir first trip. When the men returned onMarch 25 they found the ship and all butthree of their companions were gone.

The Aurora had been blown out to seaby winds estimated at more than 120 mphand would drift 1,100 nautical miles to thenorth during the next 10 months, leavingthe six men remaining at the base with noclothes or gear beyond what they were car-rying. They spent the next two months inthe snow-filled shack at Hut Point, built byRobert Falcon Scott’s party in 1902, usingsalvaged tents to make clothing and fursleeping bags for boots. Provisions left atthree McMurdo Sound huts, plus sealmeat, became the mainstay of their diet.

In June of 1916 McMurdo Sound frozesecurely and the men crossed on foot toCape Evans, where they found the otherfour members of their party. They decidedthe second trip to cache supplies forShackleton must be completed despitetheir setbacks, and prepared as best theycould during the remainder of the harshpolar winter.

In October nine members of the RossSea party set off in parties of three withtheir four remaining dogs on a plannedfive-month sledge, this time needing to laycaches all the way to 83 degrees 37 min-utes south. Feeding their urgency was thethought Shackleton’s party might be rac-ing for those supply depots. They had noway of knowing Shackleton and his crewwould abandon the Endurance at the endof the month.

Once again they were overloaded andat times covered the same ground as manyas 14 times. On Jan. 4, one of the stoves

salvaged from Scott’s hut failed and threemen were sent back with it. Another stovefailed after leaving a depot at 82 degreessouth, forcing the remaining six men tocontinue together.

Near the end of January two menshowed obvious signs of scurvy, and onehad to be left behind about 40 miles fromtheir final depot. The others reachedMount Hope on Jan. 26, 118 days aftertheir trip started.

The two men first inflicted with scurvyhad to be hauled on sledges during thereturn trip and one, photographer ArnoldSpencer-Smith, died March 9. All of themen had scurvy by then, as blizzards hadreduced daily rations drastically, but a fewdays later they reached Hut Point.

Their troubles were far from over, how-ever. Their ship was gone and they wereforced to live primarily off seal meat whilestaying in the frigid hut, originally built asa storehouse, not for long-term habitation.On May 8, Captain Aeneas Mackintoshand Victor Hayward decided to walk to amore comfortable hut at Cape Evansdespite the fact it was too early in the sea-son for solid sea ice. Two days later asearch party found evidence that the pairwas carried out to sea on an ice floe.

At that same time, Shackleton wouldsight South Georgia Island from the JamesCaird, where the worst of his endeavorwould end after a grueling trek across theisland.

Once the Ross Sea ice firmed up, thethree remaining men at Hut Point movedto Cape Evans, where the other four mem-bers of the party were staying. They wouldspend the next several months continuingscience research that was part of their orig-inal mission.

Heroes From page 1

See Heroes on page 13

Kelly Tyler gathers material forher research on Ernest

Shackleton’s Endurance expeditionat the whaling station on South

Georgia Island. The station iswhere Shackleton found help after

being stranded in pack ice whenthe Endurance sank. Tyler is gath-

ering material at McMurdoStation this season on the Ross

Island party, which spent twoyears providing a line of supplies

for the second half of Shackleton’splanned journey across the conti-

nent. The party remained ignorantof the Endurance’s fate until they

were rescued.

Photo courtesy of Kelly Tyler

November 24, 2002 The Antarctic Sun • 13

On Jan. 10, 1917, the Aurora steamedinto McMurdo Sound with Shackletonaboard. The party received a hero’s wel-come upon reaching New Zealand amonth later. Shackleton, in his memoir ofthe expedition, wrote “no more remark-able story of human endeavor has beenrevealed than the tale of that long march.”

AAppppllyyiinngg sscciieennccee ttoo hhiissttoorryyThe facts of the Ross Sea party’s journey

require extensive archival research to piecetogether, due to their relatively obscureplace in history, Tyler said. She said manyquestions remain that can only be answeredby following some of their footsteps.

“The scientific staff of the Ross Seaparty were here in the early days of scien-tific investigation on the continent,” shesaid. “They were struggling for survivalwith the very phenomena that they weretrying to understand. I’m finding that cur-rent scientific research sheds a fascinatinglight on the events of the expedition.”

Tyler will interview scientists and oth-ers at McMurdo about medical issues, sea

ice conditions, the surrounding terrain,weather, the ability of people to live andtravel here, and to get help identifyinglocations in film and photographs of theexpedition. She will also reexamine scien-tific research that members of the RossSea party performed at locations such asCape Evans and Mount Erebus.

The one man who didn’t participate inthe second trip to cache supplies stayed atCape Evans and collected weather dataevery four hours, regardless of conditions,Tyler said.

“I think their data was neglected at thetime,” she said. “The data is a valuablerecord from the early part of the century.”

Tyler, who is also a visiting scholar ofthe Scott Polar Research Institute ofCambridge University in England, didprevious research that led to the discoveryof about 15 minutes of film from the triplost within the archives at the British FilmInstitute. The footage has been released aspart of the DVD edition of Shackleton’s“South.” She said the footage was men-tioned in diaries, but her research at onepoint indicated it was at the bottom of the

English Channel in a ship sunk by aGerman U-boat in 1917.

“One thing about archives is they areoverwhelmed with material and some-times treasures get lost in the archives,”she said.

The research and writing process havehardly been linear, Tyler said. She said shemay write a few lines about the party’sexperience with scurvy, then end up study-ing nutritional issues for months.

“The research process never stops,” shesaid. “Even when you’re ready to startwriting, new questions arise constantly.The research is fascinating.”

And while the Ross Sea party membersmay never attain Shackleton’s level offame, the thoughts of one member whosurvived indicate little disappointment.

“That the effort was unnecessary, thatthe sacrifice was made to no purpose, inthe end was irrelevant,” wrote DickRichards, years after the ordeal. “To me noundertaking carried through to conclusionis for nothing. And so I don’t think of ourstruggle as futile. It was something thehuman spirit accomplished.”

Heroes From page 12

“That the effort wasunnecessary, that thesacrifice was made to nopurpose, in the end wasirrelevant. To me noundertaking carriedthrough to conclusion isfor nothing. And so I don’tthink of our struggle asfutile. It was somethingthe human spirit accom-plished.”

—Dick Richards, member of the Ross Sea party

Photo by Josh Landis/From The Antarctic Sun archives

Shackleton’s Ross Sea party spent two years at the Cape Evans hut on Ross Island. Aftertheir ship disappeared in a storm, they had to scrounge supplies from garbage piles leftby Robert Scott’s expedition.

the pphoto aand wwriting ccontest4 photo categories — scenic, wildlife, people and other

4 writing categories — microfiction, poetry, haiku and nonfiction

Don’t wwait uuntil tthe llast mminute tto eenter

Send to Antarctic Sun — McMurdo by 7 a.m. Dec. 16

14• The Antarctic Sun N o v. 24, 2002

ProfileBy Mark Sabbatini/Sun staff

Betsy Youngman doesn’t talk much about her past, but whenshe says teaching science and working in Antarctica areworld-class achievements, it’s worth listening.

She’s a two-time Olympian who says her current work is asrewarding and challenging – and at times has earned her morerespect – as her days as an athlete. Making it to the Ice is just astough as qualifying for the Games, she said, and the accom-plishments by people are more varied “and contribute to the bet-terment of mankind.”

“ Yeah, I did something that everybody recognizes, but there arepeople here who have done some really cool things,” she said.

Those who might consider such statements false modesty needonly look at the credentials she lists as a member of this year’s U.S.International Trans-Antarctic Scientific Expedition (ITASE) team:t h e r e ’s no mention of her Olympic past. Same thing if you look upother projects connected with her job teaching junior high students atPhoenix Country Day School. Look hard enough on the Internet andyou’ll see a brief mention of her Olympic background by an Ohioskiing organization she belongs to.

Youngman said she prefers listening and doesn’t like gettingcaught up in “labels,” which is why her past accomplishments mayremain unknown among those she’s around. She said she also findsit more interesting to talk about what’s happening now rather thandwell on the past, where it’s all too easy for people to “label” her.

“ I t ’s nice to know who people are now and not label them by theirjob or their past,” she said.

She will spend the next several weeks making the 900-mileI TASE traverse from Byrd Surface Camp to the South Pole. Herresponsibilities include taking daily samples of snow for chemicalanalysis and launching weather balloons three times a day to sampleozone and other atmospheric data.

The research is for a doctorate project by Markus Frey, anotherI TASE participant who worked with Youngman in Greenland in thesummer of 2001 when she was selected to work in the Te a c h e r sExperiencing Antarctica and the Arctic (TEA) program. This year heneeded a field assistant for his ITASE project.

“Immediately I was thinking of her,” he said, adding she is get-ting extra responsibilities this season after proving diligent and reli-able in Greenland.

Science has been a part of Yo u n g m a n ’s life since her childhood innortheast Ohio. Her father was a Navy engineer who taught disci-pline, while her mother was a landscape architect and botanist whotaught her to be curious and creative.

Youngman also spent plenty of time outside with her sister andb r o t h e r, learning to ski at the age of 4 and competing in swimming atan early age. Both siblings also became top athletes – her brother wastwice a first alternate for the Olympics – but she said that was neverthe primary focus of her youth.

“My parents never pushed us athletically,” she said. “They gaveus opportunities, but they really, really stressed education.”

Her interest in the outdoors led her to get a degree in environ-mental science and government at Bowdoin College in Maine. Shegot a few short-lived jobs as an environmental consultant in themonths after graduation, but decided her career goal of protectingand preserving the environment could be better achieved through ateaching job she accepted in Cleveland.

“When you teach you affect the future,” she said. “Everybody canprobably look back and think of a teacher who inspired them to do

what they do.”College was also where she was first exposed to Olympic com-

petition, getting a college roommate who would go on to win a goldmedal in the 1984 games. Youngman said she also became friendswith a number of other Olympic athletes at school “and I realized itw a s n ’t that far out of reach.”

She didn’t pursue Olympic competition until she graduated in1981, but nearly made the 1984 team as a cyclist. She said herrefusal to take steroids played a key role in failing to make the finalr o s t e r.

The bad taste from that experience led her to drop out of compe-tition for a year before returning to compete for a spot on the 1988cross-country skiing team. Helped by students who held bake sales,her husband and a Blue Cross/Blue Shield grant, she continuedteaching part-time while training four to six hours a day.

Youngman qualified for the Calgary Games in 1988 and theAlbertville Games in 1992, finishing with “middle of the pack” timesat both Games in a field of 70 to 80 competitors. The most memo-rable moment, she said, occurred away from the competition.

“When I walked in that stadium at the opening ceremonies of theGames and saw the flags, it was just so incredible to be able to rep-resent your country,” she said.

Among those who knew she was competing was Brian We l c h ,now a fellow ITASE team member. Welch, a two-time competitor atthe NCAA cross-country championships, said he didn’t know herwell at the time, but her abilities were obvious.

“I was never in Betsy’s league,” he said.Youngman moved to Arizona and started teaching at Phoenix

Country Day School when her husband Bob, whom she married in1983, was transferred there as part of his research job. She is postingjournals and lessons for her students on the Web while in A n t a r c t i c a ,calling such real-world exposure a hook that has proven highly suc-cessful in getting them interested in science.

The journey to the South Pole appears as though it will be colderand more challenging than the work she performed in Greenland, butt h a t ’s hardly a deterrent for Yo u n g m a n .

“ I t ’s another notch. It’s another step up, challenge-wise,” she said.

Photo by Mark Sabbatini/The Antarctic Sun

Betsy Youngman takes time from her busy schedule at McMurdo to skion the sea ice. A former Olympic Skier, Youngman now skis for fun.

From Olympian to teacher to Antarctica