Last week, I went out on sea ice training for an afternoon, I was able to take a few good scenery shots.
McMurdo sits very near to the junction of land (a volcanic island consisting of black pumice and scoria); sea (seasonally covered with 6-8 feet of sea ice and then open for a few months); and an ice shelf (the 200 to 300 foot thick outflow of a continental glacier that flows off land and over the ocean, resisting the influence of waves and tide by being attached to islands and land.) As the sea, covered in sea ice, pushes against the land and ice shelf, it makes for pressure ridges with compression and cracks with extention. Cracks are rare, but cracks and vehicles are bad so hence, we have safety classes.
Here's some pretty pictures, on a pretty day.
Mount Erebus, elevation 12,000 feet plus. Constantly erupting but not explosively.
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Hagland type vehicle--one bumpy ride.
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Small island made of the remants of the rim on an old volcano.
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Step one: dig trench
Step two: Drill with noisy 2 cycle auger to find ice depth
Answer: 2.5 feet to 8 feet. Good for Haglands, not good for bulldozers.
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By the way, we were very lucky with the weather. Blue sky like this is a rare commodity.
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Next up for me is happy camper school and a night in a snow trench. Yeeeah!
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Love and Peace to you all,
Ben
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