Sea Ice Training
Today I had Sea Ice training.
That means that I was trained to understand and assess the risks involved with vehicle travel on the pack ice surrounding the continent. This is similar to studying crevasses on a glacier.
After an hour of powerpoint slides, we suited up in our ECW gear and headed out in the Hagglund - a tracked people moving vehicle. It was clear and windy today; the air temperature was -13 and wind chills hovered around -38 with 20 knot breezes. Views were very good.
We headed south and passed the 4 Delbridge Islands. These islands, named Inaccessible, Tent, Big Razorback, and Little Razorback, are the above water remains of an ancient volcano cone. We then turned east and traveled adjacent to the Erebus ice tongue, which is the floating portion of the Erebus glacier. It juts out into the sound and has a significant effect on the ice. The glacier floats, and localized tensions and stresses manifest as pressure ridges, stress cracks, rollers, and other linear features.
We stopped occasionally to look around, and after 2 hours of travel we arrived at a known seal hole near a cliff called Turks Head. Here we profiled the ice. This involves drilling holes with an auger in the vicinity of the open crack to determine the depth of the surrounding pack ice.
Seals came out. We could hear them under the ice. A mother and pup flopped out 100 yards away.
Meanwhile, Mount Erebus spewed out smoke and ash. The wind whipped spindrift across the sound.
I got back to town around 6:00, called Lisa, and had a huge dinner. I slept well and long.
That means that I was trained to understand and assess the risks involved with vehicle travel on the pack ice surrounding the continent. This is similar to studying crevasses on a glacier.
After an hour of powerpoint slides, we suited up in our ECW gear and headed out in the Hagglund - a tracked people moving vehicle. It was clear and windy today; the air temperature was -13 and wind chills hovered around -38 with 20 knot breezes. Views were very good.
We headed south and passed the 4 Delbridge Islands. These islands, named Inaccessible, Tent, Big Razorback, and Little Razorback, are the above water remains of an ancient volcano cone. We then turned east and traveled adjacent to the Erebus ice tongue, which is the floating portion of the Erebus glacier. It juts out into the sound and has a significant effect on the ice. The glacier floats, and localized tensions and stresses manifest as pressure ridges, stress cracks, rollers, and other linear features.
We stopped occasionally to look around, and after 2 hours of travel we arrived at a known seal hole near a cliff called Turks Head. Here we profiled the ice. This involves drilling holes with an auger in the vicinity of the open crack to determine the depth of the surrounding pack ice.
Seals came out. We could hear them under the ice. A mother and pup flopped out 100 yards away.
Meanwhile, Mount Erebus spewed out smoke and ash. The wind whipped spindrift across the sound.
I got back to town around 6:00, called Lisa, and had a huge dinner. I slept well and long.
posted by Jeff at
11:34 PM
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