| Penn
State student
in Antarctica answers
readers' questions
March
11, 2003
If this winter’s
persistence has you frustrated, be glad you’re not experiencing
summer in Antarctica. While it might be easy to imagine penguins
thriving in the Antarctic, it probably is much more difficult
to fathom life in Antarctica for a fellow Nittany Lion. But
Paul Thur loves life near the South Pole. While working for
the U.S. Antarctic Program to help build a runway on the Ross
Ice Shelf, he also is earning his certificate in geographic
information systems through Penn State's World Campus. What
is it like being at the bottom of the world? Newswire subscribers
asked and Thur answered.
Q: What is the
ice depth where you are?
A: There
are a few different types of ice around here. McMurdo is right
on McMurdo Sound, which is part of the Ross Sea. So we have
sea ice that abuts the land and we built a runway on the sea
ice to use between October and the middle of December. The typical
ice thickness is anywhere from 10 to 12 feet thick on top of
the ocean. It's a bit daunting at times to think that there
are a couple thousand feet of water under the heavy piece of
machinery that we run. When the sea ice gets thinner in the
warmer temps, we move runway operations onto the Ross Ice Shelf.
The thickness of this snow/ice mix is from 100 to 300 feet thick,
floating on the Ross Sea. There is snow on the top layer and
once you get down 15 feet or more, it is ice because the weight
of the snow on top is compressing everything under it.
As far as the age
of the ice, the sea ice can be an annual thing. In a warm summer
the sea ice can melt right up to the station and the Ross Ice
Shelf, but this has not happened in many years. There is now
a berg blocking the entrance to McMurdo Sound, which prevents
the sea ice from breaking up and blowing out to sea. The berg
has created many problems for us. Two or three year old sea
ice gets rougher because of the pressure exerted on it by surrounding
ice and the summer sun melts the surface. The age of the snow
and ice in the ice shelf is probably several thousand years
old. There is a good article in the last Scientific American
about East Antarctic ice shelves and their deterioration.
Q: This is a
bit of a reach, but as an ultimate playing alumnus from Penn
State, I have to ask: Did you bring a Frisbee, or the like,
to have some fun in the "warm" temperatures down there?
A:
I did not bring a Frisbee with me, but there are some in town
that can be seen throwing one around in the quad area near the
dorms.
Q: Are you in
any exercise program? If so, what? Do you or any of your colleagues
use indoor equipment (treadmill, etc.)?
A:
When temperatures are up in the 30's, it's not too bad to get
out for a hike. People do run and bike outside, but I I am an
indoor person. There are several gyms for us to use, so I use
the treadmill, rower or stationary bike on a regular basis.
Q: How did you
find out about Penn State's World campus?
A:
I searched on the Internet for GIS programs and the World Campus
link came up, so I checked into it. It was a great course and
I plan on continuing through the certificate program.
Q: I understand
Antarctica is often jovially referred to as a "harsh continent"
by those who have experienced it. Could you provide some anecdotes
to illustrate this point?
A:
We have it made compared to the explorers who came down to this
area a hundred years ago. Reading the accounts of their journeys,
it is amazing that more of them did not perish. “Mawson's
Will,” “Shackelton's Boat Journey” and “The
Voyage of the Discovery” (Scott's last expedition) are
all great reads and there are about 20 other books I've read
but won't list here.
Mother nature is
the thing that really wakes you up and slaps you in the face
down here. During the summer (especially the beginning and the
end) it is a 'busy' weather system time. The sun is setting
or rising and the temperature changes help to create huge low-pressure
systems. These storms can last several days to weeks, and the
wind speed and blowing snow are just amazing. Some of the storms
have had hurricane force winds and the only thing to do is sit
around and wait it out. It really makes you feel like a very,
very small piece of the whole picture.
 The
picture you see here was taken at the ice runway site sometime
around October. We were in the process of unloading a C-17.
The person in the picture is a crew member standing behind the
plane trying to keep the wind at his back. (Click
here to see the full-size picture.)
Q: I've been
wondering about the so-called depletion of the ozone layer.
It seems to grow and shrink periodically. Is the ozone finite
or will it be able to replenish itself?
A:
The ozone hole, this year, was the smallest it has been since
they started keeping track of it in the 80's. That's a good
thing. I do believe that they stated that it was so small because
last winter’s weather pattern was different than normal
and colder, so it kept the ozone from breaking down. I think
that ozone is finite in the atmosphere and it can only get thinner,
but I may be wrong.
Q: I have long
been interested in traveling to Antarctica. I have one possible
way already sought out and the application submitted. How did
you, and do you have any ideas of where to apply to a trip to
the ice. Have you traveled elsewhere on the ice, or mainly the
McMurdo area? What exactly have you been working on there?
A:
Ratheon Polar Services Company is the contractor that hires
most of the employees down here. Their headquarters is in Denver
and they have a job fair at the beginning of April. Look it
up on their Web page.
I worked at the South
Pole Station for a month a few years back and have also been
lucky enough to get to travel in the dry valleys (across McMurdo
Sound from McMurdo.) I work on runway construction and maintenance
while I am here, a heavy equipment operator. If you want to
come down as a researcher, there are many schools that have
huge research projects that go on down here for years. Writers,
photographers and artists come down through the National Science
Foundation. I believe you send in a grant application to the
NSF and they will bring you down here to do the 'legwork' for
your project.
Q: What do you
like most about Antartica, and what is the one thing you hate
about it (other than its cold ... haha)?
A:
The best thing about Antarctica would have to be the scenery
and history. The huts that the explorers built a hundred years
ago are still here and we are lucky enough to get to go tour
them. Sometimes it is easy to forget where you are because it
is so much like a town in 'the real world,’ but then you
just have to look around and appreciate where you are. The thing
I hate most about 'the ice' is the extended time away from people
back home, but it just makes you enjoy being with those people
even more when you get back to the states.
Q: Are there
penguins in the Antarctic? I thought they were only in the Arctic.
Are there polar bears there? If so, how is their health? I had
heard they were not doing so well due to major ice melts.
A:
I believe that the reverse is true. There are only penguins
in the southern hemisphere and none in the Arctic. There are
many different species down here, but only two that are in our
area. No polar bears down here though. There are no permanent
residents down here, only migratory animals, although the male
emperor penguins stay during the winter to incubate their eggs.
Q: Is the Ross
Ice Shelf the one that has significantly melted in recent years?
Most importantly, what is your understanding of the effects
of global climate change on the Antarctic?
A:
I think in general the ice shelves are shrinking, but the Ross
Ice Shelf has not deteriorated in the area where we are. Antarctica
pretty much makes its own weather pattern and affects weather
all over the globe. Stats show that Antarctica is actually getting
cooler, not hotter, but you don't hear a lot about that since
it goes against 'greenhouse' warming theory. One area that is
getting warmer though is the Antarctic Peninsula (south of Chile)
where the Larsen Ice Shelf just collapsed in a matter of a month.
There are some amazing satellite images of that one.
Q: This question
relates to the great Antarctic explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton.
A year ago we went on an expedition cruise with Wilderness Travel
of Berkeley, Calif. We visited many places related to Shackleton
including Elephant Island, South Georgia Island, Grytvikin,
the Weddell Sea and southern Chile. After we got back from our
trip, we saw a British movie on TV about Shackleton's attempted
trans-Antarctic expedition that set off in 1914. In that movie
there were scenes about him having a mistress as well as a wife.
In all of our shipboard lectures about Shackleton, none ever
mentioned that he had a mistress. Our question is: Did Shackleton
actually have a mistress or was that part of the movie made
up to "spice up" the movie?
A: I would speculate that the mistress was just made up
for the movie since there is no mention of her in any of the
journals or historical books. It would be nice to be able to
get to South Georgia someday to see Shackleton's grave and the
island that he crossed against all odds.
To read a feature
story about Paul Thur and Penn State’s World Campus, click
here
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