No matter how much one reads about Antarctica, lingering questions often remain. We have assembled some information to help you learn more about living and working on the ice.

Q: Where do you live when you're working in the field?

Shelters Click to Enlarge

A. Once the science team leaves McMurdo Station where there are heated buildings, electricity and running water, we live in two shelters, the Blue Room named for its color and the Kitchen. These two shelters serve many purposes including meal preparation, dining hall, meeting room, lab and office space as well as sleeping spaces for the team.

 

Q: What do you eat?

A: Adults typically need to eat about 2,000 calories a day but when working in such extreme environments, the human body needs several thousand calories more each day just to stay warm. With the intense physical activity needed to move and set up camp, haul equipment, and dig snow pits we might eat up to 10,000 calories each day! Our food is usually canned or frozen but we will sometimes use dehydrated meals like those found in outdoor recreation stores. Our breakfast is generally instant oatmeal and other common meals include spaghetti, chili, and soup. Chocolate is a favorite high-calorie snack.

 

Q: Who does the cooking?

A: A cook is primarily responsible for the meals with assistance from the other team members. Breakfast and lunch are on a self-serve basis.

 

Q: Where do you get your water?

A: Antarctica is a polar desert and as dry as anything you might find in the deserts of the southwestern United States. A person's body loses water very quickly, especially when working hard and sweating. To avoid getting dehydrated it is necessary to drink at least a gallon of water a day! Part of our daily routine is to dig blocks of snow and melt them to help maintain our water supply.

 

Q: What is the weather generally like?

A: Just like other deserts, the skies over Antarctica are generally clear but weather forecasting is very difficult because conditions can change unbelievable fast. A nice day in Antarctica is cold (wind chill warmer than -75°F), relatively calm (winds less than 55 miles per hour), with visibility more than a quarter of a mile. A bad day is nearly indescribable!

 

Q: What do you do during a storm?

A: A typical Antarctic blizzard lasts three to five days with high winds and deadly wind chills. As the wind whips the snow around, visibility may drop to zero. We often can't see own feet during a storm, let alone a vehicle, tent or nearby landmarks. With an eye toward personal safety, we always wait out storms by staying indoors reading or catching up on sleep.

 

Q: Are you affected by the ozone hole?

A: Yes! The ozone layer absorbs the types of ultraviolet (UV) rays from the sun that are most damaging to living things. Less ozone means that more harmful UV radiation is reaching the planet's surface. Every year from September to November huge amounts of ozone disappear over Antarctica and harmful UV radiation strikes the continent and the sea around it. To help protect ourselves we wear protective clothing and plenty of sunscreen. Much of the equipment, especially the tents, is also protected with UV inhibitors.

Record low levels of ozone were measured over Antarctica in October, 1998. Scientists continue to monitor the depleted region of ozone commonly known as the ozone hole.

 

Q: Why do you have to keep the ice cores frozen at the surface? Isn't it already cold enough in Antarctica?

A: The relatively higher temperatures at the surface of the ice sheet due to energy from the sun, can cause the ice cores to start to melt so they need constant refrigeration after they have been drilled. Since the gasses and materials trapped in the ice at different depths represent atmospheric conditions at a particular time in recent history, it is important that the cores stay frozen so that the gases are not lost or move to an adjacent layer. Mark Twickler, one of the co-leaders for the 1998-99 traverse, has developed a special system using reflective blankets that help preserve the ice cores until they are shipped to the US and processed in the laboratory.

 

Q: How long do you work each day?

A: We typically sleep 8 hours a day and will work the remaining 16 hours. Since there are 24 hours of constant daylight we can set our own schedules but our watches are set to McMurdo's time zone.

 

Q: Where do you go to the bathroom?

A: For reasons of hygiene a small pit is dug into the snow at each camp/drill location then the Polar Pooper (a portable outhouse that we tow along with us) is pulled into position over the pit. The pit is filled in before breaking camp and moving to the next location.

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