The Convoy of Happiness
Posted on the 17.12.2011 by Alain Hubert
I would like to return to the unfolding of our last scientific mission to the Princess Ragnild coast. Simply because it typifies so well the very essence of my commitment in the Antarctic : to help the people to better understand the importance of scientific researches in the polar regions.
Posted in
The scenery first
First, I would like to describe the global scenery of the sites where we are going to work for ten days ; it's important to better understand the unfolding of the mission as we will drive with an important convoy alongside the coast of Antarctica on quite an important distance -about 150 km.
How does this coast look like ? Before reaching the free waters of the ocean and the zones where the sea ices are not completely solid (called the moving ice or floe), one meets first an ice shelf. The ice shelf is a thick (and always gigantic) floating platform of ice that forms where a glacier or ice sheet flows down to a coastline and onto the ocean surface. It ends usually with a spectacular vertical ice wall that could reach sometimes 30 to 40 meters high. At the foot of this ice wall, one finds an horizontal thickness of ice (called the fast-ice) spreading over several hundred meters ; its thickness is usually about two meters deep.
It's on the ice shelves that our convoy is going to travel and it's on the ice pack (down the ice shelves) that the researcher is going to make the measurements. All this to explain that every time we have to go down to the sea level, we have to find a suitable passage to go through the ice walls with the convoy. Not an easy task...
The context of our mission
The PEA station has been commissioned by the University of Brussels (ULB) to complete the first survey of Southern Ocean properties near the Roi Baudoin ice shelf. Dr Katherine Leonard (University of Colorado Boulder and in Davos, Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research, who is leading the scientific operations) writes : "These measurements were made in support of glaciological work for the BELSPO-funded “BELISSIMA (Belgian Ice Sheet – Shelf Ice Measurements in Antarctica)” project, which seeks to understand the dynamics of ice sheet outlet glaciers and ice shelves along the Princess Ragnhild coast of Antarctica. The team made ocean depth measurements using an echo-sounder then lowered an SBE19plus CTD (Conductivity-Temperature-Depth) instrument through leads and holes drilled in land-fast sea ice to measure the temperature, salinity, dissolved oxygen content, turbidity, and pressure at all depths in the ocean water in front of and in rifts penetrating the ice shelf. ..." For more explanations about the scientific work, see our page in the station website.
We were five of us to travel : Katherine Leonard, Kristof Soete (chief engineer), Pierre Haelterman and Olivier Pierre (both journalists) and myself. As one can see on the photo, the convoy was quite important comprising two Prinoth tractors with sleds, skidoos and several containers behind.
The first days of work
Thursday 1 December, 10 am. We leave the station under a glorious sunshine. Twenty hours later, making every three hours a refueling stop, and after a 220 km drive, we arrive at the spot of our main base camp. On the way, a tractor hook broke (it was about midnight) but that did not slow us down. And at about six o'clock on 2 December, we set up camp. And take few hours sleep. I repeat here once more (because I know, it's quite uneasy to understand for non polar people) that in the Antarctic one often works until 12 to 14 hours a day.
Worst surprise when we get up friday morning : it's not a complete white out which confines us but yes, a solid Antarctic fog...
Friday 2 December, 10 am. No time to loose. I go alone with a skidoo for a short reconnaissance trip to see if the ramp discoverd the year before was still in place. Of course it wasn't. It did exist well an other access to the fast ice but, after having examined the sat maps, I had noticed that this ramp was now completely blocked by icebergs. After so many years of going back and forth to the Antarctic, I remain always amazed to see how topography can quickly change here. Not a second to loose : desperate times call for desperate measures.
I go back to the camp, embark on one of our skidoos, tell the others to get ready and ask them to join me asap with all the scientific equipment, while I rush back to the 5 m wall. Back there, in no time, I wreck the wall. And two hours later, the team is starting to drill his first hole through the ice.
While Katherine is preparing her equipment, I wink at Kristof with complicity : we know each other for so long that we do not need words anymore to say that we'are ready to make the things going hard this season...
As soon as the drilling machine has reached the free waters below the ice pack, a geyser gushes out of the hole with water mixed with small blocks of ice. The hole is soon cleared and we can then lower the echo sounder into the ice hole. This to see how many meters we will need to lower the cable with the CTD bottles into the ocean.
In the meantime, other people prepare the tripod and open the wood trunk with the bottles in it. When everything is ready, Katherine lowers her bottle for a first immersion (20 meters during 10 minutes) in order to calibrate the material.
When this first operation is over, the bottle goes down for good into the ocean at a speed of 22 m per second ; on its way to the bottom, it takes 4 measurements each second. Once the bottle gets out of the water, it has te be stocked in a trunk equiped whith a constant heating of 15°C.
This first drill has taken about three hours : for the next ones, we'll need no more than an hour and a half to do exactly the same job.
At one o'clock the same day, we are back at our main base camp. We have drilled three times the ice and Katherine has her first three measurements.
In our containers, we have our small confort, hot water and a small kitchen. That night we have a quick dinner and a bit of conversation. Then dodo, like we say in french...
Procrastination is the thief of time
Specially in the Antarctic. The following days we have quite a bad weather. But nevertheless we decide to travel 100 km to the East (with skidoos and sledges only) in order to establish a new three days base camp.
6 December at two o'clock am : we set up this new camp. The place is simply goldious, we camp near an iceberg, it's total white out and the ice has strange colour effects. Gee ! How much I love theses places...
The same day we manage to do three measurements. And are back at the temporary camp at 10pm. On 7 December, because the ice we have foreseen for new drillings is now melted, Kristoff and I have to leave for another reconnaissance trip through a nasty fog. Fortunately, the visibility grows better during the afternoon. Reconnaissance is OK. But worst weather forecast is foreseen for the next days to come. And we are at more than 100 km from our main basecamp ! I certainly do not want to experience such a work with such a weather.
8 December : rousing start to the day. At 3.30 am we left the place (let's not forget it's daylight day and night) for our two last drillings. First site : the water is not deep enouhg we are too close to the cliff. Second place (a little further) : 820 m deep. Ok ! let's go for it. But the wind starts blowing and the visbility is decreasing. The way back to the camp is horrible ; the two journalists have to stay at 20 km from base camp because we do not have enough fuel do go all together to the last drilling site ; it's minus 30°C.
Working despite the fog
We continue without seeing almost nothing. Fortunately, I have been here before and have already planted flags on the way. But some of the last ones are missing (of course) and here am I, planted on the edge on a 40 m high ice cliff without knowing where to go ! Be carefull Alain... Kristoff and Katherine are waiting in their skidoo while I am zigzaging with mine to find my last flags... Miracle ! My last flag is almost completely burried in the snow but I manage to spot it. What a chance... From there on, I know the direction to take and despite the lack of visibility, I call the others and 'banzai' there we go...
Finally, the last drill is on. Let's hurry because the ice is thin, 15 cm thick -we have chosen a seal hole to lower the instruments in order not to be forced to drill once more. While the CTD bottle is lowered into ocean, a seal head has jumped suddenly out of the water. If he hadn't disappeared as quickly as he has showned his nose, he could have broken the ice. Brrr...
An hour and a half later, we are back together and reached the camp safely, despite crevases zones that we had to cross with an utmost care although I know perfectly well the surroundings and consequently the directions of the cracks. I could thus take a cap which was perpendicular to their main direction.
Later in the night, it was about 10 pm I guess, we open the champagne to celebrate the success of the mission.
Under these kinds of circumstances, I have to tell that we really feel that the work we do here all together (researchers, technicians, explorers, engineers etc.) is of service to the future.
10 December : after a day storm, we move to Crown Bay. There we check the ice to see if the ship Mary Arctic can still come alongside it and unload our containers. Also we take some time to prepare (for our german friends) an airstrip for the 'Polar 5' AWI (Alfred Wegener Institute) new plane, which is due to land here at the end of Decemnber for further scientific surveys.
For further readings, please visit the PEA station webpages.
The convoy left the station Thursday 1 December at 10 am
© IPF
