Two missions : two successes

Posted on the 16.12.2011 by Alain Hubert

The new BELARE season of the Belgian PEA Station in Utsteinen/Antarctica has been opened on 16 November 2011 with 11 people disembarking on the site. Since then, we have conducted two important missions. Both were completely successful.

First, I would like to tell my visitors that for the ones who would like to have a closer information of what it's happening at Utsteinen, I invite them to follow the daily unfolding of the mission on the Station Website. Due to the enormous amount of work I (we) have here, I simply can't update my site more frequently than twice a month.

Eating away at the snow

The first highlight of the season was the enormous snow cover that awaited us when we landed at Utsteinen coming from Novolazarevskaya as usual. This accumulation was indeed much more important than when we arrived during November last year. In a nutshell, we had to work for about eight days to take all the snow away. Using shovels and with all our's might.

While the snow blower and shovels were eating away at the snow, others were preparing the airstrip for the arrival of the first scientists : a team of 5 Japanese geologists from the National Institute of Polar Research in Tokyo. Once installed, the Japanese researchers decided to participate in the removal of accumulated snow.

In the meantime, other technicians started to check all the instruments and installations of the buildings -power, water treatment, electronics and so on. (see the details on the PEA website). Thanks to Erik Verhagen and Karel Moerman (our electricity and smart grid specialists), thanks also to Paul Herman and Jacob Bossaer, the water treatment engineers ; without these people, it's obvious that we never would be able to run the station. Incidentally, I would like to take this opportunity to thanks all our people who devote themselves to the future of the station, working sometimes more than 12 hours a day : Kristof Soete (chief engeneer), François Tilman (his assistant), Jacques Tuchette (called the cold specialist), Jacques Richon (our devoted doctor). Thanks finally to our two journalists friends (Pierre Haelterman et Olivier Pierre) who are going to cover all the scientific activities during these 3.5 months mission.

I must add that this season we are really short-handed, this is due to the crisis and also we function with a very restricted budget.

Driving the Japanese to their base camp

First mission : to drive our five Japanese friends to their base camp, 76 km away from the station.

Their main objective will be to do a geological survey of the Central Sør Rodane Mountains. They will try to determine the age of the various rock formations and analyze the movement of glaciers through these rock formations to link it to climate change. Glaciers go through cycles, receding and rising according to temperatures. By examining the rocks through which they pass, and determining whether these rocks were covered or exposed by glacier movements, scientists can track past temperatures and climate.

What should have been a simple task turned into quite a challenge, thanks to a sudden white-out. Despite these awfull conditions, it took us only 6 hours (with one of our Prinoth) to arrive at the Austkampane nunatak, the place of their base camp where there are going to stay until the beginning of January.

Every day, they should call the station at an agreed time for a status report. If they have any problem, our doctor Jacques Richon will go there to assist them.

A trip to the coast for the 'Belissima' Project

Our second mission was to go to the coast (220 km drive) to set up the first base camp of the BELISSIMA project. This project, led by ULB glaciologists Jean-Louis Tison and Frank Pattyn, studies the interaction between the ocean and the ice-sheet (for more detail see this page).

All in all we stayed ten days at the coast, having sometimes difficulties to find the ways through the ice to descent from the iceshelf to the frozen sea. I remember that on 2 December, being on a short reconnaisance trip, I suddenly found myself in front of a vertical ice wall : impossible to drive down this slope ! Neither one nor two : I broke this small 'cliff' with the Prinoth and managed to build a ramp so that we all could go down to the sea with all the equipment.

The researcher who has to conduct these ocean waters measurements was american Katherine Leonard. For the fascinating details of the drillings through the ice and the lowerings of the CTD bottles (Conductivity-Temperature-Depth) into the ocean, see this page on the PEA website.

We stayed ten days out on the field.

Before going back home with the Prinoths and skidoos caravan, we had to go to Crown Bay, a place where the ships (mainly the Mary Arctica) coming with all our loadings from South Africa used to come alongside. We had to check the place (is it still suitable for a docking?) and also prepare a landing strip for the new AWI (Alfred Wegener Institute) german plane 'Polar 5', a 'Basler BT 67' for the ones who have a passion for aircarft industry : this twin-engine is fully equiped for the research. It has to land on the zone at the end of December.

We got back to the station on 12 December nightime : second mission, second success.

For my visitors who would like to know more about our work in the Antarctic : here are the articles published on our PEA station website :

 

 

 

 

 

Taking ocean waters measurements at the coast

Taking ocean waters measurements at the coast

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