Andy's Big Antarctic Trip (2010 to 2012): Travelling on the Ice

Ryan tasked me with replacing a faulty item on one of his Lifetime of Halley (LoH) GPS systems. The LoH project measures the movement of the Brunt Ice Shelf by logging GPS data at various remote GPS sites that are strategically placed across the Brunt. The Brunt is constantly moving in a westward direction as more ice spills off from the Antarctic continent. The fresh water ice sheet then rolls over the sea until the sheet can no longer support itself and bits break of it's edge as small icebergs or major 'calving' events occur. Calving events are when very large chunks of the ice sheet break off and form 'super bergs' which can be the size of a small European country.

A small iceberg in the making

Some of these super bergs break off of the Ross Ice Shelf and can subsequently float around the Antarctic continent for up to ten years before heading north to melt away. One berg that recently passed by the Brunt was the size of Wales (PLEASE NOTE: I would like to point out that Wales is indeed a small European country in the geographical sense but it is obviously very large in stature). Another smaller berg threatened to collide with the Brunt last winter but, in the end, this berg made it's way around the ice shelf to the great relief of everyone at Halley.

There was a problem with the power sub-system at 'Site I' so I was dispatched to have a look and swap out the offending unit. Not surprisingly BAS don't just give me a skidoo and then say, 'Off you go, Andy'. Instead, I was placed in the caring and incredibly capable hands of the Field Assistant department who dispatched one of their highly trained and capable field assistants to guide me to the location.

The field assistants are masters of Antarctic field craft and have trained eye for spotting potential dangers such as crevices. The FA's are utilised in many areas, not just for getting technicians to their broken experiments. It is their responsibility, for example, to gauge the thickness and safety of sea ice. Very important considering that in a few days BAS's very own Royal Research Ship, the Ernest Shackleton, will be mooring at the edge of the Brunt on sea ice. It's cargo will then be unloaded onto this ice which is only tens of centimetres thick. Sno-Cats will then move cargo such as laden containers and fuel from the sea ice on to the Brunt. This process is called 'Relief' and this restocking of Halley occurs annually and is, as you can imagine, a very risky business. Whilst everyone involved in Relief contributes to the safety of the operation it is the FA's who determine what and where is safe on the ice.

Field assistants come in many flavours but they generally come pre-prepared in a package that, I've been told, women tend to appreciate very, very much. My field assistant appeared to be chiselled out of granite and went by the name of Ed McGough. It was Ed's responsibility to get me to and from Site I alive and well.

Ed and Susan prepare the sledge

Before we ventured out Ed and the Antarctic medical legend, Dr. Susan prepared the sledge that would carry our emergency supplies and other important emergency equipment that would be required should the Antarctic weather take a turn for the worse and leave Ed and I stranded on the ice.

The sledge deserves special mention. It is a design that has changed very little since the first adventurers successfully implemented a method of carting equipment and supplies around on the ice. New super-duper cutting edge alloys and materials have been tried but have failed to better the leather bound wooden design.

So with the sledge prepared and the appropriate kit donned we headed out to Site I.

Ed offering a friendly Field Assistant wave at the 4km marker. Newsflash: Major hurricane-force winds have just hit the South African coast

The site was about 40km away and took us around a feature of the Brunt called The Rumples. As explained earlier, The Brunt Ice Shelf is an ice sheet of fresh water that spills off of the continent onto the sea. It then travels over the sea. At certain points the sea is so shallow (or the ice sheet is so thick) that the sheet comes into contact with the seabed. When this happens the shelf above this point slows down as it grinds it's way over the obstruction. The ice that does not come in contact with the bottom continues at it's original speed.

This differing speed of the ice causes stress fractures (or crevices) and ice is fractured, broken and forced up as the shelf grinds over the sea bed in a glacial kind of way. The Rumples is a very dangerous terrain but one I hope to visit during my winter trip next year. Site I is fundamental to the understanding of the ice flow around The Rumples so it was important to get this GPS site back up in running as soon as possible.

The Rumples (photographs don't do them justice)

The trip to Site I was long and uneventful. The terrain is easy going and whilst the Skidoo eat up the kilometres with ease the Antarctic terrain is no motorway and it takes a continuous physical effort to stay with the Skidoo as it rolls over the sastrugi. These ridges and grooves are formed on the snow surface by wind erosion and the deposition of snow and ice during high wind events or 'Blows' . Once they are frozen solid they can be very hard and tough (like my friendly field assistant Ed).

As I travelled over the terrain it just reminded me how much like a desert the ice sheet and Antarctica is. Water water everywhere…..and still essentially dry as a bone. The snow is so dry one can't even make a snow ball. Apart from the birds and the seals at the coast there is no other animal that is welcome here. There is no way to sustain life. It is barren and essentially lifeless. Mother Nature is fully in control here and she has decided to provide very little. Without support and supplies, human beings would quickly perish.

I set to work as soon as we arrived at the site and the simple job of replacing the faulty unit was completed quickly and without any issue.

Working on Site I

Once completed we reported back to base that the job was done and that we were heading back. We were to far away to use the hand held VHF radio so Ed broke out his Iridium satellite phone. The size of the unit took me by surprise and the quality of the call was surprisingly clear. Ed informed me that this far south the Iridium was at the edge of it's field of operation but, even then, I found the call was crystal clear although acquiring and maintaining a good signal was a challenge.