THE TEAM’S FIRST TASTE OF THE COLD ... 1
VOYAGE DOWN SOUTH ... 1
A WORD FROM THE TEAM LEADER ... 1
THE RSA BUkTA ... 2
THE ANTARCTIC DOCTOR ... 3
CRAFTY LOGISTICS ... 3
TAkE OVER GAMES ... 4
THE BACkLOADING TRIp ... 4
TRAINING for the UNkNOWN ... 5
B15k - WHAT IS IN A NAME? ... 6
ANTARCTIC SCIENCE ... 7
- A word from the S49 scientists 7
- An oceanographic insight 7
SpONSORS ... 8
MONTHLY NEWSLETTER OF THE 49’TH SOUTH AFRICAN NATIONAL ANTARCTIC EXPEDITION OVER-WINTERING TEAM
SANAE 49 NEWSLETTER
FEBRUARY 2010 Vol. 01 THE TEAM’S FIRST TASTE OF THE COLD
THE VOYAGE DOWN SOUTH
A recollection of the Southward-bound part of the 148th Voyage of the SA Agulhas
Robert Schoeman
The morning of The 9Th of December 2009 started with much anticipation for most of the Sanae 49 over-wintering team members as well as family members of all who were to be part of the voyage to the great white continent.
Saying goodbye to all the people that are close to you is quite a thing to do as it brings many mixed emotions, like excitement, sad- ness, happiness, etc. We said our final good- byes and boarded the SA Agulhas, the place that was to be our home for the next 4 weeks.
We watched Cape Town slowly disappear into the distance with nothing but open sea in front of us. Our adventure had begun.
The next few days were very exciting.
The scenery was incredible, and there was a hive of actifvity on the ship. Some people started getting into their duties, some fought sea sickness, the brave were playing action cricket on the heli-deck and others were high up on the Monkey Deck and enjoying the
view of the ocean as the SA Agulhas rocked over the waves.
We had been told that the “Roaring Fourties” (40 degrees South) were really going to “rock the boat”. However, the waves hardly presented any sort of intimidation through this period. We were bold enough to re-name the “Roaring Fourties” to the “Boring Fourties”.
The scientists on the ship had all started their projects and studies, and were buzzing around with their respective duties. It was very interesting to learn how some of the projects worked.
The waves eventually got bigger around 48 degrees South and we were able to get some great footage of the waves breaking over the front of the ship.
At around 58 degrees South, we saw our first iceberg. The first lone ranging icebergs had a mystical air about them as they floated alone in the vast ocean. As the journey went
on, icebergs became a much more common sight.
At 59 degrees South, our course was altered due to the density of the pack-ice.
Satellite images revealed that it would be better to go around the dense pack ice, so we headed East. We had noticed at this point that the waves had completely died down...
A word from the team leader
greetings from Andre harms
Just a quick hello from myself, team leader and mechanical engineer of this year’s overwintering expedition – SANAE 49. As I have mentioned to the team a few times (I think even in my record breakingly short take-over function speech) I insist that we make this the best year of our lives. This newsletter, and the ones following it, aims to give you some insight into how, when, where and why we are achieving this goal.
Other than that it should also provide some interesting reading about life and work at SANAE IV, our new awesome home. Come to think of it, it might also prove as a useful tool to track our sanity over the long winter months when the ten of us are mostly stuck indoors. Enjoy!
SCIENCE IN ANTARCTICA
ediTorS noTe: The SANAE 49 editorial team endeavours to present readers with a monthly Science overview. It is hoped that lay readers and scientists alike will enjoy learning more about the myriad scientific projects that are integrated with the national Antarctic programme. In this month’s edi- tion, we kick off the Science Awareness addi- tion to the newsletter with compendious reports by the three over-wintering scientific engineers, as well as a contribution by the oceanographic researchers that spent the summer aboard the SA Agulhas.
hungry for SAnAe Science info?
Finally, an intellectual bludgeoning for the lay- man and esoteric alike, in SANAE Science.
» continued, pg. 5
The SANAE 49 team on the heli-deck of the SA Agulhas drifting through the pack ice just before the traditional initiation after passing the Antarctic Circle at 66º 33’ 44’’
The SA Agulhas’s bow ploughing through a wave in the Roaring Fourties
Contents Editors
: Ryno Jordaan and James HayesWelcome to the first edition of the S49 newsletter. Although this is the February 2010 issue, it also covers our experiences as a team during training back in South Africa, the voyage to Antarctica, and certain events during the summer season. The S49 team assumed official resposibilities on 28 January 2010 - duties include the publication of a monthly newsletter. Herewith, the results...
2 SANAE 49 Newsletter - February 2010
CAT Train
A journey to the ice shelf Tyrell Sassen
All SupplieS for The SAnAe iV base arrive once a year aboard the SA Agulhas. Due to this year’s dangerous ice conditions at Atka Bukta, the small bay near the German base, the 1.5 ton containers had to be flown ashore at
the South African (RSA) Bukta.
The much higher ice shelf at the RSA Bukta warrants that special measures need to be taken in order to get the cargo ashore. In the past this has meant dozing away the ice to create a ramp, which could be reached by the ship’s crane. This is a very risky exercise, with the dozer operator being required to push ice off the edge of the cliff into the sea below. The less dangerous, but more expensive, option is to not use the crane at all and transfer the cargo using helicopters.
Complementing the helicopters
is a fleet of massive tracked vehicles, the Caterpillar Challengers. Originally designed as industrial farm vehicles, these challengers have been hardened for work in arctic conditions.
Each capable of pulling tens of tonnes in cargo, they are so powerful that you will not even feel a tow bar breaking, dropping your cargo a kilometre back along the track – much to the
amusement of the other drivers in your party.
Cross-land cargo excursions are performed by means of the so-called Cat Train: the long procession of Caterpillar vehicles and cargo sleds that drive one in front of each other. There are two drivers in each vehicle; they take turns to alternate between driving and resting.
Places are swapped roughly every four hours - those four hours spent sleeping are surprisingly peaceful, given the motion of the challenger and the noise of the engine.
Being involved in this process is an unforgettable experi- ence. Our Cat Train arrived at the destina- tion a day before the ship, after a good 12 hours spent driving.
We had arrived at the ice shelf of RSA Bukta, and the Challengers could finally be given a rest. Once the heavy vehicles are switched off, things fall com- pletely and suddenly silent - you stand, looking at the ocean beyond the ice shelf,
watching the icebergs drifting slowly past, with only the sound of your heartbeat and the occasional swoop of a snow petrel flying along the edge of the cliff.
That night was spent warming our hands and filling our stomachs around the braai in one of the most beautiful locations on earth. We knew that the next day would be a demanding one, but for the present, our sleeping bags were calling from the ‘cosy’ cabs of our trusty Challengers.
The main reason for this trip was to pump a year’s supply worth of polar diesel for the generators and vehicles at SANAE base. The diesel needs to be pumped from the internal tanks of the SA Agulhas into large, free-standing, 25,000 litre tanks. These are fixed to sleds, which will then be towed, along with the rest of the cargo, the 165 kilometres back to base.
This is a gruelling journey that will take at least twice as long back as the journey there. Each full tank, together with its sled, weighs approximately 30 tonnes. As one of the defence force drivers put it: “it’s not if you’ll get stuck, it’s how often you will get stuck”.
Regardless of those ominous words, it was a memorable trip back, with complete whiteout conditions and the softest snow imaginable. For the majority of the trip, we drove completely blind, trying our best to follow the bearings and distances given to us by the GPS. This can be very tiring as you need to be aware of all the other vehicles ahead of you – crashing into the back of someone’s sled would be disastrous.
The 26 hour trip home goes straight through the night and next morning. At the end of a long battle up the final hill, getting stuck again and again, with less than 8 kilometres to go, the sleds were finally parked in the base’s depot area.
Offloading would wait for tomorrow.
We were tired and our beds were calling – even though you know you will never sleep as well as you did with the steady rocking of that noisy challenger.
THE RSA BUkTA
The CAT Train leaving SANAE (Vesleskarvet in background)
Cargo operations by means of airlifting with Bell 212 helicopters
Rest and recouperation at the bukta caboose
The 25,000 litre fuel tanks that were employed for the cargo operation
Mech Marlon Manko says:
I personally gained much respect for the Challengers, especially for their endurance and reliability. These machines are really the pride of the SANAE terrestrial logistics. Due to the fact that they have to travel across ice for long hours at a time, there were some modifications done to the vehicles, so that they can have less stopping time and improved comfort for the drivers. The modifications that were done to these machines were as follows:
- they have bigger fuel tanks,
- the cabs were made more spacious and fitted with sleeping bunks, and
- additional electronic equipment was also fitted for communication and directional purposes. This is in the form of two way radios and GPS systems.
The simple addition of communication and navigation electronics play a very important part in a journey and are the difference between knowing where you are going and getting lost. This is especially important when you drive in a storm so that you know where you are, and also to know where other vehicles are positioned relative to you, so that you don’t collide with them.
I believe that once you experience a trip in these machines, you will be convinced of how amazing they truly are.
A view from the Challenger’s cab: Poor visibility is a major safety concern during a white-out
GPS navigation is essential during white-out conditions (note the time on the GPS - almost 2am!)
A caveat to sensitive readers: This article contains images that may be disturbing to those with a weak stomach.
As the SANAE 49 doctor, it is my mandate to ensure and maintain the well-being of my team in Antarctica. In general, most expeditions have a complement of only one doctor, which begs the question: “what happens, in this isolated environment, when the doctor becomes ill or is injured”? My personal experience and a review of the available literature indicates that this scenario does occur, but as related in this article, Antarctic expedition doctors are a hardy bunch!
On the 19th January 2010, I sustained a traumatic amputation of my right middle finger.
This occurred during a procedure which is fairly common at SANAE. It involves connecting cargo sleds to Caterpillar Challengers, which are heavy transport vehicles. My finger was wedged between the ‘tow-bar’ of the Challenger and the securing pin on the sled. This resulted in a crush injury, the nature of which can be seen in the first photographs.
Fortunately, the injury
occurred during the summer take-over period. I received medi- cal aid from colleague Dr Thirsk (the SANAE 48 doctor), as well as 3 sur- geons at the German base Neumayer III, to which I was airlifted for surgery in an attempt to save my finger. I am indebted and most thankful to them, as well as to those involved with the logistics of my transfer.
However, reconstruction of my finger was not an option. This because of our remote location, the absence of a specialist hand surgeon, the relatively high possibility of failure of such a procedure, and the limited time avail- able for recovery (assuming I wanted to stay on for the year – and I was certainly not about to let a finger injury jeopardise my chance of a once-in-a-lifetime experience!).
Consequently my finger was somewhat shortened, as can be seen in the images to the left. It is currently healing well, and is near to full functionality.
To return to the question at hand: what would have happened if this injury had been sustained during the over-wintering period? The answer to this question con- fronts one with a harsh reality: I would either have had to talk one of my team-mates through performing the
procedure, or perform it myself. These scenarios have indeed occurred in the past, as related by my subsequent discussion.
The most hard-core of the lot was the case of Dr Leonid Rogozov, at the Russian Antarctic base, Novo . On 29th April 1961 he had to remove his own appendix under local anaesthesia. He staged a full recovery.
In July 1999 at the US South Pole base, Amundsen-Scott, Dr Jerri Nielsen had to perform a biopsy on herself after she dis- covered a breast lump. Subsequent analy- sis revealed a malignant tumour. Chemo- therapeutic supplies were air-dropped for her due to the fact that aircraft were unable to land during mid-winter. She ini- tiated chemotherapy, and was eventually evacuated to the USA in October 1999 where she underwent a mastectomy. She died in June 2009 of metastatic breast cancer.
At the same base in April 2001, Dr Ron Shemenski developed gall stone pan- creatitis. He was fortunate enough to be evacuated to the US almost immediately for definitive treatment, and recovered.
So, given the scenario whereby the lone medical professional becomes ill or is injured in this unforgiving environment, we ourselves, or together with support from our respective organisations and international colleagues, seem to be able to step up to the plate and deliver.
(Sources: 1. BMJ 2009;339:b4965, 2. en.wikipedia.org/Jerri_Nielsen, 3. www.southpolestation.com/news
A hardy species
A confrontation of the inevitable - what happens when the doctor becomes ill?
Dr Lowellen Clarke
CRAFTY LOGISTICS
The long and short of the Antarctic Supply chain
André Harms
down here in Antarctica we don’t have the luxury and convenience of running, cycling or driving to the closest Pick ‘n Pay when we’re out of milk or to the neighbors when we need some sugar. It was either brought
on the SA Agulhas or we’ll just have to live without it for the next 10 months!
As you can imagine there is some higher grade logistics required to make sure we have enough of every last little thing for the
whole of this year. The following stats are just meant to put a few figures to this:
Most items were brought in our orange con- tainers, which measure 2.5m x 1.5m x 1m and can contain up to 1.5 tons of goodies.
We needed about 26 full of these and here’s what some of them were used for:
• Four of technical supplies; two of kitch- enware, stationary, cleaning materials and other odds and ends;
• Six for year team supplies, clothing, toys, other goodies and sponsored items like books, chocolates, flour, honey, snacks, toiletries etc.
• Then a few more containers for our sponsored wine and beer and some soft-drinks and other purchased drinks.
• Another seven containers for foodstuffs, in there was ample milk and sugar, I checked.
“600 litres of ice cream - oh yes, mom! Also a whopping 657 kg of frozen veggies.”
In addition to this, we shipped down four twenty-foot containers:
• One full of frozen foodstuffs, such as some 3tons of meat, 643 loafs of bread, 600 litres of ice cream (oh yes, mom!!) and also a whopping 657 kg of frozen veggies (no idea who will eat those);
• One with fresh produce and other per- ishables, and
• Two with scientific equipment.
To top it all, we had another 186 tons of heavy equipment and loose articles that needed to be moved to SANAE IV too. This doesn’t even begin to account for the mountains of con- tainers of spares, tools and equipment Public Works brought to the party. I won’t go into any further details since I am sure you are already overwhelmed with all the numbers.
So there you have it, to cut it short, a lot of stuff needed to be thought of, ordered, packed, loaded, unloaded, hauled across hundreds of kilometres of snow and ice and finally manually unpacked so that we can make it through the year.
THE ANTARCTIC DOCTOR
The injured finger
The recovering finger
Dr Rogozov performing the apendectomy on himself (Photographs as published on www.bmj.com)
A dentist’s dream - SANAE 49 packing one hundred and eighty kilograms of sponsored chocolate in Cape Town
SANAE 49 loading supplies into cargo containers in the Cape Town warehouse
Cargo containers being pulled over the ice
Editior’s Note, on a lighter side
We as a team have absolute confidence in not only the medical savvy of our trusted doctor, but also in his ability to learn whatever is necessary to fix us. As illustrated in the accompanying photograph, the doctor employs transcendental methods of acquiring new knowledge. We prefer not to ask too many questions.
As some might know, Dr Clarke will not only see to our medical needs, but doubles as the Overwintering Dentist.
We commend him for his persistence and spirit in light of the recent injury and are absolutely delighted at the speed of his convalescence.
4 SANAE 49 Newsletter - February 2010
which was complimented by the blaring Afri- kaans music that hasn’t been heard since Paul Kruger snapped one of the strings on his guitar.
The pool competition was won by Braam and Jody from Titan Aviation, albeit for the distraction tactics that certain of the fairer players employed during some of the earlier rounds. Foosball was taken by Keith Browne and Jo Thirsk in a sensational and ear pop- ping final. Darts was taken by Eric Minnie and Noel green.
On the day of the handover function, mother nature decided to make our lives a little more interesting by upping the wind speed a couple of notches, which made play- ing rather interesting. But it was the specta- tors that took most of the brunt of Mother Nature’s misplaced sense of humour.
The soccer cup was taken by SANAE 49, although an investigation was launched regarding the accusations that they
employed a camouflaged white ninja to aid them in the game.
This investigation soon lost steam once all attention was turned to look for a masked streaker that interrupted the game. As a side-note: this man is still at large (and has possibly been integrated back into the South African community) - if anyone has any infor- mation regarding the masked streaker, they
are requested to contact SANAE as soon as possible.
Tug of war was won by the drivers – this victory is accredited to their physiological disposition that could not be matched by
‘inferior’ teams. Credit must be given to the scientist’s team, who unexpectedly gave some of the heavier teams a good run for their money. Boot throwing was won by Erik Minnie – vir “Volk, Vaderland en”…most of you know the drill. Some of the expedition scientists have launched a new research program to inves- tigate the relation between boot throwing prowess and the thrower’s height.
The takeover function started with welcome drinks in the bar.
Everyone donned their finest, espe- cially the ladies, who stunned us by their almost instantaneous transformations from cold-weather gear to flattering evening outfits.
The SANAE sporting event of the year
Roger Van Schie
The morning STArTed the same as the others: wake up, breakfast at 8. By this time everyone was falling into a routine, getting used to their environment, and the shine of Antarctica was fading. But whilst sitting at breakfast, out of the corner of their eye, they noticed a new set of notices stuck to the notice board. Closer inspection was required.
The notices were blank lists, all of which had the words “Take Over Games” at the top. The notices themselves were not very impressive, nor exceptional, on their own, but it was a sign - a sign that things were about to change. Take over games are the prelude to the hand-over ceremony, where the baton of maintaining the base is officially handed from the old team to the new team.
The looming question was on everybody’s minds: how would things change under the new team, would they change, did we want them to change? All of a sudden the routine was broken, and SANAE’s sparkle returned.
Take over games consisted of indoor and outdoor games. The indoor games started a week before the hand over ceremony and were made up of Pool, Darts, Table Tennis and Foosball, all of which were played by doubles teams, every evening after dinner.
The outdoor games were played on the day of the ceremony and entailed 5-a-side soccer, tug-of-war and boot throwing.
The indoor games generated quite a lot of excitement, with scores of players battling it out, each player armed with their sheer determination to win and their battle glass, filled with their beverage of choice. All were cheered on by a galley of onlookers, most
of whom were mainly watching to see who they’d have to face in the next round. At stages it was difficult to hear the adjudica- tor’s verdict through the roar of excitement,
TAkE OVER GAMES
André Harms (S49 Mechanical Engineer) and Gideon Van Zyl (SANAP Chief Engineer) charging for the ball.
The whole base was in high spirits, but it was unclear whether this was due to the fact that everyone was allowed to take a shower on the same day (shower days are usually alter- nated), or whether it was due to the function itself.
The dinner at the function was prepared by the chefs with deserts and treats produced by SANAE 48 (one could tell that they’d had a year’s worth of practice, as the food was delicious). Most of the speeches were short and sweet and to the point, except for the odd one which made most wonder which expedition the speaker was actually on.
After the function, everyone moved to the bar area, where the indoor finals were played.
The party continued into the wee hours of the morning, with everyone celebrating the new team now being in control of the base.
But in the back of the take-over personnel’s minds there was a little bit of sadness, as the takeover function was a sign that the summer expedition was almost over and they’d soon have to go home. To the over- wintering team, it was one step closer to liberation.
Take Over Function
This event, which consists of a three course meal, organised by the outgoing overwin- tering team, is one of the highlights on the take-over calendar. During this function, all responsibilities of the day to day operations of the SANAE IV base is officialy handed over to the new team. This year the official hand over happened on 28 January 2010.
Erik Minnie (S48 Potch. Univ. Scientist) strutting his stuff in the boot throwing competion.
FAREWELL
Tyrell Sassen (S49 Communications Engi- neer) and James Hayes (S49 Space Weather Engineer) enjoying some of the premium wines from our sponsors at the take-over function.
iT wAS wedneSdAy morning. Breakfast as usual, but after this things were bound to change. It was time to say goodbye. During the two-month SANAE relief voyage, which included about 80 people, we had grown accustomed to the people around us, and had made some new friends. This would be the last time we would see them at the SANAE base. Six of the team-members were about to depart on the last cargo excur- sion for the take-over period – the so-called
“back-loading” to the ship. Thereafter, the SA Agulhas would set sail for Cape Town, leaving only the ten members of SANAE 49 to look after the base for the winter.
The cargo had already been prepared and after breakfast the last luggage was loaded and the vehicles warmed up. Four Challeng- ers set off on a 30 hour journey through the white desert to the Akta Bukta. Less than an hour’s drive from the base, we were remind-
ed of the final destination of the cargo and the summer crew, when we passed the newly erected sign post at the waypoint we call...
The backloading trip
Etienne kruger
Backloading operations at Akta Bukta
» continued, pg. 6
(from p.1) ... and it was as though we were sailing on a calm lake on a serene day.
On the evening of the 21st of December, at 65 degrees South, we were told that the
“Bears” had boarded the ship and that King Neptune was now aboard. Our initiation would happen the following day at 14:00.
The next day at 14:00, we all assembled on the heli-deck in great anticipation for what was about to happen. Icebergs and pack ice floated in the ocean next to the edge of the ship, serving as a reminder of how cold it truly was. Eventually, the “Bears” ran out onto the heli-deck, where we crowded around, and ordered everyone to lie flat on their stom- achs. They threw cold water over us, which was an incredible shock to our systems. They called us up one at a time to receive our sen- tences for travelling through the kingdom of King Neptune without paying homage. We were then dunked in a bath of freezing cold water that was pumped out of the sea. The
bath was so cold that the instant you came out, you would hyperventilate. Although this was probably the coldest experience that most of us had ever gone through, it was also
One of numerous icebergs encountered when sailing between Penguin and Akta Buktas
incredibly bonding and definitely unforget- table.
In the next few days, the seas presented some very thick pack ice – the SA Agulhas became stuck, and we ended up drifting with the ice till after Christmas. We all felt that this was the most incredible place to spend Christmas.
We were visited by a few penguins and a very inquisitive seal that gave us an impres- sive display of how agile they are in the ocean.
We received information that 2 massive icebergs had broken away from the ice shelf and were heading towards
our Bukta. The icebergs are B-15K and B-15F. These behe- moths were several tens of kilometres long, as can be seen on the satellite imagery.
On the 26th of December, the first helicopter flight left for Sanae. I was amongst the first passengers to leave the SA Agulhas, leaving 9 team members on the ship. The rest of the passengers spent almost ten more days on the ship, while it engaged in a cat- and-mouse escapade with the icebergs. With the unpredict- able sea currents, there were well justified concerns that the icebergs would close in on the SA Agulhas – during the days that followed, the ship had to make its way out of the Bukta on several occasions as the icebergs drifted by.
The rest of the SANAE 49 team members were flown in and finally landed at SANAE on 5 January 2010. At last, the entire team assembled with
Adelie penguins - always trying to find out what is going on
Robert Schoeman (S49 Meteorologist) being dunked in icy antarctic sea water
wide-eyed fascination in what was to be their home for the next year.
Etienne kruger (S49 Potch. Univ. Scientist) assisting in offloading at Akta Bukta on 1 Jan.
2010.( The vehicle is a Pisten Bully, from the German Station, Neumayer III assisting with off loading.)
Mon 16/11/2009
TRAINING FOR THE UNkNOWN
Fri 20/11/2009
Mon 23/11/2009
Fri 27/11/2009
Mon 30/11/2009
Fri 4/11/2009
Wed 9/11/2009
Cold Weather Vehicle Training at Barlowworld
Lectures on Environmental Policies and SANAP Program at DEAT.
Final dental examination in Simonstown
Self Development at Ysterplaat AFB with the Chaplan Service.
Selection of library books at Cape Town Library
Fire Fighting training in Tokai
Basic Cooking at the PnP School of Cooking.
Lectures on ropework and snowcraft
Ropework practical training at Glencoe Quarry - Table Mountain
First Aid Training at the Red Cross Society
Basic Cooking at the PnP School of Cooking.
Leave
SA Agulhas sails on 148th Voyage
Lowellen Clarke (S49 Doctor) and Tyrell Sassen (S49 Communication Engineer) taking a break during Bulldozer practicals at Barlowworld
Team members equiped with the breathing apparatus used to fight indoor fires
A team member practising the use of fire extinguishers
Roger Van Schie (HMO Radar Scientist) practising his abseiling skills during ropework training
Ross Suter instructing team members on ascending devices and methods TeAm TrAining took place from 16 Nov.
2009 to 3 Dec. 2009. The following timeline shows the training that was undertaken by all S49 team members:
6 SANAE 49 Newsletter - February 2010
From P5: ...V2K5. They were all destined for Cape Town, 4386km from were we stood, as indicated on the lonesome signpost. By midday on Thursday we had covered the almost 300km to the German Neumayer III station, and soon afterwards we reached the cargo loading location on the edge of the ice shelf. The SA Agulhas had her bow against the ice-shelf, and it was time to start the labo- rious task of loading all the cargo we had been towing into the cargo hold of the ship.
After a very long day of driving, followed by few hours of loading, a call came over the radio: “Stop the loading. Head back to E-base”.
The reason: the massive B15K ice-berg had
« Farewell, continued
smashed into the ice shelf and caused con- cern over the stability of the ice shelf. Some cracks had already started appearing on a different part of the ice shelf and there was no way of knowing whether it would com- promise our safety. Back at E-base, we each packed a small bag and were airlifted by the Titan crew to the SA Agulhas. After two days of little sleep and no decent meals, this was some of the best news we could hope for - a warm meal prepared by the very capable hands of the Agulhas catering crew, and a comfortable bed in one of the cabins.
Early on Friday morning we flew back onto the ice shelf. The impact of the iceberg had not caused serious damage and we could continue loading at the original site. Loading continued for the whole day and less than two hours before midnight the last cargo was tucked away safely on the Agulhas. It was time for the last groups of the summer team who assisted with the cargo work, and who built the new E-base, to board the ship – they were swung onto the ship using the crane. Less than an hour before midnight everyone was aboard the SA Agulhas and it was time to depart. Slowly, she backed away from the ice shelf, turned away, and disap-
peared into the darkness. This was the final goodbye. We would have very little contact with other people for the next ten months until her return.
With the Agulhas gone, it was time to head back to E-base for some well deserved rest, but only after cleaning up the loading site and hooking all the empty sledges. Arriv- ing at E-base at about three o’clock Saturday morning it was time for a quick celebration with a bottle of champagne, and then we were off to bed.
Saturday was supposed to be a day of rest after days of continuous hard work, but we were in for a big surprise. The E-base construction crew had left us quite a mess to clean, and the German overwintering team for 2010 was joining us for a braai that evening. After a nice breakfast, this time pre- pared by ourselves and no longer the chefs we were used to, we started cleaning and sorting waste. We had finished just in time to enjoy the company and stories of the ten German people in the same situation as us.
They would also spend the next ten months in isolation. After serving them some tradi- tional South African braaivleis, boerewors and pap and a few hours of conversation and drinks they returned to Neumayer III and we realized that it was time to start thinking about the journey back to SANAE.
Sunday came and after sleeping late we had to start the preparations for the jour- ney back. Loading sledges, hooking them and getting the vehicles ready for the hours of driving ahead took most of the day. We would head back on
Monday.
Monday morn- ing was time to say goodbye to E-base.
This includes shutting down the generator supplying power and heat to the base and draining all water from the pipes and geysers.
The inside of the base would reach tempera- tures far below freez- ing point and any liquid inside would freeze up and rupture the pipes. Further-
more, all vents had to be taped shut to pre- vent snow from blowing into the base and filling it up. At about midday we headed off with a quick stop at the German base where we were treated to a magnificent lunch and a tour of their very impressive new facility.
We left our only accessible neighbours and headed back to SANAE. With the wind grow- ing stronger with every minute, we were eventually left with virtually zero visibility and the radio was often used to figure out how far we were from each other. Eventually reaching the half way mark at the caboose on Tuesday, we decided to sleep there for the night and hope that the weather would clear up. By Wednesday morning the wind had died down a little, and we decided to continue our trip. We eventually reached a quiet, empty SANAE - now only occupied by the SANAE 49 team. Exhausted from more than a week of braving the elements on the road, the relief voyage was over, end we were off to bed for well deserved rest.
The drivers and S49 team members on the way to Neumayer posing on top of a Chalenger in front of the new signpost erected at the waypoint V2k5.
The newly built e-base. The open door in the background is the
old entrance to the now decommisioned Neumayer II base. Sunrise over Lorentzenpiggen on the return journey
The SA Agulhas pulls away from the ice shelf on its voyage home
B15k - WHAT IS IN A NAME?
Playing cat-and-mouse with a behemoth
The Antarctic ice-shelf threw welcoming curveballs at the SA Agulhas, in the form of the massive B15K and B15f icebergs
James Hayes
steer her through the icy waters, opted to avoid the more significant blips on the radar display - standard practice.
There were, however, two blips that were of particular concern. They had their own names, seemed to possess their own minds as they moved through the ocean, and they enjoyed our vexed attention throughout the summer relief period.
The two icebergs were B15K and B15F, as illustrated in the acompanying satellite image. The icebergs decended from the epically proportioned B15 iceberg, which dismembered itself from the Ross Ice Shelf in the autumn of 2000. B15F was the lesser of two evils, but never left the back of our minds. B15K, on the other hand, constantly imposed its presence on the movements of the SA Agulhas.
For weeks at end, the unpredictable move- ment of B15K, which was 60 km long, raised fears that the SA Agulhas would be caught between a rock and a hard place if the ice- berg were to ‘jack-knife’ onto the ice shelf.
Special acknowledgement to Ian Hunter from the SA Weather Service for the constant updates on the movement of the icebergs.
SizeABle iceBergS are quintessentially Antarctic. I have heard them described as the
“sentinels of the Antarctic waters”. As the SA Agulhas entered the -1.7OC waters of the Ant- arctic, icebergs appeared as frequent blips on the high-resolution radar. Naturally, those who
The take-over period, as seen from the perspective of the SAnAe 49 radar engineer, roger van Schie:
“During the recent take-over, the last two elements of the new radar (built during the 2008/2009 takeover) were erected. Also, an additional element was added to the top of the rear reflector. Another change that was implemented was that the load resistors on the antennas were shorted out. This resulted in the antennas having a narrower bandwidth, but a higher gain at the frequencies that are utilised by the radar. It is expected that these additions (excluding the completion of the last two elements) will give the radar at least an additional 3dB signal strength – in lay terms, the signal strength was doubled by the modifications.”
Thoughts from the SAnAe 49 Space weather engineer (James hayes), on take-over period activities on his respective projects:
“Apart from the knowledge transfer and system training that was necessary during the take-over period, the main objective was to improve the existing science infrastructure that exists at SANAE for the Space Weather projects. At SANAE IV, there is a specially designated scientific exclusion zone referred to as the “magnetically quiet area”. There are several magnetometers that are installed within separate equipment cabinets in this area. These highly sensitive instruments measure the magnetic field, and are used as key indicators for the onset of geomagnetic activity.
The equipment cabinet for the Overhauser magnetometer was due for an upgrade, due to concerns that the operational conditions of the instrument were compromising the fidelity of the measured data. The old infrastructure was removed from the ice, and a new cabinet was installed. The new cabinet has been designed to control the operational temperatures for the Overhauser, as well as permit technical staff to work on the equipment inside the cabinet during adverse weather conditions. The data output from the instrument is currently being monitored to ascertain whether the improvements served their purpose. Readers can visit http://spaceweather.hmo.ac.za to view
AS one cAn infer from the other articles in this month’s edition, the South African National Antarctic Programme (SANAP) has massive logistical and supply chain components. The hustle and bustle around SANAE IV, our home, especially around the time of the summer relief period, is indicative of the fact that there is vexed interest in maintaining a professional presence in Antarctica. The question many ask, is “Why?”. Why would South Africa, or any other nation for that matter, maintain a presence in such a remote part of the globe?
Apart from far reaching political ramifications of possessing an Antarctic base, the cardinal driving factor for the activity on the continent is the advancement of science. Several academic institutions and research organisations have experiments or monitoring systems that are opera- tional at SANAE IV. During the summer relief period, dozens of scientists occupy the base. The SA Agulhas is equipped with science laboratories and advanced monitoring systems, which provide valuable data for various faculties of the sciences. The three scientific engineers at the base are on a mandate to provide engineering support for projects that are maintained under the auspices of their respective institutions.
SANAE has seen the faces of geologists, geomorphologists, microbiologists, space weather physicists, cosmic ray physicists and many more scientists from various disciplines in physics.
As will be divulged in future articles, there are several key reasons for performing scientific studies in the Antarctic. The annual over-wintering team has a Cosmic Ray Engineer, Space Weather Engineer and a Radar Engineer that ensure the operational uptime and functionality
of their respective projects. Scientists from the University of kwazulu Natal inspecting the Very Low Frequency (VLF) antenna installation.
the magnetic data that is measured by the Overhauser and Fluxgate Magnetometers.
In addition, differential GPS surveys were completed on all Declination/Inclination (DI) markers in the field. The DI markers are employed as geometric reference points for the declination and inclination measurements that are performed on the magnetic field. It is essential to ensure the accuracy of the measured positions of these markers, as well as to determine whether the DI measurement hatch, which is buried in the magnetic quiet area, is subject to gradual movement due to possible drift in the ice. Such movement would compromise the accuracy of our measurements.”
A report from etienne Kruger, the cosmic ray engineer from the north west university:
“The North-West University started out the 2009/2010 relief voyage with the aim of upgrading the imaging RIOmeter (Relative Ionospheric Opacity) array data acquisition system to a more modern system with dual redundancy to prevent data loss in the event that some equipment would fail.
The project was a success and is currently running in parallel with the original system for comparison tests. The old system will be decommissioned during March to complete the upgrade.”
ANTARCTIC SCIENCE
A busy summer - and beautiful minds
The summer relief expedition heralds the time for intensive scientific activity in and around SAnAe iV. -
James HayesA word from the S49 scientific support engineers
Radar Engineer Roger, in his element on the radar array
Dr Sandy Thomalla and Dr Robert Scholes – this succinct discussion reflects on their research efforts during the relief expedition period aboard the SA Agulhas. A team composed of ten Oceanographers, Marine Biologists and Ecologists spent the entire time aboard the vessel in a fervent day-and-night effort to collect valuable data from the Southern Ocean.
The gloBAl ATmoSpheric concenTrATion of Carbon Dioxide (CO2) has increased dramatically since pre-industrial values, mainly through fossil fuel burning and deforestation. Present-day CO2 levels are now higher than at any time in the past 650,000 years. The reason we care about this increase in CO2 is because of concerns over climate change. CO2 is a greenhouse gas which means that it absorbs outgoing longwave radiation and thus warms the atmosphere. Of the approximately 3 billion tonnes of CO2 pumped into the atmosphere annually by human activities, less than half stays there, warming the planet through the greenhouse effect. The rest is soaked up by natural processes, more-or-less evenly divided between land and oceans. Of the marine half, by far the biggest portion (50%) is taken up by the Southern Ocean. The Southern Ocean is thus disproportionately more important when it comes to buffering the impacts of climate change through increasing atmospheric CO2 concentrations.
Despite this, the Southern Ocean remains one of the most understudied and least- understood, places on Earth.
This is why the Centre for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) has set up the Southern Ocean CO2 Observatory, whose research initiative is to better understand the role of the Southern Ocean in the future climate of our planet. This year’s research cruise during the takeover period of 2009/2010 saw the second in a long line of research cruises planned to study the Southern Ocean and its ability to take up CO2. The way the Southern Ocean mops up CO2 is two fold. The first is a physical pump and is because the waters of the Southern Ocean are cold and dense and CO2 is highly soluble in cold water. As the cool, heavy waters rich in CO2 move northwards, they sink below the warmer lighter subtropical waters taking CO2 out of the atmosphere and into the deep waters for centuries. But what if this circulation pattern is disrupted by climate change itself? That is what seems to be happening – a shift in the wind regime above the Southern Ocean is causing cold water to return to the surface sooner than it should. To monitor this effect, repeated measurements of salinity, temperature and CO2 gas content across the Southern Ocean are made by a team of oceanographers on board the SA Agulhas.
The second mechanism of carbon adsorption is provided by the ‘biological pump’, whereby tiny algal cells called phytoplankton take up CO2 through photosynthesis.
When these plants die they sink to the ocean floor taking carbon with them. Despite the bitter cold and winter darkness, the Southern Ocean is highly productive in the spring and summer months when there is sufficient sunlight and certain key nutrients (especially iron and silica) to promote their growth. Our research cruise is trying to understand why this productivity is so restricted in time and place, and how the role of the biological carbon pump will adjust to a future change in climate.
The oceanographers on board work very long hours during the cruise making
measurements of both the physical and chemical environment that the phytoplankton cells live in so that they can understand what controls their growth in the Southern Ocean.
The global significance of these oceanographic research efforts in the Southern Ocean is clear. South Africa is extremely well-positioned to undertake Antarctic research and with continued efforts in obtaining relevant and high quality data, we hope to be an internationally recognised group in polar and climate system research.
An oceanographic insight - the Southern
Ocean Carbon Dioxide Sink
8 SANAE 49 Newsletter - February 2010
