{"id":18,"date":"2007-12-29T21:25:09","date_gmt":"2007-12-29T21:25:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.doctorross.za.net\/2008\/01\/02\/20071229-brief-news-snippets\/"},"modified":"2008-01-17T14:48:12","modified_gmt":"2008-01-17T14:48:12","slug":"20071229-brief-news-snippets","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/doctorross.co.za\/?p=18","title":{"rendered":"Brief news snippets"},"content":{"rendered":"

It has been very busy aboard for the last few days, so I haven’t had much time to write.\u00c2\u00a0 I’ll try to put together something solid in the next day or so, as I hope things will be quieter.\u00c2\u00a0 Watch this space.<\/span><\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

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We sighted the ice-shelf’s most northern protuberance (a place called Trolltunga) after managing to get unstuck, restuck and destuck several times.\u00c2\u00a0 We celebrated Christmas at midnight on the 24th<\/sup>, stuck once again in thick pack ice containing remnants of last-year’s bay ice.\u00c2\u00a0Based on the foul ice conditions at the German base (their construction ship is still stuck, and all work is frozen, har har) we had decided to make for the\u00c2\u00a0ice-shelf,\u00c2\u00a0bulldozing a ramp if necessary.\u00c2\u00a0 In the small hours of the morning, we managed to get under way once again when the high tide spread the ice.\u00c2\u00a0 Finally, we reached a polynia (open stretch of water in the pack-ice due to slightly warmer up currents) that had been visible on satellite photographs, and steamed up to the shelf.\u00c2\u00a0 The scale is almost indescribable.\u00c2\u00a0 I sat on the monkey bridge and worked out that one ‘berg, which had broken off from the shelf last year, holds about 20 billion litres of water.\u00c2\u00a0 That’s enough for all processes, washing, cooking, cleaning and drinking for our whole ship (similar to a small village) for 3000 years… and that’s just one ‘berg.\u00c2\u00a0 The ice shelf stretches from horizon to horizon, too high to see over from the highest mast aboard, unbroken and forbidding.\u00c2\u00a0 As Christmas Day passed in lazy celebration under heavy skies, we steamed along the shelf to the RSA Bukta (off-loading point), where we found the remains of last-year’s ramp.\u00c2\u00a0 One significant crack was visible from the ship, but there was uncertainty regarding whether the ramp was salvageable.\u00c2\u00a0 To do so would save days of work.\u00c2\u00a0 The weather, however, prevented the helicopters from operating, and anyway, it was Christmas.<\/span><\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

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On the morning of the 26th<\/sup> I climbed aboard the Kamov with an inspection team.\u00c2\u00a0 The weather was perfect – clear, bright, and warm at 270 Kelvin\u00c2\u00a0 <\/span>(*grin*).\u00c2\u00a0 We flew off the ship and along the shelf for a short distance.\u00c2\u00a0 Sitting aft in the chopper by the open door, my mind tried hard to reset.\u00c2\u00a0 All references dwindled to nothing.\u00c2\u00a0 My 20 million cubic meter iceberg became a speck in the sea; a blip next to the vastness of the ice shelf.\u00c2\u00a0 White fastness covered the world on one side; the blueblack sea with huge swathes of pack-ice on the other.\u00c2\u00a0 Even from only a mile or two away, the ship that has been our home and castle for three weeks looked ridiculous, miniscule, tiny.\u00c2\u00a0 There is no comparison I can make for the uniformity of the ice-shelf… try to imagine an ant on a piece of paper the size of several rugby fields.\u00c2\u00a0 Got it in mind?\u00c2\u00a0 Right… you now know what it is like to stand on a big iceberg.\u00c2\u00a0 Now try to imagine that same featureless surface stretching from Cape Town to George, without a single piece of rock, no visible crack, no iota of life.\u00c2\u00a0 Just snow, snow, snow, snow. snow.\u00c2\u00a0 See?\u00c2\u00a0 Almost indescribable.<\/span><\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

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We landed back at the old ramp, where the ship waited a hundred meters away.\u00c2\u00a0 The helicopter sunk in up to its belly, but as soon as she had shut down I jumped out, sinking up to my knees.\u00c2\u00a0 Antarctica at last.\u00c2\u00a0 Of course, although the shelf is regarded as part of the continent, I was standing at least 80km from the nearest land.\u00c2\u00a0 The shelf here is 40-60m high above the sea, indicating a thickness of 350-600m, but is floating nonetheless.\u00c2\u00a0 The edge of the land, at a point know as the hinge zone, is a long way south.<\/span><\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

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We trooped over and inspected the ramp.\u00c2\u00a0 It was beyond salvage – the large crack near the sea end aside, it was riddled with smaller cracks that disappear into blueness within the ice.\u00c2\u00a0 Furthermore, the shelf nearby was unsuitable for building a new ramp at the same location.\u00c2\u00a0 So much for a quick solution.\u00c2\u00a0 We returned to the ship after flying an inspection west and east to identify possible new locations.\u00c2\u00a0 The helicopter was then refuelled and loaded with extra passengers for the inspection flight to SANAE IV.\u00c2\u00a0 We sat like sardines with baggage piled on top of use for the duration of the 45 minute flight.\u00c2\u00a0 The first half-hour was over the shelf – 30 minutes at 200 kph with absolutely no features.\u00c2\u00a0 Finally, we reached and passed the hinge zone, and the ice began to rise.\u00c2\u00a0 Nunataks appeared, crevasses were visible, and then Vesleskarvet appeared.\u00c2\u00a0 My first impression was that it is big.\u00c2\u00a0 The photographs have not done the mountain justice.<\/span><\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

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I spent 6 hours at SANAE IV, meeting the old team, inspecting the facility, and teaching the new safety briefing to the old team leader so that he could present it to us in turn.\u00c2\u00a0 We walked around the base, inside and out, and I got a feel for my new home.\u00c2\u00a0 It’s neat at the moment, despite being filled with the German construction team who should have been staying aboard their stuck construction ship.\u00c2\u00a0 The surrounds are spectacular, even if the base itself is built more for function than aesthetic.\u00c2\u00a0 <\/span>The helicopter returned with a load of cargo for the driver team, who were then collected to drive the Challengers and dozers back to the shelf.\u00c2\u00a0 <\/span>All too soon, we were lifting off again to return to the Agulhas.\u00c2\u00a0 <\/span>On my request, the helicopter flew a circuit with the rear door open so that I could shoot off some aerial pictures.\u00c2\u00a0 <\/span>We arrived aboard the Agulhas in perfect time to step off the chopper direct to the dinner table.<\/o:p><\/span>\u00c2\u00a0<\/o:p><\/span>On the 27th<\/sup> our smaller helicopters were grounded after an unexpected electrical problem blew the avionics.\u00c2\u00a0 <\/span>There was no danger, but it required using the Kamov to mark locations for a new ramp that had been spotted from the ship.\u00c2\u00a0 <\/span>The drivers arrived late at \u00e2??night\u00e2?? after a 10 hour journey, so we only began ramp construction after an inspection yesterday morning.\u00c2\u00a0 <\/span>The ramp dozing is dangerous work, using a 30 ton bulldozer to push snow and ice into the sea.\u00c2\u00a0 <\/span>It\u00e2??s also slow.\u00c2\u00a0 <\/span>I\u00e2??ll be aboard until the cargo operations are completed \u00e2?? at least 4 days from now.\u00c2\u00a0 <\/span>Today (29th<\/sup>) we had planned to start flying the scientists off, but the wind and low cloud at SANAE IV has grounded the aircraft.\u00c2\u00a0 <\/span>Hurry up and wait, as usual. <\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It has been very busy aboard for the last few days, so I haven’t had much time to write.\u00c2\u00a0 I’ll try to put together something solid in the next day or so, as I hope things will be quieter.\u00c2\u00a0 Watch this space. We sighted the ice-shelf’s most northern protuberance (a place called Trolltunga) after managing […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sa-aghulas"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/doctorross.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/doctorross.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/doctorross.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/doctorross.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/doctorross.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=18"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/doctorross.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/doctorross.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=18"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/doctorross.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=18"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/doctorross.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=18"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}