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ASK A SCIENTIST |
Ask us questions about Antarctica! 7 December - T7, Papamoa, New Zealand How deep is the ice that you drill through? The ice that we drill through is between 2 and 7 metres (6 and 22 ft) thick. Does all ice have the same temperature? The temperature of ice has been measured as low as 30 oC in ice cores in Antarctica. The temperature that ice melts varies with salinity. Pure water melts at or above 0 oC, however normal seawater (35 psu [practical salinity units]) melts at temperatures at or above -2 oC.
How did the divers get out of the water when you where diving for the current meter because it looked like it would be slippery? The water was only about chest deep there and although some of the ice is slippery, some is also pretty rough. Part of my job was to grab some of the heavy equipment from them before they got out so it was easier for them to get out.
Have leopard seals ever attacked people? Yes. leopard seals in the past have attacked divers. I'm not sure if anyone has died from a leopard seal attack but there have been injuries. Leopard Seals have been seen close to the station eating penguins and also Weddell Seals.
Facts about Leopard Seals from Antarctic Connection
Have you seen any penguins being attacked by a leopard seal No. The leopard seal I saw the other day was the first one I have seen ever and it looked like it was sleeping.
27 November - T5, Papamoa, New Zealand
Did you see any Emperor penguins feeding their young? P.S. I would love to see it on video. Also is everything going as planned? Josh, age 8. No I haven't seen any penguins feeding. I have not been to any penguin rookeries (nesting sites) this year. There is probably some feeding footage on the 'March of the Penguins' movie.
Everything is going well here and so far we are slightly ahead of schedule.
Why don’t people who visit Antarctica go under ice in submarines? Emily, age 9. Submarines are very expensive to build, to ship to Antarctica and to deploy. Some research groups have small unmanned submersibles but as far as I know no one has a submarine. Basically it is just too expensive and difficult to have submarines.
People don't travel to Antarctica in submarines because most long-distance submarines are nuclear powered and Antarctica is a nuclear free zone.
Hi Terry, how’s the diving and sampling going? When are you starting to examine them? Jake, age 8. The diving is going well, we are two thirds of the way through our diving and will hopefully be finished by the end of tomorrow (Nov 28). We have started doing some toxicity tests but will do most of the work back in Texas after the samples are shipped. These samples will arrive in March or April after travelling to the U.S.A. on the icebreaker.
Have you seen any microscopic things in the snow and water? Lauren Gibbs, age 9. So far I haven't put any samples under the microscope. There is very little in the snow that is microscopic. We will see worms, shrimp-like crustaceans and other interesting creatures when we examine the marine samples in a few months time. We only look at organisms that are bigger than 0.5 mm.
Hi Terry, are you having a good time? Have you seen lots of animals and little ones? Lewis, age 8. I am having a great time. I haven't seen many animals at all really. I've seen a few starfish, regular fish, sea urchins, sea anemones, skuas, seals, and that's about it (scroll down for pictures). I haven't seen any babies yet.
How long does it take to do your training? Stevie, age 9. Training once we are here in Antarctica takes about 3 to 5 days. The first time you are here, you have to do the most training. Training to have the job I have has taken me 5-6 years of university study. People with similar jobs to mine take between 4 and 10 yrs of university study.
Hi Terry, how long does it take to go to Antarctica from New Zealand? Lyric, age 8. Travel from Christchurch, NZ to McMurdo takes between 5 and 9 hrs by plane. On the way down this time we flew in a C-17 Globemaster, which took 5 hrs. On most other trips we have taken a C-130 Hercules down and that took 8 hrs. We have also flown in a Hercules with skis as well as wheels (LC-130) and that took almost 9 hrs.
24 November - T1 and T2, Papamoa, New Zealand Have you ever seen the southern lights, and what causes it? No I have not seen the Southern Lights (Aurora Australis). I have seen the Northern Lights (Aurora Borealis) in Alaska however. The Northern Lights are the Northern Hemsiphere version of the Southern Lights and is caused by the same complicated mechanism. The Aurora's are caused by the collision of solar winds with particles in the Earth's atmosphere. Solar winds are streams of atomic particles (mainly electrons) that flow from the sun. The interaction between solar winds and the Earth's atmosphere is heavily affected by the Earth's magnetic field. Electrical discharges formed by the collision of solar winds and atmospheric particles are channeled along Earth's magnetic fields toward the poles. Closer to the poles, the electrical discharge is great enough that elements such as oxygen and nitrogen are energized and these elements then release different colours. These colour changes can be seen at night when there is no sunlight. (Information sourced from Antarctic Connection).
Where did the emperor penguins come from? I am really not sure where the penguins came from. They just walked across the runway from the direction of the open water and toward the ice shelf (inland). No one tracked them to see where they were going. Maybe they were going to a nest after feeding?
What types of vehicles are used on the ice? There are all sorts of vehicles around. Many have tracks (like tanks), but many also have regular wheels. The vehicles with wheels are all four-wheeled drive. There are snowmobiles, Ford utes, construction vehicles, and all sorts of odd looking other vehicles. Scott Base has Land Cruiser's and Hilux's as their main passenger vehicles. Keep looking through the journal and I will try to take some pictures of vehicles I see.
Mattrack Delta
What types of birds live there? Antarctica and the surrounding islands are home to many birds including penguins, skuas, albatrosses, gulls and petrels (see Antarctic Connection- Birds). The most common bird found close to the base are skuas. Skuas are like large seagulls that mainly feed on penguin chicks, eggs, krill, fish and squid. They are big and brown and are not shy of humans.
There are four types of penguins that breed on the Antarctic continent - Adelie, Emperor, Chinstrap and Gentoo penguins. Adelie Penguins are small black and white ones. I think there are some of those at Kelly Tarlton's Aquarium in Auckland. Emperor Penguins are the large yellow black and white ones. Chinstrap and Gentoo penguins are only found on the Antarctic Peninsula (south of South America) so we won't see any of them. If you include the Antarctic islands there are 17 types of penguin that are found (see Antarctic Connection - Penguins).
Adelie Penguin and Skua (source) Emperor Penguins (source)
How deep is the ocean floor? The deepest that we get samples from is 34 m (120 ft). The edge of the continental shelf around Antarctica ranges from 400 to 800 m deep. The deepest part of the ocean in the world is 11,034 m (Mariana Trench).
What types of animals live there? On land, there are seals, birds (mentioned above) and humans. In the water there is a very diverse and abundant life community. There are approximately 200 species of fish, many whale species and many crazy looking invertebrates. Common invertebrates we find include clams, starfish, sea spiders, sea urchins, sea anemones, slater-like amphipods and nemertean worms.
Organisms we see.
Have you found any new types of fish life? We haven't discovered any new species. The fish life around McMurdo Station is relatively well described.
How thick does the ice get? The Ross Ice Shelf where the other guys in our group had Happy Camper School is about 200 m (600 ft) thick. In front of McMurdo Station where we do our sampling it varies. This time of year it can be as thick as 5.5 m (18 ft). It gets to a maximum of 6.7 m (22 ft) during the rest of the year.
21 November What's the form of currency down there? Is there such a thing? Gern Blanston, Port Aransas, Texas McMurdo Station uses U.S. Dollars because it is a U.S. base. Scott Base uses New Zealand Dollars because it is a N.Z. Base, however Scott Base also takes U.S. Dollars. There is an ATM with U.S. Dollars at McMurdo Station.
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