LOGISTICS REPORT
K043 : Raised Antarctic Beaches, Isostasy and Dating
Antarctica New Zealand December 1996 - January 1997
1. Aims
The aim of this event was to look at raised beaches along the Scott Coast from Cape Bernacchi to Dunlop Island. These features have developed since the last glacial maximum approx 18,000 years ago when the ice sheets were at their greatest extent. The weight of the overlying ice depressed the land which has been slowly rebounding after melting of the ice. While rebounding a series of beach ridges were formed.
One part of the project is to date the beach ridges and associated rock platforms by three different methods and obtaining their relative heights above sea level today. This will allow modelling of the volume and extent of the ice during the last glacial maximum.
To obtain a height above sea level today it is necessary to know where sea level was on the raised beach ridges. The second part of the project looks at the modern beach formation. Linking processes found here to features in the raised beaches should give an accurate position of sea level on the raised beaches.
The third part of the event was to use glacial striations, moraines and cosmogenic dating to work out whether the ice depressing this part of the coast came from an expansion of the Wilson Piedmont Glacier or an advancement of the Ross Ice Shelf onto the coastline.
2. Planning
(i) | Application: No problems. |
(iii) | Antarctica New Zealand staff: The staff were very helpful with requests. |
(iii) | Maps etc: The librarians were very helpful in providing the few air photos available in the library and putting us onto other contacts. |
(iv) | Pre-season training course: This could do with some revision. The weekend course in Christchurch involved a lot of lectures which did not seem to be particularly relevant. In terms of the science side of things, the brief five minute talks given to everyone is possibly all that is required to advise other science parties. At this point, if there are other groups doing science of interest this can be followed up in person. The practical sessions were ok, but it may be preferable to ask people to do a first aid course instead of trying to teach everything in such a short length of time (Christchurch component). An alternative bad weather option needs to be considered for the Flock Hill training. The science parties had no proper training in setting tents up in a field situation due to the bad weather which makes things more difficult in Antarctica. |
(v) | Medicals etc: These all went smoothly with no problems. |
3. Cargo
Two boxes of equipment were shipped to Antarctica before the event. These were non-delicate equipment and very tough cardboard boxes were suitable. They arrived in Antarctica in good condition. We required excess hand carry for equipment such as computers. Getting the excess weight allowance was not a problem and went smoothly. It is suggested that it is made clear this is likely to be taken off the person so should be packed accordingly (ie. packaging around the computer).
4. Personnel
Dr James Shulmeister, Lecturer Department of Geology, Victoria University of Wellington Wellington, New Zealand P.O. Box 600 Dr Shulmeister is the supervisor of Edward Butler and adviser to Julie Quinn. Julie Quinn, PhD Student Research School of Earth Sciences, The Australian National University Canberra, ACT 0200, Australia Edward Butler, PhD Student Antarctic Research Centre, Victoria University of Wellington Wellington, New Zealand P.O. Box 600 Peter Webb, Honours Student / field assistant Department of Geology, Victoria University of Wellington Wellington, New Zealand P.O. Box 600
5. Preparations for the Field
Despite a delay in arriving at Scott Base everything at went smoothly in the time before we went into the field. We were warmly welcomed to Scott Base and the staff were most helpful with the endless questions. Our equipment had arrived and was in order. The field training seemed to take up a great deal of the time we had due to the overnight exercise being delayed (New Years Eve). Excusing Julie Quinn from the overnight exercise allowed the science preparation to be done without a last minute panic. The equipment the party received was in good condition and it was easy to change our requirements after discussion with Mess. Being able to organise a resupply of frozen food with the Scott Base staff was most useful as we had difficulty keeping food frozen. This was easily done due to the helpful nature of the staff.
Parts of the field training were not particularly useful to our event (much of the snowcraft was not required as we were never on any permanent snow). However, there were other groups on our AFT who needed this training. We had a brief rundown (10 minutes) on the sea ice which was the most important part of our training. Perhaps next summer if there was a second AFT training person the crevasse part of the course could be dropped and this time spent on sea ice training. A fuller brief to the AFT people beforehand may allow this to be organised.
6. Field Transport - Aircraft Operations
Our event was supported by both American and New Zealand helicopters. We had 5 double shuttles in total, 2 by K03 and 3 by the Americans as well as other contact, such as resupply and taking rocks out of the field. We were most impressed by both crews, finding them friendly and professional in their approach. Baring one move the helicopters shut down initially to organise gear which was useful as it gave us a chance to describe where we wanted to be placed and other such details. The crews were helpful in choosing a suitable site on the ground, giving us plenty of time (considering we were only seeing it for the first time) and consequently we had excellent camp sites. When working with the American helicopters we had sling loads. No training had been given to us in New Zealand about to how to load a sling load etc. This was not a problem once the pilot had explained what he wanted but it would be a useful part of the pre-season training. A little more communication from Scott Base as to when the helicopter is arriving, should the schedule be changed, would be useful instead of us needing to contact Scott Base. This caught us out on one occasion when the weather was bad at Scott Base and we were not aware (packed up camp), only to be told later after 'calling Scott Base. Overall we were very happy with our helicopter operations.
7. Event Diary
8. Event Map
Attached are four maps detailing camps and sites where holes were dug and rock samples taken. Also attached is a copy of a section from the USGS topographic map which has inaccuracies close to Kolich Point and between Kolich Point and Spike Cape.
9. Weather
We had no meteorological equipment to provide a detailed account of the weather encountered. In general the range of temperatures experienced were quite warm. On a few occasions the temperature may have reached +5° C but on most days was between −5° and 0° C. Wind chill was usually the only thing that made the temperature feel cold. We had a variety of cloud cover, with considerable variation during the day from 0/8 to 8/8. In general the coast seems to be in a fringe zone between the weather that the dry valleys and mountains receive and the weather of the Ross Sea/Ross Island area. Often this fringe zone meant the weather would look bad elsewhere while still being good over the coast. We had three spells when there was snow. These were short lived (1/2 to 1 day) and were not bad enough to hinder work to any great extent. The second snowfall put an estimated 10 - 15 cm of fresh snow (undrifted) on the ground while the others were considerably less. The weather was of little hindrance except where the snowfall covered rocks!
10. Accidents, incidents or hazards
There were no accidents during the field season.
11. Field Equipment
12. Radio Communication
13. Environmental Impact
See attached pages.
14. Historic Sites
While at Scott Base the historic hut at Hut Point (Scott's 1902) was visited (1 January 1997). General observations were that it has been kept in good order, both inside and out.
15. Management of Science in the Ross Dependency
This event was the first year of a two year plan of field work in the area. It was difficult for the second year to be planned well without the knowledge obtained from the first seasons field work. For a project like this I think that it is important that both seasons work is evaluated in peer review as a single event. This does not put the second seasons field work in jeopardy when the whole project requires both.
Antarctica New Zealand is in the ideal position to cater for this event, the location of Scott Base allows easy access to the ice free coast where post-glacial rebound is occurring. With the combined logistics of the Americans the potential support is far greater than anyone else could offer. The project is a joint effort between Victoria University of Wellington and The Australian National University. This is a valuable collaboration as it allows the experience and knowledge of scientists working on the same ice sheet reconstruction problem in East Antarctica to be applied to the Scott Coast to provide a more holistic approach to the problem.