Aubreya Adams’ photo album – Part 2

WUSTL postdoc chronicles life on Antarctica

1 | 2 | 3 

One day, I got to tag along with another team to do a
test installation of posthole seismometers (seismometers directly buried
in the snow with no vault). This involved taking a piston-bully (a huge beast of a machine with big tracks
instead of tires that travels at whopping speeds of a couple of miles
per hour).

Posthole sensors prior to burial. As difficult as it was to hack holes in the ice for these seismometers, traditional vaults would have required holes 20 times bigger.

One of the perks of working at McMurdo is watching the wildlife. This little guy was calling and calling. At first, the other penguins stood around watching. Then they all left him behind. (Can’t blame them. Penguins are cute, but they make terrible noises!)

A much quieter creature.

One day in February, while we were working in the science lab, the manager came in to tell everyone we were under Condition II and that the Condition I weather appeared to be heading into town. She said everyone needed to make plans for where they wanted to be stuck during Condition I weather. If that wasn’t the science lab, then we should leave soon. Condition 1 means winds greater than 55 knots, visibility less than 100 feet and wind chill worse than 100 degrees below Fahrenheit. All personnel must remain in buildings or the nearest shelter.

Turn the page for volcanic fumeroles and other exciting stuff