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Journal entry from Hamilton's Antarctica 2001 research expedition:
 
12/11/01 1500 hrs.
near 65 22 S
        60 42 W
2 degrees C
wind chill -15 C
Crystal clear, smooth seas, bright sun


Greetings from the Larsen Ice Shelf.

After leaving the folks on Seymour Island late yesterday we sailed southwest around 15 hours and arrived at the Larsen B ice shelf around 7 am this morning. This is the area directly south of the Larsen A where we worked in May of 2000. Images from that trip are also on the Hamilton College web site. In contrast to the cold ice filled seas we encountered on that trip the sea in front of Larsen B is ice free and smooth as glass.

Currently we are doing some initial mapping of the ice front's location, and the sea floor topography below us. This is completely new territory. No one has ever worked here before so we have no accurate maps of charts to work from,so the first order of business is generating some of our own. This area has seen a large loss of ice just like the Larsen A area,and what you have probably been reading about with the large iceberg breakup in the Ross Sea. Our charts show the ice front location as of 1977 and we are a good 10-12 miles towards shore of that line. In fact, the navigational computers database is based on that chart so all the computer screens on the ship show our position sitting on top of the ice shelf.

The ice shelf itself is an imposing site. A vertical wall of ice that we estimate is around 90 feet tall from the sea surface. The current rule of thumb for tabular icebergs is 8/1 with the amount of ice below the water being 8 times that exposed above. Using this rule, there is around 720 feet of ice below the surface. Currently we are mapping along the front about 1/2 mile from the edge. A photo from early this morning shows a detailed view of the ice shelf.

Our water chemistry and sea floor sampling work will begin as soon as our maps are completed and sample sites can be chosen. With this in mind the marine techs who operate the deck equipment ran all the science staff through deck safety training right after lunch, which is actually dinner for those of us on the midnight to noon shift and breakfast for those on the noon to midnight shift. With all the various shifts running on the ship I'm sure it is lunch for someone. This rare occasion of all the students together just called for a group photo with the Larsen ice shelf edge in the background.

Cheers from the south,

Dave

Caption for photo: On the deck with the edge of the Larsen B ice shelf in the background are from L to R Andrew McCloskey, David Amblas, Diana Duran, Neil Basu, Scott McCallum, Emily Backman, Kate McMullen and Anna Rubin.


(Click image for larger version.)

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