Allen Day, science grantee, and Eric Sandberg, science technician, work on one of DASI’s telescope receivers.

TheAntarctic SunDecember 9, 2001www.polar.org/antsun

Published during the austral summer at McMurdo Station, Antarctica, for the United States Antarctic Program

Rough andrugged rugby

Page 3

“If I could just see a penguin I could quit.”

Chef jugglesstudies and stews

Page 10

I N S I D E Quote of the Week

- Dining assistant at McMurdo Station

Photo by Melanie Conner/The Antarctic Sun

By Melanie ConnerSun staff

In the beginning a fist-sized,dense, hot ball of gasses erupted andflung matter in all directions formingenergy, time, stars and galaxies in aninstant. Fourteen billion years later,scientists at the South Pole collectand analyze traces of that originalexplosion to help unravel the cosmicpast.

Like a book, some believe spaceand time must have a beginning, mid-dle and an end. Scientists, too, arereading ahead to the final chapter tolearn the future of the universe.

Will the edges of space curve inand implode into the nothingness fromwhich it began? Contine to expand?Or remain forever balanced?

These are the questionsresearchers at the South Pole are ask-ing themselves.

This month a team of astronomersfrom the University of Chicago con-cluded their second of four years ofcosmic research on data obtained bya cosmic microwave detector telescope or the Degree Angular

See DASI on page 7

Tracking the creation of space

By Mark SabbatiniSun staff

Those on the Ice suffering from altitude sickness after gettingoff a flight may one day be able to take refuge by getting backinto an airplane's pressurized cabin - with no flight required.

The never-before-tried tactic of using a disabled aircraft'sfuselage at one or more remote high-elevation camps is one of theimprovements being considered by officials hoping to reduce thenumber and severity of altitude sickness cases in Antarctica. Thefuselage would be an alternative to heavy and expensive hyper-baric chambers that control air pressure, which are also being

considered, said Steve Dunbar, field support manager forRaytheon Polar Services Company.

"At this point it's just in the preliminary phases, but we realizeat the big camps there's a need to provide treatment beyond aGamow Bag," Dunbar said, referring to a portable bivy-like bagthat is pumped full of pressured air, temporarily simulating alower environment for the person inside.

Dunbar said he is also hoping to produce a video or come upwith another way to provide more information to research teamsbefore they reach the Ice, and make sure their physicians are

See Altitude on page 8

Getting a safe high in Antarctica

The Antarctic Sun is funded by the NationalScience Foundation as part of the United

States Antarctic Program. Itsprimary audience is U.S.Antarctic Program participants,their families, and their friends.NSF reviews and approves

material before publication, but opinions andconclusions expressed in the Sun are notnecessarily those of the Foundation.

Use: Reproduction and distribution areencouraged with acknowledgment of sourceand author.

Senior Editor: Kristan HutchisonEditors: Melanie Conner

Mark SabbatiniCopy Editor: Lynn Hamann

Publisher: Valerie Carroll,Communications manager,RPSC

Contributions are welcome. Contact theSun at AntSun@polar.org. In McMurdo, visitour office in Building 155 or dial 2407.

Web address: www.polar.org/antsun

2 • The Antarctic Sun December 9, 2001

Antarctic animals

Antarctic geologyTotal area of Antarctica: About 8.7million square miles (14 million sq. km)about 1.5 times the size of the U.S.

Total ice-covered area: About 8.5 mil-lion square miles (13.72 million sq. km)98 percent, about 11 percent of whichis made up of floating ice shelves.

Total barren-rock area: 2 percent

Average elevation: About 6,500 ft. to13,000 ft. (2,000-4,000 m)

Highest point: Vinson Massif 16,863ft. (5,140 m)

Lowest point: Bentley SubglacialTrench -8,333 ft. (-2540 m) The lowestknown point is hidden in the BentleyTrench, where the deepest ice wasrecorded and the world's lowest eleva-tion not under sea water is located.

Average thickness of the Antarcticice sheet: 7,000 (2,160 m) or 1.34miles

Source: Central Intelligence Agency WorldFact Book Web Site and NSF Web Site

Cold, hardfacts

Ross Island Chronicles By Chico

ACROSS1) First to South Pole; on continent until 19944) The largest (1/2") year-round land "animal"5) More like giant slugs than circus performers8) When they can’t see the sky, divers still seethese10) Feed on zooplankton; served with sauce12) Waddle, waddle; no quack, quack16) Bottom of the food chain18) A favorite dish of seals and people19) Antarctica's most common penguin20) Seals with teeth, not spots, of namesake.21) North Pole natives seen with penguins inCoke commercialsDOWN2) Scavengers with wings3) Brit-named seals love the nightlife4) Most common and southerly land animal6) A large seal that packs its own trunk7) Big fish can survive subzero temperatures9) Splice these with fish and create Squish11) "Lion” of the Ice; half the size of a rice grain13) Not a fish, but a big catch14) No need to ask what these seals dine on15) They ruled Rome, and now the Ice17) Wingspans can be longer than you are tall

Dad, I’ve been wondering... who camefirst, the penguin or the egg?

Well, son, thatdepends on who youask. Theologians,because of theirfundamental beliefs

would say thatthe penguincame first.

But an evolutionist wouldagree that it’s the eggbecause of Darwinismand all that.

Then there’s thecosmologists whosee time as linearand unidirectionaland thereforeappears to speedup, slow down, oreven go backwards.Their answerdepends on whichway you're lookingat time.

But you know?They’re allwrong becausethe malepenguin camefirst.

Does Momknow that?

Answer on page 9

December 9, 2001 The Antarctic Sun • 3

By Mark SabbatiniSun staff

T hey lost the rugby match, butscored style points by keeping thegame close and making it to the barbecue afterward without any

serious injuries.Seventeen workers at McMurdo

Station took on employees at ScottBase last Sunday, losing by a score of9-3, said Rick Morlock, a safety con-sultant who "caught hell" because ofhis job for being one of McMurdo'stwo coaches. He said the New Zealandteam scored three "tries" compared toone for the Americans, a markedimprovement over last year's 21-3tally.

"It was very competitive," he said."It wasn't a blowout by any means."

Chet Riley, base services managerat Scott Base, offered a mostly similarassessment.

"It was a pretty close matchbecause the snow's a great leveler," hesaid.

Playing what's already a brutallytough sport on a field of snow and iceresulted in the expected assortment ofbumps and bruises, but no seriousinjuries, Morlock said. The worstinjury was suffered by JenniferWilson, a dining attendant who got aseverely bruised eye after wrestlingthe ball away from a Kiwi and passingit to a teammate.

"It was the one play I could be

proud of," said Wilson, who was play-ing her first rugby game.

Only five members of theMcMurdo team had played rugbybefore, with the remainder of the 14men and three women learning therules during eight practices before thegame, Morlock said.

"I was trying to convert footballplayers to rugby players," he said,adding the Kiwis "grow up playingrugby like we play football or base-ball."

McMurdo E-mail AdministratorLee Parker said learning to play rugbyfor the first time wasn't too difficult"especially if you get out there and tryto play it." The finer points of thegame take more time, she said, but it'san addictive sport.

"I like it better than footballbecause it's faster - it keeps moving -and better than soccer because you canpick up the ball," she said.

The 18-member Kiwi team, con-sisting of most of the employees atScott Base, didn't practice, Riley said.

"We named the team at 3 o clockand then we played at half past 3," hesaid.

The game was scoreless during thefirst of three 15-minute periods, butthe New Zealand team took a 2-1 leadat the end of the second period. TheKiwis scored once more in the finalperiod, but Morlock said the U.S.team was about to make its second try

when the game ended."If the game had gone on much

longer we would have kicked Kiwiass," Wilson said.

Morlock, a resident of Big Lake,Alaska, said he has been playingrugby since 1975 because he wants tobe among the "one-percenters" in life.

"Either you're in a motorcycle gangor you play rugby," he said.

For those who missed out or arecraving more punishment, Morlocksaid the Kiwis want to play a rematchin January.

"I think they wanted to play a gameof American football, too," he said.

Riley said a beach volleyball gameat Scott Base in January is also a pos-sibility. In the meantime, he said theAmericans should expect a tougherchallenge during the rugby rematch.

"We'll be looking at doing a littlebit of practice for the next game nowthat both teams have played," Rileysaid.

Besides Morlock, Wilson andParker, members of the McMurdoteam included Philip Mitchell, DeanJarosh, Dan McCloskey, Chris Morris,Kanari, Brent Rosato, Tad Hoening,Shane Coffelt, Mark Owen, JayGilder, Ben Murray, MatthewCharnetski, John Hughes, CharlieLangfeld and Health Woolfe. Theteam also featured one New Zealandplayer, Shane Pretty, who works forKiwi Cargo at McMurdo.

A player on the McMurdo Station rugby team, far right, prepares to place theball in play during a match with New Zealand employees at Scott Base on Dec.2. The Kiwi team won the match by a score of 9-3.

Gameon

Photo coutesy unknown photographer/McMurdo Common Drive9 - 3

4 • The Antarctic Sun December 9, 2001

By Chuck Amsler

Our project (BO-022-O) studieshow marine organisms usechemicals to defend themselvesfrom predators.

The organisms we study are macroal-gae (seaweeds) and a variety of immo-bile and sluggish invertebrate animalsthat can't get up and run or swim awaywhen something is trying to eat them. Sotheir alternative is to make themselvesunattractive as a food. Some do that byphysically making themselves too toughto eat while others produce chemicalcompounds to make themselves tastebad to potential consumers (and someorganisms do a bit of both). Our group ishere in Antarctica to study the functionand evolution of those chemical defens-es. The project is a collaborationbetween three Principal Investigators attwo institutions, Jim McClintock andChuck Amsler, biologists from theUniversity of Alabama at Birmingham,and Bill Baker, a natural productschemist from the University of SouthFlorida.

Our work here at Palmer Station is inmany ways an extension of work ourproject did in the late 1980's and the1990's on the chemical ecology ofAntarctic marine organisms inMcMurdo Sound. We are focusing ourpresent efforts on questions concerningthe evolution of chemical defenses thatshare underlying assumptions concern-ing the costs and benefits of producingthese compounds. The marine environ-ment of the Antarctic Peninsula is, inmany respects, uniquely suited for ourstudies. Macroalgae are exceptionallyabundant along the western side of thePeninsula, with biomass levels that rivalthe giant kelp forests off the west coastof the United States. Also, nitrogen andother nutrients rarely, if ever, are thelimiting factor for growth in Antarcticmacroalgae (light usually is). Althoughthis can be true locally in other parts ofthe world, it is true in coastal waters allaround the Antarctic continent and prob-ably has been true for millions of years.Therefore, unlike other places in the See Science on page 6

The organisms we study ...can't get up and run or swimaway when something is trying to eat them. So, their alternative is tomake themselves unattractive as a food.

world, nitrogen limitation should nothave constrained the evolution ofchemical defenses (or other physiologi-cal processes) in Antarctic marineplants.

We are taking advantage of the richpeninsular macroalgal flora and the dis-tinctive nutrient environment of coastalAntarctica to help separate and under-stand the effects of carbon and nitrogenlimitation on the production of defen-sive compounds in macroalgae and, byanalogy, in other plants as well. Theresults from our first Palmer season(March through May 2000) have helpedcast doubt on some long-standing theo-ries about why plants make differingbut specific kinds of defensive com-pounds in contrasting environments.

Another goal of the project is tounderstand the evolutionary and physi-ological trade-offs that organisms makein allocating their resources betweengrowth, reproduction, and chemicaldefense. This aspect of the workincludes invertebrate animals and theirlarvae in addition to macroalgae.Palmer Station is ideal for all thesestudies not only because macroalgaeare abundant but also because inverte-brate larvae can be more accessiblehere than at McMurdo.

Scuba diving is a major research toolfor our group. Although we do a lot oflaboratory based work to isolate defen-sive chemicals and to bioassay theireffects on potential predators ofmacroalgae or animals, first we mustput a great deal of effort into collectingboth predators and prey from the ocean.Like virtually all of the diving atMcMurdo, when we were workingfrom there we would routinely divethrough holes drilled, blasted, orchipped from the land-fast sea ice. Buthere at Palmer we normally dive inopen water using zodiacs, much likedivers operate with small boats in otherparts of the world. When we firstarrived in early November the watersadjacent to the station were still cov-ered with fast ice. So we spent a week

Chemical warfare

Photo by Charles Amsler/Special to The Antarctic Sun

Photo by Margaret Amsler/Special to The Antarctic Sun

Above, Katrin Iken, left, and Chuck Amsler divethrough brash ice off the Palmer Station boatdock. Below, divers return to PalmerStation.Bill Baker sits on the far right besideJim McClintock, who is driving the zodiac

animal worldin theof

speaking

science...

Making room for foreignersBy Tom CohenourPalmer Station correspondent

The call came in unexpectedly. "PalmerStation, Palmer Station, this is the JamesClark Ross. Do you copy?"

It was Chris Elliot, the captain of the325 foot (100 m) British research vesselRRS James Clark Ross (JCR) requestingpermission to make an early port call atPalmer Station. The JCR wasn't expectedfor another 10 days. Because of heavy seaice in the southern part of the LemaireChannel a change in schedule was needed.

"We can make that work," respondedStation Manager, Bob Farrell. "We'll behappy to see you again."

An influx of visitors to a small stationrequires careful planning and a well-coor-dinated effort for it to go smoothly. Afteryears of such activity, Palmer has it downto a science. The entire station pullstogether to make it happen. Each summerthey host approximately 1,400 visitorsover a 10-week period; on average, 140visitors per week. Keep in mind thatPalmer reaches maximum population atonly 46. Now imagine adding 140 newfaces.

The arrival of the JCR marked thebeginning of the visitor season.

"They'll be here in five hours,"announced Farrell over the intercom.

Immediately the call went out for vol-unteers to act as tour guides, set up the gal-ley, bake brownies, make coffee and work

the station store. The visit was reciprocal. During the

four and a half hour visit, crew membersas well as British Antarctic Survey (BAS)scientists from the ship enjoyed tours ofthe Palmer facilities. And station person-nel and scientists had the opportunity tovisit and tour the JCR. Pizza and drinkswere enjoyed in the station lounge, shop-pers enjoyed PalMart (station store) and aBritish film crew had a chance to conductinterviews with some Palmer scientists.

The BBC (British BroadcastingCorporation) crew traveling on the JCR isdoing a program about science inAntarctica. They were pleased to be ableto interview Dan Martin with the preycomponent of the Long Term EcologicalResearch (LTER) (BP-028-O), and DrCharles Amsler and Dr Bill Baker. BothAmsler and Baker are part of a team ofseven conducting research on theChemical Ecology of Shallow-WaterMarine Macroalgae and Invertebrates(BO-022-O).

Even on such a short notice, the visit bythe JCR was a huge success and markedanother milestone in the long standingcooperative relationship the USAP enjoyswith the British Antarctic Survey.

Space ships, an exorcismand Polar touristsBy Judy SpanbergerSouth Pole correspondent

The weather this past week at Pole hasbeen clear, sunny and warm. Temps in theminus 20s, which feels like a heat wave tous. Perhaps it's due to the measly 4 percenthumidity here, but if you stand in the sunand out of the wind, the effect of the radiantheat is intense. Many people are walkingaround with slight sunburns on their faces.

Thanks to the clear weather we've beengetting up to five flights a day and thecargo people have been quite busy.Material is coming in and constructioncontinues to make visible progress on theelevated station.

The tunnel crew continues with their

progress, sometimes with the tunnelermachine, sometimes by hand. They say theycan do at least as much by hand as with themachine, but the machine is easier on thebody. So when the machine breaks down,we do what we can to get it back online.We'll even go to extremes. Like hold anexorcism for the poor thing. People broughtamulets, drums and cowbells. There wasdancing, chanting, preaching, bagpipes, vio-lins and Korean exorcism music. Offeringswere made to appease the tunneler machinegods (don't ask). Our prayers and wishes forfuture tunneler machine good health wentup and we're hopeful for success.

The Operations department is pushingthe last of the snow mountains away fromthe station and out past the cargo berms,which are on the very edge of our little vil-lage. It takes a while to move these longpiles of snow. A dozer pushes the snow intoa pile and then starts at the end of the pileand pushes the snow over the top of the pilein the direction that the snow will eventual-ly end up. It's like watching a very slowcaterpillar make it's way out to the edge ofthe berms.

We've had a couple visits from theTwin Otter crew this week. The ATRS(Advanced Technology for RadarSounding of Polar Ice-formerly known asSOAR) project came through and spentthe night. ATRS is the under-the-ice radar

December 9, 2001 The Antarctic Sun • 5

around the continentPALMER

SOUTH POLE

McMurdo StationHigh: 37F/2.5C Low:13F/-10CWind: 58 mph/93 kphWindchill: -29F/-24C

Palmer StationHigh: 42F/5.5C Low:25F/-4CWind: 62 mph/100 kphPrecipitation: 1.67 inches/40mm

South Pole StationHigh: -21F/-29C Low:-32F/-35.4CWind: 26mph/42kphWindchill: N/A

the week in weather

See Pole on page 6

Photo by Tom Cohenour/Special to The Antarctic Sun

The British ship James Clark Rossapproaches Palmer Station on Nov. 30.

Bill McCormick and John Penney exorcise abroken tunneling machine.

Photo by Kevin Culin/Special to The Antarctic Sun

6 • The Antarctic Sun December 9, 2001

What would you put ina time capsule at theSouth Pole?

“How about a pic-ture of our LC-

130s?”Rich Fabio,

109th Crew Chief atMcMurdo Station, fromSaratoga Springs, N.Y.

“I’d put a piece of theWorld Trade Centerin there and I'd put anote in there saying‘This is the day theworld changed.’”

David RicksAvionics Systems Specialistat McMurdo Station from

Albany, N.Y.

“A CD of photosof Palmer Station

or a bag ofCheetos.”

Jennifer TaborFood Service

Supervisor Assistantat Palmer Station,

from Sterling, Alaska

mapping project that looks for lakes and otheranomalies under the polar ice cap. Last yearthey mapped Lake Vostok. I had a chance totalk with one of the scientists on that projectwhile they were here and asked about therumor of a space ship being the cause of theheat that keeps Lake Vostok liquid. Not true,according to their data. There's a small mag-netic influence, but that could easily be causedby many of the rocks found on the continent.They believe that there's a small somewhatactive volcano at one end of the lake that mightbe providing the warmth. Oh well, there goes agreat story. The other Twin Otter took out theAGO group for a two week camping trip.

We had our first tourist plane of the seasonthis past Sunday morning. A DC3 operated byAdventure Network flew over from PatriotHills. Six tourists from Taiwan, two fieldguides and three crew members spent threehours at Pole. They gathered for pictures at thePole and were given a small tour of the station.That's right, it was a three-hour tour.

Henry Kaiser, a participant of the NSF-sponsored Antarctic Artists and WritersProgram, was here for the weekend. Henrytravels all over the world and creates guitarmusic to remind people of a particular place.On Saturday night he played with our ownband, ThunderJug, in the summer camp loungeJamesway. We have a remarkably good bandhere at Pole, but when Henry played withthem, the music rose to a level that you mightsee in a cool seedy jazz bar in Chicago (if youwere lucky, and had gotten there on a goodnight). It was great, and by their grins itseemed the band was having as much fun aswe were. It was hard not to stand there, maybeswaying with the beat, grinning and remindingyourself that you were standing in a large insu-lated tent at the South Pole. It was deliciousfun, and one of those things that makes beingdown here a special experience.

Pole From page 5

"reliving" McMurdo-style diving until astrong storm broke up the fast ice. Nowon some days we have open water suit-able for boat diving in the diverse andbeautiful communities that surround thePalmer-area islands. Other days thewinds and/or currents bring pack andsmaller brash ice into the harbor that istoo dense for zodiacs to pass through.So those are days for the lab or for div-ing through the packed ice bits right offthe station boat dock.

Fortunately, even the marine com-munities right beside the station are richand diverse so we have been able to

make a great start at collecting for labo-ratory assays. The lab work is now wellunderway and we are looking forwardto another great season in Antarctica!

Dr. Chuck Amsler is AssociateProfessor of Biology at the University ofAlabama at Birmingham.

Read more about the day to day div-ing and other research activities on aninteractive Web site designed and oper-ated by the UAB media relations depart-ment for K-12 school and general com-munity outreach. The URL iswww.wow.uab.edu.

Science From page 4

Photos: Categories for wildlife, scenic, people and other. One entry per category.

Needed: A dose oforiginal thinking

Get your best work published in theProse, Poetry and Photography Contest

Prose: A complete fiction or nonfiction story in 300 words or less.

Poetry: Whatever inspires you.

E-mail entries by Dec. 31 to sabbatkr@mcmurdo.gov, or bring them byThe Sun office in building 155. Call x2407 for more information.

sponsored by The Antarctic Sun

December 9, 2001 The Antarctic Sun • 7

Scale Inferometer (DASI). Only ninemonths ago, the team made headlines innewspapers and science magazines acrossthe U.S. by revealing evidence of adecades-old inflation theory that states hotgasses expanded to ignite the Big Bang.

"I would not say inflation was con-firmed, but it is certainly looking good,"wrote astrophysicist and project leaderJohn Calstrom in an e-mail. "Most knownalternate theories can be ruled out."

This was the second year in a rowastronomers at the South Pole made frontpage headlines for their discoveries.

In April 2000, a team from theCalifornia Institute of Technology stunnedthe world when it revealed the imagesfrom a balloon-borne experiment that pro-vided evidence of the inflation theory, aswell as evidence that the universe is flat.Flat, meaning that space is not curved orwarped.

"(It's) not flat like a pancake," Calstromwrote. "Rather this means that light raystravel in a straight line."

Scientists from the University ofChicago later obtained more conclusivedata from the DASI (pronounced daisy)experiment at the South Pole. That provid-ed the best evidence yet for a flat universeby measuring the temperature fluctuations

in the leftover radiation of the Big Bang.The DASI telescope records data from

temperature fluctuations of the Big Bangafterglow or microwave emissions, whichwere first discovered in 1965. In turn, thisdata allows scientists to study the detailsof the universe.

The data allowed the team to make oneof its biggest discoveries to date - the mat-ter that make up the universe.

"We found that ordinary matter - thestuff that you and I and the stars are madeout of only accounts for about 4.5 percentof the universe," wrote Calstrom.

For the first time ever, scientists deter-mined the universe is made up of about 4.5percent regular matter, 30 percent dark orunseen matter and about 65 percent "darkenergy." This energy does not interact withlight and "appears to cause the expansionof the universe to accelerate," according toCalstrom.

These discoveries are all a result ofDASI - the highly-sensitive CosmicMicrowave Background radiation detectortelescope.

"The telescope is a time machine," saidEric Sandberg, South Pole science techni-cian, "It is looking back into time and see-ing leftover energy."

Viewing the afterglow radiation of the

Big Bang means working with the moststate-of-the-art instruments in the mostspace-like atmosphere on Earth - theSouth Pole.

Astronomers at the Amundsen-ScottSouth Pole Station work in a sky labobservatory located on the 9,300-foot(2,835 m) Polar Plateau near the geodesicdome. The lab is in the Dark Sector - anarea free of artificial light or other electro-magnetic radiation that could interferewith science activities. The Dark Sector ishome to the Center for AstrophysicalResearch in Antarctica (CARA) foundedby the University of Chicago.

The most active time for telescopic datacollection at the South Pole is during theaustral winter months and in the fall,before the sun makes an extended stayhigh above the horizon.

"The telescope does not have value inthe summer because there is too much sunand ambient noise," said Sandberg, whospent the winter at South Pole stationoperating the telescope, "In the winter, wecan get a clear, stable shot at the sky."

For now, scientists return home andprepare for further studies on the Ice.Thus, allowing them test the inflation the-ory and "learn more about its underlyingphysical cause."

DASI From page 1

Photo by John Yamasaki/Special to The Antarctic Sun

Photo by Melanie Conner/The Antarctic Sun

Eric Sandberg, science technician for the DASI project, climbs upthe ladder into the DASI telescope to check the instruments.

University of Chicago’s DegreeAngular Scale Interferometer (DASI)

at the South Pole records slight temperature variations in the after-

glow of the Big Bang. The latestresults from DASI substantiate the

predictions of the leading theoryregarding the origins of the universe.

8 • The Antarctic Sun December 9, 2001

involved in the screening process. Once people reach the Ice, he said,it's vital to ensure they follow guidelines requiring them to rest andacclimatize upon arriving at high elevations.

Three people were evacuated from East Camp near Lake Vostok lastseason due to altitude sickness or other problems complicated by being11,500 feet above sea level, Dunbar said.

"In some cases there were people who went to work (prematurely),"he said. "I think that as big an issue is when people have early altitudesickness symptoms they need to make the person in charge at the campaware. I think everybody is in a bit of denial, especially when the per-son next to you is performing well."

Altitude sickness is common in Antarctica - about three-fourths ofpeople at the South Pole experience symptoms during their first week at9,300 feet - with potential effects ranging from fatigue to death. Safetyinstructors note that being at 10,000 feet on the Ice is harder than thesame altitude elsewhere because the Earth's rotation flattens the atmos-phere at the poles, resulting in a loss of air pressure. The South Pole'seffective altitude is about 10,500 feet, for example, while East Camp'sis about 12,800 feet.

The continent's dry, cold climate can also play a role. Dehydrationslows people's ability to acclimatize and common illnesses such as theflu can be confused with altitude sickness. But often the greatest prob-lem is people misjudging their abilities or ignoring symptoms.

Most cases at the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station aren't severe,said Will Silva, lead physician at McMurdo Station and a former SouthPole doctor. He estimates 5 to 12 percent of the station's total popula-tion might seek a doctor's treatment.

Silva said the only case he saw at the South Pole of High AltitudePulmonary Edema - one of the most severe forms of altitude sickness -"was in a healthy young marathoner who hit the ground running."

Short stays at high altitude, such as working an eight-hour shift at ahigh mountain camp, generally are considered safe if those making thetrip drink lots of water and don't overexert themselves. More seriousconcerns arise if one or more overnight stays are involved.

Acute Mountain Sickness (AMS). This is typi-cally the most common and least severe, with thoseafflicted suffering flu-like symptoms such asheadaches, dizziness and nausea. It usually occurswithin 12 to 24 hours of being at high altitude. ChrisSimmons, a field and safety instructor at McMurdoStation, said rest with light exercise is better thanstaying in bed because the body's oxygen intakedecreases during sleep. A person suffering frommild effects can acclimatize, but those developingmore severe symptoms of AMS such as decreasedcoordination and shortness of breath while at restgenerally need to descend at least temporarily.

High Altitude Pulmonary Edema (HAPE). Abuildup of fluid in the lungs prevents effective oxy-gen exchange, with symptoms including fatigue,shortness of breath even at rest, a feeling a suffoca-tion, a persistent cough, a gurgling sound in thelungs and a tight feeling in the chest. HAPE usual-ly occurs 24 to 72 hours after a rapid gain in alti-tude. Immediate descent of at least a couple thou-sand feet and evacuation to a medical facility aregenerally considered necessary. U.S. AntarcticProgram policy forbids anyone who has sufferedHAPE from going above 3,000 meters (about 9,800feet) without medical approval.

High Altitude Cerebral Edema (HACE).Caused by a swelling of brain tissue from fluid leak-age, symptoms include headaches, altered vision,loss of coordination, weakness and decreasing lev-els of consciousness. It generally occurs after aweek or more at high altitude and can be fatal with-in eight hours of its initial onset. Those sufferingfrom it must be evacuated and receive medical treat-ment. USAP policy states "individuals who haveexperienced a prior episode of HACE shall not beallowed to ascend to altitudes in excess of 3,000meters."

The only cure for altitude sickness is acclimationor descent, with the latter usually being the onlyoption in more severe cases. A Gamow bag, bottledoxygen or other temporary pressurization can pre-vent a person with severe sickness from gettingworse until evacuation or descent is possible, butgenerally won't cure a person.

The drug acetazolamide is often used for preven-tion and treatment of AMS symptoms. Support forit is strong, but not universal. The drug can causeside effects such as tingling in the fingers and blur-ring of vision, and some worry that the pill merelymasks symptoms and a person may therefore beunaware they are at an unsafe altitude.

USAP policy requires field teams to spend atleast 24 hours of restful acclimatization every 1,000to 1,500 feet if they are ascending above 8,200 feet(2,500 meters). If deploying immediately to alti-tudes above 12,300 feet (3,750 meters), a 72-hourrest period between 8,200 and 10,000 feet isrequired. Short deployments of less than eight hoursdo not require acclimatization and “in certaininstances, generic ascent plans may be developedfor a particular location (e.g., Mount Erebus, polarplateau).”

Altitude From page 1

The three types of altitude sickness

Photo by Mark Sabbatini/The Antarctic Sun

Pat Plaia,left, PhilipKyle, cen-ter, andHenryKaiserinspect aGamowBag duringa trainingclass atMcMurdoStation.

See Altitude on page 9

December 9, 2001 The Antarctic Sun • 9

U.S. Antarctic Program policiesrequire people deploying to high-altitudesites to make interim stops and/or take restdays upon arriving. At East Camp lastyear, for example, no work was supposedto be performed during a person's first twodays, with light duty the following twodays and monitoring of the person'sresponse to an increased workload after-ward.

Experience and physique play a role ina person's risk of getting altitude sickness,experts said, but being strong in bothwon't necessarily help someone who failsto take precautions. Philip Kyle, a NewMexico Tech researcher who has spent 29seasons doing research at 11,000 feet andabove on Mount Erebus, said sometimesthe strongest people are the ones who getsick first.

"They tend to run around and bust agut," he said.

Similarly, past experience isn't alwaysan indicator of how a person will react inthe future.

John Schutt, a former mountaineeringguide who scaled the 27,800-footHimalayan peak of Makalu about 10 years

ago, said his worst case of altitude sick-ness occurred years earlier on the 14,410-foot summit of Mount Rainier. He saidsuch altitudes can still give him problems.

"I tend to get good cases of altitudesickness at 10,000 feet unless I take itslowly and acclimatize the way I'm sup-posed to," said Schutt, who is working asa field safety officer for a research projectnear McMurdo Station.

Placing a pressurized facility at EastCamp before researchers begin drilling thefrozen lake - a project sure to boost thecamp's population - is one of the goals offield officials, Dunbar said. He noted thecamp has significant resources already,including a paramedic, an EKG machine,oxygen, medicine and a Gamow Bag.

"That's pretty much the level of servicethey get at the Pole," he said.

Many of the same items are also avail-able on Erebus, where about one person ayear has to be brought down, said BillMcIntosh, who has spent 14 seasons doingresearch on the mountain. He said mostare suffering from a complicating factorsuch as asthma or bronchitis.

Even for the most experienced person,

acclimatization is never more than tempo-rary. Chris Simmons, a field and safetyinstructor at McMurdo, said the rate ofdeclimatization is the same as acclimatiza-tion.

"If it takes you a week to get used to theSouth Pole, then by the time you get toMcMurdo it will take about a week to loseall the acclimatization you gained," hesaid.

By Kristan HutchisonSun staff

As both Coast Guard icebreakers head south to break a chan-nel to McMurdo Station, the sun is doing its part.

The McMurdo Sound sea ice still extends north of BeaufortIsland, about 50 miles farther than normal, but those first 50miles have softened.

"It's just baking in the sun," said Ted Dettmar, lead instructorfor the Field Safety Training Program. "The ice, for the mostpart, is slush."

The last week of November, Dettmar checked 10 of the 15monitoring stations set up along the possible path of the ice-breakers. The ice averages about 1.5 meters thick and haswarmed to just below thawing, Dettmar said. It is saturated withwater to the point that holes he drilled in the sea ice filled withwater before he broke through the bottom of the ice.

"I think the breakers won't even have to slow down for thefirst 50 miles," Dettmar said. "They'll hit the ice and it should justdisintegrate."

Though the ice formed this winter is melting, last year's ice isstill insulated under a layer of snow, Dettmar said. The questionremains whether it will break away easily, or become spongy andsimply bounce back when the Coast Guard icebreakers hit it in amonth.

Both Coast Guard icebreakers are heading toward McMurdoStation this year because the sea ice is much farther out thanusual. The iceberg B15 blocked the currents that generally helpcarry out the sea ice.

The Polar Sea embarked from Seattle on Dec. 3, though shewas slowed by heavy seas outside the Straits of Juan de Fuca,Coast Guard Commander April Brown wrote in an e-mail. TheSea will make a beeline for the Ross Sea, where she will catch upwith her sister ship, the Polar Star.

The Polar Star is already on its way and was expected to stopin Hobart, Australia, on Dec. 7. The Star is still on schedule toreach the sea ice edge Dec. 28.

"The fast ice is still holding tight. Looking at the satellite shotstoday, I don't think it's going to disintegrate that easily," Brownwrote. "Time will tell."

The width of the channel will depend on the prevailing winds,Brown wrote. A good southerly wind could help blow ice out ofthe channel.

The difficult ice may change the path of the channel as well."This year there will probably be a dogleg in the channel

because of severe ice conditions, which may muck up the worksa bit because it introduces a bend," Brown wrote. "This may beavoidable, but we won't know until a little later."

Sunny days have also warmed the sea ice runway, which wasmoved Saturday. When it was checked Nov. 30 the ice averaged11 feet 10 inches and 20.9 F. The ice runway was actually 11inches thinner when the first measurements were taken inSeptember, but colder at -4.8 F.

Recreational trips on the sea ice ended this week, but theArmitage Trail on the sea ice to Scott Base remains open for a lit-tle longer.

Altitude From page 8

Sun-soaked ice softensBoth icebreakers are on their way to slice ice channel to McMurdo Station

Cro

ssw

ord

on p

age

2

Cooking and books come together inOsvaldo Torres' life. Not the cook-books found on other chefs' shelves,but college textbooks.

Torres worked his way through collegein kitchens. The only difference now isthat the kitchen is in Antarctica and hisgraduate school classes are online.

From 5 a.m. to 3 p.m. Torres' jobdescription sounds like an ad for Gingsuknives - chopping, slicing, dicing, frying,sautéing and flambéing. And there's more.More soups to make. More fish to grill.After all the more is done, Torres strips offhis white coat, showers away the layeredsmells of breakfast, lunch and dinner, andfinds a spot in a lounge to study for hismasters in geography.

"Not the galley, because I work there,"Torres said. "So you will never see methere with a book."

Torres is taking classes in urban andregional geography through New MexicoState University in Las Cruces. He alsohas a paper due on Antarctic geographyand another professor asked him to reporton how people interact with the Antarcticenvironment.

When Torres told his advisor and pro-fessors he was considering a job inAntarctica they encouraged him to take it,but not to stop his studies.

"As a group of geographers, we love tosee our students travel and learn anywherearound the globe," wrote his graduateadvisor, Bob Czerniak, in an e-mail. "Wehave never had a student in Antarctica andwe saw this as a special opportunity forOsvaldo and NMSU."

Czerniak has posted pictures Torressent from Antarctica in the NMSU geog-raphy department and sent copies to thedean of the college.

When Torres returns he will give a pre-sentation to the department and probablybe interviewed by the student newspaperor university communications department,Czerniak wrote.

Torres' girlfriend in Chihuahua,Mexico, was not so pleased with his deci-sion to go to Antarctica.

"She was O.K. when I said I was goingjust for the summer, but when I sent an e-mail that I was staying the winter she didn't like that," Torres said.

Antarctica is about as far as Torres canget from the tropical heat of Puerto Rico,where he was born 29 years ago and grewup. His home was in a small town called

Las Piedras, or The Stones, on the south-east side of the island. Torres' grandmoth-er raised him because his parents were inthe military. She died while he was atIowa State University earning a Bachelorof Science in soils. Torres said he has nointerest in moving back to the Spanish-speaking commonwealth.

"I don't think that I can live there any-more," he said.

At Iowa State, Torres got a job workingfor the college food service to pay for hisclasses. He started as a dishwasher.

"Since I didn't speak English, nobodyelse would hire me," Torres said.

By the time he graduated, Torres hadworked his way up to cook, working 20hours a week while studying.

Degree in hand, Torres went to work forPioneer Hi-Bred International, a seed com-pany, as a research assistant. He worked inMexico and Honduras, eventually movinginto a sales position. Then Dupont boughtPioneer and Torres lost his job in thetakeover. He decided to go back to schoolfor a masters. Tired of agriculture, heswitched to geography after enrolling atNew Mexico State University.

"Osvaldo has always been a very goodstudent with tremendous enthusiasm forlearning," wrote his advisor, Czerniak."He is a risk taker, a personable youngman and willing to help other students."

After he graduates, Torres plans to lookfor a job doing urban development inMexico.

"In Mexico, so long as you have moneyyou can build anything you want anywhereyou want," Torres said. "For example, a bar

right next to an elementary school."Torres wants to bring in development

standards so Mexican buildings areplanned with more attention to theirneighbors. Building practices also need tochange in Mexico, such as the commonuse of asbestos, he said.

"You can buy it at the lumber store,"Torres said. "They use it because, for onething, it's cheap for them."

While in graduate school Torres wentback to work in the kitchen to pay his way,cooking at a steak house and a deli. Still,his student loans mounted up.

In July he met a neighbor, SalvadorRascon, who was coming to McMurdoStation to work as executive sous-chef.The idea of working in Antarctica and sav-ing up money in the process drew Torres'interest, so he applied as well.

"I got to know him pretty good,"Rascon said. "He's a good worker, fastlearner, follows direction real good andeverything."

Though Torres' has cooked in largerkitchens - at Iowa State the kitchen served4,000 students - Antarctica presents morechallenges. If a needed ingredient runsout, he can't just go to the store.

"Sometimes we have to do miracles,really," Torres said. "because we run outof so much stuff every day."

Torres will see a few more miraclesbefore he returns to New MexicoUniversity, since he signed on for the win-ter.

"This is for me the easiest way to payoff my student loans," said Torres, whowill now graduate in 2002.

10 • The Antarctic Sun December 9, 2001

ProfileBy Kristan HutchisonSun staff

Photo by Melanie Conner/The Antarctic Sun

Cooking up a degree

OsvaldoTorresworks ona paperrequiredfor hismastersdegree ingeographyfrom NewMexicoStateUniversity.He writesall hisnotes inSpanish,then trans-lates toEnglish.

Chef studies geography by the book and in person

LittleMMacThe Antarctic Sun • 11December 9, 2001 The local section for McMurdo Station

By Colonel Max Della Pia and FlightLieutenant Michelle Goulden-FowlerSupport Forces Antarctica

We have arrived at a point of transition inthe Antarctic summer season. The RoyalNew Zealand Air Force (RNZAF) has con-cluded a very successful early season. Atthe same time, there are several paradigm-changing developments in the United StatesAntarctic Program (USAP).

Each Antarctic season the No. 40Squadron of the RNZAF fly their wheeledC-130s (Hercules) on about 15 missionsfrom Christchurch to McMurdo and back.Twelve of the missions are usually plannedfor mid-November to early December, andthree are planned for late January. This sea-son is going well, with only three mechani-cal delays, and one weather turnback.

As of Dec. 4, the RNZAF C-130s hadmoved 287 passengers and 187,585 lbs ofcargo on 10 southbound flights. The 10return flights carried a total of 180 passen-gers, and 93,475 lbs of cargo.

This period also marks the beginning forthree significant USAP changes: wheeledaugmentation during the mid-Decemberthrough January timeframe, operations onPegasus runway on compressed snow andthe addition of Odell Glacier as an emer-gency divert landing area.

The 50th Airlift Squadron, an ActiveDuty unit from Little Rock, Ark., hasdeployed aircrew, maintenance and supportpersonnel and equipment to Christchurch.They will operate their wheeled C-130sbetween Christchurch and McMurdo from

Dec. 10 through January. This provides theUSAP several advantages. North-southtrips will be faster on the C-130s becausethey have less drag and a higher cruise air-speed than ski birds. Because they have lessdrag, they can also carry more. Also, usingthe C-130s leaves more of the ski-equippedLC-130s for on-continent missions support-ing science and South Pole construction.

This development is due to significantefforts by many agencies in the USAP. The109th Airlift Wing (109 AW) providedtraining and orientation for the 50 EAScrews, and instructors will accompany themon initial missions.

The Raytheon and the airfield manage-ment team invested time and energy, whilethe National Science Foundation providedmoney and equipment to transformPegasus. In the past, Pegasus was closed forthe majority of the austral summer afterWINFLY and before the end-of-summerredeployment from McMurdo. During thisperiod, the surface of the ice at Pegasus hadto be protected from the sun and increasingsummer temperatures by a layer of snow.

Recently, the thought was to compressthe snow and then use it not only forwheeled operations, but also to protect thesurface of the ice during this interim period.The Cold Regions Research andEngineering Laboratory (CRREL) wascommissioned to conduct an engineeringstudy to determine the feasibility of a com-pressed snow runway. Air Force CivilEngineering had to be consulted forapproval of the concept. The 109 EAS,

CRREL and the airfield management teamconducted tests of the surface last week. Ateam from Air Mobility Command andTyndall Air Force Base arrived this week tocomplete the certification. The intention isto further assess the feasibility of operatingC-141s (Starlifter), C-5s (Galaxy) and/or C-17s (Globemaster III) on the compressedsnow surface, so it will not have to beremoved before the end of the summer.

With more wheeled C-130s flying toMcMurdo there is a need for a divert run-way. The C-130s don't have the range of theC-141s, C-17s or C-5s. They also don't haveas many landing options when the weatherdeteriorates as skied LC-130s, which canland at an outlying camp or in the whiteoutarea (a surveyed, certified, clear area ofungroomed, open snow on which pilots aretrained to land without outside references).

Wheeled C-130s must commit them-selves to land several hours out fromMcMurdo. The NSF, Air National Guardand Air Force agreed finding a clear area onglacial ice outside McMurdo's normalweather pattern would provide an addedmeasure of safety to wheeled C-130s. Theychose Odell Glacier, about 120 miles truenorthwest of McMurdo. A 6,000-by-300-foot landing area has been cleared andmarked for emergency use. It is located nearthe area referred to as Wyandot Ridge,where an LC-130 landed safely on wheelstwo seasons ago during a period of rapidlydeteriorating weather and high winds atMcMurdo.

As Kiwi C-130 Flights Near Completion, new airlift squadron begins its first Ice tour

By Ann DalveraSpecial to the Sun

The 8th Annual Women's Soiree, anevening of performances by women, willraise money for the Salvation Army HopeCentre in Christchurch, New Zealand.

The center provides food for approxi-mately 60-70 people per week and an advo-cacy service, which helps clients receiveentitlements from Work and Income andother government agencies. They also offercounselling services and budget empower-ing for low-income clients. In addition, thecenter provides a community meal once aweek for about 40 people who come regu-larly and have developed strong friendshipsand helped each other beyond the meals.

Groups offered by the center address

other needs, such as "Looking forward toChristmas."

Center manager Karen Whittaker says"The purpose of the group was to showwomen how to have fun at Christmas thatdid not cost any money. Making decora-tions, baking, presents and how to prepare ameal that can be made from a ChristmasHamper.

“A woman who was 25 years old cameand talked about how life was different forher now that she did not work in a parlor.That Christmas used to be about lonely menwanting sex and her life has changed, nowChristmas is about knowing she was lovedby her family,” Whittaker continued.

“A number of young mothers wanted totalk to her and it seems that they have beenin a similar place as her. She was coura-

geous and this encouraged others to be thesame and talk about their experiences."

At Christmas the center gives out 300Christmas Hampers and toys for about 230families.

Peggy Malloy, one of the Soiree organiz-ers, explained why she supports theSalvation Army Hope Centre inChristchurch.

"It turns no one away, does not receiveany government assistance, and is run by asmall staff of seven and many volunteers.,”Malloy said, “All qualities that win myvote."

Please enjoy an evening of gala perfor-mances by women and give generously tosupport the Salvation Army Hope Centre ofChristchurch at 8 p.m. Dec. 15 at the dininghall.

Women's Soiree benefits Christchurch Salvation Army Hope Centre

The volleyball champions areUnbridled Carnage.

A volleyball doubles tournamentbegins Monday at 7 p.m. in the gym.

The Bumblebowl tournament alsostarts Monday at 7 p.m. in the bowl-

ing alley. The tournament involvescostumes and unusual rules.

The bowling alley will be open forbowling Sunday from 7 to 9 p.m. andWednesday from 6:30 to 8:30 a.m.

9

14

13

12

11

10

15

our Antarctic week

Sports

12 • The Antarctic Sun December 9, 2001

LittleMMacThe local section for McMurdo Station

Crary lab tour at 2 p.m.

PLAI theater group, 5 p.m. Library

Middle Eastern dance class with Sam 6:30-7:30 p.m. upstairs 155 lounge

Open bowling, 7-9 p.m.

“Survivor in Africa” episode 9 8:30 p.m. Coffeehouse cinema

Science video "Under Antarctic Ice,"8:15 p.m. in the dining hall

Tap dancing, 6-7 p.m., laundry room

Movie “Mystery Men,” 8 p.m. Coffeehouse cinema

Women’s soiree dress rehearsal8 p.m., dining hall

Antarctic Science Club7:30 to 9 p.m. in the Crary library

"Heroic Age of Explorers," by Ted Dettmar8:15 p.m. in the dining hall

Old farts stretching6:30 p.m. in the laundry room

PLAI theater group, 5 p.m. Bldg. 155upstairs lounge

Political discussion“Guns and the Second Amendment”7:30 p.m. dorm 208 first floor lounge

Dark Side of the Rainbow8 p.m. at Southern Exposure

Polar Education video 8-9 p.m. Coffeehouse cinema

Morning coffee7 a.m., Coffeehouse

Open bowling, 6:30-8:30 a.m.

Photo club7:30-9 p.m. in the Coffeehouse

Holiday Choir practice, 8-9 p.m. in the Chapel

Birthday bingo with Bumper and Thumper8:30 p.m. at Gallaghers

Middle Eastern dance with Stan 6:30-7:30 p.m. upstairs 155 lounge

Tap dancing, 7:15-8 p.m., laundry room

Salsa lessons, 8-9 p.m.followed by dancing at Gallaghers

American night at Scott baseShuttles from 7-10:45 p.m.

Women’s Soiree, 8 p.m. dining hall

By Mark SabbatiniSun Staff

Most McMurdo employees will putin a long work week just before the hol-idays, but there will be lots of time torelax - or party - between ChristmasEve and New Year's Day.

Workers will get Christmas Eve andChristmas Day off - a Monday and aTuesday - following seven days ofwork between Dec. 17 and 23, saidArea Manager Jim Scott Another two-day weekend - on Saturday, Dec. 29,and Sunday, Dec. 30 - will follow inobservation of the New Year.

Officials shifted the normal day offbefore Christmas from Sunday toMonday to provide a two-day week-end, Scott said.

"Typically what we try to do is getback-to-back holidays," he said.

There will be no fly-ins either day.Scott said incoming packages

should be in Christchurch, NewZealand, by now if people want themby the holidays. There may still be timeto send outgoing mail.

There was some debate about when- and if - there would be a New Year'sDay holiday this year because theNational Science Foundation is tryingto optimize its flight schedule, Scottsaid. Station officials decided to desig-nate Dec. 29 a holiday while maintain-ing a full flight schedule, so thoseworking flight-related jobs may begiven a different day off.

Holiday events will start withChristmas cookie baking in the galley,which is tentatively scheduled Dec. 21,said Recreation Supervisor Bill Meyer.He said sign-up sheets for volunteerswill be posted.

The Zim Brothers Family ChristmasShow is scheduled at 8 p.m. Dec. 22 atthe Coffeehouse.

"It's just going to be music andlaughs," Meyer said.

The annual heavy shop party isscheduled at 8 p.m. Dec. 23, said LynnSprowles, a recreation departmentemployee. She said food and livemusic will be featured.

"The Christmas choir will be per-forming there and there will be a bunchof live bands," she said.

Gallaghers will be closed Dec. 23,but the Coffeehouse and SouthernExposure will be open, Meyer said. Allbars will be open Dec. 24 until 1 a.m.and regular hours Christmas Day.

A special holiday meal will beserved in the galley Dec. 24, with seat-ings at 3, 4:30 and 6 p.m. The menu isstill being finalized. A small holidayparty featuring music, readings andother activities will follow at 7:30 p.m.at the Coffeehouse.

Brunch will be served from 10 a.m.to 1 p.m. Christmas Day. A series ofholiday movies will be shown from 7to 11 p.m. at the Coffeehouse.

Chapel of the Snows is tentativelyplanning to reschedule the CatholicMass service on Dec. 23 at 6 p.m.instead of 9:30 a.m., with the other ser-vices as usual. Carols in the Chapel arescheduled at 11:30 p.m. Dec. 24, fol-lowed by a midnight Christmas Mass.A Catholic Mass is also scheduled at9:30 a.m. Christmas Day, with aProtestant service at 11 a.m.

The Ob Hill Uphill race is sched-uled at 10 a.m. Dec. 29. A "Nightstock"celebration, scheduled because ofnight-shift workers who will missIcestock, is planned that day atSouthern at a time to be determined.

The annual Icestock music festivaland chili cookoff are scheduled fromnoon to 6 p.m. Dec. 30.

A New Year's Eve party at plannedat Scott Base the night of Dec. 31,Meyer said. Bars at McMurdo will beopen New Year's Eve and closed NewYear's Day.

Here for the holidays