Antarctic conservation blog

This blog describes what it's like to spend time in Antarctica conserving artefacts from the explorer's hut left behind by Captain Robert Falcon Scott in 1911 when he journeyed to the South Pole.

It is being written by members of the 2010 winter conservation team, Nicola, Mindy, Georgina and Jane. Previous entries were written by the summer and winter conservation teams from 2006 onwards, who have now left Scott Base.

Nicola, Friday 30 July 2010

Temperature: -25°C
Wind speed: 10 knots
Temp with wind chill: -40°C
Moonrise: above horizon
Moonset: above horizon

Where ever you are on Ross Island you are always aware of the active volcano Mount Erebus sitting on the skyline topped by a plume of smoke. Erebus, and Mount Terror, the extinct volcano next to it, were named after the ships of Captain James Clark Ross, the first explorer to sail into McMurdo Sound in 1841.

Erebus veiled in cloud in April with the plume of fumes above the crater © AHT / N Dunn

From Scott Base Erebus looks serene, as if you could stroll up to the summit in an afternoon, but it’s actually 20 miles away and its slopes covered with crevasses and hazardous ice fields. Men from Shackleton’s 1907-09 expedition were the first to climb Erebus in 1908, taking 5 days. Now the crater is reached during the summer season by helicopter, which takes scientists up to carry out research on volcanic activity, the lava lake and the toxic fumes - carbon dioxide, chlorine and sulphur dioxide that it pumps out.

The effects of Erebus on the local weather patterns were a constant source of interest for Dr Simpson, the meteorologist on Captain Scott’s 1910 Expedition. Here orographic clouds circle the cone. © AHT / N Dunn

Erebus is constantly changing, reflecting the weather and seasons. As the sun disappeared we saw it silhouetted against a sky turning from blue to pink to rich red and finally filled with stars and auroras. But over the last week the sky behind Erebus has gradually been lightening and a faint apricot glow now indicates that with Midwinter over we are heading back towards the first sun-rise on 19th August.

The sun below the horizon is beginning to lighten the sky behind Erebus © AHT / N Dunn

Posted in 24 hour darkness, Antarctica, Climate & weather, Shackleton

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Mindy, Monday 26 July 2010

Temperature: -20°C
Wind speed: 5 knots
Temp with wind chill: approximately -25°C
Moonrise: above horizon
Moonset: above horizon

After a week of record-breaking cold temperatures, it’s hard to believe that the members of Captain Scott’s (1910-1913) expedition would be out fishing in the middle of an Antarctic winter. But, every copy of a British Antarctic Expedition (B.A.E.) journal in the library at Scott Base (New Zealand’s Antarctic base) suggests this is what they were doing. It interested Dr. Edward Atkinson in particular, as he was the scientist charged with studying parasites and bacteria. While occasionally they did eat the fish, they mostly wanted to advance polar scientific study (and I get the impression the fish didn’t taste that good anyway!).

What is puzzling is how they actually caught the fish. The only hints I’ve found indicate they used a trap made of wire netting. Well, I have no trap here in the lab, but I do have a tin of fish hooks. Hundreds and hundreds of fish hooks – and not one journal reference! Oh well…

Tin of fish hooks before treatment © AHT / M Bell

Regardless, it was very satisfying to treat the artefact by separating the hooks from their semi-concreted mass. As a bonus, this lead to the discovery of a rather cool little lure hidden in its centre. And, in treating the tin of fish hooks we did learn a bit about the early explorers’ choice of ‘sweeties’. In the long tradition of Antarctic thriftiness, they used a ‘Rowntree’s Clear Gums’ tin to keep the hooks in!

Tin of fish hooks, after treatment, with silver-coloured fish-shaped lure sitting on top © AHT / M Bell

Posted in Antarctica, Conservation, Scott

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George, Thursday 22 July 2010

Temperature: -23.3°C
Wind speed: 10 knots
Temp with wind chill: approximately -33°C
Moonrise: none
Moonset: none

Herbert Ponting, the official photographer for Scott’s Terra Nova expedition, preferred working with glass plate negatives for their superior image quality – even though photographic film had been in popular use for at least 20 years. The glass plate negatives we are conserving from the darkroom are of different types, and from different companies around the world such as London, France, Sydney and Wellington. Nearly half are by the ‘Paget Prize Plate Company’ which was based in Watford, UK, and happens to be my home town! The company was only in existence for a short time so these packages are very rare indeed!

A selection of glass plate negatives by Paget Prize Plate Company © AHT / G Whiteley

The vast majority of Ponting’s surviving works are in black and white, but the collection shows that he clearly wanted to experiment with colour. There are over 30 packages of colour plates but it seems this process proved too technically challenging for the environment with only a few colour photos ever being published. The processed plates returned to England with Ponting, so the remaining packages and boxes in the hut are unopened – perhaps abandoned as the most unworkable.

3 packages of plates stuck together with mould, before treatment © AHT / G Whiteley

3 packages of plates after treatment © AHT / G Whiteley

Water damage over the years has left these plates in poor condition. Even for Ponting spoilage was a persistent problem. In his biography he describes how he had so many plates he had to store them outside in the snow and then carefully bring them into the hut when needed. This was done gradually as the change in humidity and temperature could damage the sensitive gelatine coating.

Herbert Ponting in the Dark Room, Cape Evans circa 1911 © Ponting / Alexander Turnbull Library

Ponting’s darkroom has been relatively untouched over the years and so provides an intriguing time capsule (or should that be snapshot!) into the working processes of this early Antarctic ‘camera artist’.

Posted in Antarctica

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Nicola, Monday 19 July 2010

Temperature: -23.3°C
Wind speed: 10 knots
Temp with wind chill: -35°C
Moonrise: 1.15pm
Moonset: 5.36pm

At midday Bobbie and I meet at the back door dressed in hats, face masks and goggles. Turning on our head torches and radioing through our intentions, we head out for our daily walk along the snow-covered path which climbs up the hill at the back of Scott Base.

Scott Base from the top of the hill in late April, with the path winding down the slope © AHT / N Dunn

A century ago Captain Scott advocated the physical and mental benefits of regular outdoor exercise during the dark winter months, encouraging the men to take some form after lunch. In his diary he wrote ‘the majority of people seem anxious to get exercise, but one or two like the fire better’. In particular it was difficult to get the photographer Ponting out of the hut and Atkinson ‘only managed by dragging him out to his own work, digging holes in the ice’.

Nicola at the top of the hill in June with Scott Base in the background © Steven Sun / ANTNZ

We started our walks at the beginning of winter as a way of getting some fresh air and to experience the changes in the landscape over the months. And we’ve certainly seen some changes. From the top of the hill the base was first surrounded by pink ice, then gradually the lights began to go on and sometimes it would fade in the blowing snow.

A moonlit Scott Base in June © N Dunn / AHT

Several times the weather has been too bad to go out, and on occasions the dark and the sound of the wind have been less than appealing, but once out we always return reinvigorated.

Posted in 24 hour darkness, Antarctica, Climate & weather, Scott, Scott Base, Social life

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Jane, Thursday 15 July 2010

Temperature: -20.6°C
Wind speed: 45 knots
Temp with wind chill: -55°C
Moonrise: Below horizon
Moonset: Below horizon

We are immersed in a Condition 1* storm today. The wind is howling and the building is shaking. We are confined to Base because of the extreme cold and lack of visibility.

In 1970 similar weather caused a US Navy plane to make an emergency landing. The weather came in from the south, just like today, and the pilots could not make out the runway on the Ross Ice Shelf because of zero visibility. They were beyond the point at which they could turn around or find an alternative landing place. All 80 passengers were uninjured but the plane was badly damaged.

Last Sunday the weather was much better; -25°C and just 10 knots of wind. A group of us drove out to see the plane which has since given its name to the Pegasus Air Field.

Group photo on the tail of the Pegasus. From left to right: Alf, Bobbie, Georgina, Jane. Front: Hayden, Steven © Steven Sun

Steven, Jane and the graffiti on the plane © Steven Sun

Playing with long exposures on the camera in front of the plane © Steven Sun

In keeping with ensuring the continent is kept as pristine as possible, the plane is to be removed this year and work has already begun to collect the debris around it.

I drove us home in the Hagglund - my first time driving one. I switched the lights off to see if I could drive in whiteout conditions using just the satellite navigation. Unfortunately, despite the ice shelf being a big, open, flat area, we thought it best to switch the lights back on!

*Condition 1 is defined as visibility less that 30m or sustained winds over 100 km/h or windchill lower than minus 73°C.

Posted in Antarctica, Climate & weather, Environment

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