March 29, 2006

Funded by the National Science Foundation Office of Polar Programs

Location: Latitude 64° 0.89' S, Longitude 57° 00.9' W

Air Temperature: 2.2°C

Contact

In certain parts of the US, it is considered a nearly mandatory courtesy to wave or nod to the driver of a passing vehicle on a rural road. In other areas, such a gesture might make some recipients wonder who drove past that they knew but didn't recognize. Others might not wonder whom they couldn't recognize, but rather question exactly what the waver or nodder was thinking. Where this acknowledgement is common, there are local standards for how this greeting should be given. My favorite is the two-finger lift from the steering wheel I saw throughout Alabama. In parts of the west, such a subtle movement might not be noticed. Such variety within one country in something as simple as the polite way to pass each other is certainly just a fraction of the standard ways found around the globe. Come to a place like Antarctica, where everyone is a newcomer from somewhere different, and the rules of contact become even more nuanced.

We are now situated offshore of James Ross Island. We shot seismic data through the night and are now starting to drill the section that we presume is late Cretaceous. We have had to come into Admiralty Sound in order to find a protected place to drill. We weren't able to locate any fast ice in the region so we are again on DP in an area of water. But, we are protected by the islands in the region and there seems to be little drifting ice. This is not the ideal spot, but it is the best we have in this season of drifting ice.

The other side of Admiralty Sound is formed by Seymour Island. In addition to being famous for its fossil locales, Seymour, also known as Marambio Island, is home to the Argentine Marambio Station. Intermittently for several days we have been able to see the station and they are certainly able to see this big orange boat circling around them. A couple of weeks ago we spoke on the radio to people on their icebreaker working in this region. I had hoped that they would share information about the ice conditions in this area to help with our planning, since the satellite ice images are few and far between as well as sometimes stunningly inaccurate. I never heard back from them and I feel as though I were stood up. Now anything could have happened--emails get lost in transit, addresses are lost--but it still surprised me that we didn't hear anything. Now we are sitting offshore from Marambio and if all goes well we will be in this very spot for a couple of days. None of us really expect to have any contact with the station. Antarctica is not as empty and unpopulated as it used to be, but I guess we still like to pretend that we are alone. Today we did see one of the Argentine planes fly into the area. They did circle around the boat an extra time. I guess this is the local version of the wave or nod. I wonder if they saw all of the people on the deck watching and waving to them.

Best wishes, Julia

James Ross Island; photo by Pat Manley.

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