When Mud And Rocks Teach
Waste is how the contents of the bags and plastic vials may be described by someone who is not totally familiar with them. From the Larsen Ice Shelf in Antarctica came such specimens and the scientists will have their hands full with these. Something as simple as mud can provide much data, according to a college senior. For this college senior, a trip to Antarctica became possible with other people from a college and university as the National Science Foundation provided the necessary funds. Actually, these schools regularly take part in research cruises of all sorts.
The first part of the expedition aboard a research vessel was departing from Punta Arenas Chile in early February. They found themselves heading for the Larsen Ice Shelf on the east of the Antarctic Peninsula which was unknown territory. Absolutely no one ever reached their destination before. The ocean’s depth was measured using sonar while the boat moved at a slow pace. Aside from gathering video footage, water and sediment samples were also gathered from the deck by students and researchers. These are samples which may take a long period of time to analyze.
The composition and water content of mud samples will be studied and this will result in information leading to its relation with global warming. Students said the trip was the opportunity of a lifetime. It gives you a taste of what it’s really like said this student. This student, who is a native of Scotland, plans to study global warming in graduate school. Another student confirms that she wouldn’t mind being on a ship for the rest of her life, who will continue her studies next year at one university’s school of Oceanography.
Even with the extreme weather conditions in the Southern Hemisphere, these people coped. It’s like Upstate New York really. Never mind the cold days if the sun rose and set at 430 am and 930 pm respectively. Looking out the window was not as easy when the sun was so bright. Civilization was lacking, but science was happening 24 hours a day, seven days a week. A student had a choice of a midnight to noon or noon to midnight shift. During their off hours students slept in bunk beds built into the walls and caught movies in a group lounge.
This does not mean that there were no rules. Anything big should be known by the seniors on the trip. The job caused one senior student to go to a newly found surface volcano as well as visit an emperor penguin. According to the Dryden native, this motivated you to stay awake. You look forward to these occurrences. The best day of her life was when they explored Vega Island. To be in a place where only 10 other people have been to is rather remarkable, she says.
The span of the trip led to five weeks of missed classes for the students. Due to environmental hazards associated with their vessel not to mention their busy schedules schoolwork was not attended to as much as it needed to be. Because their ship was constantly moving it made it harder. Nothing more than two emails a day to send back home was allowed. Lack of distractions as well as having close quarters led to the students and faculty becoming close during the trip. From a student came the comment of having no escape. Everything from the desolated area to the extreme environment will really make people close.
They brought the mud and rocks they collected back to the United States in coolers, carrying documents to explain the unique cargo to customs officials. Some other things a student had were 323 digital pictures and five film rolls. For another student who was part of the expedition last year, she decided on embracing the environment. Not everything could be captured. Grasping the environment is necessary.
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