Around the Sound
Here are some pictures from various locations around McMurdo Sound. The pictures were taken on several helicopter and skidoo trips to various areas in the sound. Click on the images to enlarge.
Helicopter operations are performed by PHI (Petroleum Helicopters, Inc. from Louisiana) under contract to the NSF. PHI flies Bell 212 twin engine and Aerospatiale A-Star single engine helicopters. One additional 212 is flown under the New Zealand Antarctic Program by Helicopters New Zealand, Ltd.
Whenever a group is left on the ground for some time, with the helicopter performing other flights in the area, survival bags have to stay with the ground group, in case of a protracted stay forced by weather.
So, what is there to see around McMurdo Sound?
Mostly this:
Looking North, there is sea ice, sea ice, and more sea ice...
This sea ice is saltwater ice, formed in mid-winter when ambient temperatures
fall below minus forty degrees, the water cools to near minus two degrees
(C), and the ocean freezes. This ice is usually between 1 and 2 meters thick,
but can be thinner when it is young, or thicker if it does not break out to
form pack ice in mid- to late summer.
Turn around to look South, and there is yet more sea ice:
in the distance lies Ross Island, dominated by the approximately 4000m tall
active volcano Mt. Erebus. McMurdo Station and Scott Base are both located
on Ross Island. Ross Island is only partially surrounded by the annual sea
ice. Around the Southern shore the island is surrounded by the much thicker,
permanent Ross Shelf Ice. This ice sheet is hundreds of meters thick, and
is fed by glaciers descending from the polar plateau through the transantarctic
mountains.
Next: White Island
