30 October 2012
Driving to the South Pole
Yes, there actually is a pole at the South Pole, in fact
there are several!
There is the geographic South Pole that is put in each year
by the USGS and the ceremonial South Pole- that’s were people go to get their
photos taken. Here is a photo of one of
our friends at the geographic South Pole a few years ago.
But did you know that there is also a Road to the South
Pole? It is the ULTIMATE Ice Road and is
a bit over 1600km (that is nearly 1000 miles) long from McMurdo Station to The
Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station. It
took several years to build by filling in crevasses in the steep glacier
section. The McMurdo Ice Shelf and the Polar Plateau
are relatively stable so required much less work to develop a road but the
section between that climbs the Leverett glacier and is a mass of
crevasses. This is what is called the
shear zone- where two ice sheets collide.
This highway to the South Pole was first used in 2007. The South Pole Traverse, as it is known, is a
convoy of vehicles that carry fuel and other supplies up the glacier and onward
to the pole. It takes about 40 days to
get there but faster on the way back since they carry less weight.
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| Map From Wikipedia |
It takes big vehicles to pull all that weight and equipment
up the traverse route. Here is one of
the Case tractors that have been fitted with treads that they use. They pull housing modules (also pictured) and
well as fuel bladders. The first of two
trips will leave McMurdo in a few days and the second will leave a week or two
later. They can transport enough fuel to
reduce the need for LC130 flights significantly. The LC130s burn 2 gallons of fuel for each
gallon they deliver but the traverse burns only 1 gallon for each gallon they
deliver- a significant savings on a precious commodity.
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