The Dry Valleys

The Dry Valleys

This is one of the parts of our trip that I enjoy the most. That is our trip to the Dry
Valleys. We typically camp at a location that has a group of structures called Lake
Fryxell Camp. I prefer to use the Scott tents like we did at Mount Erebus and on
Fang glacier, but others prefer mountain tents. Either way we set up behind the
camp away from the lake front.

Much of the work I do here is soil collection and for that we hike across the desert
landscape for many miles. It is pretty bleak with no plants to be seen – just miles of
glacial moraines. The walking is tough too since the moraines are loose sand and
gravel sprinkled with larger rocks.

But there is life there! Just beneath the surface there is a community of microbes
that live off of very little. These are the oligotrophic communities we seek. The
fungi that we find here have adaptations so they can scavenge enough energy
to survive.

Here I collected many kilograms of soil for shipment back to Maine. Stay tuned to
see what we will find in the samples after they get back.

Antarctic Yeast Genome

Our first Antarctic yeast genome is here!

Earlier this year we made a collaboration with the Department of Energy, Joint Genome Institute (JGI) to determine the genome and transcriptome of two Antarctic yeasts, Cryptococcus vishniacii and Diozegia cryoxerica.  The first one has been completed and so now begins the hard and long task of gene annotation and digging through the data to find out how these organisms can survive in such cold and dry habitats.

Pictures of the Wright Valley. That is the normal habitat of Cryptococcus vishniacii as these yeasts are typically found in some of the driest areas.

Sponge Collection

Sponge collection

One of the aspects of our project is to determine what the “background” organisms are so we can assess how different the microbial communities are on our traps.  Laurie has been looking at the fungal communities associated with marine sponges- part of the group of animals we find near our trap at the Cape Evan’s wall.

Here is a picture of Hubert with one of the Volcano sponges near McMurdo Station.  This is the kind of sponge that I was looking for on this collection day. 

Photo of Hubert and sponge taken by Steve Rupp.

 

We have seen Hubert diving in McMurdo Sound before but it is worth posting again (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dr7TJSSh8Ec).    In the video you can see lots of sponges, this is before they begin their journey up onto the surface of the ice.

We collected both live and now also some sponges that have been long dead- in fact dead hundreds of years.  They were brought to the bottom of the Ross Ice Shelf as part of anchor ice and slowly ablated through the ice to emerge on the surface.  Today we flew out to an area that these sponges can be found called “the Dirty Ice” It is near Bratina Island, a small island at the tip of the Brown Peninsula.  The reason it’s called the dirty is because, well….., it’s covered with dirt.

Taken by Laurie Connell  (77  58.96’ S  165  36.654 E)  Sponges on dirty ice in Antarctica.

Taken by Laurie Connell  (77  58.96’ S  165  36.654 E)  Sponges on dirty ice in Antarctica.

 

After we get home we will culture fungi from these sponges to determine what species can be found.  We will also determine genetically which species are there.   Stay tuned for results in a few months!

21 December 2012: Happy Solstice!

21 December 2012

Happy Solstice!

When we first arrived in McMurdo we still had sunrise and sunset, although the daylight was long.  On 23 October we got our last sunset for the field season and it is now 24 hours a day of daylight.

One of the last sunsets.  Photographer- Laurie Connell, Location McMurdo Station Antarctica.

But today marks a shift in our pattern.  For us in the far southern hemisphere, the December solstice is when the sun begins to shift downward toward the horizon as we slowly move into our long winter night.   Our next sunset is 20 February, still quite a long time away.  

Does all of this daylight bother us?  Well, it can make sleeping difficult but if you pull down your cap or put on eye shades it is plenty dark to sleep. 

 Laurie Connell at Fang Glacier camp- photographer Hubert Stadiguel.

We also work hard while in the field so can get so tired we could sleep just about any place.

 So, enjoy the return of the sun in the Northern hemisphere while we watch the sun slowly get ready to set again.

Photo of Rusty Rodriguez and Regina Redman sleeping in Helo.  Photographer Scott Craig, location some place over Taylor Valley Antarctica.

Polar Mirage

By: Dr. Laurie Connell

Here in McMurdo we often see mirages when looking across McMurdo Sound to the Royal Society range or Mount Discovery. These are specifically a form of superior mirage where alternating cold layers and warm layers of air bend the light and can form fantastical images, often appearing like cliffs or upside down mountains. This type of mirage is called a Fata Morgana after Morgan le Fay, who was a fairy enchantress skilled in the art of changing shape in the tales of King Arthur. How ever they are formed, they are enjoyable to watch.

Photos of the Day: Cape Royds and Penguins

 I'm out working at Cape Royds now.  It is the location of the southern most Adelie Penguin colony in the world.  Here is a photo of my tent with the Mr. Yeast flag on it and Mount Erebus in the background.  A second photo is of some penguins in the
colony displaying for each other.

Photo of the Day: Summit of Mount Erebus

Our Mr Yeast Flag on the summit of Mount Erebus, the crater rim.

The person holding the flag is New Mexico Tech Mount Erebus Volcano Observatory (MEVO) Graduate student Nial Peters.  Photo by Anthony Rigoni