John Wood at Mount Erebus, Ross Island, Antarctica
John Wood is in for some thrills and chills, but hopefully no spills.
Wood, who teaches sixth grade at Talbert Middle School in Huntington Beach, leaves Nov. 21 for the Antarctic, where he’ll help do a “cat-scan” of Mount Erebus, a massive active volcano at the bottom of the world.
He’ll be the guest of New Mexico Tech (NMT), which includes a teacher in its field research so that they can convey what they learn to young students. Wood, 54, will help scientists place 80 seismometers near the rim of Mount Erebus, where the temperature frequently falls to minus 20 degrees this time of year. (It’s spring in the Antarctic.) An additional 20 seismometers will be placed at other spots around Erebus. Then scientists will set off small explosive charges, releasing energy that will be measured by the carefully assembled instruments.
“The speed that the seismic waves move through rock and liquid will help scientists map the pipe, or main vent, of the volcano, and the magma chamber,” says Wood, who’ll use an illustrated online journal to share what he learns with his 150 sixth graders at Talbert, and students elsewhere. He’s also use e-mail to ask and pose questions of students.
“I want to help students understand what it’s like for a scientist to do field research,” says Wood, who’ll experience a homecoming, of sorts, when he arrives on Ross Island aboard a transport aircraft Nov. 24. When he was much younger, he made nine trips to the Antarctic, spending long months helping to operate a laboratory and aide researchers during dives beneath the ice. He made hundreds of dives, venturing under ice that was up to 18 feet thick.
But oh, the view.
“There is no clearer water anywhere,” Wood says. “There are no winds and the currents are pretty minimal. The visibility could be be from 600 to 1,000 feet. It was like you were flying.”
This time around, Wood will spend five weeks in the Antarctic, living out of a tent about 11,500 feet above sea level. The area gets comparatively little snow. And when the weather is calm, the Antarctic is eerily quiet. But the winds can be explosive and harsh.
“There’s a sort of hum to the wind,” Wood says. “It can get nasty.”
Follow Sciencedude on Twitter at grobbins, and add me as a friend on Facebook.
“
