Orange County Register

John Wood, who teaches sixth grade at Talbert Middle School in Huntington Beach, is on Mt. Erebus in the Antarctic, helping scientists from New Mexico Tech to perform a “CT-scan” on the huge volcano. They’re doing so by placing seismometers around Erebus, which is 12,451 feet tall. We emailed questions to Wood, who is living in a tent on the side of Erebus. Here’s how he responded:

Q: How is the research going?

A: The experiment is on schedule at this time. The weather has been cooperating with mostly clear days with temps in the -10 to -30 range, and winds that have been tame. Of the over 100 seismometers that will be used in this experiment, all but about 25 have been ski-dooed, carried, and dragged in to position on the volcano. Working in small groups, most of the seismometers are being placed in a pre-determined grid around the crater. The units that are left need to be placed in areas that are difficult to reach and dangerous to work in. (The seismometers are in the orange boxes.)

Q: Was it hard reaching the top of Erebus? Looks like there’s plenty of snow and ice.

It’s a three day trip to the top of Mt. Erebus. You leave McMurdo Station by helicopter for the 20 minute ride to the Fang Ridge at about 9,200 feet. After two nights of acclimatization at Fang, we drove ski-doos up the ridge to the Lower Erebus Hut at over 10,000 feet.

After a couple more days of resting and further acclimation, you are ready to begin serious work. Myself and several others experienced loss of sleep and headaches during this period. The upper portions of the mountain are a patch-work of snow and ice fields, rocky outcrops, and venting fumaroles that create a maze for deploying seismometers by ski-doo. However, using high res photos from Google earth along with hand-held GPS units, we have been able to work out paths of delivery before wandering out into the field.

Q: What’s it like sleeping in a tent on the side of a volcano? Does the wind keep you awake? Are you cold all of the time?

A: Sleeping in the tent is great. Once you’re in the bag! The wind is a constant reminder of the cold. The sun is always up so sleeping for some is difficult. In the morning the ring of frost around your face reminds you not to move too quickly.

Q: Have you learned anything new about the Antarctic that you simply overlooked during your earlier trips?

A: Coming back to the Antarctic after a 20 year break I find that much has changed, but not enough so that I still feel a bit at home. As you go through the training courses for altitude illnesses, ski-doo handling and repair, waste removal, and survival school, I am constantly reminded that the elements and being prepared are the two things that do not lend themselves to second chances. Each day in the field forces you to reconsider your choices of clothing and food.

Q: How will you celebrate Christmas?

A: Christmas will be a gathering in the Lower Erebus Hut with everyone who is still here. We have made special requests from the supply house in McMurdo and I think eveyone has brought something to share. I will most likely be baking cheesecakes for the holidays.

(Click here to read Wood’s Antarctic journal.)

Got a question for John Wood? Send it to me by email. Make sure to include your full name and the city you live in. grobbins@ocregister.com

• Real-time quake monitor
• Earthquake jiggles O.C. for third time since Sunday
• UCI endowment drops $17.7 million, pinching science
• Professor in sex ed course flap might leave UCI
• NASA issues new satellite image of O.C.’s Freeway Fire
• CSUF to study why Southern California climate is getting drier

You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.