Sastrugi In Colour
The depth of winter and there is still a warm glow on the horizon on cloudless days, with bright oranges and reds, it not only temporarily lights the northern sky but its warmth suffuses across the ice and sastrugi.
Man on the Perimeter
Sastrugi are sharp long ridges of snow that form in the direction of the blowing wind, generally found on polar plains, they can grow upto at least a metre high. Starting as small imperfections in the ice, as the windward side is eroded and ice deposited on the leeward side, they grow long and thin, lying generally parallel to the direction of the wind and each other.
A Surface of Ice Shortly After a Blow
A photo from March
However, Halley for various reasons does not experience the unrelenting katabatic winds experienced elsewhere on the continent, the wind frequently changes direction and it may well be because of this that the sastrugi fail to achieve particularly large sizes. Nonetheless, they are still hard on the ankles when running and will catch a ski-tip if not vigilant.
Sastrugi and the Laws
Sastrugi, as an English word derives from the Russian zastruga, variably translated as a furrow or a small ridge. Scott frequently mentions them as obstacles ('The hard surface gave place to regular sastrugi...'), in his final journal, hinting there at the common frustration as moving across smooth firm ice is hindered by the appearance of these undulating ripples of ice. As for the blog's titular sausages I have to admit I am not quite sure why, apart from the alliteration, they appear!
More Melt Tank Fun
Digging the melt tank in a small blow
With the Midwinter celebration behind us there is still at least another six weeks until the sun makes its appearance and any considerable amount of outdoor work becomes feasible. The average temperature of June was -31°C with a monthly minimum of -47.5°C; regardless of the wind, most machines refuse to even think about working at these temperatures, so what has to be done is done by hand or postponed until the temperature improves. However, though one is not able to adapt physiologically to cold environments (as opposed to tropical climates where humans do tolerate heat better), for reasons that are not terribly clear, -30°C no longer seems in the least bit cold on a windless day.
More Sastrugi in the Dark
Midwinter marks an important time for me on base- the Midwinter Dental check. All the Docs coming South spend some time on a dental first aid course at RAF Halton in the UK prior to our deployment. I supplemented my time by sitting in with the BAS dentists both in the UK and on the annual visit to Halley from the Ernest Shackleton. Since it will be six months before a dentist comes here again, a check-up, even if it is being done by me, should be of some benefit.
Dave Does Dentistry
Dave (ZMet) gets to grip with a dental probe and mirror on me
There is an increased risk of dental problems while South for various reasons, including that the water being melt-water is almost entirely free of fluorine, along with the change in diet that most people experience while they are here. Interestingly, supposedly a third of all military medevacs from Afghanistan are for dental related problems, even accounting for trauma and injuries. It is easy to forget, particularly as doctors unused to dentistry, the morbidity associated with dental problems, hence the need for surveillance and good dental hygiene while South, as is also needed in the Armed Forces.
My Dental Check-Up
Clockwise from Ant (wearing safety glasses), Brian, Mark, Tamsin & Dave
As the only Doc on base, when it comes to my turn for a check-up it turns to the rest of the base to have a go; seven or eight took the opportunity to extract revenge by playing around with dental tools and a polishing brush in my mouth.
Dave Successfully Practising Intravenous Cannulation
From before my before my Midwinter shave (Photo by Pete)
Part of my time during the winter is spent preparing for a weekly DocSchool session on a Thursday afternoon. The rationale is to train a number of people up to cover me in my absence from base, be in a position to help me should I need assistance with a procedure or sick individual, as well as consolidating their knowledge of first aid for time in the field or elsewhere. The latest session, covering blood grouping and transfusion, given that everbody is a potential donor should the need arise, also reassured everyone that most of the participants are not form-shifting aliens. The concern about this possible infiltration by different life-froms arises from the infamous Antarctic horror B-movie 'The Thing' (prescribed Midwinter viewing), where the only way to identify the true alien is from blood-letting each base member into a petri dish.
DocSchool in the Dining Room
The TV screen in the corner displays the current weather data outside
Post-Midwinter also means more medical science projects and the collection of other bodily fluids from base personnel ready to volunteer. Apart from the continuing lightbox project, which requires a fortnightly urine collection for 48 hours to quantify the levels of the hormone melatonin, most people are also participating in a collaborative project related to cortisol levels (a human hormone produced in response to stress), over the course of the period we are alone down here. This requires intermittently a three-day saliva collection, a process involving cotton wool balls to absorb the saliva at several points during the day, not unlike leaving a Jacob's water biscuit in the mouth for five minutes. I am as ever grateful for everybodys willing participation in all the projects, even if the novelty starts to wear off rapidly.
The Laws In Orange
In the eastern area of the base, which is nominally a recreational area, free from buildings and windtails, there stands a small memorial. It remembers those few people who lost their lives while working at Halley, the most recent being over twenty years ago. Made from a small sledge and no more than a metre high, it cuts a clear shape against the northerly glow.
The Memorial in the Eastern Perimeter
Man on the Perimeter
Sastrugi are sharp long ridges of snow that form in the direction of the blowing wind, generally found on polar plains, they can grow upto at least a metre high. Starting as small imperfections in the ice, as the windward side is eroded and ice deposited on the leeward side, they grow long and thin, lying generally parallel to the direction of the wind and each other.
A Surface of Ice Shortly After a Blow
A photo from March
However, Halley for various reasons does not experience the unrelenting katabatic winds experienced elsewhere on the continent, the wind frequently changes direction and it may well be because of this that the sastrugi fail to achieve particularly large sizes. Nonetheless, they are still hard on the ankles when running and will catch a ski-tip if not vigilant.
Sastrugi and the Laws
Sastrugi, as an English word derives from the Russian zastruga, variably translated as a furrow or a small ridge. Scott frequently mentions them as obstacles ('The hard surface gave place to regular sastrugi...'), in his final journal, hinting there at the common frustration as moving across smooth firm ice is hindered by the appearance of these undulating ripples of ice. As for the blog's titular sausages I have to admit I am not quite sure why, apart from the alliteration, they appear!
More Melt Tank Fun
Digging the melt tank in a small blow
With the Midwinter celebration behind us there is still at least another six weeks until the sun makes its appearance and any considerable amount of outdoor work becomes feasible. The average temperature of June was -31°C with a monthly minimum of -47.5°C; regardless of the wind, most machines refuse to even think about working at these temperatures, so what has to be done is done by hand or postponed until the temperature improves. However, though one is not able to adapt physiologically to cold environments (as opposed to tropical climates where humans do tolerate heat better), for reasons that are not terribly clear, -30°C no longer seems in the least bit cold on a windless day.
More Sastrugi in the Dark
Midwinter marks an important time for me on base- the Midwinter Dental check. All the Docs coming South spend some time on a dental first aid course at RAF Halton in the UK prior to our deployment. I supplemented my time by sitting in with the BAS dentists both in the UK and on the annual visit to Halley from the Ernest Shackleton. Since it will be six months before a dentist comes here again, a check-up, even if it is being done by me, should be of some benefit.
Dave Does Dentistry
Dave (ZMet) gets to grip with a dental probe and mirror on me
There is an increased risk of dental problems while South for various reasons, including that the water being melt-water is almost entirely free of fluorine, along with the change in diet that most people experience while they are here. Interestingly, supposedly a third of all military medevacs from Afghanistan are for dental related problems, even accounting for trauma and injuries. It is easy to forget, particularly as doctors unused to dentistry, the morbidity associated with dental problems, hence the need for surveillance and good dental hygiene while South, as is also needed in the Armed Forces.
My Dental Check-Up
Clockwise from Ant (wearing safety glasses), Brian, Mark, Tamsin & Dave
As the only Doc on base, when it comes to my turn for a check-up it turns to the rest of the base to have a go; seven or eight took the opportunity to extract revenge by playing around with dental tools and a polishing brush in my mouth.
Dave Successfully Practising Intravenous Cannulation
From before my before my Midwinter shave (Photo by Pete)
Part of my time during the winter is spent preparing for a weekly DocSchool session on a Thursday afternoon. The rationale is to train a number of people up to cover me in my absence from base, be in a position to help me should I need assistance with a procedure or sick individual, as well as consolidating their knowledge of first aid for time in the field or elsewhere. The latest session, covering blood grouping and transfusion, given that everbody is a potential donor should the need arise, also reassured everyone that most of the participants are not form-shifting aliens. The concern about this possible infiltration by different life-froms arises from the infamous Antarctic horror B-movie 'The Thing' (prescribed Midwinter viewing), where the only way to identify the true alien is from blood-letting each base member into a petri dish.
DocSchool in the Dining Room
The TV screen in the corner displays the current weather data outside
Post-Midwinter also means more medical science projects and the collection of other bodily fluids from base personnel ready to volunteer. Apart from the continuing lightbox project, which requires a fortnightly urine collection for 48 hours to quantify the levels of the hormone melatonin, most people are also participating in a collaborative project related to cortisol levels (a human hormone produced in response to stress), over the course of the period we are alone down here. This requires intermittently a three-day saliva collection, a process involving cotton wool balls to absorb the saliva at several points during the day, not unlike leaving a Jacob's water biscuit in the mouth for five minutes. I am as ever grateful for everybodys willing participation in all the projects, even if the novelty starts to wear off rapidly.
The Laws In Orange
In the eastern area of the base, which is nominally a recreational area, free from buildings and windtails, there stands a small memorial. It remembers those few people who lost their lives while working at Halley, the most recent being over twenty years ago. Made from a small sledge and no more than a metre high, it cuts a clear shape against the northerly glow.
The Memorial in the Eastern Perimeter
