
Not many of us will have a white Christmas this year, but a group of scientists are ensuring one as they conduct research on the Antarctic Peninsula.
While snow and good cheer are expected, their Christmas activities will be very different from those back home. Dr Kate Winter, from Northumbria University, and her colleagues will deploy instruments on the Flask Glacier to study the way meltwater affects how quickly glaciers flow into the ocean.
Winter, along with other researchers, will start Christmas morning in an orange pyramid tent, where their sleeping bags are laid out on sheepskin rugs over wooden planks.
“We might put some extra seasoning in our porridge,” Winter said. The team will decorate their tent with handmade wool ornaments, and maybe indulge in some hot chocolate. “And then I think we’ll go and do some science in the morning. It could be a long day if we’re in a tent thinking about the people living at home.”
Winter said the team planned to ski 4 miles (6 kilometers) or so to their research site, where they would perform various tasks such as installing solar panels.
While sledding, scientists will be strapped together like Santa’s reindeer. “If one of us falls into a crevasse, we depend on others to rescue us,” Winter said.
But it won’t be all work. Winter, who has spent Christmas in Antarctica before, has plans afoot. “I will be teaching others how to make ice cream in Antarctica,” she said. The process includes Angel Delight powder, condensed milk and snow from the landscape.
What else is on your holiday list will come as a surprise. “What [the chefs] “What we do is they package the food for us as well, and we can keep it frozen, in the ice next to our tent,” Winter said. “We may not know what we’re getting for Christmas dinner – we can just take it out and put it in a pot of boiling water.”
Without an easy internet connection, video calls are difficult and sending photos is difficult, but the team hopes to text or call families.
“I have two little kids at home, so I’ll hear what they have from Santa,” Winter said. “I organized well before I left.”
Dr. Ruhi Muthiala, another team member from Columbia University, said before setting off that she was looking forward to the expedition.
“Antarctica is definitely more special than any other place you can be. So I’m definitely excited to go through the whole experience. Everything seems surreal, and when it snows, it feels magical,” she said.
Dr Ben Davison, a member of the team from the University of Leeds, said: “We will be on a glacier that few people have ever been to before, and we will be doing some really important work with a fantastic team. I think this will be a really rich experience that we hope will be remembered for a long time.”
Dr Rowan Whittle, a paleontologist at the British Antarctic Survey, will also spend Christmas in Antarctica – although she’s not expecting a frosty landscape at her base on King George Island, about 75 miles off the coast of Antarctica.
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Whittle is part of a team of fossil hunters who hope to dig into the distant past for insights into the future.
“When we went [to Antarctica] “Last time, we were looking at marine organisms that lived on the sea floor when Antarctica was warm and forested,” she said. “This is the field trip we’re going to take [explore] When Antarctica first became covered in ice.
The idea was to compare seafloor communities between the two massive climate shifts, an endeavor that could shed light on the implications of a warming climate in the future, Whittle said.
Whittle expects Christmas Day will be spent setting up camp on the island, a site that will be full of penguins, even though it is devoid of snow.
Penguins are often found frolicking on Christmas cards, but some of their ancient relatives were even scarier. “About 38 million years ago, I got fossils of penguins, but they were giant penguins, about 6 feet tall… with long, pointed beaks. “So, feral penguins,” Whittle said.
While his home may be in the Arctic Circle, researchers hope he will find time to visit the Antarctic this year. “A fully articulated penguin fossil would be amazing,” Whittle said.