NSF Web Site
U.S . An tar ctic P r og ra m , 2 00 4 –
20 0 5
U.S. ANTARCTIC PROGRAM, 2004 –2005
I. Ae ron o m y an d Astro p hy sics
II . Bio log y an d Me di cin e
II I. Lo n g -Te rm Eco lo g ical
Rese arch
IV. O cea n an d C lim a te Sy stem s
V. G eo lo gy a nd Ge op h ysics
VI. Gl acio lo gy
VII . Arti sts an d W rite rs
Pr og ra m
PD F ver sio n
U.S . An tar ctic P r og ra m , 2 00 4 –
20 0 5
I. Ae ron o m y an d Astr op h ysics
II . Bio log y an d Me d icin e
II I. Lo ng -Te rm E col og ica l
Rese arch
IV. O cea n an d C lim a te Sy stem s
V. G eo lo gy a nd Ge op h ysics
VI. Gl acio lo gy
VII . Arti sts an d W rite rs
Pr og ra m
Sp eci al In te re st
OP P h om e p ag e
Ant arcti c S cien ce s S ectio n
Po la r Re se ar ch S up p or t S ecti on
U.S . An n ua l An tar ctic T re aty
Ex cha n ge o f In fo rm a tio n
As part o f the U.S. Antar ctic Pr ogra m, nea rly 700 re se ar che rs
and specia l par ti cipa nts will conduct 139 pro je cts during the
2004–2005 a ustra l summ er, with som e pr ojects co ntinuing
thro ugh the a ustr al winter . Suppo rted by o ve r 2,000 civilia n
co ntract emplo ye es a nd U.S. mili ta ry perso nne l, these
resea rchers and specia l pa rticipa nts ( writers, artists, a nd
te acher s) will w ork a t the three U .S. y ear - round statio ns
(McMurdo, Amundse n–Sco tt South P ole , a nd P alme r), at
remo te field ca mps, with o ther natio na l a ntarctic progra ms at
locatio ns a round Antar ctica , a nd in the wate rs o f the
Southern Oce an aboa rd the U.S. Anta rctic P ro gra m's two
ice brea king re sea rch ships — Na tha nie l B. P alme r a nd
Laurence M. Gould.
These pro je cts, funde d a nd mana ge d by the N atio nal Scie nce
Founda tion (N SF) , ar e pa rt of the interna tional effort to
understa nd the Anta rctic a nd its ro le in glo ba l pro cesses. NSF
suppo rts rese arch tha t ca n best be perfo rme d or ca n only be
pe rfo rme d in Anta rctica. Besides rese arch pro je cts, N SF's
Office of P ola r Pro gr ams (OP P) a nd the Dire ctora te fo r
Huma n Re so urces support Tea che rs Ex pe riencing Antarctica
(TEA) /ARM ADA ( www.arma daproject.o rg). The ARM ADA
Pro je ct, which is administere d by the U nive rsity of R ho de
Island's Office o f Ma rine Pro grams, pr ov ide s K –12 teache rs
with an o ppor tunity to a ctively pa rticipa te in o cea n, po lar ,
and e nv ironme ntal science rese arch and pee r m entori ng.
During this a ustra l summ er, as pa rt of her pro fe ssi onal
de vel opment, Eliza be th Gibbs will work with benthi c eco logist
Stacy Kim o f Mo ss La nding Ma rine La bo rato rie s. Dr. Kim is
studying the impact of huma n a ctiv ities on McMurdo So und.
Ano ther OPP pro gra m — the Antar ctic Artists and W riters
Pro gr am (N SF 04–558) —pro vides oppor tunities for painter s,
photo graphers, w riters, and o the rs to use se rious writing a nd
the a rts to i ncre ase peo pl e's understa nding of the A nta rctic
and Ame rica 's herita ge the re.
Gro und crews fill a lo ngdura ti on, high- altitude
ba lloo n a t W illiams Fie ld,
the U .S . skiwa y nea r
McMurdo Statio n o n the
Ross Ice Shelf. The
ba lloo n ta kes adv antage
of the high-altitude w ind
curre nts that circle
Anta rctica, bringing the
ba lloo n back clo se to its
po int o f or igin, so tha t its
pa ylo ad ca n be retr iev ed.
Instrume nt pay loa d al so
se nds da ta back to
gro und rece iver s. The se
instrume nts ena ble
resea rchers to co llect da ta
about co smic ray s,
electro n pre cipita tion fro m
Ea rth's ra dia tion be lts,
The scientists co nducting the pro je cts co me primar ily fr om
U.S. univer sities and hav e won NSF suppo rt by re spo nding to and o the r sim ilar
the Antar ctic Resea rch P ro gra m Anno unce ment and P ropo sa l pheno mena in nea r- spa ce
enviro nments. ( NSF/ USA P
Guide (N SF 04–559; www.nsf.go v/pubsy s/o ds/ ge tpub.cfm?
nsf04559). Opera tional re sources in Anta rctica are a lso used photo by Me lanie C onno r,
Ray the on Po lar Ser vices
to support scientists fro m other Fe dera l a ge ncies.
Corp. )
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U.S . Antarct ic P ro gram Sc ienc e P rojects b y Disc ipline an d Research
Sit e
During the 2004 –2005 a ustra l summ er, 64 pr ojects w ill be base d at McMurdo
Statio n or a t re mo te fie ld sites, 25 will be suppo rted o n re sea rch ships, 33 will
work a t A mundsen –Sco tt So uth Po le Statio n, a nd 17 will work in and a round
Pal mer Sta tion.
Science highlights
The follo wing pr ojects are a mo ng tho se supporte d dur ing this a ustra l summ er and
winte r. W he re a ppro pria te, links fo r a dditio nal inform atio n have be en a dde d. NSF -funde d
scie nce a wa rds can also be found in the o nline N SF awa rds data base. To a ccess this
infor matio n, sea rch the data ba se at www.nsf.go v/a wa rdse arch/index .jsp . Each NSF
awa rd listed he re, as well a s in the o the r sections of this docume nt, includes the a war d
number, which can be used to do a k eyw ord se ar ch.
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Biology and medicine
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Lon g-term ecological res earc h (LTER). Two sites in Antar ctica —one in the
McMurdo Dr y Valle ys (N SF/OP P 98–10219) a nd the othe r a long the we st co ast o f
the Antar ctic P eninsula ce nte red o n P alme r Statio n (N SF/ OPP 02–17282) —are
amo ng the world's 25 N SF- spo nso red LTER sites, w hich are being i nv estigate d to
incre ase o ur unde rstanding of e colo gica l pheno mena o ve r l ong tem po ra l a nd la rge
spa ti al sca les. All o f the o the r site s e xcept one a re in the U nite d Sta te s.
(http:/ /lter ne t.e du ; Pa lmer LTER, http:/ /iceflo .ice ss.ucsb.edu:8080/ ice_hp.php;
McMurdo LTER, http:/ /hue y.colo ra do .edu)
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Weddell seal p opulation dynamics. W edde ll se als have bee n studie d in
McMurdo Sound since 1968; this constitutes o ne of the longest inte nsi ve field
inv estigatio ns of long- lived mam mal s a ny where . Mo re than 16,800 anima ls hav e
be en ta gge d, and a lmost 162,000 re si ghtings ha ve be en r ecor de d. The project is
a reso ur ce for unde rstanding the populatio n dyna mics no t o nly o f W edde ll sea ls,
but a lso o f other specie s o f terr estria l a nd ma rine ma mma ls. N ew wo rk thi s
se aso n include s a sse ssing the r ole o f foo d re sources in lim iting the po pula ti on.
(NS F/OP P 02–25110; www.ho me pa ge .m ontana .e du/ ~rga rro tt/index.htm )
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Before -an d -af ter s tud y of a s ewage out fall s it e. The human impact on
Anta rctica is sm all and gener ally highly lo calize d, with o ne m easura ble po int being
the for mer sew age o utfall a t McM ur do Sta tion. This pro je ct co llected "befor e" data
in 2002 and ea rlie r w hile the o utfal l wa s still ope rating a nd is co llecting "a fte r"
da ta this sea son and nex t follo wing the Ja nua ry 2003 comple tion o f M cM ur do 's
ne w se wage tre atme nt plant. W hile o rga nic input to the sea flo or dro pped
imme dia tely a nd dram atica lly, the co ld wate r is e xpected to reco ve r mor e slowly
tha n tem pe rate w ater wo uld. The project seize s this unique o ppor tunity to
understa nd anthr opogenic impacts i n a pola r e nv ironme nt. A seve nth- gra de
scie nce te acher has jo ined the te am to le arn fir stha nd ho w the r esea rch is do ne
and to tra nsfer the proce ss a nd outcom es of po lar science to the classro om.
(NS F/OP P 01–26319; http:/ /benthic.mlm l.ca lstate .e du , click o n Antarctic
Resea rch, then Aspire ; TEA/ ARMADA,
http:/ /tea .rice.edu/tea _gibbsfro ntpa ge .html )
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McMurdo Dry Valleys as an analog f or Martian enviro nments . Endo lithic
microbia l co mmunities (those te rrestria l flo ra liv ing just bel ow the surface o f
rock s) inhabit har sh envir onme nts tha t m ay re present the clo sest anal og to the
enviro nment on M ars. As par t o f a study o f the che mica l signatures o f endolithic
microbe s in ho t a nd cold de se rts, bio logists will te st a unique set of po rtable ,
no nde str uctiv e instrume nts in the McM ur do Dry Va lley s. The se instr um ents do not
ne ed to to uch the ro cks tha t ho st the or ga nism s in order to dete ct the subtle
che mical biosigna tures asso cia ted with life. The instrum ent suite , ca lled SP ISE3, is
co mpose d o f a spe ctror adiom eter , a porta bl e ga s chrom ato gr aph, and a n
ultra vio let visible light wa ve lengths fluore sce nce spe ctr ome ter a nd imager . The
pro je ct is part of an N SF –Na tional Ae ronautics and Space Administra tion ( NA SA)
co lla bo rativ e pr ogra m ca lled Astrobiol ogy Science and Technolo gy for Explor ing
Pla ne ts ( ASTEP ). ( NASA a ward 02 –0040–0014)
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Ocean and climate systems
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Surface carbon dioxide in the Drake P ass age. The So uthe rn Ocea n is an
impo rta nt com po ne nt o f the glo bal carbo n budget. Low surfa ce tempe rature s with
co nseque ntl y low ve rtical stability , ice form atio n, and high winds produce a ve ry
active e nv ironme nt for the ex cha nge o f gase ous ca rbon dio xide be twee n the
atmo spher ic a nd oce anic re serv oir s. The Dra ke P assage is the nar rowe st point
thro ugh which the A nta rctic C ircum po lar Curre nt a nd its a sso ciate d fronts must
pa ss. This cho ke po int is an e xcelle nt site to me asure the la ti tudinal gr adients o f
ga s e xchange . The rese arch ice brea ke r Laurence M. Gould will suppo rt a pro je ct
to mea sur e disso lve d and to tal carbo n diox ide , prov iding da ta that, with satel lite
images, will e nable re sea rche rs to estima te the ne t pro duction and e xport of
ca rbon by o ceanic bio ta. (N SF/ OP P 03–38248 and N SF/ OPP 03–38155;
www.lde o.columbia .e du/r es/pi/ CO2)
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An Slo pe, cros s -slo pe exc hang es at t he An tarct ic Slope Front. W ha t is the
role o f the Antarctic Slope Fr ont a nd co ntinenta l slo pe m orpholo gy in the
exchanges of mass, he at, a nd freshwa ter be twee n the shelf a nd oce anic r egimes,
pa rticula rly those le ading to o utflow s o f dense wate r into inter media te and dee p
laye rs ne ar dee p basins a nd wor ld oce an cir cula tion? AnSlope, a multiy ea r
exper iment, fo cuse s o n these cro ss -slo pe ex cha nges betwe en the Antar ctic Shelf
and the de ep ocea n. Although scientists understa nd the ro le that cold- water
masses o rigina ting in the Anta rctic play in glo bal oce an cir cula tion and clima te,
the proce sses by which these m asses ente r dee p o cean circulatio n ar e not we ll
understo od. The prim ary go al of A nSlo pe is to ide ntify the principa l physical
pro cesses that go ve rn the tra nsfer o f shelf-modified dense wa ter into
inte rme dia te and dee p la yer s o f the adjacent de ep o cea n, as wel l a s to
understa nd the co mpensato ry pole war d fl ow of wate rs fro m the o cea nic regime .
(NS F/OP P 01–25172, NSF /OPP 01–25521, NSF /OPP 01–25523, NSF /OPP 01–
25084, N SF/OP P 01–25431, and N SF/OP P 01–25602;
www.lde o.columbia .e du/r es/fa c/ phy so cea n/anslo pe )
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Aeronomy and astrophysics
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A 10 -met er telesc ope for Sou th P ole Stat ion —Sout h Pole obs ervat ion s to
test c osmological models. Much o f the ma ss in the Univ erse is made up o f dark
matte r, which e mits li ttle or no light o r other ele ctrom agnetic radiatio n a nd mak es
its prese nce k no wn o nly thro ugh the gra vita tional force it ex erts on luminous
matte r. The U nive rsity of C hica go will lea d a consor tium o f six institutio ns to
de si gn and use a 10-mete r o ff-axis tele scope lo cated at Amundse n–Sco tt South
Po le Statio n to surve y gala xy clusters. This surv ey will all ow the m to study
inte gra ted cluste r a bunda nce and its red shift e vo lutio n a nd will giv e precise
co smo logical constra ints, co mplete ly inde pe nde nt of tho se fr om supe rnov a
dista nce a nd cosmic micro wav e ba ckgro und a nisotro py me asure ments. ( NSF /OPP
01–30612; http:/ /astro .uchicago .e du/ sco ar a/m ay 2004work sho p/TALKS/ sptca rlstro m)
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IceCu be. During the 2004–2005 a ustra l summ er, a co nso rtium l ed by the
Unive rsity of W isconsin–Madison will be gin drilling into the ice she et fo r the
IceCube Obser va tory a t the So uth Po le. IceCube is a ne utri no te lesco pe that will
be buried 1.4 to 2.4 kilo me ters under the ice and wil l be used during the a ustra l
summ ers ov er 5 y ea rs. The de tector will consist of 4,800 o ptica l m odules
de plo ye d o n 80 ve rtical strings. AMAN DA ( antarctic muo n and ne utri no de te ctor
arra y) is the pro toty pe fo r this interna tional col labora tive e ffo rt. U si ng ne utr ino s
as co smic me ssenge rs, Ice Cube w ill o pe n unex plo red wav ele ngth bands a nd will
answer such fundame nta l questio ns a s what the physica l co nditio ns in ga mma ra y
bursts a re a nd whe ther the photo ns o rigina ting in the Cr ab supernov a re mnant
and nea r the supe rma ssive black ho les of a ctiv e gala xie s a re of ha dr onic ( deriv ed
fro m subato mic pa rticles co mpo sed of quark s) or e lectro magnetic origin. The
te lesco pe w ill a lso be used to ex ami ne the particle na ture o f dar k matte r, a id in
the quest to observ e supe rsymm etric pa rticles, and sea rch for co mpa ctifie d
dime nsions. (N SF/ OPP 02–36449; http:/ /icecube.wisc.e du)
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Cosmic mic ro wave bac kground (C MB) polariz ation measu rement s.
Sci entists will mo unt QUEST, a 2.6 -mete r Ca ssegrain tele sco pe equipped with a
ne xt -ge ne ratio n pola rizatio n- se nsitiv e bolo mete r arr ay, on the e xisting degre e
angula r sca le interfero me ter (DASI) pla tfo rm at South P ole Sta tion. They will use
the co mbine d syste m, which wi ll o pe ra te o ve r two austral winters, to mak e ma ps
of the pola rizatio n o f the CM B—the faint, r elic he at fr om the Big Ba ng— which
offe rs a snapsho t of the U niv erse a t the point whe re it transitio ne d from hot
pla sma to neutra l gas. The statistics of the e xpected sk y patte rn for a give n
co smo logical theo ry can be a ccura tely ca lcula ted, a nd a ho st o f e xperim ents hav e
no w m ea sure d the v aria tion of C MB's to tal intensity, or tem pe rature . Tak en
to gether, the se mea sureme nts hav e be gun to rev ea l the o rigin, co mpo sition,
evo lution, a nd ul tim ate fate o f the Univ erse . The QUEST sy stem will prov ide
mea sure me nts at an unprece de nted sensitiv ity and a ngular re so lution. ( NSF /OP P
03–38138, NSF /OPP 03–38238, and N SF/OP P 03–38335;
http:/ /astro .uchicago .e du/ da si)
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Glaciology
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Airborne g eophys ic al survey of th e Amun dsen Sea embayment . The
Amundsen Sea e mbay ment is the third ma jo r draina ge ba si n of the W est Anta rctic
Ice She et after the Ro ss a nd W edde ll S ea e mba ym ents. Fa r fro m logistics ce nte rs,
it is co mpa ra tivel y unstudie d. Ho wev er, rece nt sate llite data a nd the limi te d
amo unt of existing ice thickne ss data indicate that it ha s the lar ge st ice flux in
West Antarctica. Mo reo ve r, it is the o nly draina ge ba si n ex hibiting signi fica nt
cha nge in e lev atio n during the era of sa tellite o bse rva tions. The Unive rsity o f
Te xas and the British Anta rctic Sur vey a re ma king a co mprehe nsiv e
aer ogeo phy si ca l surv ey o f the emba yme nt's ma jo r dra inages —Pine Isla nd Basin
and Thwa ites Glacie r Ba sin. Geo phy sica l maps re sulting fro m the se sur vey s wil l
guide future surfa ce -ba sed re sea rch. (N SF/OP P 02–30197;
www.ig.utexa s.edu/ rese arch/pro je cts/aga se a )
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West Ant arc tic Ice Sheet s tability. The Bottle ne ck —a unique, rela tive ly narro w
pa ssa ge in the Tr ansantarctic Mo unta ins co nnecting the We st a nd East A nta rctic
Ice She ets —is lo cated at the Ohi o Range near the hea d of Mer cer Ice Stre am in
West Antar ctica . The gla ciers in this a re a are se nsitiv e to change s in snow
accum ul atio n and pre do minant wind dir ectio n. When co mpare d with the re cor d of
the fluctua tions o f the adjacent ice she et, the timing o f a lpine glacie r adva nce wil l
yield info rma tion tha t ca n be use d to te st clima te re co nstr uctio ns base d on
antarctic ice co re reco rds. In a dditio n, the gla cial reco rd in the B ottle ne ck re fle cts
the histor y of the intera ction of the W est Anta rctic a nd East Antarctic Ice Sheets
and can be used to test hy potheses re ga rding the co lla pse o f the fo rme r during
the P leisto cene ( 10,000 to 1.8 million ye ars ago ). ( NSF /OPP 03–38189)
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Geology and geophysics
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Bu ried ice in t he west ern Dry Valleys , Antarct ic a— An analog for Mart ian
ice? Burie d ice deposits may po tentially co nta in a far -rea ching re cor d of Ea rth's
atmo spher e and clima te ex tending back ma ny millio ns of ye ars. These deposits
are te rrestri al a na logs to wide spr ea d and y oung bur ied ice o n the Ma rtian sur fa ce
as ide ntified by r ecent da ta from Ma rs Ody sse y. Just a s e arlie r re sea rche rs aske d
whe the r a clima te reco rd wa s sto red i n the mo dern ice she ets of Anta rctica and
Gre enla nd, scie ntists are no w a sking whether a ncie nt, de bris- co ve red gla ciers in
the we stern Dr y Va lley s hold simila r r ecor ds of te mpera ture and a tmo spheri c
cha nge, but on time scale s that ar e pe rhaps gre ater than tho se for the deepe st
existing ice co re. The ice to be ex am ine d is ov er a mill ion y ea rs old, ma king it by
fa r the o lde st ice y et know n on Ear th. A bette r understa nding of sur fa ce pro cesse s
abov e burie d ice will ena ble r esea rchers to acce ss a re cord of a tmo spher ic a nd
clim ate change tha t co uld we ll co ve r inter va ls that predate Quate rnary time
(11,000 to 1.8 millio n y ea rs a go ). Since the co nditions in the Dry Vall eys ar e
analo go us to those fo und o n Ma rs, e xte nding the results co uld bring va luable
insight into studie s o n the pote ntia l fo r life o n Ma rs. ( NSF /OPP 03–38291;
http:/ /peo ple .bu.edu/ mar cha nt/ the me sBur iedIce2.htm )
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Demonst ratio n o cean -bott om drillin g in th e James Ross Basin. Scie ntists
will deplo y a drill r ig o n the rese arch ice bre ak er N athaniel B. Pa lmer to te st the
fe asibility of ship- ba sed diam ond co ring alo ng the antar ctic continental ma rgin. If
successful , this SH ALDRIL mo bile sy stem will be able to ex pl ore the no man's land
be twee n the ne arsho re (whe re the fa st-ice -ba sed Ca pe Rober ts P roject was
successful ) and the upper slo pe ( whe re Ocea n Drilling P ro je ct's Jo int
Oce anogra phic Institutio ns for Deep Ear th Drilling Re so lution be come s m ost
efficie nt) . (N SF/ OPP 01–25922, NSF /OPP 01–25480, and N SF/OP P 01–25526;
www.arf.fsu.edu/ sha ldril.cfm )
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Seis mograph. The world's quiete st e arthqua ke de te ctor is 300 mete rs bene ath
the surface o f the ice she et 8 ki lome ters from the So uth Po le. Com ple ted in 2002,
the sta ti on is detecting v ibra tions fo ur tim es sm alle r tha n those re corde d
pre vio usly . Other seismo graphs hav e been the re since 1957, a nd long- te rm, highlatitude da ta ha ve hel pe d prov e tha t the Ear th's solid inner co re spins fa ster tha n
the re st o f the pl anet. A lso, Anta rctica is the continent w ith the fe west
ear thquak es, so the new statio n will re cord small re gio nal ea rthquak es, l eading to
ne w insights into the Antarctic Pla te. ( NS F/EAR 00–04370;
www.iris.w ashingto n.edu/a bo ut/GSN )
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Magmatism in th e Dry Valleys: A w orkshop . The most challe nging a spe ct o f
understa nding ma gm atism is tha t so little o f the integrate d nature o f the full cycle
ca n be directly e xa mined. P laneta ry ma gm atism is a multifa ceted pr ocess
inv olv ing a spe ctrum o f interle av ed chem ical and physical proce sses r esponsible
fo r the chemica l tr ansfo rma tion of the initia l primitiv e ma gm a into the final
pro duct. Ea ch com po ne nt ca n be fo und expo se d so mewhe re on Ear th, and ea ch
ha s bee n studie d for nea rly a century, but finding a nd studying a ny rea sonable
exa mple of the e ntire pr oce ss in a ful ly inte gr ated contex t has prov en si ngularly
elusive . The F erra r dole rites of the M cMurdo Dr y Valle ys ex hibit the thre edime nsional structur al ev olution of an e xte nsiv e ma gma tic sy stem that fo rme d
180 m illion ye ars ago. This system co nta ins all the esse ntia l fea tur es o f m ajor
magma tic syste ms, which a re see n o nl y pie ceme al e lsewhere i n the world.
Because this unusua l a rea is so inacce ssible , geo logists hav e cho sen to hold a 2 wee k fie ld wo rksho p to introduce 20 to 25 re sear che rs to the wo nde rs o f the
McMurdo Dr y Valle ys, to stim ula te cutting- edge r esea rch, and to delinea te the
unsolv ed pro blems posed by this magma tic sy ste m. This wo rking co nfe rence will
entail di scussions and la bo rato ry wo rk at McM urdo Sta tion and fieldwo rk in the
Dry V alle ys. ( NSF /OPP 02 –29306)
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Oth er programs
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An tarct ic Artis ts an d W riters P rog ram. This progra m, which re cords the
Na tion's a nta rctic cultura l her itage and e xte nds unde rstanding of the re gio n a nd
the U .S . Antarctic Pro gram within the rese ar ch comm unity a nd be yo nd, w ill
suppo rt the fo llowing six proje cts.
Artist /Writer
Yann Arthus -Bertra nd
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Project Title
Mission Anta rctica
Even t
Number
W- 27-M
Ele na Gla sbe rg
End a s beginni ng: An Am erica n
antarctic ima gina ry
W- 219-M/S
Judith Nutter
Time , place , a nd imaginatio n ima ges
and poe ms from Anta rctica
W- 220-P
Susa n Fo x Ro ge rs
Anta rctic a ntho logy
W- 216-M/S
Connie Sam ara s
Vast Acti ve Liv ing Inte lligence Sy ste m:
Photo gr aphing the So uth Po le
W- 221-S
Ga br ielle W alk er
Anta rctica: The Biogra phy o f a
Continent
W- 223-M
Scou ting in Ant arc tica. In a na tionwide com pe tition, the Girl Scouts o f the USA
se lecte d Senio r Gir l Sco ut Dev on Vail o f Fa irbanks, A laska , to par tici pa te in this
austral sum mer 's field pro gram in Anta rctica. Ms. Va il, who is a bio lo gy m ajor at
the U niv er sity o f Ala ska , will tak e time o ff fro m he r studies to wo rk with U .S.
scie ntists ba sed at McMurdo Statio n.
U.S . Antarct ic P ro gram, 200 4– 2005 : S it es o f
Major Act ivities
McMurdo, A mundsen –Sco tt South P ole , a nd Pa lmer Sta tions o pera te y ear - round. During
the 2004 –2005 a ustra l summ er, fo ur m ajor field ca mps will oper ate in West Antarctica
(Byr d Surface, Sipl e Do me , Thw aites Glacie r, a nd Pine Isla nd). Sma ller cam ps will
opera te in the McMurdo Dry Va lley s a nd Tra nsa ntarctic Mo untains regio ns. S ix a uto ma te d
ge ophysical obser va to rie s a nd mor e tha n 100 a uto ma te d we ather statio ns o pe rate y ea r round. The we ather statio ns invo lve interna tional col labora tion with the Ita lian, Ger man,
Austra lian, a nd British pro gra ms. The ma p sho ws U.S. Antar cti c P rogra m lo catio ns during
the 2004 –2005 sea son. ( Da ta and m ap we re prepar ed by Ke lly Brunt, Ra ytheo n P ola r
Serv ices .)
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