1. Dry Valleys, Antarctica 77°00' S Latitude 162°52' E Longitude (31 December 2004 – 3 February 2005)

2. Christchurch, New Zealand

3. Clothing issue in Christchurch

4. C-141 Starlifter Transport to Antarctica

5. The 5.5 hour flight to Antarctica (not fun)

6. Landing on the Ice Shelf

7. Transport to McMurdo Station

8. McMurdo Station

9. Mount Erebus

10. Helicopter ride to the Dry Valleys

11. Taylor Valley (Photo courtesy of Mike Prentice; http://www.valmap.unh.edu/)

17. Lake Hoare Camp

20. Research Labs

21. Solar Power for Station

22. Tents To Sleep In

23. High-Tech Outhouses

24. ALL waste is shipped out to the US.

26. Andrew Fountain The Team Glen Liston

27. Jon EbnetThomas Nylen

28. Our goal is to understand how sediment on the glacier influences glacier melt.

29. Each glacier has different sediment loads and surface characteristics.

36. Sea Ice Ice Bergs Lake Ice Glacier Snow

39. We either flew or walked to our research sites/glaciers.

42. The presence of sediment has a huge influence on melt rates.

43. Dirt melting into the ice.

44. The melt features can be very large.

45. Melt walls 10 m (30 ft) tall.

46. The melt finds its way into valley streams.

47. The stream discharge is measured throughout the Dry Valleys.

48. The present glacier over-riding an old lateral moraine.

49. A glacier calving study.

50. These glacier walls are very impressive.

52. Helicopter Operations

53. Mass balance measurements on the Taylor Glacier.

54. Interesting Geology

59. More Helicopter Operations

61. Mummified seals, up to 3500 years old.

63. Meteorological Station Maintenance

66. Ventifacts, caused by abrasion of wind-blown grit.

68. Permafrost, Ice-Wedge Polygon Study

70. The lakes in the Taylor Valley are generally covered by very dirty ice that is a few meters thick.

71. A dirty, ice-covered lake, with a research hut.

72. Like the glaciers, the sediment plays a large role in the lake-ice melt.

73. Re-freezing of the lake moat.

75. Lake Ice Melt

76. Algal mats (under water), showing sand underneath, and oxygen bubble production.

77. Orange-colored algal mats, with ice above that contains bubbles from algal productivity.

78. Otherwise, a visibly dry, and unvegetated landscape.

79. The glaciers are truly amazing!

80. We head back to McMurdo.

84. Penguins

85. Mutton

86. Time to head back to Christchurch.

88. Dreaming of vegetation.

89. The End