Current Events

  • Atmospheric CO2 Level Tops 400 ppm
    During the week of May 13th, the CO2 level at the Mauna Loa Observatory in Hawaii topped 400 ppm rep...Read more

    x

    Atmospheric CO2 Level Tops 400 ppm

    During the week of May 13th, the CO2 level at the Mauna Loa Observatory in Hawaii topped 400 ppm repeatedly. Daily levels of CO2 can vary due to weather, and there are seasonal trends as well. The level of atmospheric greenhouse gases continues to increase, now over 120 ppm since the Industrial Revolution began. For more on the Keeling Curve, see http://keelingcurve.ucsd.edu/. Find out more about greenhouse gases and warming.
  • Massive Tornado Outbreak on Tornado Alley
    The week of May 19 brings dozens of tornadoes to Tornado Alley in the states of Oklahoma, Kansas, Io...Read more

    x

    Massive Tornado Outbreak on Tornado Alley

    The week of May 19 brings dozens of tornadoes to Tornado Alley in the states of Oklahoma, Kansas, Iowa, Illinois and Missouri. On May 20th, a massive tornado struck Moore, Oklahoma, devastating communities - destroying over 100 homes and hitting two elementary schools and a hospital - with many casualties and deaths. Our thoughts are with our friends and colleagues suffering from these storms. For more on the May 20th storms, see the NOAA Storm Prediction Center Storm Report.
  • Kansas Legislator Proposes Bill to Outlaw Sustainability Education
    A bill has been introduced in the Kansas legislature this week that would prohibit the promotion of ...Read more

    x

    Kansas Legislator Proposes Bill to Outlaw Sustainability Education

    A bill has been introduced in the Kansas legislature this week that would prohibit the promotion of sustainability. Here is a link to the one-page bill: http://www.kslegislature.org/li/b2013_14/measures/documents/hb2366_00_0000.pdf. See report on Bloomberg News.

    Image courtesy of S.E. Walker

From: Sally Walker
Explorers Cove Field Camp, New Harbor, McMurdo Sound , November 1, 2008

The Research Team and Artist Gather at New Harbor and Research Begins!

At last, the entire research team is at New Harbor, and everyone is busy constructing sediment samplers, testing sediment corers and retooling them, and making experiments to be put on the sea floor before the ice starts to melt in early December.  Why are we doing this? Our goal is to figure out why there are so few fossils of Antarctica’s sea creatures. 

Molly Miller (on right in upper left photo) is keen to start work. She explores the sea ice to collect sand and gravel deposited from the strong winds.  She will compare the grain sizes she finds above the ice, to those on the sea floor.  She also is studying how fast sediments are deposited on the sea floor in New Harbor.  This affects whether an organism makes it into the fossil record. Sediments piling up quickly may lead to better preservation of fossils. If sediments are slow to accumulate, then the shells and bones of organisms may not be preserved as well.

Sam Bowser (center in the upper left photo) is studying some of the smallest creatures in the Antarctic. He is looking at the diversity of single-celled organisms (protists) and whether they are likely to be preserved in the fossil record. Both Molly and Sam have over 30 years of experience working in this desert of snow and ice. 

I am working on the fossil forensics of mollusks in Antarctica, especially the Antarctic scallop, Adamussium colbecki.  My experiments are designed to measure the amount that shells disolve in these icy waters.  Artist, Claire Beynon (right) joined us, tending dives and facilitating art projects from around the world.   There was such a whirlwind of activity in New Harbor, with continuing ice dives.  The middle picture shows Shawn and Cecil ready to dive.

Soon, we had to get to our other field sites, Herbertson Glacier and the Bay of Sails that were farther away, before the sea ice started to melt.

Molly Miller's Antarctic Web Page

Sam Bowser’s Antarctic Web Page

Claire Beynon’s Polar Art

Go to the next postcard

Postcards from the Field: Polar Fossil Mysteries

You might also be interested in:

Traveling Nitrogen Classroom Activity Kit

Check out our online store - minerals, fossils, books, activities, jewelry, and household items!...more

What Is a Fossil?

Fossils are evidence of ancient life preserved within sedimentary rocks. They are clues to what living things, ecosystems, and environments were like since life has existed on this planet. The oldest...more

Sea Ice in the Arctic and Antarctic

Sea ice is frozen seawater. It can be several meters thick and it moves over time. Although the salts in the seawater do not freeze, pockets of concentrated salty water become trapped in the sea ice when...more

Wind

Wind is moving air. Warm air rises, and cool air comes in to take its place. This movement creates different pressures in the atmosphere which creates the winds around the globe. Since the Earth spins,...more

Step 3: Deposition (Sediments Settling Down!)

When water or wind loses energy and slows down, sediment can no longer be carried in it. The particles of sediment fall through the water or air and form a blanket of sediment on the bottom of a river,...more

Kingdom Protista

Members of the Kingdom Protista are the simplest of the eukaryotes. Protistans are an interesting assemblage of organisms classified for what they are not. Protistans lack characteristics shared by plants,...more

Antarctica

Antarctica is unique. It is the coldest, windiest, and driest continent on Earth. The land is barren and mostly covered with a thick sheet of ice. Antarctica is almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle...more

Christchurch, New Zealand

Landing in Christchurch, New Zealand, one of the world's windiest airports, is unforgettable. Snowcapped Southern Alps, braided streams criss-cross the landscape amidst a patchwork quilt of green pastures,...more

Shop Windows to the Universe

We now offer the Cool It! card game in our Science Store. Cool It! is the new card game from UCS that teaches kids about the choices we have when it comes to climate change.

Windows to the Universe, a project of the National Earth Science Teachers Association, is sponsored in part by the National Science Foundation and NASA, our Founding Partners (the American Geophysical Union and American Geosciences Institute) as well as through Institutional, Contributing, and Affiliate Partners, individual memberships and generous donors. Thank you for your support! NASA AGU AGI NSF