Melting Begins

This heralds the onset of spring in Antarctica. We can now safely say that the winters are finally over. This is supposed to be the least stressful part. The days are now longer than the nights. Dawn breaks at 2am and night falls at 8pm. So darkness is now just 6 hours long. It is already light when I retire for the night.

I had gone for a walk outside on 1st October 2008. On the way I crossed a number of lakes. At numerous places, where the lake is shallow, stones, rocks and pebbles jut out of the frozen lake surface. This time is noticed something odd about these rocks. A small depression had formed all around them. This was not present earlier. This was a sure shot sign of melting. Although the temperatures are still around -15°C, but the rocks absorb the sun’s radiation, unlike snow which reflects it. So even though the air temperature is low, the temperature of the rocks is above 0ºC. This causes the snow and ice around the rocks to melt. When the sun goes down, the temperature of the rocks goes down again and the water freezes again. This explains the depressions.

The thickness of the ice on the lakes would have started decreasing now. In the winters, it is about 2 meters and one can even drive a vehicle on it. But in another week or so, this would be dangerous. We will however be able to walk on the lakes for another one month or so. Then boating will start. This phenomenon also signifies that the days of our isolation are drawing to a close. Work has already started on the Novo runway in preparation for the 1st ALCI flight on 31st October Antarctica.

Happy days are here again. There is a fragrance of roses in the air and a spring in our feet.