Antarctica 2002

Philip R. Kyle, Professor of Geochemistry

It is December and here I am again sitting in a small hut at 3400 meters near the summit of the southernmost active volcano Mt Erebus in Antarctica. I am surrounded by trusted colleagues, friends and interested guests. We are engulfed in swirling snow and the temperatures are around -30°C.

Erebus continues to dominate my research interests and this year is my 32nd field season in Antarctica and 31st on Erebus. Technology is playing more and more of a role in our research efforts. NSF funded a major research instrumentation grant to me and Rick Aster to design, build and install scientific surveillance instruments around the summit of Erebus. By the end of this field season (weather permitting) we will have 6 broadband seismometers with dual frequency GPS units and a variety of other instruments (tiltmeters, microphones, SO₂, HCl, CO₂ gas sensors, IR radiometers for measuring the temperature of the magma in the persistent lava lake, weather and 
power monitoring sensors) integrated into a single data stream that is transmitted by spread spectrum 900 MHz radio to McMurdo Station and then onto the internet for the world to see. This will allow us a better understanding of the mechanisms of the small strombolian eruptions and behavior of magmatic degassing from the lava lake.