The wind howls loudly, and strong gusts rattle the Korean War–era Jamesway hut from side to side as cold air seeps in. Researchers dress in big red parkas and white bunny boots before bracing the piercing air to perform routine maintenance at the nearby lake. The few tents that line the edge of Lake Bonney in the McMurdo Dry Valleys house the few researchers who study and monitor long-term ecological changes in Antarctica.
Last fall, graduate students Kayla Hubbard and Charlie Dougherty (’23) were among these select scientists, conducting research under Associate Professor of Integrative Biology Hilary Dugan.
“I have done three seasons, and this season has been the windiest I’ve seen,” says Dougherty, who is earning his master’s degree in freshwater and marine sciences.
Their task was to measure long-term changes in the frozen lakes in the area. Shifts in water level and ice cover are often caused by climate variation, but there haven’t been big enough shifts lately to justify some of the numbers they were seeing. So, what’s causing it? That’s the question Dougherty sought to answer.
Dougherty focuses on permanently ice-covered lakes in the McMurdo Dry Valleys and specifically on how the ice on these lakes thickens and thins over time. These lakes are unique. Unlike most lakes that melt each summer, these lakes retain their ice cover all year, thinning in the summer and thickening in the winter. Using satellite imagery, he found that clean ice and snow reflect solar radiation, but the dark patches created by wind-blown sediment hinder the lakes’ ability to reflect solar rays, increasing energy inputs into the lakes. These findings suggest that wind, along with regional temperatures and cloud cover, plays a major role in thinning ice layers on the lakes.
Hubbard’s research is on Antarctic hydrogeology and how groundwater interacts with lakes beneath the frozen surface. This topic is relatively under-researched in Antarctica, so in the coming years it could give more insight into hydrological connections between glaciers, lakes and even the ocean.
“It’s a privilege to be able to work in such a unique and harsh environment,” says Hubbard, who is completing a PhD in geoscience. “We gain a lot of perspective doing science somewhere so remote and untouched. [Antarctica] is so different from anywhere else on this planet, and that is amazing.”
Despite the cold, there are benefits to doing research in such a remote environment. The McMurdo Dry Valleys are extremely sensitive to climate change. The glaciers, streams and ice-covered lakes are among the first to react when there are even small shifts in climate conditions. Hubbard and Dougherty’s work may provide insights into geographical responses to human impact on the climate. Their research is part of a larger National Science Foundation–funded Long-Term Ecological Research project that has studied the valleys since the ’90s.
“These long-term projects enable us to do science in a way that is impossible in normal grant cycles,” Dugan says.
Hubbard and Dougherty’s schedule for when they could travel to other lakes via helicopter or perform routine maintenance depended heavily on the environment. The day-to-day weather in Antarctica is extremely unpredictable, forcing researchers to remain flexible.
The grittier work happened at nearby lakes. That’s where Dougherty and Hubbard had to drill through 12 to 15 feet of ice to retrieve last year’s sensors and deploy new ones. They use regular ice-fishing augers, and the drilling process could take anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour, leaving them tired and covered in engine soot.
We gain a lot of perspective doing science somewhere so remote and untouched.
The sensors placed in the lake serve several different purposes. Light sensors measure the amount of sunlight penetrating lakes in the Dry Valleys, which was imperative to their work of understanding ecological conditions, and what organisms can live there. Even beneath more than 10 feet of lake ice, algae can survive and photosynthesize.
Hubbard and Dougherty also replaced and maintained pressure sensors to track how much the lake levels rise and fall. These sensors, along with temperature and conductivity sensors, were necessary for Hubbard to track the interaction between groundwater, subglacial discharge and lakes in the Dry Valleys.
Once the hole is drilled, researchers could spend two to four days melting ice around the sensors before replacing them. This required precision to ensure everything was swapped correctly and nothing froze in the process. The sensors record data all winter, so they must make sure everything is perfect before they leave.
“Those were our big days, and then the rest of our week was mostly spent building up to that,” Dougherty says.
Everyone who travels to Antarctica is held to environmental regulations outlined in the Antarctic Treaty guidelines to ensure that the natural habitat is not disturbed.
“How do we do science more efficiently and effectively to lower our carbon footprint while still being there? There’s been a lot of effort put toward reaching that goal,” Dugan says.
To protect the environment and lower carbon footprints, Dougherty and Hubbard were required to follow strict procedures. And while the scientists would prefer not to use fossil fuels to conduct maintenance and experiments, it’s a necessary part of the system set up to do the work as efficiently as possible.
“We try to strike a balance between finding new, innovative solutions and using methods from Antarctic researchers before us that we know work,” Hubbard says.
While adjusting to icy, dry Antarctica weather was challenging, and the work in the field was grueling, for Dougherty and Hubbard it was a life-changing experience.
“Working in Antarctica has given me the best education in environmental science anyone could hope for,” Dougherty says. Hubbard adds, “It’s really rewarding to complete a field season in Antarctica knowing that we were able to overcome challenges and still be successful.”
