I’ve been getting some questions about the types of rocks in Antarctica. This photo shows alternating layers of Beacon Sandstone and Ferrar Dolerite, two types of rock that we see at many of our field sites. The Beacon is Devonian in age (ball park 380 to 400 million years old) and is the lighter stuff in the photo. The Ferrar is Jurassic (150 to 180-ish million years old) and is the darker stuff in the photo that has intruded the Beacon. The Beacon is pretty poorly cemented, so it makes great ventifacts. I put a picture up earlier in this blog of me sitting on a really cool small overhanging ventifact (if you click on the November link under the archives section in the right hand column of this page, that will take you to the overhang photos). That was also the Beacon Sandstone. I took this photo through the window of the helo, and although it is stunning, it doesn't do justice to the actual beauty of the formation. Every exposure out here is like eye candy because there are no plants or soil coverages hiding the rock. Really incredible.

Here is a meteorite!!! I actually got to touch it (and obviously photograph it.) All of the meteorites they find in Antarctica are biologically studied (they are looking for any organic material), so normally you are not allowed to touch them. However, someone accidentally sneezed on this one, so you can actually touch it now! How cool is that??? I photographed the shiny side, which is the fusion crust side. Fusion crust forms on the outside of the meteorite when it is heated by traveling through the atmosphere. This photo shows the meteorite on my field notebook. If I had been thinking, I would have stuck a scale in there. It is about the size of a baseball. I was really enthused to hold it. I’ve never held anything that has been 4.6 BILLION years old!!! Wow. I talked to one of the meteorite guys, and he said they have only found 67 this year. In previous years they have found 1000-1500. However, they are doing reconnaissance work this year looking for new sites, so I’m sure if they went back to known sites of high populations they could have found more.

In the States

I am now back on the ice. I got to go back to the States for Christmas, which was really nice. It was such a treat to see my family and Steve and his family. Here is a picture of Steve wearing the Antarctica sweatshirt I brought back for him. He is so dashing. :)

This picture brings a tear to my eye. While I was back in the States, I went to Tommy’s pizza with my mom and my sister, so much fun. Tommy’s is my FAVORITE pizza place. I had been craving pizza for months, and when I was finally able to have some….WOW. I had to take a picture. I look at it often now, and dream of the foods to come when I get back to the States….Thai, Indian, more pizza, Greek, sushi….oh my goodness sushi. So sad. At any rate, I took this photo with my cell phone, so sorry for the low resolution. Actually, speaking of that, all of these photos are a pretty low resolution, probably not good enough to print out. If anyone wants the higher res versions, drop me and email (skonfal@hotmail.com) and I’ll send you out a better copy.