Palmer Station

This past Saturday (1/3/15) we arrived at Palmer Station on Anvers Island. This is one of 3 permanent US research stations on Antarctica – the other two are McMurdo Station and the South Pole. During the summer field season (now) Palmer is home to ~45 scientists and personnel. When our ship arrived it more than doubled the population on the island!

We stopped to resupply their food, drop off scientists, and pick up a few that had been living on station for a few weeks.

Palmer Station has 3 main buildings and a few smaller sheds for storage; the small orange things in the foreground are people coming out to greet our ship as it docked. (Photo courtesy of Jess Fitzsimmons)

During our 48 hour port call we finished setting up our lab spaces and many of us took the opportunity to hike / snowshoe the glacier directly behind the station. This glacier has been receding – most dramatically in the last 20 years.

The group I’m a part of even used the hike as an opportunity to collect a few glacial/snow melt samples to help us understand what’s flowing from the continent into the ocean.

Jess Fitzsimmons (Rutgers U.) takes a syringe sample of meltwater near the base of the glacier. She will analyze this sample back in New Jersey for iron (Fe), an element that is essential for algae to grow.

A strategically placed snowmobile for rescue operations near the top of the glacier, should an emergency arise.

Rob Sherrell and Jess Fitzsimmons (both Rutgers U.) and myself on top of the glacier.

The view from the top of the glacier. Flags mark the boundary of where it is safe to walk so we don’t fall into a crevasse.