11 September 2022 - FIRE MEETS ICE AT Mt. EREBUS - ANTARCTICA

 

FIRE MEETS ICE 

AT Mt. EREBUS

 - ANTARCTICA -

G'day folks,

Fire meets ice at the southernmost volcano on Earth. 

Erebus. It’s a good name for the volcano. In Greek myth, Erebus was the son of the god Chaos, and his mother was Gaia or Earth. Erebus was made of darkness and shadow, and he filled the corners of the world with his darkness.

Currently, the most active volcano in Antarctica and the southernmost active volcano on Earth, the Mt. Erebus volcano features a 1,700-degree Fahrenheit lava lake, a swirling pool of magma that may be many miles deep: one of only five such lava lakes that exist in the world.

 

While the inside of Mt. Erebus may be extremely hot, outside of it, one would quickly freeze to death in the Antarctic temperatures. Riddling the side of the snow-covered volcano are ice caves, carved out by the escaping volcanic gases. Because of the gas, the ice caves stay a consistent 32 degrees, making them a likely spot for undiscovered extremophiles. The volcanic gases heat their way through these ice caves and escape into the air to form enormous 60-foot chimneys of ice, or “fumaroles” with deadly volcanic gases pouring out from their tips.

Discovered in 1841 by polar explorer Sir James Clark Ross, it was easy to identify Mt. Erebus as a volcano as it was erupting at the time. (Ross Island, which Mt. Erebus is on, is named after him as is the Ross Ice Shelf.) Later, polar explorer Ernest Shackleton would make the first ascent of Mt. Erebus between 1907-1909 on the Nimrod Expedition.

One of the things that makes Erebus significant - and the reason it is the location of the Mount Erebus Volcano Observatory, or “MEVO” - is that Erebus is one of only a few consistently active volcanos in the world. Rather than lying dormant and then spectacularly erupting once every few hundred years, though it does that on occasion too, Mt. Erebus is always on, bubbling, releasing gas and flinging ten feet wide “volcanic bombs” - hunks of molten rock which sometimes explode on landing - through the air. For a vulcanologist, Mt. Erebus is a dangerous but dreamy research site.

Mt. Erebus is also the site of a famous and tragic air disaster. An Air New Zealand DC-10 airliner on a sightseeing flight became lost in a whiteout and crashed into the side of the volcano on 28 November 1979, killing all 237 passengers and 20 crew. Famed explorer Sir Edmund Hillary was supposed to have been on board but canceled at the last moment.

Debris from the crash is still visible on the volcano, despite an extensive recovery and clean up the mission. The unclaimed remains of the crash victims are entombed at a memorial at the Waikumete Cemetery in West Aukland, New Zealand where every year a wreath is laid in memory.

 

14 August 2016 - MORTON HENRY MOYES

MORTON HENRY MOYES

G'day folks,

Morton Henry Moyes (1886-1981), Antarctic explorer and naval officer, was born on 29 June 1886 at Koolunga, South Australia, second surviving son of John Moyes, headmaster, and his wife Ellen Jane, née Stoward. Two brothers were John Stoward (1884-1972), Anglican bishop, and Alban George (Johnny) (1893-1963), journalist and cricket commentator.

Moyes was educated at the Collegiate School of St Peter, Adelaide, and the University of Adelaide, graduating B.Sc. in physics and mathematics in 1910, and representing the university at football and athletics. He was South Australian high and broad-jump champion in 1906-08 and in 1909, while teaching at Townsville Grammar School, represented Queensland in the Australasian amateur athletic championships.

At university Moyes had been greatly impressed by his geology lecturer (Sir) Douglas Mawson and from Rockhampton Grammar School he successfully applied to join Mawson's Australasian Antarctic Expedition of 1911-14. He was meteorologist for the western base party under Frank Wild which was to winter on the Shackleton Ice Shelf; he had received a few days of instruction in meteorology in Hobart in November 1911. In November 1912 Moyes was left alone in the winter-quarters hut while a group, led by Wild, went on a sledging trip. The loss of a sled delayed the group's return and Moyes endured nine weeks of anxious solitude, sustained by his strong religious faith.

After returning to Australia in March 1913 Moyes became headmaster of the University Coaching College in Sydney. He was recruited as a naval instructor at the newly established Royal Australian Naval College in February 1914. Initially he specialized in mathematics but soon began to teach navigation and in 1915 spent some months in the cruiser H.M.A.S. Encounter, gaining practical navigating experience. He was promoted senior naval instructor in January 1916 and his polar experience was recognized when he was made navigating officer of the Aurora which, commanded by Captain John King Davis, sailed from New Zealand to the Ross Sea in December to rescue marooned members of (Sir) Ernest Shackleton's Trans-Antarctic Expedition.

Moyes found it galling to be 'chained to an office' at the naval college while others went to war. The naval board twice refused him leave to enlist in the Australian Imperial Force and rebuffed his plea for 'active service in the Navy' as his duties were considered of national importance. Finally, in October 1918 his resignation was approved for 31 January 1919, too late to achieve its purpose. On 11 January 1919 Moyes married Miriam Esther King at St James' Church, Sydney. He applied to rejoin the navy and was accepted as an instructor lieutenant in December with seniority for previous service. For nearly a decade his postings alternated between time at sea in cruisers instructing junior officers and sailors and shore service at H.M.A.S. Penguin and H.M.A.S. Cerberus where he supervised schoolmaster and instructor officers; he was promoted instructor lieutenant-commander in 1920 and commander in 1924.

In September 1929, at Mawson's request, Moyes was seconded to the British, Australian and New Zealand Antarctic Research Expedition, which was to assert British territorial claims in Antarctica by means of two voyages in the auxiliary barque, Discovery. Moyes hoped to sail as a ship's officer but Davis, again in command, believed he lacked appropriate training. He joined the scientific staff as survey officer, spending long hours operating a defective echo-sounder, taking sights and drawing charts, helping with tow-nets, and assisting Mawson in executive matters.

The first B.A.N.Z.A.R.E. voyage, from October 1929 to April 1930, was not happy. Everyone became 'heartily tired of the bickering' between Mawson and Davis; Davis considered the crew and scientists formed 'two distinct parties' and was sceptical of the value of Moyes's work. However, the New Zealand meteorologist R. G. Simmers recalled Moyes as being 'very serious, precise and conscientious about his work' and 'a good steadying influence' on the younger expedition members. For private reasons Moyes did not undertake the second voyage in November 1930.

Resuming his naval career, Moyes spent nearly six years in H.M.A.S. Australia as fleet instructor officer and became the navy's first (acting) instructor captain in June 1941. Debarred from sea service by age and seniority, in November 1943 Moyes was appointed the first director of educational and vocational training at Navy Office, Melbourne, where he set up correspondence courses for those at sea and began a psychology section for vocational guidance.

When his naval career ended in 1946 he became the chief rehabilitation officer for the Commonwealth until 1951 and supervised the post-war training of some 11,000 ex-servicemen and women. In his long retirement he was an active president of the Naval Association of Australia and with rising public interest in Antarctic affairs became a minor celebrity as one of the last veterans of the 'heroic age' of Antarctic exploration.

In recognition of his three Antarctic expeditions Moyes was awarded Polar medals in silver and bronze and a bronze clasp; he was appointed O.B.E. in 1935. He was a fellow of the Royal Geographical Society and president of the Geographical Society of New South Wales in 1933-35. He contributed substantially to an A.A.E. meteorology volume and the B.A.N.Z.A.R.E. report, 'Soundings'; later he published several reminiscences of his Antarctic experiences.

Moyes was sturdily built, erect in bearing and with a direct gaze; his sanguine temperament stood him in good stead during his Antarctic expeditions. A widower without children, he died in Sydney on 20 September 1981 and was cremated after a service at St Andrew's Church, Roseville. He is commemorated by several Antarctic place-names.

 

Clancy's comment: Better him than me. Too cold for me, but one has to admire his vision.

I'm ...

 

14 June 2014 - AMAZING

AMAZING

G'day folks,

From time to time I present extraordinary work from world photographers. Here is an amazing story from another photographer, working for National Geographic. Brace yourself ...

Clancy's comment: Amazing indeed, eh? Wild creatures have many lessons to teach us humans. What a shame we do not observe them more often.

For many years my brother has subscribed me to the National Geographic magazine every Christmas. It is a wonderful magazine to drool over ... And get ideas for my own photography. National Geographic ... A wonderful showcase of the others that share this planet.

I'm ...

Think about this!