Expedition Timeline

• Nov. 14 - John Schutt and Jamie Pierce leave the US for Christchurch, New Zealand.
• Nov. 18 - John and Jamie fly from Christchurch to McMurdo
• Nov. 26 - The main group (Ralph Harvey, Nancy Chabot, Cari Corrigan, Maggie Taylor, Juanita Ryan, Duck Mittlefehldt, and Matt Genge) leave the US for Christchurch.
• Nov. 30 - The main group leaves Christchurch for McMurdo
• Dec. 4, 5 - Survival school and shake-down trip in McMurdo Sound (to test out the gear).
• Dec. 8 to 11 - Multiple put-in flights to Meteorite Hills using Twin Otter Aircraft. Jamie stays in McMurdo
• Dec. 12 - Linda Martel leaves US; a few days later she joins Jamie in McMurdo for training and final preparations.
• Dec. 21 - Linda and Jamie travel to Meteorite Hills; same aircraft takes Duck and John to Finger Ridge icefields.
• Dec. 25 - Wild christmas party at Meteorite Hills; Santa arrives, exhausted, at the end of his day.
• Dec. 28 - Twin Otter picks up John and Duck at Finger Ridge, delivers them back to Meteorite Hills. Ralph and Juanita head back to McMurdo, and a few days later to New Zealand and home.
• Jan 21-23 - Multiple pull-out flights from Meteorite Hills to McMurdo
  • 1 hr. later: First shower in 6 weeks, followed by call home and checking email
  • 1 hr. 10 min. later: Turn off computer; 658 email messages are too much too quickly.

The Location
The 2001-2002 ANSMET field party will be returning to the Meteorite Hills area at the headwaters of the Darwin Glacier. The map section of the site shows the general region of Antarctica we'll be in and some specific locations of interest in the area.

The Darwin Glacier region was first explored by ANSMET in 1978, when helicopter support was available from a camp further down the glacier. Several nearby icefields were visited briefly during helicopter supported reconnaissance. Most promising of these was an area at the western end of the Darwin Mountains, where 27 meteorites were recovered and which later was officially named the Meteorite Hills. This success proved the potential of the area, and in 1996 a second, more detailed reconnaissance trip took place. That visit sent two people to the site for a week, and during their efforts to fully characterize the site in terms of terrain, meteorite density and terrestrial rock lithologies and abundance, they recovered an additional 38 specimens. The results of both trips suggest the possibility of significant recoveries from the site requiring at least a full season of work, and the site was the primary target of the 2000-2001 field season. Results were better than expected, with approximately 750 specimens recovered from partial searches of the icefield.

Based on the results from the 2000-2001 season, plans were made to immediately return for 2001-2002. There's still lots of systematic searching to do, particularly at the south end of the icefield; so back to Meteorite Hills we go.

Field Life
Life in the field with ANSMET can be more pleasant than camping in the States. No noisy Winnebagos, no trash at the campsite, no bugs or snakes, no rain, and the bears are carefully color-matched to the terrain - its ideal (and relax about the bears; there are no polar bears in Antarctica). In general, ANSMET teams carry enough gear to provide spartan but comfortable conditions. The team will be living in Scott tents, which are double-walled to insulate and about 9 ft on a side. We sleep in down bags, so warm that many people don't zip them up at night. We cook with small white-gas stoves, which also warm the tent. Radio contact with McMurdo is maintained via shortwave, and we check in daily. Usual weather conditions call for temperatures between -10 and -20ºC with winds that average about 20 kph. It can be a lot nicer than that, but it also can be a lot worse; it's not unusual for the team to be stuck inside the tent for a week or more as the wind howls at 80 kph or faster. The team tents and cooks in groups of two, to provide a little bit of privacy. Workdays usually are spent driving around on snowmobiles (each team member has one) or walking around on foot looking for meteorites. With 24 hours of daylight, the team sometimes works irregular hours as the job-at-hand demands or the weather permits. Since we know the whole 2001-2002 season will be spent at the Meteorite Hills site, there's no need to live an entirely nomadic lifestyle, and the camp will contain a few "luxuries" not typically found on an ANSMET expedition. In addition to the 4 Scott tents for sleeping, we'll have a larger (12x16) tent for working and social gathering; perhaps even some regular communal meals! Finally, by popular demand, there will be a very old, threadbare Scott tent set up downwind of camp and over a deep hole in the snow. I'll leave you to figure out what that's for; let's just say the 2001 field team will be a little less exposed than previous seasons.