Karen Vasko’s subject wasn’t camera shy.

When Karen Vasko signed on for a National Science Foundation–supported research expedition to the coldest, windiest, highest, driest continent on Earth, she thought she knew what to expect. After all, she had been fully briefed beforehand—as had the rest of the team, which included five undergrads and two graduate students. Geophysicist Bruce Luyendyk, department chair and professor of Earth Science and principal investigator in the Institute for Crustal Studies, had told them all about the climate, the gear, the distance, the duration, the digs, and the science.

Weeks before they headed for the ice to investigate the marine geology of Antarctica’s Ross Sea in an area near the geographic and magnetic poles, the undergraduates took a mandatory course in geophysics. (They also had medical exams, immunizations, and full dental tune-ups.) Karen’s father even sent her an article from National Geographic that described her destination. Karen says with a laugh: “It alluded to cold and risk.”

Doing Research WhenThe Light is Best—From 12 Midnight to 8 am

But despite the extensive prepping, when Karen actually reached the research destination in January 2003, she found the environment even more striking than she had expected. The minus-15º Antarctic summer had begun; the interplay of clouds and sunlight on the exposed rock, ice, and ocean was often spectacular; the sun’s light was visible to varying degrees 24 hours a day; and penguins paraded about. Working from their ship, the RVIB (research vessel/icebreaker) Nathaniel B. Palmer, the UCSB team explored an area near the Ross Ice Shelf where two icebergs—one more than 30 by 90 miles and one half that size—had recently calved [broken off], exposing roughly 4,000 square miles of unexplored sea floor. The calvings also provided an opportunity to observe processes taking place under a major ice shelf—a largely unknown environment.

The Ross Sea, in the light of the midnight sun.

Science at 15 Below

Essentially, the researchers were preparing for future drilling from the Ross Ice Shelf into the sea floor in order to answer questions about the evolution of the East and West Antarctic Ice Sheets, Antarctic climate, global sea level, and tectonic history of the West Antarctic rift system. Scientific work included core sampling, long geophysical profiles, and detailed survey grids over potential drilling sites, using such data-collecting resources as swath sonar bathymetry, and gravity, magnetic, sub-bottom, high-resolution, and deep-penetration seismic data. Among other tasks, Karen used acoustical methods to determine the structure below the ocean floor.

Wherever Karen's geology degree takes her--perhaps to work in industrial geotechnology or to graduate school later on, one thing is certain, she says—“I would love to return to Antarctica!”

Research program: “Collaborative research: Antarctic Cretaceous-Cenozoic Climate, Glaciation, and Tectonics: Site surveys for Drilling from the Edge of the Ross Ice Shelf.” Bruce Luyendyk, principal investigator; Douglas Wilson, co-PI. National Science Foundation grant administered by the Institute for Crustal Studies.