Real Climate Conundrum

Dr Hamish McGowan, Dr David Neil at the McMurdo Dry Valleys

University of Queensland researchers have visited one of the most desolate and beautiful places on Earth to discover why temperatures are dropping in some parts of the world and increasing in others.

In November 2002 Dr Hamish McGowan and Dr David Neil from The University of Queensland's School of Geography, Planning and Architecture began a four-year study to uncover the reason for regional climate inconsistency.

They studied the geographic landscapes of the McMurdo Dry Valleys in the Antarctic where temperatures are decreasing at about 0.7 degrees celsius per decade.

During their month-long expedition they studied land forms such as sand dunes to reconstruct the wind regime of the Victoria Valley; part of the McMurdo Dry Valleys.

"The sand dunes in the Victoria Valley preserve a record of wind direction and wind speed which in turn can be linked to changing weather patterns," Dr McGowan said.

"Wind direction is the overriding control on temperature. It determines whether the air mass originates from the relatively warm Ross Sea region or the much colder Ross Ice Shelf."

The study is part of an ongoing initiative between UQ and the Antarctic Research Centre at the Victoria University of Wellington in New Zealand.

Dr Neil said previous studies in the Victoria Valley had suggested the sand dunes were frozen, however, air photos indicated otherwise.

"We wanted to see if the literature was correct or if, as the air photos indicated, that the dunes responded to changes in wind direction. Even the Antarctic field manual we were given suggested the dunes had remained stable for thousands of years," Dr Neil said.

Dr McGowan said it was clear on arrival at the Victoria Valley that the dunes were active. He said meteorological monitoring equipment was used in conjunction with sediment traps to measure sand transport rates. Sand samples were also collected for dating. "From this information we can determine how the dune field has responded to past changes in climate and we may even be able to extract a record of precipitation from the buried snow lenses that are preserved in the dunes," Dr McGowan said.

Although there is little snow in the Dry Valleys, both researchers carried out their work in temperatures well below zero.

"The freezing winds and sand being blown at you made the task of operating the instruments many times more difficult. It was often a juggling act between trying to do the job and avoiding frost bite," Dr Neil said.

During the expedition the research team lived in polar tents 60 to 70 minutes by helicopter from the base.

Before flying into the Victoria Valley they were required to complete an Antarctic field training program.

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