Here is an English language transcript of the podcast called "Arctic Drift" from the MOSAiC website that is otherwise only available in German. It was posted there on 21. March but it the "now" it refers to was probably sometime in the week of the 15th March, when the Polarstern was drifting South rather rapidly.
MOSAIC_AUDIOLOGBOOK14
Commentator Audio Now.....The Audio-Logbook.
Torsten Kanzow: my name is Torsten Kanzow: and I’m leader of the third leg of MOSAiC. I’m a physical oceanographer and work at the Alfred-Wegener-Institute for Polar- and Ocean- Research.
Commentator: In the meantime, the crew of the third leg of the MOSAiC expedition has reached the Icebreaker Polarstern and is already continuing scientific work. The expedition leader Torsten Kanzow and his team had to endure a journey there that was not only a very arduous and challenging, but also took much longer than originally planned.
Torsten Kanzow: we successfully completed the journey here to the MOSAiC ice floe, to the Polarstern, on board a Russian icebreaker the Captain Dranitsyn, and the journey from Tromsø up to 88 degrees North, almost to the North Pole took a total of four weeks. And I would say it featured a number of challenges. Immediately after our departure from Tromsø on 27. January we anchored in a neighbouring fjord for the first four or five days because we had to weather the bad conditions on the open ocean and could only continue when they’d passed. We reached the edge of the ice in the Barents sea relatively quickly
but then we suffered an excruciating slow passage through the ice that lasted for several weeks and during that time it wasn’t really predictable how long it would take until we reached the ice floe. We tried to maintain a lot of contact with the Alfred-Wegener-Institute, that was closely following what we were doing. At some stage we realised that to some extent it was going to be a battle with the fuel reserves of the Dranitsyn, so that at some point different options as to how we could manage the exchange with the participants of the previous leg were brought up. There was lots of discussion about whether perhaps helicopters could succeed in bridging the distance between the Dranitsyn and the Polarstern for the last part of the trip or whether the journey time of the Dranitsyn should be extended, and in the end the last variant was chosen. This was because what our home base in Bremerhaven was able to organise was that, in effect, another icebreaker would set off to sail in the direction of the Dranitsyn, to meet her in the ice as she was returning to Tromsø after having brought us to the floe, and refuel her.
Torsten Kanzow: we actually arrived at the floe at the beginning of March, when the conditions had already changed so that we could see the first light of the Arctic dawn, whereas during the whole journey there we’d been in complete darkness, and so I think naturally we were very, very relieved when we finally arrived. This is because for many of the expedition’s participants it was of decisive importance to be able to set up their experiments and do on site research. After months and in some cases years of preparation for many of us it would have been very, very distressing and shattering if we hadn’t managed to get here. So, we were very, very glad when we covered the last miles and were able to moor on the MOSAiC floe.
Commentator: after the long and gruelling trip, even before he arrived at Polarstern itself, the new expedition leader was rewarded with a visual treat.
Torsten Kanzow: as soon as we came within range of the helicopter, it was already the case for me that I was flown to the Polarstern as part of the vanguard from the Dranitsyn, so to speak, to arrange details of the exchange between the participants of the second and third legs. What that meant was that the vanguard was able to actually observe the observatory from the air and that on a very, very beautiful day on which the dawn light could be clearly seen for the first time. It was an absolutely breath-taking flight and an awesome sight. Then at the first opportunity after I landed, I looked out of the window of the Polarstern at the observatory and it was of course totally, totally different to just looking at something I had, till then, only known from pictures. Then came the realisation that I was there at last and that all that travelling had been worth it.
Torsten Kanzow: as it happened, I went to the Ocean-City on the day of my arrival. My colleagues, whom I know from the Alfred-Wegener-Institute had invited me there. In the Ocean-City measurements of the ocean are being made, mainly physical measurements, but water samples are also being taken. My colleagues are active there almost every single day and what it involves is a small tent that has been placed on pontoons on the ice and, in the middle of the tent there is a hole through the ice, so that you can see through the sea ice down to the water. Measuring instruments are put into the water, through this hole, to allow measurements and samples to be made at depths of up to 4000 metres.
Commentator: The handover of the scientific monitoring stations on the ice floe took several days and was hampered the extreme temperatures there. After successful completion of the handover the new team of leg three is correspondingly relieved and motivated to be able to finally get on with their real work.
Torsten Kanzow: It was a phase during which we had extremely low temperatures. We had temperatures of around minus 40. We had good visibility, but it was very, very cold. At such cold temperatures the mechanical devices on the ships and all the mechanical devices that are required to move freight from one ship to other are naturally operating at the limit of their capabilities. The hydraulic systems of the cranes were not operating well. In addition, we had the situation that the Dranitsyn wasn’t moored directly next to the Polarstern, but a kilometre away on the same floe. This was done on purpose to hinder any destruction of the ice in the vicinity of the Polarstern as a result of the arrival of the Dranitsyn. So, our colleagues prepared a sort of small road on the ice floe. A path on the ice was cleared and for the first couple of days the exchange of materials and personnel was really rather sluggish, because of the problems that I’ve just mentioned, but then things improved as the handling of the individual pieces of equipment could be, so to speak, better adapted to the conditions. And so, after five or six says we were through with the exchange and hadn’t just transferred all the freight from the Dranitsyn to the Polarstern, but also all the personnel, who were conveyed from one ship to the other on sleds. This was a phase during which, at the same time, the scientists from the second leg had to hand over and explain the use experimental equipment and sensors. It was a very, very intense period. But I believe that I, and everyone else who participated, was very glad when it ended and one could get cracking on one’s own. We all appreciated it a lot to have the floe in our hands, so to speak, and to get to work as individual teams.
Commentator: Despite this, even for Kanzow and his team, the new surroundings are still very unfamiliar and so even after the first few days he still doesn’t feel quite at home.
Torsten Kanzow: I believe that that takes just a little more time. I haven’t yet inspected everything. Naturally, to begin with, we were faced with the challenge of familiarising ourselves with everything and setting up our daily routines, and then getting on with our projects. I was very strongly involved in events here on board and couldn’t be out in the field as often as many of my colleagues. I hope that that will now soon change. In particular, its self-explanatory that we don’t just have to keep the scientific side of things going, but we must also be logistically in the position to service and maintain our infrastructure to ensure that we can always be reached, especially by air. I am already active in this respect and am trying to fulfil this part of my responsibilities
Commentator: Since a few days after the arrival of the first scientists of leg one in September the sun hasn’t risen above the horizon. The polar night is now coming to an end. During the last week it’s gradually been getting lighter and the first sunrise can be seen.
Torsten Kanzow: We would have been really happy to happy to experience the moment of seeing the sun for the first time, but today we didn’t see it. It wasn’t visible for the whole day, because we have had very, very strong winds here, bad visibility and to some extent low cloud. So today wasn’t much different from the day before. It was an exciting day, because our position shifted quite a lot and we were kept very busy organising how we could protect certain pieces of equipment from cracks in the ice. It began yesterday and has continued till now. That meant that we had a lot of practical worries to deal with rather than concerning ourselves about the sun. However, a celebration party is planned to welcome the sun. We still have to decide on the day, because at the moment the weather really isn’t good enough for grilling outside.
Commentator: Because of the extreme conditions in the Arctic, both the scientists and the technical staff are continually confronted with new challenges. The new expedition leader is particularly impressed by the tireless efforts of the logistics team.
Torsten Kanzow: When we arrived on the floe, a fleet of various vehicles was handed over to us. We could move around on the floe with them or use them, for instance to prepare a landing strip. It included 2 Pisten-Bullis and 8 Skidoos. But then within a few days, because of the extremely low temperatures and other technical defects we were only in a position to start 3 of the Skidoos and neither of the Pisten-Bullis could be used. That meant that we were able to see with our own eyes how quickly the technical requirements, that are a prerequisite for working in the field here, can become shaken or even be forgone as the result of extremes of temperature and other technical difficulties. What particularly impresses me was how the people here are applying themselves to getting all our equipment back into working order under these extreme conditions. Motors are being dismantled and parts removed, fuel lines cleaned and other diverse operations carried out at temperatures of minus 30 or minus 40. So, by now we already have 7 of the skidoos up and running and today both Pisten-Bullis were running again. That naturally requires the logistics people to invest a lot of energy in keeping us fully operational.
Commentator: Apart from the scientific projects the handover to the crew of the next leg must also be planned. This is should or rather must take place by air. The existing airstrip must be modified for this.
Torsten Kanzow: Until now, one of the foci of my work was to try and find and survey a site that would be suitable for a landing strip. This is because the exchange of the next cohort of scientists at the beginning of April should be taking place by air. That’s something to which we must give priority. We do have a landing strip already, but it’s not suitable for the type of aircraft that we are planning to deploy for the exchange. So we’re working on an alternative, but very recently the conditions changed rather abruptly as a result of the mobility of the ice, through cracks and leads that have appeared in the ice. I believe that we now have to work in parallel to ensure that working conditions on the ice remain safe. That must certainly be a focus that is assured or to see, after the storm that we are currently experiencing has ended, how we are still able to get to our measuring equipment. How can we make sure that it‘s possible to carry on working safely? I think that’s one focus and another one is to work on the options for the landing strip. A third focus, that I am attempting to set up scientifically, is to enable physical oceanographic measurements to be carried out. Together with other scientists we are developing an experiment to understand the processes that go on in these areas of open water that appear as the result of cracks and leads opening and that are in direct contact with the atmosphere. That’s a situation that interests many of us here. It’s a situation in which a lot of oceanic heat is released into the atmosphere, and that affects the ocean, which cools as the result of sea ice being formed, while on the other hand, how can I say it, the atmosphere gets a source of energy that can drive atmospheric circulation. That’s where we are at the moment, scientifically preparing things somewhat and it’s a theme that will keep me occupied in the coming weeks.
