Putting Zavodovski on the map.
I had been working towards and waiting for this day for so many months. And there it was: that magic morning in the expedition tent waking up from the vital conversations (and scent) of hundreds of thousands of penguins on the most far-off-the-map island that I personally had ever set foot on. Before even fully awake, a good cup of hot coffee landed in my hands -peppered with a little penguin feather- this made my day, every day, thank you Skip!
The one important difference that distinguished this morning from the previous two was instantly noticed: the wind or rather the lack thereof. And a glimpse outside the tent’s stern side confirmed our hopeful anticipation of blue skies and a crisp clear view of the volcano’s summit. This marked the beginning of our most valuable and extensively exploited field day of perfect UAV flying conditions morning till dusk. This first moment of sheer bliss was immediately followed by a feeling of pressure that creeped its way into the back of my head and made itself comfortable there to not leave me alone until the day was over and the job was done. If we didn’t get to the summit that day, or if we lost a drone, or if we messed up the data feeds through any human factor, the ‘mission’ would have failed.
The human in me is blown away by the pristine, raw, hostile, untouched and fragile wilderness of Zavodovski Island (affectionately referred to as “Zavo” hereafter) and the entire Southern Ocean. The scientist in me looks at it all a bit different: My interest is the inner architecture, edifice stability, eruptive behavior and related volcanic hazards at active volcanic ocean islands worldwide - hot spot volcanoes and arc volcanoes likewise. Under polar and subpolar climatic conditions, volcano edifice growth and stability are affected by extreme erosion rates, mass wasting, glacier loading (and unloading), and permafrost soil conditions. Relatively small changes in temperature can lead to very different snow and ice conditions in relation to all of the above. Therefore active, shallow magmatic plumbing systems and magmatic pathways might react sensitively to even minor changes of their surrounding environmental conditions. Almost constant degassing from the summit crater of Mt. Curry (also known as Mt. Asphyxia) on Zavo suggests the existence of shallow magmatic plumbing at this volcano, which makes it an exceptional study site for investigating volcanic processes under changing climatic conditions. However, Mt. Curry belongs to a group of the most remote, inaccessible and systematically understudied volcanoes on Earth – the South Sandwich Islands. Because of their remoteness, none of the islands are equipped with permanently installed ground-based instruments and our knowledge purely relies on optical, thermal and radar satellite imagery, as well as data collected during these rare and logistically challenging visits.
The mission - collecting photogrammetric data using our workhorse -a DJI Mavic 3 Enterprise drone- in order to produce a very high resolution 3D map of the entire island of Zavodovski with a special focus on two spots that show active surface displacements over time in satellite data - sounds like a very achievable task. According to our planning, seven batteries for seven separate drone flights, each covering an area of 2 km² at a survey height of 500 m above ground (and therefore a maximum height of 1050 m above sea level), should provide us with the island map, while lower flights for higher resolutions are needed for the close ups and thermal infrared footage of the deforming areas. Easy in theory - could be difficult in practice . . .
On most of the days that we spent on Zavo, clouds were hanging low at the volcanic cone and winds were usually above 25 knots (while the drone can handle ~23 knots max and loses battery life very fast in these conditions). The persistent gas plume travelling downwind and down-flank didn’t help the visibility either. Now if you have a single day with optimal flying conditions, i.e. clear skies and windless, what do you do with a lifetime of four batteries? We decided to climb up to the summit from where both of the two most important areas are within range at the same time in order to collect that rare and valuable photogrammetric footage. Our short but steep summit climb got rewarded with excellent conditions for successful surveys, spectacular views, magical ice formations and ceremonial Rocher pralines. On that same day, we went back down, spent a couple of hours at camp charging the batteries, hiked all the way to the northernmost tip of the island and also flew the entire North end of Zavo (what I like to call the ‘Penguin Woodstock’), our last flight using the very last of the daylight. What a data hunt that was! Tired but happy we ‘high fived,’ shared big smiles and warm hugs before disappearing back in our expedition tent in order to enjoy a golden sip of the award winning Falkland Islands Distillers’ ‘Darwin’s Botanicals’ gin.
Postscript
Oh, if this whole journey was a song, I would not get tired hitting repeat!
The entire field team and crew functioned together like clockwork; not a single harsh word was spoken on land nor at sea. The only time I had seen people “arguing” was in the galley - about who gets to do the dishes or gets to take the trash out. What a divine difference it makes to the team spirit and collective vibes when everyone on board - no matter how many extraordinary and remarkable adventures on their records - is full of inner bliss knowing, acknowledging and deeply appreciating the fact that this type of expedition in this extreme remoteness and untouched wilderness is a privileged experience. Speaking for myself, every single breath of these westerly winds was soaked up and deeply enjoyed and I felt extremely fortunate traveling with this fine pack of life-artists and pro-adventurers. On top of the scientific success, this expedition leaves the deepest part of me enormously grateful and unbelievably happy. Thank you, mates, you made this a grand voyage on all levels. I’ve had the time of my life; our adventure at sea, on South ‘Georgeous’ and camping on Zavo will remain with me forever.
Nicole Richter
Volcanologist
