Student endures harsh South Pole

By Michelle L. Young
Daily Forty-Niner

Enduring 13 months of extreme climate in the South Pole, Cal State Long Beach physics graduate student, Mosaddeque Reza teamed up with 40 researchers to be a part of the United States Antarctic Research Program under the National Science Foundation.

As a science technician, Reza has experienced something few people ever will experience--life on the South Pole.

"It was so amazingly pretty, like if you had an idea of heaven or something," Reza said.

Survival of the fittest becomes a reality in the South Pole. One of the researchers, astronomer Rodney Marks, 32, died of a breathing problem.

"We don't know what happened," Reza said. "He had breathing trouble and within five hours, he died."

Marks' body is still at The Scott Amunson Base, the dome where the researchers lived in the South Pole, Reza said. The cause of his death is unknown and is yet to be determined.

Marks, in his second winter of research, took a six-month vacation from the isolated island of ice in between his research sessions, Reza said. Before going to The Scott Amunson Base each time, Marks underwent extensive testing to verify his health.

Various tests and x-rays are given to the researchers as many as three times before going to the South Pole to verify healthy individuals, Reza said. Nothing was found wrong with Marks, but Reza could not go to the South Pole until he had his wisdom teeth removed, he said.

The research staff undergoes intense training for one month prior to departure, however, Reza said it was not enough.

"More training and equipment is needed before people go," Reza said.

An external medical person was much needed, Reza said. No one was trained to study Marks' body, or to properly care for Dr. Jerri Nelson who developed cancer while at The Scott Amunson Base. She eventually had to give herself chemotherapy.

From garbage collectors to medical doctors, the researchers were each assigned a role to create a community for in which they could survive.

For instance, Reza was medically trained to suture wounds.

"Some people had a job and felt they could not handle it so they went home," Reza said.

Although part of his job was medical, Reza was specially trained to fight fires and was placed on the first team for emergency.

The climate is extremely dry, because of the cold temperatures, Reza said. The air is practically pure oxygen, which is highly flammable and difficult to breathe, Reza said.

Reza was required to go outside everyday. A simple task such as climbing about 15 steps would take long, Reza said.

"I would climb maybe five or six steps, and I had to stop to take a break because I was breathing so hard," Reza said. "We could only go one mile at the most. After that you would die, horribly die."

Drinking a lot of water helped to prevent dehydration and nose- bleeds Reza said. But breathing outside was still difficult.

Reza and his colleagues endured a drastic five-and-a-half months of complete sunlight, a transitioning month of twilight, and then another five-and-a-half-months of complete darkness. Temperatures averaged ­94 to ­116 degrees.

"Once the temperature reached [14 degrees]," Reza said.

The lowest temperature with wind chill reached ­346 degrees during the night season, he added.

Being indoors with the same people "drives you nuts," Reza said. The researches watched over 2,000 movies, read plenty of books, and had a place to exercise, all within their dome home that spanned a 300-foot diameter.

Reza spent a lot of time doing research projects.

Reza measured the energy of the radio signals given off by the Southern Lights to help improve communication systems. He also followed seismographic readings.

After witnessing a seismographic reading of the 7.8 magnitude Turkey earthquake in August 1999, Reza said he became very nervous and shouted, "Oh my god, something happened to the Earth!"

The ice of the South Pole is so dense and is very sensitive to the earth's movement, making it a perfect place for seismographic readings, Reza said.