Antarctica South Pole

Antarctic Expeditions - Adventurers Setting Records

2012-01-27T07:53:00.000-08:00

Three men, Australians Justin Jones & James Castrission and Alexsander Gamme of Norway have been travelling further than Britain's woman Felicity Aston, whose 59 day trip across 1,084 miles (1,744 kilometres) made her the first woman to travel across Antarctica alone and under her own control.

British adventurer Felicity Aston has become the first woman to ski solo across Antarctica.

Picture: AP Source: AP

All rugged up... Justin Jones and James Castrission in Antarctica.

Picture: Tony Harrington Source: The Australian

Read further...

Aussie adventurers break Antarctic record

Felicity Aston first woman to ski solo across Antarctica

Related Story:
A British woman tries to Record Cross Antarctica

Over Strong Earthquakes near Antarctic Elephant Island

2012-01-16T09:59:00.000-08:00

An Antarctica Cruises Destination

Very strong earthquake approx. 100 km out of the coast of Elephant Island, an island which is often visited by Antarctica cruiseliners. The island is covered with glaciers.

Elephant Island and the smaller islands around are all crowded with antarctic birds and animals. Various penguin colonies like gentoo and chinstrap, seals, etc are common on these islands.

NO tsunami risk exist for populated islands (there are no people living within a radius of several hundred km). Additionally a M 6.7 earthquake is seldom generating a tsunami

Most important Earthquake Data:Magnitude : 6.6
UTC Time : Sunday, January 15, 2012 at 13:40:18 UTCLocal time at epicenter : Sunday, January 15, 2012 at 09:40:18 AM at epicenter
Depth (Hypocenter) : 10 km
Geo-location(s) :
Approx. 100 km from Elephant island, South Shetland Islands
539 km (334 miles) W of Coronation Island, South Orkney Islands625 km (388 miles) NE of Palmer Station, Antarctica

Get an update from Earthquake-Report.com

2011- The Year of Two Ozone Holes

2012-01-03T09:11:00.000-08:00

As usual The 2011 Ozone Hole formed over Antarctica but unexpectedly an Ozone Hole also formed over The Arctic.

The 2011 Antarctic Ozone Hole is now over. The Ozone Hole began to form in mid August, and by mid September reached it's largest size of 26 million square kilometers on September 12,2011 larger than the average for the last decade and remained near this size into early October according to data from The British Antarctic Survey and NASA. The lowest concentration of ozone in the southern stratosphere—that is, the deepest “hole”—occurred on October 8, 2011 when levels descended to 95 Dobson units. Its size from October to mid November was near to or above the record area for the time of year. The hole became more elliptical in mid October and the edge of the ozone hole passed over the tip of South America and the Falkland Islands, but then returned to a more circular form.

In March of 2011 unusually low temperatures in the Arctic ozone layer initiated massive ozone depletion. The 2011 Arctic Ozone Hole occurred over an area considerably smaller than that of the Antarctic Ozone Holes. This is because the Arctic polar vortex, a persistent large-scale cyclone within which the ozone loss takes place, was about 40 percent smaller than a typical Antarctic vortex. While smaller and shorter-lived than its Antarctic counterpart, the Arctic polar vortex is more mobile, often moving over densely populated northern regions. Decreases in overhead ozone lead to increases in surface ultraviolet radiation, which are known to have adverse effects on humans and other life forms. Read more.

Give a thought for Howard Fairbank's solo trip to Soth pole

2011-12-21T10:02:00.000-08:00

By the time you read this, Howard Fairbank will be on the 30th day of his journey to the South Pole. Alone.
He hopes to reach the pole, on skis, pulling a sledge, by Christmas eve.

Photo: Antarctica Richard Weber

The Durban-born man who is trekking unassisted across the icy wastes of Antarctica, wrote on his blog that charts his adventure that he had never experienced anything like the total inability to judge distance.

At sea, which is also a vast “nothingness”, he prided himself on his ability to judge long distances. but this was new territory and something had affected his gut feel.

Fairbank said every day was like a new milestone for him and felt quite special as he imagined himself “upside down”, walking to the globe’s southernmost point.

“To reward myself for achieving the milestone, I delved into my spare food stocks and found two pieces of Josee’s delicious lunch fruitcake: one for dessert tonight, and one for breakfast in the morning. It should have been an extra whisky celebration, but stock is ‘very tight’! Not from excessive helpings, but rather, being heavy, it was always going to be a scarce resource,” Fairbank said.

He also documents how his daily food ration is not enough and no crumb is spared.

His problematic right foot was also still affecting him, though it seemed to be getting better.

Fairbank has resorted to wearing five pairs of socks when he treks. “When one really pushes the pace or has a very heavy sled, the toes get quite stressed, and you almost need like a grab rail in your boot to help them claw back. This is the problem I have, where my toes and ball of my foot are now traumatised,” Fairbank said.

Two of his fingers have suffered from cold blisters and most of them are sensitive to the touch as a result of minor frost damage.

Fairbank said he did not miss shopping, going to gym, paying bills, doing laundry and kitchen dishes, supermarkets, traffic and garbage duty.

“I’m eating the same basic food each day, wearing the same clothes each day, not shaving nor brushing my hair, not showering, I have no idea what’s going on in the world, I haven’t seen or spoken to anyone yet, there is nothing I feel I need or want. Not even a hot bath! Why in that ‘other world’, do ‘we’ need so much variety, external stimulation, so much socialising, news, gadgets, material pleasures?” Source: Independent Online.

Related Story: Howard Fairbank's Solo trip to South Pole begins

First Malayali to visit Arctic & Antarctic (North & South Poles)

2011-12-15T02:39:00.000-08:00

Dr. Bijoy Nandan, Aquatic Ecologist, Department of Marine Biology, Microbiology & Biochemistry

After returning back from Arctic (North Pole) expedition recently, Dr. Bijoy Nandan is really exited for his next task of expedition to Antarctica (South Pole), although the aouth pole has more challanges than north pole. The 30th Indian Expedition to Antarctica is presently stationed at Antarctica. Dr. Bijoy Nandan will join as team member of next expedition, which is scheduled to be in last quarter of year 2012. He will become the first Malayali scientist to visit both the ice continents, once he sets his foot on the seventh continent near the South Pole. The scientist with the School of Marine Sciences of Cochin University of Science and Technology, he will reach the new Indian station at Anatrctica as part of a team of scientists from India to conduct exciting biological experiments.

National Centre for Antarctic and Ocean Research (NCAOR), is co-ordinating the expedition activities after making a rigorous selection of scientists and other personnel. “The arctic expedition was for 25 days while the trip to Antarctica will be 4 months long. It’s tougher to survive in Antarctica where there are just vast tracts of frozen ice, unlike the Arctic, which does have stretches of land,” says Dr Bijoy. ...Click Here to read more.

Also read related Stories:
An Indian veteran recalls his Antarctic experiences
India to commission 3rd station in Antarctica

An Indian veteran recalls his Antarctic experiences

2011-12-14T21:56:00.000-08:00

A wave of nostalgia swept over me when I read this..since I was fortunate enough to be a part of Indian Scientific Expedition team under the leadership of Dr. Rasik Ravindra in year 1989-90.

After my own experience, I am always fond of knowing more of this frozen planet and to make awareness for saving depleting ozone layer through my own blog.

National Centre for Antarctic & Ocean Research (NCAOR) is doing wonderful work to celebrate centenary year with thirty expeditions so far (including Soth Pole) ..! And many more to come..to keep India ahead of all odds.. :)

Rasik Ravindra Leader of the Indian expedition team posing at the South Pole in Nov 2010. Source: The Hindu

Please click below link to read experience shared by the leader and my comments:
An Indian veteran recalls his Antarctic experiences

Also read related story: India to commission 3rd station in Antarctica

100 years of Magnetic Measurements in Antarctic

2011-12-14T10:10:00.000-08:00

Scientists will leave for Antarctica post Christmas to take measurements of the Earth's magnetic field. And the same were first taken 100 years ago during Scott's Terra Nova Expedition.

There was a long gap between the Scott expedition's first measurements to the start of regular five-yearly measurements when Scott Base was established in 1957.

Tony Hurst and Stewart Bennie of GNS Science will spend two weeks on the ice collecting measurements at two locations to provide an update of the exact location of the South Magnetic Pole. This is where the geomagnetic field lines go vertically into the earth.

The pair will need to travel some distance from Scott Base as it is built on volcanic material ejected from Mount Erebus. The volcanic rocks are high in the iron-rich mineral magnetite, which gives anomalous magnetic readings.

They will travel by helicopter to Lake Vanda, 125km west of Scott Base, where they will spend four days camping in a small hut while taking their measurements. At Vanda, which is in one of the dry valleys, they will take the measurements on a conspicuous rock marked with an aluminium pin over which they will place their tripod.

On their return flight, they will stop off at Cape Evans, 30km from Scott Base, where they will take measurements at a small shelter near Scott's hut. The measurements are taken at an exact mark inside the shelter.

They use two instruments to measure the magnetic field.

The first is a magnetic theodolite that measures both the horizontal angle and the inclination of the magnetic field.

Their other - an Overhouser effect magnetometer - is a suitcase-sized instrument that gives a digital readout of the strength of the magnetic field in units called nanoTeslas or gammas. Both instruments are extremely sensitive and require careful handling.

The data they collect will be provided to an international database, which is used to calculate a world magnetic model. The model is updated every five years and has many civilian and military end uses, particularly in navigation.

Dr Hurst said for the past 100 years the South Magnetic Pole had been moving northwest by about 10km to 15km a year.

"The last field measurements in 2007 put the magnetic pole at 64.5 degrees south and 137.7 degrees east, about 50 kilometres off the Antarctic coast and due south of Australia," Dr Hurst said.

"In all likelihood our measurements will show this trend has continued and the magnetic south pole has moved further north and further out to sea."

With the gradual northward movement of the magnetic pole, the strength of the field at Scott Base had decreased by as much as 10 percent over the past century.

The worldwide coverage of magnetic measurements was patchy, with fewer measurements taken in the Pacific and Antarctica than in the populous continents.

"We see it as important that New Zealand plays its part in a global sense by providing accurate measurements in a region of the world where measurements are sparse."

The pair fly to Antarctica on 28 December and are due to return on 11 January. GNS Science pays for the project with funding received from the Ministry of Science and Innovation. In addition, Antarctica New Zealand provides logistics support. Source: http://www.voxy.co.nz/lifestyle/century-antarctic-magnetic-measurements/5/110441

An Oldest Antarctic Whale Found

2011-12-12T23:29:00.000-08:00

The oldest known Antarctic whale is seen in an artist's reconstruction.
Illustration courtesy Marcelo Reguero via AFP/Getty Images

The oldest known whale to ply the Antarctic has been found, scientists say.
A 24-inch-long (60-centimeter-long) jawbone was recently discovered amid a rich deposit of fossils on the Antarctic Peninsula.

The creature, which may have reached lengths of up to 20 feet (6 meters), had a mouthful of teeth and likely feasted on giant penguins, sharks, and big bony fish, whose remains were also discovered with the jawbone.

The early whale swam polar waters during the Eocene period, some 49 million years ago. Its age suggests fully aquatic whales evolved from their mammalian ancestors more rapidly than previously thought, said researcher Thomas Mörs, paleozoologist at the Swedish Museum of Natural History.

Based on 53-million-year-old fossils of whale-like, semi-aquatic mammals, scientists had thought mammals gave rise to whales in a process that took 15 million years. The new find suggests it took just 4 million years.

What's more, "as soon as they became fully marine animals, they dispersed all over the world, showing the great success of the whale construction," Mörs said in an email.

Whale Lived in Warm Antarctic

Not even cold waters were obstacles for early whales, he said—though Antarctica during the Eocene was much warmer than it is today.

The continent was green, carpeted in forests that housed marsupials and mammalian survivors from the dinosaur age, said Mörs, who is preparing a paper on the whale for publication in a journal.

"The shores were inhabited by colonies of penguins, among them giant ones. And the marine waters were still warm enough for leatherback turtles and a diverse shark fauna," he added.

And ancient whales, too. Source: National Geography News

Ozone Layer Depletion is Stopping..? Please check.

2011-12-11T06:10:00.001-08:00

As per SCIENTISTS, they have won the battle to stop ozone depletion, with the hole above Antarctica gradually closing.

But they warn this good work is rapidly being doomed by the growing effects of greenhouse gas emissions and the impact of climate change.

Australian Research Council's Centre of Excellence for Climate system Science Laureate Fellow Prof Matthew England said the Antarctic ozone hole's influence on the climate in Tasmania and the southern hemisphere was dissipating as the hole slowly closed.

But Prof England, also co-director of the University of New South Wales's Climate Change Research Centre, warned the good work in reducing CFCs from the atmosphere would be progressively overridden by human-induced emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases.

Prof Sherwood said the Montreal Protocol that banned CFC use in the mid-1980s was directly responsible for improving ozone conditions above the Antarctic.
"We know it will take a very long time to recover completely because it takes several decades for the natural process to remove the pollutants from the atmosphere," Prof Sherwood said.

"But the Montreal Protocol is one of the few success stories that we can point to of this kind, where scientists figured out there was a problem (and) the nations of the world worked together to phase out the problem."

But Prof Sherwood said growing amounts of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere threatened to unhinge efforts to reverse ozone depletion.

He said greenhouses gases the carbon dioxide emissions responsible for global warming cooled the stratosphere, which served to enhance ozone depletion.

"Therefore adding more greenhouses gases to the atmosphere is helping to promote the ozone hole," he said.

"It's fighting against the good outcomes of the reduction of the CFCs."
Prof Sherwood said there was already evidence of the detrimental impact of carbon dioxide on ozone in the northern hemisphere. Source: http://www.themercury.com.au/article/2011/12/11/283601_tasmania-news.html

Scientist Injured at Prince Charles Mountains in Antarctica

2011-12-05T06:53:00.001-08:00

Tessa Williams, a 21 year old New Zealand woman who slipped on a slop of snow in the Prince Charles Mountains (approx. 800 kms. from Davis Station), suffered major cuts and abrasion. Presently, in a stable condition with great spirits. She is flown to Davis Station as she is one of the researchers of South Autralian Museum and studying the origins and dispersal patterns of invertebrates in the Antarctic.

She will be later flown to Casey Station for for greater assessment and to determine by the medical officers if the scientist requires to be evacuated back to Auatralia. She was initially flown about 800 kms. from a remote field camp in the Prince Charles Mountains to Davis station.

The Aurora Australis ship is already en route to Casey for the summer season and will arrive next week. South Australian Museum director Suzanne Miller says it is likely that Ms Williams will be brought back to Australia on the ship.

"At this stage we think the likelihood is that she'll be transferred to one of the other Australian stations and then brought back by one of the Australian Antarctic Division ships which is due there within the next week," she said.

Professor Miller says the remote location of the field study made the rescue more difficult.

"Antarctica's a very harsh place so it adds a whole layer of difficulty onto undertaking field work so we're very pleased and very relieved to know that Tessa's injuries are not as serious as they could have been," she said. Source: abc.net.au

Celebrating Antarctica Day

2011-12-01T02:38:00.001-08:00

After its first fifty years, the Antarctic Treaty shines as a rare beacon of international cooperation. To celebrate this milestone of peace in our civilization with hope and inspiration for future generations – ANTARCTICA DAY is hereby recognized to be December 1st.

It deserves to be celebrated as a day of freedom and peace for all mankind, because on that date in 1959 the Antarctic Treaty was signed by 12 nations, setting aside nearly 10% of the Earth forever to be used exclusively for peaceful purposes. The Antarctic Treaty became planet earth’s first nuclear-arms agreement, and the first institution to govern all human activities in an International Space, a region beyond sovereign jurisdictions. Antarctica Day is a day to recognize this international landmark and the global vision of the twelve original nations as well as all 47 nations who have acceded to the Antarctic Treaty. Even young school children can grasp the concept of peace and sharing on the playgrounds around the world. They can learn about Antarctic though art, science, government, and history with audiovisual material, maps and activities in their classroom and outdoors connecting their school space with International Spaces around the world.

Antarctica Day is a partnership with a number of organizations lead by APECS (Association of Polar Early Career Scientists) and Our Spaces (Foundation for the Good Governance of International Spaces). Please CLICK HERE to read further..

London Mother will Run in Antarctic Ice Marathon for Cancer Treatment

2011-11-26T21:34:00.001-08:00

A north London mother who lost her son to cancer will run across Antarctica to raise money for the treatment of three girls suffering from the disease.

Yvonne Brown will face -20C temperatures during the five-day race

Yvonne Brown, of Barnet, will face -20C temperatures and 30mph winds during the five-day 26.2 mile Antarctic Ice Marathon starting from Union Glacier.

She lost her seven-year-old son, Jack, to neuroblastoma in 2009.

Mrs Brown, 44, wants to raise £10,000 to help three children who require specialised treatment in the US.

Emma Hoolin, four, from Wigan, two-year-old Sadie Rose Clifford from Knaresborough, North Yorkshire and Robyn Higgins, nine, from Surrey are all fighting the cancer, which attacks the nerves.

Mrs Brown said the children needed to undergo antibody treatment in the US, which is not yet available in Britain, and each family needed to raise £250,000.

Mrs Brown, an Acting Det Insp with the Metropolitan Police, said when she took Jack to the US in 2006 the treatment was still being tested and not available at Sloan Kettering cancer centre in New York. He was given another treatment there.

She has reached more than 40% of her target amount ahead of the race on 30 November.

'Courage and strength'

Mrs Brown said: "This is one of the most challenging physical and mental challenge I will ever undertake, with the exception of losing Jack.

"Their [the children in the appeal] courage and strength is enough to keep me going.

"This is one of the most difficult marathons in the world. I hope to reflect the challenge these children face."

Sadie, Emma and Robyn need specialist treatment for neuroblastoma in the US

She said her two other children, a son and a daughter, aged 15 and 12, and her husband Richard, also a Met officer, faced an "emotionally difficult" time while trying to raise funds for their son.

"What a challenge it was to do a job full time and having to fundraise and say thanks for the donations and help others raise funds (for other ill children). That detracted from our time with Jack."

Mrs Brown will leave for Punta Arenas in Chile, on Saturday, from where the runners will be taken to the Union Glacier on 29 November.

The glacier is a few hundred miles from the South Pole and is at 700m (2,300ft). Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-15892669

Honouring Robert Falcon Scott's memory

2011-11-26T00:14:00.001-08:00

Slimbridge was once the home to Robert Falcon Scott and still keeps his memory alive.

Family focus: Robert Falcon Scott's granddaughters Dafila (right) and Nicola at Slimbridge, their childhood home Photo: CHRISTOPHER JONES

The end of a dark, damp afternoon in the Gloucestershire countryside, and although the gathering flocks of geese, swans and ducks don’t know it, they owe their forthcoming evening meal to an explorer who died 99 years ago and 9,000 miles away.

The setting for this soggy feast is the Slimbridge Wildfowl Centre, which was founded 65 years ago this month by the naturalist Sir Peter Scott, but which still dishes out generous helpings of grain to whatever winged creatures are in the vicinity at 4pm each day.

As for the lost adventurer, it is Sir Peter’s father Captain Robert Falcon Scott who, in his last letter from the Antarctic, gave the following instruction to his wife, Kathleen, regarding the upbringing of their two-year-old son: “Make him interested in natural history.”

And didn’t she just. Not only did the young Peter Scott go on to found a network of nine centres across the British Isles, now known as the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust (WWT), he became one of the earliest and loudest voices in the conservation movement, denouncing humankind’s failure to save animal species from extinction as “wicked irresponsibility”.

According to Sir Peter’s late wife, Philippa, the planting of these environmental seeds was a subtle process. “His mother was very clever,” she once said. “She made him a member of the Zoological Society of London, and he used to take his nanny in there for free, which he rather liked.” Having started with the nanny, Sir Peter then spent his entire life (he died in 1989) introducing the wonders of nature to the rest of humanity. Including, of course, his own children.

“We knew the names of all the different types of birds, and were always encouraged to show people around,” recalls Sir Peter’s eldest daughter Nicola, as she sits in the ceiling-high observation window built into the sitting room of the Scott family home.

“It’s all still much as it was when we lived here, except that the path the public used to walk along was closer to the house,” she recalls. “Often, people would be looking in through the big window with their binoculars, and we’d be looking back at them with our binoculars.”

Meanwhile, her younger half-sister Dafila (the ornithological name of the northern pintail) was busy as a child, making a visual record of all the Bewick’s swans that visited. “No two have the same colouring of face and beak,” Dafila says. “It was my job to record what each bird looked like, so we could identify them when they returned the next year.”

Pretty good training for the artist that she turned out to be. Meanwhile, her brother Falcon got some early practice for his later career as a builder and joiner by designing and constructing one of Slimbridge’s earliest birdwatching towers, still standing today.

“I think Falcon was still at school when he did the drawings for that tower,” recalls Nicola. “This was an exciting place to be brought up; there were always television cameras in the house, with great snakelike cables running through the living room.”

“And there were chameleons in that corner, weren’t there?” says Dafila, pointing to a part of the room beside her father’s old desk. “They were in a beautiful cage on top of a trolley, and would be wheeled out to enjoy the sunshine when it was warm weather.”

And the children’s father would be forever broadcasting to the world, be it on the natural history television show Look! or the perennially popular radio programme Nature Parliament. But the one subject Sir Peter never spoke about at home was his father’s Polar achievements.

“We were brought up never to mention the subject,” says Nicola. “It wasn’t that it upset Pa; it was more that he acknowledged the incredible things his father had done, but did not want in any way to capitalise on those achievements.”

“It was very important to my father,” adds Dafila, “that he did his own thing.”

But while unspoken, the Scott of the Antarctic legend has left its mark on all three children’s lives. “I think the important thing my grandfather’s story still does is to inspire people,” says Falcon Scott. “Everything he and his men did, they did properly, to the best of their ability, and I think that’s a lesson to us all. It’s something I’ve been brought up with all my life, but I have never found the story boring; in fact, I often think how amazing it is.

“People still know my grandfather’s name; he’s famous all over the world, and, as his descendants, I think we have a responsibility to uphold his reputation.”

A task that his sister Dafila took one stage further this year when she was sponsored by the Scott Polar Research Institute to travel out to Antarctica on the research ship HMS Scott and capture some of the wildlife and scenery on canvas. “I felt a responsibility to produce a body of work that would excite people about the Antarctic,” she says. “That said, I had a lot to live up to; Edward Wilson, who was the chief artist on my grandfather’s last expedition and who died alongside him, was a truly wonderful painter.”

The Slimbridge Wildfowl and Wetlands Centre in Gloucestershire is open daily from 9.30am to 5pm, adults £10.35, children (four-16) £5.60, including Gift Aid donation; 01453 891900, wwt.org.uk

The British Services Antarctic Expedition 2012 is holding a fund-raising dinner in the Painted Hall at the Royal Naval College, Greenwich, London, next Saturday, December 3. For further details, contact Captain Ivar Milligan on 01264 381072 or at ivar.milligan212@mod.uk
Source: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/antarctica/robert-falcon-scott/8912635/Honouring-Robert-Falcon-Scotts-memory.html

Antarctica Visitors' Unfavourable Iceberg

2011-11-26T00:06:00.001-08:00

TOURISTS forking out top dollar to visit Mawson's Hut for centenary celebrations this summer are likely to face disappointment as the "Antarctic factor" heaves an enormous icy obstacle in ships' paths.

Expedition cruise ship MV Orion is due to start its 19-night Southern Ocean voyage on Thursday, with prices for the 100 passengers starting at $19,365 a person.

Orion expedition leader Don McIntyre said the Antarctic always had challenges but an iceberg the size of the ACT blocking access was "unique".

"Whilst it's not looking good, no one will know until we get there," Mr McIntyre said.

"We always maintain a simple philosophy we work with the Antarctic factor. You cannot dictate terms with Antarctica, it lets you in at its pleasure you have to work with it, you can't fight it."

A 2500 sq km tabular iceberg was part of a much larger ice mass that broke free from the Ross Ice Shelf in 1987 but subsequently broke up as it drifted westwards.

Parts of the "B9B" iceberg have grounded on the approach to the Mawson's Hut site at Commonwealth Bay.

Rob Easther, from the Mawson's Hut Foundation, yesterday confirmed their expedition to continue preservation work on the historic hut had been cancelled for this year but they hoped to return next summer.

Former Tasmanian Chris Huxley is due to travel with his wife on the expedition and remains philosophical about his chances of getting to shore.

"I just think you've got to play the elements," Mr Huxley said.

"I'm hoping, but I understand safety comes first."

And he says that even if they can't make it to Mawson's Hut, he hopes he can still play a few overs of Centenary World Series Ice Cricket.

"Being a larrikin Australian, I've organised my brother to knock me up an old cricket bat the old fashioned kids-in-the-back yard sort," he said.

"And I've got some stumps coming. We realised we couldn't stick them in the ice so they'll be in a piece of wood."

Mr McIntyre said the nature of the cruise meant that passengers were told there was always a chance they wouldn't make it to land at Commonwealth Bay.

"We've spent more time at Commonwealth Bay than anyone but I'd not like to make a prediction at this stage," Mr McIntyre said.

Even if they don't make it to shore, first-time visitors will still come away with a once-in-a-lifetime experience, he said. Source: http://www.themercury.com.au/article/2011/11/26/279771_tasmania-news.html

A Partial Solar Eclipse over Parts of Southern Hemisphere

2011-11-25T23:41:00.001-08:00

A partial solar eclipse was visible over parts of the southern hemisphere today (25-Nov-2011), as the moon passed between Earth and the sun for the fourth and final time this year.

The eclipse was visible in southern South Africa, Antarctica, Tasmania, and most of New Zealand, according to NASA scientists. At greatest eclipse, as the moon orbited between the sun and Earth, 90.5 percent of the sun's diameter was covered from the location closest to the axis of Earth's shadow, which is a point in the Bellingshausen Sea on the west side of the Antarctic Peninsula.

While majority of the Earth was not able to view today's partial solar eclipse, the event was visible in pockets of southern South Africa, across the Antarctic continent, Tasmania and portions of New Zealand's South Island.

Observer Mike Nicholson and his wife caught the eclipse from Otaki Beach in New Zealand, though they feared at first that the strong winds in the area would blow too much sand and salt for them to see anything.

"We left home about 30 mins before the eclipse started, drove to beach, and had to hide in the car as the weather was pretty vile," Nicholson told SPACE.com in an email. "At the time conditions were also extremely hazy; the sun was just a big white blob above the horizon. However as it descended toward the horizon and into the low cloud, conditions improved visually."

The shadow with Earth last touched a point on the planet west of the South Island, in the Tasman Sea, before it swept back out into space.

Solar eclipses are some of nature's most dramatic celestial events, and occur when the Earth, moon and sun are aligned on the same plane. Partial solar eclipses happen when the moon partly covers the sun as it travels between our planet and its closest star.

Today's eclipse was the fourth and final solar eclipse of the year. Partial solar eclipses previously occurred on Jan. 4, June 1 and July 1.

The next solar eclipse, on May 20, 2012, is expected to be a stunning event, and will be visible from China, Japan and parts of the United States. During this so-called annular solar eclipse, the moon will cover a large portion (but not all) of the sun.

But, for skywatchers hoping to catch a view of the eclipse, it's important to take adequate precautionary measures. Looking at a solar eclipse can be extremely dangerous, and special eye protection is needed to safely view the sun during partial and annular eclipses.

Regular sunglasses do not adequately block enough of the infrared and ultraviolet radiation coming from the sun during the event, so specially designed "eclipse glasses" are needed, NASA scientists have said. These protective eyepieces use appropriate filtration for solar observation. Source: http://www.space.com/13731-solar-eclipse-nov-25-skywatching.html

New Exhibition of Artworks opened at Antarctica, Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery (TMAG)

2011-11-25T09:07:00.001-08:00

Ahead of the 100th anniversary of Douglas Mawson’s celebrated expedition to the Antarctic, the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery (TMAG) has opened a new exhibition of artworks inspired by the Antarctic.

The Premier, Lara Giddings, said the exhibition draws on Tasmania's long-standing connection with Antarctica.

“Antarctica holds a special place in the hearts of many Tasmanians and I am pleased that the work of some of very notable artists is able to bring us closer to the Antarctic environment and its history," Ms Giddings said.

“The Artists in Antarctica exhibition showcases work that has been inspired by the beauty of the natural environment.

"The close relationship between art and Antarctic science dates back to Mawson's official photographer Frank Hurley, whose stunning images are both a research tool and works of art in their own right.

"I commend the Australian Antarctic Division for continuing to recognise the importance of recording the Antarctic environment through photography and other artforms by helping to enable artists to travel to the continent and sub-Antarctic islands."

The exhibition includes the work of twelve artists who journeyed to Macquarie Island, the Southern Ocean and Antarctica over an eighty year period between 1912 and 1993, and has been timed to coincide with the Antarctic Centennial Year.

TMAG director, Bill Bleathman said the museum has a strong collection of artworks and other material related to the Antarctic region which will be highlighted during the Antarctic Centennial Year celebrations.

“Artworks by Charles Harrisson, Luc Marie Bayle, Sidney Nolan, George Davis, Stephen Walker, John Caldwell, Bea Maddock, Jan Senbergs, Clare Robertson, Charles Page, Sally Robinson and David Stephenson are included in the exhibition," Mr Bleathman said.
“The works on display present the artists’ deeply personal responses to the intriguing and perpetually changing Antarctic and sub-Antarctic environments throughout the history of Antarctic exploration.”

Artists in Antarctica complements TMAG’s permanent Antarctic exhibition, Islands to Ice, which features the natural environment, scientific research and heroic expeditions related to the Southern Ocean and the Antarctic.

The exhibition will be presented alongside the National Archives of Australia touring exhibition, Traversing Antarctica: the Australian experience, which opens at TMAG on Friday, 2 December 2011.

Artists in Antarctica is open to the public from Friday, 25 November 2011 until 4 March 2012. TMAG is open daily from 10:00 am to 5:00 pm except Christmas day, Good Friday and ANZAC day. Source: http://www.media.tas.gov.au/release.php?id=33739

NASA Antarctic 2011 IceBridge Mission Accomplishes

2011-11-24T22:11:00.001-08:00

NASA's DC-8 airborne science laboratory has completed its 2011 Operation IceBridge science flights over Antarctica, and arrived home at its base in Palmdale, Calif., Nov. 22. The IceBridge flight and science team flew a record 24 science flights during the six-week campaign, recording data from a suite of sophisticated instruments on the thickness and depth of Antarctic ice sheets and glacial movement.

The aircraft departed its deployment base at Punta Arenas, Chile, Tuesday morning Nov. 22 and after a refueling stop in Santiago, Chile, set course for Los Angeles International Airport for customs clearance. The flying lab continued on to the Dryden Aircraft Operations Facility in Palmdale, arriving about 8:30 p.m. that evening after almost 15 hours in the air.

A highlight of the IceBridge mission was the discovery during a low-level overflight Oct. 14 of a large crack that had recently begun across the Pine Island Glacier ice shelf, a precursor to the separation of an estimated 310-square-mile iceberg into the ocean in the near future. The growth of the estimated 18-mile-long rift was documented on several subsequent flights.

The final science flights on Nov. 17 and 19 focused on the middle of the Antarctic Peninsula and the George VI Sound on the peninsula's western side.

Mission manager Chris Miller's report on the former noted that clear weather over the eastern side of the peninsula provided "a rare opportunity to collect data over glaciers that are more regularly shrouded in cloud." The mostly clear weather allowed the science team to collect data at low altitudes of only 1,500 feet above ground for almost seven hours out of the more than 11 hours the team was aloft.

After a down day on Nov. 18 for crew rest and aircraft maintenance, the converted four-engine jetliner-turned-flying-laboratory was airborne again on its final science mission of the 2011 Antarctic IceBridge campaign Nov. 19. The IceBridge team found perfect weather conditions over their survey target, the George VI Sound on the western side of the Antarctic Peninsula.

Data collection began with a long transect down the center of the sound, Miller reported, and then continued with 11 flight data lines stitching across the sound, shore to shore. Minor glitches with the Digital Mapping System and the aircraft's GPS system complicated one of the flight tracks for the Airborne Topographic Mapper instrument during the flight, but Miller said all objectives were met and the ATM data should be recoverable in post flight processing.

"Views of mountain peaks and ranges were abundant," during the 11-hour flight, he added.

Due to fuel supply issues at Punta Arenas, a 25th and final science flight on Nov. 20 was cancelled, and the team prepared for its Nov. 22 departure back to the United States.

Including the transit flights between Punta Arenas and California, the modified 45-year-old flying laboratory logged about 308 flight hours during the Operation IceBridge, including 127 hours of actual data collection from its suite of seven specialized instruments. The instruments and science teams represented several NASA centers, the University of Kansas, the University of California at Santa Cruz and the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory at Columbia University.

Operation IceBridge was begun in 2009 to bridge the gap in data collection after NASA's ICESat-1 satellite stopped functioning and when the ICESat-2 satellite becomes operational in 2016. By comparing the year-to-year readings of ice thickness and movement both on land and on the sea, scientists can learn more about the trends that could affect sea-level rise and climate around the globe. In addition to NASA's DC-8, a smaller Gulfstream V aircraft operated by the National Science Foundation and the National Center for Atmospheric Research also participated in this fall's IceBridge mission.

DC-8 research pilot Troy Asher, who flew the final science flight, offered his reflections on this fall's Antarctic campaign.

"As you will undoubtedly hear from other reports from the science and mission director community, this has been a fantastic deployment from many different aspects," he said.

NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center director David McBride emailed his congratulations to the science team and the flight and ground crews on the completion of the 2011 mission over Antarctica.

"This was a great campaign and it makes all proud," McBride added.

Source: http://www.nasa.gov/topics/earth/features/icebridge_fall_2011_concludes.html

Malaysia King Back from Antarctica Trip

2011-11-24T22:00:00.001-08:00

PETALING JAYA: Yang di-Pertuan Agong Tuanku Mizan Zainal Abidin returned from a five-day working visit to scientific centres in Antarctica.

Tuanku Mizan flew in to the Royal Malaysian Air Force base in Subang near here yesterday and was welcomed by senior deputy secretary-general of the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Othman Mahmood and Keeper of the Rulers’ Seal Datuk Syed Danial Syed Ahmad.

The visit to the South Pole was in conjunction with Malaysia’s formal accession to the Antarctic Treaty 1959 on Oct 31 this year as a non-consultative member.

Tuanku Mizan was accompanied by Science, Technology and Innovation Minister Datuk Seri Dr Maximus Ongkili, Academy of Sciences Malaysia (ASM) Antarctica Task Force chairman Tan Sri Salleh Mohd Nor, National Antarctica Research Centre director Prof Datuk Dr Azizan Abu Samah and Mohamad Mudanoran Mohamad Mushaari of Bernama.

Malaysia’s involvement with Antarctica started when Malaysia and Antigua and Barbuda highlighted the Antarctica issue at the United Nations General Assembly in 1983. – Bernama Source: http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2011/11/25/nation/9976359&sec=nation

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Howard Fairbank's Solo trip to South Pole begins

2011-11-22T09:52:00.001-08:00

A Durban-born man who has sailed solo across the five seas, cycled through Africa and recently trekked unassisted from Canada to the North Pole has begun his latest adventure – walking from the Antarctic coast to the South Pole, alone.

Howard Fairbank, a former Durban High School pupil, began his journey on Saturday, after leaving Punta Arenas in Chile for Antarctica.

If he completes the journey, battling some of Earth’s toughest terrain in sub-zero temperatures, Fairbank is hoping to become the oldest person, and first South African, to do the trip solo, unassisted and unsupported.

Fairbank, who has been training for his latest adventure for months, left South Africa on November 6.

He hopes to reach the South Pole by Christmas Eve.

According to his blog, Fairbank left a successful business career in 2004 to pursue his “Simply Adventure” dream, which he describes as “a simple wandering way of life, centred around sailing, cycling, and sea kayaking adventures, and one far removed from the capitalist and material world”.

In 2009, after years of solo sailing across oceans and cycling the continents, he moved his focus to polar adventure.

Last year, with three others, he completed an unassisted trek from Canada to the geographic North Pole, joining an exclusive club of fewer than 60 people who have completed what is dubbed the “hardest trek on Earth”.

Writing on his blog shortly before he left Cape Town, Fairbank said: “This is a very emotional time, as I seem finally to be on track to meet my destiny with Antarctica.

“In 2006, 2008, and 2009, I came close to meetings with this special wilderness but the experiences weren’t to be, no doubt waiting for this very special meeting and experience that lies ahead.

“I never wanted the meeting to be on passive, commercial-operator terms, I wanted as naked an experience as I could personally manage, and now this is exactly what awaits me.

“As I think through what lies ahead, I have this huge emotional cocktail within, feelings of apprehension, fear, excitement, and a sense of handing myself over to fate.”

Fairbank said a rational person would question why someone would want to leave home to take on the hostility of the Antarctic environment solo.

“There is something bizarre about all this, but having done many of these ‘irrational’ expeditions, I know that there is an amazing way of life awaiting on the ice… It is a life free of mindless clutter, yet full of challenge, and in an environment that is the purest of the pure – the world’s largest desert, and an ice one at that…”

At the weekend while waiting to fly to Antarctica, Fairbank was co-ordinating his trip using two compasses he plans to use while he is out on the ice.

He said he had met three seasoned polar adventurers who completed the Messner route, and who went through their experiences of the dangerous crevasse areas with him.

“The main fear I have is being alone in a whiteout with crevasse around, but now having rehearsed the situation many times in my head, I have to just get out there and deal with it… Gee, this is going to be exciting,” he said. - Daily News. Source: The Post

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Antarctic mountains date back to dinosaur age

2011-11-22T09:41:00.001-08:00

Washington: The root of the mysterious range of Antarctic mountains completely hidden under the continent's massive ice sheet may be over 200 million years old dating back to the dinosaur age, scientists have claimed.

Researchers on a project to understand the Gamburtsev Subglacial Mountains in East Antarctica better, said the mountains rise up to 10,000 feet above the planet's surface, but are covered by up to 15,750 feet of ice.

"This icy coat makes them the least understood mountain range on Earth," researcher Fausto Ferraccioli, a geophysicist at the British Antarctic Survey, said.

"It is very fitting that the initial results of Antarctica's Gamburtsev Province project are coming out 100 years after the great explorers raced to the South Pole," said Alexandra Isern at the National Science Foundation.

"The scientific explorers of the Antarctica's Gamburtsev Province project worked in harsh conditions to collect the data and detailed images of this major mountain range under the East Antarctic Ice Sheet. The results of their work will guide research in this region for many years to come."

What details scientists have gathered about the mountains provide conflicting evidence about how they got there and how old they are. For instance, nearby rocks suggest they are very ancient, but their steep, rugged shapes, which resemble the Alps, are what one would expect of young mountains.

To learn more about their origins, the team collected new data from the Gamburtsev region by flying about 120,000km with two aircraft equipped with ice-penetrating radars, lasers and magnetic and gravity meters.

Magnetic anomalies seen throughout the Gamburtsevs match those of about one-billion-year-old rocks seen to the north that predate the evolution of animals and plants on Earth.

This suggests the root of this mountain range was born around that time from collisions of several continents or microcontinents, findings corroborated by gravity and other data, the team reported in journal Nature.

The research then suggested that rifting events between 250 and 100 million years ago, back when dinosaurs roamed the Earth, triggered the uplift of these mountains. Specifically, the rise of rock along the flanks of these rifts and the buoyant root of these mountains forced the land upward.

Rivers and glaciers then cut deep valleys, giving these mountains their rugged shapes. The East Antarctic Ice Sheet, which currently covers one-tenth of Earth's crust, then entombed the range, preserving them as they are today, the researchers said.

"Explorers that set foot on the moon for the first time were confronted with many unknowns and challenges -- the same holds true for the Gamburtsevs, in my view," Ferraccioli said.

"Unravelling the mystery of how the mountains formed by analysing the new data and putting together bits and pieces of a billion-year history of the region was really exciting."

The new geophysical images and models will help guide future research on geological evolution and mountain-building in this remote region for years to come, he added. PTI Source: http://zeenews.india.com/news/eco-news/antarctic-mountains-date-back-to-dinosaur-age_743082.html

Malaysia King Reached Antarctica

2011-11-21T22:19:00.001-08:00

SCOTT BASE (ANTARCTICA): Yang di-Pertuan Agong Tuanku Mizan Zainal Abidin arrived here on Monday for a special working visit to Antarctica.

The King and his entourage arrived in the South Pole on a special United States Air Force C-17 Globe Master aircraft which landed at Pegasus Airfield, where the runway was built on frozen sea water, at about 1pm local time.

The entourage comprised, among others, Science, Technology and Innovation Minister Datuk Seri Dr Maximus Johnity Ongkili, Academy of Sciences Malaysia Antarctica Taskforce chairman Tan Sri Salleh Mohd Nor, National Antarctica Research Centre director Prof Datuk Dr Azizan Abu Samah.

Also on board the aircraft were 70 international researchers and scientists who will be conducting research in Antarctica.

Tuanku Mizan was met on arrival by Antarctica Service Supervisor, David Washer, and was later taken on a 20-minute ride to Scott Research Centre.

A briefing on Antarctica was given to the King by Chief Executive of Antarctica New Zealand Lou Sanson before he took a ride on a tracked vehicle, known as Hagglund, to visit Castle Rock and Antarctic Field Training Camp.

On the second day in Antarctica, the King is scheduled to go on a helicopter trip across Mc Murdo Sound and visit the hut occupied by Captain Scott between 1910 and 1912 in Cape Evans and the hut occupied by Sir Ernest Shackleton between 1907 and 1909 in Cape Royds.

The two huts had become iconic and historic destinations for researchers and scientists in Antarctica. - Bernama. Souce: http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2011/11/21/nation/20111121173126&sec=nation

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Antarctic Centennial Year

2011-11-20T09:25:00.001-08:00

South Pole prepares for 100-year anniversary of historic race between Amundsen and Scott.
By Peter Rejcek, Antarctic Sun Editor

A century ago, perhaps the last great feat of terrestrial exploration took place in one of the world’s most inhospitable locations, spawning a race between two very different men.

On one side was Norwegian Roald Amundsen, a veteran polar explorer who had honed his skills among the Inuit of the Arctic. In opposition was Capt. Robert Falcon Scott, the epitome of the stoic British military officer. Their goal: To be the first to stand at the geographic South Pole.

The story is well known: Amundsen and his team easily reached the bottom of the world first on Dec. 14. Scott and his men followed more than a month later, on Jan. 17, perishing on the return trip only 11 miles from their resupply depot.

Now, 100 years later, adventurers, history buffs and avid travelers are expected to visit this once most inaccessible of sites on Antarctica’s polar plateau to commemorate the achievement. Today, 90 South is home to the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station , an advanced research center that supports telescopes and observatories that investigate such weird phenomena as neutrinos and dark energy.

Photo Credit: Dwight Bohnet/Antarctic Photo Library

The South Pole Station is named after Amundsen and Scott.

Robert Falcon Scott, left, and Roald Amundsen.

At the height of the summer field season — November to February — the station houses about 250 support personnel and scientists. This year, the National Science Foundation (NSF) , which manages the U.S. Antarctic Program (USAP) , is expecting up to double that population in tourists — a modest number in the total visitors who journey to Antarctica every year but a staggering amount given the remoteness of the South Pole.

Up to 150 people alone are expected to be at the station on Dec. 14, including a diplomatic party of about a dozen people from Norway led by Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg . Another 70 or more people may arrive on the Scott anniversary, although there is not an official British presence expected on Jan. 17.

“In terms of an event, the centennial is completely new territory,” said Bill Coughran, South Pole area director for Raytheon Polar Services (RPSC) , the company that operates the station for the NSF.

For the anniversary year, station personnel will set up a temporary visitor center and small retail store not far from the ceremonial pole behind the station, to be powered by a solar array. In addition, the tour operators will set up a small base camp at the end of the station’s airfield skiway, with additional facilities to accommodate the larger number of tourists expected around the anniversary dates.

“You don’t just pop in to South Pole with these kind of numbers for the day,” Coughran said.

Tourist visits at the South Pole have been creeping up over the last decade. As recently as the 2003-04 season, the station saw 40 visitors. Five years later, the number had quadrupled.

Last year, according to statistics from the International Association of Antarctica Tour Operators (IAATO) , the voluntary organization of Antarctica-bound outfitters, 386 people participated in land-based expeditions, which include the South Pole and other popular destinations, including Vinson Massif, Antarctica’s highest mountain.

IAATO lists three operators as members for land-based expeditions: Antarctic Logistics & Expeditions (ALE)/Adventure Network International (ANI) , The Antarctic Company (TAC) and White Desert . ALE is by far the largest of the three companies, flying to the continent from Punta Arenas, Chile, and operating a field camp at Union Glacier in West Antarctica. TAC and White Desert stage their operations out of Cape Town, South Africa.

Most visitors to Antarctica arrive by sea, from small, private yachts to luxury cruise ships. IAATO operators reported supporting 33,824 tourists in 2010-11.

“Overall, land-based tourism — including to the South Pole — is a very small fraction of the visitor numbers to the continent on an annual basis,” noted Steve Wellmeier, executive director of IAATO.

However, Antarctic tourism has been in decline in recent years after peaking at 46,265 visitors in 2007-08. The global recession has largely been to blame, though the numbers are expected to plummet even further this year with a ban on the use of heavy fuel oil imposed by the International Maritime Organization in the Southern Ocean taking effect. IAATO is projecting a 25 percent decline in visitors for 2011-12.

South Pole tourism will certainly buck that trend — at least this year. And it’s not a cheap visit. For example, ALE charges $40,500 for flights to the South Pole.

More adventurous tourists opt to ski to the South Pole, commonly from Hercules Inlet on the Antarctic coast, about a two-month journey of more than 700 miles. Others find more unusual means to reach the bottom of the world, such as last year’s expedition organized by the Kazakhstan National Geographic Society and TAC. The expedition team drove two Arctic Truck AT44s across 1,400 miles to the South Pole in a record-breaking 108 hours.

This year’s roster of expeditions is a long one, from an adventurer from Oman who hopes to become the first Arab to walk to the South Pole to a team of British soldiers that will follow in the footsteps of their countryman Scott. While many of the visitors to the South Pole on Jan. 17 are expected to be from the United Kingdom, the British government has no plans for a ceremony in the Antarctic.

“We are involved in lots of activities for the centenary but no significant events in Antarctica or at the Pole,” confirmed Athena Dinar, a spokesperson for the British Antarctic Survey , over e-mail. “One of our twin otters may fly over for the big ceremony on 17 January at the Pole. Otherwise, we’ll be focusing on events here in the UK.”

But Dec. 14 at the South Pole will belong to the Norwegians. In addition to the prime minister and his party, a four-person team from Norway will arrive by ski pulling sleds, led by the director of the Norwegian Polar Institute , Jan-Gunnar Winther. The expedition is retracing Amundsen’s route from the Bay of Whales. The USAP will support the centennial event, including a live broadcast of the ceremony to Norway.

“It’s a significant milestone for Antarcticans, and I’m excited about it,” said Coughran, who has been working in Antarctica, particularly at the South Pole, since 1984. “It’s going to be pretty festive.” Source: http://antarcticsun.usap.gov/features/contenthandler.cfm?id=2543

Sir David Attenborough's BBC 1 series, Frozen Planet, an update

2011-11-20T08:47:00.001-08:00

David Attenborough travels to the end of the earth in this seven part series (Frozen Planet), taking viewers on an extraordinary journey across the polar regions of our planet, North and South. The Arctic and Antarctic are the greatest and least known wildernesses of all - magical ice worlds inhabited by the most bizarre and hardy creatures on earth.

Frozen Planet is narrated by Sir David Attenborough, who himself travelled to both polar regions in the making of the series. Sir David first visited Antarctica 17 years ago, but this was his first time ever to visit the geographical North Pole. To get there, meant flying in to a Russian ice camp on the frozen Arctic ocean, where he could (after several days of bad weather) finally reach the pole itself by helicopter.

He also returned to Scott's hut, a place he first visited several years ago, but still touches him today. This is the place where Captain Robert Falcon Scott and his men began their fateful journey to reach the geographical South Pole. "I remember very vividly indeed the first time I entered this extraordinary building…it was not like any other place - because it isn't like any other place on earth. If ever there was a place that held the personality of the people that had lived in it, a century ago, this surely must be it".

Sir David authors On Thin Ice, the seventh film of the series, which explores the effects of climate change on the polar regions and the lengths that scientists are going to, to understand it. Some regions, like the Antarctic Peninsula, have warmed significantly in the years since Sir David first visited them. He explores what this means, not just for the animals and people of the polar regions, but for the whole planet. Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00mfl7n

Scientists expect significant changes before Antarctica Glacier

2011-11-19T08:48:00.001-08:00

New discoveries about the seafloor topography off Antarctica’s Thwaites Glaciers in West Antarctica has led scientists to predict melting will accelerate in the next 20 years. The study is the latest to confirm the importance of seafloor topography in predicting how these glaciers will behave in the near future.

The retreat of Antarctica’s fast-flowing Thwaites Glacier is expected to speed up within 20 years, once the glacier detaches from an underwater ridge that is currently holding it back, says a new study in Geophysical Research Letters.

Thwaites Glacier, which drains into west Antarctica’s Amundsen Sea, is being closely watched for its potential to raise global sea levels as the planet warms. Neighboring glaciers in the Amundsen Sea region are also thinning rapidly, including Pine Island Glacier.

The study is the latest to confirm the importance of seafloor topography in predicting how these glaciers will behave in the near future, according to a press release from Columbia University’s Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory (LDEO) .

Scientists had previously identified a rock feature off west Antarctica that appeared to be slowing the glacier’s slide into the sea. But this study is the first to connect it to a larger ridge, using data collected during flights over Thwaites Glacier in 2009 under NASA’s IceBridge program, a six-year campaign to map vulnerable regions in Antarctica and Greenland with ice-penetrating radar and other instruments.

Several of the instruments used in IceBridge were developed by the Center for Remote Sensing of Ice Sheets (CReSIS) , a National Science Foundation -funded Science and Technology Center. This year’s IceBridge campaign over Antarctica also includes for the first time the Gulfstream V , a research aircraft operated by the NSF and National Center for Atmospheric Research .

Photo Credit: Kirsty Tinto/Lamont-Doherty
Thwaites Glacier is currently pinned on the peak of a newly discovered underwater ridge.NSF and National Center for Atmospheric Research .

The newly discovered ridge is 700 meters tall, with two peaks — one that currently anchors the glacier and another farther off shore that held the glacier in place between 55 and 150 years ago, according to the authors.

“We didn’t know what the seafloor looked like there because the floating ice prevented ships from going into the area,” said the study’s lead author, Kirsty Tinto, a postdoctoral researcher at LDEO. The new data, she said, allows scientists to understand what is happening at the glacier’s grounding line, where the glacier leaves land and floats into the sea, exposing the ice to warm ocean currents.

In 2009, researchers aboard the U.S. Antarctic Program’s research vessel Nathaniel B. Palmer sent a robot submarine beneath Pine Island Glacier’s floating ice shelf and discovered a ridge about half the size of the one off Thwaites Glacier. Researchers estimate that Pine Island Glacier lifted off that ridge in the 1970s, allowing warm ocean currents to melt the glacier from below. The glacier’s ice shelf is now moving 50 percent faster than it was in the early 1990s.

A land expedition supported by the U.S. Antarctic Program is planned to the Pine Island Glacier ice shelf during the 2011-12 field season. Researchers will use helicopters to land on the ice shelf, where they’ll drill through about 600 meters of ice and send instruments into the ocean cavity to learn more about the water-ice interaction that is thinning the ice shelf. Source: http://antarcticsun.usap.gov/science/contenthandler.cfm?id=2544

A British woman tries to Record Cross Antarctica

2011-11-19T08:25:00.001-08:00

A 33 year old British woman Felicity Aston tries to cross Antarctica.

You can follow her Expedition site: http://www.kasperskyonetransantarcticexpedition.com/