Below the Ice

This past fall scientists uncovered a vast landscape that has been "frozen in time" under the Antarctic Ice Shelf. Here is a nice graphic from phys.org.

The topography was determined by a combination of radio wave echoes and satellite images. This landscape, more than 2 kilometers below the ice has remained untouched for over 34 million years though global warming is threatening to expose it. The landscape was home to forests, river valleys and probably animals before being buried under ice. This landscape is less well known than that of Mars according to glaciologist Stewart Jamieson. 

Here is another view of the topography under the ice via Nature.
 

Cracks in the Antarctic Ice

We all know global warming is a hoax because of fossil fuel industry funded science. However, if it was real one thing we might see are growing cracks in the Antarctic ice shelves. One such crack is forcing the British Antarctic Survey to move their research station inland. The survey's site has a nice map showing the extent of the crack and the new site.

 

The station was designed in modular units so they can be towed across the ice. The work is proceeding now in advance of the upcoming Antarctic winter.  You can click the image above for more detail but here is a zoomed in view of the chasm that threatens the current location. This crack in the ice was dormant until a few years ago.

A second crack 17 km north of the station recently appeared. These cracks could cause a large iceberg to calve. The station is being moved 23 km inland which should put it out of the danger zone for a while. For more info see the British Antarctic Survey's web site.

Beeswax Maps

Ren Ri is a Chinese artist and beekeeper. He uses beeswax as an artistic medium, creating sculptures and maps.

Above is "Indo-Malay Islands" from his "Geometric Series." Maps and other artworks were recently displayed in the PearlLam Galleries in Hong Kong. These images were taken from the exhibit's catalogue.
 "Korean Peninsula"

 "Mongolia"

 "Argentina" and "Scandinavian Peninsula"

"South Pole"

 

 "World"

Shackleton's 1914 Antarctica Sketch

In 1914 Ernest Shackleton sketched out his plan to cross Antarctica on a menu card for the London Devonian Society's Annual Dinner.

Shackleton served on two previous Antarctic expeditions but Roald Amundsen was the first to reach the South Pole, in 1911. After failing to be the first at the South Pole, Shackleton switched his focus to crossing the Continent, from the Weddell Sea to the Ross Sea. Here is the map in as much detail as I can find it online.

The Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition left Buenos Aires, Argentina on October 26, 1914 hoping to reach the continent by December and the South Pole by Christmas, 1914. The ship got stuck in ice in the Weddell Sea for almost a year and was finally crushed by the ice. The last contact was made from South Georgia on December 3rd, 1914. Here is a map from a 1916 Daily Telegraph article discussing the lack of news from the Expedition - via xefer.

The party endured a horrific multi-year rescue but they all eventually returned home alive. For more details see Wikipedia, or wait for the movie Endurance to be released next year.

Antarctica Art Article

Karen Bessette is an artist based in Manchester, New Hampshire who often incorporates maps into her collage works. I saw her at the Rhode Island School of Design Alumni Sale and bought this print titled "Antarctica I" from her Antarctica series. I don't a good place to hang it yet so I'll just put it on this page.

MOTW #4

A map showing territorial claims in Antarctica. I don't know the original source.