Weddell Sea
Most of us come to Antarctica looking forward to being among the penguins. But perhaps it is the ice that has the greatest impact on our senses.
We awoke this morning to find the sun shinning bright on tabular icebergs in Antarctic Sound along the northern tip of the Antarctic Peninsula. This area, popularly called “Ice Berg Alley,” is known for flotillas of gigantic, flat-topped icebergs. These impressive blocks of glacial ice have broken free from the Larsen Ice shelf to the south, and have drifted north by strong currents in the Weddell Sea. It was a smorgasbord for photographers as we passed iceberg after iceberg throughout the morning.
During the afternoon, favorable ice and weather conditions permitted a rare opportunity for a landing on Snow Hill Island, which is significant for its unique geology and also for its place in Antarctic history. It was here, on this remote outcropping of sedimentary rock, that the Swedish geologist Otto Nordenskjold led the Swedish South Polar Expedition in 1902. Intent on collecting fossils that had years earlier been reported by Captain Larsen, this was the first scientific expedition to spend a winter in the Antarctic Peninsula region. We landed near the hut where the expedition also had to unexpectedly spend a second winter after their ship Antarctic, which with Captain Larsen was headed back to pick up Nordenskjold and his men, was crushed in the ice. On shore, a number of adventurous soles from our modern-day expedition climbed up the steep hillside behind this historic hut looking for the same fossils discovered by these early explorers nearly a century ago. Underfoot the ground was littered with fossil clams, snails, and ammonites dating back to the Mesozoic era over 65 million years ago when the Antarctic continent was still connected to South America and located in more temperate latitudes to the north. Over time, Antarctica became “locked in the freezer” as the continent broke free and drifted farther south by the action of plate tectonics.
Our day was capped off by a surprise landing on Vega Island after dinner. Today’s photo shows a Zodiac cruising among the icebergs in an arm of the Weddell Sea. The fate of Captain Larsen and the men from the lost ship Antarctic is another story.
Most of us come to Antarctica looking forward to being among the penguins. But perhaps it is the ice that has the greatest impact on our senses.
We awoke this morning to find the sun shinning bright on tabular icebergs in Antarctic Sound along the northern tip of the Antarctic Peninsula. This area, popularly called “Ice Berg Alley,” is known for flotillas of gigantic, flat-topped icebergs. These impressive blocks of glacial ice have broken free from the Larsen Ice shelf to the south, and have drifted north by strong currents in the Weddell Sea. It was a smorgasbord for photographers as we passed iceberg after iceberg throughout the morning.
During the afternoon, favorable ice and weather conditions permitted a rare opportunity for a landing on Snow Hill Island, which is significant for its unique geology and also for its place in Antarctic history. It was here, on this remote outcropping of sedimentary rock, that the Swedish geologist Otto Nordenskjold led the Swedish South Polar Expedition in 1902. Intent on collecting fossils that had years earlier been reported by Captain Larsen, this was the first scientific expedition to spend a winter in the Antarctic Peninsula region. We landed near the hut where the expedition also had to unexpectedly spend a second winter after their ship Antarctic, which with Captain Larsen was headed back to pick up Nordenskjold and his men, was crushed in the ice. On shore, a number of adventurous soles from our modern-day expedition climbed up the steep hillside behind this historic hut looking for the same fossils discovered by these early explorers nearly a century ago. Underfoot the ground was littered with fossil clams, snails, and ammonites dating back to the Mesozoic era over 65 million years ago when the Antarctic continent was still connected to South America and located in more temperate latitudes to the north. Over time, Antarctica became “locked in the freezer” as the continent broke free and drifted farther south by the action of plate tectonics.
Our day was capped off by a surprise landing on Vega Island after dinner. Today’s photo shows a Zodiac cruising among the icebergs in an arm of the Weddell Sea. The fate of Captain Larsen and the men from the lost ship Antarctic is another story.
