Antarctica 2013 TQ12

Ice forms in wondrous ways deep in Antarctica. Here bubbles, injected deep in the ice by wind entering into nearby rocks, rise to the surface and break open on the blue ice surface in amazing forms.

With less than 3% of Antarctic mountains rising above the multi-kilometer tick ice sheet, we know far too little about the bedrock that is Antarctica. The few rocks that we can suggest there are amazing wonders beneath the glaciers of Antarctica.

Antarctica is clear skies that, in summertime, allow the blazing 24-hour Sun to reflect off of the ice mirror.

Antarctic beauty is found at both the large and small scale. Here a surface of ice, no larger than a dinner plate, shows intricate patterns formed by pure H2O in frozen state.

The blue of the ice is a mirror of the pure blue sky. Here is not a mere frozen surface of a lake, but rather the top of a glacier several kilometers thick.

One of 3 meteorites found just under the surface of the Union Glacier ice. This “visitor” from space was 1 of 2 located by Sue Cockayne. This Nickel-Iron fragment probable landed in Antarctica sometime in the last 40 000 years.

On the way from Union Glacier camp to the South Pole, one flies over an amazing frozen landscape.

The Trans-Antarctic Mountain range, an extension of the South American Andres and the Australian Eastern Range, formed in the early days of the Gondwana supercontinent several hundred million years ago. Today it composes most of the 3% of Antarctica that is not covered by a multi-kilometer tick sheet of ice.

The South Ceremonial Pole, with a semi-circle ring of flags from the original signers of the Antarctic treaty, is a place of reflection for visitors.

The skies of Antarctica are among the clearest and driest of any on Earth. They are an ideal environment for Astronomical research and exploration of the Southern Skies.

Here, Landon Curt Noll stands above the South Geographic Pole on 2013 January 8. The Pole to the right was placed where the South Geographic Pole was on New Year’s Day 2013. The Prime Meridian, the 0 degree longitude that passes through Greenwich, begins halfway between his feet and passes upward through the photograph. The International Dateline also begins halfway between his feet and passes downward. At the time this photo was taken, his small left toe was at local solar noon and the heel of his right foot was at local solar midnight. The front of his right foot was in a different calendar day from the heel of his left foot.

Saying goodbye to the land way down under is hard. The promise to return someday makes departing easier.