Arctic Articles

Exploring the obscure continent, an explorer from America showed us how isolated Antarctica really is. Close to five million square miles, which make up Antarctica are covered in the world’s largest ice mass. One estimate places the ice sheet at 2000 feet thick; others say that is much too low. Ice covers all the land except some rocky coastal areas and the tallest mountain peaks.

Heading to the ocean, the ice moves as a giant glacier between the mountains. Mountainous regions serve as a buffer for the expansive central plateau on which the South Pole is found, and which rises 8,000 to 10,000 higher than sea level.

Map makers have cut Antarctica into four separate areas named for northern seas or lands. They are called the African, Australian, Pacific and American quadrants. No one has explored the coastlines of the Pacific and African quadrants. Similarly, there is but a small area of the American quadrant which has been explored to any degree, but the Australian quadrant, home of the Ross Sea sector, has received quite a bit of attention.

The Australian quadrant lies between the Ross Sea on the east and Queen Mary Land on the west, and includes the areas designated as Adelle Land, South Victoria Land, Wilkes Land, Oates Land and King George V Land. You’ll find a huge sheet of shelf ice, which is about 160 thousand miles square, called the Ross Barrier, on the western rim of the Ross Sea.

The explorers have established their research facilities from various countries near a natural harbor close to ice cliffs at the edge of the shelf near the Bay of Whales on the barrier. Mount Terror and Mount Erebus are the two volcanoes that fill Ross Island. The island is located at the western end of the barrier. From King Edward VII Land to the Ross Sea, the barrier travels for 400 miles. From the ocean to the mountainous regions, along the polar course, it is 400 miles wide.

The barrier is shelf ice, as can only be found in Antarctica. It was created by sections of glacier that traveled down the mountains and then ran into the sea in the Ross Sea section. Ice still travels through glacier channels, with can be between five and fifteen miles wide, to reach the Ross Sea. Some ice travels for over one hundred miles. Scientists don?t know if the Barrier is floating in the water or sitting on the bottom.

The western edge of the Pacific quadrant is bordered by the Ross Sea. Large rocks jut from the land in King Edward VII land, which can be found there. The adventurer made his way to this sector on an initial expanded flight from the Bay of Whales, and it was then that he observed the Scott Nunataks and the Alexandra Mountains. In later flights he was able to find fourteen uncharted mountain peaks, one new island and a ton of land that is begging to be explored. Finally, geographers may be able to create a complete map of the Pacific quadrant’s coastline with the data he collected.

There American quadrant houses the Coats Land, Charcot Land and Graham Land areas. One well-known spot is the Weddell seal area, which indents into the land. After a flight, an explorer discovered Graham Land isn’t actually part of the continent. It is a separate island. Geographers discuss if the continent should be divided. The Weddell Sea in the American quadrant is across from the Ross Sea in the Australian quadrant.

Scientific research and field study are two of the disciplines which are available on an unlimited basis in Antarctica. Geographers want to finish mapping the coastline. Then they can finalize the mountain ranges and polar plateau.

Geologists are busy trying to study the land beneath the ice and understand how the glaciers have affected the land itself.

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It will be two more days before the ship to Antarctica arrives, and we spend it shopping in the southernmost city of the world, Ushuaia, Argentina. We could not predict how our excitement would grow once we saw our ship pull in to the harbor, and we rushed ahead of the crowd to board first. A pleasant surprise we received upon finding that we will pass the Horn.

I am flabbergasted when I learn that I will be witness to the Horn. Mixed with my books have always been stories of the struggles of sailors to round the bend of the Horn, the tip of South America. Even so, the fact that I should walk upon the bottom of the world after treading another 700 miles is even more astounding.

We chose a cabin in the center of the ship, known to be the most stable part, to minimize motion sickness. New to the ship, we had to find the fun rooms for ourselves, and so we took a walk. We found that quite a few people were onboard, 98 passengers and 46 crewmen.

Ice breakers during dinner, our first meal aboard, consisted of asking dinner mates why they decided to go to Antarctica. Though my conclusions are preliminary and limited to those seated at our table, I discovered the majority reason was that a visit to Antarctica would mean they had been to all seven continents. The second reason usually involves seeing first-hand the plants, animals, and landscape.

The 7,500 horse power ship, according to a member of the crew, can maneuver through foot-thick ice. Antarctica is rich in ice and freshwater, about 90% and 70% in the world, respectively, to be exact. The world would be completely changed if Antarctica’s ice melted, for even the South American Andes extension and the Transantarctic at 7,000 to 8,000 feet elevation would be reduced to islands.

It seems a giant bird had tagged along, which they explained was a wandering albatross. It is truly the largest flying bird in the world, as proven by its 11.5-foot wingspan.

One of its best characteristics is its superior sense of smell. In addition, we were told to look for petrels, shags or cormorants, skuas and penguins. Almost every type of avian life has found it advantageous to develop webbed feet.

Whales of Antarctica were another engrossing subject. The range of their lifespans is 60-100 years. Because only one of their brood can be produced every other year, they rarely experience steep increases in population.

The only difficulty we had on the trip was meeting only six other Americans. The other 90 are either from Australia or areas that use the metric system. Conversion charts are provided, however, for those used to the English system.

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Aside from Legos and playing outside, this boy is an avid fan of messing around on the computer and penguins as well. Aside from seeing his beloved birds in the wild in Antarctica early next month this first grader will also see them waddle across the ice and feed their newly hatched chicks. With his parents, they will be going to the Antarctic Peninsula accompanied by an internationally known explorer and filmmaker.

Only a handful of children his age have ever stepped onto the continent. He says it’s pretty exciting, all of his friends are celebrating. This is due to the fact that he is taking all of his classmates along. Not in person, as the trip will take nearly three weeks and cost thousands of dollars, but via an Internet linkup. In fact, students across the country will be able to view live video coverage of the trip.

In order for questions to be raised and answers to be given live, the pilot youth program uses a site. This is an experience where the teachers are planning on coming up with grade level activities building on the boy’s dispatches. Topics for the first, fourth, and fifth graders are the weather, geology, and forces in motion respectively.

Given to the family is a chance at adventure. As a nature lover, the trip will really be good for the boy says his mother who also said that she will be the voice of reason on the trip. If you have a little motivation you can get the most out of your life, according to the boy.

There is nothing unusual about a webcast. But this interactive experience with kids will be a first for the explorer, who was the first American man to ski to the South Pole and the first to ice bike 250 miles across Antarctica. Other than for scientific purposes, over a dozen of his trips since 1999 to the continent involved adult activities like extreme skiing. The more he went, however, the more observations he wanted to share, and what better audience than our nation’s youth? A kids’ program was decided upon about a year ago.

The timing couldn’t be better as Antarctica possibly because of the March of the Penguins movie has become the new hot destination for adventure. Perhaps it was serendipity that brought the explorer and the boy’s mom together. Years ago was when the mother went to a local university with the 42 year old explorer but they lost contact only to regain it after hearing about his website from a mutual friend.

Before heading south, the 14 day expedition started in Buenos Aires, Argentina where the boy made his first live dispatch. Then the travelers boarded a 100 passenger cruise ship, with a group of tourists who originated in Toronto for their voyage across the Drake Passage to the Antarctic Peninsula and surrounding islands. Considering the roughest sea weather during the entire trip, the 600 mile, 30 hour ride was probably the most dangerous part.

Aside from dolphins, the Drake Passage also provided them with a great view of elephant seals and whales. Ice usually covers the beaches and bays at other times and they will be visiting these by using rubber boats after they arrive at the peninsula. Aside from the scientific research stations, they will also go to the penguin rookeries. Made famous by the March of the Penguins and belonging to the largest species from 17 in Antarctica are emperor penguins and the explorer knows where their colony is located.

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Finding uranium in the Antarctic is a task for two scientists. Considering the nature of this project, it is controversial due to how it can affect international cooperation. When Antarctica became a continent that was set aside in 1961, it was for international scientific research. In terms of international cooperation, there is much straining that can result from increasing the interest when it comes to resources sheltered by frigid weather and an unwelcoming cover of snow.

Antarctic summers are short so while the valleys were free of snow the scientists chose to go on helicopter rides with their West German colleagues and saw a magnificent view of the continent’s scenery. The helicopter rides were harrowing experiences for the gentlemen. The distance of the radioactivity detector to the cliffs should be a few hundred feet.

Besides uranium, the experts working here say the continent almost certainly contains a number of valuable resources. It will not be an easy task when it comes to locating such resources but there is little doubt that this will be increasingly practical in a decade or so.

The techniques to harvest krill are being studied by a large Polish fleet, it may look like a shrimp but it is a creature from the Weddell Sea that could be a cheap protein source. The efforts of Soviets allowed for high grade iron ore to be found in a mountain. 1973 was when an American research vessel found some ethane and methane in the Ross Sea. Natural gas and oil sources can be associated with these kinds of trace evidence.

From the US Geological Survey came findings that the continental shelf of Antarctica has the capacity for 45 billion barrels of oil and 115 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. Respectively, this is eight times the US consumption of oil and six times for natural gas annually. For the National Science Foundation, they will be supporting geologists this year for surveys on the Dufec Intrusive. You can compare this with the mineral rich areas and the bush veld in South Africa where chromium and platinum could be found.

When America prompted for an Antarctic treaty, most of the nations that participated in the International Geophysical Year celebrations were for it rather than against it. Using it for peaceful purposes, protecting its environment and wildlife, conducting open scientific research, and avoiding any territorial claims are all included in the agreement among nations. Thanks to the National Science Foundation American bases were administered.

The meeting of treaty nations in Oslo was where the problem of resource exploitation was thoroughly discussed. Everyone should agree before a change is made here. When other countries have an interest in valuable resources it then becomes a sensitive issue. From the continent’s resources, a multitude of information should be obtained according to the scientists. When it comes to international cooperation everyone agrees with how serious of an issue resource development in the Antarctic could be.

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