The Ice
Antarctica is a world defined by a simple substance that exists in many complicated forms: Ice. The National Geographic Endeavour is now on her way north across the Drake Passage. During this day at sea people are busy with many things: working out, watching sea birds, reading, packing, downloading photos, and other activities. Also during this day, some, hopefully all, will take a few moments and reflect on the past three weeks. One of the strongest impressions they will come away from this trip with is a sense of awe at the sheer scale of the Ice. Its many forms, shapes, and moods constantly surprised us. The captain could take the ship and bash some types of ice while having to go around other larger pieces. We walked on sea ice, circuited tall icebergs by Zodiac, marveled at the calving of huge chunks from glaciers and picked up pieces that had washed on shore. There were blue, green, aqua, jade, black and brown colors represented in differently formed ice. Perhaps the most impressive Ice was the tabular berg we sailed along between South Georgia and Antarctica. It was large enough to have a name, A-22A. It had lived for 20 years in the Weddell Sea before moving north towards a warm water demise. It was over 1200 square miles in area.
So from the smallest ice cube to A-22A, here is a list of the ice forms we experienced on our expedition. The Mountain Ice: glacial ice, cirque glaciers, valley glaciers, ice fjords; Sea Ice: grease ice, frazil ice, pack ice, pancake ice, congelation ice, old ice, multiyear ice, new ice, rotten ice; Icebergs: tabular bergs, ice islands, bergy bits, growlers, brash ice, dirty ice; Along the coasts: fast ice, shore ice, ice walls, grounded ice, floating ice, ice shelves.
Antarctica is by definition THE ICE. Along with a few penguins.
Antarctica is a world defined by a simple substance that exists in many complicated forms: Ice. The National Geographic Endeavour is now on her way north across the Drake Passage. During this day at sea people are busy with many things: working out, watching sea birds, reading, packing, downloading photos, and other activities. Also during this day, some, hopefully all, will take a few moments and reflect on the past three weeks. One of the strongest impressions they will come away from this trip with is a sense of awe at the sheer scale of the Ice. Its many forms, shapes, and moods constantly surprised us. The captain could take the ship and bash some types of ice while having to go around other larger pieces. We walked on sea ice, circuited tall icebergs by Zodiac, marveled at the calving of huge chunks from glaciers and picked up pieces that had washed on shore. There were blue, green, aqua, jade, black and brown colors represented in differently formed ice. Perhaps the most impressive Ice was the tabular berg we sailed along between South Georgia and Antarctica. It was large enough to have a name, A-22A. It had lived for 20 years in the Weddell Sea before moving north towards a warm water demise. It was over 1200 square miles in area.
So from the smallest ice cube to A-22A, here is a list of the ice forms we experienced on our expedition. The Mountain Ice: glacial ice, cirque glaciers, valley glaciers, ice fjords; Sea Ice: grease ice, frazil ice, pack ice, pancake ice, congelation ice, old ice, multiyear ice, new ice, rotten ice; Icebergs: tabular bergs, ice islands, bergy bits, growlers, brash ice, dirty ice; Along the coasts: fast ice, shore ice, ice walls, grounded ice, floating ice, ice shelves.
Antarctica is by definition THE ICE. Along with a few penguins.
