Geographic South Pole

ANTarctica

Fourmilab South Pole Expedition

January, 2013

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The Beach

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2013-01-07 17:59 UTC Click images for reduced size.

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2013-01-07 17:59 UTC

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2013-01-07 18:00 UTC

Because the beach is on the edge of Union Glacier, reaching it requires crossing a region of known and actively forming crevasses. We dismounted the vehicle about a kilometre from the beach to make the rest of the traverse on foot.

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Before starting toward the beach we were all roped together and briefed on the commands to others. “Halt” if you see something that looks like a crevasse, “Go” if you decide it's all right to proceed, and “Arghhhh!” if you find yourself in free fall. The crossed red flags to the left mark a known crevasse; we'll see more of it later. Most crevasses have a snow bridge of sufficient depth and rigidity that walking across it is not a problem. But, on the other hand, some don't….

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2013-01-07 19:05 UTC

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Large dark rocks absorb heat from the Sun and create melt ponds around them. This happens with rocks on every scale from small pebbles to large boulders like this one.

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In the melt ponds, ice melts and re-freezes into bizarre shapes which look like they're the work of an abstract artist.

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Crossed red flags: crevasse!

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It's really deep—you don't want to go there!


by John Walker
February 22nd, 2013
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This document is in the public domain.