Antarctic Expeditions - Adventurers Setting Records

Three men, Australians Justin Jones & James Castrission and Alexsander Gamme of Norway have been travelling further than Britain's woman Felicity Aston, whose 59 day trip across 1,084 miles (1,744 kilometres) made her the first woman to travel across Antarctica alone and under her own control.

British adventurer Felicity Aston has become the first woman to ski solo across Antarctica.

Picture: AP Source: AP

All rugged up... Justin Jones and James Castrission in Antarctica.

Picture: Tony Harrington Source: The Australian

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Aussie adventurers break Antarctic record

Felicity Aston first woman to ski solo across Antarctica


Related Story:
A British woman tries to Record Cross Antarctica

Over Strong Earthquakes near Antarctic Elephant Island

An Antarctica Cruises Destination

Very strong earthquake approx. 100 km out of the coast of Elephant Island, an island which is often visited by Antarctica cruiseliners. The island is covered with glaciers.

Elephant Island and the smaller islands around are all crowded with antarctic birds and animals. Various penguin colonies like gentoo and chinstrap, seals, etc are common on these islands.

NO tsunami risk exist for populated islands (there are no people living within a radius of several hundred km). Additionally a M 6.7 earthquake is seldom generating a tsunami

Most important Earthquake Data:Magnitude :  6.6
UTC Time : Sunday, January 15, 2012 at 13:40:18 UTCLocal time at epicenter : Sunday, January 15, 2012 at 09:40:18 AM at epicenter
Depth (Hypocenter) : 10 km
Geo-location(s) :
Approx. 100 km from Elephant island, South Shetland Islands
539 km (334 miles) W of Coronation Island, South Orkney Islands625 km (388 miles) NE of Palmer Station, Antarctica

Get an update from Earthquake-Report.com

Give a thought for Howard Fairbank's solo trip to Soth pole

By the time you read this, Howard Fairbank will be on the 30th day of his journey to the South Pole. Alone.
He hopes to reach the pole, on skis, pulling a sledge, by Christmas eve. 

Photo: Antarctica Richard Weber

The Durban-born man who is trekking unassisted across the icy wastes of Antarctica, wrote on his blog that charts his adventure that he had never experienced anything like the total inability to judge distance.

At sea, which is also a vast “nothingness”, he prided himself on his ability to judge long distances. but this was new territory and something had affected his gut feel.

Fairbank said every day was like a new milestone for him and felt quite special as he imagined himself “upside down”, walking to the globe’s southernmost point.

“To reward myself for achieving the milestone, I delved into my spare food stocks and found two pieces of Josee’s delicious lunch fruitcake: one for dessert tonight, and one for breakfast in the morning. It should have been an extra whisky celebration, but stock is ‘very tight’! Not from excessive helpings, but rather, being heavy, it was always going to be a scarce resource,” Fairbank said.

He also documents how his daily food ration is not enough and no crumb is spared.

His problematic right foot was also still affecting him, though it seemed to be getting better.

Fairbank has resorted to wearing five pairs of socks when he treks. “When one really pushes the pace or has a very heavy sled, the toes get quite stressed, and you almost need like a grab rail in your boot to help them claw back. This is the problem I have, where my toes and ball of my foot are now traumatised,” Fairbank said.

Two of his fingers have suffered from cold blisters and most of them are sensitive to the touch as a result of minor frost damage.

Fairbank said he did not miss shopping, going to gym, paying bills, doing laundry and kitchen dishes, supermarkets, traffic and garbage duty.

“I’m eating the same basic food each day, wearing the same clothes each day, not shaving nor brushing my hair, not showering, I have no idea what’s going on in the world, I haven’t seen or spoken to anyone yet, there is nothing I feel I need or want. Not even a hot bath! Why in that ‘other world’, do ‘we’ need so much variety, external stimulation, so much socialising, news, gadgets, material pleasures?” Source: Independent Online.

Related Story: Howard Fairbank's Solo trip to South Pole begins

An Indian veteran recalls his Antarctic experiences

A wave of nostalgia swept over me when I read this..since I was fortunate enough to be a part of Indian Scientific Expedition team under the leadership of Dr. Rasik Ravindra in year 1989-90.


After my own experience, I am always fond of knowing more of this frozen planet and to make awareness for saving depleting ozone layer through my own blog.


National Centre for Antarctic & Ocean Research (NCAOR) is doing wonderful work to celebrate centenary year with thirty expeditions so far (including Soth Pole) ..! And many more to come..to keep India ahead of all odds.. :)

Rasik Ravindra Leader of the Indian expedition team posing at the South Pole in Nov 2010. Source: The Hindu 

Please click below link to read experience shared by the leader and my comments:
An Indian veteran recalls his Antarctic experiences




Also read related story: India to commission 3rd station in Antarctica

An Oldest Antarctic Whale Found

The oldest known Antarctic whale is seen in an artist's reconstruction.
Illustration courtesy Marcelo Reguero via AFP/Getty Images

The oldest known whale to ply the Antarctic has been found, scientists say.
A 24-inch-long (60-centimeter-long) jawbone was recently discovered amid a rich deposit of fossils on the Antarctic Peninsula.

The creature, which may have reached lengths of up to 20 feet (6 meters), had a mouthful of teeth and likely feasted on giant penguins, sharks, and big bony fish, whose remains were also discovered with the jawbone.

The early whale swam polar waters during the Eocene period, some 49 million years ago. Its age suggests fully aquatic whales evolved from their mammalian ancestors more rapidly than previously thought, said researcher Thomas Mörs, paleozoologist at the Swedish Museum of Natural History.

Based on 53-million-year-old fossils of whale-like, semi-aquatic mammals, scientists had thought mammals gave rise to whales in a process that took 15 million years. The new find suggests it took just 4 million years.

What's more, "as soon as they became fully marine animals, they dispersed all over the world, showing the great success of the whale construction," Mörs said in an email.

Whale Lived in Warm Antarctic

Not even cold waters were obstacles for early whales, he said—though Antarctica during the Eocene was much warmer than it is today.

The continent was green, carpeted in forests that housed marsupials and mammalian survivors from the dinosaur age, said Mörs, who is preparing a paper on the whale for publication in a journal.

"The shores were inhabited by colonies of penguins, among them giant ones. And the marine waters were still warm enough for leatherback turtles and a diverse shark fauna," he added.

And ancient whales, too. Source: National Geography News

Ozone Layer Depletion is Stopping..? Please check.

As per SCIENTISTS, they have won the battle to stop ozone depletion, with the hole above Antarctica gradually closing.

But they warn this good work is rapidly being doomed by the growing effects of greenhouse gas emissions and the impact of climate change.

Australian Research Council's Centre of Excellence for Climate system Science Laureate Fellow Prof Matthew England said the Antarctic ozone hole's influence on the climate in Tasmania and the southern hemisphere was dissipating as the hole slowly closed.

But Prof England, also co-director of the University of New South Wales's Climate Change Research Centre, warned the good work in reducing CFCs from the atmosphere would be progressively overridden by human-induced emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases.

Prof Sherwood said the Montreal Protocol that banned CFC use in the mid-1980s was directly responsible for improving ozone conditions above the Antarctic.
"We know it will take a very long time to recover completely because it takes several decades for the natural process to remove the pollutants from the atmosphere," Prof Sherwood said.

"But the Montreal Protocol is one of the few success stories that we can point to of this kind, where scientists figured out there was a problem (and) the nations of the world worked together to phase out the problem."

But Prof Sherwood said growing amounts of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere threatened to unhinge efforts to reverse ozone depletion.

He said greenhouses gases the carbon dioxide emissions responsible for global warming cooled the stratosphere, which served to enhance ozone depletion.

"Therefore adding more greenhouses gases to the atmosphere is helping to promote the ozone hole," he said.

"It's fighting against the good outcomes of the reduction of the CFCs."
Prof Sherwood said there was already evidence of the detrimental impact of carbon dioxide on ozone in the northern hemisphere. Source: http://www.themercury.com.au/article/2011/12/11/283601_tasmania-news.html

Scientist Injured at Prince Charles Mountains in Antarctica

Tessa Williams, a 21 year old New Zealand woman who slipped on a slop of snow in the Prince Charles Mountains (approx. 800 kms. from Davis Station), suffered major cuts and abrasion. Presently, in a stable condition with great spirits. She is flown to Davis Station as she is one of the researchers of South Autralian Museum and studying the origins and dispersal patterns of invertebrates in the Antarctic.

She will be later flown to Casey Station for for greater assessment and to determine by the medical officers if the scientist requires to be evacuated back to Auatralia. She was initially flown about 800 kms. from a remote field camp in the Prince Charles Mountains to Davis station.

The Aurora Australis ship is already en route to Casey for the summer season and will arrive next week. South Australian Museum director Suzanne Miller says it is likely that Ms Williams will be brought back to Australia on the ship.

"At this stage we think the likelihood is that she'll be transferred to one of the other Australian stations and then brought back by one of the Australian Antarctic Division ships which is due there within the next week," she said.

Professor Miller says the remote location of the field study made the rescue more difficult.

"Antarctica's a very harsh place so it adds a whole layer of difficulty onto undertaking field work so we're very pleased and very relieved to know that Tessa's injuries are not as serious as they could have been," she said. Source: abc.net.au

London Mother will Run in Antarctic Ice Marathon for Cancer Treatment

A north London mother who lost her son to cancer will run across Antarctica to raise money for the treatment of three girls suffering from the disease.

Yvonne Brown will face -20C temperatures during the five-day race

Yvonne Brown, of Barnet, will face -20C temperatures and 30mph winds during the five-day 26.2 mile Antarctic Ice Marathon starting from Union Glacier.

She lost her seven-year-old son, Jack, to neuroblastoma in 2009.

Mrs Brown, 44, wants to raise £10,000 to help three children who require specialised treatment in the US.

Emma Hoolin, four, from Wigan, two-year-old Sadie Rose Clifford from Knaresborough, North Yorkshire and Robyn Higgins, nine, from Surrey are all fighting the cancer, which attacks the nerves.

Mrs Brown said the children needed to undergo antibody treatment in the US, which is not yet available in Britain, and each family needed to raise £250,000.

Mrs Brown, an Acting Det Insp with the Metropolitan Police, said when she took Jack to the US in 2006 the treatment was still being tested and not available at Sloan Kettering cancer centre in New York. He was given another treatment there.

She has reached more than 40% of her target amount ahead of the race on 30 November.

'Courage and strength'

Mrs Brown said: "This is one of the most challenging physical and mental challenge I will ever undertake, with the exception of losing Jack.

"Their [the children in the appeal] courage and strength is enough to keep me going.

"This is one of the most difficult marathons in the world. I hope to reflect the challenge these children face."

Sadie, Emma and Robyn need specialist treatment for neuroblastoma in the US

She said her two other children, a son and a daughter, aged 15 and 12, and her husband Richard, also a Met officer, faced an "emotionally difficult" time while trying to raise funds for their son.

"What a challenge it was to do a job full time and having to fundraise and say thanks for the donations and help others raise funds (for other ill children). That detracted from our time with Jack."

Mrs Brown will leave for Punta Arenas in Chile, on Saturday, from where the runners will be taken to the Union Glacier on 29 November.

The glacier is a few hundred miles from the South Pole and is at 700m (2,300ft). Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-15892669

A Partial Solar Eclipse over Parts of Southern Hemisphere

A partial solar eclipse was visible over parts of the southern hemisphere today (25-Nov-2011), as the moon passed between Earth and the sun for the fourth and final time this year.


The eclipse was visible in southern South Africa, Antarctica, Tasmania, and most of New Zealand, according to NASA scientists. At greatest eclipse, as the moon orbited between the sun and Earth, 90.5 percent of the sun's diameter was covered from the location closest to the axis of Earth's shadow, which is a point in the Bellingshausen Sea on the west side of the Antarctic Peninsula.


While majority of the Earth was not able to view today's partial solar eclipse, the event was visible in pockets of southern South Africa, across the Antarctic continent, Tasmania and portions of New Zealand's South Island.


Observer Mike Nicholson and his wife caught the eclipse from Otaki Beach in New Zealand, though they feared at first that the strong winds in the area would blow too much sand and salt for them to see anything.


"We left home about 30 mins before the eclipse started, drove to beach, and had to hide in the car as the weather was pretty vile," Nicholson told SPACE.com in an email. "At the time conditions were also extremely hazy; the sun was just a big white blob above the horizon. However as it descended toward the horizon and into the low cloud, conditions improved visually."


The shadow with Earth last touched a point on the planet west of the South Island, in the Tasman Sea, before it swept back out into space.


Solar eclipses are some of nature's most dramatic celestial events, and occur when the Earth, moon and sun are aligned on the same plane. Partial solar eclipses happen when the moon partly covers the sun as it travels between our planet and its closest star.


Today's eclipse was the fourth and final solar eclipse of the year. Partial solar eclipses previously occurred on Jan. 4, June 1 and July 1.


The next solar eclipse, on May 20, 2012, is expected to be a stunning event, and will be visible from China, Japan and parts of the United States. During this so-called annular solar eclipse, the moon will cover a large portion (but not all) of the sun.


But, for skywatchers hoping to catch a view of the eclipse, it's important to take adequate precautionary measures. Looking at a solar eclipse can be extremely dangerous, and special eye protection is needed to safely view the sun during partial and annular eclipses.


Regular sunglasses do not adequately block enough of the infrared and ultraviolet radiation coming from the sun during the event, so specially designed "eclipse glasses" are needed, NASA scientists have said. These protective eyepieces use appropriate filtration for solar observation. Source: http://www.space.com/13731-solar-eclipse-nov-25-skywatching.html

NASA Antarctic 2011 IceBridge Mission Accomplishes

NASA's DC-8 airborne science laboratory has completed its 2011 Operation IceBridge science flights over Antarctica, and arrived home at its base in Palmdale, Calif., Nov. 22. The IceBridge flight and science team flew a record 24 science flights during the six-week campaign, recording data from a suite of sophisticated instruments on the thickness and depth of Antarctic ice sheets and glacial movement.


The aircraft departed its deployment base at Punta Arenas, Chile, Tuesday morning Nov. 22 and after a refueling stop in Santiago, Chile, set course for Los Angeles International Airport for customs clearance. The flying lab continued on to the Dryden Aircraft Operations Facility in Palmdale, arriving about 8:30 p.m. that evening after almost 15 hours in the air.


A highlight of the IceBridge mission was the discovery during a low-level overflight Oct. 14 of a large crack that had recently begun across the Pine Island Glacier ice shelf, a precursor to the separation of an estimated 310-square-mile iceberg into the ocean in the near future. The growth of the estimated 18-mile-long rift was documented on several subsequent flights.


The final science flights on Nov. 17 and 19 focused on the middle of the Antarctic Peninsula and the George VI Sound on the peninsula's western side.


Mission manager Chris Miller's report on the former noted that clear weather over the eastern side of the peninsula provided "a rare opportunity to collect data over glaciers that are more regularly shrouded in cloud." The mostly clear weather allowed the science team to collect data at low altitudes of only 1,500 feet above ground for almost seven hours out of the more than 11 hours the team was aloft.

After a down day on Nov. 18 for crew rest and aircraft maintenance, the converted four-engine jetliner-turned-flying-laboratory was airborne again on its final science mission of the 2011 Antarctic IceBridge campaign Nov. 19. The IceBridge team found perfect weather conditions over their survey target, the George VI Sound on the western side of the Antarctic Peninsula.


Data collection began with a long transect down the center of the sound, Miller reported, and then continued with 11 flight data lines stitching across the sound, shore to shore. Minor glitches with the Digital Mapping System and the aircraft's GPS system complicated one of the flight tracks for the Airborne Topographic Mapper instrument during the flight, but Miller said all objectives were met and the ATM data should be recoverable in post flight processing.


"Views of mountain peaks and ranges were abundant," during the 11-hour flight, he added.


Due to fuel supply issues at Punta Arenas, a 25th and final science flight on Nov. 20 was cancelled, and the team prepared for its Nov. 22 departure back to the United States.


Including the transit flights between Punta Arenas and California, the modified 45-year-old flying laboratory logged about 308 flight hours during the Operation IceBridge, including 127 hours of actual data collection from its suite of seven specialized instruments. The instruments and science teams represented several NASA centers, the University of Kansas, the University of California at Santa Cruz and the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory at Columbia University.

Operation IceBridge was begun in 2009 to bridge the gap in data collection after NASA's ICESat-1 satellite stopped functioning and when the ICESat-2 satellite becomes operational in 2016. By comparing the year-to-year readings of ice thickness and movement both on land and on the sea, scientists can learn more about the trends that could affect sea-level rise and climate around the globe. In addition to NASA's DC-8, a smaller Gulfstream V aircraft operated by the National Science Foundation and the National Center for Atmospheric Research also participated in this fall's IceBridge mission.


DC-8 research pilot Troy Asher, who flew the final science flight, offered his reflections on this fall's Antarctic campaign.


"As you will undoubtedly hear from other reports from the science and mission director community, this has been a fantastic deployment from many different aspects," he said.


NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center director David McBride emailed his congratulations to the science team and the flight and ground crews on the completion of the 2011 mission over Antarctica.

"This was a great campaign and it makes all proud," McBride added.

Source: http://www.nasa.gov/topics/earth/features/icebridge_fall_2011_concludes.html

Malaysia King Back from Antarctica Trip

PETALING JAYA: Yang di-Pertuan Agong Tuanku Mizan Zainal Abidin returned from a five-day working visit to scientific centres in Antarctica.


Tuanku Mizan flew in to the Royal Malaysian Air Force base in Subang near here yesterday and was welcomed by senior deputy secretary-general of the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Othman Mahmood and Keeper of the Rulers’ Seal Datuk Syed Danial Syed Ahmad.


The visit to the South Pole was in conjunction with Malaysia’s formal accession to the Antarctic Treaty 1959 on Oct 31 this year as a non-consultative member.


Tuanku Mizan was accompanied by Science, Technology and Inno­vation Minister Datuk Seri Dr Maximus Ongkili, Academy of Sciences Malaysia (ASM) Antarctica Task Force chairman Tan Sri Salleh Mohd Nor, National Antarctica Research Centre director Prof Datuk Dr Azizan Abu Samah and Mohamad Mudanoran Mohamad Mushaari of Bernama.


Malaysia’s involvement with Antarctica started when Malaysia and Antigua and Barbuda highlighted the Antarctica issue at the United Nations General Assembly in 1983. – Bernama Source: http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2011/11/25/nation/9976359&sec=nation




Related Story:
Malaysia King Reached Antarctica
Malaysia King's Working Visit to Antarctica

Antarctic mountains date back to dinosaur age

Washington: The root of the mysterious range of Antarctic mountains completely hidden under the continent's massive ice sheet may be over 200 million years old dating back to the dinosaur age, scientists have claimed. 


Researchers on a project to understand the Gamburtsev Subglacial Mountains in East Antarctica better, said the mountains rise up to 10,000 feet above the planet's surface, but are covered by up to 15,750 feet of ice. 

"This icy coat makes them the least understood mountain range on Earth," researcher Fausto Ferraccioli, a geophysicist at the British Antarctic Survey, said. 


"It is very fitting that the initial results of Antarctica's Gamburtsev Province project are coming out 100 years after the great explorers raced to the South Pole," said Alexandra Isern at the National Science Foundation. 


"The scientific explorers of the Antarctica's Gamburtsev Province project worked in harsh conditions to collect the data and detailed images of this major mountain range under the East Antarctic Ice Sheet. The results of their work will guide research in this region for many years to come." 


What details scientists have gathered about the mountains provide conflicting evidence about how they got there and how old they are. For instance, nearby rocks suggest they are very ancient, but their steep, rugged shapes, which resemble the Alps, are what one would expect of young mountains. 


To learn more about their origins, the team collected new data from the Gamburtsev region by flying about 120,000km with two aircraft equipped with ice-penetrating radars, lasers and magnetic and gravity meters. 


Magnetic anomalies seen throughout the Gamburtsevs match those of about one-billion-year-old rocks seen to the north that predate the evolution of animals and plants on Earth. 


This suggests the root of this mountain range was born around that time from collisions of several continents or microcontinents, findings corroborated by gravity and other data, the team reported in journal Nature. 


The research then suggested that rifting events between 250 and 100 million years ago, back when dinosaurs roamed the Earth, triggered the uplift of these mountains. Specifically, the rise of rock along the flanks of these rifts and the buoyant root of these mountains forced the land upward. 


Rivers and glaciers then cut deep valleys, giving these mountains their rugged shapes. The East Antarctic Ice Sheet, which currently covers one-tenth of Earth's crust, then entombed the range, preserving them as they are today, the researchers said. 


"Explorers that set foot on the moon for the first time were confronted with many unknowns and challenges -- the same holds true for the Gamburtsevs, in my view," Ferraccioli said. 


"Unravelling the mystery of how the mountains formed by analysing the new data and putting together bits and pieces of a billion-year history of the region was really exciting." 


The new geophysical images and models will help guide future research on geological evolution and mountain-building in this remote region for years to come, he added.  PTI Source: http://zeenews.india.com/news/eco-news/antarctic-mountains-date-back-to-dinosaur-age_743082.html

A British woman tries to Record Cross Antarctica

A 33 year old British woman Felicity Aston tries to cross Antarctica.

You can follow her Expedition site: http://www.kasperskyonetransantarcticexpedition.com/

An Adventurer penalised in Antarctic tragedy

Police in Tromsø, northern Norway, have confirmed fining adventurer Jarle Andhøy after his so-called “Wild Vikings – The Berserk Expedition” went seriously wrong last winter. The expedition was found to have violated several Norwegian regulations on environmental protection in Antarctica. Three of the expedition participants disappeared and are presumed dead.


The expedition, led by Andhøy, visited Antarctica in mid-February. The Norwegian Polar Research Institute later reported Andhøy to police for failing to provide advance notice, failing to submit an environmental impact assessment and failing to mount adequate insurance. The Polar Institute also cited Andhøy over a fuel spill and unauthorized activity in specially protected areas, according to Tromsø police.


The fine was issued over the lack of advance notice, lack of insurance and lack of an environmental impact statement. Police said Andhøy had agreed to pay the fine although he refused to meet them for questioning. Police opted against filing charges over the alleged illegal activity in protected areas, citing lack of evidence, or the fuel spill, for lack of resources.


Andhøy went ashore on Antarctica in an effort to reach the South Pole, while his boat later disappeared with three expedition members on board. That set off a major and expensive search and rescue effort from New Zealand, where officials criticized Andhøy for being irresponsible. The search effort was unsuccessful, the boat was not found and all three men on board are presumed dead. Source: http://www.newsinenglish.no/2011/11/17/adventurer-fined-in-antarctic-tragedy/

National Science Foundation Invites Professional Journalists to report on Antarctic Scientific Research

Media proposal request for media trip to Antarctica--January 2012

Application deadline is Nov. 28, 2011; deployments to take place Jan. 13-20, 2012


The National Science Foundation (NSF), manager of the U.S. Antarctic Program is accepting written requests from professional journalists to report on scientific research supported by NSF's Office of Polar Programs (OPP).


Selected journalists will deploy to Antarctica for approximately one working week.


NSF annually selects a small group of journalists, representing a range of news organizations, to make individual visits to McMurdo Station on the southern tip of Ross Island and, weather permitting, South Pole Station, Antarctica to report on NSF's scientific program. As logistics permit, it may be possible to visit a limited number of field science projects. The reporting plan described below should include these requests in detail.


OPP and NSF's Office of Legislative and Public Affairs (OLPA) jointly manage and coordinate media visits to the Polar Region.


Examples of projects that will be open to media visits:

• Astronomy and Astrophysics at the South Pole
• Ice sheets and ice shelves as influenced by climate change
• Long-term Ecological Research in the McMurdo Dry Valleys
• Population Dynamics of Penguins and Seals in McMurdo Sound
• Reporters may also have the opportunity, depending upon researchers' travel schedules to interview scientists with the WAIS Divide Ice Coring Project and joint NSF-NASA supported research at the Pine Island Glacier as they return from the field.

How to apply: Applicants must submit the equivalent of two printed pages detailing specifically what they intend to cover while in the field. NSF public affairs officers can help applicants craft a proposed reporting plan that has the best chance of meeting minimum criteria.


Competition is expected to be intense for a limited number of slots, and space on aircraft is severely constrained. Logistical limitations make it nearly impossible to modify reporting plans once in Antarctica.


A panel consisting of program staff from OPP and media officers from OLPA will review all proposals and select finalists. The panel will look for proposals that indicate an understanding of the nature and challenges of NSF's scientific enterprise in the Antarctic as well as the desire and ability to communicate that understanding to the public.


Application Deadline: Nov. 28, 2011--U.S. media receive preference in selection.


Application: Focused applications with thorough reporting plans that indicate solid working knowledge of the U.S. Antarctic program and its science goals stand the best chance of selection. Feature-film proposals and general reporting about Antarctica, travel or logistics are not given priority, though film makers may apply to the Informal Science Education program administered by the Education & Human Resources directorate of NSF. Applications should also include the outlet(s) in which the reporting will appear and the anticipated audiences reached through the reporting.


For additional background please go to United States Antarctic Program website.


Medical: Finalists must pass rigorous medical and dental examinations before being approved to travel with the USAP to Antarctica. These examinations are conducted at the finalist's expense by a personal physician and dentist, using USAP medical screening forms. Certain medical conditions may disqualify a candidate from visiting Antarctica, even in eventually selected as a media visitor.


Expenses: Reporters selected for the media or their employers pay for round-trip transportation to--and accommodation in--Christchurch, New Zealand. Reporters must visit NSF headquarters in Arlington, VA., at their own expense for pre-trip planning. NSF furnishes at no cost cold-weather clothing solely for use in the field as well as housing, transportation and food while in Antarctica.


Note: From time to time, NSF has received requests for media opportunities from reporters who plan to travel to Antarctica at various times of the year via non-governmental means. Such requests are reviewed on a case by case basis. Such requests should be directed to the NSF media officer listed below.


How to Apply: Contact the NSF media officer listed below (by phone or by e-mail) as soon as possible to express interest. Freelancers are eligible for consideration but must supply with their letter of application evidence of a firm commitment from prospective employer to publish or air their work on their employer's letterhead. For further information please visit: http://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=122320

Antarctica Ice Marathon & Half Marathon

Adventure marathoners and ultra athletes are always looking for the next big challenge. It could be a remote desert marathon, a high altitude mountain marathon or a jungle marathon. However, mainland Antarctica represents the last frontier, the final great wilderness to be conquered. And now adventure athletes like you can do it. Introducing the only footraces within the Antarctic Circle...... 

The Marathon

On November 30th, 2011, the seventh Antarctic Ice Marathon will take place at 80 Degrees South, just a few hundred miles from the South Pole at the foot of the Ellsworth Mountains. It is the 100-year anniversary of Man reaching the South Pole.


This race presents a truly formidable and genuine Antarctic challenge with underfoot conditions comprising snow and ice throughout, an average windchill temperature of –20C, and the possibility of strong Katabatic winds to contend with. Furthermore, the event takes place at an altitude of 700 metres.


The Antarctic Ice Marathon is the only marathon run in the interior of the Antarctic and is organised by Polar Running Adventures, the organiser of the annual North Pole Marathon.


The five-day itinerary will see competitors fly by private jet from Punta Arenas, Chile, on November 29th to the marathon location at Union Glacier. A marked course of 26.2 miles will already have been prepared and snowmobile support, aid stations and medical personnel will be at hand for the duration of the race.


The Antarctic Ice Marathon is the southernmost marathon on earth and a unique opportunity to complete a marathon that is truly worthy of the seventh continent. Don't expect to run your quickest time, however, as winds can blow from the Pole at a steady 10-25 knots. Also, forget about penguins or crowds cheering you along the route - no penguins live this far south and you will have to rely upon yourself to push onward in the hushed, indomitable surroundings.

100Km Ultra Race

he Antarctic 100k ultra race will take place on December 2nd. Undoubtedly, “the world’s coldest 100”, this ultramarathon challenge is reserved for only the toughest of endurance athletes. The 100k (62.1 miles) distance will seem endless, run under a sun that never sets against the backdrop of hills, mountains and large expanses of ice. This race presents the only opportunity to complete a 100k event on the frozen continent and creates the prospect of a 100k Seven Continents Club for global ultra athletes.

White Continent Half-Marathon

For those who prefer a half-marathon option, the White Continent Half-Marathon will also be run on the day of the Marathon race. This half-marathon is your opportunity to cover 21km (13.1 miles) on the 'white continent' and finish the southernmost half marathon on the planet.

Antarctic Mile

If you're a speedster, or simply don't want to run long distances, the Antarctic Mile is new to the 2011 calendar. This event is also ideal for partners, family or friends of marathon participants who want to travel to Antarctica but not run double digit miles! While the 4-minute barrier is unlikely to be broken, could 5 minutes be broken, or even 6 minutes, by the fastest competitor? The Antarctic Mile will take place on November 30th, the same day as the marathon.

Price

For the registration fee of €9,900, incredible value for the Antarctic, participants will be flown round-trip from Punta Arenas, Chile, to the Union Glacier camp in the interior of the Antarctic. Competitors will also receive accommodation and food for the entire five-day Antarctic trip and entry to their races of choice. Top class photos of each competitor in action will be distributed for personal use, as well as commemorative certificates, medals, t-shirts and patches.


Please note: Weather problems can result in flight re-scheduling and the expected five-day trip could be shortened or lengthened accordingly.  

Mountain Climbing & the South Pole

It is also possible to combine your marathon trip with climbing Vinson Massif, the highest mountain in Antarctica and / or flying to the exact Geographic South Pole. There are very substantial discounts in combining these trips compared to registering for them as separate expeditions. Source: http://www.icemarathon.com/

Malaysia King's Working Visit to Antarctica

KUALA LUMPUR: Yang di-Pertuan Agong Tuanku Mizan Zainal Abidin will make a working visit to Antarctica from Nov 20 to 24.


The visit is in conjunction with Malaysia’s formal accession to the Antarctic Treaty 1959, on Oct 31 this year, as a non-consultative member.


Also on the trip will be Science, Technology and Innovation Minister Datuk Seri Dr Maximus Ongkili, Academy of Sciences Malaysia (ASM) task force chairman Tan Sri Dr Salleh Mohd Nor and ASM fellow Prof Datuk Dr Azizan Abu Samah, the ministry said in a statement.


Malaysia’s involvement with Antarctica started when Malaysia and Antigua and Barbuda highlighted the Antarctica issue at the UN General Assembly in 1983.


Malaysia’s scientific and research involvement in Antarctica started on Nov 19, 1997, when the Cabinet approved Malaysia’s participation in scientific research there.


A task force under the Malaysia Antarctic Research Programme (MARP) was then set up at ASM to encourage research in Antarctica among Malaysian scientists.


Following this, Malaysia’s scientists and researchers started conducting research in Antarctica in 1999.


The statement said 62 expeditions had been carried out until last year involving 60 researchers from seven institutions of higher learning.


A total of 24 research projects in science, biology and physical science are being carried out by Malaysian scientists under the supervision of MARP.


The King’s visit to Scott Base, a research facility operated by New Zealand, is seen as strengthening Antarctica’s scientific research cooperation as well as bilateral relations between Malaysia and New Zealand, the statement said.


The statement also mentioned a parallel process being carried out to formulate a new Act to meet an obligation under the Antarctica Treaty to make Malaysia an Antarctic Treaty consultative country.


The formulation of the Act is being carried out by a working group headed by the ministry.


The draft of the Act is expected to be finalised for tabling in Parliament at the end of this year or early next year. — Bernama Source: http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2011/11/18/nation/9931152&sec=nation


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Malaysia King Reached Antarctica

Airfield reconstructed every year on annual sea ice of Antarctica

Photo Credits: Peter Rejcek

The U.S. Antarctic Program builds a temporary airfield on the sea ice in McMurdo Sound every year for use by both ski-equipped and wheeled aircraft that provide transportation to and from the continent, as well as those that support research to far-flung field camps. Construction begins before the summer field season in October, and the airfield is in operation until early December, when the sea ice begins to soften and melt. Operations are then moved to an airfield call Pegasus White Ice Runway on the thicker permanent ice shelf. Types of aircraft include the Twin Otter and U.S. Air Force LC-130, both seen above. The advantage of the Annual Sea Ice Runway is its proximity to McMurdo Station , less than a 10-minute ride away. Transportation to Pegasus can take upwards of an hour, depending on snow-road conditions. Below are additional photos from the sea ice runway. Source: http://antarcticsun.usap.gov/features/contenthandler.cfm?id=2541

Airfield buildings	LC-130	Two Basler aircraft
Aircraft and Ross Island	Emergency vehicles	Helicopter at airfield

NASA & NSF Reaerchers To Drill Beneath huge hole in Antarctic Ice

Research Helps Predict Sea Level Rise in Antarctic

Robert Bindschadler, an emeritus glaciologist with NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, was the first person to ever walk on the Pine Island Glacier ice shelf, in January 2008. Credit: NASA

WASHINGTON -- An international team of researchers funded by NASA and the National Science Foundation (NSF) will travel next month to one of Antarctica's most active, remote and harsh spots to determine how changes in the waters circulating under an active ice sheet are causing a glacier to accelerate and drain into the sea.

The science expedition will be the most extensive ever deployed to Pine Island Glacier. It is the area of the ice-covered continent that concerns scientists most because of its potential to cause a rapid rise in sea level. Satellite measurements have shown this area is losing ice and surrounding glaciers are thinning, raising the possibility the ice could flow rapidly out to sea.

The multidisciplinary group of 13 scientists, led by Robert Bindschadler, emeritus glaciologist of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., will depart from the McMurdo Station in Antarctica in mid-December and spend six weeks on the ice shelf. During their stay, they will use a combination of traditional tools and sophisticated new oceanographic instruments to measure the shape of the cavity underneath the ice shelf and determine how streams of warm ocean water enter it, move toward the very bottom of the glacier and melt its underbelly.

"The project aims to determine the underlying causes behind why Pine Island Glacier has begun to flow more rapidly and discharge more ice into the ocean," said Scott Borg, director of NSF's Division of Antarctic Sciences, the group that coordinates all U.S. research in Antarctica. "This could have a significant impact on global sea-level rise over the coming century."

Scientists have determined the interaction of winds, water and ice is driving ice loss from the floating glacier. Gusts of increasingly stronger westerly winds push cold surface waters away from the continent, allowing warmer waters that normally hover at depths below the continental shelf to rise. The upwelling warm waters spill over the border of the shelf and move along the sea floor, back to where the glacier rises from the bedrock and floats, causing it to melt.

The warm salty waters and fresh glacier melt water combine to make a lighter mixture that rises along the underside of the ice shelf and moves back to the open ocean, melting more ice on its way. How much more ice melts is what the team wants to find out, so it can improve projections of how the glacier will melt and contribute to sea-level rise.

In January 2008, Bindschadler was the first person to set foot on this isolated corner of Antarctica as part of initial reconnaissance for the expedition. Scientists had doubted it was even possible to reach the crevasse-ridden ice shelf. Bindschadler used satellite imagery to identify an area where helicopters could land safely to transport scientists and instrumentation to and from the ice shelf.

"The Pine Island Glacier ice shelf continues to be the place where the action is taking place in Antarctica," Bindschadler said. "It only can be understood by making direct measurements, which is hard to do. We're doing this hard science because it has to be done. The question of how and why it is melting is even more urgent than it was when we first proposed the project over five years ago."

The team will use a hot water drill to make a hole through the ice shelf. After the drill hits the ocean, the scientists will send a camera down into the cavity to observe the underbelly of the ice shelf and analyze the seabed lying approximately 1,640 feet (500 meters) below the ice. Next the team will lower an instrument package provided by oceanographer Tim Stanton of the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterrey, Calif., into the hole. The primary instrument, called a profiler, will move up and down a cable attached to the seabed, measuring temperature, salinity and currents from approximately 10 feet (3 meters) below the ice to just above the seabed.

A second hole will support a similar instrument array fixed to a pole stuck to the underside of the ice shelf. This instrument will measure how ice and water exchange heat. The team also will insert a string of 16 temperature sensors in the lowermost ice to freeze inside and become part of the ice shelf. The sensors will measure how fast heat is transmitted upward through the ice when hot flushes of water enter the ocean cavity.

Sridhar Anandakrishnan, a geophysicist with Pennsylvania State University in University Park, Pa., will study the shape of the ocean cavity and the properties of the bedrock under the Pine Island Glacier ice shelf through a technique called reflective seismology, which involves generating waves of energy by detonating small explosions and banging the ice with instruments resembling sledgehammers. Measurements will be taken in about three dozen spots using helicopters to move from one place to another. Source: http://www.nasa.gov/topics/earth/features/pine-island-glacier.html

Punta Arenas serves as hub of Antarctic study and scientific innovation

PUNTA ARENAS — International experts from around Europe and the Americas are working together from Nov. 13 to Nov. 15 in Punta Arenas, Chile to nurture study of Antarctica to uncover facts related to the environment and climate change. Countries such as Germany, Argentina, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Chile, the United States, France, Norway, the United Kingdom and Sweden represent the international community attending the meeting.

A 3-day meeting between international scientists will take place in Punta Arenas. They will discuss climate change and the environment, Photo: INACH

Various symposiums will take place over the three-day meeting. Twenty years of cooperation and research between Germany and Chile at GARS O’Higgins (German Antarctic Receiving Station) will be celebrated through an event called “20 Years Antarctic Research Station GARS O’Higgins.” Their on-going cooperation has resulted in capturing vital pole-to-pole information about Earth via communication with European satellites.

Another workshop, organized by the National Commission of Scientific Investigation (CONICYT) and the Chilean Antarctica Institute (INACH), include the “Chile-European Union: Climate Change and Environment Research Opportunities Under the FP7.” This workshop is an initiative that looks to stimulate multinational project presentation on themes such as the environment and climate change at the seventh European Union Framework Programme.

For the director of INACH, Dr. José Retamales, the meeting will permit international cooperation concerning the exploration of climate change and the environment, as well the use of radar sensor satellites to gather data.

Gonzalo Arenas, the subdirector of the International Relations Department of CONICYT, added that Chile is a natural scientific laboratory considering the presence of diverse scientific fields such as astronomy, seismology, climate change and Antarctica.

“We should make the most of this advantage so that we don’t just develop national abilities, but also open up the doors of the laboratory to the scientists of the whole world so that together we can create and develop centers of excellence at a world level,” Arenas said. Source: http://ilovechile.cl/2011/11/14/international-scientists-rally-punta-arenas/39237