Ice Stories: Dispatches From Polar Scientists » Byrd Glacier http://icestories.exploratorium.edu/dispatches Mon, 15 Nov 2010 20:40:36 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 en hourly 1 Mapping East Antarctica’s Uncharted Territory http://icestories.exploratorium.edu/dispatches/mapping-east-antarcticas-uncharted-territory/ http://icestories.exploratorium.edu/dispatches/mapping-east-antarcticas-uncharted-territory/#comments Fri, 06 Feb 2009 18:55:10 +0000 Mary Miller http://icestories.exploratorium.edu/dispatches/?p=1545 WILLIAMS FIELD, NEAR MCMURDO STATION, ANTARCTICA– East Antarctica contains nearly all the world’s supply of fresh water and could contribute hundreds of feet of sea level rise, yet little is known about the stability of this vast ice sheet. In our interview with Jack Holt of the University of Texas at Austin, we learn about a project to chart a glacier in East Antarctica that scientists believe is losing mass. (Video by Lisa Strong-Aufhauser.)



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]]> http://icestories.exploratorium.edu/dispatches/mapping-east-antarcticas-uncharted-territory/feed/ 3 Glaciers from the Air http://icestories.exploratorium.edu/dispatches/glaciers-from-the-air/ http://icestories.exploratorium.edu/dispatches/glaciers-from-the-air/#comments Tue, 23 Dec 2008 04:18:50 +0000 Mary Miller http://icestories.exploratorium.edu/dispatches/?p=1385 SOUTH POLE STATION, ANTARCTICA– On our flight to the South Pole, the view out the tiny windows on the LC-130 are mostly of a flat, white, vast ice scape. But there are some interesting features on the polar plateau; alerted by a fellow passenger I caught a glimpse of the Byrd Glacier. Named after American Antarctic explorer Richard Byrd, this fast-moving river of ice flows through the valleys of the Transantarctic Mountains. At 15 miles wide, it’s one of the largest outlet glaciers that drain ice from East Antarctica to the Ross Ice Shelf.

A little later in the flight, I took this short video of the Beardmore glacier, flowing through the snow covered mountains. The glacier was discovered by Ernest Shackleton in 1908 during his failed attempt to reach the pole. The mountains on either side of the Beardmore contain a treasure-trove of dinosaur fossils and was one of the earlier study sites for paleoecologist Allan Ashworth who uncovered fossils in ancient lake sediments there.



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