Summer seems to have arrived on Mt. Morning. The air outside my tent today was cool, and if it wasn’t entirely springlike, temperatures were certainly above freezing. Margins of a few icy ponds had melted, and little sprigs of algae unfurled green fronds under the surface. We spent the day traversing the 25,000-year-old lava flows below Emperor Cone. Traveling with geologists, you don’t have to worry too much about forgetting your water bottle – our camp was almost always in sight. In about nine hours, we got no farther away from camp than 1 kilometer. But in that short space we found plenty to look at: wind-eaten rocks, two very different forms of lava, and a fence of hexagonal stone pillars, among other sights you’ll hear about another day. Read more...

My name is Stephanie, and I am a graduate student with Ohio State University. My research focuses on using GPS to study crustal deformation in Antarctica, and this blog is meant to document my experiences in Antarctica, or “the ice” as it is affectionately known by many. This is my third time down to the ice, but only my second season. By season, I mean summer in Antarctica, from about October through February, when the sun is out for 24 hours a day. In 2004/2005, I was here putting out GPS equipment throughout the Transantarctic Mountains as part of the TAMDEF project (Transantarctic Mountain Deformation Project). Now I am here continuing that work as part of a project called POLENET (Polar Earth Ob...

Written Wednesday, 19 December Hi, it’s me again, Nils. Here on Board of Polarstern I am responsible for the deep-sea camera, and when I am not busy taking pictures of the ocean floor, I film what is happening around me. And of course the most impressing thing one can film here on the ice is wild penguins. The small, funny Adelies and the nearly 1 m tall, very dignified Emperor penguins are en route to their brooding places. Of course I have to film th...

Written Wednesday 19th December 2007 By Margot Foster Pleased to report that I've found my sea legs and am spending longer in the galley after a gingery start. I’ve been prowling the ship and everywhere you turn there's an experiment or research underway - whether it’s the continuous plankton recorder (CPR) or testing the water's chemical composition, every lab is busy. The temperature is down to 6 degrees now we are in mid fifty latitudes I watched the CPR being winched in from the trawl deck with its silk roll trapping plankton during an overnight trawl. What a remarkable contraption it is! It’s like a chunky little silver rocket with a propeller behind it. It’s so simple and elegant and successful that this piece of...