Carolyn Beeler of PRI's The World reports that the Research Vessel Nathaniel B. Palmer arrived at Thwaites Glacier on Feb. 26, roughly a month after leaving Punta Arenas, Chile. During its first day in front of the glacier, the Palmer traced a roughly 100-mile path around the edge of Thwaites mapping portions of the sea floor that were previously uncharted.
Snow on Ice: When in Antarctica: the backup to the backup #8
“I think the secret to the work we do in many ways is as much as possible beforehand, asking the question, ‘what if, what if, what if.…’” Andy Smith, a principal investigator on the ITGC GHOST project, commented about working in Antarctica’s isolated and difficult outback. “You have to get used to the fact that you can have a wonderful plan on paper, and it’ll change completely when you’re actually trying to achieve it.” Looking back on our cruise, this mantra has unquestionably held true.
The World's Carolyn Beeler reports on her latest dispatch from a research trip to Antarctica. Climate change researchers aboard the icebreaker Nathaniel B. Palmer sent a robotic submarine for the first look ever at the seafloor under the massive Thwaites Glacier.
These women are changing the landscape of Antarctic research. Polar science used to be dominated by men. An expedition to Thwaites Glacier is helping change that. Elizabeth Rush reports in National Geographic.
Crew and researchers on the Nathaniel B. Palmer compete in a ping pong tournament in the Amundsen Sea, by Jeff Goodell from Rolling Stone magazine.
Education: Antarctic Field Update #1, Ocean Temperatures, for Ages 5 to 11
Educators: this worksheet about measuring ocean temperatures was designed for students ages 5 to 11 and accompanies our Snow on Ice blog from early 2019.
Snow on Ice: Geology with a Spoon #7
While the seal team sat on one of the smaller Shaeffer Islands tagging their second and third seals (described in a previous blog post), GHC scientists, Scott Braddock and Meghan Spoth from the University of Maine, dug through ancient beaches for the Geological History Constraints (GHC) project of the International Thwaites Glacier Collaboration (ITGC).
Jeff Goodell of Rolling Stone magazine reports on why mapping the sea floor in front of Thwaites glacier is so important.
Jeff Goodell of Rolling Stone magazine reports from the ITGC research cruise: “For me, it’s hard to envisage something so big, so permanent, so vast, to be as fragile as it is,” scientist says in regards to first contact with Thwaites glacier.
Education: Antarctic Field Update #1, Ocean Temperatures, for Ages 11 to 18
Educators: this worksheet, designed for students ages 11 to 18, accompanies our Snow on Ice blog from early 2019.
