NSF signs contract to use Russian icebreaker to resupply and refuel Antarctic Bases

The National Science Foundation (NSF) has reached an agreement to use the Russian Icebreaker Vladimir Ignatyuk.  The icebreaker will be used for the major annual resupply and refuel mission that provides the main supplies that McMurdo needs to operate at its current capacity throughout the year.  The icebreaker will be used to lead the ships that resupply and refuel the base through the ice.

Previously, the NSF used a Swedish icebreaker, but recently the Swedish government decided it needed to keep the icebreaker up north.  The NSF and Murmansk Shipping Company have signed a multi-year contract to use the Vladimir Ignatyuk at least until the U.S. Coast Guard Polar Star is done with its major relift in 2014.

Learn more about this here.

Special Antarctic Cruise to Fulfill Frank Wild's Last Request

This winter there will be an extra special Antarctic tourist cruise among the tourist cruise offerings.  This cruise is through One Oceans Expeditions and involves fulfilling Frank Wild's last request, which was to be buried next to Ernest Shackleton.  Shackleton is buried in a whaler's graveyard in the South Georgia islands.

The cruise is special in that it involves taking the ashes to their final resting place while also attempting to visit the famed Elephant Island where the crew of the Endurance were eventually rescued from.  Also, descendents of Frank Wild as well as Shackleton's granddaughter, Andrea Shackleton, will be on the cruise.   It also includes the regular Antarctic peninsula type destinations.

Frank Wild took part in 4 different Antarctic expeditions including being part of Scott's 1901 expedition with Shackleton and part of Shackleton's Nimrod and Endurance expeditions.  He was the second in command for the Endurance expedition and left in charge on Elephant Island when Shackleton left in the lifeboat to get help.  Wild was also second in command on the Quest expedition in which Shackleton died leaving Wild to lead the expedition.

Related Links:

• Frank Wild on Wikipedia
• Polar cruise operators offers commemorative expedition

What do Texas and Antarctica have in common?

Texas and Antarctica seem like polar opposites with Texas known for its heat and Antarctica known for its cold.  The obvious answer to what Texas and Antarctica have in common is probably that they both have deserts.  However, new research shows that 1.1 billion years ago the areas that are now Texas and Antarctica had a whole lot in common, as they were connected.

Learning about the supercontinent Pangea is a regular part of grade school science class.  However, the continents have moved around and have been connected in different ways over the Earth's history.  Some of the most recent research shows that one of the past connections involved Texas and part of Antarctica being next to each other.  Evidence that links the two based on rocks with the same lead isotopes composition in the Franklin Mountains of Texas and the Coat Lands of Antarctica.  These rocks are part of the evidence to prove the theory that North America and East Antarctica were once connected as one supercontinent called Rodinia.

Learn more about this topic here.

Penguin Book Review: 365 Penguins by Jean-Luc Fromental

365 Penguins by Jean-Luc Fromental is a funny picture book about a family getting a penguin in the mail every day.  In the end it is revealed their uncle mailed them to them as a way of smuggling them out of Antarctica.  Of course, it is an illegal thing to do, but the book addresses that and has a message of climate change and protecting the natural environment.

Overall a great book for all ages.  The big size also makes it great for group storytimes.

Satellite Imaging shows Tohoku Tsunami caused iceberg calving in Antarctica

The Tohoku Tsunami that is known for the damage it caused in Japan in March 2011 has been found to also caused iceberg calving in Antarctica.  Satellite imaging was used to follow the progress of the tsunami waves all the way down to Antarctica where the consistency of the 1 foot waves was still enough to cause icebergs to break off the Sulzberger shelf.  Often there are calving events and then scientists try to figure out the cause, but for the first time they were able to prove that tsunami waves are one cause of iceberg calving.

Learn more about this news here.

Discoverer of Antarctica's Lake Vostok dies

On August 3, 2011 the Russian man that discovered Antarctica's Lake Vostok died.  Andrey Kapitsa was a Russian geographer and is among the scientists credited with discovering Lake Vostok using seismic soundings.  Lake Vostok is the largest subglacial lake in Antarctica.  Andrey Kapitsa also participated in 4 Soviet expeditions to the South Pole.

Related Links

• Russian geographer Andrey Kapitsa dies aged 80
• Lake Vostok's Secrets Remain Unreached This Antarctic Summer
• Lake Vostok on Wikipedia

Part of Old South Pole Base on Display at New Seabee Museum

The new US Navy Seabee Museum has it's grand opening ceremony tomorrow, July 22, 2011. The new museum has an Antarctic exhibit that I really hope to see someday. The exhibit has pieces of the South Pole Geodesic dome base mounted above so you can look up and see it similar to how the base was at the South Pole until the latest South Pole base was completed. The pieces were dismantled in 2009 and brought to the museum in 2010. The Antarctic exhibit also has a subzero polar suit and the control panel from the South Pole base.

Related Links:

US Navy Seabee Museum Website

McVite's Penguin Biscuits Donate £100,000 to WWF

The UK based McVite's Biscuits has supported WWF in the past and continues their partnership this year with another £100,000 donation from their McVite's Penguin brand of biscuits.  The money goes to helping WWF's various conservation efforts with the main focus of the donation being to support WWF's efforts to protect Antarctic penguins.  The funds will help develop and protect feeding grounds in the Southern Ocean.  It will also be used for continued research on climate change and the effect on Antarctic penguin colonies.

McVite's Penguin biscuits are milk chocolate covered biscuits with chocolate cream.  Check out their website for some penguin activities and to learn more about penguins.

Whale Wars Reunion Episode to Air August 12, 2011

Animal Planet will air a special Reunion Episode of Whale Wars featuring Lisa Ling interviewing Captain Paul Watson and his crew.  This is sort of a wrap of up of Whale Wars with the very real possibility that the so called war has been won and it will be their final season of their activities in Antarctica with it seeming that the Japanese will stop their whale hunts.

Learn more about the series (now in its 4th season) here.

New research shows Antarctic krill fertilizes ocean

I just read an interesting article about krill.  Yes, I such small creatures can actually sometimes be fascinating.  The article talks about how Antarctic krill fertilize the Southern Ocean with iron.  I knew krill were a key part of the food chain in Antarctica, as penguins and such eat them, but there role in the ecosystem is much more involved.

The new study shows that krill feed on decaying organisms on the sea floor and then release iron into the ocean as they return to the surface.  This is new information in that krill were once thought to mainly stay on the surface, but the new study shows they regularly go down and feed on the sea floor.  It also shows that krill play a role in improving the ocean's ability to store carbon dioxide and thus are part of the Southern Ocean's natural carbon cycle.

Further Info: "Antarctic krill help to fertilize Southern Ocean with iron"