thin and graceful
The pressure ridges in the ice by Scott Base are made by the permanent ice shelf pressing against the land. There is nowhere to go, but up! A long ridge of broken ice runs from Armitage Point past Scott Base, ending in a massive rippled field. I am just stupefied by the size of these frozen waves!
pressure ridges running past Scott Base
frozen waves near the transition. That black speck at the far side is a 10' high Challenger (like a tracked Catepillar)
We took a tour of the pressure ridges last weekend. We only walked through the smaller ridges, which pushed chards of ice head high, with some pieces cresting at over ten feet. We can only imagine how big those rollers are!
Mt. Erebus in the background
You can see the layers of snow in some of the uplifted ridges: all of these were once flat!
layers
As the ridges sit in the sun, they slowly melt away, creating beautiful lace patterns and thin, pointy sheets that stretch into the sky.
lace
ob hill and lace
The melting water runs off and forms icicles on the shaded side of the uplifted sheets. The low points collect water in glassy blue melt pools. Eventually, these areas will become thin enough for seals to break through the ice, pop up and sun themselves.
overhead icicles
melt pool
One of the most impressive features looked like a monkey fist to me. It rose maybe 15 feet above our heads, and had a fringe of icicles.
people by the monkey fist
monkey fist
monkey fist
We saw a few seals sunning themselves on the far side of the ridges. They're hard to photograph, as they seem to look like large black slugs any time I take their photo!
seals
Dave and Jack: a couple of seal imitators?
More pictures may follow from Dave's camera...
1 comment:
is great very very beatiful
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