I mentioned in my last posts that I visited the pressure ridges. These ice features line any large sturdy structure; this being land, icebergs, islands, and so forth. They are pretty plentiful, but dangerous to run around and walk through and around. Some of the most dramatic pressure ridges have formed by Scott Base (located on the other side of our little spit on Ross Island). We drive by them every day on the way out to the Willie Field Airstrip. In a typical year these ridges are smaller, but since the sea ice has not broken up since the B-15 iceberg blocked the temporary ice in, the ridges at Scott Base are virtually exploding under the stress. As the ice gets warmer and expands, shifts with the changing tides, and begins to fracture as it melts, the shelf gets pushed up against the island.
The recreation department from McMurdo teamed up with the Scott Base people and organized some tours through these phenomenal chunks of green and blue ice. The power that slowly pushes these formations into different shapes every day, or two, is quite unique. It was a brisk day, but the group of 10 enjoyed the cool sunshine and the spectacular "God art" up close.
I mentioned in my last posts that I visited the pressure ridges. These ice features line any large sturdy structure; this being land, icebergs, islands, and so forth. They are pretty plentiful, but dangerous to run around and walk through and around. Some of the most dramatic pressure ridges have formed by Scott Base (located on the other side of our little spit on Ross Island). We drive by them every day on the way out to the Willie Field Airstrip. In a typical year these ridges are smaller, but since the sea ice has not broken up since the B-15 iceberg blocked the temporary ice in, the ridges at Scott Base are virtually exploding under the stress. As the ice gets warmer and expands, shifts with the changing tides, and begins to fracture as it melts, the shelf gets pushed up against the island.
The recreation department from McMurdo teamed up with the Scott Base people and organized some tours through these phenomenal chunks of green and blue ice. The power that slowly pushes these formations into different shapes every day, or two, is quite unique. It was a brisk day, but the group of 10 enjoyed the cool sunshine and the spectacular "God art" up close.
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