" ... for the stories we tell to recognize life in all beings—seen and unseen, seemingly inert and otherwise—we have to dwell in place long enough to notice when change is afoot." —Elizabeth Rush for @emergencemagazine
A very cool talk this week at GEOTOP by André Pellerin, University of Quebc at Rimouski. He spoke on the strange chemistry and biology of Lake Untersee, east Antarctica. This lake is perpetually ice-covered and the bottom covered with #stromatolites (microbial mats) similar to those found in ecosystems three billion years in Earth's past. #UCAR#Antarctica#Rimouski#Quebec#Archean#GEOTOP
Front of the Ross Ice Shelf - its nigh on impossible to do something around 800 km long justice in a photo... what's more incomprehensible is there a cavity beneath this which stretches back 800 km. And these are only now starting to feature in climate models. #Antarctica#Climate#IceShelves
may not look it but it was blowing like crazy... #katabatic continues ...60knots and v v cold we are having to helicopter our remaining team over rather than use a boat #oceanography#antarctica
Glacier Tongues are the best... this is the tip of the Campbell GT a little to the east of the Italian and Korean bases in Terra Nova Bay... a many 10s of km long thread of ice floating out over the ocean. Nothing else like them on the planet. This coast is festooned with them... #cryosphere#glacier#Antarctica
An old, never before assembled timelapse from breaking ice on the SIPEXII expedition off East Antarctica in 2012. Shot with a Nikon D200, rotated by hand!
Fox et al investigate the interesting problem of the increasing intensity of Antarctic Peninsula glaciation during the past 3 million years or so. They find that the increase in glaciation is purely a function of tectonic uplift of the Peninsula, rather than requiring a climatic explanation. The uplifting mountains made it easier for an ice sheet to develop over time. #ClimateChange#Antarctica#IceSheetshttps://www.nature.com/articles/s41561-023-01336-7
Adélie penguins for #PenguinAwarenessDay ! ⠀
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This handsome couple, two Adélie penguins (Pygoscelis adeliae), common to all the Antarctic coasts, are hand printed in black ink with a hint of orange on white Japanese kozo (or mulberry) paper. Each print is 12.5" by 9.25" (31.8 cm by 23.5cm). Adélie penguins are the most widely spread and southernly penguins (along with the Emperor penguins).⠀
⠀ #linocut#AdéliePenguin#printmaking#Antarctica#MastoArt
Icebergs drift by, whale blows dot the horizon, and penguins dip and dive amongst the waves. All of sudden, a giant #supertrawler rumbles past, catching the foundational #species that supports all this incredible life – #krill.
This is happening every year. Antarctic krill are being hoovered out of the ocean to be turned into supposed health #supplements or used as feed for #FarmedSalmon.
These products then end up on the shelves of big retailers who are happy to profit off #Antarctica 's #destruction.
Off the back of our journey to the frigid waters of the #SouthernOcean in January, we've just launched a damning report that shows how Antarctic #krill is ending up on shelves all around #Australia and #NewZealand.
And we have a plan to take on the #companies that are selling it.
New emperor penguin colonies discovered in Antarctica after guano spotted from space (lighthouse-eco.co.za)
Emperor penguins are the largest but least prevalent Antarctic penguin species, with scientists estimating a total population of about 600,000