Introducing A land of ice and ambition

RNZ science communicator Dr Claire Concannon introduces us to the dangers of travelling across the Ross Ice Shelf of Antarctica.

This short video summarises A land of ice and ambition – episode 1 from her Voice of the Sea Ice podcast series. The full podcast explains ice shelves and crevasses. It looks at the work required to get Antarctic researchers safely across the Ross Ice Shelf to sites for their research.

Transcript

Dr Claire Concannon

The Ross Ice Shelf of Antarctica might look flat and serene, but hidden beneath the crust of snow are deadly crevasses. Dogs and sleds, equipment and even people’s lives have all been lost to crevasses in Antarctica. But today, modern technology can create safe routes through this dangerous terrain.

Kia ora, I’m Claire Concannon, and in a new series, Voice of the Sea Ice, we travel to Antarctica to learn about the ambitious science projects under way to help us understand how it’s changing, some of which involve crossing the Ross Ice Shelf.

Now, the Ross Ice Shelf is a floating mass of ice hundreds of metres thick that’s the size of France. The ice is always moving, but some parts jammed up against the land or islands move at a different speed. This creates shear zones where large cracks in the ice – crevasses – can form, but these canyons are hidden from view by a layer of snow on top. Using satellite technology, scientists today can create an X-ray image to see the crevasses, but they then must each be checked using radar at the front of a vehicle.

To travel across the ice shelf, you either have to navigate around the crevasses, fill them in with snow, or on the South Pole Highway maintained by the US, explosives are used to make the route safe.

Learn more about one researcher’s incredible journey across the ice shelf by listening to the Voice of the Sea Ice podcast.

Acknowledgements

This video is courtesy of RNZ. It is from the Voice of the Sea Ice podcast series by Dr Claire Concannon. The series was made with travel support from the Antarctica New Zealand Community Engagement Programme.