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Erebus Glacier Tongue
The Erebus Glacier Tongue is a mountain outlet glacier and the seaward extension of Erebus Glacier from Ross Island. It projects into McMurdo Sound from the Ross Island coastline near Cape Evans, Antarctica. The glacier tongue varies in thickness from at the snout to at the point where it is grounded on the shoreline."Calving of Erebus Glacier Tongue Nature Magazine. August 16, 1990. Explorers from Robert F. Scott's (1901–1904) named and charted the glacier tongue. Erebus Glacier Tongue is about high and is centred upon 77.6 degrees ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mcmurdo Sound USGS Map
Vice-Admiral Archibald McMurdo (24 September 1812 – 11 December 1875) was a Scottish naval officer and polar explorer after whom Antarctica's McMurdo Sound, McMurdo Station, McMurdo Ice Shelf, McMurdo Dry Valleys and McMurdo–South Pole Highway are named. Early life Archibald William McMurdo was born on September 24, 1812 in Scotland. He was the son of Lieutenant Colonel Archibald McMurdo and grandson of John McMurdo, a chamberlain at Drumlanrig Castle. Career McMurdo joined the Royal Navy on 6 October 1824, at the age of 12. He was promoted to Lieutenant in 1836 for his skill and courage in saving the crew of a shipwrecked whaler from hostile New Zealand natives. He achieved the rank of Commander in 1843 and Captain in 1851. His career included two discovery expeditions aboard HMS ''Terror'', the first to Hudson Bay (1836-1837), the second to Antarctica (1839-1842). In 1836 he served on HMS Volage during its voyage to East India. During the Antarctica voyage, McMurdo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
McMurdo Sound
McMurdo Sound is a sound in Antarctica. It is the southernmost navigable body of water in the world, and is about from the South Pole. Captain James Clark Ross discovered the sound in February 1841, and named it after Lt. Archibald McMurdo of HMS ''Terror''. The sound today serves as a resupply route for cargo ships and for airplanes that land on the floating ice airstrips near McMurdo Station. Physical characteristics Wildlife in the sound include killer whales, seals, Adélie penguins, and emperor penguins. Boundary and Extents The sound extends approximately 55 kilometers (34 mi) in length and width, and opens into the larger Ross Sea to the north. To the south, the sound is bounded by the Ross Ice Shelf cavity, to the west lies the Royal Society Range, and to the east is Ross Island. McMurdo Sound is separated from the McMurdo Ice Shelf (itself part of the Ross Ice Shelf) by the Haskell Strait. Winter Quarters Bay lies at the south end of the Sound, and is the s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ice Sheet Dynamics
Ice sheet dynamics describe the motion within large bodies of ice, such those currently on Greenland and Antarctica. Ice motion is dominated by the movement of glaciers, whose gravity-driven activity is controlled by two main variable factors: the temperature and the strength of their bases. A number of processes alter these two factors, resulting in cyclic surges of activity interspersed with longer periods of inactivity, on both hourly and centennial time scales. Ice-sheet dynamics are of interest in modelling future sea level rise. General Boundary conditions The interface between an ice stream and the ocean is a significant control of the rate of flow. Ice shelves are thick layers of ice floating on the sea – can stabilise the glaciers that feed them. These tend to have accumulation on their tops, may experience melting on their bases, and calve icebergs at their periphery. The catastrophic collapse of the Larsen B ice shelf in the space of three weeks during Febr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Skua
The skuas are a group of predatory seabirds with seven species forming the genus ''Stercorarius'', the only genus in the family Stercorariidae. The three smaller skuas, the long-tailed skua, the Arctic skua, and the pomarine skua are called jaegers in North American English. The English word "skua" comes from the Faroese name for the great skua, , with the island of Skúvoy renowned for its colony of that bird. The general Faroese term for skuas is . The word "jaeger" is derived from the German word , meaning "hunter". The genus name ''Stercorarius'' is Latin and means "of dung"; because the food disgorged by other birds when pursued by skuas was once thought to be excrement. Skuas nest on the ground in temperate and Arctic regions, and are long-distance migrants. They have even been sighted at the South Pole. Biology and habits Outside the breeding season, skuas take fish, offal, and carrion. Many practice kleptoparasitism, which comprises up to 95% of the feeding metho ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Adelie Penguin , a drowned fjord on the continental margin of East Antarctica
{{disambiguation ...
Adelie or Adélie may refer to: * Adélie Land, a claimed territory on the continent of Antarctica * Adelie Land meteorite, a meteorite discovered on December 5, 1912, in Antarctica by Francis Howard Bickerton * Adélie penguin, a species of penguin common along the entire coast of the Antarctic continent * Adélie Valley Adélie Valley (), also variously known as Adilie Valley, Dumont d'Urville Trough or Adélie Trough, is a drowned fjord (undersea valley) on the continental margin of East Antarctica. Named in association with this long named portion of Wilkes Land ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Emperor Penguin
The emperor penguin (''Aptenodytes forsteri'') is the tallest and heaviest of all living penguin species and is endemic to Antarctica. The male and female are similar in plumage and size, reaching in length and weighing from . Feathers of the head and back are black and sharply delineated from the white belly, pale-yellow breast and bright-yellow ear patches. Like all penguins, it is flightless, with a streamlined body, and wings stiffened and flattened into flippers for a marine habitat. Its diet consists primarily of fish, but also includes crustaceans, such as krill, and cephalopods, such as squid. While hunting, the species can remain submerged around 20 minutes, diving to a depth of . It has several adaptations to facilitate this, including an unusually structured haemoglobin to allow it to function at low oxygen levels, solid bones to reduce barotrauma, and the ability to reduce its metabolism and shut down non-essential organ functions. The only penguin species t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Leopard Seal
The leopard seal (''Hydrurga leptonyx''), also referred to as the sea leopard, is the second largest species of seal in the Antarctic (after the southern elephant seal). Its only natural predator is the orca. It feeds on a wide range of prey including cephalopods, other pinnipeds, krill, fish, and birds, particularly penguins. It is the only species in the genus ''Hydrurga''. Its closest relatives are the Ross seal, the crabeater seal and the Weddell seal, which together are known as the tribe of Lobodontini seals. The name ''hydrurga'' means "water worker" and ''leptonyx'' is the Greek for "thin-clawed". Taxonomy French zoologist Henri Marie Ducrotay de Blainville described the leopard seal in 1820. Description The leopard seal has a distinctively long and muscular body shape when compared to other seals, but it is perhaps best known for its massive jaws, which allow it to be one of the top predators in its environment. The front teeth are sharp like those of other carnivores, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Killer Whale
The orca or killer whale (''Orcinus orca'') is a toothed whale belonging to the oceanic dolphin family, of which it is the largest member. It is the only extant species in the genus ''Orcinus'' and is recognizable by its black-and-white patterned body. A cosmopolitan species, orcas can be found in all of the world's oceans in a variety of marine environments, from Arctic and Antarctic regions to tropical seas. Orcas have a diverse diet, although individual populations often specialize in particular types of prey. Some feed exclusively on fish, while others hunt marine mammals such as seals and other species of dolphin. They have been known to attack baleen whale calves, and even adult whales. Orcas are apex predators, as they have no natural predators. They are highly social; some populations are composed of very stable matrilineal family groups (pods) which are the most stable of any animal species. Their sophisticated hunting techniques and vocal behaviours, which are o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Weddell Seal
The Weddell seal (''Leptonychotes weddellii'') is a relatively large and abundant true seal with a circumpolar distribution surrounding Antarctica. The Weddell seal was discovered and named in the 1820s during expeditions led by British sealing captain James Weddell to the area of the Southern Ocean now known as the Weddell Sea. The life history of this species is well documented since it occupies fast ice environments close to the Antarctic continent and often adjacent to Antarctic bases. This is the only species in the genus ''Leptonychotes''. Description Weddell seals measure about 2.5–3.5 m (8 ft 2 in–11 ft 6 in) long and weigh 400–600 kg (880–1,320 lb). They are amongst the largest seals, with a rather bulky body and short fore flippers relative to their body length. Males weigh less than females, usually about 500 kg (1,100 lb) or less. Male and female Weddell seals are generally about the same length, though females can be slightly l ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Stalactite
A stalactite (, ; from the Greek 'stalaktos' ('dripping') via ''stalassein'' ('to drip') is a mineral formation that hangs from the ceiling of caves, hot springs, or man-made structures such as bridges and mines. Any material that is soluble and that can be deposited as a colloid, or is in suspension, or is capable of being melted, may form a stalactite. Stalactites may be composed of lava, minerals, mud, peat, pitch, sand, sinter, and amberat (crystallized urine of pack rats). A stalactite is not necessarily a speleothem, though speleothems are the most common form of stalactite because of the abundance of limestone caves. The corresponding formation on the floor of the cave is known as a stalagmite. Mnemonics have been developed for which word refers to which type of formation; one is that ''stalactite'' has a C for "ceiling", and ''stalagmite'' has a G for "ground". Another example is that ''stalactites'' "hang on ''T''ight" and ''stalagmites'' "''M''ight grow up" †... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Scott Base
Scott Base is a New Zealand Antarctica, Antarctic research station at Pram Point on Ross Island near Mount Erebus in New Zealand's Ross Dependency territorial claim. It was named in honour of Captain Robert Falcon Scott, Royal Navy, RN, leader of two United Kingdom, British expeditions to the Ross Sea area of Antarctica. The base was set up as support to field research and the centre for research into earth sciences, and now conducts research in many fields, operated by Antarctica New Zealand. The base is from the larger U.S. McMurdo Station via Pegasus Road. History Scott Base was originally constructed in support of the UK inspired and privately managed Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition (TAE). The New Zealand government provided support for the TAE and also for the International Geophysical Year (IGY) project of 1957, five of whose members were attached to the Expedition. In February 1956, 10 months before the TAE and IGY parties were due to head to the Antarctic, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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