Welcome, Marie! Could you please introduce yourself to our readers? Hi, my name is Marie Cavitte. I’m a glaciologist and climatologist with a passion for the polar regions. I spent 10 years studying Antarctica. I started off during my Masters, then PhD, looking at the oldest ice on Earth, hunting for THE region of the …[Read More]
It was October 28, 2022 around 3 p.m. Fascinated by the majestic white snow-covered mountain caps, deep-blue sea ice cracks and light-blue pressure ridges, I gently press my nose against the cold double-glassed window of the Royal New Zealand 757. The tires smoothly touch the ground, and the warm voice of the flight attendant fills …[Read More]
On the desolate Antarctic peninsula, a colony of penguins creates a hub of biodiversity. One may ask, how exactly do those aquatic birds help maintain and enrich the variety of different kinds of organisms from plants and animals, to a wide range of insects and micro-organisms that live on our planet? The answer is quite …[Read More]
Did you know that some of the scientists of each General Assembly get invited to a press conference to face a group of curious journalists? I did not – but as press assistant for the #EGU24, I had the unique chance to attend the press conference “Unveiling Antarctica’s secrets: new research brings us one step …[Read More]
Hi Ann-Sofie. Thank you for joining this GeoTalk! To break the ice, could you tell us a bit about yourself and what got you interested in the Antarctic? Hi Simon, thanks for inviting me! That’s easy! As a child I always used to be ice cold… No, just kidding! I guess I have always been …[Read More]
Photo of the air chemistry observatory of the German Neumayer III Antarctic station during Polar Day 2017. Located in a clean air sector south of the station, the observatory’s main purpose is to record continuous, year-round data records of relevant particulate and gaseous trace components of the troposphere. As one of only few stations located …[Read More]
On the 1st December 1959 the Antarctic Treaty was signed by 12 nations, setting aside nearly 10% of the Earth “forever to be used exclusively for peaceful purposes… in the interests of all mankind.” In the years that followed more and more countries signed the agreement, until today when the agreement has been signed by …[Read More]
This photograph highlights the oxidized surface of diorite boulders, which fall from the ice at the base of the Mullins Glacier in Beacon Valley, Antarctica when the ice moves directly from a solid state into a gas state, without becoming a liquid in between (a process called sublimation). The particular features (morphology) of the varnish …[Read More]
Brown Bluff is a basalt tuya located on the Tabarin Peninsula of northern Antarctica. This site supports a breeding colony of about 20,000 pairs of adelie penguins and about 550 pairs of gentoo penguins. Geologically speaking, Brown Bluff is simply fascinating. The towering bluffs were the result of an explosive volcanic eruption under ice. Large …[Read More]
During my PhD I was working at the German Neumayer III station in Antarctica for my research on polar atmospheric chemistry. Since my instrument was set up on an observatory south of the main station, every day I would walk past a Scott pyramid tent to go and do my research. One day, in the …[Read More]
