The first view of the bottom of subglacial Lake Whillans. Soft lake sediments crumble as the WISSARD underwater camera touches the bottom.
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Life Under the Ice
It's life. But is it life as we know it? That question will be answered in the months ahead, but it appears that the first evidence that something lives in a lake covered by nearly a kilometer of ice in West Antarctica emerged at the end of January.
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Making Waves
A pair of studies published this month in the prestigious journal Science link ozone depletion over the Antarctic to powerful changes in atmospheric and ocean circulation. Such changes may have global implications, from altering precipitation patterns to weakening the sequestration of carbon dioxide in the ocean.
Cold Enough for You?
Researchers have spent the last two field seasons tracking and studying Weddell seals on the sea ice near McMurdo Station for a project asking a very fundamental question about the world's southernmost mammal: Do seals get cold?
Tragedy in Antarctica
The Antarctic community mourned the loss of three men who were killed when their de Havilland DHC-6 Twin Otter crashed in the Transantarctic Mountains last week. A memorial service at the South Pole Station was one of several acts of remembrance that took place.
Water World
In the end, it took a little bit of magic and quite a lot of effort, but U.S. scientists announced this week that they successfully reached a lake buried nearly a kilometer below the West Antarctic Ice Sheet. a custom-made, high-powered hotwater drill reached subglacial Lake Whillans on Jan 28.
