Antarctica / Research

Beardmore Glacier, Antarctica… nearly there (again)

Our team is ready and waiting in McMurdo for our second field season on the Beardmore Glacier. Last year we were about 30 km from the grounding line of this massive glacier moving East Antarctic ice through the Transantarctic Mountains and into the Ross Ice Shelf. This year we will be positioned near the grounding line of the glacier, just past the point where the grounded glacier ice meets the ice shelf. We will conduct radar and seismic experiments on the ice shelf. (See you soon small hot water drill!)


The Beardmore Glacier has historical significance by being on the route that Captain Scott and his team used to reach the pole, their last journey (the Terra Nova expedition). I recently saw the photograph taken by Scott’s team after the reached the pole to find it conquered first by Amundsen and his Norwegian team. Their harrowing expressions and obvious physical distress is hard to look at, even in the aged black-and-white photo.

A two-man team is currently attempting to complete this route to the south pole — covering over 1800 miles on foot, and unsupported meaning that they are hauling sleds with supplies weighing over 200 kg. Follow their epic journey: