Principales noticias de Antártida

Art installation designed by Balbek Bureau to be installed in Antarctica

An art installation "Dim. Spogadi" will appear at the Akademik Vernadsky station in Antarctica. The architects Balbek Bureau are working on its design, and the experimental design bureaus "Maysternya Miracles" and "Silpo" are working on its design.

Penguin nests were covered with snow at the Academician Vernadsky station

Summer began in Antarctica on December 1. So it snows almost constantly there - even the nests of penguins that have settled near the station are frozen.

Now near our station the record height of a snow cover for all current winter - 262 cm is fixed! From December 1, when summer began in Antarctica, it has been snowing almost constantly, and according to the forecasts of our meteorologists, the height of the cover may increase even more, ”the station staff said.

At the station "Academician Vernadsky" scientists have recorded a record level of snow for the last 20 years, although now there is summer

Meteorologists recorded on December 19 that the snow level near the Akademik Vernadsky station was 2.75 m, the highest in 20 years. It is 10 centimeters higher than the last record set in 2016.

And the snow continues to fall.

Coronavirus vaccine shipment arrives in Antarctica to vaccinate British polar explorers at Rothera research station

Already 23 British research station personnel have been vaccinated.

"The ability to vaccinate people will help keep the population of the station and Antarctica virus-free," said Matthew Phillips, head of the Rothera winter station.

The next batch of vaccine for the second vaccination will be delivered to Antarctica in four weeks.

London approved the use of vaccines from Pfizer and AstraZeneca last December, after which the government launched a mass vaccination program.

On a volcanic cliff off the coast of Antarctica is McMurdo Station, where high-speed Internet can appear

The station, which is run by the US National Science Foundation (NSF), is undergoing much research. The station receives up to 1,000 visitors in the summer in Antarctica from October to February. They all come here to conduct research on various topics.

But here, unfortunately, there is no Internet.

However, this may soon change.

NSF has begun to seriously study the possibility of laying a fiber-optic cable on the seabed, which would extend from Antarctica to neighboring New Zealand or Australia. The idea was expressed more than ten years ago, but then it lost popularity because other projects were a priority.

If this attempt to make the Internet a success, scientists say, it will change both research and everyday life on the continent.

November 1 Race to the South Pole!

In 1911, Robert Falcon Scott left Cape Evans Hut on Ross Island to begin his journey to the Pole. Amundsen started 13 days earlier from Whale Bay, located 96 km closer to the pole. This photo shows this bay.

Penguins near the Antarctic station "Akademik Vernadsky" laid four eggs, soon there will be penguins

The first egg was discovered by polar explorers on November 2, according to the National Antarctic Science Center.

The mating season and calving of sub-Antarctic penguins occurs once a year, namely from mid-Antarctic spring to mid-summer. This year nesting started quite early, earlier in the station area the first eggs appeared closer to the middle of November.

The new inhabitants of Antarctica should hatch in early December.

Scientists at the National Antarctic Science Center have found out the age of the whale, the remains of which lie on Rasmussen Island

Scientists obtained the results of radiocarbon analysis of samples made in a laboratory in Poznan, Poland. And the age of the whale remains was determined, it is approximately 1350 years.

Kit died in the seventh century - "in the era of the Vikings and the Mayan civilization, three centuries before Princess Olga and Prince Vladimir."

Regarding the species, scientists have determined that this is a blue whale - the largest whale and generally the largest animal in the world.

A yacht sank in Antarctica

The yacht "Endless Sea" is the result of a wreck that occurred on the night of 7.04.2012 in Antarctica in Ardley Bay, in Maxwell Bay in the South Shetland Islands archipelago, in the same bay where the Russian Antarctic Station Bellingshausen is located. The yacht was on a mission to shoot a documentary about the nature of Antarctica, but got stuck in the ice. In 2013, work was carried out to raise the yacht from the bottom of the bay, and now she is under repair and preparing for her new expeditions.

NASA discovered hidden lakes under the ice of Antarctica

Using the powerful satellite ICESat-2, scientists have created a map of active lakes in Antarctica, which are covered with thick ice. From time to time, their contours and sizes change due to the ebb and flow of water.

According to scientists, there are approximately 130 active lakes in Antarctica. However, some of their sections rise and fall. As a result, this leads to the filling of these areas with water, or vice versa - the water leaves them.

In Antarctica, it suddenly disappeared

The Great Lake

According to scientists, meltwater, which has long accumulated in a deep lake on the surface of the Emery Glacier, split the ice and quickly flowed into the ocean.

Water quickly seeped through the cracked glacier into the ocean.

After the "disappearance" of the lake in its place formed a depression - the so-called ice valley, which occupies almost 11 square meters. km.

The future of the valley, which suddenly arose, is still unknown. It is likely that there will continue to accumulate meltwater, which will flow into the ocean.

The world's largest iceberg broke away from Antarctica

Its area is over 4 thousand square meters. It is currently the largest in the world.

The iceberg formed on the western side of the Ronne Glacier shelf. Satellite imagery shows that it is 170 kilometers long and 25 kilometers wide.

The iceberg was spotted by the British Antarctic Service and later confirmed by the US National Ice Center with images from the Copernicus Sentinel-1 satellite.