Our appreciation of glaciological processes in Antarctica suffers from a lack of observations in regions where numerical models indicate the ice sheet to be susceptible to ocean and/or atmospheric warming. The solution lies in the use and development of glacier geophysics. In this volume we present a series of papers that demonstrate how geophysics can be deployed in Antarctica to comprehend: (1) boundary conditions that influence ice flow such as subglacial topography, the distribution of basal water and ice-sheet rheology; (2) phenomena that might affect ice-flow processes, such as complex internal ice-sheet structures and the proposition of large stores of hitherto unappreciated groundwater; and (3) how glacigenic sediments and formerly glaciated terrain on, and surrounding, the continent can inform us about past ice-sheet dynamics. The volume also takes a historical view on developments leading to current knowledge, examines active ice-sheet processes, and points the way forward on how geophysics can advance quantitative understanding of Antarctic ice-sheet behaviour.

Discusses the adventures, successes, and disasters of early explorers, scientists, sealers, and whalers, and examines the main issues relating to modern Antarctic exploration as it relates to territory, scientific bases, tourism, pollution, and how it is all managed.

"Adventures in the Antarctic only happen when someone makes a mistake.” —From the Preface In 1956, John C. Behrendt had just earned his master’s degree in geophysics and obtained a position as an assistant seismologist in the International Geophysical Year glaciological program. He sailed from Davisville, Rhode Island to spend eighteen months in Antarctica with the IGY expedition as part of a U.S. Navy-supported scientific expedition to establish Ellsworth Station on the Filchner Ice Shelf. Innocents on the Ice is a memoir based on Behrendt’s handwritten journals, looking back on his daily entries describing his life and activities on the most isolated of the seven U.S. Antarctic stations. Nine civilians and thirty Navy men lived beneath the snow together, and intense personal conflicts arose during the dark Antarctic winter of 1957. Little outside contact was available to ease the tension, with no mail delivery and only occasional radio contact with families back home. The author describes the emotional stress of the living situation, along with details of his parties’ explorations of the Filchner-Ronne Ice Shelf system during the summers of 1957 and 1958. Along the hazardous 1,300-mile traverse in two Sno-Cats, the field party measured ice thickness and snow accumulation as part of an international effort to determine the balance of the Antarctic ice sheet, and made the first geological observations of the spectacular Dufek Massif in the then-unexplored Pensacola Mountains. Behrendt also draws upon his forty years of continual participation in Antarctic research to explain the changes in scientific activities and environmental awareness in Antarctica today. Including photos, maps, and a glossary identifying various forms of ice, Innocents on the Ice is a fascinating combination of the diary of a young graduate student and the reflections of the accomplished scientist he became.

A scene so wildly and awfully desolate...it cannot fail to impress me with gloomy thoughts" - so Scott perceived the stark Antarctic landscape in 1905. Antarctica traces images of the continent from early invented maps of Terra Australis Incognita up to Amundsen's arrival at 90 degrees South. Approaching Antarctica from sea and then land, the book analyses the differing perceptions of beauty and terror experienced by explorers, the stories they brought back and the power of new images refashioned at home.

"As soon as humans spied and later set foot on the remote Antarctic continent in the early nineteenth century, they became aware of its ice cover, and desired to learn about its extent, shape, thickness, and behavior. In this book, David Drewry-glaciologist and former Director of the Scott Polar Research Institute-recounts the science and history of a ground-breaking time in recent Antarctic geophysical exploration, in which scientists were finally able to "see" through the Antarctic ice sheet and take its measure. From the mid-1960s to the mid-1980s, scientists' ability to peer beneath the Antarctic ice sheet and map its thickness was revolutionized by the technology, techniques, and exploratory campaigns of the Radio Echo Sounding Programme, conducted by the Scott Polar Research Institute at Cambridge in the UK. The exploratory radar mapping campaigns of this ambitious research program were largely accomplished during the Cold War, as interest and concern in global climate change were just emerging. To those involved in this research and fieldwork, it was evident that the environment of the planet was indeed changing, and that the great ice masses of Antarctica and Greenland, and their evolving stability and behavior, would feature significantly in understanding the future of our world. This book gives an account of the Radio Echo Sounding Programme, describing the scientific background, goals, various scientific, human, political, and natural challenges, and discoveries of the research program. It follows the twists and turns of operating in a remote and hostile region, where detailed and exact planning and preparations were constantly at risk of disruption by bad weather, mechanical and electronic breakdowns, aircraft crashes, and human frailty. It also highlights the strong international cooperation that occurred in Antarctica, during this contentious time in history, speaking to the importance of the 1961 Antarctic Treaty as well as the necessity of working together to tackle problems of global significance"--