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Today we have been working in a region where no ships have gone before. Part of the area was covered by the Mertz Glacier Tongue, before it calved. Even the area to the east of the Mertz Glacier is unexplored because the glacier tongue blocked the movement of sea ice, causing an inpenetrable pile-up of thick, multi-year floes. We don’t even know how deep this part of the ocean is. Some evidence suggests that the deep trough we sampled further west continues to the east, beneath where the glacier tongue used to be. But later today we will make the first measurements in this area. The depth has increased by 50 m in the last hour – that doesn’t sound like much, but it could be that we are about to cross the edge of the trench. (Tune in to tomorrow’s sitrep for the thrilling conclusion.) The depth of the ocean makes a big difference to ocean current patterns and influences how much relatively warm ocean water can reach the floating ice shelves around Antarctica and cause the ice to melt. We will also be on the look-out for the dense waters formed in the polynya. This area might be an important outlet for dense water to spread north to the rest of the ocean; the measurements we make in the next few days will be the first made in this area and will help us answer this question. We almost deployed the film crew in a small boat today, but once again the fog and blowing snow moved in to cut the visibility to 100 m and delay the operation once again. We’ll try again whenever conditions permit.
REGARDS: Steve, Fred and Penny
Map
A map showing Australia and Antarctica. The map shows the journey of one voyage that has occured in the season, with each route highlighted in a distinct colour.