Luce Antartica

A VISIT AT ENCELADUS' PLUME (NASA-JPL)

2008-02-09T00:59:00.000Z

This graphic shows how the ice particles and water vapor observed spewing from geysers on Saturn's moon Enceladus may be related to liquid water beneath the surface. The large number of ice particles and the rate at which they are produced require high temperatures, close to the melting point of water. These warm temperatures indicate that there may be an internal lake of liquid water at or near the moon's south pole, where the geysers are present.

This internal lake could be similar to Earth's Lake Vostok, where liquid water is locked in ice beneath Antarctica. The presence of liquid water inside Enceladus would have major implications for future studies of the possibility of life in the outer solar system.

The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Cassini orbiter was designed, developed and assembled at JPL.

IMAGE: NASA-JPL

65% des Japonais soutiennent la chasse à la baleine -AFP

2008-02-08T15:50:00.000Z

TOKYO (AFP) — Quelque 65% des Japonais soutiennent la pêche à la baleine à but "scientifique" et 56% se disent prêts à en manger, malgré les critiques autour de la campagne de chasse japonaise dans l'Antarctique, selon un sondage paru vendredi dans le quotidien Asahi.

Selon cette enquête, près de deux tiers des Japonais (65%) sont d'accord pour que leur pays poursuive ses opérations baleinières "scientifiques", 21% étant contre.

Le caractère "scientifique" de la pêche est avancé par les autorités japonaises pour justifier leur chasse à la baleine, ce qui leur permet de contourner le moratoire international décrété sur la pêche commerciale depuis 1986.

Quelque 56% des personnes interrogées se disent en outre prêts à manger de la baleine, contre 26% qui y sont opposés.

D'une manière générale, ce sont les hommes âgés qui soutiennent davantage la pêche à la baleine et sa consommation, alors que les femmes jeunes y sont les plus opposées, selon l'enquête.

Ce sondage a été réalisé par téléphone les 2 et 3 février auprès de 2.082 Japonais, soit quelques jours avant la diffusion d'images par le gouvernement australien montrant une baleine et un baleineau tués par les pêcheurs japonais et hissés à bord de leur navire dans l'Antarctique, où une flotte japonaise mène depuis plusieurs semaines une campagne visant à tuer un millier de cétacés d'ici avril.

Le gouvernement australien, qui souhaite lancer une procédure judiciaire internationale contre la pêche à la baleine japonaise, a affirmé que les deux cétacés étaient une mère et son petit, ce qu'ont démenti les autorités du Japon.

PLUS JAMAIS CA!

2008-02-07T21:08:00.000Z

Même une mère et son petit...massacrés....! Quand la viande de baleine sera-t-elle INTERDITE sur les marchés?? Ce que fait la flotte de baleiniers japonais dans l'Océan Austral est accablant et révoltant.

SYDNEY (AFP) — Le gouvernement australien a affirmé jeudi détenir des photos accablantes de chasse à la baleine, qui pourraient venir appuyer une action en justice contre la pêche japonaise en Antarctique, des documents qualifiés de "propagande" mensongère par les Japonais.

L'une des photos montre une femelle et son petit en train d'être hissés à bord d'un baleinier japonais, après avoir été harponnés.

"Quand j'ai vu ces photos, j'ai eu des hauts le coeur et en même temps, j'ai éprouvé un sentiment de grande tristesse", a déclaré le ministre de l'Environnement australien, Peter Garrett, l'ancien chanteur du groupe de rock Midnight Oil.

"C'est vraiment accablant quand vous pensez qu'il faut jusqu'à quinze minutes pour qu'une baleine succombe après avoir été harponnée. C'est encore pire de voir qu'il y a un baleineau", a-t-il également déclaré.

La profonde blessure du jeune cétacé, appartenant à l'espèce des baleines de Mink, qui a répandu une mare de sang dans la cale du navire, semble avoir été causée par un harpon à explosifs.

Cette série de photos a été prise à partir d'un bâtiment des Douanes australien qui suit en ce moment les baleiniers japonais dans les eaux de l'Antarctique, dans l'objectif de recueillir des éléments pour soutenir une action judiciaire internationale.

"Elles vont nous aider à bâtir la procédure dont les détails sont encore en cours d'examen, afin de dire que la chasse aux baleines doit s'arrêter", a déclaré à la presse le ministre en charge des douanes, Bob Debus.

Côté japonais, l'institut de recherche sur les cétacés a répliqué en accusant l'Australie de mener une campagne de "propagande jouant sur l'émotion".

Le directeur de cet institut financé par le gouvernement japonais et partie prenante de la chasse à la baleine, Minoru Morimoto, a prévenu que l'attitude australienne "pourrait provoquer de graves dommages" aux relations entre les deux pays.

Il a assuré que les deux baleines de la photo n'étaient "pas une mère et son petit", jugeant important de ne pas "tromper l'opinion australienne en diffusant de fausses informations".

L'Australie est l'un des pays fer de lance de la lutte contre la chasse aux baleines du Japon. Tokyo exploite une faille dans le moratoire sur la pêche commerciale de 1986, en arguant que ses prises ont des visées scientifiques.

Des baleiniers japonais croisent dans l'Antarctique depuis décembre pour tuer un millier de cétacés. Ils ont été contraints de suspendre leur campagne à la mi-janvier pendant plusieurs jours, sous la pression de défenseurs des baleines venus dans la zone. Ils ont depuis repris leur pêche, les navires des écologistes ayant dû repartir faute de carburant.

PHOTOS ET TEXTE: Agence France Presse

LE PREMIER MINISTRE JAPONAIS SOUTIENT LA CHASSE A' LA BALEINE EN ANTARCTIQUE

2008-01-24T13:38:00.000Z

TOKYO, 24 jan 2008 (AFP) — Le Premier ministre japonais, Yasuo Fukuda, a soutenu la campagne de pêche à la baleine menée par son pays, soulignant que cette chasse à but "scientifique" devait être "expliquée" à l'opinion internationale, dans une interview à la BBC.

Une campagne de pêche du Japon dans l'Antarctique pour tuer un millier de cétacés fait l'objet de protestations depuis plusieurs semaines, de la part d'Etats, notamment l'Australie, et d'associations écologistes qui tentent de perturber les opérations baleinières.

"Je ne pense pas qu'il soit judicieux que les discussions prennent un tour émotionnel, au regard de l'action violente menée récemment contre un navire scientifique japonais", a expliqué M. Fukuda à la BBC, dans une interview diffusée jeudi sur son site internet.

Il a ajouté que "si cela devait conduire à un débat de plus en plus chargé d'émotion, cela serait très malheureux".

"Nous devons donc essayer de poursuivre nos efforts afin d'expliquer que nous sommes engagés dans cette activité de pêche à la baleine pour des raisons scientifiques", a poursuivi le Premier ministre.

Le ministre japonais des Affaires étrangères, Masahiko Komura, a demandé aux autorités australiennes d'intenter des poursuites contre deux militants de l'association écologiste australienne Sea Sheperd qui s'étaient introduits, à la mi-janvier, sur un baleinier japonais en signe de protestation.

Sea Sheperd a envoyé un bateau dans l'Antarctique pour gêner la pêche, à l'instar de l'association Greenpeace.

L'Etat australien a lui aussi envoyé un bateau dans la zone, et son équipage filme et photographie l'activité des baleiniers pour prouver qu'ils ne respectent pas le droit international, selon un responsable des autorités.

La Commission baleinière internationale interdit la chasse commerciale à la baleine mais autorise les chasses à vocation scientifique selon des quotas précis.

Une tolérance utilisée par les autorités japonaises pour justifier leur campagne de pêche dans l'Antarctique.

SOURCE: AFP

EXPLORATION OF SUBGLACIAL LAKE ELLSWORTH

2008-01-20T10:59:00.000Z

BAS Press release, January 15, 2008

A four-man science team led by British Antarctic Survey’s (BAS) Dr Andy Smith has begun exploring an ancient lake hidden deep beneath Antarctica’s ice sheet. The lake – the size of Lake Windermere (UK) – could yield vital clues to life on Earth, climate change and future sea-level rise.

Glaciologist Dr Smith and his colleagues from the Universities of Edinburgh and Northumbria are camped out at one of the most remote places on Earth conducting a series of experiments on the ice. He says,

“This is the first phase of what we think is an incredibly exciting project. We know the lake is 3.2km beneath the ice; long and thin and around 18 km2 in area. First results from our experiments have shown the lake is 105m deep. This means Lake Ellsworth is a deep-water body and confirms the lake as an ideal site for future exploration missions to detect microbial life and recover climate records.

“If the survey work goes well, the next phase will be to build a probe, drill down into the lake and explore and sample the lake water. The UK could do this as soon as 2012/13.”

This ambitious exploration of ‘subglacial’ Lake Ellsworth, West Antarctica, involves scientists from 14 UK universities and research institutes, as well as colleagues from Chile, USA, Sweden, Belgium, Germany and New Zealand. The International Polar Year* project Principal Investigator is Professor Martin Siegert from the University of Edinburgh. He says, “We are particularly interested in Lake Ellsworth because it’s likely to have been isolated from the surface for hundreds of thousands of years. Radar measurements made previously from aircraft surveys suggest that the lake is connected to others that could drain ice from the West Antarctic Ice sheet to the ocean and contribute to sea-level rise.”

Professor Siegert is already planning the lake’s future exploration. He continues,

“Around 150 lakes have been discovered beneath Antarctica’s vast ice sheet and so far little is known about them. Getting into the lake is a huge technological challenge but the effort is worth it. These lakes are important for a number of reasons. For example, because water acts as a lubricant to the ice above they may influence how the ice sheet flows. Their potential for unusual life forms could shed new light on evolution of life in harsh conditions; lake-floor sediments could yield vital clues to past climate. They can also help us understand the extraterrestrial environment of Europa (one of the moons of Jupiter).”

Issued jointly by British Antarctic Survey, University of Edinburgh and Northumbria University

ILLUSTRATION:

Diagram showing the exploration of subglacial Lake Ellsworth - BRITISH ANTARCTIC SURVEY

ANTARCTICA: MASSIVE VOLCANIC ERUPTION 2.000 YEARS AGO

2008-01-20T10:49:00.001Z

AFP- January 20, 2008

A powerful volcano erupted under the icesheet of West Antarctica around 2,000 years ago and it might still be active today, a finding that prompts questions about ice loss from the white continent, British scientists report.

The explosive event - rated "severe" to "cataclysmic" on an international scale of volcanic force - punched a massive breach in the icesheet and spat out a plume some 12,000 metres into the sky, they calculate.

Most of Antarctica is seismically stable. But its western part lies on a rift in Earth's crust that gives rise to occasional volcanism and geothermal heat, occurring on the Antarctic coastal margins.

This is the first evidence for an eruption under the ice sheet itself - the slab of frozen water, hundreds of metres thick in places, that holds most of the world's stock of fresh water.

Reporting in the journal Nature Geoscience today, the investigators from the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) describe the finding as "unique."

The volcano, located in the Hudson Mountains, blew around 207 BC, plus or minus 240 years, according to the paper.

Evidence for this comes from a British-American airborne geophysical survey in 2004-5 that used radar to delve deep under the ice sheet to map the terrain beneath.

The researchers spotted anomalous radar reflections over 23,000 square kilometres, an area bigger than Wales. They interpret this signal as being a thick layer of ash, rock and glass, formed from fused silica, that the volcano spewed out in its fury.

"We believe this was the biggest eruption in Antarctica during the last 10,000 years," BAS' Hugh Corr says.

"It blew a substantial hole in the icesheet and generated a plume of ash and gas that rose around 12 kms into the air."

The eruption occurred close to the massive Pine Island Glacier, an area where movement of glacial ice towards the sea has been accelerating alarmingly in recent decades.

"It may be possible that heat from the volcano has caused some of that acceleration," says BAS professor David Vaughan, who stresses though that global warming is by far the greater likelier cause.

Volcanic heat "cannot explain the more widespread thinning of West Antarctic glaciers that together are contributing nearly 0.2mm per year to sea-level rise," he adds.

"This wider change most probably has its origin in warming ocean waters."
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PARIS (AFP) — Un volcan, dont l'éruption la plus récente remonterait à seulement 2.300 ans, a été découvert sous la glace dans la partie occidentale de l'Antarctique, rapportent deux scientifiques britanniques dans la revue Nature Geoscience.

Le volcan subglaciaire des Monts d'Hudson, en terre d'Ellsworth, près du glacier de Pine Island, a été décelé par l'étude de données radar obtenues par avion, qui ont montré une profonde couche de cendres enterrée dans la glace entre 100 et 700 m de profondeur et couvrant quelque 23.000 km2.

Ces "téphras", cendres et roches éjectées dans l'air, sont répartis sur une surface elliptique de 156 km sur 190 km, ce qui montre, soulignent les scientifiques, qu'il n'y a eu "qu'une seule éruption" et qu'il y avait peu de vent lorqu'elle s'est produite, entre 240 et 207 ans avant notre ère.

Les auteurs de l'étude, Hugh Corr et David Vaughan, du British Antarctic Survey de Cambridge (Angleterre), estiment que la chaleur dégagée par l'éruption a provoqué une fonte des glaces localement, ce qui a dû influer sur l'écoulement des glaciers environnants.

Cette découverte, soulignent ses auteurs, est particulièrement intéressante en ce qu'elle peut apporter des éléments de compréhension concernant la stabilité de la calotte glaciaire antarctique, dans le passé, le présent et l'avenir.

Le volcan le plus important en Antarctique, toujours actif, est le mont Erebus (3.794 m), situé sur l'île de Ross.

ON FAIT DE LA RECHERCHE, AVEC UN HARPON!

2008-01-19T10:10:00.001Z

Voici une image d'un des baleiniers japonais qui se trouve actuellement dans le Sanctuaire de l'Océan austral pour massacrer MILLE petits rorquals. La chasee à la baleine est INTERDITE dans le Sanctuaire. Sur le flanc du vaisseau nous lisons le mot "RESEARCH", mais sur la proue - on le voit bien - il y a un harpon explosif, qui sert à TUER les baleines. Cet harpon est tiré dans le corps ou dans la tête de la baleine, où il explose. Imaginez la souffrance des mammifères marins, surtout quand ils ne sont pas tués sur le coup. Imaginez leur agonie. Le cétacé est ensuite remonté à bord du navire "de recherche" et dépécé. MILLE baleines massacrées pour "la recherche", cela est déplorable. POURQUOI n'arrive-t-on pas à arrêter ce massacre?? Y-a t-il vraiment besoin de manger de la viande de baleine?

PHOTO DU NAVIRE JAPONAIS: Xinhua/AFP.

DEDICATION CEREMONY AT THE SOUTH POLE

2008-01-16T21:54:00.000Z

January 15, 2008 (NSF Press release 08-006)

The United States has dedicated a new scientific station at the geographic South Pole--the third since 1957--officially ushering in a new support system for sophisticated large-scale experiments in disciplines ranging from astrophysics to environmental chemistry and seismology.

The dedication of the new Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station, which took place on Sat., Jan. 12, local time (U.S. stations in Antarctica keep New Zealand time), also reasserts the National Science Foundation's (NSF) vital role in managing the U.S. Antarctic Program in order to meet the needs of the U.S. research community as well as those of other federal agencies. NSF manages the U.S. Antarctic Program.

Arden L. Bement Jr., NSF director, spoke to an assembled group of dignitaries as the American flag was raised over the new elevated station. Just hours before, the stars and stripes had been struck for the last time over the iconic domed station adjacent to the new building, which had served as the U.S. scientific outpost at the South Pole since the mid-1970's. In attendance were heads of federal agencies with a scientific presence at the Pole and others who played key roles in the design and completion of the project.

"Our purpose is to dedicate a facility that will help us push back the boundaries of the unknown--a quest that has continued year-round at this site for over 50 years," Bement said. "And to pay our respects to those who helped transform this mysterious and forbidding continent into a globally recognized place of wonder, transformation and knowledge."

Bement also remarked on the contributions to polar exploration of New Zealander Sir Edmund Hillary, who died at the age of 88 just hours before the ceremony. "It is fitting that we pause for a moment to remember the accomplishments of Sir Edmund Hillary, who stood near this very spot in January 1958, the first person to do so since Robert Falcon Scott in 1912," he said. "I was honored to meet him at the 50^thanniversary of the building of New Zealand's Scott Base in 2007, an accomplishment for which he was responsible. I cannot help but believe that he is here with us in spirit today as we usher in this new phase of scientific exploration of the continent which he so loved."

Bement was joined at the ceremony by two former NSF directors: Neal Lane, senior fellow in science and technology policy at Rice University's James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy, and Rita Colwell, chairman of Canon U.S. Life Sciences, Inc. and distinguished professor both at the University of Maryland at College Park and at Johns Hopkins University's Bloomberg School of Public Health.

NSF is responsible for the operation of the new station as well as the reconstruction and associated environmental upgrades.

Also in attendance at the ceremony were:

Vice Adm. Conrad C. Lautenbacher, Jr., undersecretary of commerce for oceans and atmosphere at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
Jay M. Cohen, undersecretary for science and technology at the Department of Homeland Security
Alexander Karsner, assistant secretary for energy and renewable energy at the Department of Energy
Paula J. Dobriansky, undersecretary for democracy and global affairs at the State Department
Rep. Rodney P. Frelinghuysen, the ranking member of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies
Patricia J. Walker, deputy assistant secretary of defense for reserve affairs, materiel and facilities
Kathy Sullivan, vice chair of the National Science Board
Maj. Gen. Robert A. Knauff, chief of staff and commander N.Y. Air National Guard
Col. Ron Smith, U.S. Air Force, commander of Operation Deep Freeze, the military support for the U.S. Antarctic Program
Karl A. Erb, director of NSF's Office of Polar Programs
Norman Augustine, chairman, and Susan Solomon, NOAA scientist and member of the blue-ribbon panel whose report led to the rebuilding of the station

Erb noted that the dedication occurred slightly more than 50 years after men spent the first winter at the Pole in 1957, during the International Geophysical Year (IGY). That first group was an 18-member team of U.S Navy personnel and civilian scientists.

The dedication, Erb added, coming as it does at the height of the International Polar Year (IPY), a concerted scientific field campaign supported by more than 60 nations worldwide which shares many of the IGY goals, has a particular resonance.

Erb also noted that the new station not only is dramatically more technologically and architecturally sophisticated than the 1975 station or its predecessor, but is also almost immeasurably different from the first habitation ever erected at the Pole: a pyramidal tent left as proof of his accomplishment by the first man to reach the site, Norwegian Roald Amundsen, and for Briton Scott, whose party reached the Pole a month later.

The station is named for the two explorers.

The replacement of the South Pole station was given critical support by the external panel chaired by Augustine, who, in a key 1997 report, argued that the existing facilities at the South Pole were both outmoded and potentially unsafe. The report noted that "Antarctica today is a continent generally characterized by peaceful, environmentally friendly, human activity. High among the reasons for this situation is the role played by the U.S. over many years in helping create a system of treaties and international agreements governing the nature of human conduct on the continent. The presence of the U.S. in Antarctica is a key element of the continued stability of the region."

To maintain that stability the panel recommended that the "U.S., as a matter of national policy, should maintain a continued year-round presence in Antarctica, including at the South Pole."

But the panel also found that, at the time, "various critical safety and health deficiencies exist at U.S. facilities in Antarctica, particularly at South Pole Station," and recommended environmental upgrades and reconstruction.

The elevated station is the most imposing structure ever built at the Pole and the 12-year reconstruction required extraordinary effort to complete. It required 925 flights by ski-equipped LC-130 aircraft flown by the N.Y. Air National Guard. At 26,000 pounds of cargo per flight, a total of 24 million pounds of cargo were transported.

In November of 2007, Popular Science magazine named the new station as one of its "Best of What's New" innovations of the year.

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The National Science Foundation's 12-year effort to construct a new station at the South Pole culminated when the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station was dedicated in a ceremony Jan. 12. Among those attending the ceremony were Maj. Gen. Robert A. Knauff, New York Air National Guard chief of staff and commander, and Col. Ron Smith, Joint Task Force-Support Forces Antarctica, Operation Deep Freeze deputy commander.

To deliver the supplies and equipment needed to complete the project, ski-equipped LC-130s flew 925 flights, carrying 24 million points of cargo to the South Pole. The NYANG's 109th Airlift Wing LC-130s are part of JTF-SFA, ODF. LC-130s are based out of McMurdo Station, Antarctica, from October to March to transport personnel and supplies to the South Pole and other research stations throughout Antarctica. ODF is a unique 13th Air Force-led joint and total force mission that has supported the NSF and U.S. Antarctic program since 1955. The U.S. military is uniquely equipped to assist the NSF to accomplish its mission to explore Antarctica.

The Jan. 12 dedication occurred more than 50 years after an 18-member team of U.S Navy personnel and civilian scientists spent the first winter at the Pole in 1957. The new station is named after two explorers--the first man to reach the site, Norwegian Roald Amundsen, and Briton Robert F. Scott, whose party reached the Pole a month later.

SOURCE: http://www.pacaf.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123082179

PHOTOS: TOP, Peter Rejcek/National Science Foundation; MIDDLE: National Science Foundation Director Arden Bement raising the US and US Antarctic Program flags over the new elevated station at Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station, Peter Rejcek/ National Science Foundation; MIDDLE: The ceremonial pole and flags of the 12 original signatory nations of the Antarctic Treaty are moved as part of the new elevated station dedication ceremony. Leading the procession with the US flag is National Science Foundation South Pole Representative Jerry Marty/Gmlenn Grant/NSF- MIDDLE: Immediately prior to the decommissioning of the geodesic Dome, station personnel gathered for one last group photo. The Dome, which had served as the station since 1975, has been replaced by the new elevated station. PH. GLENN GRANT/NSF -BOTTOM, A crew lowers the US flag for the old South Pole Station Dome for the last time during the decommissioning ceremony.PH. Glenn Grant/National Science Foundation.

IN THE MEMORY OF SIR ED

2008-01-13T17:44:00.000Z

The first memorial service for Sir Edmund Hillary was held Saturday Jan. 13th in Antarctica, in the Chapel of the Snows in McMurdo station.

Photo: Elaine Hood, US Antarctic Photo Library.

LORD OF THE SNOWS

2008-01-11T21:50:00.000Z

Editorial from THE NEW ZEALAND HERALD, Saturday January 12th, 2008

nzherald.co.nz
Please see photo credits below.

A lifetime of ceaseless achievement

Sir Edmund Hillary's life will always be remembered for the scaling of two monumental heights.

The first was his ascent of Mt Everest, the world's highest mountain, on May 29, 1953. The second was his unblemished subsequent career of service and high endeavour.

If the feat of Sir Edmund and Tenzing Norgay in becoming the first men to stand atop Everest turned heads around the world, his head was not about to be turned by the subsequent adulation.

The humility of his reaction endeared the beekeeper's son to the world.

Over time, Sir Edmund cemented his position as the ultimate figure of a nation's pride precisely because he embodied the values and way of life to which most New Zealanders of his, and any other generation, aspire.

He was craggy in countenance and of raw-boned physique in the best tradition of a backcountry farmer, with a character of constancy, modesty and utter determination to succeed.

Those qualities were immediately apparent after the conquest of Everest, one of the defining acts of the 20th century. "We've knocked the bastard off," he said on returning from the summit.
On the cusp of the technological revolution, "Ed", as he liked to be called, and Tenzing had surmounted one of the great challenges remaining to man. Fifteen previous expeditions had tried and failed.

The achievement placed him in the company of the renowned explorers and adventurers who had gone where no other had gone before - the likes of Columbus, Livingston, Amundsen and Lindbergh.

It was at once recognised as such, and Sir Edmund was feted around the world. Yet, unlike some who went before, he was spoiled by neither this recognition nor the similar acclaim that greeted the success of his subsequent expeditions, including, in 1958, the first overland journey to the South Pole since that of Robert Falcon Scott in 1912.

Indeed, reflecting upon his life, Sir Edmund declared that his most worthwhile achievement had been the building of schools, hospitals, medical clinics and airstrips in Nepal.

It was as though conquering Everest had merely laid the foundation for a life's work on behalf of the local Sherpas.

"That has given me more satisfaction than a footprint on a mountain," he said.

He did not, he said, set out to impose projects. "These are all things that the local people wanted, and we just responded."

Therein lay a lesson that many a heavy-handed development agency could take to heart. Even when the thin air of the Himalayas curtailed his visits there, Sir Edmund remained an inveterate fundraiser for health and education projects in Nepal.

His reward was a mana that led to his being hailed in that region as Burra Sahib, literally "Big Sir", but also translated as "big in heart".

It was a heart that was to suffer grievously when his first wife, Louise, and their 16-year-old daughter, Belinda, were killed when a small plane crashed taking off from a Nepalese airstrip in 1975.

If that was the bleakest time of his life, Sir Edmund soldiered on, finding consolation in his work for the Sherpas.

In 1985, he added another string to his bow when he became High Commissioner to India, a four-year appointment which elevated New Zealand's standing and profile on the subcontinent like no other.

Throughout the tumultuous changes of the latter half of the 20th century and into the 21st century, his standing among New Zealanders never wavered. Young and old, Pakeha and Maori, recognised him as the nation's flagbearer.

When a Herald-DigiPoll survey asked people to nominate the preferred president of a Republic of New Zealand, Sir Edmund was the choice of Maori and young people.

When the Waikato Polytechnic wanted to attract national and international students, it changed its name to the Edmund Hillary Institute of Technology.

If Sir Edmund's response was typically humble, it also showed a trademark pragmatism.

"I'm not all that keen to have my name on too many things," he said. "But I have a liking for polytechnics because they offer practical training, like the sort of things we do in the Himalayas."

On most occasions, Sir Edmund had little say in the way his name and feats were celebrated throughout the country.

A multitude of streets, roads, places, crescents and squares were named in his honour, probably without consultation in many cases.

The name Hillary also became associated with two Auckland schools.

And when in the mid-1980s the Government of the day established a commission for sport, fitness and leisure, there was little debate about which New Zealander best represented its values, aims and ambitions. It became the Hillary Commission.

In his autobiography, View From The Summit, Sir Edmund revealed that he wanted his ashes scattered not on Everest or another scene of mountaineering triumph but on the Auckland's Waitemata Harbour.

Boating on the sparkling waters had been a favourite pastime of Sir Edmund in his youth, and his life had always led him back to Auckland.

He wanted "to be washed gently ashore, maybe on the many pleasant beaches near the place I was born".

Then, he said, the full circle of his life would be complete. What a life it was.
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British adventurer and environmentalist Pen Hadow said Hillary's death "closes one of the great chapters of planetary exploration".
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PHOTOS: TOP, The New Zealand flag is lowered at Scott Base, January 11, 2008 (PHOTO by. NANCY COX, The Antarctic Sun). MIDDLE, Sir Ed Hillary at McMurdo Station, Nov. 20, 2004, talks via high-frequency radio with Tracy Sheeley, a communications operator at Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station. Hillary led the first team to reach the South Pole by motorized vehicles -- farm tractors -- in 1958. Photograph by: Brien Barnett/National Science Foundation . LOW, Scott Base Station Manager Mike Mahon, far right, escorts New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark and Sir Edmund Hillary from a U.S. Air Force C-17 that landed at Pegasus White Ice Runway on January 18. Clark and Hillary were among the dignitaries attending a ceremony celebrating the 50th anniversary of the founding of New Zealand's Scott Base. Photograph by: Peter Rejcek/National Science Foundation, January 17, 2007.

GOODBYE GREAT SIR ED, LORD OF THE SNOWS

2008-01-11T10:32:00.000Z

RAY LILLEY Associated Press Writer WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP)

Sir Edmund Hillary, the first person to stand atop the world's highest mountain, was remembered Friday as a deeply driven but unassuming man who strived to help the people of Nepal in the decades after his ascent of Mount Everest. Hillary, who died Friday of a heart attack at 88, will have a state funeral in New Zealand, where he began the mountaineering career that took him and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay to the tallest point on earth, a spokesman for his family said. He is survived by his children Peter and Sarah and wife June, who said Friday that her family was comforted by the messages of support from around the world. She said Hillary had been hospitalized on Monday and died peacefully. "He remained in good spirits until the end," she said. Hillary's life was marked by grand achievements, high adventure, discovery, excitement - but he was especially proud of his decades-long campaign to set up schools and health clinics in Nepal, the homeland of Tenzing Norgay, the mountain guide with whom he stood arm in arm on the 29,035-foot summit of Everest on May 29, 1953. Yet he was humble to the point that he only acknowledged being the first man atop Everest long after the death of Tenzing. He wrote of the pair's final steps to the top of the world: "Another few weary steps and there was nothing above us but the sky. There was no false cornice, no final pinnacle. We were standing together on the summit. There was enough space for about six people. We had conquered Everest. "Awe, wonder, humility, pride, exaltation - these surely ought to be the confused emotions of the first men to stand on the highest peak on Earth, after so many others had failed," Hillary noted. "I removed my oxygen mask to take some pictures. It wasn't enough just to get to the top. We had to get back with the evidence. Fifteen minutes later we began the descent." Then, upon arriving back at base camp, he took an irreverent view: "We knocked the bastard off." But New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark, announcing his death, took a grander view of his achievements. "Sir Ed described himself as an average New Zealander with modest abilities. In reality, he was a colossus. He was an heroic figure who not only 'knocked off' Everest but lived a life of determination, humility, and generosity. ... The legendary mountaineer, adventurer, and philanthropist is the best-known New Zealander ever to have lived." Spokesman Mark Sainsbury said Hillary's family had accepted the offer of a state funeral, on a date not yet set. Tributes quickly began flowing. British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, whose nation sponsored the expedition that led to Hillary's triumph, said he "was a truly great hero who captured the imagination of the world, a towering figure who will always be remembered as a pioneer explorer and leader." "Sir Edmund's name is synonymous with adventure, with achievement, with dreaming and then making those dreams come true," said Australia's acting Prime Minister Julia Gillard. "He was a hero and a leader for us. He had done a lot for the people of Everest region and will always remain in our hearts," said Bhoomi Lama of the Nepal Mountaineering Association in Katmandu. For all his description of his ascent, Hillary consistently refused to say whether it was he or Tenzing who was the first man to step atop Everest, saying the two had climbed as a team to the top. It was a measure of his personal modesty, and of his commitment to his colleagues. Not until after Tenzing's death in 1986 did Hillary finally break his long public silence about who was first. "We drew closer together as Tenzing brought in the slack on the rope. I continued cutting a line of steps upwards. Next moment I had moved onto a flattish exposed area of snow with nothing but space in every direction," Hillary wrote, in his 1999 book "View from the Summit." "Tenzing quickly joined me and we looked round in wonder. To our immense satisfaction we realized with had reached the top of the world." He later recalled his surprise at the huge international interest in their feat. "I was a bit taken aback to tell you the truth. I was absolutely astonished that everyone should be so interested in us just climbing a mountain." More than 200 people have died trying to conquer Everest. Despite his achievement, Hillary didn't place himself among top mountaineers. "I don't regard myself as a cracking good climber. I'm just strong in the back. I have a lot of enthusiasm and I'm good on ice," he said. The first mountain Hillary climbed was 9,645-foot Mount Tapuaenuku - "Tappy" as he called it - in Marlborough on New Zealand's South Island. He scaled it solo over three days in 1944, while in training camp with the Royal New Zealand Air Force during World War II. "Tapuaenuku" in Maori means "footsteps of the Rainbow God." "I'd climbed a decent mountain at last," he said later. From there, he sought adventure in places as distant as the Arctic and Antarctica. In the 1957-58 Antarctic summer season, he made what became known as his "dash to the Pole" aboard modified farm tractors while part of a joint British-New Zealand expedition. Hillary got into hot water over the move as his disregarded instructions from the Briton leading the expedition and guided his tractor team up the then-untraversed Shelton Glacier, pioneering a new route to the polar plateau and the South Pole. In 1977, his "Ocean to the Sky" expedition traveled India's Ganges river by jetboat to within 130 miles of its source. Hillary was known as ready to take risks to achieve his goals, but always had control so that nobody ever died on a Hillary-led expedition. In 2006 he entered a dispute over the death of Everest climber David Sharp, stating it was "horrifying" that climbers could leave a dying man after an expedition left the Briton to die high on the upper slopes. Hillary said he would have abandoned his own pioneering 1953 climb to save another life. "It was wrong if there was a man suffering altitude problems and was huddled under a rock, just to lift your hat, say 'good morning' and pass on by," he said. "Human life is far more important than just getting to the top of a mountain." By the time he was 40, he was touring in the United States and Europe for three months at a time, speaking at more than 100 venues during a tour. Then in the mid-1908s, he was named New Zealand's ambassador to India, and became the celebrity of the New Delhi cocktail circuit. But Hillary never forgot Nepal, and without fanfare or compensation, he spent decades pouring energy and resources from his own fundraising efforts into the country through the Himalayan Trust he founded in 1962. Known as "burra sahib" - "big man," for his 6-foot-2-inch frame - by the Nepalese, Hillary funded and helped build hospitals, health clinics, airfields and schools. He raised funds for higher education for Sherpa families, and helped set up reforestation programs in the impoverished country. About $250,000 a year was raised by the charity for projects in Nepal. A strong conservationist, he demanded that international mountaineers clean up thousands of tons of discarded oxygen bottles, food containers and other climbing debris that litter an area known as South Col valley, the jump-off point for Everest attempts. His adventurer son Peter has described his father's humanitarian work there as "his duty" to those who had helped him. Hillary's commitment to Nepal took him back more than 120 times, last visiting in 2007. It was on a visit to Nepal that his first wife, Louise, 43, and 16-year-old daughter Belinda died in a light plane crash March 31, 1975. Hillary remarried in 1990, to June Mulgrew, former wife of adventurer colleague and close friend Peter Mulgrew, who died in a passenger plane crash in the Antarctic. Unlike many climbers, Hillary said when he died he had no desire to have his remains left on a mountain. He wanted his ashes scattered on Waitemata Harbor in the northern city of Auckland where he lived his life. "To be washed gently ashore, maybe on the many pleasant beaches near the place I was born. Then the full circle of my life will be complete," he said. Like many good mountaineers before him, Hillary had no special insight into that quintessential question: Why climb? "I can't give you any fresh answers to why a man climbs mountains. The majority still go just to climb them."

PHOTOS: Courtesy of Antarctica New Zealand Pictorial Collection and Associated Press.
Antarctica New Zealand. Webcam Antarctica New Zealand.

DEDICATION CEREMONY AT THE POLE

2008-01-06T23:09:00.000Z

FIFTHY YEARS AGO...........

Photograph by: Cliff Dickey
National Science Foundation

Date Taken: Austral summer 1956-1957

Fuel barrels formed a ring around the ceremonial pole at the South Pole in 1957.

AND TODAY (2008)

The new Amundsen-Scott South Pole station (6000sq) will be dedicated on Saturday Jan. 12, 2008: the event will last 4 hours. The station (153 millions US Dollars) is funded and operated by the US National Science Foundation.

Photograph by: Dwight Bohnet/National Science Foundation

Date Taken: December 19, 2007

Sources:

http://southpolestation.com/news/news.html
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,23008904-30417,00.html

AIDROP CARGO AT THE SOUTH POLE

2008-01-06T22:59:00.000Z

Pallets of cargo airdropped over Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station.

Photograph by: Forest Banks
National Science Foundation

Date Taken: December 19, 2007

THREE SCIENTIFIC BALLOONS ORBITING OVER ANTARCTICA

2008-01-06T02:03:00.000Z

NSF PRESS RELEASE 08-001

January 4, 2008

The National Science Foundation (NSF) and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) have jointly achieved a new milestone in the almost 20-year history of scientific ballooning in Antarctica, by launching and operating three long-duration sub-orbital flights within a single Southern-Hemisphere summer.

Scientists from the United States, Japan, South Korea, France and other international collaborators concurrently are using high balloons to investigate the nature of ultra-high-energy cosmic rays and searching for anti-matter, as air currents that circle Antarctica carry the balloons and their instruments at the edge of space.

The University of Maryland's Cosmic Ray Energetics And Mass (CREAM) payload was launched on Dec. 19; the Balloon-borne Experiment with a Superconducting Spectrometer (BESS-Polar ) payload from NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center and Japan's High Energy Accelerator Research Organization (KEK) was launched on Dec. 22; and Louisiana State University's Advanced Thin Ionization Calorimeter (ATIC) payload was launched on Dec. 26.

The ability to launch and operate three balloon payloads over Antarctica is the result of a partnership between NASA and NSF, which provides logistic support for all U.S. scientific operations in Antarctica. NSF facilitated the launches near McMurdo Station, its Antarctic logistics hub, and will recover the payloads after the flights.

Karl A. Erb, who heads NSF's Office of Polar Programs, noted that the flight record, while significant itself, is one aspect of wider cooperation in the polar regions between NSF, which manages the U.S. Antarctic Program, and the space agency. "This annual scientific balloon expedition demonstrates the deep commitment and very fruitful collaboration between NASA and the NSF that enables a wide variety of forefront scientific research in Antarctica," he said. "Just as NSF provided the infrastructure and logistics support that made this hat trick possible, NASA provides the satellite communications link that is the lifeblood of astrophysics research at our new research station at the South Pole. Our partnership benefits both agencies and more importantly, the U.S. Science community.

"This collaboration began in 1989, initially with one balloon launch every other year, turning very soon to every year, then increasing to two launches per Antarctic summer at the end of 1990s and beginning of this decade. Demanding science and excellent atmospheric conditions over the Antarctica in the austral summer led our two agencies to sign an agreement in 2003 aimed at increasing the launch tempo to three balloons per season. With modest investments but considerable effort by both agencies, this goal is now achieved," Erb added.

Erb also noted that the milestone is particularly significant, as it occurs during the height of the International Polar Year (IPY), a coordinated scientific campaign that is engaging scientists from more than 60 nations. NSF is the lead federal agency for IPY, which began in March 2007 and will continue until 2009 to allow for two full years of observations and field work in parts of the world that are generally uninhabitable for as long as six months each year.

W. Vernon Jones, senior scientist for suborbital research at NASA headquarters, added, "We are extremely proud of our crew in Antarctica, and the partnership with NSF that provides for the increased capability to support three payloads from McMurdo. This is indeed a crowning event in the exceedingly successful NSF-NASA cooperation in Antarctic long balloon flights."

Unique atmospheric circulation over Antarctica during the austral summer allows scientists to launch balloons from a site near McMurdo Station and recover them from very nearly the same spot weeks later, after the balloons have circled the continent one to three. Antarctic flights are of a long duration because of the polar vortex, a persistent, large, low-pressure system, and because there is very little atmospheric or temperature change. Constant daylight in Antarctica means no day-to-night temperature fluctuations on the balloon, which helps the balloon stay at a nearly constant altitude for a longer time. These three payloads will ride the stratospheric winds in the polar vortex above the Antarctic continent for up to six weeks.

This orbital pattern allows for very long and continuous observations of a variety of phenomena from a single instrument at a fraction of the cost of launching an orbital platform into space. Once the balloon flights are completed, the payloads will be retrieved, brought back to McMurdo, and then shipped back to the United States, where they are refurbished and then launched again.

"With the launch of the CREAM, BESS, and ATIC missions, NASA and NSF have realized a goal we have worked toward for several years in order to accomplish more science" said David Gregory, assistant chief of NASA's Balloon Program at the NASA Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. "Having three long-duration balloon science missions flying simultaneously is a record-setting event that we in the Balloon Program and the Office of Polar Programs are very excited about. But of greater significance is that more science can be accomplished with a modest increase in cost to the program."

Each of these large-aperture instruments is similar in size to an observatory class satellite.

"The operations support for three balloons in the air at one time, and using the finest balloon vehicle made for this kind of cutting-edge scientific research is a major achievement," said Jones. "If all three of these missions achieve their flight goals, this Antarctic campaign will result in more than 90 days of near-space flight at an average altitude above about 37 kilometers [23.9 miles] with experiments averaging more than 2000 kilograms [4400 pounds]. This exposure would be equivalent to an Explorer class MIDEX mission in orbit for almost three years."

Supporting the three science teams, the staff from NASA's Columbia Scientific Balloon Facility, Palestine, Texas, launched the giant helium balloons.

"With the launch of the ATIC instrument, our third during this campaign, we have put 32,000 pounds of hardware, including 13,000 lbs of science instruments, into near space in a span of just over a week. It's a magnificent accomplishment," said Danny Ball, site manager for New Mexico State University the operator of the CSBF for NASA. "We're extremely proud of our personnel who worked through Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years in harsh conditions in Antarctica to make this possible."

-NSF-

IMAGE: CREAM HOME- University of Maryland. CREAM POSITION ON JAN 6th, 2008.

Media Contacts
Peter West, NSF (703) 292-7761 pwest@nsf.gov
Lee Tune, University of Maryland (301) 405-4679 ltune@umd.edu
Grey Hautaluoma, NASA Headquarters (202) 358-0668 Grey.hautaluoma-1@nasa.gov
Keith Koehler, Wallops Flight Facility, Virginia (757) 824-1579 keith.a.koehler@nasa.gov

Related Websites
U.S. Government Web Portal for the International Polar Year: http://www.ipy.gov
For more information on NASA’s balloon operations: http://sites.wff.nasa.gov/code820/
Read an NSF fact sheet on balloon-based astronomy in Antarctica: http://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=103063
To monitor the flight tracks of the three payloads on-line in real time: http://www.csbf.nasa.gov/antarctica/ice0708.htm

DES GORFOUS SAUTEURS BIEN COIFFES PARMI LES SUJETS DE LA COLLECTION TAAF 2008

2008-01-05T15:12:00.001Z

La collection 2008 des timbres TAAF

(Terres australes et antarctiques Françaises) est en vente depuis le Premier Janvier 2008. Elle se compose de 14 timbres et de deux blocs. C'est une des plus belles collections de ces dernières années. Parmi mes timbres et blocs préferés, sans doute le timbre Gourfou sauteur à 0,90 €, dessiné et gravé par Claude Andreotto (27 x 48, taille douce, tirage 100.000 ex. distrcits concernés: Amsterdam et Kerguelen); le timbre à 0,90 € du centième anniversaire de la station balenière de Port-Jeanne-d'Arc, déssiné et gravé par Claude Jumelet (22 x 72, taille douce, tirage 100.000 ex. District concerné: Kerguelen); le bloc à 2,50 € de la campagne d'évaluation scientifique POKER, dessiné et gravé par Claude Jumelet (BLOC: 81 x 106 h, timbre 26 x 48, taille douce, tirage 100.000 ex. District concerné: Kerguelen).

Le bloc des éléphants de mer aussi est très réussi, ainsi que le timbre de la campagne ICOTA (4,90 €, dessiné et gravé par Louis Briat, 36 x 48 en offset, tirage 100.000 ex. District concerné Terre Adélie; le timbre de Saint-Paul et celui de de l'Espérance (0,90 €, dessiné et gravé par Béatrice Boissegur), épave rouillée et fascinante que j'ai eu la chance de voir dans le Golfe du Morbihan, à Kerguelen.

Pour admirer la collection complète des timbres et blocs TAAF 2008, ainsi que la collection des Carnet Philatéliques TAAF se connecter sur le site TAAF, puis clicquer sur "Philalélie, Timbres". Ou bien se rendre au siège des TAAF à Paris (34, Boulevard Sébastopol), ainsi qu'à la Poste centrale de la rue du Louvre, à Paris.

TIMBRES: TAAF, Terres australes et antarctiques Françaises.

VISITE A' LENINE EN ANTARCTIQUE

2008-01-01T23:10:00.001Z

L'équipe de la traverse norvegienne-américaine est arrivée au Pôle d'Inaccessibilité le Jour de l'An. Voici les membres de la Norwegian-U.S. Scientific Traverse of East Antarctica autour de la fameuse statue de Lenine, installée à cet endroit lors de l'Année Géophysique Internationale de 1957-58 par une équipe Sovietique qui avait monté un camp, occupé pendant plusieurs semaines. Le camp est désormais enseveli sous la neige, mais la cheminée est encore visible ainsi que la statue de Lenine, qui regarde dans la direction de Moscou. D'autres infos sur le site de l'International Polar Year.

PHOTO: NORWEGIAN-U.S. SCIENTIFIC TRAVERSE OF EAST ANTARCTICA.

TOURISM IN ANTARCTICA: A NEW CRUISE SHIP ACCIDENT HIGHLIGHTS THE DANGERS OF ANTARCTIC TOURISM ON THE MOST PRISTINE CONTINENT OF OUR PLANET

2007-12-30T04:03:00.000Z

Norwegian cruise ship hits Antarctic ice

Published: Dec. 29, 2007 at 8:35 PM

EDUARDO FREI MONTALVA STATION, Chile, Dec. 29 (UPI) -- A Norwegian cruise ship sustained minor damage overnight Saturday when it lost power and bumped into a glacial iceberg along the Antarctic coast.

The MS Fram (see photo of the ship), carrying 318 passengers, was anchored at Chile's Eduardo Frei Montalva Station at King George Island after the accident, Mercopress reported. No one was injured, the news agency said.

The accident occurred when the ship lost power just after it finished a planned landing at Brown Bluff.

"We hit a glacier. We have damage to a starboard lifeboat and a little bit forward," said Steinar Hansen, the Fram's captain.

A power outage that lasted 40 to 50 minutes sent the vessel adrift against a wall of glacial ice before power was restored.

It's the second Antarctic cruise ship to run into trouble in recent weeks. On Nov. 24, the MS Explorer -- a cruise ship operated by a Toronto company -- hit an iceberg off Antarctica, forcing its 154 passengers and crew into lifeboats in the middle of the night. They waited more than three hours before they were rescued by another cruise ship.
________________________________________________________________

The Fram anchored before midday near Chile's Eduardo Frei base in an ice-free area west of King George Island.

"Everything is fine on board and we still have all the passengers on board," Hansen said. He added that the ship was "waiting for orders" on whether to continue its voyage.

Robert O'Connor, a 26-year-old American from South Bend, Ind., said he was in his cabin late Friday when the ship's crew told the passengers to head above deck.

"The electricity on the ship went out and we started drifting backward," he told the AP. "I actually saw the wall of ice coming up the starboard side. It came up fairly quickly, the ship drifted into it."

He reported a jarring impact that bent the railing and buckled the lifeboat. The captain and crew checked the ship and calmed nervous passengers, and after that "there were free drinks on the house," he said.
____________________________________________________________

The Antarctic and Southern Ocean Coalition

ASOC Secretariat
1630 Connecticut Ave NW Washington, DC 20009 USA
Tel: 1-202-234-2480 Fax: 1-202-387-4823 www.asoc.org
November 26, 2007

ASOC Statement on the Sinking of the Tourism Cruise Vessel MV Explorer in Antarctica

ASOC regrets the sinking of the tourism cruise vessel MV Explorer off King George Island,1 South Shetland Islands, 24 November 2007, and expresses its relief that the safety of all aboard has been protected by the action of the ship’s crew and the international rescue effort that followed evacuation of the ship. This accident happened to a well-tested, ice-strengthened vessel run by experienced crew that operates fully under current industry guidelines in a location that is, for Antarctic standards, well known. Notwithstanding this, providing assistance resulted in a major undertaking involving a number of other ships and disjunction to the activities of several National Antarctic Programs. The environmental impact of the sinking of the vessel is a cause of concern. The ship is reported to carry more than 180,000 liters of marine diesel. While most of the fuel may still be contained in the vessel it will eventually be discharged into the marine environment. The fact that such an accident could occur with such a vessel, in such a well-known part of Antarctica, demonstrates the continuing risk of all tourism operations in Antarctica. As with other incidents involving Antarctic tourism cruise vessels in the past twelve months, this accident could be described as a “best case scenario” – the weather conditions were relatively good, nobody was hurt during the collision or evacuation, and help was at hand. The accident highlights the risks of conducting Antarctic tourism in larger or less suitable vessels, by less capable operators, or in parts of Antarctica that are less well-known or more remote, where there would be less help at hand. This incident involving a capable vessel with just over 150 people aboard throws into stark relief the risks posed by the enormous vessels which have now begun to operate in the Antarctic, some of which carry five or more times that number of people. Not only do these vessels carry more fuel, but also the largest ones tend to carry heavy fuel oil, which poses an even greater risk to the marine environment.

Antarctic tourism has been growing, expanding and diversifying at a rapid pace for well over a decade, yet the Antarctic Treaty System lacks of a comprehensive policy for tourism in Antarctica. ASOC believes that there is an urgent need for Antarctic Treaty Consultative Parties to establish sensible operating rules before a catastrophe occurs. Steps to be considered include banning ships exceeding a certain size and carrying more than a certain number of people or a certain amount of fuel on board, establishing ice-strengthening standards for vessels which go into Antarctic waters, and reviewing how existing regulations are complied with, particularly with regard to Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) to assess whether the actual or potential impacts of tourism are sufficiently taken into consideration, including not only the impact of routine operations but also impacts of potential contingencies. Annex VI to the Antarctic environmental Protocol on Environmental Liability Arising from Environmental Emergencies was signed in 2005 after more than a decade of negotiation. To date, the Parties that have ratified Annex VI are The Netherlands, New Zealand, and Sweden. ASOC notes the duty of Antarctic Treaty Consultative Parties to ensure the entry into force of Annex VI on Liability as a matter of urgency. In line with government statements about protecting the polar environment, ASOC contends that Annex VI should enter into force before the end of the International Polar Year 2007-08.

For further information please contact:

Jim Barnes
Email: jimbo0628@mac.com

Ricardo Roura
Email: ricardo.roura@worldonline.nl (English, Spanish)

Note to editors regarding recent incidents involving Antarctic tourism vessels

• Grounding of the Nord Kapp at Deception Island, 31 January 2007. The accident resulted in the spillage of marine diesel into the marine environment and resulting environmental damage. There were no victims.

• Grounding of the Luybov Orlova at Deception Island, 15 November 2006. It is believed that the rescue call was made 15 hours after the vessel grounded, at which time no MAYDAY call was raised. There was potential for the situation to have worsened. The Luybov Orlova was towed off the sandbank, taking 3 hours to complete.

SULLA VIA DEL POLO SUD

2007-12-29T22:27:00.001Z

Sulla via del ritorno verso la stazione norvegese Troll, la traversa norvegese/americana che sta percorrendo il plateau polare in direzione del Polo Sud geografico (Norwegian-U.S. Scientific Traverse of East Antarctica) passerà nella zona dei laghi subglaciali Recovery, scoperti recentemente da Michael Studinger e colleghi, del Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, Columbia University. I laghi, in numero di 4, sono sepolti sotto più di 3.000 metri di ghiaccio nell'area del ghiacciaio Recovery. Il tragitto della traversa è indicato in giallo nello schema e il triangolo nero corrisponde ai Laghi Recovery. La superficie totale dei quattro nuovi laghi subglaciali corrisponde alla superficie del lago Vostok, il più grande e il più studiato degli oltre 150 bacini subglaciali dell'Antartide (superficie del lago Vostok: 15.690 km2). L'occasione di passare nella zona dei laghi Recovery permetterà ai membri della traversa norvegese/americana di compiere rilevamenti sismici, radar e GPS al di sopra dei laghi.Leggere il blog della traversa anche su http://www.ipy.org.

In questi giorni sono passati al di sopra di formazioni simili a megadune, mentre la settimana scorsa hanno visitato una base scientifica americana abbandonata 50 anni orsono, mezza sepolta nella neve. Presto dovrebbero raggiungere il Polo di Inaccessibilità, il punto del continente antartico più lontano da qualsiasi linea costiera. Si trova 463 km dal Polo Sud geografico a 3718 metri sul livello del mare. Il Polo Sud dell'inaccessibilità fu raggiunto per la prima volta da una spedizione sovietica il 14 dicembre 1958 organizzata durante i lavori di ricerca dell'Anno geofisico internazionale.

Schema: M. Studinger-LDEO, con dati di M. Siegert e NSIDC

Tutto è bene quel che finisce bene

2007-12-29T15:57:00.000Z

Dopo aver visto le fotografie del Basler DC-3 incidentato, c'è da pensare che se non fosse stato per la bravura e la grande esperienza dei piloti di Kenn Borek Air, la faccenda avrebbe potuto avere conseguenze più serie. A giudicare dalle foto scattate da un passeggero, sebbene l'aeromobile sia parecchio danneggiato, l'atteggiamento delle dieci persone coinvolte sembra tranquillo. Secondo le testimonianze (oramai pubblicate ovunque su internet), dopo l'incidente sono stati aperti i borsoni di sopravvivenza e montate le tende, in attesa dei soccorsi giunti 18 ore dopo l'accaduto. Due altri Twin Otter della Kenn Borek sono arrivati a recuperare i 6 passeggeri (ricercatori del progetto POLENET) e i 4 membri di equipaggio, per condurli a McMurdo. La Kenn Borek Air è una compagnia canadese con sede a Calgary (Alberta): ha una lunga e notevole esperienza di voli nelle regioni polari, nell'Artico e in Antartide, oltre ad avere dei Twin Otter-idrovolanti anche alle Maldive. In Antartide, i Twin Otter bianchi e rossi della Kenn Borek Air sono noleggiati dal Programma Polare Americano, dal Programma Nazionale di Ricerche in Antartide Italiano e dall'Istituto polare francese Paul-Emile Victor. Il "nostro" Twin Otter - quello attualmente operante fra la stazione Italiana Mario Zucchelli a Baia Terra Nova, la base italo-francese Concordia, Dumont d'Urville e McMurdo porta il nome in codice di Kilo Bravo Charlie. E' lo "shuttle" che fa la spola fra basi scientifiche "vicine di casa" - in un continente grande una volta e mezzo l'Europa. Trasporta passeggeri, viveri, materiale, la posta. E' indispensabile allo svolgimento di una spedizione scientifica e per la vita delle stazioni. Tutti conoscono la sua silhouette familiare, le sue eliche a striscie bianche e nere, la bandierina canadese sulla coda, il rumore che fa al decollo, all'atterraggio e quando fa taxi sulla pista di neve. Fa parte della nostra vita quotidiana in Antartide.

L.S.

ABOUT THE BASLER DC-3

2007-12-28T22:11:00.000Z

Press Release 07-189
NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION

December 21, 2007

A National Science Foundation (NSF)-chartered aircraft operating in Antarctica crashed shortly after take-off earlier this week while providing support to a group of researchers at a remote location on the southernmost continent. None of the 10 people aboard was injured, but the DC-3 Basler was severely damaged.

The aircraft, which is owned by Kenn Borek Air Ltd., a Canadian aviation firm, experienced difficulties in taking off from a field site near Mt. Patterson in West Antarctica on the morning of Dec. 20, local time (U.S. stations in Antarctica keep New Zealand time), roughly 550 miles from McMurdo Station, NSF's logistical hub in Antarctica.

The six passengers aboard the plane were part of the NSF-funded portion of the international Polar Earth Observatory Network (POLENET) project, which is deploying GPS units and seismic sensors across Antarctica to make observations that are vital to understanding how the massive ice sheets are changing. In turn, these measurements are critical to understanding how ice sheets affect sea level worldwide, and thereby global climate in general.

The POLENET team and four aircraft crewmembers were flown back to McMurdo Station.

As a matter of routine, the incident is under investigation by the Department of the Interior's Aircraft Management Division (AMD). NSF has a memorandum of agreement with the Interior Department to conduct such investigations. As the managing federal agency for the U.S. Antarctic Program, NSF coordinates and supports all U.S. scientific research on the southernmost continent and in surrounding waters.

AMD has contacted the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) about the incident. The NTSB will coordinate as necessary with the Transportation Safety Board of Canada.

Because the cause of the accident is under investigation, NSF will have no further comment, pending the conclusion of that investigation.

PHOTO CREDIT: Dominick Dirksen/National Science Foundation (January 2007)

Media Contacts
Peter West, NSF (703) 292-7761 pwest@nsf.gov
____________________________________________________________________

The National Science Foundation (NSF) just awarded the collaboration, called POLENET, $4.5 million to plant global positioning system (GPS) trackers and seismic sensors on the bedrock that cradles the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS). Lead institution Ohio State University will receive more than $2.2 million, and the rest will be divided among partners in the United States as part of an International Polar Year project.

As scientists have tried to understand how climate change is affecting the WAIS, they have long wished they could gather information from the entire region, explained POLENET leader Terry Wilson. But Antarctica contains the coldest and windiest sites on the planet -- locations inhospitable to scientific instruments and the scientists who would deploy them.

In a presentation Tuesday, December 11, 2007 at the American Geophysical Union meeting in San Francisco , she described how her team will overcome the harsh environment. They'll fly ski-equipped aircraft to remote locations, and plant rugged instruments that will send signals back to the United States via satellite.

“We'll be able to do systems-scale science in Antarctica . That wasn't possible before,” said Wilson, associate professor of earth sciences at Ohio State. “This instrumentation is designed to run and record data year-round, through the dark polar night. Previous instrument deployments have largely operated only for a few months, or less, each year. This allows us to do new science.”

In a related project over the summer of 2007, POLENET scientists installed two dozen GPS trackers in Greenland. By the end of February 2008, the scientists plan to have 17 new trackers installed around the WAIS, along with about 11 new seismic sensors. The first expeditions began arriving in Antarctica early in December, 2007. The network will be complete in 2010 and will record data into 2012. Selected sites may remain as a permanent Antarctic observational network.

Scientists around the world will be able to access POLENET data online, and schools will be able to access educational resources.

Source: OHIO State University, The Washington Post

LES PRESENTOIRS CONCUS POUR "ANTARCTIQUE"

2007-12-28T10:45:00.000Z

Le service Commercial des Editions Belin a conçu des présentoirs pour les beaux livres comme "Antarctique, Coeur blanc de la Terre" et "Dragons". Ces présentoirs sont élégants et très pratiques pour mettre en valeur les livres et permettre aux clients de la librairie de les feuilleter tranquillement, à la juste hauteur. Sur la partie verticale du présentoir sont indiqués le prix de l'ouvrage et le nombre de pages. Cinq carte de voeux sont offertes gratuitement avec le livre "Antarctique, Coeur blanc de la Terre".

IPY POLAR BOOKS COLLECTION

2007-12-28T06:12:00.000Z

The Global Outlook for Ice and Snow, by Joan Eamer (June 2007), Vanishing World by Mireille de la Lez and Fredrik Granath, (October 2007) and Antarctique, Coeur blanc de la Terre - by Lucia Simion (photos from different photographers) have been selected by the International Polar Year Office to be in an "IPY POLAR BOOKS" collection.

LAC VOSTOK: LES EAUX DU LAC, ENFOUI SOUS 4.000 METRES DE GLACE DEPUIS DES MILLIONS D'ANNEES VONT BIENTOT ETRE ATTEINTES. QUEL SERA LE FUTUR?

2007-12-25T12:10:00.000Z

SAINT-PETERSBOURG,
20 décembre 2007- RIA Novosti.

Des scientifiques russes comptent terminer en 2008-2009 les forages qui leur permettront d'atteindre le lac Vostok, dont les eaux enfouies sous 4 kilomètres de glace dans l'Antarctique constituent un écosystème unique, a annoncé Valeri Loukine, le chef de l'expédition antarctique russe.

Cet espace aquatique grand comme le lac Ontario est isolé de la surface depuis maintenant environ un million d'années, ce qui en fait une structure fossile tout à fait inédite.

L'absence totale de lumière, la forte pression et la composition particulière de l'eau (gaz et composition chimique), ajoutés à son isolement complet, laissent penser aux chercheurs qu'il y existe des formes de vie absolument distinctes de celles connues de la science contemporaine.

"Au cours de cette saison, nous comptons descendre de 50 mètres supplémentaires. Nous devrions atteindre les eaux du lac au cours de la période 2008-2009", a déclaré M. Loukine.

Selon lui, le navire expérimental Akademik Fedorov acheminera prochainement un nouveau câble dans l'Antarctique.

Le directeur de la chaire des technologies de forage de l'Université de Saint-Pétersbourg Nikolaï Vassiliev a expliqué que ce câble de rechange était nécessaire en raison de l'extrême état de délabrement du précédent.

Selon M. Vassiliev, après avoir atteint 3.000 mètres sous le niveau de la mer, le puits a permis d'observer des changements substantiels dans la structure de la glace, qui contient notamment des cristaux en nombre plus important. Des protéobactéries et des actinomycètes probablement âgés d'environ 500.000 ans avaient également été trouvés auparavant dans les prélèvements de glace.

Le forage, qui a débuté dans les années 1970 alors qu'on ignorait encore tout de l'existence de lac, était réalisé dans le cadre d'études paléo-climatiques. Le puits atteint actuellement 3.663 mètres.

L'étude du lac joue un rôle capital dans la compréhension et l'étude des changements climatiques des prochains millénaires et de la formation planète.

L'opération de forage permettra en outre de jeter les bases de la future exploration d'Europe, la lune glacée de Jupiter, qui recèle peut-être un océan liquide sous une épaisseur de glace similaire et pourrait contenir des formes de vie extraterrestre.

Le premier échantillon d'eau du lac devrait être prélevé en 2008-2009.

ILLUSTRATION: ZINA DERETZSKY/NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION

23 DECEMBRE 2007: GRAND SOLEIL A' SCOTT BASE

2007-12-23T00:54:00.001Z

23 Décembre 2007, à 2 h de l'aprèm: la webcam de Scott Base (NZ) a pris cette image. Deux jours avant Noël, journée radieuse, grand soleil et plus beaucoup de neige sur le terrain autour de la base. Sur le fond, au delà de la plateforme de Ross: White Island (sur la gauche) et Black Island (à droite). Les images sont mises à jour toutes les 15 minutes.
Pour "ouvrir votre fenêtre sur l'Antarctique" allez sur le site de Antarctica New Zealand (le Programme Polaire Néozelandais), puis cliquez sur "Webcam". Il y en a deux: une à Scott base et une à Arrival Heights.

Photo: webcam de Scott Base, Antarctica New Zealand.

ARCHEOLOGIE ANTARCTIQUE

2007-12-23T00:28:00.000Z

Cela fait presque un mois qu'une équipe d'archeologues "polaires" néozelandais est en train de retaper les refuges historiques de Scott et de Shackleton sur l'Ile de Ross, à Cape Evans et à Cape Royds respectivement. Il s'agit d'un projet en collaboration avec Antarctic Heritage Trust et Antarctica New Zealand.
Je suis passée les voir à Cape Evans, le 18 Novembre, de retour de Cape Royds où j'avais visité le refuge de Shackleton en compagnie d'un groupe de Kiwi. Ici à droite (dans une image qui a été réalisée par un membre de l'équipe) l'archéologue Neville Ritchie en train de travailler sur l'annexe de Birdie Bowers à Cape Evans. J'en profite pour lui dire "bonjour" depuis Paris.

Voir plus de news sur ce site (faire copié-collé):

http://piclib.nhm.ac.uk/antarctica/?cat=6

FILM: 430 JOURS DANS LE DERNIERS DES CONTINENTS

2007-12-22T23:51:00.001Z

Le Dernier Continent, c'est l'Antarctique - biensûr. Le dernier des continents à avoir été découvert, il y a moins de 200 ans (environ 1820).
Le cinéaste-biologiste Canadien Jean Lemire lui dédie un film - qui est le récit de plus d'un an passé à bord du voilier Sedna IV, en Péninsule antarctique, pour observer et filmer les effets du changement climatique. Le film est sorti au Québec le 21 décembre. Nous attendons avc impatience qu'il arrive dans les cinémas en France.

Photos: en haut, le Sedna IV dans le royaume des glaces; en bas, l'équipe de tournage et des membres de l'équipage observent un gros phoque léopard qui vient les voir.

Crédits: site officiel du film sur http://www.lederniercontinentlefilm.com/

PENGUIN SKETCHES BY SCOTT AND SHACKLETON

2007-12-22T23:24:00.001Z

December 21st, 2007

Penguin sketches made by Captain Scott and Ernest Shackleton have been found in a basement at Cambridge University.

The legendary explorers drew the pictures on blackboards, probably for public lectures, in 1904 and 1909.

Source and photo: BBC News

VOSTOK STATION CELEBRATES ITS 50th ANNIVERSARY

2007-12-22T23:15:00.000Z

ST.PETERSBURG, December 16 (Itar-Tass) -- The southernmost stronghold of the Russian polar science – the polar station Vostok (East) in the Antarctic celebrates its 50th anniversary on the ice top of the sixth continent. The directorate of the Russian meteorological service, colleagues from the Artic and Antarctic Research Institute and relatives of polar explorers congratulated the staff of the polar station on their holiday.

Among five permanently operating Russian Antarctic stations the polar station Vostok is the only station situated on the plateau glacier in the East Antarctic at an altitude of 3,488 meters above the sea level, the deputy director of the Artic and Antarctic Research Institute and the chief of the Russian Antarctic Expedition, Valery Lukin told Itar-Tass.

He noted that “the participants of the sledding voyage during the second Comprehensive Antarctic Expedition headed by a legendary Polar explorer and the Hero of the Socialist Labor, Alexei Fyodorvich Treshnikov, set up the polar station Vostok.” “The polar station Vostok was deployed under the national program of the International Geophysical Year (1957-1958) for the round-the-year meteorological and geophysical monitoring on the southern geomagnetic pole of the Earth,” Lukin said. Glaciologist Vyacheslav Averyanov was the first chief of the polar station Vostok, he added.

Polar explorers call the polar station “the harshest place on the sixth continent.” “Those who did not visit the polar station Vostok did not see the Antarctica,” they said jokingly.

Experienced polar explorers said, “No living creature, except for the man, can survive in intercontinental districts of the Antarctica.” The polar station Vostok is the cold pole of the Earth. “The average annual air temperature in this Antarctic district makes 55 degrees below zero. 89.2 degrees below zero that is the lowest temperature on the Earth was registered in July 1983. The round-the-clock polar night lasts about four months there. The normal atmospheric pressure amounts to 460 mb as that on the Elbrus top. The humidity is lower than in the Sahara Desert,” Lukin said.

Polar explorers discovered the subterranean lake and called it Vostok near the Russian polar station under the four-kilometer ice crust in the second half of the twentieth century. “The unique water body is considered one of the greatest geographical discoveries in the twentieth century. The lake remained isolated from the air for several million years,” Lukin pointed out. At present, Russian polar explorers are going to take environment-friendly water samples in the lake through the unique well.

For half a century the Vostok polar explorers “have conducted unique scientific experiments that made Russia one of the leading nations in the international Antarctic community,” the chief of the Russian Antarctic Expedition indicated. Lukin named among the priority experiments “the comprehensive monitoring of geomagnetic and ionospheric parameters that characterize the energy inflow of the solar wind on our planet.” He considers a not less significant experiment for the world science “the unique drilling of the ice crust in the East Antarctica in order to create palaeoclimatic reconstructions of the Earth.”

“Earlier crawlers went from the polar station Mirny and planes made inland flights to deliver necessary supplies for the polar station Vostok and substitute its staff,” Lukin said. An airplane BT-67 with the ski landing gear has been delivering the supplies for the polar station Vostok from the coastal polar station Progress already for several years. Since 2005 an airplane Il-76TD has been making flights from the ice airfield at the polar station Novolazarevskaya to parachute the cargoes for the polar station Vostok, Lukin noted.

PHOTO CREDIT: Todd Sowers LDEO, Columbia University, Palisades, New York/NOAA

LE JAPON RENONCE A' CHASSER 50 BALEINES A' BOSSE (MAIS VA MASSACRER 1.000 PETITS RORQUALS)

2007-12-21T11:13:00.000Z

Sous la pression internationale, Tokyo renonce à tuer les baleines à bosse - AFP

TOKYO (AFP) — Le Japon a annoncé vendredi qu'il renonçait à reprendre la chasse aux baleines à bosse, abandonnée depuis quatre décennies, à la suite d'une campagne de protestations internationales dirigée par l'Australie.

Cette décision, exceptionnelle de la part du Japon qui n'avait jusqu'ici jamais fait de concession en matière de chasse à la baleine, constitue une victoire pour le nouveau gouvernement de gauche australien du Premier ministre Kevin Rudd.

"Le Japon ne va pas chasser les baleines à bosse", a déclaré aux journalistes le porte-parole du gouvernement Nobutaka Machimura, en rappelant que l'Australie avait "exprimé son vif mécontentement auprès du Japon à ce sujet".

"En échange, j'espère que cela débouchera sur de meilleures relations avec l'Australie", a-t-il dit.

Pour la première fois depuis les années soixante, le Japon avait annoncé le mois dernier qu'il allait tuer 50 spécimens de baleines à bosse, une espèce considérée comme menacée par les défenseurs de la nature.

Toutefois, la campagne baleinière lancée le mois dernier dans l'Antarctique va se poursuivre avec l'objectif de tuer un millier de baleines, pour la plupart de l'espèce minke, plus petites.

En Australie, l'organisation Greenpeace s'est engagée à maintenir les pressions sur le Japon, en rappelant que la flotte de l'Antarctique a toujours l'intention de tuer une cinquantaine de rorquals, le deuxième plus grand animal sur terre après la baleine bleue, que les défenseurs de l'environnement considèrent comme une espèce menacée.

"Le Japon doit rappeler sa flotte immédiatement, stopper la chasse et renoncer à tout projet de construction d'un nouveau bateau-usine baleinier", a déclaré le représentant de Greenpeace pour l'Australie et le Pacifique, Steve Shallhorn.

Le gouvernement australien a dépêché un navire de guerre désarmé et un avion de reconnaissance pour surveiller la flotte baleinière, qui sera également suivie par deux navires des associations écologistes Greenpeace et Sea Shepherd.

Junichi Sato, qui dirige la campagne contre la chasse à la baleine pour Greenpeace Japon, a estimé que "cela prouve que la pression internationale peut réussir".

Le porte-parole du gouvernement a relevé que le Japon et l'Australie avaient des différences culturelles à propos des baleines, mais que Tokyo souhaitait préserver les relations avec le nouveau gouvernement en Australie.

"Les Australiens trouvent que les baleines sont affectueuses, ce que j'ai du mal à comprendre. Mais apparemment, ils donnent des noms à chaque baleine et le public éprouve un véritable sentiment à leur égard", a commenté M. Machimura.

Il a toutefois démenti que le Japon ait cédé à la pression de l'Australie, affirmant que la décision avait été prise à la suite de discussions avec le chef de la Commission baleinière internationale.

Le Japon contourne chaque année le moratoire international en vigueur depuis 1986 en pêchant un millier de baleines à des fins soi-disant "scientifiques".

Les baleines à bosse, protégées depuis un moratoire décrété en 1966 après des années de chasse extensive, sont réputées pour leurs chants et leurs sauts acrobatiques.

Leur migration le long des côtes australiennes à la saison de la reproduction est devenue une attraction suivie chaque année par 1,5 million de touristes.

BUONE NOTIZIE PER LE MEGATTERE! Il Giappone rinuncia a massacrare le 50 megattere di cui aveva annunciato la cattura

A seguito delle pressioni e delle proteste esercitate dall'AUSTRALIA, la flotta di baleniere giapponesi - che si trova nell'Oceano Australe per massacrare 1.000 balenottere minori e 50 megattere, ha RINUNCIATO a catturare le 50 megattere. Tutte le balene sono specie carismatiche, ma le megattere sono fra le più fantastiche di tutte - fra le più conosciute, fra le più amate. La flotta di cacciatori di balene giapponesi aveva annunciato l'intenzione di catturarne 50 nel corso della stagione 2007-2008, ufficialmente "per ragioni scientifiche", ma in pratica per venderne la carne. Per fortuna, la reazione dell'Australia ha avuto ragione delle mire alimentari dei balenieri giapponesi. Le megattere possono stare tranquille! Ma per MILLE balenottere comuni (Minke whales) sarà il massacro.
Ancora una volta, il sangue tingerà di rosso il SANTUARIO dell'Oceano Australe. Per servire qualche bistecca di carne di balena sui piatti di ricchi personaggi da qualche parte sulla Terra.

Photograph by: Steven Profaizer
National Science Foundation/USAP ANTARCTIC PHOTO LIBRARY

A minke whale surfaces inside the shipping channel through the sea ice near McMurdo Station. Seals, penguins and orcas are also often seen in and around the channel. Date Taken: January 28, 2007

FIRST LANDING AT WILKINS RUNWAY

2007-12-15T10:48:00.001Z

FROM THE AUSTRALIAN ANTARCTIC DIVISION WEBSITE:

11 December 2007: Australia's new air service to Antarctica is on track after completing its first landing on the new glacial runway this week, view a quicktime video of the landing.

The Airbus A319 landed on the purpose-built Wilkins Runway, around 70kms from Casey station, late on Sunday night and returned to Hobart early on Monday, December 10.

Director of the Australian Antarctic Division, Dr Tony Press, said that it was a very exciting time in Australia's Antarctic history.

"It is a most ambitious undertaking which, for the first time, connects Australia and Antarctica with a permanent air link. It really is a tremendous achievement and marks a significant milestone for Australia's Antarctic Program.

"Operational crews reported that the aircraft handled the conditions well and had nothing but praise for Wilkins Runway. It has been a wonderful reward, too, for the ground support personnel who have worked so hard in sometimes appalling conditions."

The flight to Wilkins carried only operations personnel and was one of a series of successful 'proving' flights before final approval from authorities to allow passengers on board.

Dr Press said that passenger safety was paramount to a successful air link.

"Everything is on schedule as the air link nears final approvals."

Regular operational flights to Antarctica will begin once regulatory approvals are completed over the next week or so.

Media contact: Patti Lucas 0439 639 227

PHOTO by Tom Delfatti: Left, Charlton Clark, Manager - Antarctic Airlink Project and (right) Dr Jeremy Smith, Casey Station Leader with the A319 at Wilkins Runway.
____________________________________________________________________________________

A passenger jet has made a historic landing on a new blue ice runway in Australia's Antarctic territory and regular flights are expected to start within a week, officials said Wednesday.

But trips on the Airbus A319 to the Wilkins Runway will be for scientists and research staff only, with no plans to open the airlink to tourists, project manager Charlton Clark told AFP.

The runway is four kilometres (2.5 miles) long, 700 metres thick and moves about 12 metres southwest a year because of glacial drift.

In the first trial landing on Monday, the plane pulled up within 1,000 metres despite the lack of friction to grab the wheels on the ice.

Clark said work had begun on the 10 million dollar (8.7 million US) runway 70 kilometres from Australia's Casey research station in 2005, with crews living in shipping containers.

"Just living in that environment, with conditions of minus 35 degrees and up to a hundred knots of wind, let alone doing the work, was an amazing undertaking," he said.

Using laser levelling technology, they graded and shaved the ice flat and must keep grooming it to keep it snow free.

The runway was named for the adventurer and aviator Sir Hubert Wilkins, who made the first flight in Antarctica 79 years ago.

Scientists and specialists working at Australia's Antarctic field stations, who previously had to spend weeks voyaging to and from the ice by sea, are expected to start flying within a week, he said.

Other nations with Antarctic research stations have been flying to the icy continent for years from countries such as New Zealand and South Africa, but using military aircraft.

The Australian Antarctic Division says its introduction of a modern jet aircraft, which can complete a return journey without refuelling, marks the start of a new era.

FROM: AFP

THE MOST ACCURATE AND TRUE SATELLITE IMAGE OF ANTARCTICA

2007-12-13T18:25:00.001Z

PRESS RELEASE ON LIMA (BAS)
Issue date: 27 Nov 2007
Number: 20/2007

A team of researchers from NASA, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), the National Science Foundation (NSF) and British Antarctic Survey (BAS) unveiled today (27 Nov 07) the most geographically accurate, true-color satellite photograph ever made of Antarctica.

More than a thousand scenes captured during seven years of satellite observations have created the visually stunning Landsat Image Mosaic of Antarctica (LIMA). The virtually cloudless satellite view of Antarctica's frozen landscape provides much greater detail for the entire continent than has been available before. For the first time researchers and the public can explore Antarctica for themselves in a completely new way.

"This mosaic of images opens up a window to the Antarctic that we just haven’t had before. It will open new doors of opportunity for scientific research as well as enable the public to become much more familiar with Antarctica and how scientists use imagery in their research," said Robert Bindschadler, chief scientist of the Hydrospheric and Biospheric Sciences Laboratory at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. "This innovation, compared to what we had available most recently, is like watching the most spectacular high-definition TV in living colour versus watching the picture on a small black-and-white television."

Advances in satellite technology since the 1970's have revolutionized scientific study of the Earth's greatest natural laboratory. For example, movement of glaciers, previously measured by ground-based measurements or aerial photography, is now much better understood as a result of upgraded instruments on each new Earth-observing satellite.

"LIMA is truly stunning to look at but above all it is a fantastic tool created from uniformly and rigorously processed data. This mosaic represents an important US-UK collaboration and is a major contribution to International Polar Year (IPY)," said Andrew Fleming, at BAS. "Over 60,000 scientists are involved in a global initiative to understand our world. I have no doubt that IPY researchers will find LIMA invaluable for planning science campaigns or for analyzing environmental changes to the continent."

For the first time too members of the public can view the mosaic through a web portal hosted by USGS. Web visitors can zoom in to see large ice masses along the coast, the mountainous peninsula or the inland dry valleys at varying levels of detail. Eight different versions of the full mosaic can be viewed and downloaded.

BAS Director Professor Nick Owens added, "If society and our political leaders are to make informed decisions and devise strategies to cope with global change they need the best scientific evidence they can get. I have no doubt that LIMA gives us an extraordinary tool for scientists to observe and collect the evidence we need."

The Landsat Image Mosaic of Antarctica is now available on the web at:
http://lima.usgs.gov/

For related images and information about LIMA and the interagency team on the web, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/vision/earth/lookingatearth/lima_press_conf.html

For educational materials related to the new Antarctic mosaic on the web, visit:
http://lima.nasa.gov

ENDS

Notes for Editors: The mosaic is made up of about 1,100 images from Landsat 7, nearly all of which were captured between 1999 and 2001. The collage of images contains virtually no gaps in the landscape, other than a doughnut hole-shaped area at the South Pole because the orbital limits of landsat means that anywhere south of 83degrees cannot be imaged. LIMA shows virtually no seams between images. Each pixel's color represents the true reflectance of light off the surface, a quality useful to scientists.

British Antarctic Survey is a world leader in research into global issues in an Antarctic context. It is the UK’s national operator and is a component of the Natural Environment Research Council. It has an annual budget of around £40 million, runs nine scientific programmes and operates five research stations, two Royal Research Ships and five aircraft in and around Antarctica.

International Polar Year 2007–2008 is the largest coordinated international scientific effort for 50 years. From ice sheets and space science to Arctic communities and the creatures of the Southern Ocean, IPY includes more than 200 Arctic and Antarctic projects and harnesses the skills of 50,000 people – including scientists, students and support staff – from more than 60 nations.

IPY is sponsored by the International Council for Science (ICSU) and The World Meteorological Organization (WMO)

British Antarctic Survey Press Office
Linda Capper – tel: ++44 1223 221448, mob: 07714 233744, email: l.capper@bas.ac.uk
Athena Dinar – tel: ++44 1223 221414, mob:07740 822229, email: a.dinar@bas.ac.uk

13 DICEMBRE: SECONDA GIORNATA IPY

2007-12-12T21:27:00.000Z

L'Ufficio Centrale dell'Anno Polare Internazionale, situato a Cambridge, ha indetto la seconda "Giornata polare" dopo quella del 21 Settembre scorso. Questa giornata - il Giovedi' 13 Dicembre 2007- è dedicata alle calotte polari (dell'Antartide e della Groenladia) e alle traverse internazionali che stanno zigzagando su e giù per la calotta antartica orientale: una traversa americano-norvegese, una nippo-svedese (terra della Regina Maud) e la traversa ITASE Americana.

La prossima giornata polare sarà il 13 Marzo. Illustrazioni: NSF

ICECUBE: LA STAGIONE 2007-2008 INIZIATA CON SUCCESSO

2007-12-12T20:54:00.001Z

Alla fine della prima settimana di dicembre (il giorno 7) è stato completato il deployment della prima stringa della stagione 2007-2008 di ICECUBE, il gigantesco detettore di neutrini in costruzione al Polo Sud geografico, presso la stazione USA Amundsen-Scott. La preparazione del pozzo profondo 2.400 m, che deve accogliere il cavo su cui vengono fissati 60 Digital Optical Modules (DOM) è iniziata il 5 Dicembre. I pozzi vengono "scavati" utilizzando un getto di acqua a 90°C. Il 7 dicembre alle 22h30 il primo pozzo era stato completato e la stringa (ovvero il cavo a cui sono agganciati 60 DOM) cominciava ad essere calata a suo interno. Questa operazione ha richesto 10 ore per essere portata a termine. La foto (scattata da Jim Haugen) mostra l'ultimo DOM agganciato al cavo, ovvero il DOM più superficiale.

Foto: Jim Haugen/ICECUBE

Illustrazioni: Icecube/NSF

NELLA NOSTRA "CASA" IN ANTARTIDE

2007-12-11T12:14:00.000Z

Seguite lo svolgimento della XXIII Campagna del Programma Nazionale di Ricerche in Antartide. Sapete che quest'anno ci sono stati dei tagli importanti nei finanziamenti della Campagna, per cui i soli progetti scientifici in corso (o appena conclusi) sono il progetto ANDRILL SMS presso la stazione americana McMurdo (concluso a fine novembre) e TaldICE
a Talos Dome, un progetto di perforazione in ghiaccio, iniziato nel 2005-2006. La trincea di perforazione è stata riaperta a metà novembre e l'estrazione delle prime carote dell'anno è in corso. Ovviamente l'impegno dell'Italia nella gestione logistica e scientifica della base italo-francese CONCORDIA a Dome C resta immutato. Il Capo Spedizione, Giuseppe De Rossi, è salito a Dome C il 30 Novembre e ci resterà fino alla fine della campagna estiva, quando poi passerà la staffetta al franco-australiano Jean-François Vanacker, che sarà il Capo Spedizione del Quarto winter-over a Concordia.

SITO: http://www.italiantartide.it/

LE COMMANDANT CHARCOT ET SON "POURQUOI-PAS?"

2007-12-11T11:44:00.001Z

Un très très beau timbre (un dyptique) représentant le Commandant JB Charcot et son voilier le Pourquoi-Pas? a été émis conjointement par la France et le Groenland, le 12 Novembre 2007. La valeur faciale est de 1,14 €.
Dimensions : Format, Diptyque comprenant 1 timbre de 30 x 36 mm à 0.54 € et 1 timbre de 60 x 36 mm à 0.60 €
L'artiste est Martin Mörck, la technique d'impression: taille douce et offset.

Le Commandant Charcot est un des plus grands explorateurs polaires: il a effectué deux expéditions en Antarctique, en explorant et cartografiant plus de 2.000 Km de côtes inexplorées et 10 voyages au Groenland. Dans une de ces expéditions il a emmené avec soi le jeune Paul-Emile victor, qui est ensuite resté vivre un an au Groeland, auprès d'une famille d'Esquimaux. Jean-Baptiste Charcot, appelé le Gentleman des Pôles par Robert Falcon Scott, a disparu en mer le 16 Septembre 1936, au large des côtes de l'Islande, dans le naufrage du Pourquoi-Pas? Il y eu un seul rescapé - Eugène Gonidec- , qui resta accroché à l'échelle de copée pendant des heures.
La dépouille mortelle du Commandant, ainsi que celle des 23 autres membres de l'équipage, fut retrouvée le lendemain. Eugène Gonidec raconta que le Commandant Charcot, comprenant la destruction inévitable du Pourquoi-Pas ? IV sur les récifs, libéra de sa cage une mouette qui était la mascotte du bord. JB Charcot est enterré à Paris au cimetière Montmartre.
Il reste à tout jamais un des plus grands et des plus aimés des explorateurs du Royaume des Glaces; lui dédier un beau timbre lors de l'Année Polaire Internationale est un joli geste.

La Poste: http://actutimbree.laposte.fr/

THE TAE PHOTOGRAPHIC COLLECTION

2007-11-01T05:02:00.000Z

He recalls that his passion for the extreme probably began when he first saw the snow, during a school holiday at the Tongariro National Park, at the age of sixteen. He was a young teenager living in the countryside and he had never seen the magic of snow. Since that day, Sir Edmund Hillary has spent a great deal of his life among snows and ice, blizzards and storms, high snowy peaks close to the sky and turbulent rivers flowing down to the sea. In May 1953 he was the first to reach the summit of Mt Everest – with Tenzing Norgay. Thanks to that success another great adventure would keep him among the snows for almost two years, in the coldest, windiest and iciest continent on Earth : the Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition (TAE), a joint-venture between Great Britain and New Zealand, aimed to cross Antarctica from the Weddell Sea to the Ross Sea. It was the dream dreamt by Shackleton, forty years earlier. Sir Ed Hillary and Sir Vivian Fuchs were co-leaders in this great expedition, which took place during the International Geophysical Year in 1957-58. Sir Ed Hillary established New Zealand’s Scott Base on Ross Island, then made a long and hazardous journey over the Ross Ice Shelf and across the Transantarctic Mountains, driving small Ferguson tractors, to trace the route for Fuchs and set fuel caches along the way. Thanks to Hillary’s determination expertise and bravery (as well as with the help of the Americans) the performance of the Ross Sea Party was a great success. Hillary therefore decided to push on to the South Pole, where he arrived in January 1958, the first man to reach the Pole by terrestrial transportation.
Fifty years later, during the fourth International Polar year, great memories of the TAE expedition are still hanging around. Scott Base has celebrated its Fiftieth Anniversary, books are being published on the history of New Zealand and Antarctica, photographic exhibitions are being held, talks are being given. But one of the most fantastic records is well kept between the walls in the office of Antarctica New Zealand, at the International Antarctic Centre, in Christchurch. It is the fabulous collection of pictures from the TAE : « There are more then 1300 photos and negatives », says Ursula Ryan, who has looked after the Pictorial Collection since 2005, as part of her role as Information Advisor with Antarctica New Zealand, the NZ Antarctic programme. « Of these 1300 photos of the TAE, 170 are already digitized », she explains. Mrs. Ryan takes me the Archive, where temperature and humidity are kept under control. The TAE photos and negatives are archived one by one, each with its contact print. Most are 6 x 6 negatives. It looks like a treasure. I asked Ursula to pick her favorite TAE photo. On the computer screen she shows the picture of the TAE HUT, the first building of Scott Base, now an Historic monument under the Antarctic Treaty. « I like this photo because we see the TAE Hut, the New Zealand flag flying beside the hut and boxes of materials still lying around », says Ursula Ryan. « The landscape in the background is fantastic, with Mount Discovery peering just over the roof of the Hut. I really like that mountain ». This photograph was published in « Ice Age, Celebrating 50 years of New Zealand in Antarctica », published in June 2007 by Claire Duncan, in conjunction with Antarctica NZ, with contributions of John Claydon, Bill Cranfield, David Harrowfield and Baden Norris. In the same booklet is published a photo of the Hut today.

A selection of the TAE photos can be seen on this website :
http://www.scottbase50years.co.nz

Antarctica New Zealand : http://www.antarcticanz.govt.nz

Lucia Simion and Ursula Ryan

PHOTOS: TAE632, Antarctica NZ Pictorial Collection
E. Barnes, Antarctica NZ Pictorial Collection K250-06/07

CHRISTCHURCH, GATEWAY TO ANTARCTICA

2007-11-01T04:28:00.001Z

Very few places on Earth are lucky enough to be nicknamed “Gateway to Antarctica”. They can be counted on the fingers of one hand: Hobart in Tasmania; Ushuaia in Argentina; Punta Arenas, overlooking the Straight of Magellan in Chile; Cape Town in South Africa and of course Christchurch, in New Zealand. It is from these locations that intrepid explorers and navigators have set sail to the Great Unknown, in search of the Terra australis incognita and beyond, to the magnetic South Pole and to the geographical South Pole. In those times there were no satellite images to tell you how the path would look like. In Antarctica, no native people could give clues to the explorers, nor help them with their own experience of survival, as with the Eskimos in the Arctic. Among these few “Gateways to the Antarctic”, Christchurch and Hobart are my favorites. I have been in Hobart many times, but I never lived there. I did however spend three months in Christchurch in 2004 and 2005, when I attended the Graduate Certificate in Antarctic Studies (GCAS) organized by Gateway Antarctica, the University of Canterbury and Antarctica New Zealand. So Christchurch is almost home for me. And I am always happy to be back here. I like to visit the historic places where Scott, Shackleton and Sir Edmund Hillary have been – prior to their long journey South to the Big Freeze. I like to have a drink at the Warners Hotel – where Scott used to stay and where a suite is named after him – or pass by Scott’s statue, especially after sunset, when night is coming and the sky is deep blue, glowing with light. Wearing his pale Burberry’s polar clothes, Scott’s statue looks like a ghost: where are his teammates, Lawrence Oates, Henry Birdie Bowers, Dr. Wilson, Edgar Evans? Everything is silent. Memories makes no noise. I think of the statue of Italo-Australian meteorologist Louis Bernacchi, standing on the waterfront in Hobart. Bernacchi (who participated in the first overwintering on the continent with Borchgrevink, at Cape Adare in 1899-1900), is flanked by his dog Joe. He doesn’t look like a ghost, he’s a scientist, an explorer. A few yards away from Scott’s statue (made by his wife Kathleen and offered to the City of Christchurch), stands the elegant building of the Canterbury Museum; it holds quite interesting antarctic memorabilia from several expeditions, including those from the heroic age. Polar clothes, tents, skis, a motorized sledge taken to the Antarctic by Shackleton; a bunch of sennegrass from the Terra Nova Expedition. What is “sennegrass”? Read Scott’s diaries and you will know: it’s a special grass, with very long leaves. Explorers used to stuff it into their boots to absorb sweat. Every evening they took it out from the boots; the sweat instantly freezes up, so they just had to shake it, and the sennegrass was ready to be used again the following day. I guess that it was traditionally used by the Eskimo people. In the Canterbury Museum you will also see canned pemmican — dried meat mixed with fat. There was pemmican for men and “dog pemmican”. Pemmican is almost an antarctic explorer legend, like the Scott tents and the Primus stove (exhibited here).The Canterbury Museum also has a Ferguson tractor (tiny vehicle with which Sir Ed Hillary was able to cross some 2,000 kilometers of Antarctic icefields, glaciers, crevasses and ice shelves, prior to reaching the geographical South Pole, where he waited for Vivian Fuch to arrive on his orange British Transantarctic expedition snowcats (one is on display). Other Antarctic memorabilia include a copy of the Aurora Australis (the book printed in the Antarctic by Shackleton and Frank Wild), hand-written notes by Scott, a medical box, skis, sledges, and polar clothes worn by Richard Byrd. Busts of the explorers peer out here and there, with Byrd and Fuchs being the most fierce-looking ones.In another large area of the Canterbury Museum there is a partially reconstructed science station: Hallett station, a permanent American-New Zealand base which was built at Cape Hallett, Northern Victoria Land, for the International Geophysical Year in 1957-58. Cape Hallett is home to the second largest Adélie penguin rookery in Antarctica (50,000 couples); to build the station, 8,000 penguins had to be removed from their breeding grounds and fences were installed to prevent them from going back “home”. DC3 and Hercules LC-130 used to land at Hallett station during the summer months (which is during the breeding season).Nowadays explorers (scientists and technicians) don’t set sail from nearby Lyttelton, a wonderful natural harbor a few kilometers away from downtown Christchurch, but board US Hercules LC-130s, RNZAF Hercules C-130s and US C-17s from Christchurch airport, side by side with Boeing 747s or Airbus 320s. Still, Christchurch glows with the charm of the heroic age of exploration, and when I sit comfortably onboad a giant C-17, heading south to the Ice, my thoughts go to the intrepid explorers who opened the way to the new age of exploration — science, technology and logistics on the last frontier of our planet.

By Lucia Simion, who also blogs in Italian.

Photos : Lucia Simion

THE NORTH POLE WAS HERE

2007-10-10T02:37:00.001+01:00

Editorial Reviews
From School Library Journal

Starred Review. Grade 6 Up–This exciting book is certain to fascinate readers. Revkin, a New York Times reporter, relates his journey to the top of the world in the company of scientists studying climate changes. The informative chapters weave together accounts of his experiences and observations with details about the environment, its exploration, and scientific concepts. He recounts ancient perceptions of the far north, the difficulties faced by the first explorers, and the highly publicized early-20th-century race to the pole. He also covers topics such as the movement of the magnetic pole, extracting and studying core samples of ancient rock for geological information, and tactics for surviving extreme conditions. The work of climatologists and oceanographers is introduced, along with a glimpse at the possible effects of global warming. Shortened articles from the New York Times on related subjects appear throughout. The illustrations include full-color photographs of the author's trek, archival reproductions and photos of previous excursions, original diagrams that clarify concepts, and maps. A blend of colorful full-bleed photos with text overlaid and smaller, bordered images makes for a dynamic layout. The wonderfully written narrative will pull youngsters into the book and hold them there willingly until the last page.–Jodi Kearns, University of Akron, OH
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From the New York Times website: http://www.nytimes.com/

Andrew Revkin has spent nearly a quarter century covering subjects ranging from Hurricane Katrina and the Asian tsunami to the assault on the Amazon, from the troubled relationship of science and politics to climate change at the North Pole. He has been reporting on the environment for The New York Times since 1995, a job that has taken him to the Arctic three times in three years. In 2003, he became the first Times reporter to file stories and photos from the sea ice around the Pole. He spearheaded a three-part Times series and one-hour documentary in 2005 on the transforming Arctic.

Before joining The Times, Mr. Revkin was a senior editor of Discover, a staff writer for the Los Angeles Times, and a senior writer at Science Digest. Mr. Revkin has a biology degree from Brown and a Master's degree in journalism from Columbia. He has taught environmental reporting as an adjunct professor at Columbia's Graduate School of Journalism.

He lives in the Hudson River Valley with his wife and two sons. In spare moments, he is a performing songwriter and multi-instrumentalist who often accompanies Pete Seeger at regional shows and plays in a folk-roots band, Uncle Wade.

LINK: please see to the right

COLLOQUE AU SENAT, A PARIS: SPOUTNIK ET L'AUBE DE L'AGE SPATIAL. MARDI 9 OCTOBRE 2007.

2007-10-07T11:24:00.000+01:00

CE TEXTE EST EXTRAIT DU SITE DE L'ESA; connectez-vous sur: http://www.esa.int/esaCP/SEM26Z6H07F_France_0.html

50 ans de révolutions spatiales au Sénat le 9 octobre avec l'ESA et le CNES

A l'occasion de l'ouverture de la Fête de la Science et des célébrations du cinquantenaire du lancement de Spoutnik 1, un symposium de haut niveau est organisé au Sénat sur la manière dont l'accès de l'humanité à l'espace a changé le visage de notre civilisation.

Le soir du 4 octobre 1957, au cœur de la steppe kazakhe, sur un site secret qui n'a pas encore été baptisé du nom de Baïkonour - emprunté à un village situé à plus de 350 km de là dans le but de tromper les services secrets occidentaux - l'équipe de Sergueï Korolev prépare le lancement d'un missile R-7 avec une charge utile un peu spéciale. En lieu et place de l’habituelle ogive militaire de plusieurs tonnes, a pris place une petite sphère métallique pourvue de quatre antennes, de deux batteries et d'un émetteur. La trajectoire de ce lancement a elle aussi été modifiée. Plus question de viser un polygone militaire du Kamtchatka ou une région déserte de l'Océan Pacifique. Le passager de ce missile n’est pas prévu pour retomber sur Terre. Du moins pas avant d'avoir effectué de nombreuses orbites autour de la planète.

Le lancement de Spoutnik 1, premier satellite artificiel a été un succès bien au-delà des espérances de ses concepteurs. Ce qui n'était initialement qu'une simple démonstration technologique a ébranlé le monde de la Guerre Froide, et l'affrontement Est-Ouest a pu se cristalliser un temps sur des objectifs pacifiques : placer le premier homme sur orbite, puis le premier homme sur la Lune, effectuer des séjours de plus en plus longs à bord de stations orbitales, mais aussi ramener les premières images de Vénus et de Mars, d'abord depuis l'orbite, puis depuis la surface de ces planètes.

Meteosat a changé la vie des Européens

L’espace omniprésent

En quelques années, les satellites ont envahi le quotidien de l'humanité, révolutionnant la météorologie et les télécommunications. L'espace est devenu enjeu stratégique, technologique, scientifique puis économique.

Les sondes spatiales puis les observatoires en orbite ont révolutionné nos connaissances en astronomie et en astrophysique. Et en repoussant toujours plus loin les limites de l'exploration, en nous livrant les premières clés pour comprendre la question de nos origines, du « Big Bang » à l'émergence de la vie sur notre planète, elles sont paradoxalement venues replacer la vie de l'homme sur Terre au centre de notre perception de l'Univers.

Plus près de nous, les satellites ont apporté une nouvelle vision de la Terre. Scrutée, mesurée, analysée, décryptée, surveillée, celle-ci a commencé à révéler ses forces et ses faiblesses, et les humains ont pu pour la première fois prendre conscience de sa fragilité et de l'ampleur des conséquences de leurs propres activités sur son état de santé. Par la télédétection, il est aussi devenu possible pour la première fois d'évaluer clairement les ressources et d'apprendre à les gérer.

En reliant les hommes par les télécommunications, en montrant que l'environnement se moque des frontières politiques et en amenant les nations à coopérer pour atteindre des objectifs qui les dépassent, l'espace a également changé la perception que l'humanité avait d'elle même, ouvrant de nouveaux champs politiques et socio-économiques, mais aussi philosophiques, culturels ou artistiques.

Partenaire invisible de notre quotidien, instrument de collecte et de divulgation des connaissances, source d'inspiration pour tous et en particulier pour les jeunes générations qui y joueront un rôle toujours plus important, cinquante ans après Spoutnik 1, l'espace est omniprésent dans nos vies.

Jean-Jacques Dordain

Rencontre au Sénat

Ce sont tous ces différents aspects de ce premier demi-siècle de conquête spatiale qui seront évoqués le 9 octobre au Palais du Luxembourg, lors du symposium intitulé « Fenêtres sur le Cosmos : Spoutnik et l'Aube de l'Âge Spatial », organisé par l'ESA et le CNES sous le haut patronage du Président du Sénat et le patronage de l'Office Parlementaire d'Evaluation des Choix Scientifiques (OPECST).

Aux côtés de personnalités renommées des mondes de la science et de la culture, plusieurs représentants de l'ESA contribueront aux débats, : Jean-Jacques Dordain, directeur général ; David Southwood, directeur du Programme Scientifique ; Marcello Coradini, coordinateur des missions d'exploration du Système Solaire ; ainsi que les astronautes Jean-François Clervoy et Jean-Pierre Haigneré.

Participeront également à l'événement : le Comité International de la Recherche Spatiale (Cospar), l'Agence spatiale italienne (ASI) et le Centre national italien de la Recherche (CNR), le Global Science Forum, l'Institut d'Astrophysique Spatiale et l'Institut National de Physique Nucléaire, le Musée de l’Air et de l’Espace du Bourget, le Metropolitan Museum of Arts, Moebius Production, le Centre du Patrimoine Mondial de l'Unesco, l'Organisation de Coopération et de Développement Economiques (OCDE), le World Political Forum, l'Ecole Normale Supérieure, et le Comité Everest-K2.

Les débats seront enregistrés par le service vidéo du Sénat et mis à disposition pendant un an sur le site Internet de l'Ecole Normale Supérieure (http://www.diffusion.ens.fr/).

Les participants au Symposium auront la possibilité de visiter également l’exposition de 80 photos historiques couvrant l'épopée spatiale de Spoutnik à nos jours, organisée par le CNES sur les grilles du Jardin du Luxembourg.

Pour participer au symposium, une réservation est indispensable auprès du Musée de l’Air et de l’Espace (MAE) avant le 3 octobre (voir contact ci-dessous).

Le colloque sera animé par PAOLA ANTOLINI, Anthropologue et Journaliste. Paola a déjà animé de nombreux colloques sur le thème de l'ESPACE.

Ariane 5 et l'obélisque de la Concorde, 33 siècles d'aventure humaine se cotoient à Paris

L’espace célébré à travers la France

L'ESA prendra également part à plusieurs autres événements organisés en France dans le cadre des célébrations du cinquantenaire du lancement de Spoutnik 1.

A Bordeaux, du 30 septembre au 7 octobre, la « Semaine spatiale » avec une exposition à l'Espace Mably et deux journées de colloques sur le thème « 100 ans de Conquête Spatiale, 1957-2007-2057 », les 1er et 2 octobre, à la Cité Mondiale. L'astronaute Jean-François Clervoy de l'ESA et sa consœur Julie Payette du Canada, Etat ayant un Accord de coopération avec l'ESA, participeront aux conférences, ainsi que Bernard Foing, directeur scientifique du programme SMART-1.

A Toulouse, la « Semaine spatiale » sera également célébrée avec, le 4 octobre, inauguration à la Cité de l'Espace de l'exposition « Cosmomania, l'incroyable aventure de l'espace », en partenariat avec l'ESA. Ouverte jusqu'au 6 janvier, cette exposition de 450m2 retracera 50 ans d'aventure spatiale, notamment grâce à des « bulles temporelles » récréant l’atmosphère de l’époque des grandes premières historiques.

Et, toujours en cette date anniversaire du 4 octobre, la Cité de l'Espace accueillera une table ronde des maires de la Communauté des Villes Ariane, qui associe 18 agglomérations et les industriels du spatial qui y sont implantés ainsi que le CNES et l'ESA, et démontre combien le spatial a aussi une influence sur la vie économique et culturelle locale, sur Terre.

Au cours de la semaine seront également organisées des rencontres avec des astronautes du monde entier, dont Jean-François Clervoy et Julie Payette, ainsi que les anciens astronautes de l’ESA Claudie Haigneré et Philippe Perrin.

A Paris, du 26 au 28 octobre, à l'occasion de la Fête des Transports, une maquette au 1/5e d'Ariane 5 sera exposée sur la place de la Concorde, à l'entrée de l'exposition disposée le long de l'Avenue des Champs Elysée. Un stand de l'ESA présentera notamment des vues de la Terre prises depuis la Station spatiale internationale ainsi que des témoignages de ses astronautes au retour de leur mission en orbite terrestre.

Pour vous inscrire au symposium du 9 octobre, veuillez contacter :

Patricia Hingant
Service de la Communication
Musée de l'Air et de l'Espace
Tél. : +33 1 49 92 70 33
Courriel : patricia.hingant @ mae.org

THE MAGIC OF SUNRISE IN ANTARCTICA

2007-10-04T22:59:00.000+01:00

A view of Ross Island from Black Island, about 25 miles away (taken July 27, 2007).
The sunrise colors last weeks in Antarctica.

Photo credit: Chad Carpenter/National Science Foundation

IN THE SANTA BARBARA CHANNEL: SHIP KILL BLUE WHALE

2007-09-30T09:28:00.001+01:00

Two months ago, in August, I have been whalewatching for Blue whales (Balaenoptera musculus) 20 miles offshore Santa Barbara, and I had the chance to see 6 Blue whales in an area less than 1 Km2 wide, between the coast and the Santa Barbara Channel islands. It was quite windy and the sea was rough, but we had the chance to spend one hour with the whales, and it was a great experience. Personally, I have been whalewatching in many places around the world, including Antarctica, and I have never seen so many Blue whales altogether, in a relatively small area. We were onboard the catamaran Condor Express. Among the group of Blue whales there was also a mother and a calf.
Maybe, the Blue whale killed by a large ship was one of the individuals we had the chance to watch last August. That's why this is a very sad news for me. The Blue whale body stranded on the beach is a very sad sight. The Santa Barbara Channel is an extraordinary and "relatively safe" reserve for many species of whales; large ships should therefore pass offshore the area, to avoid accidents like this one. Whales are not aware of shipping lanes!
Blue whales have been under heavy hunting pressure for almost 200 years and were hunted almost to extinction: they now deserve safe heavens where to breed, feed and just swim into the big blue ocean.

L.S.

_______________________________________________________________________

THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE WAS PUBLISHED BY THE SANTA BARBARA INDEPENDENT.

THE AUTHOR IS BEN PRESTON,
Santa Barbara Independent Assistant Web Editor.

September 20, 2007

By Ben Preston (Contact)

Although blue whales are making a remarkable recovery from the devastation meted out during the peak whaling years of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the endangered species still occasionally runs afoul of human activities. The blue whale found dead in the Santa Barbara Channel on Tuesday, September 11 was confirmed to have been killed by a large vessel traveling through the shipping lanes in the channel.

Researchers from the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History, working with the Channel Islands Marine and Wildlife Institute (CIMWI) and the County of Ventura Public Works Department, performed a necropsy on the whale, burying under the beach at Faria County Park what remains weren’t kept for research. According to Paul Collins, the Natural History Museum’s curator of vertebrate zoology, relatively minor exterior lacerations were seen initially. However, as the research team peeled back layers of blubber and delved deeper into the carcass of the deceased animal, significant bruising, many broken vertebrae, and a severed spinal cord confirmed that it was killed by a ship. “The abdomen was full of blood from major damage to the organs,” Collins said. “These fresh bleeds were consistent with a ship strike.”

Collins explained that they received a call from a research vessel from Oregon — which was tagging blue whales for tracking purposes — that one was floating in the channel near the northwest end of Santa Rosa Island. A National Geographic film crew was aboard and filmed the sighting, including underwater shots that showed several sharks feeding on the underside of the carcass. “During the necropsy, we measured one shark bite as being 22 inches across,” Collins said.

Although Collins and his team were alerted to the animal’s presence on Tuesday, it took until Wednesday evening to gain the permits required from the National Park Service to land the whale on Santa Rosa Island. By that time, it had washed all the way to Ventura County and onto the beach at Hobson’s County Park. The necropsy indicated that the animal had been dead for almost a week and a half.

Collins’s necropsy team was comprised of himself, Sausalito Marine Mammal Center veterinarian Frances Guillard, CIMWI president Sam Dover, his vice president Greg Cocklin, and the Natural History Museum’s entomologist, Michael Caterino. Collins recalled a dead whale he worked with in 1980 at Hollister Ranch, saying it took nearly a month and a half to remove the skeleton. “Heavy equipment certainly helps,” he said, referring to the machines provided by public works. “We couldn’t have gotten the head off in this amount of time without it.”

The skull and much of the skeleton of the whale — described by Collins as a 72-foot female, approximately three to five years old — were taken to CIMWI’s headquarters, located at the old Vista del Mar School site near Gaviota. For the next year and a half, researchers from the Natural History Museum and CIMWI will study the skeleton and prepare it for display.

“The Vista del Mar isn’t abandoned anymore, like people thought it was,” Dover said. “We’re developing a stranding center up there.” He described the site as ideal for their work because of the available space and its distance from developed areas. There the smell of decaying cetacean parts should not raise protests from neighbors.

As for the significance of the blue whale killed last week, Collins said the incident was both good and bad. “It was good because it indicates an increase in the number of whales out there,” he said, “and bad because we don’t like to see any endangered animals killed.” According to recent studies, the population of blue whales in the Northern Hemisphere is currently between 3,000 and 4,000. Pre-whaling estimates indicate that their numbers were once as high as 350,000 worldwide.

PHOTO CREDIT:

Santa Barbara Natural history museum

LINKS:

http://www.acsonline.org/factpack/bluewhl.htm

http://www.independent.com/news/2007/sep/20/ship-kills-blue-whale/

PENGUIN FACTS

2007-09-29T19:30:00.001+01:00

Work in progress

Un petit camp au bout de la Terre

2007-09-29T16:18:00.001+01:00

A quoi ressemblait le Pôle Sud géographique il y a un demi-siècle, en 1956? Et ben regardez, voilà le Pôle - 90°S - lors de l'Année Géophysique Internationale. Incroyable, n'est-ce pas? Quarante-six ans auparavant (en Décembre 1911) Roald Amundsen et ses quatre coéquipiers, puis le Capitaine Scott et ses quatre compagnons (un mois plus tard, en Janvier 1912) rejoignaient ce lieux perdu au bout de la terre.
"Great God, this is an awful place!" avait dit Scott en arrivant au Pôle, après un voyage épuisant et surtout après la décevante découverte du pavillon norvégien, qui flottait sur la tente abandonnée par Amundsen.
Aujourd'hui, le Pôle sud accueille la nouvelle base Américaine ultramoderne Amundsen-Scott, nommée d'après les deux explorateurs. Depuis McMurdo, le Pôle peut être rejoint en trois heures de vol, à bord d'un Hercules LC-130, de la US Air Force.

PHOTO CREDIT: US ANTARCTIC PHOTO LIBRARY-NSF

FIFTHY YEARS AGO IN ANTARCTICA

2007-09-29T16:07:00.000+01:00

FIFTHY YEARS AGO IN ANTARCTICA, the key word was already "collaboration"!

Photograph by: Dave Grisez, National Science Foundation
US Antarctic Photo Library

Date Taken: January 1957

The ship in the foreground is the HMNZS ENDEAVOR, which brought construction materials for the first New Zealand Scott Base as well as supplies for the overland crossing to South Pole in which the Hillary team was to lay depot supplies for Dr. Vivian Fuchs' overland team, crossing the continent from the other direction. The ship in the background is the U.S.N.S. GREENVILLE VICTORY. The ships were moored three miles from Ross Island.

TOURISM IN THE POLAR REGIONS

2007-09-22T12:14:00.000+01:00

BOOK: TOURISM IN THE POLAR REGIONS

Author: UNEP and The International Ecotourism Society (TIES)

From the Publisher's website:

Tourism is a growing activity in the Polar Regions. In the Arctic, tourism is already an important component of the economies of the north. In the Antarctic, the number of tourists landing on continental Antarctica continues to rise sharply. There are serious concerns that tourism is promoting environmental degradation in the Polar Regions (especially in the Arctic) by putting extra pressures on land, wildlife, water and other basic necessities, and on transportation facilities.
This publication explains issues and impacts of relevance to polar tourism and provides a selection of good practices for various stakeholders. The publication builds on UNEP-UNWTO 12 principles on sustainable tourism development. The trends and patterns of tourism in Polar Regions are summarised and agenda of policy implication is identified. The publication addresses the main challenges related with the following impacts of tourism in the Polar Regions: Land management; Biodiversity conservation; Cultural Heritage and Climate change.

Publisher: UNEP, June 2007

Website: UNEP, Publications (see on the right)

PHOTO CREDIT: Lucia Simion (chiedere prima di utilizzare, grazie).

IPY: POLAR BOOKS COLLECTION

2007-09-21T18:49:00.001+01:00

Polar Books

This is a collective project to produce and promote quality books reflecting IPY themes and with global audience appeal. The books include: Global Outlook for Ice and Snow (United Nations Environment Programme, June 2007), Antarctique, Coeur Blanc de la Terre (Lucia Simion, October 2007), and Vanishing World, the Endangered Arctic (Mireille De La Lez and Fredrik Granath, November 2007). Project members provide resources from their books for use in IPY education and outreach. This is an open project and we invite new authors to join.

LINK:
http://www.ipy.org/index.php?ipy/detail/polar_books/

IPY: http://www.ipy.org

POLAR BOOKS COLLECTION: SNOW and ICE

2007-09-21T18:19:00.000+01:00

The United Nations Environment Programme’s report Global Outlook for Ice and Snow has just been released. The Author is Joan Eamer.

The Global Outlook for Ice and Snow, an official IPY project, captures the state of knowledge on ice and snow in polar and mountain regions of the world. It investigates the linkages between ice, snow and climate change and presents information on the trends in ice and snow and the outlook for this century and beyond. It also looks at the consequences of changing ice and snow to ecosystems and human well-being. The Global Outlook for Ice and Snow was written by more than 70 scientists from around the world.

The report is available on the UNEP website.

http://www.unep.org/geo/geo%5Fice/

POLAR BOOKS COLLECTION: ANTARCTICA

2007-09-21T18:15:00.001+01:00

This book of photographs (dimensions: 28 cm x 32 cm - 224 pages ) is entirely focused on the ANTARCTIC and it is dedicated to the general public.
It is divided into four main chapters:

1) The continent
2) History of exploration
3) Life in an extreme environment
4) A continent of peace, dedicated to science

These four chapters are illustrated with a selection of pictures taken by photographers (including myself) from many different countries. Being a photo editor as well as a photographer I also made the photo selection, choosing the most spectacular photos I could find (among the photographers:Yann Arthus-Bertrand, Frans Lanting, Norbert Wu, Ingo Arndt, George Steinmetz, Paul Nicklen, Colin Monteath, Tui de Roy and others). Many are double page spreads.

There are four main texts, plus ten interviews with scientists or technicians from different countries involved with the Antarctic and 32 pages of “Encyclopedia” at the end of the book (16 double pages).

The foreword was written by Jean-Louis Etienne, a well-known French medical doctor and polar explorer who crossed Antarctica in 1989-90 with five other people from different nations, to draw attention to the Antarctic Treaty which was to be renewed. Jean-Louis Etienne climbed the Erebus, reached the North Pole on skis and will soon fly over the Arctic Ocean in an airship to study the effects of the global warming on the pack ice.

The most important thing for me was that the photographers and those interviewed should belong to different countries, and not to a single nation, since the key word in Antarctica is "collaboration". All the major science projects are international. Richard E. Byrd, the American explorer, wrote: "I am hopeful that Antarctica in its symbolic robe of white will shine forth as a continent of peace as nations working together there in the cause of science set an example of international cooperation".

The book will be on the bookshelves on October 12th. It will be
published in French by Belin publishers, and in Italian by Giunti editore.

Note on the author:

Lucia S. Simion was raised and educated in Italy and France, so she feel she belongs to both countries. In her childhood she used to live in Neuilly-sur-Seine, at walking distance from the house of Commandant J. B. Charcot, explorer of the Antarctic and the Arctic. After getting a medical degree, Lucia became a science journalist and professional photographer . She has participated in seven expeditions to Antarctica (three to Dome C-Concordia) and will soon be deployed on the ice again, to cover the ANDRILL project. Her dream is to winterover Antarctica.

Website: http://www.luceantartica.com
____________________________________________________________________________________

ITALIANO:

Lucia Simion

ANTARTIDE, il Cuore bianco della Terra
Editore Giunti

Uscita 12 Ottobre 2007
244 pagine, 300 fotografie
Prezzo di copertina: 39 €

Testi di Lucia Simion, fotografie di AA vari inclusa L. Simion

Lontano, molto lontano all’estremità della Terra c’è un continente misterioso e affascinante quanto un pianeta remoto e splendente. E’ l’Antartide, la Terra australis incognita immaginata da Aristotele duemila anni prima della sua scoperta, cercata dagli esploratori del Settecento, quindi svelata da quelli del XIX e del XX secolo : l’Antartide, un continente dedicato alla Pace e alla Scienza, che appartiene all’umanità intera, gestito collegialmente dalle nazioni che aderiscono al Trattato antartico. Richard Byrd, il grande esploratore americano che contribui’ a svelare vaste contrade del continente grazie all’osservazione aerea, scrisse : « Spero che nella sua veste immacolata l’Antartide continui a brillare a lungo come un simbolo di pace e di collaborazione per le nazioni e i popoli del mondo intero ».

« Antartide, il cuore bianco della Terra » è illustrato dalle immagini di alcuni dei più noti fotografi internazionali : Yann Arthus-Bertrand, Frans Lanting, Norbert Wu, George Steinmetz, Paul Nicklen, Ingo Arndt, Tui de Roy ; senza dimenticare i fotografi delle spedizioni di Scott e di Shackleton : Herbert Ponting e Frank Hurley. La selezione è stata fatta dall'Autore (Lucia Simion è stata Photo editor di parecchie riviste, e ha lavorato un anno all'agenzia fotografica Sygma).
Una particolarità di quest’opera sono le interviste con ricercatori, tecnici, esploratori, e fotografi di diverse nazionalità, che hanno lavorato in Antartide : il continente ci è svelato tramite le loro esperienze, le loro ricerche, le loro impressioni. Il volume esce in coincidenza con il quarto Anno polare internazionale, che si concluderà il primo marzo 2009. La prefazione è di Jean-Louis Etienne, medico e esploratore polare francese, che nel 1989-90 ha attraversato 6.300 km di Antartide con un team internazionale di 5 colleghi, per attirare l’attenzione sul rinnovo del Trattato Antartico. (C) Lucia Simion 2007

Biografia dell'Autore: Lucia Simion è divulgatore scientifico da 20 anni, giornalista scientifico iscritto all'albo dal 1994 e fotografo professionista. Da 10 anni frequenta il mondo delle Scienze polari e ha frequentato tutti i più importanti Congressi scientifici internazionali sull'Antartide; è stata accreditata anche a un ATCM, Antarctic Treaty Consultattive Meeting (Riunione consultativa annuale dei Paesi membri del Trattato Antartico). E' laureata in Medicina con Lode all'Università Statale di Milano.
Lucia ha trascorso l'infanzia in Francia a Neuilly-sur-Seine, accanto a Parigi: abitava a due passi dalla casa del Comandante JB Charcot, medico e esploratore dell'Antartide e dell'Artico; Lucia era allieva del "Groupe scolaire Charcot". Lucia ha al suo attivo 7 spedizioni in Antartide (di cui 3 a Dome C, dove ha seguito e documentato per tre campagne la costruzione della base Italo-Francese Concordia (finanziata al 50% dall'Italia e al 50% dalla Francia) e lo svolgimento del progetto europeo di perforazione in ghiaccio EPICA. Lucia Simion è l'unico divulgatore scientifico e fotografo ad avere questa esperienza. Nell'arco di 8 campagne, il team del progetto EPICA ha estratto 3.300 m di carote di ghiaccio dalla calotta di Dome C: questo ghiaccio, datato circa 800.000 anni è attualmente il più "vecchio" ghiaccio estratto in Antartide. Nel futuro, un team internazionale di glaciologi (IPICS) tenterà di perforare la calotta di Dome A, dove il ghiaccio sarebbe datato 1 milione di anni. Lucia Simion è l'unico Italiano ad aver partecipato al corso post-doc "Graduate Certificate in Antarctic Studies" (GCAS) all'Università di Canterbury, Christchurch, Nuova Zelanda (2005); nell'ambito di questo corso ha trascorso 15 giorni in un campo remoto sulla piattaforma di Ross, preso l'Isola di Ross. Lucia Simion partirà a McMurdo nel Novembre 2007 per seguire e documentare il Progetto ANDRILL, SMS, a cui partecipa anche l'Italia (con gli USA, la Nuova Zelanda e la Germania). Nel Novembre 2008 il Servizio Filatelico delle Terre australi e antartiche francesi (TAAF) metterà in vendita un "Carnet de Voyage" Filatelico, contenente 14 fotografie e 14 francobolli realizzati con fotografie che Lucia Simion ha scattato a Crozet, Kerguelen, Saint-Paul e Amsterdam (isole subantartiche francesi). Lucia Simion ha visitato anche numerose altre isole subantartiche fra cui South Georgia, Macquarie, Campbell, Auckland islands e le Shetland del Sud.

In occasione del Festival della Scienza 2007 (e del Quarto Anno polare internazionale), Lucia Simion ha collaborato con il Museo Nazionale dell'Antartide di Genova alla realizzazione della mostra fotografica all'aperto: "Antartide, Cuore bianco della Terra". Le foto di Lucia Simion sono state esposte a Parigi (Centro Italiano di Cultura), a Océanopolis (Brest), alla sede dell'IPEV (Istituto polare francese), al MNA di Genova, a Brest in occasione della riunione 2003 del COMNAP, alla sede centrale del CNRS a Parigi, alla Cité des Sciences de la Villette (Parigi) e altrove.

NOTA: Questo testo puo' essere utilizzato esclusivamente per citare il volume in questione, di cui l'Autore è Lucia Simion. Per ogni altro scopo, contattare l'Autore o
l'Editore Giunti. Ogni abuso è illecito.

POLAR BOOKS COLLECTION: THE ARCTIC

2007-09-21T17:43:00.000+01:00

Vanishing World
The Endangered Arctic

Photographs by Mireille de la Lez
Text by Fredrik Granath

“Vanishing World” is an unprecedented visual record of life in the Arctic. Five years in the making, this book is both a celebration of the wildlife that inhabits this harsh and unforgiving climate and a cautionary tale of global warming. Rising temperatures have put areas such as the Artic at risk and the livelihoods of the animals that live there are increasingly threatened.

Set against a dramatic landscape of ice floes and ragged mountains, readers will see the polar bears, foxes, seals, walruses, and reindeers who now struggle to live in this vulnerable climate. Images of a polar bear mother as she takes her newborns out for their first hunt, a seal pup only hours old, the spectacle of the polar night, and the majesty of the glaciers and pack ice are a reminder of what is at risk.

Mireille de la Lez’s stunning photographs are accompanied by text that explains the precarious nature of life in this dramatic climate. No one who sees the images of this vanishing world will be unmoved.

“Vanishing World” is published in English, French, German and Italian in October 2007:

English: “Vanishing World – The Endangered Arctic”
(Publisher Abrams, New York)

French: “Un Monde Fragile”
(Publisher: Éditions de La Martinière, Paris)

German: “Leben im Eis – Arktis in Gefahr”
(Publisher: Knesebeck Verlag, Munich)

Italian: “Polo Nord – Un Mondo Che Scompare”
(Publisher: Mondadori, Milan)

About the Authors

Nature photographer Mireille de la Lez and cowriter Fredrik Granath have spent years working in the high Arctic and specialize in photography and films of the polar regions. They live in Stockholm, Sweden.

For more information, visit:

www.novaphotomedia.com
www.vanishingworld.net

EMMENEZ-MOI AU BOUT DE LA TERRE

2007-09-20T15:29:00.001+01:00

"Emmènez-moi au bout de la Terre, emmènez-moi au pays des merveilles", chantait Charles Aznavour.....(Les bateaux) Ils viennent du bout du monde, apportant avec eux des idées vagabondes, aux reflets de ciels bleus.....
Le Marion Dufresne, ce magnifique navire océanographique de 120 mètres de long, dont le port d'attache est La Réunion, vous emmènera sans doute "au bout de la Terre". Plus précisement dans les Terres australes et antarctiques françaises, les TAAF, une communauté territoriale crée en 1955, administrées par un Préfet-Administrateur Superieur basé à La Réunion. Depuis le mois de Mars 2007 le Préfet des TAAF est Monsieur Eric Pilloton.
Cinq sont les Districts qui forment les TAAF, mais trois seulement sont visitables à bord du Marion Dufresne (appelé également "Marduf" en jargon local): l'archypel de Crozet, les îles Kerguelen, Saint-Paul et Amsterdam. Iles perdues au fond de l'Océan Indien, entre l'Afrique, le Madagascar et l'Australie. Elles sont connues comme "les îles aux 25 millions d'oiseaux": albatros, manchots royaux, gorfous sauteurs, manchots papous, pétrels géants....En Octobre 2006, Dominique de Villepin (alors premier ministre) avait annoncé la création de la "Réserve naturelle des TAAF". Avec ses 700.000 hectares, il s'agit de la plus grande réserve naturelle de France, à 13.000 Km de la métropole.....
Le quatrième district des TAAF se trouve en Antarctique, il s'agit de la terre Adélie, mais il n'est pas ouvert au tourisme - du moins pas à bord du Marion Dufresne ou de l'Astrolabe, le navire ravitailleur de la base permanente Française Dumont d'Urville. Des TO Americains ou Australiens y font escale de temps à autre. Un cinquième distric a été ajouté en Février 2007, celui des Iles Eparses: Tromelin, Europa, Bassas da India, Glorieuses et Juan de Nova (Océan Indien).
Le tourisme dans les TAAF a commencé en 1994. Le "Marduf" effectue quatre rotations par an, des allées-retour depuis La Réunion et les trois districts insulaires (9.000 Km de voyage), en 28 jours. A chaque rotation, un petit groupe de touristes est accueillis à bord (entre 8 et 15), parfaitement intégrés parmi les scientifiques, les techniciens et tous les membres de l'equipage. Une expérience rare et - selon les témoignages recueillis - très marquante. "Sur les autres navires les conférenciers sont là pour faire un métier, sur le Marion tout est plus vrai, plus autenthique, plus convivial" (témoignage d'un passager). Les places sur le Marion étant limitées et très recherchées, il faut s'inscrire un an à l'avance.

Depuis leur création en 1955, les TAAF ont un propre Service philatélique indépendant, qui a émis juqu'à présent quelques 490 timbres TAAF et 4 Carnets de Voyage Philatéliques. Avant la fin de l'année, un cinquième Carnet de Voyage philatélique sera émis.

Pour informations (et pour obtenir la brochure en PDF), écrire au TAAF, à M.lle Stéphanie Payet, qui s'occupe du Tourisme:

stephanie.payet@taaf.fr

SITE WEB: http://www.taaf.fr

BLOG du Chef de District à Kerguelen,
YANN LIBESSART - voir aussi dans la colonne des LIENS:
http://kerguelen.blogs.liberation.fr/libessart/

Crédit photo: photo satellitaire de Kerguelen, NASA. Remarquer la calotte glaciaire du Mont Cook (500 Km2) et le Mont Ross, le plus haut sommet des TAAF (1800 m).

A GREAT GUIDE TO LEARN ANTARCTIC GEOSCIENCE

2007-09-20T13:26:00.000+01:00

The ANDRILL-PROJECT ICEBERG Guide is now online and you can download it from the Andrill website (see the link below). The booklet -47 pages, beautifully illustrated with photos and cartoons, and a great layout- contains background information on the ANDRILL Project, discussion starters and hands-on activities for the students as well as the general public interested in learning Antarctic geoscience. Request the DVD with the Guide, plus 14 video journals produced by Megan Berg on the Ice during the 2006-2007 summer campaign. See the link below.

Instancabili nella loro attività didattica, i membri del Quartier Generale del Progetto ANDRILL (di stanza all'Università del Nebraska a Lincoln, Nebraska, USA), hanno messo online una splendida Guida "ANDRILL-PROGETTO ICEBERG", destinato agli insegnanti, ai divulgatori scientifici e a tutti coloro interessati ad approfondire le loro conoscenze sul tema delle Scienze Geologiche dell'ANTARTIDE, e sul Progetto ANDRILL in particolare. La guida è scaricabile online (vedere qui sotto il link), oppure si puo' richiedere una copia del DVD (che contiene anche 14 mini-video-giornali realizzati da Megan Berg in Antartide durante la campagna 2006-2007) cliccando sul secondo link indicato qui sotto, oppure facendo copia-incolla sul vostro motore di ricerca. Come tutto il materiale didattico prodotto da ANDRILL (USA), la grafica è accuratissima e molto, molto gradevole; le fotografie e le illustrazioni sono scelte in modo perfetto, i testi sono chiari e comprensibili da tutti. Lavoro eccellente.
La consulenza scientifica è di Judy Diamond, David Harwood, Richard Levy e Frank Rack (quest'ultimo è il direttore del Progetto ANDRILL). La guida è stata realizzata con il contributo di Megan Berg, insieme a LuAnn Dahlman e Julian Thomson, due insegnati che nella stagione 2006-2007 hanno partecipato al Programma ARISE per DIVULGATORI SCIENTIFICI. Bisogna veramente dire che i soldi investiti dalla NSF per sostenere la componente didattica (Education & Outreach) del Progetto ANDRILL sono stati magnificamente bene impiegati. Come usano dire i Francesi: "Châpeau!". Bravi.

REQUEST HARD COPY here: http://andrill.org/iceberg/partner/additional.php

DOWNLOAD THE ANDRILL-PI GUIDE HERE: http://www.andrill.org/iceberg/index.php

PHOTO-CREDIT: the "Andrill-PI-Guide" cover

LEOPARDS STRANDED ON A SYDNEY BEACH

2007-09-12T17:47:00.001+01:00

FROM: The Sydney Morning Herald

PHOTO: by Oceanwide Expeditions (see the website below)

Text by: Richard Macey (SMH)

September 12, 2007

TARONGA ZOO marine specialists are fighting to save the life of the second Antarctic leopard seal to be washed up on a Sydney beach in a week.

Found stranded yesterday morning at Clontarf, the gravely ill female had been badly mauled by a cookie-cutter shark. The zoo is already nursing a male leopard seal that was found on Tuesday last week on a beach at Wattamolla in the Royal National Park. It had also been attacked by a cookie-cutter shark.

Leopard seals were very rare in Sydney's waters, said Geoff Ross, a wildlife management officer with the National Parks and Wildlife Service. "We might see one every two or three years," he said, adding that finding two in a week was extraordinary. "They are Antarctic ice dwellers which seldom wander further north than Macquarie Island."

Mr Ross speculated the seals might have been washed towards Sydney by the Southern Ocean storms that helped drive Sydney's unusually heavy winter rain.

"But there is a not a lot of food for them to eat in the deep ocean," he said, noting they normally dined on sea birds, including penguins, squid and fish that they would haul out of the water and onto the Antarctic ice.

As a result of being so far from home, both seals were malnourished, exhausted and near death when found. The one rescued last week weighed just 90 kilograms, about 50 kilograms lighter than normal for its age.

Besides the leopard seals, five sub-Antarctic fur seals have also been found washed up on the NSW coast this year, adding to the puzzle.

Australian scientists reported last month that they had used satellites to track southern elephant seals swimming up to 2000 kilometres through Antarctic waters to find a meal, raising suggestions something has disrupted their normal Southern Ocean food supply, and forced them to hunt further afield.

Mr Ross said one possibility was that climate change had reduced the Antarctic food chain. "It's still a bit of a mystery," he said. "We can hypothesise about why the seals are here, but we really don't have good solid answers."

He estimated that 95 per cent of Antarctic seals swept onto NSW beaches died. Under an international agreement, those that are rescued and survive cannot be returned to the wild because there is a risk they might have picked up lethal viruses while exposed to humans and other land animals.

Mr Ross warned anyone finding stranded leopard and fur seals to keep clear. "They have a massive set of jaws, with teeth like serrated knives."

Taronga's spokesman, Mark Williams, said that while the female leopard seal was very ill the male found last week was improving and eating fish by itself.

FROM: THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD
http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/scientists-baffled-by-arrival-of-rare-seals/2007/09/11/1189276719712.html

PHOTO CREDIT: OCEANWIDE EXPEDITIONS
WEBSITE: http://www.oceanwide-expeditions.com/

Avventure antartiche durante la Guerra Fredda

2007-08-13T22:16:00.000+01:00

The Ninth Circle,
A Memoir of Life and Death in Antarctica, 1960-62.
University of New Mexico Press, 2005.
Autore: John Behrendt

Ma era davvero un inferno dantesco, l'Antartide degli anni Sessanta? Una landa ghiacciata, sferzata da venti implacabili, soffiati da angeli e démoni? Per John Behrendt, autore di questo bel racconto di storia vissuta, le spedizioni in Antartide nel cuore della Guerra Fredda somigliavano all'ultimo girone dell'inferno di Dante, il Nono cerchio. Ricercatori e tecnici che trascorrevano mesi e mesi laggiù in fondo al mondo, in quel paesaggio di ghiaccio che ricordava il lago Cocito erano più vicini a Shackleton, Scott e Amundsen che agli scientifici e i logistici di oggi. John Behrendt è geologo e ha ottenuto un PhD in geofisica all'Università del Wisconsin a Madison nel 1961. Sin da piccolino - leggendo i resoconti delle spedizioni di Richard Byrd su LIFE - Behrendt sognava di fare l'esploratore in Antartide. Membro dell'ISTAAR (Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research at the University of Colorado), John Behrendt ha lavorato 31 anni all'U.S. Geological Survey e ha partecipato a 13 spedizioni in Antartide. I suoi studi si sono focalizzati soprattutto sulla calotta dell'Antartide occidentale (WAIS), sui monti Transantartici e sui vulcani della terra di Marie Byrd. Durante l'AGY del 1957-58 partecipo' a una spedizione americana che installo' la più isolata delle sette basi che gli Stati Uniti avevano allora sul continente: la stazione Ellsworth sulla piattaforma di Filchner. Passo' oltre un anno in quel luogo perduto in capo al mondo. Behrendt ha raccontato le vicende di quel winterover, e l'esplorazione della piattaforma di Filchner-Ronne, del massiccio Dufek e dei monti Pensacola a bordo di snow-cats nel suo libro "Innocents on the Ice" (University Press of Colorado, P.O. Box 849, Niwot Colorado 80554, USA) pubblicato nel 1999. Nel nuovo libro "The Ninth Circle" racconta altre avventure antartiche vissute nel cuore della Guerra Fredda. Un giorno, sorvolando la calotta antartica occidentale in una zona di visibilità quasi nulla, il DC-3 su cui volava Behrend (intento a fare misurazioni con un radar altimetro, insieme ad altri che effettuavano rilevazioni magnetometriche)quasi si sfracello' sulla cima delle Crary Mountains, una catena di vulcani scoperti appena tre anni prima da una traversa condotta da Charles Bentley. Le carte di cui disponevano i piloti del DC-3, vecchie di 2 anni, non erano aggiornate e dunque le Crary Mountains non risultavano segnalate....! Volando in assenza completa di visibilità, il DC-3 era uscito miracolosamente indenne da quella situazione pericolosissima: aveva sfiorato le Crary mountains con un'ala...Anche le descrizioni delle basi (McMurdo, South Pole e Byrd) negli anni Sessanta - oramai quasi cinquant'anni fa - sono molto interessanti.

BIOGRAFIA: http://instaar.colorado.edu/people/bios/behrendt.html

ARTICOLO SU BEHRENDT pubblicato dall'Antarctic Sun: http://antarcticsun.usap.gov/2006-2007/sctn12-31-2006.cfm#

Uno strumento fantastico per apprendere divertendosi

2007-08-12T19:01:00.000+01:00

Si chiama FLEXHIBIT, una parola composta da Flexible e Exhibit, ovvero "flessibile" e "mostra" ed è l'ultima trovata in termini di divulgazione scientifica del team di ANDRILL, Antarctic Drilling, uno dei più importanti progetti del quarto Anno polare internazionale. ANDRILL - il cui quartier generale si trova all'Università del Nebraska a Lincoln - è un progetto di perforazione nei sedimenti marini situati al disotto della piattaforma di Ross e del ghiaccio marino. I siti di perforazione si trovano nei pressi della stazione USA McMurdo e neozelandese Scott. Lo scopo del progetto ANDRILL è quello di recuperare delle carote di sedimenti al fine di comprendere come il clima dell'Antartide e le sue calotte di ghiaccio anno reagito e fluttuato in epoche remote, quando la temperatura era di 2-3 gradi centigradi più elevata di quella attuale, cosi' come la concentrazione di CO2. Questi dati serviranno per progettare modelli matematici che consentiranno di stabilire come l'Antartide e le sue calotte reagiranno a fronte dell'aumento delle temperature globali e all'aumento costante della CO2. Leggere il capitolo su ANDRILL in questo blog (pagine precedenti). Ma per tornare a "Flexible" e "exhibit", flessibile e mostra: che significa? E' più difficile da spiegare che da capire, e infatti vi consiglio di visitare il sito web di questo progetto, che è assolutamente fantastico. Gli autori - anzi, le autrici - sono due ragazze americane, LuAnn Dahlman (un'insegnante) e Megan Berg (che ha disegnato il sito web, i film che potrete vedere online e le fotografie). Flexhibit -una "mostra flessibile" - è un progetto multimediale sponsorizzato dalla National Science Foundation americana, nell'ambito di un progetto più vasto che si chiama "Antarctica's climate secrets" (I segreti del clima dell'Antartide) e che comprende anche un film realizzato per la catena televisiva americana NOVA TV, una serie di film e di podcast, e altro materiale multimediale. Mostra flessibile perché il materiale multimediale fornito (dedicato ai ragazzi di età compresa fra 10 e 15 anni) potrà adattarsi a a tutte le situazioni possibili: in classe, in campeggio, a casa, in una comunità, nel doposcuola. Flexhibit (che sarà disponibile a partire dal febbraio 2008) conterrà materiale multimediale rappresentato da posters su 5 diversi temi (sempre centrati sull'Antartide); esperimenti pratici realizzati con materiale poco costoso e facilmente reperibile (costo previsto del materiale: circa 100 Euro), brevi documentari online realizzati benissimo, interviste filmate (sempre disponibili online), fotografie, banners. Il tema di questa mostra flessibile è il progetto ANDRILLI: come si svolge, come lavora il team di ricercatori internazionali che vi partecipano (Italia compresa), qual è lo scopo. Il finanziamento della National Science Foundation per il progetto "Antarctica's climate secrets" è di 1.168.014 dollari US.

SITO WEB: http://www.andrill.org/flexhibit/index.html

Il sito web di Flexhibit (e parecchio materiale multimediale, soprattutto i "videogiornali" e altri filmati) è stato realizzato da una ragazza di appena 21 anni, molto dotata e molto determinata: Megan Berg. Il suo sito: http://www.meganbergdesigns.com

Banners: design realizzato dall'University of Nebraska State Museum, in collaborazione con ricercatori ANDRILL.

Genesi delle calotte antartiche: nuove ipotesi

2007-08-12T14:35:00.000+01:00

Sepolte sotto una calotta di 2,5 milioni di chilometri cubi di ghiaccio, le rocce dell'Antartide occidentale si trovano per la maggiorparte al disotto del livello del mare. I ghiacciai e la calotta di questa porzione di Antartide hanno dunque "i piedi nell'acqua". Se la temperatura degli oceani aumenta, il rischio è che la calotta occidentale possa collassare, causando un aumento del livello marino di circa 6 metri. In collaborazione con la NSF, Christopher Sorlien e Bruce Luydendyk della University of California di Santa Barbara, hanno condotto una serie di analisi sismiche dei fondali marini dell'Antartide occidentale a bordo del rompighiaccio USA Nathaniel B. Palmer. Gli autori dello studio (pubblicato sulla rivista Geology nel maggio 2007) hanno stabilito che 25 milioni di anni fa l'Antartide occidentale era ben più alta sul livello del mare rispetto alla situazione attuale. Questo significherebbe che questa porzione del continente (West Antarctica per gli autori anglosassoni) puo' aver avuto un ruolo importante nella genesi delle calotte antartiche, molto più di quanto si pensasse precedentemente. Forse, altrettanto importante che l'Antartide orientale con i suoi picchi - come i misteriosi Monti Gamburtsev - su cui hanno iniziato a formarsi i primi "nuclei" della grande calotta orientale. Sui fondali dell'Antartide occidentale sono stati osservate tracce lasciate da vasti ghiacciai che un tempo si spingevano molto al largo, "dragando" i fondali, scavando valli e formando morene. Tutte queste prove sono state evidenziate grazie ad analisi sismiche, una specie di "ecografia" eseguita sui fondali marini, in grado di evidenziare strutture geologiche nascoste centinaia di metri sotto il fondale.

FOTOGRAFIE: Bruce Luydendyk/University of California Santa Barbara.

WEB: http://www.ia.ucsb.edu/pa/display.aspx?pkey=1628#description

A never-ending sad story

2007-08-12T14:15:00.000+01:00

From the Sydney Morning Herald (July 25, 2007)

Japanese whalers have admitted almost all of the mature female minke whales they killed in Antarctic waters last season were pregnant. But that's good news, they insist, supporting their argument that the population is strong enough to allow a return to commercial whaling.

Japan's whaling research body, the Institute of Cetacean Research, today said 91.6 per cent - or 262 of the 286 mature female minkes taken during the last hunt - were pregnant.
"Almost all of the whales are becoming pregnant each year. This is good news. This is great. It shows that the Antarctic minke population is increasing rapidly," the ICR's Glenn Inwood said today.

"The consistent population must provide strong reassurance that the population will easily sustain a commercial quota." Inwood took issue with the way The Humane Society International (HSI) presented the issue yesterday. He said there had been no mention by the group that almost all mature female minkes were pregnant at the time the annual hunt goes ahead, typically from December until March.

In a statement yesterday, HSI said more than half of the minke whales captured by Japan in Antarctic waters last season, were pregnant. "It horrifies Australians to know that pregnant humpback whales breeding in the warm waters off Australia this winter will be targeted by the Japanese hunters in Antarctic waters this Christmas," HSI's Nicola Beynon said.

HSI was using figures from a review of Japanese reports from the most recent hunt, ahead of the resumption of a Federal Court case the group is taking against Japanese whaling company Kyodo Senpaku Kaisha Ltd. While HSI's assessment was not wrong, Inwood said it failed to provide an accurate context.
The group was being unnecessarily emotive, he said.

"Those figures from the Humane Society are extremely manipulative. They basically demonstrate the organisation's ignorance and lack of understanding," he said. "It is an extremely cynical move and I think what they are doing is using an ignorant media ... to manipulate the public of Australia and New Zealand."

Inwood said that of the 503 minkes taken last season, 104 were male and 349 were female.
Of the females, 63 were immature, 262 were mature and pregnant, and 24 were mature and not pregnant.

Japan carries out an annual whale hunt in Antarctica as part of its research program, aimed at providing data to resume commercial whaling. Whales hunted under the program ultimately end up on dinner tables, where whale meat is a traditional dish, leading to claims of whaling by stealth.

PHOTO CREDITS:

Minke whale in Antarctic waters: Steven Profaizer/National Science Foundation

Whaling: Kate Davison/The Sydney Morning Herald

WEBSITE:

http://www.smh.com.au/news/whale-watch/killing-pregnant-whales-is-good-news-whalers/2007/07/25/1185339064854.html

SIR EDMUND HILLARY: il Signore dei Ghiacci

2007-08-12T12:44:00.000+01:00

Nel numero 31 uscito il edicola il 5 agosto, il settimanale Famiglia Cristiana della San Paolo Edizioni dedica un reportage di tre pagine a Sir Edmund Hillary, il conquistatore dell'Everest nel 1953 e il primo uomo a raggiungere il Polo sud geografico con mezzi motorizzati terrestri (dei trattori Ferguson), nel corso del terzo Anno polare internazionale del 1957-58. Sir Ed Hillary è anche il fondatore della base neozelandese Scott sull'isola di Ross, di cui si celebra il Cinquantesimo anniversario della fondazione quest'anno (2007). Il Primo marzo 2007 è iniziato il Quarto Anno polare Internazionale, dedicato allo studio dell'Artico e dell'Antartide.

On the August 5th issue, the weekly magazine Famiglia Cristiana, one of the leading newsmagazines in Italy (circulation: 800.000 copies/week) published an article on Sir Edmund Hillary, conquerer of the Everest and first man ever to drove a vehicle to the South Pole during the AGY-IPY 1957-58. Hillary was co-leader of the Commonwealth TransAntarctic Expedition (TAE) with Bunny Fuchs, who crossed Antarctica from the Weddell sea to the Ross sea in 99 days. Hillary drove from Ross Island up the Skelton glacier, through the Transantarctic Mountains, then across the polar plateau to the Pole, where he arrived on January 4th, 1958.

LIBRI-BOOKS:

Sir Edmund Hillary, No latitude for error, Hodder & Stoughton, 1961

Sir Vivian Fuchs-Sir Ed Hillary, The Crossing of Antarctica, Cassel, 1958

BELGIUM IS BACK IN ANTARCTICA

2007-07-23T18:21:00.000+01:00

The text and the illustration are taken on the International Polar Foundation website (please see LINK on the "Link" list):

Crown Prince Philippe of Belgium, Honorary President of the International Polar Foundation, will inaugurate the pre-built Princess Elisabeth Antarctic Station on September 5th, 2007 at the "Tour et Taxis" site in Brussels.

The site will be open to the public from 6 to 9 September 2007. This event will offers unique opportunity to take a look at the "zero emission" station before it is disassembled and transported by ship to Antarctica, where it will be re-assembled from November to February 2008.

An exhibition pertaining to the making of the Station and on climate change issues will also be organised on site.

ILLUSTRATION: International Polar Foundation

Deux mines d'informations

2007-07-22T15:14:00.000+01:00

Quand on dit "mine", on pense à de l'or, ou à d'autres matières précieuses. Mais lorsqu'elle est bien présentée, bien illustrée par des photos professionnelles et des infographies, l'information scientifique vaut autant que de l'or. Voici deux excellents sites US dédiés aux sciences polaires:

Celui du Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, un des plus importants centres d'Océanographie aux USA: http://polardiscovery.whoi.edu/

Et le site web de l'IPY des USA:
http://us-ipy.gov

Voir aussi "LIENS-LINKS"

La nouvelle vie de la station Hallett

2007-07-22T14:09:00.000+01:00

L'histoire de la station scientifique permanente américano-néozelandaise Hallett est un très bel exemple de la prise de conscience écologique qui s'est developpée en Antarctique dans la deuxième moitié du XX siècle, juste après l'Année Geophysique Internationale de 1957-58 (AGY) et l'entrée en vigueur du Traité de l'Antarctique, puis du Protocol de Madrid. Inaugurée lors de l'AGY, la station Hallett fut endommagée par un incendie en 1964 et définitivement abandonnée en 1973. Un premier "nettoyage" des lieux fut accompli et 1984. En 2001, les Programmes polaires néozelandais et américain ont accompli une étude d'impact environmental sur les lieux. Et entre 2003 et 2005, tous les bâtiments ont étés entièrement retirés, ainsi que des centaines de fûts de terrain contaminé. Nouvelle Zélande, USA et Italie sont les pays à qui l'on doit cet effort logistique considérable. Au fil des ans, de nombreux éléments de la station ont étés rapatriés en Nouvelle Zélande et offerts au Musée de Canterbury, à Christchurch. La station a été partiellement reconstruite dans ce musée (qui abrite aussi de nombreux objets des expéditions de Robert Falcon Scott et de la British Transantarctic Expedition, TAE, à laquelle participa Sir Edmund Hillary). L'exposition est ouverte depuis 2006 et a eté visitée depuis lors par de nombreuses écoles: du point de vue didactique le "clean-up" (nettoyage) de la station Hallet est un magnifique exemple de respect pour l'environnement antarctique. La visite permets aussi de se balader dans une station antarctique telle qu'elle était entre 1958 et 1973. Maintenant, la péninsule de Cap Hallett est à nouveau propriété des 45.000 couples de manchots Adélie, qui se reproduisent ici du mois de novembre au mois de février. Deux autres "nettoyages" effectués ces dernières années: le site de Cape Roberts et celui de la station Vanda.

From the museum website: "Hallet Station: Experience a slice of Antarctic base life. The history of this joint United States and New Zealand station (1956 – 2005) marks an important era in Antarctic exploration and science. Key buildings from the base have been reassembled and artefacts are displayed to illustrate life in an extreme environment."

LINKS: http//www.canterburymuseum.com

ON PHOTOGRAPHY

2007-07-22T11:41:00.000+01:00

To see life; to see the world.; to eyewitness great events; to watch the faces of the poor and the gesture of the proud; to see strange things -machines, armies, multitudes, shadows in the jungle and on the Moon; to see man's work - his paintings, towers and discoveries; to see things thousands of miles away, things hidden behind walls and within rooms, things dangerous to come to; the women that men love and many children; to see and take pleasure in seeing; to see and be amazed; to see and be instructed.

Henry Luce, Life - 1936

Photography is a small voice, at best, but sometimes - just sometimes - one photograph or a group of them can lure our senses into awareness. Much depends upon the viewer; in some, photography summon enough emotion to be a catalyst to thought. Someone - or perhaps many - among us may be influenced to heed reason, to find a way to right that which is wrong, and may even be inspired to the dedication needed to search for the cure to an illness. The rest of us may perhaps feel a greater sense of understanding and compassion for those whose lives are alien to our own. Photography is a small voice. It is an important voice in my life, but not the only one. I believe in it. If it is well-conceived, it sometimes works."

W. Eugene Smith
Minamata, 1975

Photography records the gamut of feelings written on the human face - the beauty of the earth and skies that man has inherited; and the wealth and confusion that man has created. It is a major force in explaining man to man.

Edward Steichen

"La photographie est le seul "langage" qui soit compris dans toutes les parties du monde et, rassemblant les nations et les cultures, elle unit la famille humaine. Indépendante par rapport aux influences politiques, là où les gens sont libres, elle reflète fidèlement la vie et les événements, nous permets de partager les espoirs et le désespoir des autres, et éclaire les conditions de la vie politique et sociale. Nous devenons les témoins de l'humanité et de l'inhumanité de la race humaine."

Helmut Gernsheim
Creative Photography, 1962

In photography, if I am able to evoke not only a feeling of the reality of the surface physical world but also a feeling of the reality of existence that lies mysteriously and invisibly beneath its surface, I feel I have succeeded. At its best, photography is a symbol that not only serves to help illuminate some of the darkness of the unknown, but it also serves to lessen the fears that too often accompany the journeys from the known to the unknown.

Wynn Bullock

ANTARCTIQUE: un ouvrage dédié à cette austère et splendide planète lointaine

2007-07-22T09:00:00.000+01:00

Loin, très loin au bout de la Terre s'étend un continent aussi mystéreux et captivant qu'une austère planète lointaine: il s'agit de l'Antarctique, la Terra Australis Incognita imaginée par Aristote deux-mille ans avant sa découverte, puis cherchée par les explorateurs du XVIII siècle et dévoilée par ceux des XIX et XX siècles. L'Antarctique, un continent qui appartiens à l'Umanité entière et qui est dédié à la Paix et à la Science. Richard E. Byrd, le grand explorateur américain à qui l'on doit la découverte d'une grande étendue du continent gélé a écrit: "Je souhaite que dans sa veste immaculée l'Antarctique puisse briller encore longtemps comme un symbole de paix et de collaboration pour les nations et les peuples du monde entier".

A' l'occasion de la Quatrième Année Polaire Internationale, les Editions Belin vont publier l'ouvrage "ANTARCTIQUE, coeur blanc de la Terre", entièrement dedié aux Continent des Glaces. Dimensions: 28 cm x 32 cm, 224 pages. Sortie en librarie: le 12 Octobre.

Cet ouvrage sera egalement publié en langue Italienne par l'Editeur Giunti.

Il volume: "ANTARTIDE, Cuore bianco della Terra" sarà pubblicato anche in Italiano dall'Editore Giunti. Uscita in libreria: nel mese di ottobre. Collegarsi al sito web dell'Editore francese Belin (qui sotto il LINK, oppure nella colonna "PHOTOGRAPHIE") per vedere una presentazione dell'opera in Francese, fatta dall'Autore.

SITE WEB des Editions Belin, avec une presentation video de l'ouvrage, faite par l'Auteur.

http://www.editions-belin.com/csl/master.asp

Scott Base ha Cinquant'anni

2007-07-20T15:15:00.000+01:00

Un sito web estrememente conviaviale, disegnato benissimo, per festeggiare i Cinquant'anni della base neozelandese Scott, fondata da Sir Ed Hillary in occasione dell'Anno Geofisico Internazionale del 1957-58. Il messaggio introduttivo è di Lou Sanson, Direttore di Antarctica New Zealand, il Programma polare neozelandese.

LINK: http://www.scottbase50years.co.nz/index.htm

Buon compleanno Sir Ed Hillary!

2007-07-20T12:57:00.000+01:00

20 luglio 2007

"I was born in Auckland, New Zealand, on July 20th, 1919"..........Ecco le prime parole della biografia di Sir Ed Hillary intitolata "Nothing Venture, nothing Win" (1975). Oggi, 20 luglio 2007, Sir Ed compie 88 anni. Nella sua lunghissima carriera di esploratore ha partecipato a spedizioni memorabili, dalla conquista dell'Everest nel maggio del 1953 ("Non eravamo certi che arrivare lassu' fosse umanamente possibile, né che una volta sulla cima si potesse sopravvivere..." ), alla traversata di 2000 Km di Antartide dal mare di Ross al Polo sud geografico, alla ricerca dello Yeti, alla risalita del Gange con barche a motore dalla foce alle sorgenti........Sir Ed ha avuto una vita ricca di esperienze, che ha saputo far condividere con le popolazioni del Nepal, creando la Himalayan Trust, grazie alla quale sono state costruite 30 scuole, 2 ospedali, 15 dispensari.....
Hillary ha altresi' attraversato una prova terribile, quella della perdita della moglie Louise e della figlia sedicenne Belinda, in un incidente aereo nel 1975. Negli anni 90 si è risposato con Lady June, una signora bellissima, che da sempre aveva condiviso la vita degli Hillary assieme al marito George Lowe, deceduto nella tragedia del Boeing che si fracasso' contro l'Erebus, nel 1979. Sir Ed è ritornato in Antartide varie volte, l'ultima in occasione dei Cinquant'anni della fondazione di SCOTT BASE, nel Gennaio 2007. Ecco qui una delle fotografie che lo ritraggono durante un discorso per celebrare il mezzo secolo di collaborazione fra Nuova Zelanda e USA. Le due basi si trovano a 3 Km di distanza l'una dall'altra, sull'isola di Ross. Buon Compleanno grande Sir Ed!

FOTO: cortesia Antarctica NZ Pictorial Collection

Media polari: l'ANTARCTIC MAGAZINE

2007-07-20T12:30:00.000+01:00

Un nuovo numero della bella rivista "Antarctic Magazine", edita dalla New Zealand Antarctic Society (Direttore della rivista: Dr. Michelle Rogan-Finnemore) è stato offerto ai partecipanti al convegno scientifico "Antarctica: Fifty Years on the Ice - just the tip of the Iceberg", tenutosi a Wellington dal 2 al 6 Luglio scorso. Ecco qui la copertina. Il numero (42 pag) è ricco di informazioni, fra cui un report sulla visita di Sir Ed Hillary a Scott base in occasione del Cinquantesimo anniversario della fondazione della base, l'inaugurazione della nuova facility di Arrival Heights (da parte del Primo Ministro neozeladese Signora Helen Clak), novità sulla ricerca di meteoriti antartiche condotta dal gruppo di Ralph Harvey (ASMET programme/NSF) e infine una notizia alquanto preoccupante che riguarda la possibilità che un gruppo di turisti americani di San Francisco utilizzi la pista tracciata dalla traversa americana nel 2004-2005 da McMurdo a South Pole (sul ghiacciaio Leverett) per una spedizione privata. Ci si augura che questa eventualità sia severamente proibita, altrimenti vedremo frotte di turisti arrivare sempre più numerose (oltre ai 40.000 che oramai visitano l'Antartide durante ogni estate australe). Il Dr. Alan Hemmings, membro dell'Associazione non-governativa Antarctic and Southern Ocean Coalition (ASOC) e insegnante al GCAS dell'Università di Canterbury a Christchurch, ha lanciato un appello alle autorità americane affinché proibiscano fermamente l'uso della pista da parte di turisti.
Negli anni a venire il turismo rappresenterà certamente uno dei problemi più spinosi che i membri del Trattato antartico dovranno affrontare; la regolamentazione del turismo dovrebbe essere gestita e regolata severamente dal Trattato antartico, e non lasciata in mano a Tour operators che badano prevalentemente al profitto economico della loro impresa piuttosto che al rispetto della fauna, della flora e dell'ambiente antartico in generale.

ANTARCTIC MAGAZINE: headconsultants@xtra.co.nz
ASOC: http://www.asoc.org/

Foto in alto: I partecipanti al convegno di Wellington, organizzato da Antarctica New Zealand.(c) Lucia Simion

Laghi e fiumi sottoghiaccio: il mistero si svela poco per volta.

2007-07-20T12:04:00.000+01:00

Che esistesse dell'acqua sotto il ghiaccio, lo si era intuito sin dagli anni 70; ma la conferma è venuta negli anni 90, quando la posizione, la forma e le dimensioni del lago Vostok cominciarono ad essere identificate. Un immenso lago lungo 250 Km, largo 50 Km, profondo circa 600 metri e in alcuni punti fino a 1200 m; tre volte più grande della Corsica, 40 volte più vasto del Lago di Garda. E' il più grande dei 150 laghi finora identificati sotto le calotte antartiche, la maggiorparte dei quali si trova nell'Antartide orientale. Circa 14 laghi sono situati nella zona di Dome C-CONCORDIA, fra cui il lago Concordia (50 km x 25 Km), il secondo più grande lago subglaciale antartico dopo Vostok.
Una pubblicazione scientifica della primavera 2006, ipotizzava che oltre ai laghi esistesse una vasta e complessa rete idrica sottoghiaccio: questo fatto implica una maggiore prudenza nell'esplorazione dei laghi, poiché inquinare le acque di un bacino significa danneggiare una intera rete idrica, con conseguenze incalcolabili. La prudenza assoluta nelle tecniche di esplorazione e il rispetto dell'integrità biologica di questi bacini - isolati da milioni di anni dal resto della biosfera - è stata ribadita da un recente comunicato della NSF (vedere sotto il LINK). L'esistenza della rete sottoghiaccio rappresenta anche una variabile importantissima nella dinamica di scorrimento delle calotte.

Lo SCAR (Scientific Commitee on Antarctic Research) ha istituito un apposito gruppo di esperti per lo studio e l'esplorazione dei laghi subbglaciali, chiamato SALE. Questo team di esperti (di cui fa parte l'Italiano Carlo Barbante) si è riunito nel giugno 2007 a Bozeman, Montana.

L'esplorazione dei laghi subglaciali (in particolare Vostok e il lago Ellsworth) sarà uno dei temi del Quarto API. La penetrazione nelle acque del lago Ellsworth, sepolto sotto uno strato di ghiaccio spesso 3200 m, è prevista per il 2010-2012.

WEB: http://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=109587

ILLUSTRAZIONI: Zina Deretsky / NSF e Nicolle Rager-Fuller / NSF

FILATELIA: la base Scott compie Cinquant'anni

2007-07-20T11:54:00.001+01:00

Cinquantesimo anniversario della fondazione della base neozelandese Scott sull'isola di Ross (da parte di Sir Edmund Hillary): per l'occasione, la New Zealand Post ha emesso una serie di francobolli, di foglietti e di buste assolutamente meravigliosi (tanto che erano difficili da trovare negli uffici postali sia di Wellington, sia di Auckland; hanno avuto un gran successo).

Sir Ed Hillary fondo' la base Scott quando la Nuova Zelanda partecipo' alla British TransAntarctic Expedition (TAE), organizzata dall'inglese Vivian Fuchs nel 1957-58, durante l'Anno Geofisico Internazionale. Questa spedizione intendeva realizzare il sogno incompiuto di Shackleton: attraversare il continente antartico dal mare di Weddell al mare di Ross, passando per il Polo sud geografico. Vivian Fuchs, che era un geologo, e che fu in seguito per moltissimi anni direttore del British Antarctic Survey, invito' Sir Ed Hillary a partecipare alla spedizione. La partecipazione di Hillary era importante non solo per creare una base dal lato del mare di Ross (sull'isola di Ross, dove già erano installati gli Americani con la stazione McMurdo), per organizzare una serie di depositi di carburante lungo il tragitto che andava dal mare di Ross al plateau polare (attraverso i Monti Transantartici), ma anche e soprattutto per attirare l'attenzione del grande pubblico e favorire la raccolta di fondi a livello internazionale. Hillary aveva conquistato l'Everest nel 1953 (con Tenzing Norgay) e la sua popolarità era enorme in tutto il mondo, cosi' come la sua esperienza fra i ghiacci, le nevi, i crepacci e le tempeste.
La partecipazione di Sir Ed Hillary alla TAE fu fondamentale: con dei trattori cingolati Ferguson e Weasel risali' il ghiacciaio inesplorato Skelton, facendo da "apripista" per Fuchs e segnalando i campi di crepacci - alcuni cosi' grandi da poter inghiottire una casa intera. Organizzo' depositi di fuel. Traccio' la via. E si spinse fino al Polo sud, diventando cosi' il primo uomo a raggiungere il Polo con mezzi motorizzati terrestri. Questo creo' una certa tensione fra Hillary e Fuchs, ma se Fuchs concluse la traversata completa del continente da est a ovest, in soli 99 giorni, il merito è in buona parte di Hillary.
Fra il 2004 e il 2005 gli Americani hanno tracciato una pista da McMurdo fino al Polo sud, attraverso i monti Transantartici: nonostante l'ausilio dei satelliti per identificare i crepacci più grandi, e l'uso di dinamite per farli crollare, la traversa è stata cosi' impegnativa da richiedere due intere stagioni australi per essere completata. Per raggiungere il plateau polare e quindi proseguire verso il polo sud, gli americani hanno scelto di risalire lungo il ghiacciaio Leverett anziché dallo Skelton; Shakleton e Scott avevano percorso il Beardmore e Amundsen l'Axel Heiberg.

Nota informativa sui francobolli di SCOTT BASE:
Emissione: 20 gennaio 2007
Valori: 45c,90c, $ 1.35, $ 1.50, $2.00
Designer: Stamps and Collectable Business, New Zealand Post
Stampa: Litografia
Formato: Orizzontale
Dimensioni: 45 mm x 30 mm
Fogli di 25 francobolli

http://antarcticsun.usap.gov/oldissues2002-2003/Sun020203/traverse.html#

Crediti foto: New Zealand Post

ELICOTTERI POLARI: la storia di Helicopters New Zealand

2007-07-20T11:50:00.001+01:00

La base scientifica antartica italiana a Baia Terra Nova (oggi stazione Mario Zucchelli) fu inaugurata nel 1985. La località prescelta si trova sulle Northern Foothills, di fronte al mare di Ross fra il Gerlache Inlet e la Terra Nova Bay (scoperta e battezzata da Scott nel 1901). Di là dalla baia si stende la lingua di ghiaccio del Campbell e oltre al ghiacciaio galleggiante si scorge la linea purissima del vulcano Melbourne (2.732 m) e il bastione di basalto scuro di Cape Washington.

Sin dagli inizi della storia della base Italiana, fra i più validi collaboratori del Programma Nazionale di Ricerche in Antartide c'è Helicopters New Zealand, un'impresa situata a Nelson, nell'isola del sud. Per festeggiare il 52° anniversario della sua fondazione (che coincide con il Quarto anno polare internazionale), Helicopters New Zealand ha pubblicato un libro interessantissimo, ricco di informazioni, aneddoti e fotografie. Il titolo è "TAKE OFF, the Helicoters NZ story"; gli autori sono Gavin McLean (del Ministry for Culture and Heritage di Wellington) e Pat Lewis, esperta di aviazione (aerei ed elicotteri).
Nel libro c'è ovviamente un intero capitolo dedicato all'attività antartica di Helicopters NZ (che collabora anche con il programma polare neozelandese), con ampi racconti super-interessanti riguardo alle varie spedizioni e avventure. Piloti e tecnici di Helicopters NZ fanno ormai parte della vita delle spedizioni del PNRA e della stazione Mario Zucchelli, e senza di loro (come senza i piloti e i tecnici dei Twin Otter Kenn Borek) le spedizioni non sarebbero possibili: date le distanze enormi è assolutamente impensabile che gli spostamenti quotidiani di ricercatori e di tecnici si facciano altrimenti che con mezzi aerei. Bob, Dave , Steve, Jim....sono nomi che fanno parte della storia della nostra base Mario Zucchelli.
Una delle vicende più incredibili raccontate da McLean e Lewis in "TAKE OFF" è la "90° South Expedition" del 1986-87, quando i glaciologi Monika Christiansen e Neil McIntyre decisero di ripercorrere la via tracciata da Amundsen nel 1911 per raggiungere il Polo sud, dalla Bay of Whales (sulla barriera di Ross) fino a 90° Latitudine sud.
Partita dalla Nuova Zelanda a bordo dell'Aurora (una ex-nave per la caccia alle foche), la spedizione era diretta alla Baia delle Balene. L'aspetto più incredibile di tutta la faccenda fu l'allestimento di un deposito di carburante su un grande iceberg tabulare del mare di Ross, affinché il Twin Otter della spedizione potesse fare rifornimento a metà strada fra la Nuova Zelanda e la Bay of Whales! Il Twin Otter era indispensabile per creare depositi di fuel lungo la via che portava al Polo sud. Jim Wilson - oggi capo dei piloti di Helicopters NZ- trovo' un iceberg adeguato all'operazione, situato a 70 miglia dalla nave. Gli autori del libro ricordano giustamente che a quel tempo il GPS non esisteva, dunque Jim Wilson fu particolarmente bravo nell'identificare quell'iceberg e nel segnalarne la posizione al pilota del Twin. Il deposito fu installato e il Twin Otter poté atterrare (dopo 10 ore di volo dalla NZ), fare rifornimento malgrado le condizioni meteo non fossero fra le migliori e ripartire per la Bay of Whales.
Per chi è appassionato di storie di aviazione polare, "TAKE OFF" è un libro da non perdere. Châpeau ai dirigenti della ditta, che hanno avuto l'intelligenza e l'ottima idea di finaziare questa operazione editoriale in occasione del Quarto API.

Informazioni: Gavin McLean-Pat Lewis, "TAKE OFF, the Helicopters NZ story", Hazard Press, 2006, NZ $ 69.99. Tutte le foto sono dei piloti o degli ingegneri di Helicopters NZ.

LINK: http://www.helicoptersnz.co.nz

FOTO: Cortesia Helicopters NZ, (c) Lucia Simion.

THE PHOTOGRAPHS PUBLISHED IN THIS BLOG ARE NOT ROYALTY FREE. PLEASE DO NOT DOWNLOAD THEM WITHOUT MY PERMISSION. IF YOU ARE A SCIENCE EDUCATOR AND WISH TO USE THESE IMAGES FOR EDUCATIONAL PURPOSES, SEND ME AN EMAIL AND I WILL PROVIDE A LOW RESOLUTION FILE. BUT PLEASE DO NOT USE THE IMAGES WITHOUT BEING AUTHORIZED AND WITHOUT PHOTO CREDIT. THANK YOU.

LE FOTOGRAFIE SONO SOGGETTE A COPYWRIGHT E A UN DIRITTO DI PROPRIETA' INTELLETTUALE: PER CORTESIA NON UTILIZZATELE ABUSIVAMENTE. SE SIETE INSEGNANTI E INTENDETE USARE LE IMMAGINI DI CUI SONO L'AUTORE A SCOPO DIDATTICO PER LE VOSTRE LEZIONI, SCRIVETEMI E VI MANDERO' UN FILE IN BASSA RISOLUZIONE. GRAZIE.

ICEBERGS: Oasi dell'Oceano australe

2007-07-20T09:57:00.000+01:00

Nella settimana del 21 Giugno la rivista Science ha pubblicato un bellissimo studio finanziato dalla National Science Foundation americana. Tema: gli ICEBERGS dell'Oceano meridionale. Lo studio è stato condotto da ricercatori della Scripps Institution of Oceanography (La Jolla), dell'Istituto di Ricerca dell'Acquario di Monterey, del San Diego Supercomputer Center, dell'Università di San Diego e dell'Università di Southern California. Questo team ha osservato che gli icebergs rappresentano vere e proprie "oasi" dell'oceano australe, o meglio degli "Hotspots", "punti caldi" in cui la produttività biologica è particolarmente ricca e varia. Raccogliendo materia organica sul continente antartico e poi rilasciandola lentamente via via che si sciolgono nelle correnti, gli icebergs "seminano" l'oceano di nutrienti, che favoriscono lo sviluppo di fitoplancton, quindi di krill, che poi attira pesci e uccelli. Gli iceberg più grandi sono circondati da un "alone" di vita che si estende anche fino a 3 chilometri di distanza dalle pareti di ghiaccio. In immagini satellitari sono stati contati circa 11.000 icebergs nell'oceano australe: la loro importanza come "punti caldi" in cui si sviluppa la vita non è dunque trascurabile. In effetti è stato calcolato che gli icebergs sono responsabili del 40% della produttività biologica nel Mare di Weddell.

SITO: http://www.nsf.gov/news/news_images.jsp?cntn_id=109653&org=NSF

Credito dell'immagine: Nicolle Rager Fuller, National Science Foundation

Timbre TAAF: la Course du Soleil à DDU

2007-07-20T09:48:00.000+01:00

Le timbre TAAF "La course du soleil à Dumont D’Urville le 21 juin" a été émis le 21 juin, à l'occasion de la Midwinter. Pour fêter cette journée très attendue par tous les hivernants le chef cuisiner de la base Dumont d’Urville, Gilles Brebant, a réalisé le timbre en sucre. Cela va sans dire: Gilles Brebant est aussi un grand philatéliste!

Valeur : 0,90 euros
Maquette : Louis Briat
Impression : Héliogravure
Format : 156 x 31,77 mm
Feuilles de 8 timbres
Cachet 1er jour illustré sur le district de terre Adélie

PHOTOS: courtoisie TAAF et Gilles Brebant

Astronomie en Antarctique

2007-05-31T15:00:00.000+01:00

Workshop d'Astrophysique en Antarctique, Dôme C en particulier, du 25 au 27 Juin 2007, au CEA de Saclay.

LIEN: http://www-dapnia.cea.fr/Sap/Phocea/Vie_des_labos/Ast/ast_visu.php?id_ast=1378

Curieux comme........un Adélie!

2007-05-29T22:11:00.000+01:00

Bon, que les manchots Adélie sont très curieux, on le savait. Qu'ils n'ont peur de rien, aussi. Qu'ils aiment partir en vadrouille dans les endroits les plus reculés...aussi (on en a retrouvés dans les Vallées Sèches). Mais qu'ils s'intéressaient aux hélicos......ça, c'est nouveau!
Incroyables Adélies....

Crédit photo: à vérifier. Si vous êtes l'auteur de cette image, maniféstez-vous SVP.
If you are the author of this photo, please let me know and I will write the credit line right away.
Se siete l'autore di questa fotografia per favore manifestatevi e aggiungero' immediatamente il vostro nome nel credit.

De l'Afrique à l'Antarctique il n'y a qu'un clic

2007-05-28T18:21:00.000+01:00

Quand on s'appelle Scott, fatalement on se passionne pour l'Antarctique! Jonathan et Angie Scott, un couple de photographes basés au Kenya et connus pour leur sujets sur la faune d'Afrique (inoubliables les images des licaons, ou du léopard Chui, ou encore des lions), viennent de publier un volume sur l'Antarctique, fruit de 15 années de voyages sur le continent du bout du monde. Editeur: Collins.

http://www.jonathanangelascott.com/

Une Année Polaire toute en musique

2007-05-28T17:50:00.000+01:00

Ce joli logo de l'International Polar year a quelque chose d'insolite.........et oui, c'est la guitare! Il a été crée pour un concert donné dans le cadre de l'Année Polaire Internationale.

Merci à Rhian Salmon, Coordinatrice de l'équipe Education and Outreach de l'IPY Office à Cambridge, qui nous l'as signalé.

Je ne connaît pas l'auteur (du logo IPY avec la guitare), mais s'il se manifeste je signalerai son nom dans le crédit de l'image.

http://www.ipy.org

(voir dans la colonne de droite, LIENS)

L'Antarctique aux pieds de la Tour Eiffel.....

2007-05-28T16:47:00.001+01:00

28 Mai

Il pleut sur Paris et de gros nuages se sont invités dans le ciel de la capitale, mais à coté de la tour Eiffel vous pourrez tout de même vous échapper de cette grisaille pendant un petit moment, en visitant l'exposition photographique "Vivants": une séléction d'images spectaculaires, sur le thème de L'Homme et la biodiversité. L'expo est organisée par Yann Arthus-Bertrand et par son association GoodPlanet.org.
Quelques-unes de ces images ont été prises en Antarctique: voyez par exemple la méduse Desmonema glaciale (photo de Norbert Wu) et à l'arrière-plan la glace bleue d'un immense iceberg photographié dans la mer de Weddell (photo de Eric Dietrich). Pourquoi certains icebergs sont-ils bleus?
D'abord il faut que la glace dont ils sont formés soit très compacte, avec une faible quantité de bulles d'air (les bulles d'air dispersent la lumière dans toutes les directions et la glace apparaît blanche). Mais si la glace contiens peu de bulles d'air, les rayons lumineux peuvent la traverser d'une part à l'autre; le rouge et le vert étant absorbés séléctivement, seule la lumière bleue réussit à s'échapper et donc l'iceberg apparaît bleu. Comme une pierre précieuse.

La photo est de Erwan Sourget

SITE DE L'EXPO:

http://www.goodplanet.org (voir dans la colonne de droite, châpitre "Liens")

ANDRILL: le passé de l'Antarctique est caché sous la plateforme de Ross

2007-05-26T21:40:00.000+01:00

ANDRILL (Antarctic Geological Drilling), est un projet international de forage geologique dans les sédiments marins situés en dessous de la plateforme glaciaire de Ross, près des stations McMurdo (USA) et Scott (NZ).

Avec un budget de 30 millions de dollars (dont 2/3 pour la recherche et la pédagogie et 1/3 pour les opérations techniques) ANDRILL est un des plus importants projets de la quatrième Année polaire internationale. Il rassemble 200 scientifiques (géologues, paleontologues, volcanologues, microbiologistes), ainsi que des enseignants et des spécialistes de la vulgarisation scientifique provenant de 4 différents Pays: Etats Unis, Nouvelle Zélande, Allemagne et Italie. Le QG du projet se trouve à l’Université de Lincoln, dans le Nebraska (USA); les opérations techniques par contre sont dirigées par Antarctica New Zealand, le Programme polaire néozelandais.

Le but de ANDRILL - qui fait suite au projet de forage de Cape Roberts des années 1997-1999 - est celui de récupérer des carottes de sédiments marins pour étudier l’histoire climatique, tectonique et glaciaire de l’Antarctique dans les derniers 65 millions d’années.

L’equipe de foreurs et de techniciens néozelandais de ANDRILL a déjà commencé à percer les secrets du passé de l’Antarctique: fin decembre 2006, après 10 semaines de travail acharné 24 h/24h et 7 jours sur 7, la profondeur de 1284,87 mètres dans les sédiments marins a été atteinte. Un record, car il s’agit de la première année de forage (par comparaison, le projet Cape Roberts avait extrait 1.600 mètres de carottes en trois ans et en trois différents sites de forage). Fin 2006 s’est donc achevé le premier volet de ANDRILL (McMurdo Ice Shelf Project, MIS): le deuxième, appelé le Southern McMurdo Sound Project (SMS) demarrera en octobre 2007.

Photos: En haut, le site de forage de ANDRILL sur la plateforme de Ross, lors de la campagne d'été 2006-2007 (Ross Powell/NSF). Ci-dessus: les scientifiques observent des carottes de sédiments, séctionnées en deux ( Ph. Peter West/NSF).

Voir le lien vers le site de ANDRILL et de Antarctica New Zealand dans la colonne à droite.

Etudier l'origine et l'évolution de l'Univers depuis le Pôle Sud

2007-05-26T13:23:00.000+01:00

L'assemblage du plus grand telescope jamais installé au Pôle Sud géographique a été complété lors de la campagne de l'été austral 2006-2007. Il s'appelle tout simplement South Pole Telescope (SPT): son miroir primaire mesure 10 mètres de diamètre, ce qui représente l'hauteur d'un édifice de six étages. Il pèse 280 tonnes. L'instrument a été construit au Texas, puis envoyé en pièces détachées par voie maritime jusqu'en Nouvelle Zélande; de là en avion jusqu'en Antarctique, puis au Pôle Sud (à bord de Hercules LC-130 de la N.Y. Air National Guard).

Ce telescope a été conçu pour mesurer les propriétés du rayonnement de fond micro-onde de l'univers, un rayonnement électromagnétique reliquat du big bang, agé d'environ 14 milliards d'années. Ce rayonnement frappe la Terre de façon quasi uniforme dans toutes les directions. En particulier, le SPT va tenter de percer le mystère de la dark energy, l'énérgie noire. Le SPT a coûté 19,2 millions de dollars, financés en grande partie par la National Science Foundation (NSF) et par deux autres fondations américaines. Le 16 février 2007 il a "ouvert les yeux" pour la première fois sur la lumière, provenant de l'hémisphère sud.

http://www-news.uchicago.edu/releases/07/070226.southpole.shtml
http://spt.uchicago.edu/spt/public/science.html

PHOTOS: Jeff McMahon, Kathryn Miknaitis (en haut); National Science Foundation (en bas).

Le redoutable léopard de l'Antarctique

2007-05-25T23:38:00.000+01:00

L'extraordinaire reportage de Paul Nicklen sur le phoque léopard, qui a obtenu le premier prix de la catégorie "Nature-Stories" au World Press Photo 2007, sera exposé au 19ème Festival du Photojournalisme Visa pour l'Image, à Perpignan, du 1er au 16 septembre 2007 (semaine professionnelle du 3 au 8 septembre).

Le reportage a été réalisé pour le National Geographic. Le phoque léopard (Hydrurga leptonyx, longueur 3,8 m pour 500 Kg de poids environ) est un des plus redoutables prédateurs des eaux qui entourent le continent antarctique.
En 2003, près de la station britannique Rothera, un léopard des mers a tué une biologiste anglaise du British Antarctic Survey, qui plongeait en apnée pour son travail. Kirsty Brown avait 28 ans.

SITE WEB: (c) Paul Nicklen

Voir le lien dans la liste "Photographie"

Le Pôle Sud vu du Ciel

2007-05-25T22:29:00.000+01:00

En haut: la station Américaine Amundsen-Scott au Pôle sud géographique, 90°S. En haut de l'image, au niveau de l'extrémité de l'aile de l'avion, le nouveau batiment de la station, complétée en 2006. La base repose sur une calotte épaisse 2.800 mètres. La première station US au Pôle sud fut inaugurée lors de l'IGY en 1957-58.
Cette image a été prise le 3 février 2007 par Scot Jackson/National Science Foundation

Ci dessus: photo prise par Scott Smith/National Science Foundation le 14 janvier 2007, lors d'une tempête au Pôle sud.

Courtoisie: US Antarctic Photo Library

Exposition photographique sur la biodiversité

2007-05-25T21:29:00.000+01:00

Exposition de photographies de nature sur la biodiversité: VIVANTS, au Quai Branly à Paris.

2007-05-25T21:01:00.000+01:00

Depuis le 21 mai - et jusqu'au 22 août 2007 - l'exposition Vivants est de retour à Paris, dans un emplacement exceptionnel: le Quai Branly, à deux pas de la tour Eiffel. Vivants est un projet de Yann Arthus-Bertrand et de son association GoodPlanet.org. Il s'agit d'une séléction d'images des meilleurs photographes de nature: un ensemble de 157 panneaux, photos et textes (180 x 120 cm), un parcours visuel où sont confrontés la richesse et la beauté du monde animal et l'impact de l'homme sur la planète. En haut, à gauche: la méduse antarctique Desmonema glaciale, surprise par le photographe américain Norbert Wu au dessous de la banquise près de la station USA McMurdo, sur l'île de Ross. Cette méduse peut atteindre un mètre de diamètre. Ci-dessus: séance de signature de photos (le 23 mai dernier), en présence de YAB et de Christine Denis-Huot, un des photographes qui participent à l'expo Vivants. Etaient également présents M. Denis-Huot et O. Grünenwald.
L'exposition est ouverte à tout public et gratuite. Elle est accessible 24h/24 et éclairée la nuit. Les panneaux sont disposés de façon à former le mot "EXPO" (vu du deuxième étage de la tour Eiffel).

Photos: (c) Luce Antartica

LIENS: http://www.yannarthusbertrand.com
http://www.goodplanet.org

DIVING UNDER ANTARCTIC ICE
http://scilib.ucsd.edu/sio/nsf/

Carnet de Voyage en terre Adélie

2007-05-25T20:52:00.000+01:00

Carnet de voyage en terre Adélie
Photos et collage: (c) Luce Antartica

Aujourd'hui Milou (ci-contre) ne pourrait pas accompagner Tintin en terre Adélie, car les chiens sont interdits en Antarctique depuis 1994....

Timbres:

http://www.laposte.fr/
http://stamps.nzpost.co.nz/Cultures/en-NZ/
http://www.nzpost.co.nz/Cultures/en-NZ/

La magie des cristaux de neige

2007-05-25T18:20:00.000+01:00

Observé au microscope, chaque cristal de neige est un bijou unique, formé par des moléules d'eau cristallisées autour d'une particule de poussière. Problème: ce bijou ne dure qu'un laps de temps limité. Alors, voici les images réalisées par Kenneth G. Libbrecht, Professeur de Physique ainsi que Président du Département de Physique au California Institute of Technology (Caltech) de Pasadena, en Californie. Elles nous permettent d'admirer toutes les formes les plus spéctaculaires de cristaux de neige. Aucun de ces cristaux est identique à un autre. Ils sont tous uniques.
K. Libbrecht a publié plusieurs livres sur les cristaux de neige; vous pouvez les commander sur Amazon.com. Il est auteur d'un site web remarquable, entièrement dédié aux cristaux de neige; c'est un de mes sites préférés: snowcrystals.com. A' partir de microphotographies prises par Kenneth Libbrecht, le US Postal Service a réalisé une série de quatre timbres représentants des cristaux de neige (2006).
En 1931, un autre américain - Wilson A. Bentley - publia le volume Snow Crystals, dans lequel sont publiés quelques 2.000 différents cristaux parmi les 5.000 qu'il photographia pendant sa vie.

Courtoisie: Kenneth G. Libbrecht-Caltech

LIEN: http://www.its.caltech.edu/~atomic/snowcrystals/

Un blog consacré à l'Antarctique

2007-05-20T22:09:00.000+01:00

A' l'occasion de Année Polaire Internationale (la Quatrième), j'ai souhaité créer un blog dédié à l'Antarctique et aux îles Subantarctiques. Sur les pages de "Luce Antartica" (écrit en Italien, car je suis Italienne) vous pourrez trover tout ce qui touche à cet éblouissant continent de glace et de vent, perdu au bout de la Terre: science (biensûr, puisque l'Antarctique est - par définition - un continent dédié à la Paix et à la Science), culture, photographie, video, livres, expositions....Je séléctionnerai les thèmes au fur et à mesure que le blog se construira.

Il sera rédigé en Français et en Italien, les langues de mon pays d'adoption et de mon pays d'origine. France et Italie sont associés dans la gestion de la station scientifique permanente Concordia à Dôme C (75° 06'S - 123° 23' E), au jour d'aujourd'hui l'unique station financée, construite et gerée par deux pays en Antarctique, au coeur même du continent. En tant que journaliste scientifique et photographe, j'ai été témoin du montage de la station franco-italienne Concordia pendant trois campagnes d'été, alors que se déroulait également le proget de forage européen EPICA. Concordia a été inaugurée en 2005; actuellement (mai 2007) une équipe de huit Français et de six Italiens a entamé le troisième hivernage à Dôme C. Il en sont à leur quatrième mois. L'hivernage se terminera en novembre 2007.

Je souhaite la bienvenue à tous ceux qui - comme moi - sont passionnés d'Antarctique.

800.000 ans d'histoire du climat en Antarctique

2007-05-20T21:53:00.000+01:00

Le numéro de Mai 2007 de Pour la Science (voir le lien du magazine à droite) publie un article de 7 pages sur un des plus importants projets de forages glaciaires réalisés en Antarctique, à la base franco-italienne Dôme C: le projet EPICA, financé par l'Union Européenne et par 10 pays d'Europe. Le papier est signé Valérie Masson-Delmotte, Jerôme Chappellaz, Jean Jouzel et Dominique Raynaud.
Entre 1997 et 2005 les équipes de EPICA ont extrait 3.260 mètres de carottes de la calotte glaciaire de Dôme C. Cette glace est la plus ancienne actuellement connue: elle représente l'archive climatique des derniers 800.000 ans en Antarctique. Un archive de glace encore plus ancienne - peut-être agée de 1,2 millions d'années - se trouverait au dessous de Dôme A, le dôme glaciaire le plus élévé du continent (4.200 m). De quoi attiser les convoitises des glaciologues de la planète entière....Pour l'heure, ils se sont fédérés en lançant un projet international nommé IPICS, International Partnership in Ice Core Sciences. Lien de IPICS: voir dans la colonne à droite.

Année polaire et philatélie

2007-05-20T21:37:00.000+01:00

Timbres émis le Premier Mars 2007 par l'US Postal Service à l'occasion du coup d'envoi de l'Année Polaire Internationale 2007-2008. Ils représentent une aurore boréale (en haut) et une aurore australe (en bas). Plusieurs Pays ont émis des timbres dédiés à la Quatrième API.

Image: US Postal Service

Où se trouve actuellement l'iceberg B-15 A?

2007-05-20T16:53:00.000+01:00

Qui a oublié le fameux iceberg B-15 A, ce géant de 122 Km de long par 27 Km de large, qui s'était détaché de la plateforme de Ross en Mars 2000? Avant de se rompre en plusieurs morceaux (2005) il avait provoqué des dégâts considérables. Le monde avait retenu son souffle lorsqu'il risquait de se fracasser contre la langue flottante du glacier Drygalski (Décembre 2004-Avril 2005). Où se trouve-t-il actuellement? Cette image satellitaire prise le 5 Mars 2007 nous le montre entre les longitudes 156E et 158E. Plus haut, une autre iceberg: le C-19 A. Des debris du B-15A ont étés aperçus au sud de la Nouvelle Zélande....

Image: courtoisie NOOA, National/Naval Ice Center