Dale Andersen’s 1996 Antarctic Field Research Photo Album Volume 5

Editor’s note: This is a revised version of the original website that was first posted – from Antarctica – in 1996.

The Astrobiology Web: Your Online Guide to the Living Universe TM An Antarctic Photo Album, Volume 5 by Dale Andersen About these images Text and Photographs ©copyright 1996 Dale T. Andersen. All Rights Reserved. Reproduced with permission. Last update: 20 December 1996

Last update: 29 January 1997

[563, 41K, jpeg] Ponds located on Bratina Island.
Ponds located on Bratina Island. A number of studies are taking place at Bratina Island, including work carried out by scientists from The National Institute for Water and Atmospheric Research, Ltd. Christchurch, New Zealand. Bratina Island is located on the McMurdo Ice Shelf, just North of Black Island. Tens of thousands of ponds and meltpools are located here. Many of these ponds are quite productive with dense microbial mats forming within the pools. Much of the ‘land’ seen in these images is actually sediment on top of an ice-shelf several hundereds of meters thick helf several hundreds of meters thick. The constant movement of this ice-shelf has helped to create this unique environment.

[578, 48K, jpeg] Ponds located on Bratina Island.
Ponds located on Bratina Island. A number of studies are taking place at Bratina Island, including work carried out by scientists from The National Institute for Water and Atmospheric Research, Ltd. Christchurch, New Zealand. Bratina Island is located on the McMurdo Ice Shelf, just North of Black Island. Tens of thousands of ponds and meltpools are located here. Many of these ponds are quite productive with dense microbial mats forming within the pools. Much of the ‘land’ seen in these images is actually sediment on top of an ice-shelf several hundereds of meters thick helf several hundreds of meters thick. The constant movement of this ice-shelf has helped to create this unique environment.

[569, 47K, jpeg] Skua chick in its ‘nest’ of rocks.

[571, 53K, jpeg] An adult skua

[584, 34K, jpeg] The New Zealand field camp on Bratina Island

[586, 36K, jpeg] Dr. Clive Howard, Director of NIWA, Christchurch, New Zealand

[589, 32K, jpeg] Explorers Club Members Way Down Under
During a recent visit with our New Zealand colleagues, we had the opportunity to meet briefly with the Prime Minister of New Zealand, Rt. Hon. Jim Bolger and others in his party including Sir Edmund Hillary. Sir Edmund is an honorary President of the Explorers Club. As luck would have it, other members of the Explorers Club just happened to be present. Shown left to right are: US Ambassador Beeman, Rt. Hon. Jim Bolger, Sir Edmund Hillary, Robert A. Wharton, Jr. (Desert Research Institute, Reno, NV), Andrew Fountain (Portland University, Portland, OR), Dale T. Andersen (SETI Institute, Mt. View, CA).

• Volume 1: Images of Lake Bonney, Lake Vida, and Lake Hoare plus some underwater shots of divers examining microbial mats at the bottom of these ice covered lakes.
• Volume 2: Remote field camp located at Battleship Promontory, Alatna Valley, Antarctica where researchers look for lithophytic communities.
• Volume 3: Images of Dr. Imre Friedmann making a photographic record of the cryptoendolithic community colonizing the Beacon Sandstone (orthoquartzite) at Battleship Promentory, Antarctica.
• Volume 4: Accomodations at Lake Hoare, Taylor Valley, Antarctica – Huts, helicopters, tents, and some of the people who work here.
• Volume 5: Research on ponds located on Bratina Island, skua nests, and a visit from the Prime Minister of New Zealand and Sir Edmund Hillary.

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