Keith’s update: Dale Andersen sent an update overnight update to me: “First night at Untersee. All is well after yesterday’s traverse. Now it’s time to get shelter in place – […]
glacier
Posted inDale Andersen's Field Reports
Astrobiologist Dale Andersen’s Antarctic Field Report: 5 November 2026: Traverse to Lake Untersee
Keith’s note: after a routine traverse along the standard route from Ultima Airbase, Dale Andersen and his team arrived at their base camp location at Lake Untersee, Antarctica. Dale sent […]
Posted inDale Andersen's Field Reports
Astrobiologist Dale Andersen’s Antarctic Field Report: 3 November 2026: Digging Out and Packing Before the Traverse to Lake Untersee
[Dale Andersen]. Hi Keith – We’ve continued our first job of the season which has been digging snow. Drifting snow around the base resulted in quite a few people at […]
Posted inDale Andersen's Field Reports
Astrobiologist Dale Andersen’s Antarctic Field Report: 29 October 2026: Preparing For The Overland Traverse To Lake Untersee [UPDATE]
Update: note from Dale at 6:00 pm EDT / 22:00 UTC: “It has been pretty breezy all day with blowing snow. Nevertheless it’s been a productive day, as we continue […]
Posted inDale Andersen's Field Reports
Astrobiologist Dale Andersen’s Antarctic Field Report: 28 October 2026: Shoveling Snow In Antarctica
[Dale Andersen] : Hi Keith, A quick note while the base WiFi is up and running. We spent the last two days digging out the entrance to our hut, removing […]
Posted inOrigin & Evolution of Life
Do Himalayan-style Mountains Lie Under The Antarctic ice: Implication For The Gondwana Supermountains, The Rise Of Oxygen And The Cambrian Explosion?
[Earth and Planetary Science Letters] Analyses of detrital zircons from Antarctica show that its tectonics were dominated by Himalayan-style mountains, the roots of which now underlie the ice sheet.
Posted inIcy Worlds
Amplified Cooling Of Snowball Earth From A Salt-albedo Feedback
[Climate of the Past] It is believed that the atmospheric circulation on Snowball Earth produced a net ablation zone exposing bare sea ice.
Posted inMars
Cracks In A Martian Crater’s Ice
[NASA/JPL-Caltech/UA] Many impact craters on Mars were filled with ice in past climates. Sometimes this ice flows or slumps down the crater walls into the center and acquires concentric wrinkles […]
Posted inCryobiology
Ancient Marine Life May Be Hiding In Antarctica’s Blood Falls
[Scripps/JCVI] Blood Falls has long been one of Antarctica’s strangest landmarks: a red-stained outflow that spills from the face of Taylor Glacier into the cold, dry landscape of the McMurdo […]
Posted inArctic / Antarctic / Alpine
Molecular Evidence For A Relict Marine Community In An Antarctic Dry Valleys Subglacial Brine-fed System
[Nature] The McMurdo Dry Valleys contain a mosaic of specialized microbial habitats structured by strong physical and chemical gradients.