Mt. Erebus Lets Off a Little Steam

Thursday, November 18, 2010

Pressure Ridge

Pressure ridges happen when sea ice buckles under extreme pressure.  With all of the dynamics of glaciers ice flows, warming weather conditions, and what not; pressure ridges are very common here.  Between pressure ridges and crevasses, the early explorers found traveling on the ice to be anything but smooth sailing.  It all looks so smooth and flat from the air, but up close it's a different matter.   When hauling sledges across the ice, the explorers could find it smooth and slippery, or rough and course and friction creating, or jagged as a boulder field.
Last night I had a chance to see a pressure ridge up close.  One advantage to the “midnight sun” is that tours here can start as late as , without any worries of running out of daylight.  I got pretty good pictures; a few of which I’ll post here, but I took several hundred.  Every step and every angle seemed to offer more good photos.  I made a slide show and posted it the following address.  The photo quality suffered in the process, and I’m afraid they’re not as striking as the originals, but you’re welcome to look.  I would recommend looking at them in the smaller frame (not full screen) because you’ll get a little higher resolution.  You will be asked to sign up and give an email address, but I don’t think there is any risk or harm in doing that.
Anyway, if you’re interested, here is the link:  http://www.shwup.com/openalbum/pressure_ridges/5yUTBDBVxsd
And here are a few select pictures.    





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