Innocents on the Ice: A Memoir of Antarctic Exploration, 1957"Adventures in the Antarctic only happen when someone makes a mistake.” Nine civilians and thirty Navy men lived beneath the snow together, and intense personal conflicts arose during the dark Antarctic winter of 1957. Little outside contact was available to ease the tension, with no mail delivery and only occasional radio contact with families back home. The author describes the emotional stress of the living situation, along with details of his parties’ explorations of the Filchner-Ronne Ice Shelf system during the summers of 1957 and 1958. Along the hazardous 1,300-mile traverse in two Sno-Cats, the field party measured ice thickness and snow accumulation as part of an international effort to determine the balance of the Antarctic ice sheet, and made the first geological observations of the spectacular Dufek Massif in the then-unexplored Pensacola Mountains. Behrendt also draws upon his forty years of continual participation in Antarctic research to explain the changes in scientific activities and environmental awareness in Antarctica today. Including photos, maps, and a glossary identifying various forms of ice, Innocents on the Ice is a fascinating combination of the diary of a young graduate student and the reflections of the accomplished scientist he became. |
Contents
| 1 | |
| 9 | |
3 Fall | 49 |
4 Winter Begins | 97 |
5 The Long Night Goes On and On and On | 153 |
6 The Sun Returns | 189 |
7 Final Traverse Preparations | 235 |
Other editions - View all
Innocents on the Ice: A Memoir of Antarctic Exploration, 1957 John C. Behrendt No preview available - 1999 |
Common terms and phrases
afternoon aircraft Antarctica asked Augie avgas base Belgrano Berkner Island Byrd Station camp Captain civilians Clint clutch cold Crary drove Dufek Massif east Ellsworth Station expedition Filchner Ice Shelf Finn Ronne flew flight flying Forlidas Fuchs fuel gear glaciologists Gould Bay gravity hamgrams heard heater Hugo Hugo’s Jack Jerry landed Lassiter Little America McMurdo mess duty miles morning mountains movie Navy night Odishaw officers operating Otter overcast pack Paul Pensacola Mountains phone patch plane planned radio record Ronne told Ronne’s rope Ross Ice Shelf route science building scientists seismic Shackleton ship Sno-Cat snow surface South Pole spent Staten Island station scientific leader supper talk temperature Thiel Thurs tonight took traverse party Tues tunnel U.S. Antarctic vehicle wanted warm Weasel weather Weddell Sea whiteout wind winter Wyandot