Jason Gerbsch                                                             Approximately 170 words

jg33@geneseo.edu

INTD 105: Science Writing

Appendix IV of “The Heart of the Antarctic” by E. H. Shackleton details the findings on the ice and snow of Antarctica.  Depending on the air temperature, the the crystals that would form would be any number of sizes and patterns, the most common being spikes or hexagonal in shape.  The team built a laboratory adjacent to their main structure with the purpose of using the space for experiments.  However it quickly became unsuitable for anything but ice experiments as warm, moist air from the hut entered the lab and created thick layers of “ice blades” on the walls.

I find this quite fascinating, that these crystals can form such different patterns with different temperatures.  Those on the expedition described these ice formations as “exquisitely beautiful” and I can say the same from some limited personal experience, as well as from pictures and video.  The ability of nature to create such detailed, geometrically perfect, and in some cases grand structures of ice and snow is something to behold.