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United States Antarctic Program The Antarctic Sun - Sunset at McMurdo Station
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A ridge in the Transantarctic Mountains where the Permian-Triassic extinction boundary is evident. Matthew Saltzman and colleagues spent five weeks in the region collecting samples to see if they can find clues as to what caused a mass extinction 250 million years ago. Photo Courtesy: Matthew Saltzman
A ridge in the Transantarctic Mountains where the Permian-Triassic extinction boundary is evident. Matthew Saltzman and colleagues spent five weeks in the region collecting samples to see if they can find clues as to what caused a mass extinction 250 million years ago. Photo Courtesy: Matthew Saltzman

Photo Credit: Peter Rejcek Byrd Polar Research Center
Byrd Polar Research Center was established shortly after the International Geophysical Year in 1960 as the Institute of Polar Studies at The Ohio State University. Its missions and focus have evolved over the years, but its commitment to broadening our knowledge of the polar regions has remained constant.

Four New York Air National Guard ski-equipped LC-130s sit on the sea ice runway. The planes are the workhorses of the U.S. Antarctic Program, and the star of a year-long exhibit and program at Proctors Theatre in Schenectady, N.Y., to promote the Guard's mission in Antarctica. Photo Credit: Jordan Dickens/Antarctic Photo Library Reaching out
The New York Air Natural Guard began a yearlong engagement at Proctors Theatre in Schenectady, N.Y., in August to raise public awareness about its mission in the U.S. Antarctic Program, as well as draw attention to the ongoing International Polar Year (IPY).

Photo Credit: Chad Carpenter/Antarctic Photo Library 48-Hour Film Festival
Entertainment can be hard to come by in Antarctica. Those spending the winter on the continent are participating in an international film competition sponsored by McMurdo Station to not only amuse themselves but foster community among nations.

In December 2006, Allan Ashworth picks through a pile of shale looking for fossils and other evidence of a tundra environment that he and others believe disappeared in the McMurdo Dry Valleys about 14 million years ago. Their findings were recently published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Photo Credit: Peter Rejcek Warmer continent
National Science Foundation-funded scientists working in an ice-free region of Antarctica have discovered the last traces of tundra - in the form of fossilized plants and insects - on the interior of the southernmost continent before temperatures began a relentless drop millions of years ago.

Site Curator: Peter Rejcek, Raytheon Polar Services | NSF Official: Winifred Reuning, OPP | Last Updated: 10/26/2007
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