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Aerial view of a field camp on Pine Island Glacier Ice Shelf.
Aerial view of a field camp on Pine Island Glacier Ice Shelf.

Slender tubes await slivers of ice that are being processed in the National Ice Core Laboratory at the Federal Center in Lakewood, Colorado. Faithful Reproduction
The National Ice Core Laboratory reopened for business once again in May to prepare about 280 meters of ice drilled from a lonely, snowy region of West Antarctica for analysis by U.S. scientists studying past climate change.

A satellite image first captured in March and released this month by NASA shows the disintegrating Wilkins Ice Shelf. Bits and Pieces
A satellite image released this month by NASA shows the disintegrating Wilkins Ice Shelf is still shedding icebergs five years after news broke that a major collapse was first under way. The most recent break-up is likely not due to climate change, according to a leading scientist.

Research assistant Marty Hynes works on getting FATTI ready for deployment down a hole through the sea ice into McMurdo Sound. Predator and Prey
There are few places left in the world where the big predators still naturally dominate their ecosystem. Except perhaps one: The Ross Sea is still relatively pristine. Its intact marine food web offers ecologists an opportunity to challenge scientific orthodoxy about ecosystem structure.

Two Type B killer whales eye a Weddell seal for lunch. Type C Personality
If Captain Ahab of Moby Dick literary fame had been a scientist, it might have been an orca and not a sperm whale that drove him to madness. Not because of some antagonistic relationship, but because killer whales have proven to be a tricky animal to study.

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Site Curator: Peter Rejcek | NSF Official: Winifred Reuning, OPP | Last Updated:  Friday - 6/14/2013
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