Photo Courtesy: Ted Scambos/NSIDC

A team of glaciologists associated with the multidisciplinary LARISSA (LARsen Ice Shelf System, Antarctica) project is headed back to the Antarctic Peninsula this month to repair equipment left on several glaciers meant to track changes in the region after the disintegration of the Larsen B Ice Shelf  in 2002. The three scientists, led by Ted Scambos with the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) , will also dig out an instrument left on an ice ridge in February 2010 that has nearly been buried by snow, including a 10-meter-tall tower. The LARISSA project, funded by the National Science Foundation , was a land- and sea-based expedition that took place over two months during the 2009-10 field season. Despite challenging conditions — from extensive sea ice to whiteout blizzards — the researchers recovered a record ice core and probed the ocean depths, finding rich sea life and troubling signs that climate change is inviting invasive species to Antarctica. In the picture above, members of the Scambos' team deploy instruments on Flask Glacier during the 2009-10 season.

Follow the adventures of Scambos, NSIDC scientist Jennifer Bohlander, and University of Alaska-Fairbanks  researcher Martin Truffer at the NSIDC On Thin Ice blog .