JR224: Chemosynthetic life in the Antarctic
JR224 |
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Cruise diary
Wednesday 21 January 2009
Location: Transit to East Scotia Ridge (54º18.32'S, 37º44.54'W)
Icebergs...
Today we have been in transit towards the main exploration area, which is on the north end of the East Scotia Ridge. The weather has been very calm and foggy. We could not see South Georgia Island...but a surprise was waiting for us in the afternoon: icebergs! As we were crossing the edge of the self, where the continental margin's inclination increases significantly – so depth increases rapidly – we saw many small icebergs and some big ones. What we see of an iceberg from a ship is only the small tip that is above the water...90% of the iceberg is submerged under water! Because of this, the large icebergs get stuck on the shelf and accumulate over time, which is why there were so many in this region. There were also chin-strapped penguins swimming around us...today was very spectacular!
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Icebergs ahoy! |
Penguin checks out the ship |
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