McMurdo Station, Antarctica

Mount Erebus and Castle Rock,  Antarctica

"The land looks like a fairytale." - Roald Amundsen

A small volcanic Island in the South Pacific hosts the planet’s southern most harbor  Its peer is made of ice, literally. The floating ice peer at McMurdo Station is tethered to volcanic debris emitted by a hot spot in the Earth’s crust. The culmination of this hot spot – Mount Erebus – rises 12,448 feet out of the Ross Sea.

McMurdo Station, Antarctic

In 1841 Sir James Clark Ross piloted the HMS Erebus south through the thick ring of pack ice that partitions the Ross Sea from the Southern Ocean. In doing so Ross discovered the southern most navigable waters on Earth. Today, these southern waters are home to McMurdo Station, the primary access point for scientific investigation of McMurdo Sound, the Transantarctic Mountains, West Antarctica and the Geographic South Pole.

Erebus the Ship and Erebus the Mountain

Illustration by Joseph Hooker

Erebus is the primeval Greek God of darkness and the son of Chaos. According to mythology the mists of Erebus envelope the edges of the world. Constructed of both fire and ice, Mount Erebus is a fitting name for the mighty volcano guarding the primary gateway to Earth’s frozen underworld.

Time Lapse Video of Ship Offload by Anthony Powell

Every summer since 1955, ships have supplied McMurdo Station with food, fuel, and equipment. These provisions support a population of over 200 people in the winter and over 1,000 in the summer. Some of the supplies are flown even deeper into the Antarctic.

A ski-equipped LC-130 Hercules, Siple Dome, West Antarctica

McMurdo Station is the supply depot for the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station and a multitude of seasonal research camps. These stations and camps support a variety of cutting edge scientific research. Notable research projects include: detecting the existence of sub-atomic particles called neutrinos; a study of a the earth's ozone hole; collecting ice cores that contain a record of the earth’s climate; and the search for unknown life forms that for millions of years have been isolated under the Antarctic Ice Sheet.

David Ainley describes the ecology of the Ross Sea 

The open water and seasonal sea ice of the McMurdo Sound and the Ross Sea also provide the southern most habitats for a variety of wildife. Surrounding McMurdo Station are healthy populations of Adelie penguins, Emperor penguins, Skua, Weddell Seals, Crabeater seals, Orcas, Minke whales and Antarctic cod or toothfish.

"To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield."

Scott’s Memorial Cross, Observation Hill, Antarctica

Operation Deep Freeze or the United States Antarctic Program is not the first outfit to use Ross Island as a base Antarctic exploration. A century earlier, in preparation for attempts to reach the South Pole, three expeditions, led by Captain Robert Falcon Scott and Sir Ernest Henry Shackleton, spent their winters on Ross Island. Having weathered a century of frozen gales, Scott’s Memorial Cross still stands in front of a surreal backdrop of ice, rock and sky.

The Heroic Age of Exploration, physical geography, and science dominate discussions of Antarctica. Often overlooked are the few thousand people that populate the Earth's frozen underworld. Through this eclectic and inspiring group of scientists, explorers, and enthusiasts the wonders of Antarctica are experienced, appreciated, and celebrated.