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Articles & Interviews

Sciencepoles articles look at key findings from a range of polar science and research fields. Our articles RSS feed will inform you when new articles are published on this website.

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    Steven Goderis: Collecting Meteorites in Antarctica with JARE 51

    21.12.2009

    Antarctica is not only a valuable place to conduct research about the Earth, its climate and its geological history; it's also a good place to learn more about our solar system and its history. The massive ice sheet covering Antarctica and the continent's relative isolation from human development make it…

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    CHINARE 26

    08.12.2009

    Following its coverage of the 25th Chinese National Antarctic Research Expedition (CHINARE 25), SciencePoles caught up with Chinese Arctic and Antarctic Administration (CAA), to hear about the goals of the 26th CHINARE expedition and China's future polar research plans, including the construction of a new research ice breaker.

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    DAMOCLES Scientists Convene in Brussels

    17.11.2009

    From the 10th to the 12th of November 2009, the DAMOCLES (Developing Arctic Modeling and Observing Capabilities for Long-term Environmental Studies) project held a symposium in Brussels, Belgium. The symposium gathered more than 150 scientists involved in the EU-funded research project so they could debate and discuss the results of…

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    Examining Indigenous Sea Ice Knowledge and Use

    05.10.2009

    For many indigenous communities that have lived in the Arctic for millennia, sea ice has been an integral part of their living environment. As a place where they have spent a significant part of their lives hunting, fishing and even dwelling on the ice, the intimate understanding of sea ice…

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    Princess Elisabeth Antarctica: A Marvel of Sustainable Development

    06.03.2009

    On February 15th, 2009, the Brussels-based International Polar Foundation (IPF) officially inaugurated the new Princess Elisabeth Antarctica Station, the very first Antarctic research station ever designed and built to run entirely on renewable solar and wind energies.The new "zero emission" Belgian research station is the only research platform completed during…

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Latest Pictures

  • The JARE-51/BELARE-SAMBA meteorite search program recovered a possible ureilite of 150-200 g (here next to a Gundam scale model of ~12 cm high). This rare type of meteorite is an achondrite (a stony meteorite from the mantle of a different planetoid), only known through similar Antarctic meteorite recovery programs.
  • Another view on the possible ureilite, in the field it is very difficult to distinguish from more common types of meteorite, such as ordinary chondrites. Ureilites are the third rarest type of meteorite after aubrites and diogenites.
  • Although a rather inauspicious specimen on first looks, this fragment is an iron meteorite originating from the deep core of a former small planet. The fusion crust is not as black as found for other meteorites, while the density is a lot higher.
  • Frontal view on the Shirase, the Japanese icebreaker that transported our team from Australia to Crown Bay, Antarctica where the journey to the eastern Sør Rondane Mountains began.
  • Meteorites and the traps in which they are caught are generally widespread in the Antarctic. To get the highest recovery, snow mobiles are used. For this mission, generally a V-shaped formation was applied with 15 to 25 m between each member of the search party. In this way, the explored surface area can easily reach 15 km2 per day.
  • Two pieces of a fragmented meteorite, exposed to the air long enough to be weathered and broken.

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Featured lately

The VICTOR ROV (Remotely Operated Vehicle) being deployed from the R/V POLARSTERN to study corals in the North Atlantic.

UN Convention on Biological Diversity Secretariat Discusses Ocean Acidification

The world’s oceans are a natural sink for carbon dioxide, both organically and inorganically.

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