Images of

ANTARCTICA

Barne Glacier

Photos © 2002 Seth White

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This is the Barne Glacier, which flows off the slopes of Mount Erebus about 15 miles north of McMurdo, just up from Cape Evans. Here are various pictures of the glacier taken during sea ice safety training, which I took in November. We drove around the sea ice in a Hagglund and learned about the sea ice dynamics, dangerous areas, different types of cracks and their formation, and how to drill and measure sea ice cracks. Along the way, we stoppd at the Barne Crack, which is a very active crack each year. This crack is between Cape Evans and Cape Royds, and becomes a dangerous spot later in the year as it gets larger. However when we arrived it was not that big, and the ice on either side was thick enough for us to walk across it. We also walked right up to the base of the glacier, which was a damn impressive sight.

Another picture of the glacier and crack.
Glacier and crack again. Unfortunately, the lighting wasn't so great on this particular day. On a brigher day, the deep blue of this old ice would have come through better. However, you still can get an idea of just how deep this color is. At a distance, you don't see this color. But up close it's unbelievable.
A picture of the sheer cliff face of the glacier, and the deep blue color. People tend to think of Antarctica as a white continent. It's not. Blue is the dominant color. The glacier ice, sea ice, and icebergs are all shades of blue, the sea water is blue, the sky is blue, and the reflection of the sky off the snow tinges even the whitest snow fields a soft blue. The ice of the Barne Glacier is very old, and is probably the richest, most beautiful shade of blue I've seen here.
I took a couple pics to show then entire view of the glacier front. Kind of a hackish job, since I used 'auto' mode and the camera adjusted exposure on each pic. But you get the idea....it's big. A panorama of the glacier as seen from Cape Evans is here (the pictures on this page were taken at the far left tip of the glacier).
A series of horizontal pictures of the glacier here.
Horizontal view #2
Horizontal view #3. I decided to take a few pics through this guy's sunglasses....
Horizontal view #4
The south edge of the glacier front, looking more-or-less toward Cape Evans. When I visited the Cape Evans hut, I didn't see what the big deal was about the Barne Glacier. People had told me it was incredible, but from a distance you don't see the real beauty of it. The crags and colors in the ice are best seen up close.
Another view of the south edge.
Me, with the dumb sunglasses tint. These didn't turn out as well as I'd hoped.
A vertical view of the glacier face. It's easily 100 ft high.
And another.