Ruffles have ridges

I've sent out quite a few lifestyle blogs recently, so I thought I'd return to some of the beauty that surrounds this continent today. Pressure ridges. When ice bodies collide with each other, they form pressure ridges where the ice is forced up into the air to alleviate the pressure. Two days ago, I went to a pressure ridge tour at Scott Base (the local Kiwi base). In fact, it is the only base we can get to without flying hundreds of miles.

Pressure ridges (photo by Kevin O'Connell)

At Scott Base, the Ross Glacier is coming off the continent to crash into the sea ice that resides in McMurdo sound. The glacier moves about a meter a day so the ridges are changing each and everyday. The tour guides say they can notice substantial changes from one day to the next. We are only allowed to take a tour out to the pressure ridges because some moron from a few years ago thought it would be a good idea to harass the seals that were pulled out of the water over there. Consequently, the Kiwis only let us (the Americans) come over in official tour groups. Where is this guy and how about we sick some starved leopard seals on him since he enjoys wildlife so much?

Pressure ridges (photo by Kevin O'Connell)

Kevin O'Connell, who took the two pictures above, is a phenomenal photographer. My photos were all overexposed. I wasn't in the mood to get my camera adjusted right and quite simply, it shows. I need to take a class on this stuff so I can do less figuring out and more taking pictures.

After the pressure ridge tour, I stuck around Scott Base for trivia night. My team brought it all home. We won our choice of key chains, lanyards, and candy. I took the candy. Yum yum.