Concordia film available from CNRS

During the 2007-2008 summer campaign at Concordia, a team from CNRS-Images filmed a number of the experiments being carried out on the site in the fields of glaciology, astronomy and seismology. The images have now been edited into a 34-minute documentary available directly from CNRS.

The seismology sequences were shot during the field installation of the CASE01 prototype station, and during our descent into the seismic vault (see the Seismology in the Freezer post). Watching the film made the whole experience come back to JY and me very vividly indeed.

The film is entirely in French (no dubbing or subtitles). Here is my translation of the film description:

The French-Italian station Concordia sits in the heart of the Antarctic plateau, on the site of Dome C, and at an altitude of 3233 meters of which more than 3200 meters are made of ice. It is a unique place, totally devoted to sciences. The 3270 meter ice-core project Epica permitted the decryption of up to 800 000 years of past climate. Other activities are in development at the site. The CNRS-Images team has followed the astronomers and the seismologists during their labors. At the start of February, the doors of Concordia will close to the summer technicians and researchers. Only 13 over-winterers will remain, both French and Italian. They will be there almost 10 months, far from everything, out of time, in this world of extremes.

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Shock Waves - the documentary

Shock Waves, is a 46-minute Emmy nominated documentary film, made to commemorate the centenary of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. It is available to be viewed online on the USGS website (a decent internet connection is required).

The documentary includes historical footage, computer animations and interviews with earthquake scientists and engineers. It explains how the 1906 event spurred the birth of modern day seismology, and gives details on what we have learned since then, and what we hope to learn from current seismological experiments.

This is one of the best earthquake documentaries I have seen yet. It has received recognition as an outstanding documentary in the 2006 Telly awards.

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Antarctic Sea Ice Video

Antarctica is covered in land-ice, and surrounded by a skirt of sea-ice. This latter is not stable, but grows, shrinks and moves throughout the year.

The following is a video published by SCAR (Scientific Committee for Antarctic Research). It shows two full cycles of Antarctic sea-ice growth, compiled from satellite observations.

Antarctic Sea Ice 1994-1995

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Antarctica : Top 10 videos

How to tell the story of Antarctica? Some use words, others images, yet others videos. Here is my Top 10 selection of videos depicting Antarctica (descriptions are those of the original video postings):

1. Antarctica Time Lapse: A Year on Ice - Time-lapse video filmed in Antarctica, in and around McMurdo Station and Scott Base.
2. Antarctique - En suivant les traces... - Winner of the prize "GLACON D'OR 2007" at the NUITS POLAIRES amateur film competition (Paris le 18 février 2007).
3. Antarctica Condition 1 Weather - Filmed at McMurdo Station, where it is relatively sheltered by the surrounding hills. The weather down here is classified as being Condition 3 (nice weather), Condition 2 (not so nice), or Condition 1...
4. Aurora Australis - The Southern Lights - Time-lapse footage of the Aurora Australis, or Southern Lights. This is the Southern Hemisphere equivalent of the Aurora Borealis or Northern Lights.
5. Volomania - An extract from the film "Antartide 2002", depicting an adventurous trip on the Antarctic Peninsula.
6. Antarctica in 5 minutes - From Elephant Island to the Antarctic Circle.
7. Antarctica: A Flying Tour of the Frozen Continent - Narrated tour of Antarctica through the eyes of RADARSAT. Credits: NASA Goddard Scientific Visualzation Laboratory.
8. Dive Antarctica - Summary video of Dive Antarctica trip 2006
9. Diving Under the Ice - The Exploratorium's Mary Miller dives under the ice in Antarctica!
10. South Pole Station Tour - Visit Antarctica with a guided tour of the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station, directed by researchers working on the South Pole Telescope

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Antarctic WebCams

Many of the Antarctic research stations have webcams showing the current conditions. Here is alist of some I have found.

• Casey web cam
• Concordia web cam and meteorological report
• Davis web cam
• Mawson web cam
• Scott Base web cam
• South Pole web cam

Most of the images will be dark at this time of year. Follow along as the sun starts returning, and we move inexorably away from midwinter towards the Antarctic summer.

Links to most of these web-cams are available at www.webcam-index.com.


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Aurora time-lapse photography

Anthony Powell, the time-lapse photographer whose work I've already plugged in a previous post (Great Antarctic time-lapse photography) has struck again.

He was back in Antarctica (for his wedding), and during a short visit to Scott base recently shot more time-lapse footage of the Antarctic Aurora. This footage is truly spectacular, well done Anthony!

I encourage you all to read the original, detailed Aurora Australis post on the Antarctic conservation blog to find out more...

Great Antarctic time-lapse photography

If you want a glimpse of what life on an Antarctic base can be like, do watch this fantastic time-lapse photography video by Antzartica on YouTube. It was filmed in and around McMurdo Station and Scott Base, and is divided in two sections, summer and winter. Highlights are the preparation of a runway (summer section), and the southern lights (winter section).

If you know of other great Antarctic videos, especially any set on the Plateau or in Corcordia, please let me know (write a comment), and I'll try to include them in this blog.