Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- Acknowledgements
- 1 Earth, the icy planet
- 2 The glacier family
- 3 Birth, growth and decay of glaciers
- 4 Fluctuating glaciers
- 5 Ice on the move
- 6 Nature's conveyor belt
- 7 Ice and water
- 8 Antarctica: the icy continent
- 9 Glaciers and volcanoes
- 10 Shaping the landscape
- 11 Glaciers and wildlife
- 12 Benefits of glaciers
- 13 Glacier hazards
- 14 Living and travelling on glaciers
- 15 Earth's glacial record
- 16 Postscript: future prospects of glaciers
- Glossary
- Select bibliography
- Location index
- Subject Index
14 - Living and travelling on glaciers
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 29 March 2011
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- Acknowledgements
- 1 Earth, the icy planet
- 2 The glacier family
- 3 Birth, growth and decay of glaciers
- 4 Fluctuating glaciers
- 5 Ice on the move
- 6 Nature's conveyor belt
- 7 Ice and water
- 8 Antarctica: the icy continent
- 9 Glaciers and volcanoes
- 10 Shaping the landscape
- 11 Glaciers and wildlife
- 12 Benefits of glaciers
- 13 Glacier hazards
- 14 Living and travelling on glaciers
- 15 Earth's glacial record
- 16 Postscript: future prospects of glaciers
- Glossary
- Select bibliography
- Location index
- Subject Index
Summary
Life and movement on glaciers offer a number of challenges that are outside the experience of most people. Solutions depend on whether the activity is in the accumulation area, and so prone to build-up of snow, or in the ablation area, where melting down of the ice surface may be a problem. In this chapter we first describe the glaciological aspects of an early overland journey to the South Pole, as this gives a flavour of what it is like to travel across the world's largest ice mass. We then take a more thematic approach by looking at the dangers of glacier travel, and then review the various modes of transport including walking, skiing, dog-sledging, motorized travel and flying. Lastly, we explore the ways in which people live on the glacier surface today, whether it be simple camping or in semi-permanent research stations.
A classic polar journey
The ‘Heroic Age of Polar Exploration’ of the period 1890–1914 saw the first serious attempts to explore the Antarctic Ice Sheet and assess its scientific significance. One of the most stunning journeys was undertaken by Sir Ernest Shackleton's 1908–1909 British expedition. One of Shackleton's goals was to reach the then unconquered South Pole, and he actually pioneered what has become the principal overland route to the Pole.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Glaciers , pp. 271 - 302Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2004