SUSANREATON.COM

At a Glance

2012-05-18T18:31:01Z

Susan is a geologist, geophysicist, journalist and 'extreme' snorkeler with an intense curiosity about planetary processes, the marine environment, climate change and global sustainability issues.

A member of the New York Explorers Club, Susan's exploration interests have evolved from her scientific, environmental and journalistic backgrounds which flow together seamlessly on a continuum. She's incorporated the sciences of geology and geophysics into field work being conducted on climate change around the world, with a particular interest and focus on polar regions. An extreme snorkeler, her area of interest — and expertise — is exploring the planet from the water-air-land interface which provides a unique window to investigate the flora and fauna of the planet's largely unexplored oceans and adjacent land masses.

Susan returns to Antarctica in February 2012, participating in the International Antarctic Expedition (IAE) which focuses on climate change, renewable energy and global sustainability issues. Led by Robert Swan, OBE, the IAE 2012 includes a Leadership on the Edge Program, designed to promote team work in harsh conditions and to create environmental educators at the personal, corporate, community and country levels. Robert Swan, OBE, the first man to walk (unassisted) to both the South and North Pole. In November 2012, Swan will make history again, by walking to the South Pole, supported solely by solar and wind power.

As a public speaker, Susan conveys the excitement and romance of modern-day polar exploration, delivering multi-media presentations to diverse audiences for educational and awareness purposes. On May 19, 2012, Susan will present "A Geoscientist in Antarctica: Following in Shackleton's Footsteps One Hundred Years Later," at the Houston Museum of Natural Science's IMAX Theatre. Hosted by the Houston Geological Society, her presentation will reach an audience comprised of school children, university students, the general public and geoscientists.

As a geologist and geophysicist, Susan has developed a successful career in the Canadian energy sector, attaining the position of Vice President of Exploration in several junior oil and gas companies. Known for her business acumen, she's been listed in the Who's Who of Canadian Women Directory. Through her wholly owned consultancy, SR ECO Consultants Inc., Susan works as a geoscientist, consulting to the Canadian, American and international petroleum and financial sectors on oil and gas exploration and production, environmental risk assessments, media relations and acquisitions and divestitures.

Equipped with degrees in biology, geology, geophysics and journalism, Susan began her broadcasting career in 1987, as a television reporter with CBC-TV. Since then, she's successfully blended her scientific and journalistic skills to tell stories which, she believes, engages the reader in the natural world around us. A member of the Canadian Science Writers' Association, she specializes in reporting on science and technology, business, oil and gas, renewable energy, the environment, ecotourism and extreme snorkeling. Susan contributes regularly to several Canadian and American magazines and publications, including newspapers. Her articles and photographs have been published in Alberta Oil, New Technology Magazine, Enviroline, Popular Mechanics, the Calgary Herald, the Edmonton Journal, the Vancouver Sun, Business Edge News Magazine, EXPLORER Magazine, The PEG and the Financial Post.

Susan's essays about her extreme snorkeling adventures describe appropriate and respectful interactions with marine life, and investigate the environmental challenges facing these fragile ecosystems. And, as far as snorkeling goes, she confirms that snorkeling in Antarctica and South Georgia — in a gin-and-tonic ice mix with Leopard seals, top predators in the Southern Ocean — is as 'extreme' as it gets...

In 2010, Susan's exploration interests took her to Antarctica and South Georgia where she participated — as an explorer, geoscientist and journalist — in the Elysium Visual Epic Expedition. Headed by Michael AW, Fellow of the Explorers Club, Elysium carried the Explorer Club Flag #108 which was unfurled on Elephant Island, a desolate piece of rock and glacier where Sir Ernest Shackleton's crew were stranded, in 1916, for four months. Elysium's mission was to study climate change and to document, scout and record the flora and fauna — both above and below the water — of this last remaining frontier.

Involved in the grassroots conservation movement since 1990, Susan sits on the board of directors of the southern Alberta chapter of the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society, a not-for-profit environmental organization. Whether participating in a Spanish-speaking Outward Bound School for environmentalists in the jungles of Costa Rica or climbing 300 feet into the old growth rainforest canopy of Carmanah Valley on Vancouver Island, Susan has always had an up-close-and-personal relationship with the wild spaces — and animals who call them home — that she's committed to protecting.

In recognition of Susan's twenty years of environmental leadership in Canada, she was selected an Olympic Torch relay runner for the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Dispatch Number Ten

2012-05-18T18:30:42Z

Date: February 29, 2012

Place: Martial Glacier, Ushuaia, Tierra del Fuego, Argentina

Antarctica: Dispatch Number Ten

International Antarctic Expedition 2012 members arrive in Ushuaia.
The rounded cirques and glaciers of the Martial Range dominate the background.
Photo courtesy of 2041 (IAE 2012)

February 29
54° 47' South and 68° 24' West
MARTIAL GLACIER, USHUAIA, TIERRA DEL FUEGO, ARGENTINA

The morning dawned clear and cold. Relieved that the rain had stopped sometime during the night, I glanced out my hotel room window, reflecting upon what to wear for the morning's outdoor activity. My eyes immediately ran to the top of the Martial Glacier — we were scheduled to climb it this morning, in a team-building exercise — which towered imperiously above the Hotel del Glacier. As I watched a skiff of snow blow off the ice capped cirques — five of them nestled shoulder to shoulder, from left to right — I concluded, as I often did, that: "More clothing is always better."

There was a buzz of excitement as the climbing teams gathered in the hotel lobby to test their newly-honed mountaineering skills. For two days, Jason Flesher and his team of mountaineering specialists with the International Antarctic Expedition (IAE) 2012 had run us through exercises and drills — from tying knots in ropes to walking tied together with ropes.

That morning, our team of nine worked together, methodically assembling its gear.

Climbing ropes, carabiners, web harnesses configured with knots to hold fast in the event of a fall. Check.

Water bottles. Check.

Gloves, hats and neck scarves. Check.

Layers, layers, layers. Check.

Although I gave it my best shot — and then some — I simply couldn't master tying the knots needed to fashion my climbing harness. Luckily, I had extremely patient team members who performed this task for me. I attributed my inability to tie the knots, in large part, to being left-handed and to viewing the spatial world differently. Even as a child, I explained to my team members, I had never mastered the art of knitting or crocheting. I'm not certain, however, that my team mates bought my explanation...

Suitably outfitted, our team made its way up the steep mountainside, past cascading creeks lined with moss and rocks painted with lichens. Apart from some learning pains — early in the hike, our progress resembled the push-pull of an accordion as we walked, single file and tied together — the group did fabulously on this strenuous hike.

Our team was comprised of members from the People's Republic of China, Taiwan, Australia, Canada, England and Korea — we spoke multiple languages and barely knew each other before the hike. Reassessing the team members' strengths and weaknesses on the fly, we ceded our individualism to the collective good of the team, in order to achieve the task at hand. And, relying upon one another, we climbed 1,000 metres, reaching the toe of the Martial Glacier, strangers no more.

The following day, we embarked on the MV Sea Spirit for Antarctica, ready to tackle the Leadership on the Edge Program, an Outward Bound-like boot camp designed by the IAE 2012 to forge leadership skills amidst the harshest environment on the planet.

February 29, 2012, dawns clear and cold. Participants in the International Antarctic Expedition 2012 practice mountaineering and team building skills on the Martial Glacier.
Video courtesy of 2041 (IAE 2012)

Geology of the Martial Glacier

The Martial Mountain Range is located in Argentina's Isla Grande de Tierra del Fuego. From downtown Ushuaia, the southernmost city in the world, hikers travel seven kilometres northwards — along a road with hairpin switch backs and past a local ski hill — to reach the Martial Glacier.

The 72-member team of the International Antarctic Expedition 2012 was staying at the Hotel del Glacier, situated high above Ushuaia with a commanding view of the Beagle Channel to the south — as such, our hiking distance to the Martial Glacier was reduced to about four kilometres.

The glacier was named after Frenchman Luís Fernando Martial, a scientist who arrived in Ushuaia, in 1882, as part of a multi-disciplinary scientific crew aboard the Romanche, a French warship. The expedition had travelled to Ushuaia to observe, in December 1882, a complete solar eclipse and the passage of Venus.

In my experience, the view from the final destination of a tough hike is always superior to the view climbing up, especially when one is preoccupied with securely planting one foot in front of the other. As I stood at the toe of the Martial Glacier and looked southwards, across the Beagle Channel towards Chile, my thought process switched from that of hiker to geologist, and I was struck by what I saw.

Sophie Pieters-Hawke, my Australian climbing team mate, asked me to give an impromptu lesson on geology and glaciology.

From my vantage point, standing beneath the receding glacier, I observed the narrow, U-shaped the valley that we'd just climbed. On opposite sides of the valley, I identified lateral moraines of crushed rock, debris and soil that were neatly piled — akin to a precise backhoe excavation — in long ribbons extending down the valley walls. And, at the bottom of the valley, close to Ushuaia and the Beagle Channel, were piles of rock debris which, in all likelihood, had been carried down slope by the Martial Glacier.

In other words, the Martial Glacier was "text-book" in its glacial architecture.

In 2011, Gustavo Gabriel Bujalesky of the Centro Austral de Investigaciones Ceintificas in Ushuaia, published a paper entitled "The Flood of the Beagle Channel Valley (11,000 YR BP), Tierra del Fuego" in the Anales Instituto Patagonia (Chile), 2011, 39 (1):5:21.

According to Bujalesky, the Tierra del Fuego area has been covered by glaciers for the past 1.90 million years. The last quaternary glacial maximum (or heyday) occurred 20,000 to 25,000 B.P. (before present), and extended over an area — including the Martial Mountain Range — that measured 200 kilometres long, 10 kilometres wide and 1.4 kilometres thick.

During the last glaciation, some 25,000 years ago, the Beagle Channel was completely covered by ice, and, from a bird's eye view, only the highest mountain peaks, including the Martial Range, would have poked their noses through the 1.4-kilometre-thick ice sheet.

According to Bujalesky, a significant mass of ice disappeared between 14,700 and 12,700 years ago, causing what is today's Beagle Channel to morph into a five kilometre-wide valley filled with peat bogs and fluvial streams carrying rock and debris from the remnants of melting glaciers. Continued melting of the ice caps resulted in sea level rise, and, around 11,000 years ago, the east-west trending Beagle Valley was flooded by the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, forming the Beagle Channel.

Fast forward to today, and the continued melting of the Isla Grande de Tierra del Fuego ice sheet has reduced the Martial Glacier to a mere remnant of its past glory. During the past two hundred years, the effects of climate change have accelerated the rate of melt at the Martial Glacier.

Susan R. Eaton, geologist and geophysicist, gives an impromptu geology lesson at the Martial Glacier, Ushuaia, Tierra del Fuego, Argentina.
Video filmed, produced and narrated by Sophie Pieters-Hawke. Edited by Susan R. Eaton.

Location of the Martial Glacier, Ushuaia, Tierra del Fuego, Argentina

DISPATCH NUMBER NINE

2012-05-15T17:38:36Z

Date: March 6, 2012

Place: Western Antarctic Peninsula

Antarctica: Dispatch Number Nine

Robert Swan, OBE, and Paras Loomba showcase the renewable energy technology
that powered the TEDxAntarcticPeninsula event at Paradise Harbour.
Image courtesy of 2041 (International Antarctic Expedition 2012)

March 6
64° 53' South and 62° 52' West
PARADISE HARBOUR, WESTERN ANTARCTICA PENINSULA

Renewable Reality TEDxAntarcticPeninsula: Susan R. Eaton speaks about "One Hundred Years of Geoscience in Antarctica"

After viewing the videos of the TEDxAntarcticPeninsula outdoor event, a friend from England asked a very simple question: "Where did you plug in the microphone?"

A very good question indeed!

According to Darren McGann, TEDx Organizer and International Antarctic Expedition 2012 Team Leader, not only was this the first standard TEDx event held on the continent of Antarctica – it was the first outdoor TEDx event to be solely powered by renewable energy.

The sound system and microphone were connected to batteries powered by solar panels – tapping the sun's energy, the International Antarctic Expedition 2012 proved that if this can be done in Antarctica, it can be done anywhere in the world.

Held on March 6, 2012, in the last remaining wilderness on Earth, the TEDxAntarcticPeninsula's purpose was to engage, inspire, and share ideas to address the world's most pressing challenges. Entitled "Renewable Reality," the event featured ten speakers (me included) who discussed their visions of a renewable reality for the future.

Surrounded by the towering glaciers of Paradise Harbour, the International Antarctic Expedition 2012 Participants – 72 team member and 10 team leaders from 22 nations – improvised by sitting on rubber mats on the snow.

The TED motto, "ideas worth sharing," was alive and well at Paradise Harbour in the Western Antarctic Peninsula. The speakers shared their visions of a renewable reality – changing the world through positive leadership for a sustainable future – and inspired the listeners to take action when they returned home.

Robert Swan, OBE, is the founder of "2041," an organization dedicated to protecting Antarctica and to reducing the world's carbon footprint by promoting a global energy mix of renewable energy, biofuels and fossil fuels. Through 2041's International Antarctic Expeditions, Swan has brought more than 1,000 people to Antarctica during the past decade – students, educators, industry leaders, environmentalists, scientists, media, and other stakeholders – who return home to implement sustainability solutions at the school, community, university, corporate and governmental levels.

A TEDx speaker, Robert Swan described how the story of Robert Falcon Scott – and his failed race to the Geographic South Pole in 1912 – captivated his childhood imagination, setting him on his life-long personal journey of polar exploration. Almost to the day, one hundred years ago, Scott and his team were entering their final last march. They'd been beatten to the South Pole by Norwegian Roald Amundsen, and died of frostbite and starvation, 11 miles from safety. Swan encouraged the IAE 2012 participants and viewers around the world, to be positive, and to move from words to action.

Paras Loomba, a clean technology engineer with National Instruments India, set up the state-of-the-art solar panels to power the TEDx AntarcticPeninsula event. Loomba, one of the TEDx speakers, delivered a presentation entitled "Sustainable Energy Model Lighting Up Lives." Loomba described replacing kerosene oil and wood, in Indian villages, with LED systems powered by solar energy. He's improving peoples' lives by lighting up villages at a cost of $2 or $3 per month.

Solan Jensen, a native of Alaska and guide with Quark Expeditions, delivered a banjo and singing performance, entitled "Vital Mental Medicine," which was riveting. The banjo has featured, historically, in Antarctic exploration – during Sir Ernest Shackleton's Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition of 1914-1917, the banjo was one of the few items that Shackleton afforded his men when the Endurance sank.

"We must have that banjo if we lose all of our food, it's vital mental medicine," said Shackleton of the merits of music on Antarctic expeditions.

Historians note, however, that Leonard Hussey was a better meteorologist than he was a banjo player, and that Shackleton's men tried, in vain, to teach Hussey new songs.

Cameron Kerr, a first lieutenant and platoon leader in the United States 101st Airborne Division, lost his leg to an IED during a dismounted reconnaissance patrol in Afghanistan. Lieutenant Kerr, awarded the Purple Heart Medal for injuries sustained while protecting a fellow soldier, spoke of his renewed lease on life – after the amputation below the knee – and of how his life had changed for the better, in ways he never could have predicted. In April, Kerr ran the Boston Marathon, raising money to send another individual from the U.S. Army Wounded Warrior Program on the 2013 IAE and establishing a new military tradition.

Mohamed Shinaz Saeed of the Maldives, made an impassioned speech – short and succinct – telling the audience that if sea level were to rise just one meter, his island nation would disappear below the waves. Saeed told the audience that the Maldives will be carbon neutral by 2020, and challenged other countries to follow suit. He described a better world where the people of his island nation would not become environmental refugees.

At the TEDx event, the two-man team from the Netherlands, Joost Notenboom and Michiel Roodenburg, dipped their bamboo bicycles into the Southern Ocean, and spoke of the marathon cycle trip that took 605 days to complete. Inspired by Swan's motto, "Take Action," the two men cycled 27,300 kilometres – they had 69 flat tires along the way – from Deadhorse, Alaska, to Ushuaia, Argentina, the most southerly city in the world. Raising awareness of global water issues, they showed leadership in acting, by doing. Co-founders of Cycle for Water, a not-for-profit organization, they presented their talk entitled "From the Arctic to the Antarctic on Bamboo Bicycles." Who would have known that bamboo bicycles were so strong...

Susan R. Eaton's TEDx talk was entitled "One Hundred Years of Geoscience in Antarctica." A century ago, Sir Ernest Shackleton's scientific team was comprised of geologists and geophysicists who explored Antarctica because it was there, and because it was unclaimed by any nation. During the heroic age of Antarctic exploration, geoscientists discovered volcanoes, mountain ranges, fossils, coal and minerals in this uncharted continent. And, in 1909, geoscientists in Shackleton's Nimrod Expedition planted the British flag at the Magnetic South Pole.

One hundred years later, Antarctica is still unclaimed by any nation. This mysterious continent belongs to citizens of the world and is development-free until 2041 when the Madrid Protocol, declaring it a place for peace and scientific endeavours, expires.

The world's final frontier, Antarctica represents an outstanding, outdoor laboratory to research planetary processes, including the impacts of climate change and ocean change. During the past fifty years, the Western Antarctic Peninsula has warmed 3 degrees Celsius, triggering a cascading series of geological and biological changes in this fragile ecosystem which have global implications.

Today, geoscientists explore Antarctica, not because it's there, but because it might not be there – in its icebound majesty – in the future.

TEDxAntarcticPeninsula was held in the Western Antarctic Peninsula, the wildest place on the planet and a place that has experienced the greatest warming (due to climate change) on the planet. As such, it was a perfect venue to demonstrate - for participants and TEDx global viewers - that the organizers, Darren McGann and 2041.com, "walk the walk," treading lightly on the planet.

Michiel Roodenburg, co-founder of Cycle for Water, hoists his bamboo bicycle that travelled
27,300 kilometres from Deadhorse, Alaska, to Ushuaia, Argentina, and, by boat to
the Western Antarctic Peninsula.
Image courtesy of 2041 (International Antarctic Expedition 2012)

Paradise Harbour, Western Antarctic Peninsula (64° 53' South and 62° 52' West)

Come Rock With Us: Susan R. Eaton, the Houston Geological Society's Antarctic Explorer-in-Residence, presents on May 19

2012-05-09T20:18:33Z

HGS Bulletin Houston Geological Society Volume 54 Number 9 May 2012
Photo courtesy of 2041 (International Antarctic Expedition 2012)

HGS Antarctic Explorer-in-Residence Susan R. Eaton and Robert Swan of the International Antarctic Expedition 2012 pose with the Houston Geological Society's banner at Brooklyn Island, Wilhelmina Bay, Western Antarctic Peninsula. Eaton, equipped with degrees in petroleum geology, geophysics and journalism, is the HGS’ 2012 Annual Guest Night Speaker on May 19, 2012.

Swan, an Officer of the Order of the British Empire, an United Nations Environment Programme Goodwill Ambassador and a recipient of the Polar Medal, is the founder of “2041,” an organization dedicated to preserving Antarctica. 2041 marks the year that the Madrid Protocol, declaring Antarctica a place for peace and scientific endeavors, expires.

The HGS proudly sponsored Susan’s participation in the International Antarctic Expedition (IAE) 2012 in February and March. As the HGS Antarctic-Explorer-in-Residence, Susan will participate in our community outreach events in Houston.

A century ago, Sir Ernest Shackleton’s scientific teams were comprised of geologists and geophysicists who explored Antarctica because it was there, and because it was unclaimed by any nation. Today, geoscientists explore Antarctica, not because it’s there, but because it might not be there — in its icebound majesty — in the future.

Read the article published in the May 2012 issue of the Houston Geological Society Bulletin.

Brooklyn Island, Wilhelmina Bay, Antarctica (64° 39' South and 62° 01' West)

Susan R. Eaton presents 100 years of geoscientific exploration and discovery in Antarctica — May 19 & 21, Houston, TX

2012-05-07T21:04:59Z

Striking a yoga warrior pose at Salisbury Plain, South Georgia, with 300,000 of my closest
King Penguin friends cheering me on...

Susan R. Eaton, a Calgary-based geologist, geophysicist, science journalist and extreme snorkeler, has recently returned from Antarctica where she participated in the 2012 International Antarctic Expedition (IAE) led by Robert Swan, the first person in history to walk to both the North and South poles. Swan is an Officer of the Order of the British Empire, a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society and an United Nations Environment Programme Goodwill Ambassador.

The Houston Geological Society (HGS), the world's largest local geological society, was one of Susan's 2012 IAE sponsors.

On May 19, 2012, Susan is the keynote speaker at the HGS Annual Guest Night. She'll deliver a multi-media presentation, entitled "A Geoscientist in Antarctica: Following in Shackleton's Footsteps One Hundred Years Later," at the IMAX Theatre of the Houston Museum of Natural Science.

And, on May 21, 2012, Susan will deliver her Antarctic presentation to the Clear Lake Gem and Mineral Society, an active member of the greater Houston Community which supports local libraries, colleges and other educational institutions.

The International Antarctic Expedition (IAE) 2012 was comprised of 72 people from 22 nations, and included teachers, students, journalists, engineers and industry representatives from Royal Dutch Shell, BP Wind Energy, National Instruments India, Lloyds Register, Coca-Cola, NPower and KPMG. The IAE 2012 involved the Leadership on the Edge Program, an Outward Bound-like leadership course set amidst the harsh backdrop of Antarctica. Participants studied climate change, renewable energy and global sustainability issues. Addressing these weighty global issues, participants collaborated on proactive solutions to take back to their schools, universities. communities, industry associations, companies and governments.

In 2010, Susan participated — as a geoscientist, journalist and extreme snorkeler — in the Elysium Epic Visual Expedition to Antarctica and South Georgia. She joined 57 of the world's most celebrated photographers, cinematographers, scientists, educators, historians, scuba divers, musicians and artists, following in Sir Ernest Shackleton's footsteps one hundred years later. Elysium also included representatives from the National Geographic Society, the Ocean Geographic Society, the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, the University of California, Berkeley and the Australian Antarctic Division. Participants from 19 nations conducted scientific research and documented climate change and ocean change at the Bottom of the World. Susan experienced Antarctica from the unique water-air interface: while snorkeling off a gentoo penguin colony in Antarctica, she was bluff charged — not once but three times — by a 1,600-pound leopard seal, coming face-to-mask with this charismatic predator of the Southern Ocean.

During both Antarctic expeditions, Susan emphasized the key role that the disciplines of geology and geophysics play in studying climate change and ocean change in Antarctica and around the world.

You can view Susan's 2010 and 2012 dispatches, photos and videos from Antarctica on the following pages:

A curious leopard seal plays a game of hide-and-seek near an iceberg in Antarctica,
and approaches a snorkeler's camera.

Dispatch Number Eight

2012-03-17T00:43:38Z

Date: March 9, 2012

Place: Antarctica

Antarctica: Dispatch Number Eight

Brown Bluff, Western Antarctic Peninsula: Large boulders have toppled from Brown Bluff to the beach where they have been sculpted by wind, sand, ice and water.

March 9
63° 32' South and 56° 55' West
Brown Bluff, Western Antarctic Peninsula

The IAE 2012 team conducted its final and most challenging team exercise of the expedition on a glacier at Brown Bluff – under the watchful eyes of the mountaineering leaders, IAE 2012 groups comprised of roughly eight climbers navigated a glacier dissected by crevasses.

Roped together and working collaboratively, the groups’ strengths represented the sum of their diverse and unique members. Working together during the past two weeks – both in Ushuaia and the hostile Antarctic climate – had fostered trust and respect in each other, enabling team members to confront the unknown together. It’s hard to believe that – prior to the IAE 2012 – a large percentage of the team members had never experienced snow.

Geologically speaking, Brown Bluff was simply fascinating; the towering bluffs were the result of an explosive volcanic eruption under ice. I've never seen anything quite like Brown Bluff during my entire geological career. For the geoscience crowd, I've included an abstract from a 1997 article written by I.P. Skilling which aptly describes the geological genesis of Brown Bluff.

I.P. Skilling, 1997, Evolution of an englacial volcano: Brown Bluff, Antarctica; Bulletin of Volcanology, Volume 56, Numbers 6-7, Pages 573-591

Abstract

Marine shallow-water to emergent volcanoes have been described in detail, but comparable englacial centres are not well documented. Brown Bluff is a Pleistocene, shallow water, alkali basaltic volcano whose deposits were ponded within an englacial lake, enclosed by ice >400 m thick. Its evolution is divided chronologically into pillow volcano, hyalotuff cone, slope failure and hyaloclastite delta/subaerial stages. Seventeen lithofacies and five structural units (A-E) are recognised and described. The pillow volcano stage (Unit A) is similar to those of many submarine seamount volcanoes. It comprises extrusive and intrusive pillow lavas draped by slumped hyaloclastite. Units B and D define the hyalotuff cone stage, which was centred on a summit vent(s), and comprises slumped, poorly sorted hyalotuffs redeposited downslope by sediment gravity flows and ponded against an ice barrier. This stage also includes water-cooled subaerial lavas and massive hyalotuffs ponded within a crater. Cone construction was interrupted by drainage of the lake and slope failure of the northeast flank, represented by debris avalanche-type deposits (Unit C). Unit E represents the youngest stage and consists of a Gilbert-type hyaloclastite delta(s), which prograded away from a summit vent(s), and compound subaerial lavas. A second drainage episode allowed subaerial lavas to accumulate in the surrounding trough.

M/V Sea Spirit Latitude and Longitude

Hover your mouse over the marker to learn more about the location.

Position of the M/V Sea Spirit in Antarctica on March 9, 2012.

For more information about 2041, visit their blog where you'll find videos, pictures and blog posts from various participants.

Dispatch Number Seven

2012-03-14T19:33:13Z

Date: March 8, 2012

Place: Antarctica

Antarctica: Dispatch Number Seven

50-plus women took part in 2041’s International Antarctic Expedition (IAE) 2012. Susan R. Eaton (third row, left-hand side) and Angela Shaw, a Canadian who works for Shell in London, England, hold the Canadian flag.

March 8
62° 13' South and 58° 49' West
Celebrating International Women’s Day (IWD) in Antarctica

IWD celebrates the economic, political and social achievements of women past, present and future.

I was both honoured and thrilled to celebrate International Women's Day (IWD) on March 8 with the 50-plus women participating in 2041’s International Antarctic Expedition (IAE) 2012.

One hundred years ago, Sir Ernest Shackleton explored Antarctica because it was there, and because it was unclaimed by any nation. Today, Antarctica remains unclaimed by any nation, and belongs to the citizens of the world.

What a difference a hundred years makes on so many fronts – seventy percent of the IAE 2012’s team of explorers was female, originating from all parts of the planet, from both developed and developing nations. Culturally diverse and speaking a multitude of languages, the women forged a common bond amidst the harsh backdrop of Antarctica.

As women and global citizens, we travelled to the Bottom of the World to study climate change, renewable energy and global sustainability issues. During our journey of exploration and discovery, we determined that the issues facing our respective nations are very similar, and that education and awareness of global sustainability issues will lead to societal change.

Comprised of 72 people from 22 nations, the IAE 2012 Team included 14 women from the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The IAE 2012 Team also included Zeena Al Towayya, the first Omani woman to travel to Antarctica. Al Towayya is an IT professional affiliated with the Caledonian College of Engineering in the Sultanate of Oman.

The IAE 2012 Team also included another first – Sahar Al Shamrani, the first woman from Saudi Arabia to travel to Antarctica. Al Shamrani lives in Dubai where she produces in the morning show called “Good Morning Fellow Arabs” for MBC.

“By going to the southern hemisphere I am sending a message to all Arab women that nothing is impossible and also show the world what Saudis are capable of,” said Al Shamrani in an interview prior to departing for Antarctica.

The women from the Middle East were no shrinking violets – they camped overnight on the ice, hiked up mountains and across glaciers, and, on the polar plunge day, they joined the other expedition members, jumping into the frigid Antarctic waters. I was truly inspired by how these women embraced these Outward Bound-like activities, and by their signficant contributions to the IAE 2012.

The diversity of the women’s skills and backgrounds on the expedition was impressive indeed. The IAE team included teachers from the United States, India and the UAE; two climate change and sustainability experts from Shell in the United Kingdom; Captain Anna Poole from the United Kingdom who had one her legs amputated eight months ago, but that certainly doesn't define her – fitted with a prosthetic leg, Anna is in training to become a paralymic skiier; and the bureau chief from Talk Radio in the United State.

Ellen Ratner, bureau chief of New York-based Talk Radio News Service, braved snow, sleet and growling Antarctic Fur Seals, filing regular dispatches – via a hand-held satellite phone which repeatedly dropped calls – to live radio news shows in the United States and showcasing the expedition’s achievements to Americans on a daily basis.

I could go on and on, extolling the virtues of the women participants in the IAE 2012...

M/V Sea Spirit Latitude and Longitude

Hover your mouse over the marker to learn more about the location.

Position of the M/V Sea Spirit in Antarctica on March 8, 2012.

For more information about 2041, visit their blog where you'll find videos, pictures and blog posts from various participants.

Dispatch Number Six

2012-03-13T21:02:55Z

Date: March 7 and 8, 2012

Place: Antarctica

Antarctica: Dispatch Number Six

March 7
64° 44' South and 62° 37' West
Danco Island

We climbed to the top of Danco Island to enjoy a panoramic vista (isn’t every Antarctic vista panoramic?)
We saw gentoo penguins and fur seals, then went on another zodiac cruise.

This young gentoo penguin is moulting. Image courtesy of 2041 (IAE 2012).

March 7
64° 39' South and 62° 01' West
Brooklyn Island, Wilhelmina Bay

Framed by floating bits of ice, Robert Swan and the IAE’s 72 participants got an opportunity to pose with their respective corporate banners. The tide was rising when my turn came to get photos taken (with Robert Swan) of my partners’ banners: The Houston Geological Society; the Canmore Museum and Geoscience Centre; and APEGGA (the Association of Professional Engineers, Geologists and Geophysicists of Alberta). I’d like to acknowledge all of my partners (media, geosciences organizations, schools and universities) who are following me, virtually, as I explore Antarctica.

March 8
62° 13' South and 58° 49' West
Bellingshausen and the 2041 E-Base, King Edward Island, South Shetland Islands

The IAE 2012 team landed at Bellingshausen, the Russian base on King George Island, the largest of the South Shetland Islands. For those waving another national flag, this island is also called Isla 25 de Mayo. An Argentine national holiday, May 25, 1810, marks a keystone date towards the country’s eventual independence from Spain.

King George Island is home to eight international research stations, representing the following countries: China; Chile; Russia; Uruguay; South Korea; Argentina; Poland; and Brazil. Under the Madrid Protocol – which expires in 2041 – the continent of Antarctica belongs to the citizens of the world, and activities such as resource extraction are prohibited. Under the protocol, the continent has been designated as a place for peace and scientific endeavors.

But, this mysterious continent at the edge of the world contains many untapped riches. For decades, nations have jockeyed to gain a toe-hold by building permanent bases and conducting scientific research.

The IAE 2012 delegation from China – all Coca-Cola employees – visited Chang Chen, China’s research station. Describing Chang Chen as a five-star hotel in comparison to the spartan Russian base, the Coca-Cola gang played a game of basketball and practiced karaoke tunes.

The rest of the IAE 2012 team visited 2041’s E-Base located near a rustic Russian Orthodox Church on a bluff over-looking Bellingshausen. In 2008, Robert Swan led the mission, “E-Base Goes Live,” and he and his team lived there for two weeks, powered solely by renewable energy (solar and wind). The IAE 2012 Team spent time modifying some of the renewable energy systems at the E-Base, and testing and installing wind turbines and solar panels.

During the past 15 years, Swan has developed a relationship with the Russian base. In fact, over an eight-year period, Swan raised $12-million to remove 1,500 tonnes of rubbish, scrap metal and garbage from the Russian base. The rubbish was transported to Uruguay where it was recycled. In exchange for Swan’s monumental commitment to cleaning up Antarctica, the Russians welcomed his plans to build the 2041 E-Base beside the Russian base.

While crossing the island, we discovered yellow signs marking the route for the 13th Antarctic Marathon and Half Marathon. The race is limited to 100 runners. The route signs featured a penguin cartoon – but, during our exploration of the island, we encountered only one chinstrap penguin and just a half-a-dozen gentoo penguins.

The Russian Orthodox Church. Image courtesy of 2041 (IAE 2012).

2041's E-Base is powered by solar panels and wind turbines.
Image courtesy of 2041 (IAE 2012).

M/V Sea Spirit Latitudes and Longitudes

Hover your mouse over the markers to learn more about each location.

Position of the M/V Sea Spirit in Antarctica on March 7 and 8, 2012.

For more information about 2041, visit their blog where you'll find videos, pictures and blog posts from various participants.

Dispatch Number Five

2012-03-11T13:22:12Z

Date: March 6, 2012

Place: Antarctica

Antarctica: Dispatch Number Five

Getting ready for our survival camping night. Image courtesy of 2041 (IAE 2012).

March 6
64° 52' South and 62° 49' West
Survival Camping at Leith Cove, Paradise Harbour

Camping in Antarctica is harsh – at the best of times – and I was leery of the overnight exercise that 2041 had dubbed “Survival Camping.”

On March 6, as part of the 2041’s Leadership on the Edge program, participants landed on a small island in Leith Cove, just one hour before sunset. Bivouac sacks replaced tents. Snow walls were built to shelter campers from ocean breezes and katabatic winds flowing off the nearby glaciers. No food or drink was allowed ashore. The portable toilet facilities were rudimentary.

Before departing for this Outward Bound-like exercise, I got some tips from the first group of Survival Campers – they were rained upon the previous night – who had endured an extremely cold evening and wet sleeping bags.

Luckily, for me and my team mates, our evening of Survival Camping was relatively mild with no wind.

Once ashore, I quickly assembled my Survival Camping team comprised of seven women and ‘Steve,’ a global sustainability expert from Melbourne, Australia. The women came from the United Arab Emirates, New Zealand, the Philippines, China, the United States and England. Most of my team mates had never camped nor had they experienced snow. Camping out under the stars – and exposed to the elements – challenged many of my team mates, pushing them out of their comfort zones. Our discomfort – and how we overcame it – was a key part of the Leadership on the Edge program.

Working quickly and innovating on the fly, we started “snow farming,” building a one-metre-high snow wall to block the wind. Smarter, we believed, than the other three camping teams, we raced to secure a campsite downwind of two low-lying outcrops, providing us with an additional natural wind break.

Two of the campers, both specialists in renewable energy, set up LED lights powered by wind, illuminating the area for the campers.

As we bedded down for the night – shoulder to shoulder and snug in our expedition-rated sleeping bags and outer bivouac sacks – it started to snow lightly. Every 30 minutes or so, the glaciers – which wrapped around the island in a 180-degree arc – calved off substantial chunks of ice into the ocean, creating thunderous claps and associated mini-tsunami waves.

Retiring for the evening, I pulled my sleeping bag over my head, and the bivouac sack over my sleeping bag – from an onlooker’s perspective, I’d become the faceless camper. Lacking a zipper, my bivouac sack acted more like strait jacket, making movements inside almost impossible. During the night, I managed to lose two flashlights and several pieces of clothing somewhere in my sleeping bag.

Between the cascading glaciers and the plunging temperatures overnight, I didn’t get much sleep. I woke, very early in the morning, cold and shivering.

Team work enabled us to complete the camping task in one-hour flat, just before the day light disappeared. And, when the zodiacs arrived at 6:00am the next day, to shuttle us to the M/V Sea Spirit, our team packed quickly, catching the first zodiac back to hot showers, breakfast and coffee.

Despite our minor and temporary hardships, we returned to a warm, state-of-the-art motor vessel after an uncomfortable evening of camping on the snow. Our hardships paled in comparison to those experienced by Sir Ernest Shackleton and his men during their Antarctic expeditions one hundred years ago.

Image courtesy of 2041 (IAE 2012).

M/V Sea Spirit Latitude and Longitude

Hover your mouse over the marker to learn more.

Position of the M/V Sea Spirit in Antarctica on March 6, 2012.

For more information about 2041, visit their blog where you'll find videos, pictures and blog posts from various participants.

Dispatch Number Four

2012-03-10T20:17:00Z

Date: March 4 and 5, 2012

Place: Antarctica

Antarctica: Dispatch Number Four

The M/V Sea Spirit approaching Lemaire Channel. Image courtesy of 2041 (IAE 2012).

March 4
65° 2' South and 63° 55' West
Lemaire Channel

Sound asleep in our beds, we were abruptly awakened at dawn by the safety officer’s booming voice – invading our cabin via the ship’s intercom – telling us we had five minutes to dress (in multi-layers) and muster on the foredeck of the M/V Sea Spirit.

Known simply as “Jumper,” the IAE 2012 safety officer – a retired Royal Navy man – brought a military efficiency to running the IAE 2012 Antarctic Boot Camp and the Leadership on the Edge program.

Admittedly, it was a monumental task to muster the 72 team members from 22 countries, in addition to the leadership team of 14 people. Jumper's military precision did the trick, however, bringing back fond memories of my boot camp experiences in Canada’s infantry.

Most of my friends and colleagues know, from experience, that I’m not a morning person; further, they know that I can’t formulate full sentences before 9:00am. However, in order to be a contributing team member – working in the harshest climate on Earth – I had to overcome two of my worst habits: languishing-in-bed in the morning and running chronically late.

Despite our grumblings at dawn, the IAE 2012 team was elated to watch the M/V Sea Spirit navigate the Lemaire Channel, one of the most photographed locales of Antarctica. Running between Booth Island and the Western Antarctic Peninsula, the Lemaire Channel is framed by towering volcanic cliffs. The M/V Sea Spirit was dwarfed by the snow- and glacier-capped cliffs as she motored through the channel which measures 11 kilometres (7 miles) long and between 0.8 to 1.6 kilometres (or 0.50 to 1.0 miles) across.

I celebrated my birthday today, with the IAE 2012 participants and the leadership team. The M/V Sea Spirit’s crew sang a rousing rendition of “Happy Birthday,” and the chef baked me a gluten-free birthday cake.

M/V Sea Spirit Latitudes and Longitudes

Hover your mouse over the markers to learn more about each location.

Position of the M/V Sea Spirit in Antarctica on March 4 and March 5, 2012.

Other Markers Shown on the Previous Map

March 4
65° 6' South and 64° 4' West
Pleneau Bay

Leopard seals, crabeater seals, iceberg graveyard and orcas

A leopard seal on the hunt in the icy cold waters of Antarctica.
Image courtesy of 2041 (IAE 2012).

March 4
65° 10' South and 64° 10' West
Petermann Island

Furthest south reached on the IAE 2012 Expedition
Gentoo and adelie penguins

Image courtesy of 2041 (IAE 2012).

March 5
64° 41' South and 62° 38' West
Cuverville Island

Class room on shore, time for personal reflection
Snow climb, rope work in teams

Teams climbing Cuverville Island with ropes. Image courtesy of 2041 (IAE 2012).

March 5
64° 43' South and 62° 41' West
Ronge Island

Weddell Seal on the beach

Survival Camping for half of the team. It should have been called Camp Rain! I was glad that my Survival Camping night took place on the following evening -- we received snow but no rain.

Image courtesy of 2041 (IAE 2012).

For more information about 2041, visit their blog where you'll find videos, pictures and blog posts from various participants.

Dispatch Number Three

2012-03-09T03:05:19Z

Date: March 4, 2012

Place: Antarctica

Antarctica: Dispatch Number Three

Video of LeMaire Channel and Arrival to Antarctica

Video courtesy of 2041 (IAE 2012).

The M/V Sea Spirit is currently in Antarctica.

For more information about 2041, visit their blog where you'll find videos, pictures and blog posts from various participants.

Dispatch Number Two

2012-03-08T02:48:35Z

Dates: March 1 to March 3, 2012

Place: From Ushuaia, Argentina to Antarctica

Antarctica: Dispatch Number Two

The bow of the M/V Sea Spirit. Image courtesy of 2041 (IAE 2012).

March 1
54° 48' South AND 68° 17' West

We embarked aboard the M/V Sea Spirit from Ushuaia, Argentina, the southernmost city on the South American continent. Setting sail in the early evening, we traveled east through the Beagle Channel, a body of water named after the HMS Beagle, the boat that carried Charles Darwin to the Galapagos Islands in 1831.

March 2
57° 57' South And 65° 44' West

The seas in the Drake Passage were uncharacteristically calm, and the IAE 2012 Expedition Team renamed the waters the “Drake Lake.” What a relief, as the infamous Drake Passage is often a roiling body of water pinched between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. There were sightings of Royal Albatross, and Black-browed Albatross, and Wandering Albatross, the sea bird with the largest wingspan of around 4 metres. The Wandering Albatross was the inspiration of a tragic poem, The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, penned by the English poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge.

March 3
62° 53' South and 63° 37' West

The crossing of the Drake Passage is about 900-kilometres long. The seas remained uncharacteristically calm, and, luckily, the IAE 2012 Expedition members side-stepped the sea sickness that's characteristic of this treacherous piece of water. Our time onboard the M/V Sea Spirit was spent in boot camp, the days chock-a-block full of lectures delivered on issues pertaining to climate change, renewable energy and global sustainability. I delivered a presentation on the 2010 Elysium Visual Epic Expedition to Antarctica and South Georgia which focused on documenting climate and ocean change – above and below the water – I participated in the Elysium Expedition, as the ship’s geophysicist and extreme snorkeler.

March 3, Arrival to Antarctica
64° 19' South and 62° 57' West

We reached landfall around 6:00pm, in the Melchior Islands and Dallman Bay. Anxious to disembark the ship, we set out in the zodiacs to explore the area. Immediately, we were greeted by a spectacular display of breaching humpback whales. The waves grew to two to three metres in height, and it was quite the rock-and-roll zodiac ride. Our zodiac driver, Shane, was the Quark Expedition Team Leader and a Canadian from north of Toronto, Ontario.

In pursuit of humpbacks, we travelled a considerable distance eastwards – into open water – and I was convinced that we were headed back to Ushuaia.

I saw at least six humpback whales breaching, catapulting their cetacean bodies entirely out of the ocean and falling back to the water, with thunderous claps and sprays of waters. Other humpbacks sky-hopped, popping about one-third of their bodies – including their noses and eyes – out of the water, to inspect the zodiacs nearby.

We were cold, wet and exhilarated. What an introduction to Antarctica!

Teams exploring the area in zodiacs. Image courtesy of 2041 (IAE 2012).

M/V Sea Spirit Latitudes and Longitudes

Hover your mouse over the markers to learn more about each location.

Path taken by the M/V Sea Spirit from Ushuaia, Argentina to Antarctica between March 1 and March 3, 2012.

For more information about 2041, visit their blog where you'll find videos, pictures and blog posts from various participants.

Dispatch Number One -- Outward Bound -- Calgary Geoscientist participates in Antarctic Boot Camp

2012-03-01T16:35:21Z

Date: March 1, 2012

Place: Ushuaia, Argentina

Antarctica: Dispatch Number One

Bitten by the polar bug, Susan R. Eaton returns to Antarctica in March 2012, participating in the International Antarctic Expedition (IAE ) 2012 which focuses on renewable energy, climate change and global sustainability issues.

The MV Sea Spirit departs at 1700 hours on Thursday, March 1, from Ushuaia, the southernmost city in Argentina.

The IAE 2012 includes a "Leadership on the Edge Program" designed to promote team work in harsh conditions and to create environmental educators (adults and youth alike) and global leaders at the personal, corporate, academic, governmental, community and country levels.

Reminiscent of an Outward Bound School, the team of explorers will scale glaciers and camp on polar ice floes. In contrast to Sir Ernest Shackleton's era, the modern-day explorers will be equipped with satellite phones and radios, and decked out in the latest micro-fabrics, waterproof clothing and expedition-rated sleeping bags.

An Antarctic explorer-in-the-making, Eaton is a geologist, geophysicist, science journalist and extreme snorkeler.

A century ago, Sir Ernest Shackleton's scientific teams were comprised of geologists and geophysicists who explored Antarctica because it was there, and because it was unclaimed by any nation.

Today, geoscientists explore Antarctica, not because it's there, but because it might not be there — in its icebound majesty — in the future.

Led by Robert Swan, Officer of the Order of the British Empire, United Nations Goodwill Ambassador and recipient of HRH Queen Elizabeth II's Polar Medal, the IAE 2012 will draw 70 participants from around the world, bringing together leaders from academia, industry, government, environmental non-governmental organizations and youth groups.

Corporate representatives from BP, Shell, KPMG, Coca-Cola, Lloyds of London and other renewable energy companies will participate in the expedition. School teachers from the United States and Middle Eastern countries will also participate in the IAE 2012. In October 2011, Swan ran the US Marine Corps Marathon, raising funds to send two wounded Marines on the IAE 2012.

Robert Swan was the first man to walk (unassisted) to both the South and North poles in 1986 and 1989, respectively. In November 2012, Swan will make history again, by walking to the South Pole, supported solely by solar and wind power.

In 2010, Eaton participated in the Elysium Visual Epic Expedition to Antarctica and South Georgia, where she documented climate change and ocean change by snorkelling and filming in -2°C waters. In contrast, participation in the IAE 2012 will enable Eaton to experience Antarctica from above the water, with her feet firmly planted on the ground.

Participation in the 2012 IAE will also enable Eaton to investigate, document and report on new subjects: renewable energy applications and sustainability issues as they relate to Antarctica and the broader world, including the Canadian Arctic.

As the sole geoscientist on the expedition, Eaton will study geothermal energy, a 24/7 renewable energy source that's independent of the number of hours of sunlight in a day or of the wind speed. As a geoscientist, she will also emphasize the key role that the disciplines of geology and geophysics play in studying climate change in Antarctica and around the world.

On May 19th, Eaton is the keynote speaker for the Houston Geological Society's annual outreach event. Her presentation, entitled "A Geoscientist in Antarctica: Following in Shackleton's Footsteps," will be presented at the IMAX Theatre of the Houston Museum of Natural Science.

Dispatch sent from Ushuaia, Argentina.

For more information about 2041, visit their blog where you'll find videos, pictures and blog posts from various participants.

Calgarians revisit Antarctic expeditions through reproduced whisky: Scottish distillery painstakingly remakes a whisky that has languished in Antarctica for a century. Only 50,000 bottles were produced and a mere 50 cases have landed in Calgary.

2012-01-31T17:09:00Z

BY SUSAN R. EATON, FOR THE CALGARY HERALD, OCTOBER 2011

Researcher in Christ Church, New Zealand, examines 100-year-old bottles of Mackinlay's Rare Old Highland Malt Whisky

Sir Ernest Shackleton probably hadn't planned on leaving three crates of Scotch whisky in Antarctica, and I certainly never imagined drinking it in Calgary, one hundred years later. But thanks to the 2007 discovery of the 19th century liquor under the floor boards of Shackleton's abandoned Antarctic hut, whisky aficionados in Calgary recently raised a toast to the polar explorer. We weren't tasting the original golden malt, however, but a precise recreation - Mackinlay's Rare Old Highland Malt Whisky. << MORE >>

http://www2.canada.com/calgaryherald/news/archives/story.html?id=05398075-30a8-4898-9e55-bfecf7349bb1

Richard Paterson, Whyte and Mackay's master blender, using his 'nose' to blend the recreation of Mackinlay's Rare Old Highland Malt Whisky

SUSANREATON.COM

At a Glance

Dispatch Number Ten

February 29 54° 47' South and 68° 24' West MARTIAL GLACIER, USHUAIA, TIERRA DEL FUEGO, ARGENTINA

Geology of the Martial Glacier

DISPATCH NUMBER NINE

March 6 64° 53' South and 62° 52' West PARADISE HARBOUR, WESTERN ANTARCTICA PENINSULA

Come Rock With Us: Susan R. Eaton, the Houston Geological Society's Antarctic Explorer-in-Residence, presents on May 19

Susan R. Eaton presents 100 years of geoscientific exploration and discovery in Antarctica — May 19 & 21, Houston, TX

Dispatch Number Eight

March 9 63° 32' South and 56° 55' West Brown Bluff, Western Antarctic Peninsula

Abstract

M/V Sea Spirit Latitude and Longitude

Dispatch Number Seven

March 8 62° 13' South and 58° 49' West Celebrating International Women’s Day (IWD) in Antarctica

M/V Sea Spirit Latitude and Longitude

Dispatch Number Six

March 7 64° 44' South and 62° 37' West Danco Island

March 7 64° 39' South and 62° 01' West Brooklyn Island, Wilhelmina Bay

March 8 62° 13' South and 58° 49' West Bellingshausen and the 2041 E-Base, King Edward Island, South Shetland Islands

M/V Sea Spirit Latitudes and Longitudes

Dispatch Number Five

March 6 64° 52' South and 62° 49' West Survival Camping at Leith Cove, Paradise Harbour

M/V Sea Spirit Latitude and Longitude

Dispatch Number Four

March 4 65° 2' South and 63° 55' West Lemaire Channel

M/V Sea Spirit Latitudes and Longitudes

Other Markers Shown on the Previous Map

March 4 65° 6' South and 64° 4' West Pleneau Bay

March 4 65° 10' South and 64° 10' West Petermann Island

March 5 64° 41' South and 62° 38' West Cuverville Island

March 5 64° 43' South and 62° 41' West Ronge Island

Dispatch Number Three

Dispatch Number Two

March 1 54° 48' South AND 68° 17' West

March 2 57° 57' South And 65° 44' West

March 3 62° 53' South and 63° 37' West

March 3, Arrival to Antarctica 64° 19' South and 62° 57' West

M/V Sea Spirit Latitudes and Longitudes

Dispatch Number One -- Outward Bound -- Calgary Geoscientist participates in Antarctic Boot Camp

Calgarians revisit Antarctic expeditions through reproduced whisky: Scottish distillery painstakingly remakes a whisky that has languished in Antarctica for a century. Only 50,000 bottles were produced and a mere 50 cases have landed in Calgary.

February 29
54° 47' South and 68° 24' West
MARTIAL GLACIER, USHUAIA, TIERRA DEL FUEGO, ARGENTINA

March 6
64° 53' South and 62° 52' West
PARADISE HARBOUR, WESTERN ANTARCTICA PENINSULA

March 9
63° 32' South and 56° 55' West
Brown Bluff, Western Antarctic Peninsula

March 8
62° 13' South and 58° 49' West
Celebrating International Women’s Day (IWD) in Antarctica

March 7
64° 44' South and 62° 37' West
Danco Island

March 7
64° 39' South and 62° 01' West
Brooklyn Island, Wilhelmina Bay

March 8
62° 13' South and 58° 49' West
Bellingshausen and the 2041 E-Base, King Edward Island, South Shetland Islands

March 6
64° 52' South and 62° 49' West
Survival Camping at Leith Cove, Paradise Harbour

March 4
65° 2' South and 63° 55' West
Lemaire Channel

March 4
65° 6' South and 64° 4' West
Pleneau Bay

March 4
65° 10' South and 64° 10' West
Petermann Island

March 5
64° 41' South and 62° 38' West
Cuverville Island

March 5
64° 43' South and 62° 41' West
Ronge Island

March 1
54° 48' South AND 68° 17' West

March 2
57° 57' South And 65° 44' West

March 3
62° 53' South and 63° 37' West

March 3, Arrival to Antarctica
64° 19' South and 62° 57' West