The changing land

Abstract

Geologists have a reputation for struggling through swamps, fending off moose and elephant, walking thirstily across deserts, or descending into the mouths of volcanoes, but some of the most courageous of all fieldwork was in the most tragic of circumstances, during the exploration of Antarctica. There is much geological evidence that parts of Africa and India have once been under ice, while at other times, thick forests have flourished in what is now Antarctica. A critical part of the story was collected by Scott’s expedition on their doomed race against Amundsen to the South Pole. On their way, Scott’s party stopped to collect rock samples, and they refused to jettison the heavy stones from their sledge even when they knew they were dying; the expedition was primarily for science, then for publicity. When their bodies were found, the samples and notebooks were still with them.