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SUMMARY:The Weddell Sea\, Antarctica: modern science and the search for Sh
 ackleton’s Endurance - Julian Dowdeswell\, Scott Polar Research Institut
 e
DTSTART:20191106T130000Z
DTEND:20191106T140000Z
UID:TALK133849@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Poul Christoffersen
DESCRIPTION:The primary aim of the Weddell Sea Expedition 2019 was to inve
 stigate the fluctuating extent and glacial history of the Larsen C Ice She
 lf\, together with the sea ice\, oceanography and marine biology close to 
 it\, as part of an interdisciplinary science programme led by the Scott Po
 lar Research Institute. The Weddell Sea and Larsen Ice Shelf were selected
  for investigation because of the known instability of ice shelves in this
  area\, including the recent calving of the huge iceberg A68 \, and the si
 gnificance of the area for sea-ice and dense bottom-water formation. The e
 xpedition platform was the South African icebreaker Agulhas II\, which was
  equipped with a number of scientific instruments including two state-of-t
 he-art autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs). The initial findings of the 
 expedition\, including geophysical observations of past ice-shelf groundin
 g lines imaged in unprecedented detail\, will be presented. A second exped
 ition aim was to use the AUVs to search for the wreck of Sir Ernest Shackl
 eton’s ship Endurance which was crushed by sea ice and sank in the Wedde
 ll Sea during the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition (1914 – 1917). A c
 entury later the sea-ice conditions in the western Weddell Sea remain just
  as challenging\, but in early 2019 the Agulhas II managed to penetrate th
 is remote region to search for the wreck\, whose position was known from h
 istorical theodolite and sextant measurements held in the archives of the 
 Scott Polar Research Institute. The search for Endurance will also be outl
 ined
LOCATION:Small Lecture Theatre\, Department of Geography\, Downing Site
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