8 - Make The Trek: The Southern Pole of Inaccessibility

A pole of inaccessibility marks a location that is the most distant point from the coastline. The Southern Pole of Inaccessibility, located in Antarctica, is the point most distant from the Antarctic Ocean.

A vast amount of coordinates have been given for this location. The discrepancies are due to the difficulty in measuring to the edges of ice shelves, the movement of ice sheets, and accuracy of survey data. There are also many topographical errors among the ice that cause issues with geographical coordinate systems.

The Southern Pole of Inaccessibility most commonly refers to the site of the Soviet Union Research Station. However, the Scott Polar Research Institute is also another possibility of coordinates through the use of different measurement criteria.

This pole is much more difficult to reach than the South Pole. The average year-round temperature there is approximately -52 degrees Celsius. A Soviet expedition led by Yevgeny Tolstikov was the first to reach this remote area in 1958. They left a bust of Vladimir Lenin on the roof of their research station.

In 2007, a British/Canadian expedition arrived at the same area, the first ones to do so on foot, and found the research station completely covered in snow. They couldn't get inside the building, but Vladimir Lenin's statue was still poking out of the snow, and remains there to this day.

7 - Science In Nature: Blood Falls

In Victoria Land, East Antarctica, a natural phenomenon takes place. Blood Falls is a small saltwater waterfall from Taylor Glacier that is tainted with iron oxide, giving it the appearance of blood.

Blood Falls is not the melted residue of Taylor Glacier like most glacier waterfalls are. Instead, it is a plume rising from an ancient salt lake trapped beneath Taylor Glacier's 400 meters of ice. This occurred years ago when the ocean flooded East Antarctica and created a salty inland lake. Years later, glaciers formed over the saline lake, trapping the salt water. The liquid below became saltier as the surface of the glacier froze as the water was removed to form ice. Today, the water is about three times saltier than the ocean. This salt content keeps it from freezing even in freezing temperatures.

Blood Falls includes large amounts of iron. When this very salty, iron-rich water interacts with the oxygen at the surface, a process called oxidation occurs, turning the water red. A similar process occurs when metal comes into contact with oxygen (which causes rust).

Scientists have discovered many microbes in Blood Falls called extremophiles (microbes that can withstand extremely harsh conditions). The microbes in Blood Falls convert the sulfur and iron compounds present into energy. Therefore, no oxygen or light is required for them to survive.

Slime Recipe

This week with the 6-8 class, we made slime. It was very successful and we have been asked to post the recipe, so here it is!

1. Pour 1/2 cup of Elmer's white glue into a container.

2. Add 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda.

3. Put food colouring in to make it whatever colour you would like.

4. Mix well.

5. Add 1 tablespoon of re-nu contact solution.

6. Mix well with a spoon. Then work it with your hands until it stops sticking to everything. If it continues to stick, add a bit more contact solution.

Happy sliming!