East Antarctica’s Commonwealth Bay dramatically changed with the arrival of iceberg B09B in 2010. The word ‘berg’ doesn’t really do it justice though. B09B is a monster. Weighing in at an estimated 380 billion tonnes, there’s enough freshwater in B09B to provide all of New York’s drinking needs for 300 years. In an Antarctic version of pool, the berg knocked a 78-kilometre tongue of ice that extended off the continent as the Mertz Glacier and then ground itself into the sea bed of Commonwealth Bay. The arrival of this colossus has had an immediate and devastating impact on the region. The sea ice that forms in Commonwealth Bay can no longer be swept offshore and instead stays trapped, becoming thicker each year, putting Mawson’s Huts sixty-five kilometres back from the coast. As a result, some scientists have suggested the formation of cold, salty bottom water has ceased, with massive implications for our planet's ocean circulation. Here University of New South Wales Dr Chris Fogwill describes the ocean drilling program of the Australasian Antarctic Expedition 2013-2014 on the edge of Commonwealth Bay and shows off some of our first exciting results.

A huge thanks to Chris, Eleanor Rainsley, Mat Lipson, Australasian Antarctic Expedition 2013-2014 team members and the crew of the MV Akademik Shokalskiy for all their help during the voyage and on our return.

If you would like to learn more about the Australasian Antarctic Expedition 2013-2014, please visit www.christurney.com.

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