Rachel and I spent the day doing recon around the toe of Sollas Glacier, which basically means we were looking for anything interesting. I think both of us ended up returning to camp somewhat flabbergasted and feeling like we knew nothing about glaciers or Antarctica.

The place is weird. The ridges surrounding the lower glacier are much bigger than we thought, maybe even too big to be proper moraines. We have a lot of thinking to do. We want to take the GPR across one of the ridges to see if we can image any bedrock coring the ridge.

There’s also tons of rock weathering going on. Everything looks old, even though we expected it to look young. And there are strange patterns in the kind of rocks covering the ground—patches of red, oxidized basalt cobbles right next to patches of gray, not oxidized basalt cobbles.

Old-looking ground surface by Sollas

Very peculiar. However, rounding the northwestern corner of Sollas affords you an astonishing view. You’re on this flat outwash plain looking across a field of dark basalt talus. In the distance rise very steep mountain sides, all the more striking for the flat ground you’re standing on. The closest thing I’ve seen to it is the Tetons. Quite lovely.

Kate examining deposits on the west side of Sollas