The South Pole moves every year. Well, it does in a sense, as the geographic South Pole continuously shifts due to movement of the ice sheet, moving about 10 meters per year—and the marked location of the geographic South Pole is updated at the beginning of each year to reflect the current location. It’s a tradition at the South Pole for current winterovers to craft a new pole marker for the upcoming year, which is then unveiled at a New Year’s ceremony. Above is the new marker recently installed (rather fetching) and below is the crowd at the unveiling ceremony just trying to get a peek.
Last week was also busy with maintenance activities and continued work on the IceCube Upgrade. The third image is of the drill camp, taken from quite a distance. It shows off a beautiful blue sky on a sunny day at the Pole, but it doesn’t hint at the constant activity going on there. The sign in ice blocks at the bottom marks a different spot, a tourist camp set up at the South Pole, which had an open house and was giving tours of their setup.
