Bratina Island is located on the continental side of McMurdo Sound. It is surrounded by some of the strangest ice formations in the area. This is a zone of confluence between the Ross Ice Shelf, and glaciers descending down the Dry Valleys from the Transantarctic Mountain Range. Large morraines are drawn into the ice:
This mix of reflective ice and absorptive rock creates many ice pools that melt and re-freeze in a never ending cycle:
Near Bratina Island, the ice shelf is thin and along tidal cracks weddell seals haul out occasionally:
Not all of them are in the best of states though:
The ice formations can be quite spectacular. In the distance, Mt. Discovery is visible in the left image, and the Royal Society Range of the Transantarctic Mountains in the right image:
Next: The Antarctic Continent
