Wednesday, December 1, 2010

Measuring Space with Time

Antarctica presents us with some unique and not so unique challenges. Perhaps not one of the most obvious ones being the incomprehensibility of the space it occupies and places you in. I can only imagine that being in outerspace and out in the middle of the ocean would be similar. But perhaps they are not because here, in Antarctica, you can stand, not on the ground, but several thousand metres above it on top of the frozen water that is there. Scott Base is on solid ground, but take a step out onto the sea ice or ice shelf and you can feel the ground dropping away from you until it is but a thin rope that tethers you to reality, to a time and place that are comprehensible in human terms.
My favorite view aroun Scott Base is South East, out over the Ross Ice Shelf. To me it epitomizes Antarctica. It is flat and seemingly empty of everything, including time. Yesterday, when we visited the Long Distance Balloon programme out on the Ice Shelf we were pointed towards a tiny wooden crate. This, it was stated, was all that we could see of the 30 foot high building below. Over a period of 16 years, the snow and ice had built up around it and slowly swallowed it. So you see, an empty expanse is never truly empty, it has only swallowed up the tiny markers and comforts we try to place on top of it. Somewhere, below the surface of the ice lie a thousand reminders of our presence here, we are simply blind to their stories because we can only skim the surface with our eyes. We are reminded that for all our time here, we are insignificant in comparison.

While the space around us is vast and seemingly endless, it is time that is truly immeasurable. It is swallowed whole by the space we attempt to mark - to show progress, for personal satisfaction, and for the pure comfort of knowing someone has come before.

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