Young pancake ice forming at West Beach. Erebus in background.
A general view from West Beach towards the volcano Mount Erebus. Young thin sea ice called 'pancake ice' has started forming on the calm sea of McMurdo Sound around the icebergs attached to the low-lying land. Ponting described how they were formed: 'If no wind came to disturb them, these little disks - about the size of a dollar - would rapidly increase in size and become 'pancakes', which froze together, forming larger ones.'
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