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.'

Object Details

ID: ALB1217.30
Type: Photographic print
Display location: Not on display
Creator: Ponting, Herbert George
Date made: 9 March 1911
Credit: National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, London, Duff Collection
Measurements: Overall: 114 mm x 162 mm
Parts: British Antarctic Expedition, 1910-13, covering the period 1910-11 (Photograph album)