SOURCE: The Guardian
DATE: October 31, 2017
SNIP: A British research station in Antarctica is being shut down for the second winter in a row following concerns over growing cracks in the 150-metre thick ice shelf on which it stands.
The Halley VI station, which is parked on the Brunt ice shelf, will be shut down between March and November 2018, with the 14-strong staff who had been gearing up for the winter stint redeployed elsewhere in Antarctica or brought home to the UK.
The worries are based on two cracks. The first is an ice chasm that began to show movement northwards in 2012, after more than 30 years of dormancy, and has accelerated over the past seven months. The second, north of the research station, has been dubbed the “Halloween crack” after it appeared in October 2016. It is now estimated to be about 50km in length and growing eastwards, crossing a resupply route for the station. “It has grown a couple of kilometres during the winter period,” said Professor David Vaughan, director of science at the British Antarctic Survey, adding that the crack had also widened.