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The West Antarctic rift system differs from other volcanically active rift systems in two unusual respects: (1) the rift floor lies 1000-2000 m lower in elevation than others, and (2) four interior ice-filled troughs extend between 1500 m and 2555 m below sea level. Two troughs are more than twice the depth of Lake Baikal, the world's deepest lake. The Marie Byrd Land dome, by contrast, compares closely with the intra-rift Kenyan and Ethiopian domes in the East African rift. Comparisons between these rift systems suggest (1) that the West Antarctic interior is relatively cool and volcanically inactive, (2) that there is likely to have been an episode of extension during Neogene time in the deep interior basins, and (3) that dome uplift and basin subsidence have greatly changed the West Antarctic landscape over the past 25 m.y. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article reports on the physical characteristics as well as the features of Dome C, a rise in the East Antarctic plateau. The rise is estimated to be at 14,500 feet in pure ice. According to the author, the place is the most singular environment on earth on account of its pure ice environment. The seasons and the days are reduced into one single spiral. The author argues that the only contrast is between an ice-massed land and an ice saturated sky. At Dome C, the snowflakes metamorphosed into icy dust.

The article presents a note on the recovery of the new marine core that provides understanding of the evolution of the East Antarctic Ice Sheets (EAIS) during the Late Quaternary in Rauer Group, Antarctica. The ice sheet extent during the period is interpreted by several factors, including visual description, geochemical parameters, and diatom assemblages combined with radiocarbon age determinations of the sediment sequence. The recovered Core Co1010 from a marine inlet defines three major sedimentary units with distinct characteristics.