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Mountain of Ice
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Program Overview
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NOVA follows a group of explorers and scientists as they scale
Vinson Massif, Antarctica's highest peak, collecting snowfall data
along the way to help determine Antarctic ice flow.
The program:
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interweaves historic footage of Robert Scott's and Roald
Amundsen's race to the South Pole with modern-day footage of a
climb up Vinson Massif.
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shows an international community of scientists and adventurers
at a camp in Antarctica and the harsh conditions in which they
work.
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depicts the method used to take snowfall samples and discusses
how the samples are used to help understand continental ice
flow.
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explains how Antarctica's mountains serve as a natural dam to
block ice, an effect that helps make Antarctica the highest
continent on Earth.
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describes how a history of snowfall is preserved in layers of
ice.
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portrays the Antarctic ice sheet as being in a state of
equilibrium, in which the amount of snowfall equals the amount
of ice that breaks off and falls into the sea.
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discusses how Antarctic ice flow might affect global climate
change and sea level rise.
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