PO_me_8-1_ScienceNowMap
Interactive Script for Translation
Ana Camila Benitez / JoAnn Gutin
Base layer labels:
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To Argentina and Chile
To Africa
To Australia and New Zealand
Atlantic Ocean
Indian Ocean
Pacific Ocean
Drake Passage
Weddell Sea
Haakon VII Sea
Davis Sea
Mawson Sea
Dumont D’Urville Sea
Ross Sea
Amundsen Sea
Bellinghausen Sea
Attract loop labels:
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Day and night section: JAN FEB MAR APR MAY JUN JUL AUG SEP OCT
NOV DEC JAN FEB MAR APR MAY JUN JUL AUG SEP OCT NOV DEC JAN
Routes and pole map: SOUTH POLE 90o S, Framheim, Cape Evans,
MAGNETIC POLE 1910, MAGNETIC POLE 2005
Station map: BelgranoII, Halley Research Station, Neumayer Station,
Sanae IV, Troll Station, Maitri Station, Novolazarevskaya Station,
Princess Elisabeth Station, Showa Station, Molodyozhnaya Station,
Dome Fuji Station, Mawson Station, Zhongshan Station, Davis Station,
Amundsen-Scott Station, Mirny Station, Concordia Station, Casey
Station, Dumont D’Urville Station, Leningradskaya Station, Mc.Murdo
Station, Scott Base, Siple Station, Rothera Research Station, San
Martin Base, Vernadsky Research Base, Palmer Station, St. Kliment
Ohridski Base, Captain Arturo Pratt Base, Base Eduardo Frei,
Bellingshausen Station, Profesor Julio Escudero Base, King Sejong
Station, Henryk Arctowski Station, Comandante Ferraz, Jubani,
Artigas, Esperanza Base, Marambio Base, Bernardo O’Higgins Station,
Great Wall Station.
Layer 1: Extreme Continent
Extreme Continent [label deck intro]
Antarctica is unique. Overall, no continent on Earth is as
cold, as high, as windy, as dry. Covered by ice averaging
PO_me_8-1_ScienceNowMap
Interactive Script for Translation
Ana Camila Benitez / JoAnn Gutin
6,000 feet (1,800 meters) thick and isolated by a powerful
ocean current, it is mostly uninhabited.
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SEA ICE
Text adjacent to button on label deck
o Every fall and winter, the amount of sunlight falling on
Antarctica decreases. As the surrounding ocean chills, it
develops a coating of sea ice. In spring, as the sun returns,
the sea ice begins to retreat.
Animation
o Five seasons of sea ice advance and retreat, while a timeline
shows the date corresponding to the extent of ice coverage
shown.
o Labels: JAN FEB MAR APR MAY JUN JUL AUG SEP OCT NOV DEC;
2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008
Onscreen text:
o As winter proceeds, the ice thickens—to up to 6 feet (2 m)-and expands north at about 2.5 miles (4 km) a day
o By the end of winter, in October, sea ice has, in effect,
doubled the size of Antarctica.
o As the Sun returns, sea ice retreats
PO_me_8-1_ScienceNowMap
Interactive Script for Translation
Ana Camila Benitez / JoAnn Gutin
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KATABATIC WINDS
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Text adjacent to button on label deck
o Ferocious winds scour many areas of Antarctica. These
“katabatic” (CAT-uh-BAT-ick) winds occur when dense,
frigid air builds up on the polar plateau. Katabatic wind
speeds are highest in winter, when air is coldest.
Animation
o Winds represented by moving arrows on map of continent;
inset diagrammatic animation shows movement in crosssection
Onscreen text:
Katabatic winds come in bursts.
Air gets heavier as it cools in contact with ice
It gathers speed as is slides down the slope,
reaching an average of 45 mph (km/h)
Katabatic winds can be as fast as 185 mph (300 km/h)!
Once the polar plateau is drained of these pockets of cold air,
wind stops.
PO_me_8-1_ScienceNowMap
Interactive Script for Translation
Ana Camila Benitez / JoAnn Gutin
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OCEAN/STORMS/CIRCUMPOLAR CURRENT
Text adjacent to button on label deck
o Ocean currents are like great rivers in the ocean. The
current circling Antarctica is the most powerful “ocean
river” on the planet. This swirling moat of cold water has
isolated Antarctica for about 30 million years. Strong winds
from the west drive it.
Animation
o Arrows represent circumpolar current; overlay satellite
image of storm systems.
Onscreen text:
o The current is about 12,400 miles (20,000 km) long.
o Every second, it moves more than 100 times as much
water as all the rivers in the world.
o With no land in the way to interrupt the movement of wind
and water, gales and monster waves are frequent.
PO_me_8-1_ScienceNowMap
Interactive Script for Translation
Ana Camila Benitez / JoAnn Gutin
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ICEBERGS
Text adjacent to button on label deck
o Icebergs are spawned by ice shelves, floating sheets of ice
that fringe Antarctica. Shelves form as the ice sheet flows
outward under its own weight. Icebergs naturally form as
the edges of ice shelves crumble under the force of ocean
movement.
Animation:
o Inset video of iceberg breaking off, drifting.
Onscreen text: scrolls as images change
o Bergs can be huge—this one [B-15] was 14300 square
miles (11,000 km2) in area. That’s about the size of the
island of Jamaica.
o Eventually, over a period of several months, B-15 broke in
two and drifted northward.
PO_me_8-1_ScienceNowMap
Interactive Script for Translation
Ana Camila Benitez / JoAnn Gutin
Layer 2: Exposed Continent
Exposed Continent [Label Deck Intro]
If you could peel back Antarctica’s ice, what would you see?
Scientists using remote- controlled planes with icepenetrating radar and other tools have mapped a dramatic
and mysterious hidden landscape.
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TWO LANDMASSES
Text adjacent to button on label deck
o Antarctica is really two distinct landmasses. East Antarctica
is a “shield”—a dome of very ancient rocks within a
continent. Geologically younger West Antarctica has a
more diverse origin, formed in part by the same mountainbuilding processes that created the Andes.
Animation
o Ice sheet being virtually lifted from land; topography
revealed.
Onscreen text:
o Experts think the Antarctic ice sheets hold enough water to
raise global sea level 200 feet (65 m).
o Though connected by ice, East and West Antarctica are
distinct landmasses.
PO_me_8-1_ScienceNowMap
Interactive Script for Translation
Ana Camila Benitez / JoAnn Gutin
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BURIED MOUNTAINS
Text adjacent to button on label deck
o Fifty years ago, scientists were stunned to discover a
mountain range, the Gamburtsevs, completely buried
under the ice. Now, new imaging has revealed not just
high peaks but deep valleys, in a landscape some compare
to the European Alps.
Animation
o Diagramatic animation inset showing how the mountains
are scanned.
Onscreen text:
 The Gamburtsev mountains, a range 750 miles (1200 km)
in extent, lie under the ice
 To visualize the hidden landscape, scientists use wingmounted radar.
o Radar waves penetrate the ice
o …and bounce back from the denser land surface.
o Elapsed time reveals height of surface.
o Highest peak: 8,000 feet (2,500 m)
o Maximum ice cover: 16,000 feet (4,800 m)
PO_me_8-1_ScienceNowMap
Interactive Script for Translation
Ana Camila Benitez / JoAnn Gutin
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MANY LAKES
Text adjacent to button on label deck
o An interconnected network of lakes, large and small, is
now being discovered under the polar ice sheet. Because
liquid water lubricates the ice sheets, understanding the
drainage system will help scientists understand ice sheet
movement.
Animation
o Overview map for location of lakes; inset for mechanics of
stepwise filling, overflow of lakes and ice-sheet motion
Onscreen text:
o Many newly discovered lakes are relatively small and close
to the coasts.
o Under-ice lakes can drain into one another, creating
streams.
o These streams make the glacier speed up, or surge.
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LAKE VOSTOK
Text adjacent to button on label deck
o Lake Vostok is the largest of Antarctica’s under-ice lakes,
sealed for millions of years. Scientists searching for new
microbial organisms want to drill down to this pristine
environment but must be careful to avoid contaminating it.
Animation:
o Diagramatic animation inset of cross-section of ice-sheet
with lake at bottom showing where the water comes from.
Onscreen text:
o A lake 150 miles (250 km) long lies underneath the ice.
o Where did the water come from?
o 33,000 feet (1,000 m) deep
o 2 miles (4 km) of ice
o Heat from Earth’s interior melts the ice.
o The ice sheet acts like a blanket, capturing the heat.
o Scientists are drilling with extreme caution toward the
pristine environment.
PO_me_8-1_ScienceNowMap
Interactive Script for Translation
Ana Camila Benitez / JoAnn Gutin
Layer 3: Changing Continent
Changing Continent [Label Deck Intro]
Why are the poles vulnerable to climate change? Ice and
snow reflect solar radiation, but land and ocean absorb it.
As temperatures rise, ice shrinks at the poles, exposing
more land and ocean—which causes more warming.
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ICE COLLAPSE
Text adjacent to button on label deck
o Ice shelves on the Antarctic Peninsula seem to be collapsing
more often, and more quickly, than in the past. Ice shelves
are already floating, but because they dam the flow of
glaciers to the sea, their loss may speed sea-level rise.
Animation
o Satellite time-lapse of breakup of Larsen B
Onscreen text: scrolls as images change
o Larsen B dramatically lost about 4,600 square miles (12,000
km2) of its mass in early 2002.
o That is enough ice to cover the U.S. State of Connecticut!
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ICE THINNING
Text adjacent to button on label deck
o A warming climate is making the vast land-based Antarctic
ice sheet behave in ways that concern experts, because of its
potential to raise seal level worldwide. It is moving faster and
thinning in some places.
Animation
o Diagramatic animation inset showing how the ice sheet thins
when an ice shelf collapses.
Onscreen text:
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Gravity forces the ice downhill.
The glacier accelerates toward the sea
and the ice sheet thins, like pulled taffy.
An Ice Shelf collapse
PO_me_8-1_ScienceNowMap
Interactive Script for Translation
Ana Camila Benitez / JoAnn Gutin
o
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creates a steep, unstable slope.
HABITAT LOSS
Text adjacent to button on label deck
o Adélie penguins have been abandoning their most
northerly breeding grounds over the past 30 years. Is their
movement a range shift due to climate change, a natural
fluctuation in the always dynamic Antarctic environment, a
human-caused ecosystem disruption . . .or a combination?
Experts differ.
Animation
o Video of penguins feeding off of the ice shelf.
Onscreen text:
o Penguins dive for food from sea ice, but sea ice has shrunk
in some regions. Is this why birds in those areas are
abandoning breeding grounds?
o Or is local penguin decline due to ecosystem disruption
caused by past and present whaling and overfishing?