The physical geography

Antarctica contains 90% of the world's ice and about 70% of the world's fresh surface water locked away as ice. In East Antarctica, you stand on 15,7000vertical feet of ice, or about 3 miles! This ice is so heavy is depresses the earth's crust almost 2000 feet. some ice is as much as 100,000 years old. If all the ice melted, the seas would rise 200 feet. During the Jurassic period, 190 to 135 million years ago, the South Pole was cold and dark but occupied by sea, not land. Antarctica was then a core piece of a forested super continent called Gondwanaland, fused with Australia, India, Africa, Madagascar and South America. A benign climate prevailed.
National Geographic, Antarctica: The Last Continent

About the trip

Peregrine Adventures is the group that organizes this expedition. Here is a bit of what they say about the voyage. The Peregrine journey takes us to one of the world's most awe inspiring destinations. With visits along the way through the South Shetland Islands we arrive on the mainland, on the Antarctic Peninsula and are dazzled by perhaps the most dramatic scenery to be found anywhere. We begin in Ushuaia on Tierra Del Fuego at the southern tip of South America. We cross Drake's Passage and expect to see whales and seabirds, including the albatross with a 10-foot wingspan and petrels. Weather depending, we will enter the flooded volcanic caldera of Deception Island, a recently active volcano. Steam rises in places along its shores. Here the very adventuresome may choose to take a dip if conditions are suitable. Yeah, right. The days are long and the nights short, often preceded by a wonderful twilight. Trip highlights include: diverse array of icebergs, visiting a breeding colony of chinstrap penguins, seeing fur and elephant seals, whale sightings, also terns and gentoo and macaroni penguins. Hope they are whole grain. We will celebrate New Year's Eve on one of the following: Livingston, Half Moon or King George Island. Go to Google.
More later.