On Saturday night, the ACE expedition arrived at Bouvet Island, a 50 km2 volcanic island that belongs to Norway. This stopover is special in many ways, as Bouvet is known to be the most remote island and one of the wildest and most inaccessible places on Earth.
L’expédition ACE a atteint Bouvet samedi soir. Cette île volcanique d’à peine 50 km2, appartenant à la Norvège, est une étape particulière à plus d’un titre. Connue pour être la plus isolée au monde, elle est aussi l’un des endroits les plus sauvages et les plus inaccessibles qui soient.
A thick icecap, which covers 90% of the island, forms vertiginous icy walls on the already steep rims. Huge seracs seem to be hanging to these walls by a single thread, as if they were about to fall at any moment onto the narrow black-sanded beaches below.
Une épaisse calotte glaciaire recouvrant l’île à plus de 90% forme, sur son pourtour déjà extrêmement escarpé, des parois de glace vertigineuses. D’énormes séracs semblent n’y être attachés qu’à un fil, menaçant de se détacher à tout instant et de s’effondrer sur d’étroites plages de sable noir.
Above all, Bouvet is the last of eleven subantarctic islands visit throughout the expedition, the others being Marion, Crozet, Kerguelen, Balleny, Scott, Siple, Peter 1er, Diego Ramirez, South Georgia and South Sandwich. It is also the last stopover before the boat heads back to Cape Town in South Africa, completing this Antarctic circumnavigation.
Mais surtout, Bouvet est la dernière des onze îles subantarctiques visitées durant le périple. Elle aura été précédée, dans l’ordre, de Marion, Crozet, Kerguelen, Balleny, Scott, Siple, Pierre 1er, Diego Ramirez, la Géorgie du Sud et les Sandwich du Sud. C’est donc le dernier stop avant de rejoindre le Cap, en Afrique du Sud, et de boucler définitivement le tour complet de l’Antarctique.
Lastly, this island is the last chance opportunity for ACE scientists to collect samples. On Sunday, those looking for indigenous plants or peat were able to take a helicopter to fly to the island. Those in charge of collecting ice-core samples will attempt a landing on Monday.
Cette île isolée représente donc, pour les scientifiques, la dernière opportunité de prélever des échantillons. Plusieurs équipes, cherchant notamment des espèces végétales et de la tourbe, ont rejoint l’île dimanche par hélicoptère. D’autres, notamment ceux faisant du carottage de glace, tenteront encore le trajet lundi.
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