Polar ice can take almost infinite shapes as it crystallizes, moves, and melts. The area around McMurdo Station exhibits this diverse world of ice in microcosm. The mountain ranges near McMurdo look like a dessert that would have pleased Rendu; the ice covers the mountains like a pure white syrup, filling canyons and valleys as it flows. Elsewhere ice looks like glass that has shattered into shards, strips, or chunks ranging in size from a small car to an entire skyscraper. The nearby sea is covered by ice that looks like a layer of foam at one time of year, a quilt of polygons at another, and
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