WMF - Once Frozen, Captain Scott's Hut In Antarctica Rotting As Water Seeps Into Walls & Floors

[hatrack]

The Antarctic base occupied by British explorer Robert Falcon Scott on his ill-fated expedition to the South Pole on foot early last century has been included on a list of the world's 100 most endangered sites, spurring pleas Friday for multimillion dollar conservation work.

The list, compiled by an international panel and released by the World Monuments Fund Wednesday, identifies what are considered to be the world's most endangered historic, architectural and cultural treasures. The WMF identified climate change as the biggest threat to the hut, built in 1911 at Cape Evans by Captain Scott's British Antarctic expedition. The hut is wooden but for decades was permanently frozen. With the ice melting, the timbers have become waterlogged and are rotting.

Thousands of objects and artifacts from the expedition, which cost Scott and his team their lives during their return journey from the South Pole, remain in and around the hut.

Nigel Watson, the New Zealand Antarctic Heritage Trust director, said Friday the New Zealand government supported any efforts to preserve the site and hoped the listing would attract donors. He said the estimated cost of conserving the site was 9 million New Zealand dollars (US$6.7 million; EU5 million).

EDIT

http://www.sci-tech-today.com/story.xhtml?story_id=023001AFCE3X

[Systematic Chaos]

1. Nah, the ice cap isn't going to melt.

There is no flood imminent.
Consume.
Watch American Idol.

:grr:

[Maddy McCall]

2. Having dealt with recovery of submerged American Indian canoes...

I can tell you that a waterlogged wood item outside of the environment that had preserved it is doomed to very very quick deterioration.

If you remove a canoe from the water that has preserved it, it will rot in a matter of weeks/months. It will literally crumble to dust.

I would speculate that, now that the hut is thawing and waterlogged, it won't last long.

The only way to save it will be to remove it from the South Pole, bring it into the lab, and try to dry out the wood and administer preservatives to it.

Sad that this is happening. :(

[Journeyman]

3. For $6+ million dollars, I say take a lot of pictures. . .

move the artifacts to a museum where more than a couple dozen people will see them over the next half century, and use the remainder (probably still better than $6 million) to fund something useful -- like figuring out a way to keep global warming from destroying the the Antarctic!

[shain from kane]

4. It wasn't exactly open to the public, anyway.