Where I work...

I work at Williams Field Antarctica (aka Willie Field). Willie Field is an airfield about 7 miles outside of McMurdo Station. It is actually just 2 landing strips that are groomed into the packed snow. All aircraft landing at Willie must be equipped with skis. Willie Field is the busiest airfield on the continent as it is the primary point where supplies come into Antarctica and then are distributed to outlying camps including the South Pole.

The whole area around Willie Field is located on the Ross Ice Shelf. The Ross Ice Shelf is basically just a premanent layer of ice that floats on top of the ocean. Actually, Willy Field sits on about 25 feet of compacted snow, that is sitting on top of 260 feet of solid ice. All of that is floating on about 1800 feet of water. It is slanted slightly downward from south to north and actually flows toward the ocean. The area of the ice shelf where I work actually moves generally north at a rate of about 300 feet a year. This movement along with giant snow drifts that form each year means that most buildings are actually on giant skis so that they can easily be moved if needed. Buildings that are not on skis eventually get buried in the snow and can no longer be used, or have to be dug out.

Areas of the ice shelf that are safe to travel on are marked with flags. It is not safe to venture outside of these flagged areas as you run the risk of falling into a crevasse in the ice, and you definitely don't want that to happen.

Enough boring stuff, here are some pictures...

View of the Ross Ice Shelf. The line towards the top going up and to the right is the road to Willy Field. At the end of this road is Willy Field. It is really in the middle of nowhere.