Images Dated 14th August 2009

Second Byrd Antarctic Expedition, 1933-35

Second Byrd Antarctic Expedition, historical map. This expedition took place between 1933 and 1935, and followed an earlier expedition from 1928 to 1930. It was led by the US polar explorer and naval officer Richard Evelyn Byrd (1888-1957, depicted at upper right). On these, and later expeditions, Byrd used ships, aeroplanes and dog sleds to establish Antarctic bases. The Byrd expeditions laid the foundations for Operation Highjump, during World War II, and the later Operation Deep Freeze that established permanent bases in Antarctica in the 1950s. The inset at upper left shows the routes taken from the USA and New Zealand. The inset at lower right shows the Bay of Whales and the Ross Ice Shelf

© LIBRARY OF CONGRESS, GEOGRAPHY AND MAP DIVISION/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY

Trilobite fossil

Trilobite fossil. Fossil of a trilobite (Aristoharpes sp.) from the Devonian period (around 370 million years ago), showing the species characteristic, spade-like shape. Trilobites are extinct hard-shelled, segmented arthropods that lived in ancient seas. They are considered one of Earth's earliest, complex life-forms and are one of the most well-known creatures of the Palaeozoic Era. Trilobites existed between the Cambrian and Permian periods around 542-250 million years ago, and were mainly bottom-feeding, scavengers

© SINCLAIR STAMMERS/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY

The old Phare des Baleines (Lighthouse of the Whales) dating from 1682, and museum

The old Phare des Baleines (Lighthouse of the Whales) dating from 1682, and museum, on west tip of the island, Ile de Re, Charente-Maritime, France, Europe

© Robert Francis

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