In an earlier thread, we considered some intriguing finds in Antarctica, including two large cave-openings.
I've continued that study, and located two more openings nearby.
However, I've run into a brick wall in trying to get more imagery on these caves - just ONE year (2006) with a clear view of these caves. Other years are available on GoogleEarth using the "time" feature, but these other images do not show a clear image of these caves. The NSF evidently has data on this region (called the "Obruchev Hills" and nearby "Bunger Hills") - but when I wrote them, they replied that high-resolution imagery for this area is only available for individuals having an NSF grant to study Antarctica... sigh...
But I read that other countries have studied this area, including Australia, Poland and Russia; and there may be other agencies such as USGS that will be more cooperative.
To break the apparent log-jam, I'm offering a REWARD for anyone with the cleverness and tenacity to acquire additional data, on a particular cave - as follows.
Go to these coordinates, -66.604 99.72 , using GoogleEarth or Maps.google, or whatever - to see the cave:
https://www.google.com/maps/place/66%C2%B036'14.4%22S+99%C2%B043'12.0%22E/@-66.6036634,99.7193241,159m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m5!3m4!1s0x0:0x0!8m2!3d-66.604!4d99.72The cave-opening evidently has a dome-like structure (dark gray in color) that you will see. THAT intrigues me - how thick is it, and what is it made of? Does it last from year to year?
So here are the prizes:
1- for an aerial or satellite image of the SAME cave-opening, and of similar or better resolution - but
for a DIFFERENT YEAR: $250 prize.To be sure your entry is indeed a different year, please check the patterns of snow and ice around the cave-opening (which will almost certainly vary somewhat from year to year).
2 - for an aerial or satellite image of the SAME cave-opening acquired in 2006, but
with BETTER RESOLUTION - $150 prize.3 - for any
solid scientific data on the COMPOSITION of the dome-covering of this cave -- $300 prize. (I would be surprised if any such data exists at this time.)
I realize that there are various speculations out there - that perhaps this opening leads to the inside of the Hollow Earth or alien spacecraft, etc. I'm really not interested in such speculations - just in MORE solid data!