The 2009 AP3 expedition extended from November 18 to December 24, 2009 and was supported by the United States Antarctic Program research vessel ARSV Laurence M. Gould. Unfortunately, due to extremely adverse climatic conditions (primarily an abundance of sea ice), our team was only able to prospect a small area of one of our islands of interest, James Ross Island. Nevertheless, this effort produced a notable discovery: a new species of fossil crab from the Upper Cretaceous (~90 million-year-old) Hidden Lake Formation. Our team also conducted paleontological prospecting in the South Shetland Islands, finding Cretaceous plant fossils on Livingston and Snow islands.

Images from the 2009 AP3 expedition. They may take a bit to load, but we think they’re worth the wait!