South Pole: The 150,000-Year Journey

At the location of the Geographic South Pole 2007 marker, I planted a mangrove seedling from Miami's Biscayne Bay, 25°46'N 80°12'W. Embedded in the moving glacier, the "seedling" will begin sliding downhill ( 9.9 meters every year) in the direction of the Weddell Sea, 1,400 km away. The "seedling" will thus begin its 150,000 year journey towards the seashore, where theoretically it can eventually set its roots.
Through this piece, we are challenged to visualize what the world will look like in 152,007 A.D.--when the seedling, riding on the 3 km thick glacial ice sheet that blankets the South Pole, reaches the coast of Antarctica to set its roots. The "150,000-year Journey" project addresses the passage of time, asking us to see time in geologic instead of human time frames. To learn more about the 150,000-year Journey, please visit http://www.cortada.com/antarctica/journey.