The southern wilderness was long the preserve of men since its first sighting in 1820 but female scientists are overcoming sexism to make their mark

For almost as long as the Continent has been known of, Antarctica, a wild, white expanse of ice shelves, glaciers and mountainous ridges at the foot of the globe, has been the domain of men.

But images in the popular imagination of bearded men boldly heading into snowstorms could slowly be fading into the whiteness.