64°46'S, 64°03'W: THE PEOPLE WHO LIVE AND WORK AT ANTARCTICA'S PALMER STATION OCCUPY A VERY SPECIAL COORDINATE IT'S STAGGERINGLY BEAUTIFUL. IT'S ALSO CHANGING MORE RAPIDLY THAN ALMOST ANY PLACE ON EARTH

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THE GERLACHE STRAIT LOOKS EXACTLY AS I IMAGINED ANTARCTICA WOULD: Snow spills to the edge of the passage from the jagged landscape lining either side. The tops of icebergs rise from the flat, dark water like stiff peaks of beaten egg whites; the ice just beneath the surface glows turquoise. The air hangs soft and gray, and by the time the ARSV Laurence M. Gould rounds the southern tip of Anvers Island and enters Arthur Harbour, a light snow is falling. Through the thick flakes, a handful of Monopoly-size buildings materialize. Figures in bright orange suits amble to the edge of the dock as the ship pulls in. Some grab the research vessel's towlines; others spot the first snowball flying at the exact moment I do. It comes from the stern, where marine biologist Kim Bernard has clipped into a cardboard-box arsenal. The other side quickly retaliates, and soon the residents of Palmer Station-both current and incoming-are locked in battle. Palmer is the smallest of the three year-round U.S. research stations in Antarctica and the only one on the West Antarctic Peninsula.