Scientist dies in Antarctic plunge

A US climate change researcher has died when his snowmobile plunged into a crevasse in Antarctica.

A US based scientist has died in Antarctica after the snowmobile he was driving plunged 30 metres into a crevasse.

Gordon Hamilton, 50, a University of Maine professor in the School of Earth and Climate Sciences and a researcher with the Climate Change Institute, fell into the crevasse on Saturday, the US National Science Foundation (NSF) says.

Hamilton's body has been recovered and US Antarctic Program personnel have opened an investigation into his death.

Hamilton was part of a team camped in a heavily crevassed area known as the Shear Zone, around 40 km south of McMurdo Station, the largest of the three US research stations in Antarctica.