Though not as lyrical or beautifully photographed as Encounters at the End of the World, Werner Herzog’s recent meditation on Antarctica, this 2008 TV documentary is just as absorbing. Director Anne Aghion follows a team of four geologists on a lonely field expedition far from the relative safety of their base at McMurdo Station; using geochronology techniques to date fossils from an ancient lake bed, they hope to map global warming over the eons. Whereas Herzog was fascinated by the quirky people drawn to the continent, this video is more focused on the earth sciences and what the organic life existing in the region some 14 to 20 million years ago may tell us about the future. 77 min.