Pole of Inaccessibility research station
Pole of Inaccessibility
Полюс недоступности | |
|---|---|
Southern pole of inaccessibility | |
| Government | |
| • Type | Administration |
| • Body | SAE, Soviet Union |
| Elevation | 3,800 m (12,500 ft) |
| Active times | One summer |
The Pole of Inaccessibility research station (Russian: Полюс недоступности) is a defunct Soviet research station in Kemp Land, Antarctica, at the southern pole of inaccessibility (the point in Antarctica furthest from any ocean) as defined in 1958 when the station was established. Later definitions give other locations, all relatively near this point. It performed meteorological observations from 14 to 26 December 1958. The Pole of Inaccessibility has the world's coldest year-round average temperature of −58.2 °C (−72.8 °F).[2]
It is 878 km (546 mi) from the
History
Equipment and personnel were delivered by an Antarctic tractor convoy operated by the 3rd Soviet Antarctic Expedition. The station had a hut for four people, a radio shack, and an electrical hut. These buildings had been constructed on the tractors used during the traverse, serving as accommodation. Next to the hut, an airstrip was cleared and a
The 8th Soviet Antarctic Expedition visited the site on 1 February 1964 and left five days later.[6]
The American Queen Maud Land Traverse reached the Pole of Inaccessibility from Amundsen–Scott South Pole Station on 27 January 1965. The crew were flown out by a Lockheed C-130 Hercules on 1 February. On 15 December 1965 a new American crew arrived by C-130 to make observations, refurbish the snow cats, and continue the Queen Maud Land Traverse, zig-zagging to the newly installed Plateau Station, where they arrived on 29 January 1966.[7]
The 12th Soviet Antarctic Expedition visited the site in 1967.[6]
On 19 January 2007, the
On 27 December 2011, during the Antarctica Legacy Crossing,
Historic site
The station building is surmounted by a bust of Vladimir Lenin facing Moscow. As of 2007, it is almost entirely buried by snow, with little more than the bust visible.[8] Following a proposal by Russia to the Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting, the buried building and emergent bust, along with a plaque commemorating the conquest of the Pole of Inaccessibility by Soviet Antarctic explorers in 1958, has been designated a Historic Site or Monument (HSM 4).[1]
See also
- Soviet Antarctic Expedition
- List of Antarctic research stations
- List of Antarctic field camps
- Henry Cookson, British Adventurer
- Historic Sites and Monuments in Antarctica
References
- ^ a b "List of Historic Sites and Monuments approved by the ATCM (2012)" (PDF). Antarctic Treaty Secretariat. 2012. Retrieved October 24, 2013.
- ^ Crowder, Bob; Robertson, Ted; Vallier-Talbot, Eleanor; Whitaker, Richard. Weather (Revised and updated ed.). William J. Burroughs. p. 59.
- ^ Nudel'man, A. V. (1959). Soviet Antarctic Expeditions 1955-1959. Moscow: Izdatel'stvo Akademii Nauk SSSR.
- ^ "Catalogue of Russian Federation Antarctic Meteorology Data". Laboratory of Ocean and Climate Antarctic Studies, Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute. Archived from the original on October 29, 2013. Retrieved January 29, 2013.
- ^ А.С. ЛАЗАРЕВ (December 16, 2008). ДОСТИЖЕНИЕ ПОЛЮСА НЕДОСТУПНОСТИ (in Russian). Archived from the original on July 10, 2017. Retrieved April 23, 2009.
- ^ a b "Norwegian-U.S. Scientific Traverse of East Antarctica". Archived from the original on March 12, 2017. Retrieved January 21, 2017.
- hdl:1811/38761.
- ^ a b "Team N2i successfully conquer the Pole of Inaccessibility by foot and kite on 19th Jan '07". Archived from the original on August 16, 2011. Retrieved August 16, 2011.
Further reading
Media related to Pole of inaccessibility at Wikimedia Commons
