NSF photo by Dwight Bohnet. South Pole Station: Supporting Science. Americans have occupied the geographic South Pole continuously since November The station stands at an elevation of 2, meters 9, feet on Antarctica's nearly featureless ice sheet, which is about 2, meters 9, feet thick at that location. The station, which is nautical miles south of McMurdo Station, is drifting with the ice sheet at about 10 meters 33 feet each year. Recorded temperature has varied between Average wind is Snow accumulation is about 20 centimeters of snow centimeters water equivalent per year, with very low humidity.
The station's name honors Roald Amundsen and Robert F. Scott, who attained the South Pole in and The first station, built to support researchers during the International Geophysical Year, was begun in November and completed in February As interest in polar research increased, it became evident that a new design and a larger station was necessary. In the central area of the station was rebuilt as a geodesic dome 50 meters wide and 16 meters high that, with by meter steel archways, covering modular buildings, fuel bladders, and equipment.
Detached buildings housed instruments for monitoring the upper and lower atmosphere and for numerous and complex projects in astronomy and astrophysics. There is an emergency camp. The dome facility was designed to house 18 science and support personnel during the winter and 33 during the austral summer.
However, over the years, the facility's infrastructure and technology have exceeded its design and operational life. To augment the existing facility, a number of science and berthing structures were added in the s, particularly for astronomy and astrophysics.
Russia and China have both said they are planning to prospect for natural resources on the continent , despite a longstanding agreement banning it.
Their research to understand how climate change affects Antarctica , and the flow-on impacts to Aotearoa New Zealand and the rest of the world, is critically important. The new buildings will be constructed in New Zealand, and shipped fully formed, about 4,km across the Southern Ocean. The government anticipates the project will create about jobs.
As well as replacing the buildings, a significant chunk of funding will go to installing new wind turbines, which will help transition the base to renewable energy. Repair facilities, dormitories, administrative buildings, a firehouse, power plant, water distillation plant, wharf, stores, clubs, warehouses, and the first class Crary Lab are linked by above-ground water, sewer, telephone, and power lines.
Recorded temperature extremes have been as low as minus 50 degrees Centigrade and as high as plus 8 degrees Centigrade. Annual mean is minus 18 degrees Centigrade; monthly mean temperatures range from minus 3 degrees Centigrade in January to minus 28 degrees Centigrade in August. Drifting snow can accumulate about 1. Average wind is about 5. Scientific research is performed at and near McMurdo in aeronomy, astrophysics and geospace sciences, biology and ecosystems, geology and geophysics, glaciology, geomorphology, ice cores, and ocean and climate systems.
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