Halley station
Coordinates: 75 ° 34 ′ 5 ″ S , 25 ° 30 ′ 30 ″ W.
The Halley station on the Brunt Ice Shelf in the Weddell Sea near the Coats Land , East Antarctica belonging Caird Coast is a British research station , which is dedicated to the exploration of the Earth's atmosphere. Measurements made here led to the discovery of the ozone hole in 1985 .
history
Halley Bay Station was established in 1956 for the International Geophysical Year 1957-1958 by an expedition from the Royal Society . It was originally built on Halley Bay, named after the astronomer Edmond Halley , and named after the bay. After the bay disappeared due to changes in the ice shelf , the station was renamed Halley in 1977 .
Six Halley stations have been built so far. The first four stations were buried under piles of snow after about 10 years each and were compressed until they became uninhabitable. Various construction methods have been tried - from unprotected wooden huts to steel tunnels. Halley V, completed in 1989, was the first station to be built on steel platforms; these were raised annually to keep them above the snow. However, since the supports were firmly anchored in the ice, Halley V came too close to the edge of the ice over the years. After the completion of its successor Halley VI, it was canceled in 2012.
Halley VI is the first mobile research station, it was designed by Hugh Broughton Architects in collaboration with AECOM for the British polar research institute British Antarctic Survey and built by the British construction company Galliford Try. In 2015 the construction project received the Outstanding Civil Engineering Achievement Award from the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE).
One of the most momentous discoveries was the evidence of the ozone hole published in 1985 - based on the data obtained here .
Halley VI
Halley VI was completed on February 28, 2012. The station consists of eight modules, the supports of which can be raised hydraulically to hold them above new ice and snow; In addition, the supports end in large skis, so that the entire station can be moved to another location by tractors if necessary.
While the station had already moved in the summer of 2016/17 due to a crack in the ice shelf ( "Chasm 1" ), after the discovery of another crack (" Halloween Crack ") it was decided to withdraw the crew from March 2017 until the end of the Antarctic winter. Also in February 2019 it was decided to close the station until November 2019 for security reasons.
environment
Temperatures in Halley almost never rise above zero, in midsummer temperatures are around -10 ° C, in deep winter they can reach -50 ° C.
The wind blows mainly from the east. Usually strong winds lift the dusty surface snow, which limits visibility to a few meters.
One of the reasons for choosing this location was the location of the station south of the auroral -Kreises. Frequent appearances of the Aurora australis take place over Halley . These are most easily observed during the 105 days when the sun does not rise above the horizon.
Residents
During the winter there are usually 16 people on the station who spend the winter there. In the summer months, from early November to late December, that number rises to around 70.
In articles about Antarctic stations, it is often not clear that very few of the station residents are scientists. Most of them are technicians who are needed to keep the station and the experiments running. The wintering team in Halley consists of a cook, a doctor, mechanics, an electrician, various electronics engineers and a heating and ventilation specialist.
One of the hibernators is appointed every year as base commander and sworn in as a magistrate. He performs this position in addition to his normal duties for a small supplement.
In 1996 a woman hibernated for the first time in Halley. Since then, at least two women have wintered in Halley each year.
Life on the ward
The main event of each year is the arrival of the ship in late December. It is currently RRS Ernest Shackleton ; before 1999 it was RRS Bransfield . Unloading cargo typically takes a week on a 24-hour working day, with a fleet of snowcat cargo sleds pulling approximately 15 km inland.
After that, life remains hectic as there is a lot of work to be done in the short summer period. This includes both scientific activities and major maintenance work such as lifting the platforms. During this time, the ship continues to perform other tasks.
At the beginning of February the ship will come to Halley one last time. The cargo is loaded, the summer staff and the departing winterers go on board, the ship leaves the winterers behind.
The next event on the station calendar is sunset, the last day the sun rises over the horizon. This is usually celebrated with a barbecue. The oldest hibernator lowers the shredded remains of the Union Jack , the British flag.
Midwinter was celebrated in Antarctica in the days of the early explorers and Halley is an eventful week that culminates in the great midwinter feast. The BBC World Service runs a special with news from home and a piece of music chosen by each station team. Traditionally, winterers walk around the building naked, although they are allowed to wear hats, gloves and boots.
At sunrise, the return of the sun, if the weather permits, another barbecue is organized and a new flag is hoisted by the youngest hibernator.
literature
- Ruth Slavid, James Morris: Ice Station: The Creation of Halley VI. Britain's Pioneering Antarctic Research Station . 1st edition. Park Books, 2015, ISBN 978-3-906027-66-1 .
Web links
- Halley Research Station at British Antarctic Survey (English)
- Z-fids: Halley Bay, 1956 - present private website from Andy Smith about the residents of Halley 1956 to the present day (English)
- Antarctic Facilities Map of the Council of Managers of National Antarctic Programs (PDF file; 8.0 MB; English)
- Ice cold research , Focus , 42/14, October 13, 2014
Individual evidence
- ↑ The world's first mobile research station. A hundred years after Robert Falcon Scott's expeditions to Antarctica, Great Britain is proving its ambition to remain at the forefront of cutting-edge research with the ultra-modern research facility Halley VI. February 18, 2013, accessed March 1, 2019 .
- ↑ Joe C. Farman et al .: Large losses of total ozone in Antarctica reveal seasonal ClOx / NOx interaction. In: Nature . Volume 315, No. 6016, 1985, pp. 207-210, doi: 10.1038 / 315207a0 .
- ↑ Halley Research Station relocation . British Antarctic Survey . Retrieved January 18, 2017.
- ^ Brexit in der Antarktis @ Spektrum.de, January 23, 2017; Ice crack to put UK Antarctic base in shut-down , BBC . Retrieved January 18, 2017.
- ↑ Halley Research Station closes for 2019 Antarctic winter - News - British Antarctic Survey. Retrieved March 3, 2019 (UK English).