Arctowski station
Coordinates: 62 ° 9 ′ 35.2 " S , 58 ° 28 ′ 23.9" W.
The Arctowski Station ( Polish Polska Stacja Antarktyczna im. Henryka Arctowskiego ) is a year-round Polish research station on King George Island in the South Shetland Islands . It is named after Henryk Arctowski (1871–1958), a Polish geophysicist and polar scientist. Arctowski was one of the participants in the Belgica expedition , which explored the coast of West Antarctica from 1897 to 1899 under the direction of Adrien de Gerlache de Gomery .
location
The Arctowski station is located at Point Thomas on the west side of Admiralty Bay in a 4.2 km² ice-free oasis. The area is bounded to the north by the Ezcurra Fjord and east and to the east by the central part of Admiralty Bay, to the south and west by the Warszawa ice field . It belongs to the specially managed area ASMA-1 "Admiralty Bay". The Brazilian Comandante Ferraz station , which is also manned all year round, is located on the east side of Admiralty Bay .
history
The station opened on February 26, 1977 as a base for scientific research and related logistical operations as part of the Polish National Antarctic Program . Its first director was Stanisław Rakusa-Suszczewski . It replaced the Dobrowolski station operated in the Bunger Oasis in East Antarctica since January 21, 1959 . Due to its domestic location, it was only expensive to reach by plane and was not used permanently. It served as a base for the 1st and 2nd Polish Antarctic Expeditions in 1958/59 and 1966/67 and was preserved and closed in 1979.
The Arctowski station was initially operated by the Department of Antarctic Biology of the Polish Academy of Sciences (PAN). This was integrated into the Institute of Biochemistry and Biophysics of the PAN in 2012, which also took over the operation of the station.
Station construction
The research station consists of the main building used as a community center, 30 individual containers and the Arctowski lighthouse . Most of the modules date from 1977. Parts of the main building and the biological laboratory were renovated in 1998. In 2007 two laboratory buildings were merged. The covered area is 1800 m², of which 200 m² are used by the scientific laboratories and 10 m² by the hospital room. The station has 40 beds, which can be occupied by 26 scientists and 14 service employees in the Antarctic summer. In winter the station is nominally occupied by 16 people. Eight of them are scientists. The station has two helipads and double-walled fuel tanks with a total capacity of more than 1000 tons.
On the banks of Sentry Cove in the Antarctic protected area ASPA-128 and on Lions Rump in ASPA-151, the station maintains two wooden shelters of identical design. Up to four researchers can be accommodated here.
On a hill south of the research station is the grave of the Polish nature filmmaker Włodzimierz Puchalski (1909–1979), which is listed as a HSM-51 monument under the protection of the Antarctic Treaty .
Nature and climate
The climate at Admiralty Bay is maritime Antarctic. The oasis in which the station is located is protected from the prevailing westerly winds by the up to 650 m high Arctowski Dome and has a specific, milder mesoclimate . The mean annual temperature is −1.6 ° C. The warmest month is February with an average of 2.3 ° C, the coldest is July with an average of −6.6 ° C. The annual rainfall is 506 mm.
In the area grow with the Antarctic Schmiele ( Deschampsia antarctica ) and the Antarctic Perlwurz ( Colobanthus quitensis ) the only two species of vascular plants native to the Antarctic, as well as over 300 types of lichens , around 60 types of moss and numerous types of algae . 6 species of seals have been observed at Admiralty Bay . Of the 24 bird species present, 12 breed in the area.
Research program
The scientific program of the Arctowski Station includes work in the fields of oceanography , geology , glaciology , geomorphology , climatology , microbiology , botany , ecology , ornithology , genetics , cartography, and marine biology and chemistry . There are also long-term monitoring programs carried out on ecology, meteorology and glaciology. From 1978 to 1994 year-round seismic and geomagnetic observations were made at the station .
At the Institute for Biochemistry and Biophysics, a collection of more than 500 strains of Antarctic microorganisms found in the vicinity of the station was created.
Others
On the occasion of the ten-year existence of the research station, the Polish Post issued six special postage stamps and a first-day jewelery cover in February 1987.
literature
- COMNAP Secretariat: Antarctic Station Catalog . Christchurch 2017, ISBN 978-0-473-40409-3 (English, comnap.aq [PDF; 19.9 MB ]).
Web links
- The station site (English)
- COMNAP Antarctic Facilities Map , Edition 5, July 24, 2009 (English, PDF; 7.74 MB)
- COMNAP Antarctic Facilities ( Memento of August 7, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Maciej Orzeszko: 26 lutego 1977 r. - otwarcie Polskiej Stacji Antarktycznej im. Henryka Arctowskiego . In: Tygodnik Solidarność on February 27, 2017, accessed on December 17, 2019 (Polish).
- ↑ a b Admiralty Bay, King George Island (PDF; 2.55 MB), Management Plan for Antarctic Specially Managed Area No. 1, 2014, accessed December 18, 2019
- ↑ West Admiralty Bay, King George Island (AQ046) in the Data Zone at BirdLife International, accessed on December 18, 2019 (English).