Aguirre Cerda Research Station

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Aguirre Cerda
Base Presidente Pedro Aguirre Cerda
Base Pedro Aguirre Cerda1.JPG
The base
Antarctica relief location map.jpg
Red pog.svg
Aguirre Cerda
Location in Antarctica
Coordinates: 62°56′01″S60°35′45″W / 62.9337°S 60.5959°W / -62.9337; -60.5959
Region South Shetland Islands
Location Deception Island
Established12 February 1955 (1955-02-12)
Destroyed4 December 1967 (1967-12-04)
Named for Pedro Aguirre Cerda
Government
  TypeAdministration
  Body Instituto Antártico Chileno
Population
  Total16
Active timesAll year-round

President Pedro Aguirre Cerda Station was a Chilean Antarctic base, located at Pendulum Cove in Deception Island in the South Shetland Islands, inaugurated in 1955. The same year, the Falkland Islands and Dependencies Aerial Survey Expedition was established at Deception Island to help the survey of the Antarctic Peninsula, operating aircraft from Hunting Aerosurveys Ltd.

Contents

History

The Station was inaugurated on February 12, 1955, by the Defence Minister of Chile Tobías Barros Ortiz, when at that time the Commodore Jorge Gándara was in charge of the Chilean Air Force. The base was first designated with the name of the then President Carlos Ibáñez del Campo, but after the inauguration received the name of the former president Pedro Aguirre Cerda, in gratitude to his disposal of the decree that defined the Chilean Antarctic Territory in 1940.

The research was carried out on volcanology, climatology and meteorology. Since 1965, a weather office was in operation in order to elaborate national and international meteorological forecasts.

The base operation ended violently and definitively on December 4, 1967, when a volcanic eruption destroyed it. It was abandoned, evacuating the 16 men who made up its endowment. New volcanic eruptions in 1969 and 1970 affected again the structures of the base. The ruins of the base, including its meteorological and volcanological center, were declared in 2001 as Historic Sites and Monuments in Antarctica N° 76 under the Antarctic Treaty System, on the proposal and preservation of Chile.[ citation needed ]

Gutiérrez Vargas Refuge

The Gutiérrez Vargas Refuge, so called in memory of the aviation Captain who died on December 30, 1955, was located at 1 kilometre (0.62 mi) from Aguirre Cerda Station and was inaugurated on February 12, 1956. Its purpose was to serve as a refuge for the members of the Station in the case of fire.

On December 4, 1967, the refuge was definitively abandoned, as was the Aguirre Cerda Station, due to a violent volcanic eruption. The poor remains of the refuge structure can still be seen on the beach where it was located.[ citation needed ]

See also

Related Research Articles

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pedro Aguirre Cerda</span> Chilean politician

Pedro Abelino Aguirre Cerda was a Chilean political figure, educator, and lawyer who served as the 22nd president of Chile from 1938 until his death in 1941. A member of the Radical Party since 1906, he was chosen by the left-wing Popular Front coalition as its candidate for the 1938 presidential election and won. He had previously served as deputy for San Felipe, Putaendo and Los Andes from 1915 to 1918, Minister of the Interior from January to September 1918 under president Juan Luis Sanfuentes, deputy for Santiago from 1918 to 1921, Minister of Justice and Public Instruction from 1920 to 1921 under president Arturo Alessandri, and senator for Concepción from 1921 to 1927. He died two years and eleven months into his presidency on November 25, 1941, at the age of 62, from tuberculosis.

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Peter Edward Baker (1937–2008) was a notable British volcanologist, professor emeritus of Igneous Petrology in the School of Earth Sciences, University of Leeds.

The following lists events that happened during 1955 in Chile.

The following lists events that happened during 1967 in Chile.

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References