Zucchelli Station | |
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Mario Zucchelli Station | |
Location of Zucchelli Station in Antarctica | |
Coordinates: 74°41′39″S164°06′50″E / 74.694206°S 164.113869°E | |
Country | Italy |
Location in Antarctica | Terra Nova Bay Ross Sea |
Administered by | National Antarctic Research Program |
Established | 1985 |
Named for | Mario Zucchelli |
Elevation | 15 m (49 ft) |
Population (2017) [1] | |
• Summer | 120 |
• Winter | 0 |
UN/LOCODE | AQ MZU |
Type | Seasonal |
Period | Summer |
Status | Operational |
Activities | List
|
Website | www |
Zucchelli Station is an Italian seasonal research station in Antarctica, located at Terra Nova Bay on a granitic headland along the coast of the Northern Foothills to the north-east of Gerlache Inlet. It has been named after Mario Zucchelli, director of the activities, which conducted for sixteen years, for the ENEA-Unità Tecnica Antartide as part of the National Antarctic Research Program (PNRA). [2]
The main functions carried out by the Station are:
The Zucchelli Station is a seasonal (from mid-October until mid-March) [3] research Antarctic Station on the Terra Nova Bay located at an altitude of 15 metres (49 ft) and covers an area of approximately 7,500 square meters. In 2010, the Station was enlarged and in the austral summer the traverse leave for Concordia Station operated jointly with France. [4]
The main building was built in 1985, in the first seasonal expedition, on a steel structure 1.5 metres (4 ft 11 in) from the ground and consist of 82 containers, 42 of which used for the personnel accommodation and services while the remaining 40 to the support activities as:
Icaro Camp ( 74°42′43″S164°07′00″E / 74.711866°S 164.116650°E ) is a facility, fitted as a meteorological station, located 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) south of the Zucchelli Station. The camp consists of two blue containers, held by guy-wires, meteorological equipment, solar panels and a wind generator. Although the structures are not suited to accommodate people, they could shelter a dozen in case of emergency. [5]
Boulder Clay Runway (Under construction) | |||||||||||
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Summary | |||||||||||
Airport type | Private | ||||||||||
Location | Zucchelli Station Terra Nova Bay | ||||||||||
Elevation AMSL | 672 ft / 205 m | ||||||||||
Coordinates | 74°44′22″S164°02′07″E / 74.739373°S 164.03539°E | ||||||||||
Runways | |||||||||||
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Enigma Lake Skiway | |||||||||||
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Summary | |||||||||||
Airport type | Private | ||||||||||
Location | Zucchelli Station Terra Nova Bay | ||||||||||
Elevation AMSL | 443 ft / 135 m | ||||||||||
Coordinates | 74°43′08″S164°01′46″E / 74.718921°S 164.029558°E | ||||||||||
Runways | |||||||||||
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Zucchelli Ice Runway | |||||||||||||||
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Summary | |||||||||||||||
Airport type | Private | ||||||||||||||
Location | Gerlache Inlet Terra Nova Bay | ||||||||||||||
Coordinates | 74°41′39″S164°06′50″E / 74.694206°S 164.113869°E | ||||||||||||||
Runways | |||||||||||||||
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Boulder Clay Runway ( 74°44′22″S164°02′07″E / 74.739373°S 164.03539°E ) is located about 6 kilometres (3.7 mi) south of Zucchelli Station on the Northern Foothills; the construction started in the 2016–17 season and will be completed in the 2021–22. The Italian team usually use an Ice Runway in the Gerlache Inlet to start the summer campaign but in recent years the ice runway was closed earlier then before because of the ice thickness had diminished due to partial melting of the ice. The airstrip is situated on the Boulder Clay Moraine and is built with the least environmental impact as possible. It is a gravel runway 2,200 metres (7,200 ft) long and 60 metres (200 ft) wide in order to be suitable to the Safair or Aeronautica Militare C-130J [9] or other larger types, such as the C-17 Globemaster, Airbus A319-115LR and Boeing 757. The airfield will be completed with a taxiway which connect the apron with the runway, an apron for aircraft parking and operational tasks, capable of stationing two C-130 Hercules, fire service as ICAO standards, fuel deposit, terminal and shed for the personnel, operation room and a power unit. [10] The reduced thickness of the ice in the Ross Sea did not allowed to the heavier C-130J Hercules of the Italian Air Force to land on the sea ice runway. On 22 November 2022 at 4.30 CET a C-130J landed for the first time on the prepared gravel runway. Boulder Clay Runway will become an international hub as it can be utilised by the other nearby research stations. [11]
Enigma Lake Skiway is situated at an elevation of 135 metres (443 ft), on the Northern Foothills, 3 kilometres (1.9 mi) south of Zucchelli Station on an iced lake. Being 725 metres (2,379 ft) long it is operated by the Twin Otters and Basler BT-67. The skyway is prepared by removing the snow accumulated in the winter by the Station staff; in the same place stands an AWS (Rita) which makes part of the network managed by the Antarctic Meteo-Climatological Weather Observatory. [12]
Zucchelli Ice Runway is located in the Gerlache Inlet and is prepared, at the beginning of each season, by the station's logistic personnel in mid-October. The sea ice runway is suitable for operating the Aeronautica Militare or Safair wheeled C-130, but in the latest years it was closed earlier than before because the sea ice break up. [13] Two runways are prepared, one is the 03/21 which is 3,090 metres (10,140 ft) long and 76 metres (249 ft) wide used by the C-130, the other is the 06/24 which is shorter measuring 1,640 metres (5,380 ft) in length and 50 metres (160 ft) in width utilised by the Twin Otters and the Basler BT-67. [8]
The Antarctic Meteo-Climatological Weather Observatory, established in 1985, attempt to a give a contribution to understand the climate change through the study of the atmospheric dynamics. The programme is defined by two projects supported by the National Antarctic Research Program (PNRA), one regarding the Victoria Land and the other the Concordia Station, carried out by the ENEA personnel. The centre run an Automatic weather station network, distributed through the territory, having the responsibility of the instrumentation assembly, the maintenance and the data collection. The network include 16 AW stations operating all year around:
Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
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Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 1 (34) | −5 (23) | −12 (10) | −16 (3) | −17 (1) | −17 (1) | −20 (−4) | −17 (1) | −16 (3) | −13 (9) | −5 (23) | 1 (34) | −11 (12) |
Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | −2 (28) | −8 (18) | −16 (3) | −21 (−6) | −22 (−8) | −23 (−9) | −25 (−13) | −23 (−9) | −22 (−8) | −18 (0) | −9 (16) | −3 (27) | −16 (3) |
Average precipitation mm (inches) | 42.1 (1.66) | 23.5 (0.93) | 0.7 (0.03) | 0.8 (0.03) | 3.8 (0.15) | 8.4 (0.33) | 13 (0.5) | 4.7 (0.19) | 1.6 (0.06) | 3 (0.1) | 17.4 (0.69) | 25.7 (1.01) | 144.7 (5.70) |
Source: [15] |
Transport in Antarctica has transformed from explorers crossing the isolated remote area of Antarctica by foot to a more open era due to human technologies enabling more convenient and faster transport, predominantly by air and water, but also by land as well. Transportation technologies on a remote area like Antarctica need to be able to deal with extremely low temperatures and continuous winds to ensure the travelers' safety. Due to the fragility of the Antarctic environment, only a limited amount of transport movements can take place and sustainable transportation technologies have to be used to reduce the ecological footprint. The infrastructure of land, water and air transport needs to be safe and sustainable. Currently thousands of tourists and hundreds of scientists a year depend on the Antarctic transportation system.
The Ross Dependency is a region of Antarctica defined by a sector originating at the South Pole, passing along longitudes 160° east to 150° west, and terminating at latitude 60° south. It is claimed by New Zealand, a claim accepted only by the other six countries with territorial claims in Antarctica. Under the 1961 Antarctic Treaty, of which all territorial claimants are signatories, including New Zealand, all claims are held in abeyance. Article IV states: "No acts or activities taking place while the present Treaty is in force shall constitute a basis for asserting, supporting or denying a claim to territorial sovereignty in Antarctica or create any rights of sovereignty in Antarctica".
Adélie Land or Adélie Coast is a claimed territory of France located on the continent of Antarctica. It stretches from a portion of the Southern Ocean coastline all the way inland to the South Pole. France has administered it as one of five districts of the French Southern and Antarctic Lands since 1955 and applied the Antarctic Treaty System rules since 1961. Article 4 of the Antarctic Treaty deals with territorial claims, and although it does not renounce or diminish any preexisting claims to sovereignty, it also does not prejudice the position of contracting parties in their recognition or non-recognition of territorial sovereignty. France has had a permanent station in Adélie Land since 9 April 1950.
Dome C, also known as Dome Circe, Dome Charlie or Dome Concordia, located at Antarctica at an elevation of 3,233 metres (10,607 ft) above sea level, is one of several summits or "domes" of the Antarctic Ice Sheet. Dome C is located on the Antarctic Plateau, 1,100 kilometres (680 mi) inland from the French research station at Dumont D'Urville, 1,100 kilometres (680 mi) inland from the Australian Casey Station and 1,200 kilometres (750 mi) inland from the Italian Zucchelli station at Terra Nova Bay. Russia's Vostok Station is 560 kilometres (350 mi) away. Dome C is the site of the Concordia Research Station, jointly operated by France and Italy.
Concordia Research Station, which opened in 2005, is a French–Italian research facility that was built 3,233 m (10,607 ft) above sea level at a location called Dome C on the Antarctic Plateau, Antarctica. It is located 1,100 km (680 mi) inland from the French research station at Dumont D'Urville, 1,100 km (680 mi) inland from Australia's Casey Station and 1,200 km (750 mi) inland from the Italian Zucchelli Station at Terra Nova Bay. Russia's Vostok Station is 560 km (350 mi) away. The Geographic South Pole is 1,670 km (1,040 mi) away. The facility is also located within Australia's claim on Antarctica, the Australian Antarctic Territory.
Terra Nova Bay is a bay which is often ice free, about 64 km (40 mi) long, lying between Cape Washington and the Drygalski Ice Tongue along the coast of Victoria Land, Antarctica. It was discovered by the British National Antarctic Expedition under Robert Falcon Scott, 1901–1904, and named by him after Terra Nova, one of the relief ships for the expedition. The Italian permanent Zucchelli Station is located in the bay, as is the Jang Bogo Station of South Korea. Relief Inlet can be found in the south west corner of the Bay.
Mount Melbourne is a 2,733-metre-high (8,967 ft) ice-covered stratovolcano in Victoria Land, Antarctica, between Wood Bay and Terra Nova Bay. It is an elongated mountain with a summit caldera filled with ice with numerous parasitic vents; a volcanic field surrounds the edifice. Mount Melbourne has a volume of about 180 cubic kilometres (43 cu mi) and consists of tephra deposits and lava flows; tephra deposits are also found encased within ice and have been used to date the last eruption of Mount Melbourne to 1892 ± 30 years. The volcano is fumarolically active.
Marambio Station is a permanent, all year-round Argentine Antarctica station named after Vice-Commodore Gustavo Argentino Marambio, an Antarctic aviation pioneer. It is located in Marambio Island, Graham Land, Antarctic Peninsula, some 100 km (60 mi) from the coastal civilian village of Esperanza.
An ice pier or ice wharf is a man-made structure used to assist the unloading of ships in Antarctica. It is constructed by pumping seawater into a contained area and allowing the water to freeze. By repeating this procedure several times, additional layers are built up. The final structure is many metres in thickness, and strong enough to support container trucks. Operation Deep Freeze personnel constructed the first floating ice pier at Antarctica’s southernmost sea port at McMurdo Station in 1973. Ice piers have been in use each summer season since, at McMurdo's natural harbor at Winter Quarters Bay located at 77°50′S166°40′E. The harbor is positioned on the southern tip of Ross Island.
Inexpressible Island is a small, rocky island in Terra Nova Bay, Victoria Land, Antarctica.
Campbell Glacier is a glacier, about 60 nautical miles (110 km) long, originating near the south end of Mesa Range and draining southeast between the Deep Freeze Range and Mount Melbourne to discharge into north Terra Nova Bay. The lower end of the glacier was observed by the Northern Party, led by Lieutenant Victor Campbell, Royal Navy, of the British Antarctic Expedition, 1910–13; it was named for the leader of this party. The extent of the glacier and its discharge into north Terra Nova Bay, rather than the Nansen Ice Sheet, was determined by United States and New Zealand survey parties to the area in 1961–62 and 1962–63. The steep bluff along the east side of the glacier is known as Hades Terrace, Bier Point is a projecting headland on the eastern side of Campbell Glacier.
The Downshire Cliffs are a line of precipitous basalt cliffs rising to 2,000 m above the Ross Sea and forming much of the eastern side of the Adare Peninsula, along the Borchgrevink Coast of northern Victoria Land, Antarctica. The nearest permanent research stations are the Italian Mario Zucchelli and South Korean Jang Bogo Stations some 400 km to the south in Terra Nova Bay.
Mount Elizabeth is a massive ice-free mountain, 4,480 metres (14,700 ft) high, standing 11 kilometres south of Mount Anne in the Queen Alexandra Range, Antarctica. It was discovered by the British Antarctic Expedition, 1907–09, and named for Elizabeth Dawson-Lambton, a supporter of the expedition.
Gerlache Inlet is an inlet 4 nautical miles (7 km) wide in the northwest corner of Terra Nova Bay, indenting the Northern Foothills just south of Mount Browning, along the coast of Victoria Land, Antarctica. The name appears to have been applied by the British National Antarctic Expedition, 1901–04, and honors Belgian Antarctic explorer Lieutenant Adrien de Gerlache.
The Jang Bogo Station in Terra Nova Bay, Antarctica is a permanent South Korean research station. It is the second base of South Korean Antarctic research mission, and the first that is located in mainland Antarctica. Completed in February 2014, the station houses 23 people in winter and 62 in summer in a 4000 square-metre building with three wings, and is one of the larger permanent bases in Antarctica.
National Antarctic Research Program is the Italian Antarctic research program.
Rothera Research Station is the BAS logistics centre for the Antarctic and home of well-equipped biological laboratories and facilities for a wide range of research. The station is situated on a rock and raised beach promontory at the southern extremity of Wormald Ice Piedmont, south-eastern Adelaide Island.
Sitry Airstrip, the name is derived from the abbreviation of C-3, was an Antarctic skiway operated by the Italian ENEA-Unità Tecnica Antartitide as part of the National Antarctic Research Program (PNRA).
Adélie Cove is a 186 ha tract of ice-free land on the coast of Terra Nova Bay in Victoria Land, Antarctica. It has been identified as an Important Bird Area by BirdLife International because it supports populations of seabirds, notably a breeding colony of about 11,000 pairs of Adélie penguins. Some 30 pairs of south polar skuas breed near the penguin colony. The nearest permanent research stations are Italy's Mario Zucchelli 9 km to the north, and South Korea's Jang Bogo 17 km to the north.