2008 Mann/Hill World Cruise

February 7, 2006

The International Geophysical Year

The International Geophysical Year (IGY), from July 1957, through December 1958, was planned to correspond with a period of maximum sunspot activity in Antarctica. As part of the IGY, 12 nations maintained 65 stations and operational facilities in Antarctica. The more difficult logistical problems of establishing inland bases were undertaken by the United States and the USSR. The American effort, termed “Operation Deep Freeze”, concentrated on the building of McMurdo Station, a major base of operations, on Ross Island; five other U.S. stations were established, including one at the South Pole. The Russians concentrated on east Antarctica, building Mirnyy, a station on the Queen Mary Coast, and three bases inland: Komsomolskaya, Vostok (at the South Magnetic Pole), and Sovetskaya. Britain maintained 14 stations, and Argentina, Chile, France, Australia, Belgium, Japan, Norway, South Africa, and New Zealand also participated. From 1951 to 1958, Dr. Vivian Fuchs led the British Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition's traverse with tractors from the Weddell Sea to McMurdo Sound via the South Pole, conducting a seismic and magnetic profile en route. Long-distance flights by U.S. planes covered 2,000,000 square miles (5,180,000 square kilometers) in 1955 to 1956. These and later support flights, the tractor journeys to build bases, and geophysical traverses by tracked vehicles during the IGY left little of the continent that had not been seen.

elephant island
Elephant Island is an ice-covered, mountainous island off the coast of Antarctica in the outer reaches of the South Shetland Islands. The island is approximately 6 by 1.2 miles (10 by 2 kilometers) long with a maximum elevation of 2795 feet (852 meters) above sea level at Pardo Ridge. The island supports no significant flora or native fauna although migratory Gentoo penguins and seals may be found on its shores, and Chinstrap Penguins nest there. The island is most famous as the refuge of Ernest Shackleton's crew in 1914 following the loss of their ship Endurance in Antarctic ice. Shackleton left his second in command, Frank Wild in charge of 21 men on Elephant Island for more than four months while he sailed across open ocean with five other men to South Georgia and led attempts to return with a rescue ship.

hope bay
Hope Bay is 3 by 2 miles (5 by 3 kilometers) indenting the tip of Antarctic Peninsula and opening on Antarctic Sound. Discovered on January 15, 1902, by the Swedish Antarctic explorer under Nordenskjold, who named it in commemoration of the winter spent there by J. Gunnar Andersson, S.A. Duse, and Toralf Grunden of his expedition. The British established a base at Hope Bay in 1945 as part of Operation Tabarin. On December 8, 1997 the British Antarctic Survey transferred the base to Uruguay, who renamed it Teniente Ruperto Elichiribehety Uruguayan Antarctic Scientific Station. The Argentine base Esperanza is also located at Hope Bay.

antarctic treaty & further research
The success of the International Geophysical Year’s effort led to the signing of the Antarctic Treaty in 1959 by representatives of the 12 nations that had been involved in the IGY. The treaty prohibits military operations, nuclear explosions and the disposal of radioactive wastes in Antarctica and provides for cooperation in scientific investigation and the exchange of scientific data. In 1991, 24 nations signed a protocol to the 1959 treaty barring for 50 years the exploration of Antarctica for oil or minerals. Of the 12 nations involved in the IGY, some have dropped their programs, others have suspended and then renewed operations; those that have been continually involved have reduced the size of their programs. Eighteen nations now operate more than 30 year-round research stations on the continent; many more are operated in the summer. At McMurdo the United States has built a scientific village where people may be housed in summer and winter. From McMurdo other U.S. bases are supported by air. The National Science Foundation finances the U.S. programs. Logistical support was in the hands of the U.S. navy until 1998, when air support was taken over by the New York Air National Guard. Mapping is done by

posted by Hills @ 2:03 PM