Information about Marble Point
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Marble Point's relatively flat terrain facilitated construction in 1957 of a now-defunct dirt airstrip.
Marble Point, Antarctica, is a rocky promontory on the coast of Victoria Land located at 77° 26' S latitude and 163° 50' E longitude. The United States operates a station at the point. The outpost is used as a helicopter refueling station supporting scientific research in the nearby continental interior such as the McMurdo Dry Valleys. Weather permitting, helicopters are able to fly in and out of the station 24 hours a day during the summer research season.[1]
The station's remote location and adjoining frozen sea have largely stemmed tourism in the area. However, the Russian icebreaker Kapitan Khlebnikov conducts cruises in the Ross Sea and McMurdo Sound. In 1993, the icebreaker docked at fast ice offshore Marble Point. Tourists aboard helicopters launched from the icebreaker flew excursions into the McMurdo Dry Valleys.[2]
From airstrip to helicopter pad
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Flight crews and field scientists stock up on fuel and hot food at Marble Point. NSF photography by Kris Kuenning, 2004.
The way station at Marble Point is located on a narrow strip of land between Wilson Piedmont Glacier and the sea about 50 miles from McMurdo Station. United States military forces built the camp on the western shores of McMurdo Sound in 1956 in conjunction with the forthcoming 1957-58 International Geophysical Year (IGY).
Preparation for IGY included constructing a hard-surface air strip at Marble Point. A VX-6 Otter airplane made Antarctica’s first wheels-on-dirt landing at Marble Point in 1957.[3] Aboard were U.S. Navy Admiral Dufeck and New Zealand explorer Sir Edmund Hillary.[4] A de Havilland Canada DHC-3 Otter aircraft crashed on take off at Marble Point January, 04, 1959, taking the lives of two men. The plane was part of Operation Deep Freeze IV.
Contemporary Marble Point is staffed during the austral summer by a station manager, cook, and a "fuelie," a person who fuels helicopters. Hot meals and minimal overnight accommodations for 14 are available for pilots and personnel traveling to and from inland research operations.
Personnel rely upon melted snow for potable water. A bulldozer is used to scoop snow from nearby Wilson Piedmont Glacier. The snow is dumped into a hopper for melting and subsequent filtration.[5] Other facilities at the station include an automated weather station.
United States Antarctic Program (USAP) workers conducted a concerted cleanup at the station during the 1989-1990 and 1990-1991 summer research seasons.[6] Fuel spills are known to have occurred in the area. As late as 2001, spills more than 40 years old were still visible.[7] Contemporary operations include the collection of human waste at the station which is collected and transported to McMurdo Station.
Re-supply is icy business
Each austral summer a United States Coast Guard icebreaker busts a ship channel to Marble Point in order to deliver helicopter fuel. The ship usually can reach within about one-quarter of a mile from the beach. Fuel is then pumped ashore. Formerly, personnel pumped the aviation fuel into 20,000 gallon bladders for storage. However, the fuel bladders were replaced with steel tanks. Contaminated soil is present at Marble Point from fuel spills which occurred between 1957 and 1963.[9]
Support personnel re-supply the camp annually via a convoy of over-the-ice vehicles from McMurdo Station. Drivers maneuver 15-ton Delta cargo vehicles equipped with large balloon-type tires over a more than 50-mile ice road. Alternatively, vehicles towing snow sleds are used to transport cargo. Drivers also deliver food, construction equipment, and scientific equipment that is staged at Marble Point for subsequent airlift to field camps.
Flags placed approximately every quarter mile mark much of the ice road to Marble Point. Drivers carry global positioning devices as navigational aids during the seven hour journey. Waste materials (including human waste) from Marble Point and garbage dropped off from inland research stations are back-loaded to McMurdo Station for disposal.[10] The supply season runs from mid-October to late November or early December.
See also
Notes
1. ^ "Gas, food and lodging: Marble Point serves up warmth and good cheer", The Antarctic Sun. November 28, 1999.
2. ^ First Ever Voyages for Expedition Travel See McMurdo Sound for more on Antarctic tourism.
3. ^ em>History of Antarctic development Squadron Six.THE "UNOFFICIAL" VXE-6 WEBPAGE for the (late-RIP) US Navy Squadron.
4. ^ United States National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Photo Library. First ground landing at Marble Point.
5. ^ Website of former Marble Point resident station at the site in December 2001.
6. ^ "Storage Tanks-Marble Point," National Science Foundation Division of Polar Programs, Office of the Environment. October 23, 1992
7. ^ "Antarctic research jigsaw piece in global puzzle," October 8, 2001. The University of Waikato news release.
9. ^ "Impact of fuel spills on Antarctica soils", News and Views; United States Department of Agriculture. May 2000.
10. ^ "Truckin’ on thick ice", The Antarctic Sun. November 5, 2000.
2. ^ First Ever Voyages for Expedition Travel See McMurdo Sound for more on Antarctic tourism.
3. ^ em>History of Antarctic development Squadron Six.THE "UNOFFICIAL" VXE-6 WEBPAGE for the (late-RIP) US Navy Squadron.
4. ^ United States National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Photo Library. First ground landing at Marble Point.
5. ^ Website of former Marble Point resident station at the site in December 2001.
6. ^ "Storage Tanks-Marble Point," National Science Foundation Division of Polar Programs, Office of the Environment. October 23, 1992
7. ^ "Antarctic research jigsaw piece in global puzzle," October 8, 2001. The University of Waikato news release.
9. ^ "Impact of fuel spills on Antarctica soils", News and Views; United States Department of Agriculture. May 2000.
10. ^ "Truckin’ on thick ice", The Antarctic Sun. November 5, 2000.
References
- The Antarctic Sun
- Marble Point - personal website
- THE "UNOFFICIAL" VXE-6 WEBPAGE for the (late-RIP) US Navy Squadron
- United States National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Photo Library
- United States National Science Foundation.
- United States Department of Agriculture.
- This is about the Antarctica region. For the Cocteau Twins album, see Victorialand
Victoria Land is a region of Antarctica bounded on the east by the Ross Sea and on the west by Wilkes Land.
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The McMurdo Dry Valleys are a row of valleys in Antarctica located within Victoria Land west of McMurdo Sound. The region includes many interesting geological features including Lake Vida and the Onyx River, Antarctica's longest river.
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Kapitan Khlebnikov (Russian: Капитан Хлебников) is a Russian icebreaker/cruise ship that offers excursions to the Arctic and Antarctic.
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Ross Sea is a deep bay of the Southern Ocean in Antarctica between Victoria Land and Marie Byrd Land. It was discovered by James Ross in 1841. In the west of the Ross Sea is Ross Island with the Mt. Erebus volcano, in the east Roosevelt Island.
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McMurdo Sound extend about 55 km (35 mi) long and wide. The sound encompasses 2,500 miles (4,000 kilometers) of shoreline which opens to the Ross Sea to the north. The Royal Society Range rises from sea level to 13,205 feet (4,205 m) on the western shoreline.
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Sea ice is formed from ocean water that freezes. Because the oceans consist of saltwater, this occurs at about -1.8 °C (28.8 °F).
Sea ice may be contrasted with icebergs, which are chunks of ice shelves or glaciers that calve into the ocean.
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Sea ice may be contrasted with icebergs, which are chunks of ice shelves or glaciers that calve into the ocean.
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McMurdo Station is the largest community in Antarctica (capable of supporting up to 1,258 residents[1]) and a science research center operated by the United States through the United States Antarctic Program, a branch of the National Science Foundation.
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McMurdo Sound extend about 55 km (35 mi) long and wide. The sound encompasses 2,500 miles (4,000 kilometers) of shoreline which opens to the Ross Sea to the north. The Royal Society Range rises from sea level to 13,205 feet (4,205 m) on the western shoreline.
..... Click the link for more information.
..... Click the link for more information.
The International Geophysical Year or IGY was an international scientific effort that lasted from July 1, 1957, to December 31, 1958.
The IGY encompassed eleven Earth sciences: aurora and airglow, cosmic rays, geomagnetism, gravity, ionospheric physics, longitude and
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The IGY encompassed eleven Earth sciences: aurora and airglow, cosmic rays, geomagnetism, gravity, ionospheric physics, longitude and
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Sir Edmund Percival Hillary, KG, ONZ, KBE (born 20 July 1919) is a New Zealand mountaineer and explorer. On 29 May 1953 he and Sherpa mountaineer Tenzing Norgay became the first climbers known to have reached the summit of Mount Everest.
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Operation Deep Freeze (OpDFrz or ODF) is the codename for a series of US missions to Antarctica, beginning with "Operation Deep Freeze I" in 1955–56, followed by "Operation Deep Freeze II", "Operation Deep Freeze III", and so on.
..... Click the link for more information.
..... Click the link for more information.
The McMurdo Dry Valleys are a row of valleys in Antarctica located within Victoria Land west of McMurdo Sound. The region includes many interesting geological features including Lake Vida and the Onyx River, Antarctica's longest river.
..... Click the link for more information.
..... Click the link for more information.
McMurdo Sound extend about 55 km (35 mi) long and wide. The sound encompasses 2,500 miles (4,000 kilometers) of shoreline which opens to the Ross Sea to the north. The Royal Society Range rises from sea level to 13,205 feet (4,205 m) on the western shoreline.
..... Click the link for more information.
..... Click the link for more information.
Operation Deep Freeze (OpDFrz or ODF) is the codename for a series of US missions to Antarctica, beginning with "Operation Deep Freeze I" in 1955–56, followed by "Operation Deep Freeze II", "Operation Deep Freeze III", and so on.
..... Click the link for more information.
..... Click the link for more information.
- This is about the Antarctica region. For the Cocteau Twins album, see Victorialand
Victoria Land is a region of Antarctica bounded on the east by the Ross Sea and on the west by Wilkes Land.
..... Click the link for more information.
Williams Field or Willies Field (ICAO: NZWD) is the United States Antarctic Program's principal airfield in Antarctica. Williams Field is a snow runway located on approximately 8 meters (25 ft) of compacted snow, lying on top of 80 meters (262 ft) of ice, floating
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McMurdo Sound extend about 55 km (35 mi) long and wide. The sound encompasses 2,500 miles (4,000 kilometers) of shoreline which opens to the Ross Sea to the north. The Royal Society Range rises from sea level to 13,205 feet (4,205 m) on the western shoreline.
..... Click the link for more information.
..... Click the link for more information.
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