McMurdo Station Travel Blogs

Africa

Antarctica

Asia

Central America Caribbean

Travel Blog » Antarctica » Antarctica » McMurdo Station

Links: McMurdo Station Travel Blogs (77) | McMurdo Station Travel Photos | Antarctica Travel Forum | Antarctica Facts | Map of Antarctica

McMurdo Station Travel Blogs

Background: Speculation over the existence of a "southern land" was not confirmed until the early 1820s when British and American commercial operators and British and Russian national expeditions began exploring the Antarctic Peninsula region and other areas south of the Antarctic Circle. Not until 1840 was it established that Antarctica was indeed a continent and not just a group of islands. Several exploration "firsts" were achieved in the early 20th century. Following World War II, there was an upsurge in scientific research on the continent. A number of countries have set up year-round research stations on Antarctica. Seven have made territorial claims, but not all countries recognize these claims. In order to form a legal framework for the activities of nations on the continent, an Antarctic Treaty was negotiated that neither denies nor gives recognition to existing territorial claims; signed in 1959, it entered into force in 1961.

Links: McMurdo Station Travel Blogs (77) | McMurdo Station Travel Photos | Antarctica Travel Forum | Antarctica Facts | Map of Antarctica

Antarctica

Map of Antarctica

Latest McMurdo Station Blog Entries
McMurdo Station Photos

By ratzeputz
February 9th 2005

Dry Valleys Glacier

Antarctica » Antarctica » McMurdo Station

Wright Valley Icefall

Hi Everyone, Here are two of the photos I took on a recent helicopter trip in the McMurdo Dry Valleys. I will post some more later. [View Full Entry]

By explorer_keith
February 7th 2005

Vessel Off Load

Antarctica » Antarctica » McMurdo Station

The Supply Vessel
The ability to keep McMurdo Station running lies with this ship, which relies on the icebreakers to clear a channel through the sea ice to the ice pier.

The past week has been a very busy one here, because of the supply vessel offload. During offload many peoples’ jobs shift to suit the needs of the station and the structure of the town changes - there are new off limits areas, the traffic and noise have greatly increased and most of the recreational activities have ceased. There are trucks and forklifts running twenty-four hours a day carrying the supplies that will be needed to run the station for the next year - food, maintenance materials, construction supplies and any thing else required for work or for fun, it all [View Full Entry]

By ratzeputz
February 6th 2005

McMurdo Shipping News

Antarctica » Antarctica » McMurdo Station

Sunny McMurdo

Greetings from sunny and scenic McMurdo Station, which as the locals say, is located very near to Antarctica. CHECK OUT PHOTOS 1 and 2. The US Naval Ship Paul Buck arrived at the McMurdo Ice Pier on Wednesday January 26 and began unloading 6.1 million gallons of AN-8 and JP-5 diesel fuels. (Ships, airplanes and the power plant use these fuels.) This is very good news as without the fuel, the winter population of the station would have been reduced from the current planned level of 235 people to 4 - 20. Of less consequence to Deborah and me, but of [View Full Entry]

By explorer_keith
February 3rd 2005

Happy Camper School!

Antarctica » Antarctica » McMurdo Station

A View From a Hagglunds
The Hagglunds is one of the loudest vehicles on earth, but it is now one of my favorite - It will go anywhere.

My first glimpse at deep field living in Antarctica happened at Snow School 1, AKA Happy Camper School. The day started at nine in the morning, after putting a few hours of work in, when the twelve of us who were going on the training met in the field-training classroom. After discussing many things, including the dangers of a cold environment and the contents of our survival bags, we loaded into an amphibious Hagglunds, which is a snow vehicle that will float and drive across water, and began our trip out to the Ross Ice Shelf. Once there, we met at [View Full Entry]

By explorer_keith
February 1st 2005

Hiking and History

Antarctica » Antarctica » McMurdo Station

Discovery Hut
This is a hut that Scott built in 1902 for one of his expeditions. It is on hut point overlooking the sea ice.

The majority of the participants in the US Antarctic Program do not get the opportunity to leave the area directly surrounding McMurdo Station. Safety is the number one priority, which is a good thing due to the remoteness of the town, so, with the exception of scientists and a few lucky people who’s jobs take them into the field, there are virtually no ways of getting out and exploring and seeing things such as mountain tops or wildlife, unless they wander into town. To help combat the boredom and restlessness that someone with a yearning for adventure experiences when they are [View Full Entry]

By explorer_keith
January 28th 2005

McMurdo Station

Antarctica » Antarctica » McMurdo Station

Scott's Cross on Observation Hill
This cross was set to memorialize the deaths of Scott and his party on their return from successfully reaching the South Pole.

McMurdo Station is the largest US research station in Antarctica. It is located on Ross Island which some consider to be the one of the most beautiful parts of the continent with large barren stretches of shelf ice and large mountain ranges rising in several directions. McMurdo was built as part of Operation Deep Freeze back in the 50’s by the Navy and was run by the Navy until recently when the National Science Foundation took over. Now McMurdo’s main purpose is as a base for many different science projects including glaciology, biology, climatology, geology… the list go [View Full Entry]

By explorer_keith
January 25th 2005

Antarctica!

Antarctica » Antarctica » McMurdo Station

I Wanted First Class!
The tight quarters on the flight from Christchurch to Antarctica.

January 25th - The plane ride was very interesting. We were each given a large bagged lunch that could feed a small army and loaded on the plane men first and women second. The reasoning behind this is the bathroom the men use, which is a round curtain surrounding a large barrel with a funnel, is at the back of the plane near the cargo and the women get to use the crew bathroom up front. There are two isles with facing seats made of webbing nets and canvas over a very uncomfortable aluminum frame. We were seated facing each other [View Full Entry]

Links: McMurdo Station Travel Blogs (77) | McMurdo Station Travel Photos | Antarctica Travel Forum | Antarctica Facts | Map of Antarctica

Travel Blog » Antarctica » Antarctica » McMurdo Station