About Scott Base
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About Scott Base |
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All the information in this section has been provided over the years in response to questions from children in Dorset schools.
Location, Buildings and Population.
Scott Base is the location of the New Zealand Antarctica Programme. It is positioned 1353kms from the South Pole. It is in McMurdo Sound in the Ross Sea on Ross Island at Pram Point at the eastern tip of Hut Point Peninsula. If you have a map of the Antarctic the position is 77 degrees 51'S latitude and 166 degrees 46'E longitude. The buildings are mainly constructed from insulated material, much like big cool stores. The buildings are painted green on the outside. Most of the living and working areas are linked together by corridors so generally people don't need to go outside if the weather is bad. The buildings are air-conditioned.
During the summer there are about 80 people at the base. This drops to 10 during the winter months.
Getting There
People are transported by plane from Christchurch in New Zealand. Depending on the type of plane and the weather it can take anything from between 5 and 11 hours.
Temperature and Weather
The South Pole has an average mean temperature of minus 49 degrees Celsius. There is a possibility that temperatures might get even lower in the winter. Temperatures fluctuate between -40 deg C and -1 deg C. While this in itself is cold the temperatures are accentuated by the wind chill factor, i.e.: if the temperature is -18 deg C and there is a 7 knot wind blowing then the wind-chill factor is -30 deg C. A -29 deg C temperature with a 30-knot wind is the equivalent of -69.5 deg C. That's pretty cold and many of the people working there have experienced this.
It hasn’t rained in this area for thousands of years. It is usually too cold to snow. Because of the constant coldness, any moisture stays frozen and does not get a chance to evaporate into the atmosphere, hence nothing to make snow with. It is usually zero % humidity.
Scott Base normally only gets falling snow (as opposed to the more common blowing snow) when there is a warm wind from the north, bringing moisture with it from the ocean. About 2 feet of snow falls annually, about the equivalent of 2 inches of rainfall for moisture content. Antarctica has been described as the coldest, driest, windiest place on Earth.
Animals
The
predominant wildlife at Scott Base during the summer is seals and skuas. There
are a number of seals that lie about on the ice in front of Scott Base and many
have their pups there. They just lie about like big slugs. There are also Adelie
penguins and Emperor Penguins. The Emperor is truly magnificent, almost human to
look at when it walks and steals everyone's hearts when they see them.
There are lots of penguin skeletons around the rookery areas from young penguins that have died. The skeletons stay there for a long time as they are frozen. Usually penguins hide from their enemies by getting up onto land or onto some ice. The only predators they have to worry about are seals and Orcas. They evolved in the cold at the southern end of the world, the types that live this far south never travel too far north as they cannot stand the heat.
Food
The base is supplied by ship every year and includes a reserve amount to guard against any unforeseen losses. People in the field are supplied regularly by helicopter and they are all supplied with survival packs, which last for 20 days. The food at Scott Base is similar to that at home, except in larger portions! There are deliveries of fresh vegetables once a fortnight during the summer but none in the winter. Some food is dehydrated, canned or powdered like milk, eggs and potatoes. There is a small hydroponics building where fresh vegetables are grown. Salad produce is eaten about twice a week.
Frostbite.
Everyone is properly fitted out with the correct clothing before arriving at Scott Base and given training in how to avoid getting frost bitten. Cases of frostbite are very rare.
The Work
A lot of the work relates to studying the Antarctic environment. Because the environment there is so fragile, any changes to the global ecosystem usually show up there first with dramatic changes to the local environment. Also Antarctica can give detailed data about the Earth's history, large amounts of frozen matter that hasn't thawed for millions of years can give terrific insights into the past.
There is an extensive scientific programme with projects, which include ozone monitoring, fish, seals, penguins, flora and fauna and many others.
Wembley
at The South Pole
Wembley is the teddy bear kidnapped from one of the 1999 Winter Crew. He was sent to the South Pole. The photograph was e-mailed back to Scott Base to show what a good time Wembley was having.
In the background is the dome that houses the South Pole Station. It is run by the Americans and has a summer population of up to 200 people, with usually about 25 over winter. Last year there were over 40 staying for winter as the whole station is in the process of being re-built.
