Ice ships

摘要

Situated at the southern tip of Ross Island, in the shadow of the active volcano Mount Erebus, lies the sprawling US Antarctic Program base, McMurdo Station. At 77.5 degrees, this is at the extreme southern limit of marine navigation. The station employs 220 personnel during winter, swelling to 1,100 during the brief summer. Most scientific fields are studied at McMurdo, including astronomy, astrophysics, atmospheric sciences, biology, earth science, environmental science, geology, glaciology, marine biology, oceanography and geophysics. Based here, the ice-breaking research vessel Nathaniel B. Palmer is a vital platform for many of these studies. The base is also a logistical stepping stone to the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station, some 750 miles further south. Three miles south of McMurdo Station, the ice in McMurdo Sound is sufficiently thick to land the largest American transport planes which, weather permitting, shuttle to and from Amundsen-Scott and also Christchurch in New Zealand. All supplies for Amundsen-Scott are airlifted from McMurdo and in turn all supplies for both bases arrive by sea during the ephemeral antarctic summer, which has an effective window of January to mid-February.