Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
Figure 8.2
Insulation panels in the buildings at Scott
Base. (Credit: AntarcticaNewZealand)
both in terms of style and structure. One perennial
problem was caused in many sites by drifting
snow, which gradually overwhelmed the buildings.
For this reason, and for ease of getting supplies
and people in, windy rocky places on or near
the coast were usually the
first choice of site as
they posed fewer problems than building on
snow or ice.
Many of the present permanent research facilities have been constructed since
the late 1980s. Many of the
first stations have been buried by snow, as have their
replacements. The British station at Halley is now in its sixth version, with the
others all abandoned as they became either uninhabitable (squashed by the weight
of snow) or unsafe as they moved out with the ice
ow onto a
floating ice shelf.
The original structures at Amundsen
Scott South Pole Station were abandoned in
1975. Upgrades and new construction have been installed that make the latest
facility there as close to being in a space station as anywhere on Earth.
Construction in Antarctica needs to be adapted to the harsh environment
-
-
this is de
nitely a challenging place to build. For example, structures that are built
on top of ice or snow produce heat and can slowly sink if not well insulated.
On the other hand, drifting and blowing snow can bury buildings on the surface
and not only must pipes be protected from freezing but, with wind gusts over
150 knots not uncommon, doors and windows can blow in,
filling buildings
with snow.
There is currently enthusiasm for remodelling and rebuilding stations using
modern engineering and design features such as raised platforms and legs that
can be jacked up as snow accumulates. For example, Germany
s Neumayer Station
has now been replaced by a two-storey building that is built on hydraulic piles. The
new station
'
was prefabricated in Germany, sent by ship to
Antarctica, hauled by snow tractor to the research site at Atka Bay on the
Weddell Sea and assembled on site to start functioning in 2009.
The British Antarctic Survey
-
called Neumayer III
-
-
responsible for sending 450 scientists and support
personnel to the Ice annually
has also built an advanced new station, which it
commissioned in 2012. The Halley VI modules are on platforms on top of a series
of
-
that are mounted on skis. These legs allow the structure to
be towed by tractors to a new site inland as glacial calving and snowfall demand.
This futuristic station has little in common with the original buildings of the 1950s.
'
mechanical legs
'
Search WWH ::
Custom Search