Living and working in the cold - Antarctica: Global Science from a Frozen Continent - page 238

Figure 8.11 Field fuel dump, which often

gets covered by blowing snow and
has to be dug out by hand.
(Credit: Chris Gilbert BAS)

and ef cient as possible. For example, the New Zealand, United States and Italian

programmes are all based in Christchurch, New Zealand, and share a joint logistics
pool with each country contributing airplanes, equipment and personnel. In the
USAF C17 the trip to Antarctica from Christchurch takes approximately 5 hours;
in the RNZAF Boeing 757, it is around 4.5 hours whilst in a Hercules it is over
8 hours. The airplanes land on a sea ice runway at McMurdo from October to
December. After the ice begins to soften and melt in mid-summer, the ights

land at Pegasus white ice runway about 35 km from the stations. In addition to
the air movements, a yearly ship-based resupply of fuel and cargo to McMurdo,
Scott Base and Mario Zucchelli Station is supported by icebreakers.
Running a joint logistics pool has been replicated in South Africa where 11
countries have pooled their resources to create the Dronning Maud Land Air
Network (DROMLAN) with commercial aircraft. Flights leave Cape Town
International Airport and fly to the 3000-m ice runway at Novo Air Base close to the