Kunlun Station () is the southernmost of four
Chinese
Chinese can refer to:
* Something related to China
* Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity
**''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation
** List of ethnic groups in China, people of ...
research stations in
Antarctica
Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean, it contains the geographic South Pole. Antarctica is the fifth-largest contine ...
. When it is occupied during the summer, it is the second-southernmost
research base in Antarctica, behind only the American
Amundsen–Scott South Pole Station
The Amundsen–Scott South Pole Station is the United States scientific research station at the South Pole of the Earth. It is the southernmost point under the jurisdiction (not sovereignty) of the United States. The station is located on the ...
at the geographical
South Pole
The South Pole, also known as the Geographic South Pole, Terrestrial South Pole or 90th Parallel South, is one of the two points where Earth's axis of rotation intersects its surface. It is the southernmost point on Earth and lies antipod ...
. When Kunlun is not in operation, the year-round Russian
Vostok Station
Vostok Station (russian: :ru:Восток (антарктическая станция), ста́нция Восто́к, translit=stántsiya Vostók, , meaning "Station East") is a Russian Research stations in Antarctica, research station in ...
is the second-southernmost base in Antarctica.
It is located at 4087 m above sea level on the
East Antarctic Ice Sheet
The East Antarctic Ice Sheet (EAIS) is one of two large ice sheets in Antarctica, and the largest on the entire planet. The EAIS lies between 45° west and 168° east longitudinally.
The EAIS holds enough ice to raise global sea levels by and ...
, making it the highest base in Antarctica. It is only 7.3 km southwest of
Dome A
Dome A or Dome Argus is the loftiest ice dome on the Antarctic Plateau, located inland. It is thought to be the coldest naturally occurring place on Earth, with temperatures believed to reach . It is the highest ice feature in Antarctica, consis ...
, the loftiest point on the
Antarctic Plateau
The Antarctic Plateau, Polar Plateau or King Haakon VII Plateau is a large area of East Antarctica which extends over a diameter of about , and includes the region of the geographic South Pole and the Amundsen–Scott South Pole Station. This h ...
. The station was officially opened on January 27, 2009. Fully constructed the station is planned to cover an area of 558 m². The main building, covering 236 m², is planned erected in April 2009.
The site is one of the coldest in the world, with temperatures occasionally reaching in the winter. It is indicated from satellite measurements that places nearby could reach a world record temperature.
In April 2012 the first of three
Antarctica Schmidt telescopes
The Antarctica Schmidt Telescopes project (also known as Antarctic Survey Telescopes (AST3)) is a joint project between Texas A&M University (TAMU) and the Beijing Astronomical Observatory to build three small (50cm aperture) wide-field telescopes ...
(AST3) was installed at Kunlun Station. The other two were planned for installation in 2013 and 2014. A bigger optical telescope,
Kunlun Dark Universe Survey Telescope
The Kunlun Dark Universe Survey Telescope, also known as KDUST, is a planned large survey telescope to be installed at the Chinese Antarctic Kunlun Station located at Dome A ice plateau in Antarctica
Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost a ...
(KDUST), is planned to be installed by 2025.
Telescopes at Kunlun Station
See also
*
List of Antarctic research stations
*
List of Antarctic field camps
Many Antarctic research stations support satellite field camps which are, in general, seasonal camps. The type of field camp can vary – some are permanent structures used during the annual Antarctic summer, whereas others are little more than te ...
*
Antarctic Great Wall Station
The Great Wall Station () is the first Chinese research station in Antarctica and opened on 20 February 1985. It lies on the Fildes Peninsula on King George Island, and is about from the Chilean Frei Montalva Station, and from Cape Horn. The ...
*
Antarctic Zhongshan Station
Zhongshan Station () is the second Chinese research station in Antarctica and was opened on February 26, 1989.
Overview
''Zhongshan Station'' is named after Sun Yat-sen, who served as the provisional first president of the Republic of China in 1 ...
*
Antarctic Taishan Station
Taishan Station () is the fourth of the four Chinese research stations in Antarctica.
Officially opened on February 8, 2014, it is the fourth Chinese research station in Antarctica following Great Wall, Zhongshan and Kunlun stations.
The sit ...
*
Arctic Yellow River Station
The Arctic Yellow River Station () was established by the Polar Research Institute of China in Ny-Ålesund, on Svalbard, in 2003.
Scientists at the station conducted research into the Aurora Borealis and microbes in the ice-pack, glacier moni ...
*
Polar Research Institute of China
The Polar Research Institute of China () (PRIC) is the main Chinese research institute for the study of Earth's polar regions. It is based in Shanghai, China.
The Institute manages five polar research stations (four in Antarctica and one in the A ...
*
''Xuě Lóng''
References
External links
Official website Polar Research Institute of ChinaOfficial website Chinese Arctic and Antarctic AdministrationInternational Polar Foundation report
{{Antarctica
Outposts of Antarctica
China and the Antarctic
Polar Research Institute of China
Buildings and structures completed in 2009
2009 establishments in Antarctica