("Permanence, an act of sacrifice") , pushpin_map = Antarctica , pushpin_map_alt = Location of Esperanza Base in Antarctica , pushpin_map_caption = Location of Esperanza Base 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 cont ...

, pushpin_mapsize = 300 , pushpin_relief = yes , coordinates = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = , subdivision_type1 = Region , subdivision_name1 = , subdivision_type2 = Location , subdivision_name2 = , subdivision_type3 = Administered by , subdivision_name3 = Argentine Antarctic Institute (under the supervision of the Argentine National Antarctic Directorate) , established_title = Established , established_date = , named_for = es, Base Esperanza
("Hope Base") , area_urban_footnotes = , area_magnitude = , area_urban_ha = 0.3744 , elevation_m = 25 , leader_title = , leader_name = , total_type = , unit_pref = metric , population_total = 55 , population_as_of = 2014 , blank_name_sec1 = Type , blank_info_sec1 = All-year round , blank1_name_sec1 = Period , blank1_info_sec1 = Annual , blank2_name_sec1 = Status , blank2_info_sec1 = Operational , website = , footnotes = Esperanza Base ( es, Base Esperanza, 'Hope Base') is a permanent, all-year-round Argentine

research station Research stations are facilities where scientific investigation, collection, analysis and experimentation occurs. A research station is a facility that is built for the purpose of conducting scientific research. There are also many types of resea ...

Hope Bay Hope Bay (Spanish language, Spanish: ''Bahía Esperanza'') on Trinity Peninsula, is long and wide, indenting the tip of the Antarctic Peninsula and opening on Antarctic Sound. It is the site of the Argentinian Antarctic settlement Esperanza Ba ...

, Trinity Peninsula (in

Graham Land Graham Land is the portion of the Antarctic Peninsula that lies north of a line joining Cape Jeremy and Cape Agassiz. This description of Graham Land is consistent with the 1964 agreement between the British Antarctic Place-names Committee an ...

on the Antarctic Peninsula). It is one of only two civilian settlements in Antarctica (the other being the

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

Villa Las Estrellas Villa Las Estrellas (English: "The Stars Village") is a Chilean town and research station on King George Island within the Chilean Antarctic claim, the Chilean Antarctic Territory, and also within the Argentine and British Antarctic claims. ...

). The base's motto is ''Permanencia, un acto de sacrificio'' ('Permanence, an act of sacrifice').

Description

Built in 1953, the base houses 55 inhabitants in winter, including 10 families and 2 school teachers. Provincial school #38 ''Presidente Raúl Ricardo Alfonsín'' (formerly named '' Julio Argentino Roca'') was founded in 1978 and acquired independent status in 1997. It maintains the furthest South Scout troop. The base has an Argentine civil register office where births and weddings are recorded. The base has tourist facilities that are visited by about 1,100 tourists each year. The LRA 36 ''Radio Nacional Arcángel San Gabriel''

radio Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmi ...

station started transmitting in 1979 and currently broadcasts on shortwave and FM. A

wind generator A wind turbine is a device that wind power, converts the kinetic energy of wind into electrical energy. Hundreds of thousands of list of most powerful wind turbines, large turbines, in installations known as wind farms, now generate over 650 gi ...

was installed in 2008, mounted by INVAP. The 43 buildings of the station have a combined space of covered; of fuel are used annually by the four generators to produce electricity for the station. Research projects include:

glaciology Glaciology (; ) is the scientific study of glaciers, or more generally ice and natural phenomena that involve ice. Glaciology is an interdisciplinary Earth science that integrates geophysics, geology, physical geography, geomorphology, c ...

seismology Seismology (; from Ancient Greek σεισμός (''seismós'') meaning "earthquake" and -λογία (''-logía'') meaning "study of") is the scientific study of earthquakes and the propagation of elastic waves through the Earth or through other ...

, oceanography, coastal ecology,

biology Biology is the scientific study of life. It is a natural science with a broad scope but has several unifying themes that tie it together as a single, coherent field. For instance, all organisms are made up of cells that process hereditary i ...

geology Geology () is a branch of natural science concerned with Earth and other astronomical objects, the features or rocks of which it is composed, and the processes by which they change over time. Modern geology significantly overlaps all other Ea ...

, and

limnology Limnology ( ; from Greek λίμνη, ''limne'', "lake" and λόγος, ''logos'', "knowledge") is the study of inland aquatic ecosystems. The study of limnology includes aspects of the biological, chemical, physical, and geological characteris ...

. In the

Hope Bay incident The Hope Bay incident occurred in February 1952 at Hope Bay on the Antarctic Peninsula. It involved an Argentine naval party from their onshore base and a British landing party from their survey ship. Background During the 19th century there had ...

in 1952, this area was also the scene of the only shots fired in anger in Antarctica, when an Argentine shore party fired a machine gun over the heads of a

Falkland Islands Dependencies The Falkland Islands Dependencies was the constitutional arrangement from 1843 until 1985 for administering the various British territories in Sub-Antarctica and Antarctica which were governed from the Falkland Islands and its capital Port Sta ...

Survey team unloading supplies from the ''John Biscoe'' to rebuild its damaged base. Following the Argentine show of force, the British team returned to the

Falkland Islands The Falkland Islands (; es, Islas Malvinas, link=no ) is an archipelago in the South Atlantic Ocean on the Patagonian Shelf. The principal islands are about east of South America's southern Patagonian coast and about from Cape Dubouze ...

. Shortly afterwards, Argentina issued a diplomatic apology, saying there had been a misunderstanding and the military commander on the ground had exceeded his authority. Despite this initial outward show of deference, the party was later welcomed back to Argentina with a hero's welcome. In the meantime, the ''John Biscoe'' had returned from the Falklands with a military escort and completed rebuilding the British base. The Antarctic Treaty of 1959 now treats the continent as a laboratory open to all, and provides that "no acts or activities ... shall constitute a basis for asserting, supporting or denying a claim to territorial sovereignty."

People

The base was the birthplace of Emilio Palma, the first person to be born in Antarctica. There have been at least ten other children born at the base.

Climate

Like the rest of the Antarctic Peninsula, the base has a polar climate characterized by strong winds that descend downwards from the Antarctic ice sheet. These winds can exceed , leading to

blowing snow Blowing snow is snow lifted from the surface by the wind, at eye level () or more, that will reduce visibility. Blowing snow can come from falling snow or snow that already accumulated on the ground but is picked up and blown about by strong winds. ...

and reduced visibility. The climate is classified as a polar

tundra In physical geography, tundra () is a type of biome where tree growth is hindered by frigid temperatures and short growing seasons. The term ''tundra'' comes through Russian (') from the Kildin Sámi word (') meaning "uplands", "treeless mou ...

(ET) climate in the Köppen system. Mean monthly temperatures range from in July, the coldest month, to in January, the warmest month. During summer (December–February), the average high is between while the average low is between . In winter, mean temperatures are around . A temperature of was recorded on 24 March 2015. This reading was the highest temperature ever recorded on mainland Antarctica and its surrounding islands, until on 6 February 2020, a new high of was recorded at the base, being the current record and considered by the World Meteorological Organization to be the highest temperature ever recorded for mainland Antarctica and its surrounding islands. The lowest temperature ever recorded is on 18 July 1994. The temperature trend since 1948 is +0.0315 °C/yr (+0.0567 °F/yr) (annual), +0.0413 °C/yr (+0.0743 °F/yr) (winter) and +0.0300 °C/yr (+0.0540 °F/yr) (summer).

Historic site

A group of items or structures of historic significance at, or close to, the base have been designated a Historic Site or Monument (HSM 40), following a proposal by Argentina to the Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting. These comprise a

bust Bust commonly refers to: * A woman's breasts * Bust (sculpture), of head and shoulders * An arrest Bust may also refer to: Places * Bust, Bas-Rhin, a city in France *Lashkargah, Afghanistan, known as Bust historically Media * ''Bust'' (magazin ...

of General San Martin, a grotto with a statue of the Virgin of Lujan, a

flagpole A flagpole, flagmast, flagstaff, or staff is a pole designed to support a flag. If it is taller than can be easily reached to raise the flag, a cord is used, looping around a pulley at the top of the pole with the ends tied at the bottom. The fla ...

erected in 1955, and a

cemetery A cemetery, burial ground, gravesite or graveyard is a place where the remains of dead people are buried or otherwise interred. The word ''cemetery'' (from Greek , "sleeping place") implies that the land is specifically designated as a buri ...

with a stele commemorating Argentine expedition members who died in the area.

General Martín Güemes Refuge

Refuge General Martín Güemes is the name given to two shelters in Antarctica. The first one is covered by ice, the second one is active. The refuge is Administered by the Argentine Army and depends on Esperanza Base, which is responsible for maintenance and care. The two refuges are located on the

Tabarin Peninsula Tabarin Peninsula () is a peninsula 15 nautical miles (28 km) long and 5 to 12 nautical miles (22 km) wide, lying south of the trough between Hope Bay and Duse Bay and forming the east extremity of Trinity Peninsula in the Antarctic Pe ...

on the eastern tip of the Trinity Peninsula on the Antarctic Peninsula south of Esperanza.The refuges pay homage to

Martín Miguel de Güemes Martín Miguel de Güemes (8 February 1785 – 17 June 1821) was a military leader and popular caudillo who defended northwestern Argentina from the Spain, Spanish royalist army during the Argentine War of Independence. Biography Güemes was bor ...

, a military man who served an outstanding role in the Argentine war of independence.

General Martín Güemes I Refuge

The first refuge was located on the north east coast of the

Duse Bay Duse Bay () is a bay indenting the south side of Trinity Peninsula between View Point and the western side of Tabarin Peninsula. It was discovered by a party under J. Gunnar Andersson, of the Swedish Antarctic Expedition The Swedish Antarct ...

of the Trinity Peninsula and opened on October 23, 1953. , at that time head of the newly created Esperanza Base, participated in its construction, being one of the first refuges installed by the Army and the second in the continental Antarctica. The refuge was destroyed by the ice in 1960.

General Martín Güemes II Refuge

The second refuge is active and is located in the Tabarin Peninsula and was inaugurated on September 15, 1959. It has capacity for six people, food for a month, fuel, gas and a first aid kit. :es:Refugio General Martín Güemes

Notes

References

External links

Council Of Managers Of National Antarctic Programs: Base Esperanza

Official website Direccion Nacional del Antartico

COMNAP Antarctic Facilities

COMNAP Antarctic Facilities Map
{{Lighthouse identifiers , qid2=Q5549753 Argentine Antarctica Outposts of Graham Land Populated places established in 1953 Trinity Peninsula Historic Sites and Monuments of Antarctica Cemeteries in Antarctica Lighthouses in Antarctica 1953 establishments in Antarctica