Filchner Station

Filchner Station was a German research station in the Antarctic. Administered by the Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research, it was established in February 1982 on the Filchner–Ronne Ice Shelf. The first station in Antarctica to be mounted on jacks, the structure was raised each year to allow for the increase in height of the shelf by snowfall. It was also relocated around southwards each year to account for drift of the ice shelf. In October 1998, Filchner Station was stranded on iceberg A-38 when it broke away from the ice shelf. Research operations were cancelled and an emergency salvage operation was carried out that removed the majority of the station by February 1999.

Establishment and operation

The Filchner Station was established by the West German Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research (AWI) in February 1982. The station consisted of steel containers housing living quarters and laboratories. The station was the first in the Antarctic to be mounted on jacks, allowing it to be raised in line with the increase in height of its surroundings due to snowfall. The structure was typically jacked up by around each year. The structure could accommodate up to 26 personnel but was typically occupied only in the southern summer and by 12 people. The station was sited approximately from the edge of the Filchner–Ronne Ice Shelf which slowly drifts away from the continent. To counteract this movement the station was moved around southwards each of the 17 summers that it was staffed. It was maintained approximately at .

The station was resupplied by the AWI vessel ''Polarstern'' and also by Dornier aircraft which flew between the station, the German Neumayer-Station II, the British Rothera Research Station and the Chilean Teniente R. Marsh Airport. The Filchner Station conducted studies on the mass of the ice shelf, geological and geophysical investigations in the Weddell Sea and meteorological work. Automatic instrumentation was installed to continue geophysical and meteorological investigations throughout the year, not just the summer period when the station was staffed.

Loss

In October 1998 iceberg A-38 calved