Marble Point is a rocky promontory on the coast of
Victoria Land
Victoria Land is a region in eastern Antarctica which fronts the western side of the Ross Sea and the Ross Ice Shelf, extending southward from about 70°30'S to 78°00'S, and westward from the Ross Sea to the edge of the Antarctic Plateau. It ...
, Antarctica. The United States operates a station at the point. The outpost is used as a helicopter refueling station supporting scientific research in the nearby continental interior, such as the
McMurdo Dry Valleys
The McMurdo Dry Valleys are a row of largely snow-free valleys in Antarctica, located within Victoria Land west of McMurdo Sound. The Dry Valleys experience extremely low humidity and surrounding mountains prevent the flow of ice from nearby ...
. Dependent upon the weather conditions at the time, helicopters are able to fly in and out of the station 24 hours a day during the summer research season.
["Gas, food and lodging: Marble Point serves up warmth and good cheer"](_blank)
, ''The Antarctic Sun''. November 28, 1999.
The station's remote location and adjoining frozen sea have largely discouraged tourism in the area. However, the Russian icebreaker conducts cruises in the
Ross Sea
The Ross Sea is a deep bay of the Southern Ocean in Antarctica, between Victoria Land and Marie Byrd Land and within the Ross Embayment, and is the southernmost sea on Earth. It derives its name from the British explorer James Clark Ross who vi ...
and
McMurdo Sound
McMurdo Sound is a sound in Antarctica. It is the southernmost navigable body of water in the world, and is about from the South Pole.
Captain James Clark Ross discovered the sound in February 1841, and named it after Lt. Archibald McMurdo o ...
. In 1993, the icebreaker docked at
fast ice
Fast ice (also called ''land-fast ice'', ''landfast ice'', and ''shore-fast ice'') is sea ice that is "fastened" to the coastline, to the sea floor along shoals or to grounded icebergs.Leppäranta, M. 2011. The Drift of Sea Ice. Berlin: Springer ...
offshore Marble Point. Tourists aboard helicopters launched from the icebreaker flew excursions into the McMurdo Dry Valleys.
History
The way station at Marble Point is located on a narrow strip of land between
Wilson Piedmont Glacier
Wilson Piedmont Glacier () is a large piedmont glacier extending from Granite Harbour to Marble Point on the coast of Victoria Land. Scheuren Stream takes meltwater from the glacier into the Bay of Sails, while South Stream flows southeastward to ...
and the sea, about from
McMurdo Station
McMurdo Station is a United States Antarctic research station on the south tip of Ross Island, which is in the New Zealand-claimed Ross Dependency on the shore of McMurdo Sound in Antarctica. It is operated by the United States through the Unit ...
. United States military forces built the camp on the western shores of
McMurdo Sound
McMurdo Sound is a sound in Antarctica. It is the southernmost navigable body of water in the world, and is about from the South Pole.
Captain James Clark Ross discovered the sound in February 1841, and named it after Lt. Archibald McMurdo o ...
in 1956 in conjunction with the forthcoming 1957–58
International Geophysical Year
The International Geophysical Year (IGY; french: Année géophysique internationale) was an international scientific project that lasted from 1 July 1957 to 31 December 1958. It marked the end of a long period during the Cold War when scientific ...
(IGY).
Preparation for IGY included constructing a hard-surface air strip at Marble Point. A
VX-6
Air Development Squadron Six (VX-6 or AIRDEVRON SIX, commonly referred to by its nickname, "puckered penguins") was a United States Navy Air Development Squadron based at McMurdo Station, Antarctica. Established at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, ...
Otter airplane made Antarctica’s first wheels-on-dirt landing at Marble Point in 1957. Aboard were U.S. Navy Admiral Dufeck and New Zealand explorer
Sir Edmund Hillary
Sir Edmund Percival Hillary (20 July 1919 – 11 January 2008) was a New Zealand mountaineer, explorer, and philanthropist. On 29 May 1953, Hillary and Sherpa mountaineer Tenzing Norgay became the first climbers confirmed to have reached t ...
. A
de Havilland Canada DHC-3 Otter
The de Havilland Canada DHC-3 Otter is a single-engined, high-wing, propeller-driven, short take-off and landing ( STOL) aircraft developed by de Havilland Canada. It was conceived to be capable of performing the same roles as the earlier and ...
aircraft crashed on take off at Marble Point, on January 04, 1959, taking the lives of two men. The plane was part of
Operation Deep Freeze
Operation Deep Freeze (OpDFrz or ODF) is codename for a series of United States missions to Antarctica, beginning with "Operation Deep Freeze I" in 1955–56, followed by "Operation Deep Freeze II", "Operation Deep Freeze III", and so on. (There w ...
IV.
Contemporary Marble Point is staffed during the austral summer by a station manager, cook, and a "fuelie," a person who fuels helicopters (typically
AStar and
Bell 212
The Bell 212 (also known as the ''Twin Two-Twelve'') is a two-blade, medium helicopter that first flew in 1968. Originally manufactured by Bell Helicopter in Fort Worth, Texas, United States, production was moved to Mirabel, Quebec, Canada in ...
's contracted by the
United States Antarctic Program
The United States Antarctic Program (or USAP; formerly known as the United States Antarctic Research Program or USARP and the United States Antarctic Service or USAS) is an organization of the United States government which has presence in the A ...
and
Antarctica New Zealand, owned and operated by
Petroleum Helicopters International
Petroleum Helicopters International, Inc. (PHI), is an American commercial helicopter operator, founded in 1949, by Robert L. Suggs. The company is based in Lafayette, Louisiana and provides service for the oil and gas industry, aeromedical se ...
). Hot meals and minimal overnight accommodations for 14 are available for pilots and personnel traveling to and from inland research operations.
Personnel rely upon melted snow for potable water. A bulldozer is used to scoop snow from nearby Wilson Piedmont Glacier. The snow is dumped into a hopper for melting and subsequent filtration. Other facilities at the station include an automated weather station.
United States Antarctic Program workers conducted a concerted cleanup at the station during the 1989–1990 and 1990–1991 summer research seasons.
["Storage Tanks–Marble Point,"]
National Science Foundation Division of Polar Programs, Office of the Environment. October 23, 1992 Fuel spills are known to have occurred in the area. As late as 2001, spills more than 40 years old were still visible. Contemporary operations include the collection of human waste at the station, which is collected and transported to McMurdo Station.
Re-supply
Each austral summer, a
United States Coast Guard
The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is the maritime security, search and rescue, and law enforcement service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the country's eight uniformed services. The service is a maritime, military, mult ...
icebreaker busts a ship channel to Marble Point in order to deliver helicopter fuel. The ship usually can reach within about from the beach. Fuel is then pumped ashore. Formerly, personnel pumped the aviation fuel into 20,000 gallon bladders for storage. However, the fuel bladders were replaced with steel tanks.
[ Contaminated soil is present at Marble Point from fuel spills which occurred between 1957 and 1963.
Support personnel re-supply the camp annually via a convoy of over-the-ice vehicles from McMurdo Station. Drivers maneuver 15-ton Delta cargo vehicles equipped with large balloon-type tires over a more than 50-mile ice road. Alternatively, vehicles towing snow sleds are used to transport cargo. Drivers also deliver food, construction equipment, and scientific equipment that is staged at Marble Point for subsequent airlift to field camps.
Flags placed approximately every quarter mile mark much of the ice road to Marble Point. Drivers carry global positioning devices as navigational aids during the seven-hour journey. Waste materials (including human waste) from Marble Point and garbage dropped off from inland research stations are back-loaded to McMurdo Station for disposal."Truckin’ on thick ice"]
, ''The Antarctic Sun''. November 5, 2000. The supply season runs from mid-October to late November or early December.
See also
*
List of airports in Antarctica
__TOC__
List
, 18/36Ice
, - valign=top
, Palmer SkiwayHeliport
,
, NZ12
,
, Anvers Island
,
, 01/19Snow
, - valign=top
, Patriot Hills Blue-Ice Runway
,
, SCPZ
,
, Ellsworth Mountains
,
, 24MIce
, - valign=top
, Pegasu ...
*
List of field camps
*
McMurdo Dry Valleys
The McMurdo Dry Valleys are a row of largely snow-free valleys in Antarctica, located within Victoria Land west of McMurdo Sound. The Dry Valleys experience extremely low humidity and surrounding mountains prevent the flow of ice from nearby ...
*
McMurdo Sound
McMurdo Sound is a sound in Antarctica. It is the southernmost navigable body of water in the world, and is about from the South Pole.
Captain James Clark Ross discovered the sound in February 1841, and named it after Lt. Archibald McMurdo o ...
*
Operation Deep Freeze
Operation Deep Freeze (OpDFrz or ODF) is codename for a series of United States missions to Antarctica, beginning with "Operation Deep Freeze I" in 1955–56, followed by "Operation Deep Freeze II", "Operation Deep Freeze III", and so on. (There w ...
*
South Stream
South Stream (russian: Южный поток, Yuzhnyy potok; bg, Южен поток, Yuzhen potok; sr, / ; sl, Južni tok; hu, Déli Áramlat; it, Flusso Meridionale) was a canceled pipeline project to transport natural gas of the Russia ...
*
Victoria Land
Victoria Land is a region in eastern Antarctica which fronts the western side of the Ross Sea and the Ross Ice Shelf, extending southward from about 70°30'S to 78°00'S, and westward from the Ross Sea to the edge of the Antarctic Plateau. It ...
*
Williams Field
Williams Field or Willy Field is a United States Antarctic Program airfield in Antarctica. Williams Field consists of two snow runways located on approximately 8 meters (25 ft) of compacted snow, lying on top of 8–10 ft of ice, flo ...
Gallery
File:Marble Point in 1957.jpg, Marble Point's relatively flat terrain facilitated construction in 1957 of a now-defunct dirt airstrip
File:Edmund-Hillary.web.jpg, Edmund Hillary at Marble Point, 1957
File:Marble point lunch.jpg, Flight crews and field scientists stock up on fuel and hot food at Marble Point (2004)
File:Marblepoint icebreaker fueling.jpg, A United States Polar Class icebreaker offloading fuel at Marble Point
References
External links
''The Antarctic Sun''Marble Point - field camp tour videoTHE "UNOFFICIAL" VXE-6 WEBPAGE for the (late-RIP) US Navy SquadronUnited States National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Photo LibraryUnited States Department of Agriculture
{{coord, 77, 26, S, 163, 50, E, source:itwiki_region:AQ, display=title
Headlands of Victoria Land
Outposts of Antarctica
1956 establishments in Antarctica