The Mirny Station (russian: Мирный, literally ''Peaceful'') is a Russian (formerly

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

) first Antarctic science station located in

Queen Mary Land Queen Mary Land or the Queen Mary Coast () is the portion of the coast of Antarctica lying between Cape Filchner, in 91° 54' E, and Cape Hordern, at 100° 30' E. It is claimed by Australia as part of the Australian Antarctic Territory. It w ...

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 ...

, on the Antarctic coast of the

Davis Sea Davis Sea is an area of the sea along the coast of East Antarctica between West Ice Shelf in the west and the Shackleton Ice Shelf in the east, or between 82° and 96°E. The name "Davis Sea" appears in most leading geographically authoritati ...

. The station is managed by the

Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute , image = , image_upright = , alt = , caption = , latin_name = , motto = , founder = , established = , mission = , focus = Researc ...

and was named after the support vessel '' Mirny'' captained by

Mikhail Lazarev Admiral Mikhail Petrovich Lazarev (russian: Михаил Петрович Лазарев, 3 November 1788 – 11 April 1851) was a Russian Naval fleet, fleet commander and an explorer. Education and early career Lazarev was born in Vladimir, R ...

during the

First Russian Antarctic Expedition The First Russian Antarctic Expedition took place in 1819–1821 under the direction of Fabian Bellingshausen and Mikhail Lazarev. The expedition aimed to reach the Southern Ocean in order to prove or disprove the existence of a suspected sevent ...

, led by

Fabian Gottlieb von Bellingshausen Fabian Gottlieb Thaddeus von Bellingshausen (russian: Фадде́й Фадде́евич Беллинсга́узен, translit=Faddéy Faddéevich Bellinsgáuzen; – ) was a Russian naval officer, cartographer and explorer, who ultimately ...

on ''

Vostok Vostok refers to east in Russian but may also refer to: Spaceflight * Vostok programme, Soviet human spaceflight project * Vostok (spacecraft), a type of spacecraft built by the Soviet Union * Vostok (rocket family), family of rockets derived from ...

''. Mirny Station was damaged by a fire on Sunday 21 June 2020.

Purpose and facilities

The station was opened on February 13, 1956, by the 1st Soviet Antarctic Expedition. It was originally used as main base for the

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 ...

located from the coast, this function is now served by

Progress Station Progress (russian: Прогресс) is a Russian (formerly Soviet) research station in Antarctica. It is located at the Larsemann Hills antarctic oasis on the shore of Prydz Bay. The station was established by the 33rd Soviet Antarctic Expe ...

. In summer, it hosts up to 169-200 people in 30 buildings, in winter about 40-50 scientists and technicians. The average temperature at the location is , and on more than 200 days per year the wind is stronger than , with occasional

cyclone In meteorology, a cyclone () is a large air mass that rotates around a strong center of low atmospheric pressure, counterclockwise in the Northern Hemisphere and clockwise in the Southern Hemisphere as viewed from above (opposite to an anti ...

s. Main areas of research are

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, climato ...

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 ...

meteorology Meteorology is a branch of the atmospheric sciences (which include atmospheric chemistry and physics) with a major focus on weather forecasting. The study of meteorology dates back millennia, though significant progress in meteorology did not ...

, observation of polar lights,

cosmic radiation Cosmic rays are high-energy particles or clusters of particles (primarily represented by protons or atomic nuclei) that move through space at nearly the speed of light. They originate from the Sun, from outside of the Solar System in our own ...

, and

marine biology Marine biology is the scientific study of the biology of marine life, organisms in the sea. Given that in biology many phyla, families and genera have some species that live in the sea and others that live on land, marine biology classifies s ...

Historic monuments

Some south of the station stands a metal

stele A stele ( ),Anglicized plural steles ( ); Greek plural stelai ( ), from Greek , ''stēlē''. The Greek plural is written , ''stēlai'', but this is only rarely encountered in English. or occasionally stela (plural ''stelas'' or ''stelæ''), whe ...

with an inscribed

plaque Plaque may refer to: Commemorations or awards * Commemorative plaque, a plate or tablet fixed to a wall to mark an event, person, etc. * Memorial Plaque (medallion), issued to next-of-kin of dead British military personnel after World War I * Pla ...

. It was erected on a sledge on the land transport route between coastal Mirny and inland

. It commemorates Anatoly Shcheglov, a driver-mechanic who died while performing his duties. It has been designated a Historic Site or Monument (HSM 8) following a proposal by Russia to the Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting. Other similarly designated historic sites in the vicinity of Mirny are Ivan Khmara's Stone (HSM 7) and the Buromskiy Island Cemetery (HSM 9), both on

Buromskiy Island Buromskiy Island is a small island lying south of Haswell Island in the Haswell Islands of Antarctica. About 200 m long and 100 m wide,Committee for Environmental Protection (CEP)"Management Plan for Antarctic Specially Protected Are ...

north of the station.

Climate

Mirny Station has an

ice cap climate An ice cap climate is a polar climate where no mean monthly temperature exceeds . The climate covers areas in or near the high latitudes (65° latitude) to polar regions (70–90° north and south latitude), such as Antarctica, some of the northe ...

, since all months are below . Although, it is heavily influenced by the glacial nature of Antarctica's interior, it retains a strong maritime influence, resulting in high annual snowfall. Summers however, are sunny and dry, reflecting a

mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the e ...

precipitation pattern, in spite of its poleward latitude and cold temperatures. Summer see highs approaching on average, whereas winters are stable just below means for several months.

References

External links

AARI Mirny Station page

COMNAP Antarctic Facilities
()
COMNAP Antarctic Facilities Map
() 1956 establishments in Antarctica Outposts of Antarctica Russia and the Antarctic Soviet Union and the Antarctic Outposts of Queen Mary Land {{russia-stub

Purpose and facilities

Historic monuments

Climate

See also

References

External links