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The Mirny Station (russian: Мирный, literally ''Peaceful'') is a Russian (formerly
Some south of the station stands a metal
Mirny Station has an ice cap climate, 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
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
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
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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, led by Fabian Gottlieb von Bellingshausen 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 the1st Soviet Antarctic Expedition The First Soviet Antarctic Expedition was led by Mikhail Somov; his scientific deputy was . The expedition lasted from 30 November 1955 to 1957 and involved 127 expedition members and 75 crew members.
Three diesel-electric ships were used to trans ...
. It was originally used as main base for the Vostok Station located from the coast, this function is now served by Progress Station. 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. It was erected on a sledge on the land transport route between coastal Mirny and inland Vostok Station. 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
russian: link=no, Договор об Антарктике es, link=no, Tratado Antártico
, name = Antarctic Treaty System
, image = Flag of the Antarctic Treaty.svgborder
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. 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, 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.
See also
* List of Antarctic research stations * List of Antarctic field campsReferences
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