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Plateau Station is an inactive
American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...
research and
South Pole—Queen Maud Land Traverse South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both east and west. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþaz ...
support base on the central
Antarctic Plateau The Antarctic Plateau, Polar Plateau or King Haakon VII Plateau is a large area of East Antarctica which extends over a diameter of about , and includes the region of the geographic South Pole and the Amundsen–Scott South Pole Station. This h ...
. Construction on the site started on December 13, 1965, and the first traverse team (named SPQML II) arrived in early 1966. The base was in continuous use until January 29, 1969, when it was closed but mothballed for future use, and was the most remote and coldest of any United States stations on the continent. It was also the site for the world's coldest measured average temperature for a month at that time, recorded in July 1968, at .


History

The station was operated and staffed by the National Science Foundation and United States Navy. A select team of four scientists and four navy personnel were on constant duty at the station, which was under the command of a naval medical doctor. Originally designed for two years of service, it was in use for three years. Until the Fuji Dome Station opened in 1995, it was the outpost at the highest altitude at above sea level. The effective altitude, due to polar circulation vortex was in excess of , making the base a useful location for high-altitude research. Although the cold never reached the record set at
Vostok Station Vostok Station (russian: ста́нция Восто́к, translit=stántsiya Vostók, , meaning "Station East") is a Russian research station in inland Princess Elizabeth Land, Antarctica. Founded by the Soviet Union in 1957, the station l ...
, the average temperature was consistently lower. The buildings on the base were assembled from five pre-fabricated units flown in by
Hercules C-130 The Lockheed C-130 Hercules is an American four-engine turboprop military transport aircraft designed and built by Lockheed (now Lockheed Martin). Capable of using unprepared runways for takeoffs and landings, the C-130 was originally design ...
aircraft with ski landing gear. Four units formed the main building, which is 8x25 meters; and a smaller
Jamesway hut The Jamesway hut is a portable and easy-to-assemble hut, designed for polar weather conditions. This version of the Quonset hut was created by James Manufacturing Company of Fort Atkinson, Wisconsin. A Jamesway hut had wooden ribs and a type of ...
s unit was constructed 300 meters away. Two 75 kW diesel generators provided the necessary energy for the main unit; and an additional generator was maintained at the standby unit. In addition, a skiway was built for air transport. A
meteorological 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 ...
tower was erected with instruments at varying heights to monitor the persistent thermal air inversion layer above the Antarctic snow. One primary purpose of the base was solar observations, given the high altitude, clear air, and relative short distance to the sun during the austral summer. But it was found that the base also provided unique opportunities to observe unusual weather phenomena. The major activities were:
Micro Meteorology Study:
This consisted of a tower equipped with instruments to take multiple samples of wind speed, wind direction and temperature. Periodic readings were taken at multiple levels on the tower to attempt to understand the "topography of weather" and how they fit into the larger framework of weather on the polar and global environment. The flatness of the Antarctic Plateau made Plateau Station a unique "test tube" for this study.
Polar Illumination/Absorption Study:
This was accomplished by the placement of multi color lenses with sensors that would measure the intensity of light striking the polar surface. Illumination from both direct and diffuse sources were periodically measured. Plateau Station was ideal for measuring this due to the relative clear atmospheric conditions.

This was made up of instrumentation that would transmit a spectrum of Radio Frequency energy up into the atmosphere . The instrumentation would then simultaneously measure the amount of energy being reflected back to it from the upper atmosphere.
Geomagnetic Study
This consisted of large coils of wire that acted as sensors to measure the intensity of polar magnetic fields. Ice core samples were also made, but with mixed success. On October 29, 1966, the camp inhabitants experienced a severe snowquake that lowered the altitude by . This was apparently caused by
hoar frost Frost is a thin layer of ice on a solid surface, which forms from water vapor in an above-freezing atmosphere coming in contact with a solid surface whose temperature is below freezing, and resulting in a phase change from water vapor (a gas) ...
crystals below the surface. The teams were also monitored for medical and psychological effects, though it turned out that selection of staff precluded any notable emotional effects. White cell counts were found to decrease as a result of few immunological stimuli in the sterile environment. On 22 December 2007, the Norwegian-U.S. Scientific Traverse of East Antarctica visited the base and entered the buildings, finding that it was mostly intact. In 2017, the CoFi-Expedition made a stop at the Plateau Station. They entered the station through a hatch at the top of highest building, the watch tower. The base is completely snowbound nowadays. The only visible building at the base is the meteorological tower. The expedition left the base with the same general impression as the expedition in 2007 did. Researcher Sepp Kipfstuhl said: "If someone should visit the base in 10 or even 20 years, it'll have barely changed. The meteorological tower should be visible for the next 500 years."


Climate

Plateau Station is one of the coldest places on earth and has an ice cap climate. The lowest temperature recorded in Plateau Station was -123.1 °F (-86.2 °C) on July 20, 1968. The annual average temperature is -56.7 degrees C (-70.1 degrees F). Plateau Station has cold and brief summers. and long, dark and frigid winters. Also on June 5, 1968, Plateau station had -123.0 °F (-86.1 °C). The maximum temperature on July 20, 1968 was . The average temperature of the cold season (from April to October) is about , while the average temperature of the warm season (from November to March) is about . Although the cold didn't reach the record set at the
Vostok Station Vostok Station (russian: ста́нция Восто́к, translit=stántsiya Vostók, , meaning "Station East") is a Russian research station in inland Princess Elizabeth Land, Antarctica. Founded by the Soviet Union in 1957, the station l ...
, the period of record was also very short. During the period of measurement, the average temperatures were consistently lower than Vostok.


See also

* List of Antarctic research stations *
List of Antarctic field camps Many Antarctic research stations support satellite field camps which are, in general, seasonal camps. The type of field camp can vary – some are permanent structures used during the annual Antarctic summer, whereas others are little more than te ...
*
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 , Peg ...
*
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 ...
*
South Pole Station South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both east and west. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþaz' ...
*
Byrd Station The Byrd Station is a former research station established by the United States during the International Geophysical Year by U.S. Navy Seabees during Operation Deep Freeze II in West Antarctica. History A joint Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marin ...
*
Palmer Station Palmer Station is a United States research station in Antarctica located on Anvers Island, the only US station located north of the Antarctic Circle. Initial construction of the station finished in 1968. The station, like the other U.S. Antarcti ...
*
Siple Station Siple Station was a research station in Antarctica (), established in 1973 by Stanford's STAR Lab, to perform experiments that actively probed the magnetosphere using very low frequency (VLF) waves. Its location was selected to be near the Earth' ...
*
Ellsworth Station Ellsworth Scientific Station ( es, Estación Científica Ellsworth, or simply ''Estación Ellsworth'' or ''Base Ellsworth'') was a permanent, all year-round originally American, then Argentine Antarctic scientific research station named after Ame ...
* Brockton Station *
Eights Station Eights Station was an Antarctic permanent exploration base from January 1963 to November 1965, located on Ellsworth Land about 1100 km from Byrd Station and 2400 km from McMurdo Station McMurdo Station is a United States Antarctic re ...
* Operation Deep Freeze *
Hallett Station Cape Hallett is a snow-free area (Antarctic oasis) on the northern tip of the Hallett Peninsula on the Ross Sea coast of Victoria Land, East Antarctica. Cape Adare lies to the north. History In 1956, during Operation Deep Freeze II, was dama ...
*
Little America V Little America was a series of Antarctica, Antarctic exploration bases from 1929 to 1958, located on the Ross Ice Shelf, south of the Bay of Whales. The coordinates are approximate. Little America I The first base in the series was established ...


Gallery

File:Plane at Plateau Station.jpg, C-130 Hercules at Plateau airstrip File:Plateau Station Sign.jpg, "Plateau Station International Airport" in 1968 File:1968 Plateau Station .jpg, alt=1968 Plateau Station Light Brigade, Plateau Light Brigade from 1968 File:Micro Met Tower, Plateau Station (Antarctica).jpg, Plateau Station Micro Meteorology Tower 1969


References


''Among the Magi''
a polar memoir of the first winter at Plateau Station Antarctica by Martin Sponholz, meteorologist in 1966 {{authority control Outposts of Queen Maud Land Prince Olav Coast Outposts of Antarctica 1965 establishments in Antarctica