The Dumont d'Urville Station (french: Base antarctique Dumont-d'Urville) is a French scientific station in

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 cont ...

on Île des Pétrels, archipelago of Pointe-Géologie in Adélie Land. It is named after

explorer Exploration refers to the historical practice of discovering remote lands. It is studied by geographers and historians. Two major eras of exploration occurred in human history: one of convergence, and one of divergence. The first, covering most ...

Jules Dumont d'Urville, whose expedition landed on Débarquement Rock in the Dumoulin Islands at the northeast end of the archipelago on January 21, 1840. It is operated by the " French Polar Institute Paul-Émile Victor", a joint operation of French public and para-public agencies. It is the administrative centre of Adélie Land.

History

Abri observatoire en Terre Adélie- Archives nationales- 20110210-143

A pioneering French Antarctic research station,

Port Martin Port Martin, or Port-Martin, is an abandoned French research base at Cape Margerie on the coast of Adélie Land, Antarctica, as well as the name of the adjacent anchorage. History The site was discovered in 1950 by the French Antarctic Expeditio ...

, located east of D'Urville, was destroyed by fire on the night of January 23, 1952, without death or injury. In 1952, a small base was built on Île des Pétrels to study a rookery of emperor penguins. This base was called Base Marret. As the main base Port Martin was a total loss, Base Marret was chosen as overwintering site for 1952/1953. The new main base, Dumont D'Urville station, was built on the same island and opened on January 12, 1956, to serve as the centre for French scientific research during the Antarctic International Geophysical Year 1957/1958. The station has remained in active use ever since. The station allows 30-40 people to come ashore at one time. Ice and strong

katabatic wind A katabatic wind (named from the Greek word κατάβασις ''katabasis'', meaning "descending") is a drainage wind, a wind that carries high-density air from a higher elevation down a slope under the force of gravity. Such winds are sometim ...

s often prevent landings, either by

boat A boat is a watercraft of a large range of types and sizes, but generally smaller than a ship, which is distinguished by its larger size, shape, cargo or passenger capacity, or its ability to carry boats. Small boats are typically found on inl ...

or by

helicopter A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by horizontally spinning rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forward, backward and laterally. These attributes ...

. The station can accommodate about 30 winter-overs and 120 during the summer. The

icebreaker An icebreaker is a special-purpose ship or boat designed to move and navigate through ice-covered waters, and provide safe waterways for other boats and ships. Although the term usually refers to ice-breaking ships, it may also refer to smaller ...

ship ''L'Astrolabe'' carries supplies and personnel to the station from the port of Hobart,

Tasmania ) , nickname = , image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdi ...

. It does 5 round-trips between November and March. The Academy Award-winning documentary film ''La Marche de l'empereur'', released in English as ''

March of the Penguins ''March of the Penguins'' (French ''La Marche de l'empereur'' ; ) is a 2005 French feature-length nature documentary directed and co-written by Luc Jacquet, and co-produced by Bonne Pioche and the National Geographic Society. The documentary dep ...

'', was filmed in the region around this base.

Wildlife

One of the main interests of the base is the study of wildlife, notably the emperor penguins. In the summer, the rocks near the base serve as a refuge for the Adélie penguin, which comes here to reproduce. Skua, snow petrel,

giant petrel Giant petrels form a genus, ''Macronectes'', from the family Procellariidae, which consists of two species. They are the largest birds of this family. Both species are restricted to the Southern Hemisphere, and though their distributions overla ...

, Cape petrel also spend the summer near the base. In the winter, only emperor penguins stay to reproduce. However, around August,

s return to feed on emperor penguin chicks. Some marine animals are equally present despite the negative temperature of the water. Among rare visitors to the archipelago, there are other species of penguins, orcas, and rorquals.

Activity

The base Dumont d'Urville is first and foremost a scientific base, even if nowadays the transportation of supplies to the Concordia Station (operated together with Italian researchers) represents an important part of the activity of the base.

Chemistry of the atmosphere

The laboratory in atmospheric chemistry of the base is used to analyse, among other things, sulfur compounds present in the atmosphere.

Geophysics

Nowadays, the study of geophysics is less present in the base. Nonetheless, several tools are still in use, notably a tide gauge, a cosmic rays detector, a GPS to measure the dip of the Antarctica into the

upper mantle The upper mantle of Earth is a very thick layer of rock inside the planet, which begins just beneath the crust (at about under the oceans and about under the continents) and ends at the top of the lower mantle at . Temperatures range from appr ...

, and a lidar, which allows the analysis of the ozone depletion and the ozone holes.

Logistics

The proper functioning of the base and supplying Concordia requires significant logistics, especially in the summer. Technicians, including electricians, plumbers, mechanics for the electric plant and auto mechanics are essential for the proper functioning of the base all year round.

Climate

Dumont d'Urville Station has a

tundra In physical geography, tundra () is a type of biome where tree growth is hindered by frigid temperatures and short growing seasons. The term ''tundra'' comes through Russian (') from the Kildin Sámi word (') meaning "uplands", "treeless mou ...

( ET) with conditions milder than inland. This station experienced record warm temperatures and precipitation due to an unprecedented atmospheric river event in March 2022.

Gallery

NASA Tº D'Urvi 1950-2012.gif, Climate graph of 1950-2012 air average temperatures at D'Urville Station Colonie de manchots Adélies.jpg, A colony of Adélie penguins Dumont d Urville panoramque toit geophy.ogv, Panorama of the Dumont d'Urville Station in 2005

References

External links

*
Official website IPEV Institut Polaire Français Paul Emilie Victor
*
Terre Adélie - Dumont d'Urville Station, site of Samuel Blanc
*

site from Ifremer *
''l'Astrolabe''

COMNAP Antarctic Facilities

COMNAP Antarctic Facilities Map
{{Antarctica Outposts of Adélie Land Outposts of Antarctica 1956 establishments in Antarctica Articles containing video clips