Port-aux-Français
   HOME





Port-aux-Français
Port-aux-Français () is the main settlement of the Kerguelen Islands, and French Southern and Antarctic Lands, in the south Indian Ocean. Occupancy The settlement is located on the shore of the Gulf of Morbihan. About 45 residents spend winter there, although the group can reach over 120 people in the summer. The location was chosen in 1949 by the head of the mission Pierre Sicaud for sheltered location which was suitable for the construction of an air field, though this was never built. From 1955 to 1957, a French slaughterhouse company, SIDAP, built an elephant seal processing plant equipped with Australian machinery. The factory opened its doors just after the wedding of the director, , and Martine Raulin on 16 December 1957. This was the first marriage ever celebrated on the islands. The factory closed in 1960, and the equipment was sent to Réunion in 2005. Port-aux-Français has a shallow seaport which allows the unloading of supply ships (usually the '' Marion Dufr ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Kerguelen Islands
The Kerguelen Islands ( or ; in French commonly ' but officially ', ), also known as the Desolation Islands (' in French), are a group of islands in the subantarctic, sub-Antarctic region. They are among the Extremes on Earth#Remoteness, most isolated places on Earth, with the closest territory being the Heard Island and McDonald Islands territory of Australia located at roughly , and the nearest inhabited territory being Madagascar at more than in distance. The islands, along with Adélie Land, the Crozet Islands, Île Amsterdam, Amsterdam and Île Saint-Paul, Saint Paul islands, and France's Scattered Islands in the Indian Ocean, are part of the French Southern and Antarctic Lands and are administered as a separate district. The islands constitute one of the two exposed parts of the Kerguelen Plateau (the other being Heard Island and the McDonald islands), a large igneous province mostly submerged in the southern Indian Ocean. The main island, Grande Terre, is in area, about ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


French Southern And Antarctic Lands
The French Southern and Antarctic Lands (, TAAF) is an overseas territory ( or ) of France. It consists of: * Adélie Land (), the French claim on the continent of Antarctica. * Crozet Islands (), a group in the southern Indian Ocean, south of Madagascar. * Kerguelen Islands (), a group of volcanic islands in the southern Indian Ocean, southeast of Africa and southwest of Australia. * Saint Paul and Amsterdam Islands (), a group to the north of the Kerguelen Islands. * Scattered Islands (), a dispersed group of islands around the coast of Madagascar. The territory is sometimes referred to as the French Southern Lands () or the French Southern Territories, usually to emphasize non-recognition of French sovereignty over Adélie Land as part of the Antarctic Treaty System. The entire territory has no known permanently settled inhabitants. Approximately 150 (in the winter) to 310 (in the summer) people are usually present in the French Southern and Antarctic Lands at any time, ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Port-Christmas
Port-Christmas is a natural and historical site on the Kerguelen Islands, located at the northern tip of the main island, on the east coast of the Loranchet Peninsula. It covers the bottom of ''Baie de l'Oiseau'', the first shelter for sailors approaching the archipelago from the north, and is easily identifiable by the presence at the entrance of a natural arch, now collapsed, known as the Kerguelen Arch. It was here, in 1774, that the explorer Yves-Joseph de Kerguelen-Trémarec, Yves Joseph de Kerguelen de Trémarec took possession of the island on behalf of Louis XV, King Louis XV of France. However, the name of the island, Christmas Harbour, was given by James Cook, whose ships anchored in the bay on Christmas Day back in 1776, during his Third voyage of James Cook, third circumnavigation. The name appears in some French translations or fictional works such as le Havre de Noël or Port-Noël. Considered to be a safe haven, in the 19th century it regularly welcomed the ships of ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Research Stations In Antarctica
Multiple governments have set up permanent research stations in Antarctica and these bases are widely distributed. Unlike the drifting ice stations set up in the Arctic, the current research stations of the Antarctic are constructed either on rocks or on ice that are (for practical purposes) fixed in place. Many of these stations are demographics of Antarctica, staffed throughout the year. Of the 56 signatories to the Antarctic Treaty System, Antarctic Treaty, a total of 55 countries (as of 2023) operate seasonal (summer) and year-round research stations on the continent. The number of people performing and supporting scientific research on the continent and nearby islands varies from approximately 4,800 during the summer to around 1,200 during the winter (June). In addition to these permanent stations, approximately Antarctic field camps, 30 field camps are established each summer to support specific projects. History First bases During the Heroic Age of Antarctic Explo ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Gulf Of Morbihan (Kerguelen)
The Golfe du Morbihan (Gulf of Morbihan) is a bay on the eastern coast of Grande Terre, the largest of the Kerguelen islands. It forms a deep and broad notch in the central section of the island. Description It is a relatively protected maritime space constituting a natural shelter for the ships and on the banks of which were established the stations of and Port-aux-Français. The gulf of Morbihan is strewn with many islands and islets. It was thus so called by Raymond Rallier du Baty at the time of its forwardings of the beginning of the 20th century in the honour of the Gulf of Morbihan in Brittany (Kerguelen was Breton, and many of the features in the islands have Breton names). "Morbihan" derives directly from the Breton name which is ''Ar Morbihan'', meaning 'the little sea' (Compare the Welsh ''y môr bychan''), as opposed to the Ocean outside. The name of Gulf of Morbihan appears on a chart published in 1922. Previously the place was known as Royal Sound, given by Jam ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


Notre-Dame Des Vents
is a Roman Catholic church architecture, church located in Port-aux-Français, the capital settlement of the Kerguelen Islands, Territory of the French Southern and Antarctic Lands in the south Indian Ocean. The chapel was built during the 1950s and is made out of concrete. Small rectangular stained glass adorn the base of the ceiling. Its proportions are based on the Golden Ratio. A few celebrations are held through the year. A statue of the Virgin and Child is located between the chapel and the Golfe du Morbihan (Kerguelen). It is the southernmost French Catholic place of worship. External links 16 Pictures of the chapel from a personal website (in French)
Roman Catholic chapels in Antarctica Kerguelen Islands Churches completed in the 1950s 1950s establishments in Antarctica {{France-RC-church-stub ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Pierre Sicaud
Pierre Sicaud (14 March 1911 – 15 January 1998) was a French colonial administrator. During the Second World War, he joined the Free French Air Force as a parachutist and commanded a squadron of the SAS. He fought in Brittany and in the Netherlands during Operation Amherst. In 1949 Sicaud was sent to the Kerguelen Islands in order to reinforce French sovereignty. He found a location for an airstrip and to settle a permanent station. He chose the name of Port-aux-Français and during the following years consolidated its foundation. From 1955 to 1958 Sicaud was governor of Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon and then from 1958 to 1961 of French Polynesia, during which he supervised the building of Tahiti's airport. Sicaud died on 15 January 1998 at the age of 86. He is honoured on a postage stamp of the French Southern and Antarctic Lands The French Southern and Antarctic Lands (, TAAF) is an overseas territory ( or ) of France. It consists of: * Adélie Land (), the French claim ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


Marion Dufresne (1994)
''Marion Dufresne'' is a research and supply vessel named in honour of the 18th-century French explorer Marc-Joseph Marion du Fresne launched in 1995 and having two main missions: logistic support for the French Austral Islands and oceanographic research. The ''Marion Dufresne'' ( IMO 9050814) is chartered by the French TAAF on an annual basis from the French shipping line CMA CGM (The French Line) and is maintained by the IPEV (Institut polaire françaisPaul-Émile Victor). The current ''Marion Dufresne'' is the replacement for the slightly smaller ''Marion Dufresne'' that served the TAAF from 1973 to 1995. The ship was constructed by Ateliers et Chantiers du Havre of Normandy, France and delivered on 12 May 1995; it is registered in Marseille but its base of operations is the island of La Réunion. The ''Marion Dufresne'' was designed for the very severe weather conditions of the Southern Ocean. She possesses exceptional seakeeping behaviorallowing full performance in th ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  




Wave Radar
Wave radar is a type of radar for measuring wind waves. Several instruments based on a variety of different concepts and techniques are available, and these are all often called. This article (see also Grønlie 2004), gives a brief description of the most common ground-based radar remote sensing techniques. Instruments based on radar remote sensing techniques have become of particular interest in applications where it is important to avoid direct contact with the water surface and avoid structural interference. A typical case is wave measurements from an offshore platform in deep water, where swift currents could make mooring a wave buoy enormously difficult. Another interesting case is a ship under way, where having instruments in the sea is highly impractical and interference from the ship's hull must be avoided. Radar remote sensing Terms and definitions Basically there are two different ''classes'' of radar remote sensors for ocean waves. * Direct sensor measures dir ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Tide Gauges
A tide gauge is a device for measuring the change in sea level relative to a vertical datum. It is also known as a mareograph, marigraph, and sea-level recorder. When applied to freshwater continental water bodies, the instrument may also be called a limnimeter. Operation Sensors continuously record the height of the water level with respect to a height reference surface close to the geoid. Water enters the device by the bottom pipe (far end of the tube, see picture), and electronic sensors measure its height and send the data to a tiny computer. Historical data are available for about 1,450 stations worldwide, of which about 950 have provided updates to the global data center since January 2010. At some places records cover centuries, for example in Amsterdam where data dating back to 1700 is available. When it comes to estimating the greater ocean picture, new modern tide gauges can often be improved upon by using satellite data. Tide gauges are used to measure tides and qua ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


Météo France
Météo may refer to: *Weather in French * Météo-France, the French national meteorological service * MétéoMédia, a 24-hour Canadian French-language cable television specialty channel and web site * Météo Suisse, officially the Federal Office of Meteorology and Climatology, an office of the federal administration of Switzerland * Météo+ ''Météo+'' is a Canadian television sitcom which aired on TFO, the French language public broadcaster in Ontario, from February 14, 2008 to April 28, 2011. The series is about the colourful crew of Météo+, a fictional francophone weather chann ..., a Canadian television sitcom * Miss Météo, a Canadian Quebec French-language television series {{dab ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Argos System
Argos is a global satellite-based system that collects, processes, and disseminates (spreads, distributes) environmental data from fixed and mobile platforms around the world. The worldwide tracking and environmental monitoring system is the results froFranco-American cooperation.In addition to satellite data collection, the main feature of the Argos system is its to ability to geographically locate the data source from any location on Earth using the Doppler effect; which refers to the apparent change in the wavelength due to relative motion between its source and observer. Argos is operated by CLS/Argos, based in Toulouse, France, and its United States subsidiary, CLS America. History and utilization Argos was established in 1978 and has provided data to environmental research and protection groups. It is a component of many global research programs including the Tropical Ocean-Global Atmosphere program (TOGA), Tagging of Pacific Pelagics (TOPP), World Ocean Circula ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]