The Instituto Antártico Argentino (, abbrevriated IAA) is the

Argentine Argentines, Argentinians or Argentineans are people from Argentina. This connection may be residential, legal, historical, or cultural. For most Argentines, several (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their ...

federal agency in charge of orientating, controlling, addressing and performing scientific and technical research and studies in the

Antarctic The Antarctic (, ; commonly ) is the polar regions of Earth, polar region of Earth that surrounds the South Pole, lying within the Antarctic Circle. It is antipodes, diametrically opposite of the Arctic region around the North Pole. The Antar ...

. It is under the supervision of the

Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Worship The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, International Trade and Worship (; abbreviated MRECIC), informally referred to as the Chancellery (), is the Argentine government ministry dealing with the foreign relations of Argentina, Argentina's foreign p ...

. Known as

Argentine Antarctica Argentine Antarctica ( or ) is an area on Antarctica claimed by Argentina as part of its national territory. It consists of the Antarctic Peninsula and a triangular section extending to the South Pole, delimited by the 25th meridian west, 25 ...

() the country claimed a sector as part of its national territory consisting of the

Antarctic Peninsula The Antarctic Peninsula, known as O'Higgins Land in Chile and Tierra de San Martin in Argentina, and originally as Graham Land in the United Kingdom and the Palmer Peninsula in the United States, is the northernmost part of mainland Antarctica. ...

and a triangular section extending to the

South Pole The South Pole, also known as the Geographic South Pole or Terrestrial South Pole, is the point in the Southern Hemisphere where the Earth's rotation, Earth's axis of rotation meets its surface. It is called the True South Pole to distinguish ...

, is delimited by the 25° West and 74° West meridians and the 60° South parallel. Administratively, Argentine Antarctica is a department of the

province A province is an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman , which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire, Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

of Tierra del Fuego, Antarctica, and South Atlantic Islands. This sector overlaps with Chilean and

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

claims but, under the

Antarctic Treaty System The Antarctic Treaty and related agreements, collectively known as the Antarctic Treaty System (ATS), regulate international relations with respect to Antarctica, Earth's only continent without a native human population. It was the first arms ...

, there are no attempts by Argentina or any other country to actually enforce territorial claims in Antarctica.

History

Exploration prior to the IAA

José María Sobral, who is considered in Argentina the father of the

and a national hero, began exploration at the end of 1901. In 1903, the

Argentine Navy The Argentine Navy (ARA; ). This forms the basis for the navy's ship prefix "ARA". is the navy of Argentina. It is one of the three branches of the Armed Forces of the Argentine Republic, together with the Argentine Army, Army and the Argentine ...

corvette ARA ''Uruguay'' commanded by'' Captain de Corbeta'' (Lieutenant commander) Julián Irízar successfully rescued the Swedish expedition team of

Otto Nordenskjöld Nils Otto Gustaf Nordenskjöld (6 December 1869 – 2 June 1928) was a Swedish geologist, geographer, and polar explorer. Early life Nordenskjöld was born in Hässleby in Småland in eastern Sweden, in a family that included his maternal unc ...

. In 1904 the Argentine permanent presence in Antarctica began with the opening of

Orcadas Base Base Orcadas is an Argentina, Argentine scientific station in Antarctica, and the oldest of the stations in Antarctica still in operation. It is located on Laurie Island, one of the South Orkney Islands (), at above sea level and from the coastl ...

Laurie Island Laurie Island is the second largest of the South Orkney Islands. The island is claimed by both Argentina as part of Argentine Antarctica, and by the United Kingdom as part of the British Antarctic Territory. Under the Antarctic Treaty System a ...

. Argentina was the only nation to have an Antarctic base for 40 years until the British built a base on the same islands. On April 1, 1940, the first radio communication by radio hams was made between

(LSX) and

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...

(LU 7 ET). On February 7, 1942, an amphibious

Stearman Stearman is a surname. Notable people with the name include: * Josiah Stearman (born 2003), American chess master * Lloyd Stearman (1898–1975), American aviation pioneer * Richard Stearman (born 1987), English footballer * William Stearman ( ...

aircraft embarked on the ARA ''1 de Mayo'' cargo ship made the first Argentine flight over Antarctica. On December 13, 1947, an

Argentine Naval Aviation The Argentine Naval Aviation (', COAN) is the naval aviation branch of the Argentine Navy and one of its four operational commands. Argentina, along with Brazilian Navy, Brazil is one of two South American countries to have operated two aircraft c ...

Douglas DC-4 The Douglas DC-4 is an American four-engined (piston), propeller-driven airliner developed by the Douglas Aircraft Company. Military versions of the plane, the C-54 and R5D, served during World War II, in the Berlin Airlift and into the 1960 ...

piloted by ''Comodoro'' Gregorio Portillo flew over the

Antarctic Circle The Antarctic Circle is the most southerly of the five major circles of latitude that mark maps of Earth. The region south of this circle is known as the Antarctic, and the zone immediately to the north is called the Southern Temperate Zone. So ...

in a 15 hours and 30 minutes flight.

Formation

On 17 April 1951, Hernán Pujato founds the ''Instituto Antartico Argentino'', by Decree Nº 7338. In 1953 the San Martín Base started operations, and Jubany base opened two years later. IAA-101

In 1958 the United States handed over the

Ellsworth Station Ellsworth Scientific Station (, or simply ''Estación Ellsworth'' or ''Base Ellsworth'') was a permanent, all year-round originally American, then Argentine Antarctic scientific research station named after American polar explorer Lincoln Ellswo ...

located in the

Weddell Sea The Weddell Sea is part of the Southern Ocean and contains the Weddell Gyre. Its land boundaries are defined by the bay formed from the coasts of Coats Land and the Antarctic Peninsula. The easternmost point is Cape Norvegia at Princess Martha C ...

. In 1965 the Argentine military conducted a land military manoeuvre known as

Operación 90 Operación 90 (''Operation Ninety'') was the first Argentine ground expedition to the South Pole, carried out in 1965 by ten soldiers of the Argentine Army under then-Colonel Jorge Edgard Leal. It was also the first Latin-American expedition to t ...

in order to reach the

. In the winter of 1968 at the request by the British embassy in

, an Argentine Navy

successfully delivered medical supplies to the British base EFE where one of its members, James K. Portwirie, was through a medical emergency. However, after a few days, Portwirie's situation worsened, making a rescue necessary. An

Argentine Air Force The Argentine Air Force (, or simply ''FAA'') is the air force of Argentina and one of three branches of the Armed Forces of the Argentine Republic. In 2018, it had 13,837 military and 6,900 civilian personnel. FAA commander in chief is Brigadie ...

aircraft attempted to reach the base but crashed without casualties. On August 9, in the middle of the Antarctic winter, 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 ...

ARA ''General San Martín'' was sent to rescue Portwirie. The operation was successful, gaining the thanks of the

British Antarctic Survey The British Antarctic Survey (BAS) is the United Kingdom's national polar research institute. It has a dual purpose, to conduct polar science, enabling better understanding of list of global issues, global issues, and to provide an active prese ...

: ‘‘an internal campaign like this was never attempted before in Antarctic History‘‘.

Marambio Base Marambio Station () is a permanent, all year-round Argentine Antarctica station named after Vice-Commodore , an Antarctic aviation pioneer. It is located in Marambio Island, Graham Land, Antarctic Peninsula, some from the coastal civilian vil ...

was founded in 1969, currently the most important Argentine base on the Antarctica. In 1975 the

Esperanza Base Esperanza Base (, 'Hope Base') is a permanent, all-year-round Argentine research station in Hope Bay, Trinity Peninsula (in Graham Land on the Antarctic Peninsula). It is the only civilian settlement on the Antarctic mainland (the Chilean Vil ...

was built, and in 1979 the General Belgrano II. In 1978, the first Antarctic baby, Emilio Palma, was born in the Fortín Sargento Cabral at the

Twenty-first century

In 2002, the Argentine Navy mounted an internal operation sending the icebreaker ARA ''Almirante Irizar'' to rescue the trapped supply vessel '' Magdalena Oldendorff''. Even though Irízar failed to break the ''Oldendorff'' free, she managed to move it to a safe position and re-supply the ship with food, medicines and medical personnel until the ice melted and the ship could return to open sea. Q5ARAAlmiranteIrizar

In 2003, under the Decree Nº 207/2003 issued by the Executive Power of Argentina, the Instituto Antártico Argentino became a part of the

Ministry of Foreign Affairs In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and relations, diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral r ...

. On the 2009 summer campaign, the

operated the Teniente Matienzo Base only with women for three months although there was an emergency link available with the

Bell 212 The Bell 212 (also known as the ''Bell Two-Twelve'') is a two-blade, twin-engine, medium helicopter that first flew in 1968. Originally manufactured by Bell Helicopter in Fort Worth, Texas, United States, production was moved to Mirabel, Queb ...

s helicopters stationed at

On 2010 a

wind turbine A wind turbine is a device that wind power, converts the kinetic energy of wind into electrical energy. , hundreds of thousands of list of most powerful wind turbines, large turbines, in installations known as wind farms, were generating over ...

designed and built by Argentine government company CITEDEF was installed on Marambio Base DEFENSA INSTALÓ UN GENERADOR DE ENERGÍA EÓLICA EN LA ANTÁRTIDA
On 2011, three heavy lift helicopters were deployed in the Base Marambio: two Mil Mi 17 helicopters (bought in the same year), and the remaining Chinook from the

Mission

According to the principles of its creation, the Instituto Antártico Argentino participates with its scientific, technical and administrative staff, in a wide range of national and international programmes for a better understanding of the Antarctic. Scientists are trained and deployed on Argentine bases for researching on different fields of science, including

Atmosphere An atmosphere () is a layer of gases that envelop an astronomical object, held in place by the gravity of the object. A planet retains an atmosphere when the gravity is great and the temperature of the atmosphere is low. A stellar atmosph ...

Biology Biology is the scientific study of life and living organisms. It is a broad natural science that encompasses a wide range of fields and unifying principles that explain the structure, function, growth, History of life, origin, evolution, and ...

Oceanography Oceanography (), also known as oceanology, sea science, ocean science, and marine science, is the scientific study of the ocean, including its physics, chemistry, biology, and geology. It is an Earth science, which covers a wide range of to ...

Weather Weather is the state of the atmosphere, describing for example the degree to which it is hot or cold, wet or dry, calm or stormy, clear or cloud cover, cloudy. On Earth, most weather phenomena occur in the lowest layer of the planet's atmo ...

Chemistry Chemistry is the scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter. It is a physical science within the natural sciences that studies the chemical elements that make up matter and chemical compound, compounds made of atoms, molecules a ...

Ozone Layer The ozone layer or ozone shield is a region of Earth's stratosphere that absorption (electromagnetic radiation), absorbs most of the Sun's ultraviolet radiation. It contains a high concentration of ozone (O3) in relation to other parts of the a ...

Global warming Present-day climate change includes both global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its wider effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes ...

and .

Objectives and projects

IAA research projects cover different areas: *Atmospheric Sciences *Biological Sciences *Earth Sciences *Marine Sciences *Environmental management *Environmental chemistry *Social Sciences and Humanities To carry out these objectives, the Institute trains and prepares specialists who can perform in these areas. Research areas are decided on the basis of Antarctic issues that are discussed in international forums. Among the topics to which the research is devoted are: global warming, the thinning of the ozone layer and the study of how it is affected by the use of some gases such as , fluorides, and bromides. The IAA has a structure divided into six areas: * Life Sciences Area * Earth Sciences Area * Area of Physical, Chemical and Environmental Sciences * Scientific Coordination Area * Social Sciences, Communication and Difussion Area * Administration area

References

External links

*
blog - Argentine Antarctica History
on Histarmar {{DEFAULTSORT:Instituto Antartico Argentino Argentine Antarctica Antarctic agencies Argentina and the Antarctic Antarctic research 1951 establishments in Argentina Government agencies established in 1951