The New Zealand Antarctic Research Programme (NZARP) was a research program that operated a permanent research facility 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 contine ...

from 1959 to 1996. It was created by the Geophysics Division of New Zealand's

Department of Scientific and Industrial Research Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, abbreviated DSIR was the name of several British Empire organisations founded after the 1923 Imperial Conference to foster intra-Empire trade and development. * Department of Scientific and Industria ...

(DSIR), originally based in

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by me ...

. The programme promoted research in

geochemistry Geochemistry is the science that uses the tools and principles of chemistry to explain the mechanisms behind major geological systems such as the Earth's crust and its oceans. The realm of geochemistry extends beyond the Earth, encompassing the e ...

zoology Zoology ()The pronunciation of zoology as is usually regarded as nonstandard, though it is not uncommon. is the branch of biology that studies the Animal, animal kingdom, including the anatomy, structure, embryology, evolution, Biological clas ...

geology Geology () is a branch of natural science concerned with Earth and other astronomical objects, the features or rocks of which it is composed, and the processes by which they change over time. Modern geology significantly overlaps all other Ear ...

botany Botany, also called , plant biology or phytology, is the science of plant life and a branch of biology. A botanist, plant scientist or phytologist is a scientist who specialises in this field. The term "botany" comes from the Ancient Greek w ...

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 ...

, and

limnology Limnology ( ; from Greek λίμνη, ''limne'', "lake" and λόγος, ''logos'', "knowledge") is the study of inland aquatic ecosystems. The study of limnology includes aspects of the biological, chemical, physical, and geological characteristi ...

History

NZARP began as a proposal by the

New Zealand government , background_color = #012169 , image = New Zealand Government wordmark.svg , image_size=250px , date_established = , country = New Zealand , leader_title = Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern , appointed = Governor-General , main_organ = , ...

, in 1953, for a research base in Antarctica. Its mission was to provide support for a variety of scientific fieldwork in Antarctica. Members worked as researchers, assistants, tour guides, operators, and administrators to

Scott Base Scott Base is a New Zealand Antarctica, Antarctic research station at Pram Point on Ross Island near Mount Erebus in New Zealand's Ross Dependency territorial claim. It was named in honour of Captain Robert Falcon Scott, Royal Navy, RN, leader ...

. Ground was broken for Scott Base on 10 January 1957. Assembly of the base began 12 January, conducted by the eight men who first assembled the base in Wellington, and was completed by 20 January. In 1959, the NZARP was established to work with the Ross Dependency Research Committee in the

Ross Dependency The Ross Dependency is a region of Antarctica defined by a sector originating at the South Pole, passing along longitudes 160° east to 150° west, and terminating at latitude 60° south. It is claimed by New Zealand, a claim accepted only b ...

(New Zealand's claim to a defined sector in Antarctica). In 1962, because of the important research being conducted, Scott Base became a permanent research station in Antarctica. The NZARP was in charge of maintaining the base. They hired people to act as field safety leaders and assist scientists during research projects. When the DSIR was broken up to form the

Crown Research Institute In New Zealand, Crown Research Institutes (CRIs) are corporatised Crown entities charged with conducting scientific research. Crown Research Institutes date from 1992, with most formed out of parts of the former Department of Scientific and Indus ...

s in 1992,

National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research The National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research or NIWA ( mi, Taihoro Nukurangi), is a Crown Research Institute of New Zealand. Established in 1992, NIWA conducts research across a broad range of disciplines in the environmental scien ...

took over the NZARP.

Accomplishments and expeditions

In 1967, the first

tetrapod Tetrapods (; ) are four-limbed vertebrate animals constituting the superclass Tetrapoda (). It includes extant and extinct amphibians, sauropsids ( reptiles, including dinosaurs and therefore birds) and synapsids (pelycosaurs, extinct theraps ...

remains in Antarctica were discovered by New Zealander Peter Barrett, his finding eventually lending support to the theory of

continental drift Continental drift is the hypothesis that the Earth's continents have moved over geologic time relative to each other, thus appearing to have "drifted" across the ocean bed. The idea of continental drift has been subsumed into the science of pla ...

. Two years later, in 1969, an NZARP party of six women became the first women to reach the

South Pole The South Pole, also known as the Geographic South Pole, Terrestrial South Pole or 90th Parallel South, is one of the two points where Earth's axis of rotation intersects its surface. It is the southernmost point on Earth and lies antipod ...

. Some more of NZARP's discoveries include, Ball Glacier,

Atkinson Glacier Atkinson Glacier () is a glacier between Findlay Range and Lyttelton Range, Admiralty Mountains, flowing northward into Dennistoun Glacier. Named by the New Zealand Antarctic Place-Names Committee in 1983 after William Atkinson, field assistant, ...

Findlay Range The Findlay Range () is a mountain range lying parallel to and west of the Lyttelton Range, extending between Grigg Peak and Sorensen Peak in the Admiralty Mountains of Victoria Land, Antarctica. This topographical feature was so named by the N ...

Thomas Heights Thomas Heights () is a line of summit ridges that extend from Bettle Peak Eastward to the Scott Coast, Victoria Land. The feature forms a portion of the divide between the lower ends of Ferrar Glacier and Blue Glacier. Named by the New Zealand Ant ...

, and

Mount Bradshaw Mount Bradshaw () is a mountain peak, high, at the northeast side of the névé of Leap Year Glacier, northwest of Ian Peak, in the Bowers Mountains, a major mountain range situated within Victoria Land, Antarctica. The topographical feature ...

Legacy

In 1996, the New Zealand Antarctic Institute—also known as Antarctica New Zealand—took over the work of the NZARP. They now manage all of New Zealand's Antarctic undertakings. The New Zealand Antarctic Institute also manages other research facilities, in the

McMurdo Sound McMurdo Sound is a sound in Antarctica. It is the southernmost navigable body of water in the world, and is about from the South Pole. Captain James Clark Ross discovered the sound in February 1841, and named it after Lt. Archibald McMurdo o ...

region, such as the Arrival Heights laboratory, which does atmospheric research. A two-storey, building was constructed in 2005, as a commissioned work by Antarctica New Zealand. This building, known as the Hillary Field Centre, provides an area for cargo receipt and issue, general and refrigerated storages, offices, gym, briefing and training rooms, and field equipment maintenance among many other uses. Because of this new building, New Zealand's science and environmental programs have been able to expand and improve through the years.

References

External links

A list of members from 1958-2009
{{Authority control Research Programme 1959 establishments in New Zealand 1996 disestablishments in New Zealand Antarctic research

History

Accomplishments and expeditions

Legacy

See also

References

External links