Port Martin, or Port-Martin, is an abandoned French research base at

Cape Margerie Cape Margerie () is a low, ice-covered cape in Antarctica, marked by prominent rock outcrops at its northern end, lying midway between Cape Mousse and Lacroix Nunatak and bounded on the north by numerous rocky islands. It was charted by the Austr ...

on the coast of

Adélie Land Adélie Land (french: Terre Adélie, ) is a claimed territory on the continent of Antarctica. It stretches from a portion of the Southern Ocean coastline all the way inland to the South Pole. France has administered it as one of five districts ...

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 ...

, as well as the name of the adjacent

anchor An anchor is a device, normally made of metal , used to secure a vessel to the bed of a body of water to prevent the craft from drifting due to wind or current. The word derives from Latin ''ancora'', which itself comes from the Greek ἄγ ...

age.

History

The site was discovered in 1950 by the

French Antarctic Expedition The French Antarctic Expedition is any of several French expeditions in Antarctica. First expedition In 1772, Yves-Joseph de Kerguelen-Trémarec and the naturalist Jean Guillaume Bruguière sailed to the Antarctic region in search of the fable ...

under André-Franck Liotard and a landing made on 18 January 1950. The base was established by Liotard and a team of 11 men who raised the main building with several annexes to house scientific activities. It was named for expeditioner J. A. Martin, originally second-in-command of the expedition, who had died en route to the Antarctic. On 6 January 1951 the base team was relieved by 17-member team under the leadership of Michel Barré. Over the following year they enlarged the main building while continuing the research program. They, in turn, were relieved on 4 January 1952 while a smaller team of four, led by Mario Marret, built a secondary base on Petrel Island, some to the west in the

Géologie Archipelago The Géologie Archipelago, also known as the Pointe Géologie Archipelago, Geology Archipelago or Cape Geology Archipelago, is a small archipelago of rocky islands and rocks close to the north of Cape Géodésie and Astrolabe Glacier Tongue, exte ...

. On the night of 23–24 January 1952 the Port Martin base was largely destroyed by a fire which burnt down its main building. There were no deaths nor injuries incurred but the base personnel were evacuated to Petrel Island, where they

overwintered Overwintering is the process by which some organisms pass through or wait out the winter season, or pass through that period of the year when "winter" conditions (cold or sub-zero temperatures, ice, snow, limited food supplies) make normal act ...

, and Port Martin abandoned.

Historic site

Since 1952 the site has remained largely undisturbed. What remains in Port-Martin are the base's ancillary buildings, including a weather shelter and its coal and supply sheds, beneath a covering of snow. It represents an optimal site to design archeological methods and techniques in extreme climatic conditions. It is considered a valuable archaeological as well as a historic site and is protected under the

Antarctic Treaty System russian: link=no, Договор об Антарктике es, link=no, Tratado Antártico , name = Antarctic Treaty System , image = Flag of the Antarctic Treaty.svgborder , image_width = 180px , caption ...

as Antarctic Specially Protected Area (ASPA) No.166. It has also been designated a Historic Site or Monument (HSM 46), following a proposal by France to the Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting.

References

Martin, Port Outposts of Adélie Land 1950 establishments in Antarctica 1952 disestablishments in Antarctica Antarctic Specially Protected Areas Historic buildings and structures in Antarctica Outposts of Antarctica {{AdélieLand-geo-stub

History

Historic site

See also

References