Vostok, Antarctica
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Vostok Station (, , ) is a Russian
research station Research stations are facilities where scientific investigation, Data collection, collection, analysis and experimentation occurs. A research station is a facility that is built for the purpose of conducting scientific research. There are also man ...
in inland
Princess Elizabeth Land Princess Elizabeth Land is the sector of Antarctica between longitude 73rd meridian east, 73° east and Cape Penck (at 87°43' east). The sector is claimed by Australia as part of the Australian Antarctic Territory, although this claim is not wi ...
,
Antarctica Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean (also known as the Antarctic Ocean), it contains the geographic South Pole. ...
. Founded by the
Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...
in 1957, the station lies at the southern
Pole of Cold Pole or poles may refer to: People *Poles (people), another term for Polish people, from the country of Poland * Pole (surname), including a list of people with the name * Pole (musician) (Stefan Betke, born 1967), German electronic music artist ...
, with the lowest reliably measured natural temperature on Earth of .Global Measured Extremes of Temperature and Precipitation.
National Climatic Data Center The United States National Climatic Data Center (NCDC), previously known as the National Weather Records Center (NWRC), in Asheville, North Carolina, was the world's largest active archive of weather data. In 2015, the NCDC merged with two other ...
. Retrieved on 21 June 2007.
Research includes
ice core An ice core is a core sample that is typically removed from an ice sheet or a high mountain glacier A glacier (; or ) is a persistent body of dense ice, a form of rock, that is constantly moving downhill under its own weight. A glacier ...
drilling and
magnetometry A magnetometer is a device that measures magnetic field or magnetic dipole moment. Different types of magnetometers measure the direction, strength, or relative change of a magnetic field at a particular location. A compass is one such device, o ...
. Vostok was named after '' Vostok'', the lead ship of the First Russian Antarctic Expedition captained by Fabian von Bellingshausen. The Bellingshausen Station was named after this captain (the second ship, '' Mirny'', captained by Mikhail Lazarev, became the namesake for Mirny Station).


Description

Vostok Research Station is around from the Geographic South Pole, at the middle of the East
Antarctic Ice Sheet The Antarctic ice sheet is a continental glacier covering 98% of the Antarctic continent, with an area of and an average thickness of over . It is the largest of Earth's two current ice sheets, containing of ice, which is equivalent to 61% of ...
. Vostok is located near the southern
pole of inaccessibility In geography, a pole of inaccessibility is the farthest (or most difficult to reach) location in a given landmass, sea, or other topographical feature, starting from a given boundary, relative to a given criterion. A geographical criterion of i ...
and the
south geomagnetic pole The geomagnetic poles are antipodal points where the axis of a best-fitting dipole intersects the surface of Earth. This ''theoretical'' dipole is equivalent to a powerful bar magnet at the center of Earth, and comes closer than any other p ...
, making it one of the optimal places to observe changes in the Earth's
magnetosphere In astronomy and planetary science, a magnetosphere is a region of space surrounding an astronomical object in which charged particles are affected by that object's magnetic field. It is created by a celestial body with an active interior Dynamo ...
. Other studies include actinometry,
geophysics Geophysics () is a subject of natural science concerned with the physical processes and Physical property, properties of Earth and its surrounding space environment, and the use of quantitative methods for their analysis. Geophysicists conduct i ...
, medicine and
climatology Climatology (from Greek , ''klima'', "slope"; and , '' -logia'') or climate science is the scientific study of Earth's climate, typically defined as weather conditions averaged over a period of at least 30 years. Climate concerns the atmospher ...
. The station is at above
sea level Mean sea level (MSL, often shortened to sea level) is an mean, average surface level of one or more among Earth's coastal Body of water, bodies of water from which heights such as elevation may be measured. The global MSL is a type of vertical ...
and is one of the most isolated established research stations on the Antarctic continent. The station was supplied from Mirny Station on the Antarctic coast. The station normally hosts 30 scientists and engineers in the summer. In winter, their number drops to 15. The only permanent research station located farther south is the
Amundsen–Scott South Pole Station The Amundsen–Scott South Pole Station is a science and technology in the United States, United States scientific research station at the South Pole of the Earth. It is the List of extreme points of the United States, southernmost point under ...
, operated by the United States at the geographic
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 ...
. The Chinese Kunlun Station is farther south than Vostok but is occupied only during summers. Some of the challenges faced by those living on the station were described in
Vladimir Sanin Vladimir Markovich Sanin (; 12 December 1928 – 12 March 1983) was a Soviet traveler and writer. He wrote numerous books on his travels, as well as some humorous stories. He devoted most of his work to the Antarctic. Vladimir Sanin was born i ...
's books such as ''Newbie in the Antarctic'' (1973), ''72 Degrees Below Zero'' (1975), and others.


History

Vostok Station was established on 16 December 1957 (during the
International Geophysical Year The International Geophysical Year (IGY; ), also referred to as the third International Polar Year, was an international scientific project that lasted from 1 July 1957 to 31 December 1958. It marked the end of a long period during the Cold War w ...
) by the 2nd Soviet Antarctic Expedition and was operated year-round for more than 72 years. The station was temporarily closed from January 1962 to January 1963, from February to November 1994, and during the winter of 2003. In 1959, the Vostok station was the scene of a fight between two scientists over a game of chess. When one of them lost the game, he became so enraged that he attacked the other with an
ice axe An ice axe is a multi-purpose hiking and climbing tool used by mountaineers in both the ascent and descent of routes that involve snow or ice covered (e.g. ice climbing or mixed climbing) conditions. Its use depends on the terrain: in its si ...
. According to some sources, it was a murder, though other sources say that the attack was not fatal. Afterwards, chess games were banned at Soviet, and later Russian, Antarctic stations. In 1974, when British scientists in Antarctica performed an airborne ice-penetrating
radar Radar is a system that uses radio waves to determine the distance ('' ranging''), direction ( azimuth and elevation angles), and radial velocity of objects relative to the site. It is a radiodetermination method used to detect and track ...
survey and detected strange radar readings at the site, the presence of a liquid, freshwater lake below the ice did not instantly spring to mind. In 1991, Jeff Ridley, a remote-sensing specialist with the
Mullard Space Science Laboratory The UCL Mullard Space Science Laboratory (MSSL) is the United Kingdom's largest university space research group. MSSL is part of the Department of Space and Climate Physics at University College London (UCL), one of the first universities in th ...
at
University College London University College London (Trade name, branded as UCL) is a Public university, public research university in London, England. It is a Member institutions of the University of London, member institution of the Federal university, federal Uni ...
, directed a European satellite called ERS-1 to turn its high-frequency array toward the center of the Antarctic ice cap. It confirmed the 1974 discovery, but it was not until 1993 that the discovery was published in the ''Journal of Glaciology''. Space-based radar revealed that the subglacial body of fresh water was one of the largest lakes in the world—and one of some 140
subglacial lake A subglacial lake is a lake that is found under a glacier, typically beneath an ice cap or ice sheet. Subglacial lakes form at the boundary between ice and the underlying bedrock, where liquid water can exist above the lower melting point of ic ...
s in Antarctica. Russian and British scientists delineated the lake in 1996 by integrating a variety of data, including airborne ice-penetrating radar imaging observations and spaceborne radar
altimetry An altimeter or an altitude meter is an instrument used to measure the altitude of an object above a fixed level. The measurement of altitude is called altimetry, which is related to the term bathymetry, the measurement of depth under water. T ...
.
Lake Vostok Lake Vostok () is the largest of Antarctica's 675 known subglacial lakes. Lake Vostok is located at the southern Pole of Cold, beneath Russia's Vostok Station under the surface of the central East Antarctic Ice Sheet, which is at above mean se ...
lies some below the surface of the central Antarctic ice sheet and covers an area of . In 2019, the Russian government began construction on a new, modern station building to replace the aging facilities. Construction of the new facility was completed in
Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...
to be transported to Vostok Station by ship, but continuing delays have pushed back completion of the new station to no earlier than 2023. On January 28, 2024, Russian President
Vladimir Putin Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who has served as President of Russia since 2012, having previously served from 2000 to 2008. Putin also served as Prime Minister of Ru ...
took part in the ceremony of commissioning the station's wintering complex via video link. The ceremony was also attended by President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko.


Historic monuments

Vostok Station Tractor: Heavy
tractor A tractor is an engineering vehicle specifically designed to deliver a high tractive effort (or torque) at slow speeds, for the purposes of hauling a Trailer (vehicle), trailer or machinery such as that used in agriculture, mining or constructio ...
AT-T 11, which participated in the first traverse to the
south geomagnetic pole The geomagnetic poles are antipodal points where the axis of a best-fitting dipole intersects the surface of Earth. This ''theoretical'' dipole is equivalent to a powerful bar magnet at the center of Earth, and comes closer than any other p ...
, along with a plaque to commemorate the opening of the station in 1957, has been designated a Historic Site or Monument (HSM 11) following a proposal by Russia to the Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting. Professor Kudryashov's Drilling Complex Building: The drilling complex building stands close to Vostok Station at an elevation of . It was built in the summer season of 1983–1984. Under the leadership of Professor Boris Kudryashov, ancient
ice core An ice core is a core sample that is typically removed from an ice sheet or a high mountain glacier A glacier (; or ) is a persistent body of dense ice, a form of rock, that is constantly moving downhill under its own weight. A glacier ...
samples were obtained. The building has been designated a Historic Site or Monument (HSM 88), following a proposal by Russia to the Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting.


Climate

Vostok Station has an
ice cap climate An ice cap climate is a polar climate where no mean monthly temperature exceeds . The climate generally covers areas at high altitudes and Polar regions of Earth, polar regions (60–90° north and south latitude), such as Antarctica and some of ...
(''EF''), with subzero temperatures year round, typical as with much of Antarctica. Annual precipitation is only (all occurring as snow), making it one of the driest places on
Earth Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to Planetary habitability, harbor life. This is enabled by Earth being an ocean world, the only one in the Solar System sustaining liquid surface water. Almost all ...
. On average, Vostok station receives 26 days of snow per year. It is also one of the sunniest places on Earth, despite having no sunshine at all between May and August; there are more hours of sunshine per year than even the sunniest places in
South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...
,
Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...
and the
Arabian Peninsula The Arabian Peninsula (, , or , , ) or Arabia, is a peninsula in West Asia, situated north-east of Africa on the Arabian plate. At , comparable in size to India, the Arabian Peninsula is the largest peninsula in the world. Geographically, the ...
, where they approach those of the
Sahara The Sahara (, ) is a desert spanning across North Africa. With an area of , it is the largest hot desert in the world and the list of deserts by area, third-largest desert overall, smaller only than the deserts of Antarctica and the northern Ar ...
in
Northern Africa North Africa (sometimes Northern Africa) is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region. However, it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of t ...
. Vostok has the highest sunshine total for any calendar month on Earth, at an average of 708.8 hours of sunshine in December, or 22.9 hours daily. It also has the lowest sunshine for any calendar month, with an absolute maximum of 0 hours of sunshine per month during polar night. Of official weather stations that are currently in operation, Vostok is the coldest on Earth in terms of mean annual temperature. However, it has been disputed that Vostok Station is the coldest-known location on Earth. The now inactive Plateau Station, located on the central Antarctic plateau, is believed to have recorded an average yearly temperature that was consistently lower than that of Vostok Station during the 37-month period that it was active in the late 1960s, and satellite readings have routinely detected colder temperatures in areas between Dome A and Dome F. The most recent record set was the October record low, set on 1 October 2021. Vostok is one of the coldest places on Earth. The average temperature of the cold season (from April to September) is about , while the average temperature of the warm season (from October to March) is about . The lowest reliably measured temperature on Earth of was in Vostok on 21 July 1983 at 05:45
Moscow Time Moscow Time (MSK; ) is the time zone for the city of Moscow, Russia, and most of western Russia, including Saint Petersburg. It is the second-westernmost of the eleven time zones of Russia, after the non-continguous Kaliningrad enclave. It h ...
, which was 07:45 for Vostok's time zone, and 01:45 UTC (See '' List of weather records''). This beat the station's former record of on 24 August 1960. Lower temperatures occurred higher up towards the summit of the ice sheet as temperature decreases with height along the surface. Though unconfirmed, it has been reported that Vostok reached a temperature of on 28 July 1997. The warmest recorded temperature at Vostok is , which occurred on 5 January 1974. The coldest month was August 1987 with a mean temperature of and the warmest month was December 1989 with a mean temperature of . In addition to the extremely cold temperatures, other factors make Vostok one of the most difficult places on Earth for human habitation: *An almost complete lack of
moisture Moisture is the presence of a liquid, especially water, often in trace amounts. Moisture is defined as water in the adsorbed or absorbed phase. Small amounts of water may be found, for example, in the air (humidity), in foods, and in some comme ...
in the air. *An average windspeed of , sometimes rising to as high as . *The lack of
oxygen Oxygen is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol O and atomic number 8. It is a member of the chalcogen group (periodic table), group in the periodic table, a highly reactivity (chemistry), reactive nonmetal (chemistry), non ...
in the air because of its high elevation at . *A higher
ionization Ionization or ionisation is the process by which an atom or a molecule acquires a negative or positive Electric charge, charge by gaining or losing electrons, often in conjunction with other chemical changes. The resulting electrically charged at ...
of the air. *A
polar night Polar night is a phenomenon that occurs in the polar regions of Earth, northernmost and southernmost regions of Earth when the Sun remains below the horizon for more than 24 hours. This only occurs inside the polar circles. The opposite phen ...
that lasts approximately 120 days, from late April to mid-August, including 85 continuous days of civil polar night (i.e. too dark to read, during which the sun is more than 6 degrees below the horizon.)
Acclimatization Acclimatization or acclimatisation ( also called acclimation or acclimatation) is the process in which an individual organism adjusts to a change in its environment (such as a change in altitude, temperature, humidity, photoperiod, or pH), ...
to such conditions can take from a week to two months and is accompanied by
headache A headache, also known as cephalalgia, is the symptom of pain in the face, head, or neck. It can occur as a migraine, tension-type headache, or cluster headache. There is an increased risk of Depression (mood), depression in those with severe ...
s, eye twitches, ear pains, nose bleeds, perceived suffocation, sudden rises in
blood pressure Blood pressure (BP) is the pressure of Circulatory system, circulating blood against the walls of blood vessels. Most of this pressure results from the heart pumping blood through the circulatory system. When used without qualification, the term ...
, loss of sleep, reduced
appetite Appetite is the desire to eat food items, usually due to hunger. Appealing foods can stimulate appetite even when hunger is absent, although appetite can be greatly reduced by satiety. Appetite exists in all higher life-forms, and serves to reg ...
,
vomiting Vomiting (also known as emesis, puking and throwing up) is the forceful expulsion of the contents of one's stomach through the mouth and sometimes the nose. Vomiting can be the result of ailments like food poisoning, gastroenteritis, pre ...
, joint and muscle pain, arthritis, and weight loss of (sometimes as high as ).


Ice core drilling

In the 1970s, the
Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...
drilled a set of cores deep. These have been used to study the oxygen isotope composition of the ice, which showed that ice of the last glacial period was present below about 400 metres' depth. Then three more holes were drilled: in 1984, Hole 3G reached a final depth of 2,202 m; in 1990, Hole 4G reached a final depth of 2,546 m; and in 1993 Hole 5G reached a depth of 2,755 m; after a brief closure, drilling continued during the winter of 1995. In 1996 it was stopped at depth 3,623 m, by the request of the
Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research The Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR) is an interdisciplinary body of the International Science Council, International Science Council (ISC). SCAR coordinates international scientific research efforts in Antarctica, including th ...
that expressed worries about possible contamination of
Lake Vostok Lake Vostok () is the largest of Antarctica's 675 known subglacial lakes. Lake Vostok is located at the southern Pole of Cold, beneath Russia's Vostok Station under the surface of the central East Antarctic Ice Sheet, which is at above mean se ...
. This
ice core An ice core is a core sample that is typically removed from an ice sheet or a high mountain glacier A glacier (; or ) is a persistent body of dense ice, a form of rock, that is constantly moving downhill under its own weight. A glacier ...
, drilled collaboratively with the French, produced a record of past environmental conditions stretching back 420,000 years and covering four previous glacial periods. For a long time it was the only core to cover several glacial cycles; but in 2004 it was exceeded by the EPICA core, which, whilst shallower, covers a longer time span. In 2003 drilling was permitted to continue, but was halted at the estimated distance to the lake of only 130 m. The ancient lake was finally breached on 5 February 2012 when scientists stopped drilling at the depth of 3,770 metres and reached the surface of the subglacial lake. The brittle zone is approximately between 250 and 750 m and corresponds to the
Last Glacial Maximum The Last Glacial Maximum (LGM), also referred to as the Last Glacial Coldest Period, was the most recent time during the Last Glacial Period where ice sheets were at their greatest extent between 26,000 and 20,000 years ago. Ice sheets covered m ...
, with the end of the Holocene climatic optimum at or near the 250-metre depth. Although the Vostok core reached a depth of 3,623 m the usable climatic information does not extend down this far. The very bottom of the core is ice refrozen from the waters of Lake Vostok and contains no climate information. The usual data sources give proxy information down to a depth of 3,310 m or 414,000 years. Below this there is evidence of ice deformation. It has been suggested that the Vostok record may be extended down to 3,345 m or 436,000 years, to include more of the interesting MIS11 period, by inverting a section of the record. This then produces a record in agreement with the newer, longer EPICA record, although it provides no new information.


See also

* List of Antarctic research stations *
List of Antarctic field camps Many research stations in Antarctica support satellite field camps which are, in general, seasonal camps. The type of field camp can vary – some are permanent structures used during the annual Antarctic summer, whereas others are little more tha ...
* List of airports in Antarctica * Vostok traverse * Concordia Station


References


External links


Official website Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute






*
COMNAP Antarctic Facilities

COMNAP Antarctic Facilities Map
{{Authority control Outposts of Antarctica Princess Elizabeth Land Russia and the Antarctic Soviet Union and the Antarctic Historic Sites and Monuments of Antarctica 1957 establishments in Antarctica Weather extremes of Earth