The Russkaya Station (Russian: Русская) is a former Soviet and Russian Antarctic research station located on the Ruppert Coast, in Marie Byrd Land in Western Antarctica. The station was proposed in 1973 and approved in 1978. Construction began the next year and it was opened on March 9, 1980 and officially abandoned in 1990.
Russkaya Station
Русская | |
|---|---|
  Russkaya Station Location in Antarctica | |
| Coordinates: 74°45′59″S 136°48′10″W / 74.7665°S 136.8029°W | |
| Region | Marie Byrd Land |
| Location | Cape Burks |
| Established | 9 March 1980 |
| Closed | 12 March 1990 |
| Government | |
| • Type | Administration |
| • Body | AARI, Russia |
| Elevation | 126 m (413 ft) |
| Population | |
| • Summer | Up to 10 |
| • Winter | 0 |
| Time zone | UTC-6 |
| Active times | Some summers |
| Website | aari.aq |
The station was mothballed in the beginning of 1990. In February 2006, Valeriy Lukin, the head of the Russian Antarctic Expedition (RAE), stated that "There are plans to open the mothballed stations Molodyozhnaya, Leningradskaya and Russkaya in the 2007–2008 season". However, by 2012 it was reported that reactivation plans, although delayed, had not commenced.[2]
Climate
editFor the shore of Antarctica, the winds are considered to be rather strong. The average number of days per year with wind speeds of over 15 metres per second (49 ft/s) in the area around the station is 264, and on 136 of those the wind speed is over 30 metres per second (98 ft/s). The average temperature in the coldest months of July–August is −20 °C (−4 °F); in the warmest months of December–January it is −2 °C (28 °F). The lowest temperature ever recorded at the station was −46.4 °C (−51.5 °F) in 1985, and the warmest was 7.4 °C (45.3 °F) in 1983. The average overall temperature over the course of a year is −12 °C (10 °F), and the average amount of snowfall is around 166 millimetres (6.5 in).
See also
editFurther reading
edit- Bockheim, James G. (2015-05-22). The Soils of Antarctica. Springer. pp. 185–194. ISBN 978-3-319-05497-1.
References
edit- ^ Antarctic Station Catalogue (PDF) (catalogue). Council of Managers of National Antarctic Programs. August 2017. p. 123. ISBN 978-0-473-40409-3. Archived (PDF) from the original on 22 October 2022. Retrieved 16 January 2023.
- ^ "Antarctic Research Stations That Didn't Survive". The Basement Geographer. 16 November 2013. Retrieved 10 July 2016.
This article needs additional citations for verification. (January 2009) |
External links
edit- Official website Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute
- AARI Russkaya Station page
- COMNAP Antarctic Facilities
- COMNAP Antarctic Facilities Map
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