McMurdo Station , Ross Island

The USA maintains three research stations in Antarctica at McMurdo on Ross Island, at the South Pole, and Palmer Station on Anvers Island in the Palmer Archipelago. These stations are a major component of the US Antarctic Program that is administered by the Office of Polar Programs of the National Science Foundation which is funded directly by the Congress of the USA. McMurdo and South Pole stations have been operated continuously since the IGY on a year-round basis, whereas Palmer Station opened in 1965. These stations provide facilities for research to scientists who either work at the stations or in the field outside the stations. 

Fig. 1.14 Scott s hut at Cape Evans on Ross Island from which he started his trek to the South Pole during the British (Terra Nova) Expedition of 1910-1913. Cape Evans in Figure 1.11 is located only 24 km from McMurdo Station compared to 35 km for Cape Royds. Scott s hut at Cape Evans was later occupied by...

Fig. 2.3 The average monthly temperatures at McMurdo Station range from -26.9°C (August) to -3.1°C (December and January) compared to only -59.9°C (July) and -27.7°C (December) at the South Pole Station. The low seasonal temperature profile of the South Pole is partly attributable to its high southern latitude (90°S) and the high elevation of this site (2,835 m above sea level), whereas McMurdo Station is located at 77°50 S latitude at sea level on Ross Island. Nevertheless, the average annual temperatures at both sites are below the freezing temperature of water (Data from Stonehouse 2002)...

American scientists and support personnel who are scheduled to work in the Transantarctic Mountains or on the polar plateau of East Antarctica, in Marie Byrd Land in West Antarctica, and at South Pole Station will, in most cases, depart from Christchurch, New Zealand, and fly to McMurdo Station which is located at the tip of the Hut Point Peninsula on Ross Island in Fig. 2.8 (Section 1.2). This site was originally selected in 1955 by Admiral George J. Dufek as a logistics base for Operation Deep Freeze in preparation for research to be carried out by American scientists during the IGY (1957-1958). The site was chosen because it is located in a broad basin adjacent to a deep harbor where supply ships can unload cargo either onto a floating ice dock or directly to the shore. These favorable conditions also caused Robert Scott in 1901 to select this site for his winter-over base where he set up his Discovery Hut in Fig. 2.9 which still contains some of the equipment and supplies that he and his men left behind (Section 1.4.1). 

Fig. 2.8 McMurdo Station of the USA and Sott Base of New Zealand are both located at the southern tip of the Hut Point Peninsula on Ross Island. Castle Rock is a mass of hyaloclastite that rises to 413 m above sea level (a.sJ.) and is located about 6 km northeast of McMurdo Station. Cape Evans and Cape Royds contain the huts from which Robert Scott rmd Ernest Shackleton started their treks to the geographic South Pole, respectively. The Erebus Glacier Tongue is a prominent landmark for scientists traveling from McMurdo Station to Cape Evans and Cape Royds. The summit crater of Mt. Erebus is at 3,794 m a.s.1. (Adapted from the topographic map of Ross Island, Antarctica (ST 57-60/6, 1970, US Geol. Survey))...

The irony of the water shortage in McMurdo is that Antarctica contains 90% of the ice that exists on the Earth and 70% of the fresh water. However, mining of ice and snow on Ross Island for use in McMurdo Station is prohibitively expensive and may violate the Antarctic Treaty because of potential environmental issues. For these reasons, the demand for fresh water in the station continues to be met by desalination of seawater, although this process is also expensive and does impact the environment in McMurdo Sound because of the discharge of hypersaline brine by the desalination plant and of wastewater by the wastewater treatment plant. 

Fig. 2.17 Most geological field parties take an overnight trip to Cape Evans or Cape Royds on Ross Island in order to practice driving snowmobiles, setting up their Scott tents, cooking a meal, and communicating with McMurdo Station on their shortwave field radio (This photo was taken at Cape Royds with Mt. Erebus in the background in 1992 by T.M. Mensing)...

The topography of southern Victoria Land (S.V.L.) was described in Section 3.1.1 and is depicted in the contoured maps published by the US Geological Survey available on scales of 1 250,000 and 1 50,000. In addition, the geology of southern Victoria Land is depicted in Fig. 10.4 and was described by Warren (1969) on Sheet 14 of Folio 12 edited by Craddock (1969). We start the description of the Beacon Supergroup in southern Victoria Land because it is the most accessible part of the Transantarctic Mountains located only 60 km from McMurdo Station on Ross Island. 

We begin this chapter with descriptions of the lava flows that were erapted by the volcanoes of the Erebus volcanic province because they are accessible from McMurdo Station and Scott Base on Ross Island, because Mt. Erebus in Fig. 16.1 is the only active volcano in all of Antarctica, and because the volcanoes on Ross Island were discovered in January 1841 by James C. Ross and R.M. Crozier who named Mt. Erebus and Mt. Terror after their small wooden sailing ships. Even at that time, Mt. Erebus was active and has remained so to the present (Section 1.1). The first description of the volcanic activity on the summit of Mt. Erebus was provided by Ross (1847, p. 216, 220-221) on January 28,1841 ... 

Mafic phonolite occurs in the form of small plugs and flows throughout Ross Island and elsewhere within the Erebus volcanic province. For examples. Post Office Hill at Cape Crozier and Observation Hill at McMurdo Station are composed of this rock type. Their chemical compositions are quite variable. Normative nepheline can be as high as 30%. Most samples contain more augite and kaersutite than the anorthoclase phonolites. 

Fig. 16.11 Ross Island consists of volcanic rocks that were erupted by the three principal volcanoes Mt. Erebus, Mt. Bird, and Mt. Terror. The island is separated from the mainland of Antarctica by McMurdo Sound where the sea ice breaks up in late December allowing cargo ships to dock at McMurdo Station on the southern tip of the Hut Point Peninsula. The south side of the island from Scott Base at the tip of the peninsula to Cape Crozier is in direct contact with the Ross Ice Shelf. Ross Island contains rookeries of Adelie penguins at...

The Hut Point Peninsula in Fig. 16.15 extends from the south side of Ross Island for a distance of more than 20 km. It was so named because Robert Scott s first hut is located at its southern tip. This site was later selected for the construction of McMurdo Station because cargo ships and icebreakers can tie up directly to shore... 

Fig. 16.15 The Hut Point Peninsula extends for more than 20 km from the south side of Ross Island. McMurdo Station and Scott Base are located at the southern tip of the peninsula. The volcanic rocks of the Hut Point Peninsula were penetrated by three diamond drill holes (DVDP-1, 2, and 3) whieh were sited in the immediate...

Hydroponic technology at McMurdo Station, located on Ross Island in Antarctica, produces about 250 pounds of vegetables and herbs monthly. 

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