Soviet Antarctic Expedition
Encyclopedia
Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute
The Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute, or AARI is the oldest and largest Russian research institute in the field of comprehensive studies of Arctic and Antarctica...
of the Soviet Committee on Antarctic Research of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR.
The Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
's Ministry of Sea Transport was responsible for the administration, logistics and supply of the expeditions.
The first Soviet contact with Antarctica was in January 1947 when the Slava whaling
Whaling
Whaling is the hunting of whales mainly for meat and oil. Its earliest forms date to at least 3000 BC. Various coastal communities have long histories of sustenance whaling and harvesting beached whales...
flotilla began whaling in Antarctic waters
Southern Ocean
The Southern Ocean comprises the southernmost waters of the World Ocean, generally taken to be south of 60°S latitude and encircling Antarctica. It is usually regarded as the fourth-largest of the five principal oceanic divisions...
.
Stations
The first Soviet Antarctic station, MirnyMirny Station
Mirny is a Russian science station in Antarctica, located on the Antarctic coast of the Davis Sea in the Australian Antarctic Territory. Named after support vessel of the Bellingshausen's expedition....
, was established near the coast
Coast
A coastline or seashore is the area where land meets the sea or ocean. A precise line that can be called a coastline cannot be determined due to the dynamic nature of tides. The term "coastal zone" can be used instead, which is a spatial zone where interaction of the sea and land processes occurs...
on February 13, 1956. This was added to in December 1957 by another station, Vostok built inland near the south geomagnetic pole.
Year-round stations
- MirnyMirny StationMirny is a Russian science station in Antarctica, located on the Antarctic coast of the Davis Sea in the Australian Antarctic Territory. Named after support vessel of the Bellingshausen's expedition....
(established February 13, 1956) - VostokVostok StationVostok Station was a Russian Antarctic research station. It was at the southern Pole of Cold, with the lowest reliably measured natural temperature on Earth of −89.2 °C . Research includes ice core drilling and magnetometry...
(established December 16, 1957) - NovolazarevskayaNovolazarevskaya StationNovolazarevskaya Station is a Russian, formerly Soviet, Antarctic research station. The station is located at Schirmacher Oasis, Queen Maud Land, 75 km from the Antarctic coast, from which it is separated by Lazarev Ice Shelf. It was opened on January 18, 1961 by the 6th Soviet Antarctic...
(established January 18, 1961) - Molodyozhnaya (established January 14, 1963)
- BellingshausenBellingshausen Stationthumb|right|Bellingshausen is one of Antarctica's most polluted places. Old vehicles, rusting barrels and other refuse litter the shorelinethumb|right|Muddy scene around the base. On the hilltop an orthodox church was built in 2004...
(established February 22, 1968) - LeningradskayaLeningradskaya StationLeningradskaya station was a Soviet Antarctic research station, located at . It was opened on February 25, 1971 by the members of the 15th Soviet Antarctic Expedition...
(established February 25, 1971) - RusskayaRusskaya StationRusskaya station was a Soviet Antarctic research station located at . The station was proposed in 1973 and approved in 1978. Construction began the next year and it was opened on March 9, 1980....
(established March 9, 1980) - ProgressProgress StationProgress is a Russian research station in Antarctica. It is located at the Larsemann Hills antarctic oasis on the shore of Prydz Bay....
(established April 1, 1988)
Summer stations
- Komsomolskaya (established November 6, 1957)
- Pionerskaya (established May 27, 1956)
- Druzhnaya I (on the Filchner Ice Shelf in the Weddell SeaWeddell SeaThe Weddell Sea is part of the Southern Ocean and contains the Weddell Gyre. Its land boundaries are defined by the bay formed from the coasts of Coats Land and the Antarctic Peninsula. The easternmost point is Cape Norvegia at Princess Martha Coast, Queen Maud Land. To the east of Cape Norvegia is...
) - Druzhnaya II (on the Weddell Sea)
IGY stations
List of stations in use during the International Geophysical YearInternational Geophysical Year
The International Geophysical Year was an international scientific project that lasted from July 1, 1957, to December 31, 1958. It marked the end of a long period during the Cold War when scientific interchange between East and West was seriously interrupted...
.
- SovetskayaSovetskaya (Antarctic Research Station)Sovetskaya was a Soviet research station in Antarctica at . The surface elevation was initially reported to be 3,570 m; however, it was later revised to 3,662 m. Reached on 16 February 1958 by the 3rd Soviet Antarctic Expedition for International Geophysical Year research work, it closed on 3...
- Pole of inaccessibility stationPole of inaccessibility (Antarctic research station)Pole of inaccessibility is a now defunct Soviet research station in Antarctica, located near the southern pole of inaccessibility — the point in Antarctica furthest from any ocean. . It performed meteorological observations from 14 December 1958 to 26 December 1958...
Expeditions
The Soviet Union engaged in expeditions to Antarctica from 1955 to its dissolutionDissolution of the Soviet Union
The dissolution of the Soviet Union was the disintegration of the federal political structures and central government of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , resulting in the independence of all fifteen republics of the Soviet Union between March 11, 1990 and December 25, 1991...
. After this, the Soviet Antarctic stations were taken over by Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
.
See also
- Arctic and Antarctic Research InstituteArctic and Antarctic Research InstituteThe Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute, or AARI is the oldest and largest Russian research institute in the field of comprehensive studies of Arctic and Antarctica...
- List of Antarctic expeditions
- Soviet and Russian manned drifting ice stationsSoviet and Russian manned drifting ice stationsSoviet and Russian manned drifting ice stations are important contributors to exploration of the Arctic. The stations are named North Pole Soviet and Russian manned drifting ice stations are important contributors to exploration of the Arctic. The stations are named North Pole Soviet and...
- List of Russian explorers