Everything about Mawson Station totally explained
Mawson Station is a permanent base in
Antarctica managed by the
Australian Antarctic Division (AAD). It is named after the explorer,
Douglas Mawson. Mawson is Australia's oldest Antarctic station and the oldest continuously inhabited Antarctic station of any nation below the
Antarctic Circle.
History
Mawson Station is located in
Mac Robertson Land, named in January 1930 by Sir Douglas Mawson during the first
British Australian and New Zealand Antarctic Research Expedition (BANZARE) voyage, aboard
Discovery. It is in a region which Mawson proclaimed as British territory on several occasions in 1930 and 1931 (including at Proclamation Island, Scullin Monolith and Cape Bruce), and later became
Australian Antarctic Territory.
Some features in the region (including the Framnes Mountains, which form the dramatic backdrop to Mawson Station) were named in the 1930s by Norwegian explorers financed by the shipowner and whaling magnate Lars Christensen.
The station site was chosen in
1953 by
Dr. Phillip Law, first director of the AAD, who drew on aerial photographs taken during the U.S. ‘Operation Highjump’ of 1946-1947 to select the site for its large natural harbour (Horseshoe Harbour) and permanently exposed rock for building. The station was built during
1954. Some of the small pre-fabricated huts used in the first years remain on the station, but these are overshadowed by large steel-framed modular buildings dating from a major rebuilding program which started in the late 1970s.
Mawson Station houses approximately 20 personnel over winter and 60 in summer. It is the only Antarctic station to use wind generators for over 70% of its power needs, saving over 600,000 litres of diesel fuel per year.
Climate
Mawson Station experiences a
Polar climate:
Climate Table>
|
Jan |
Feb |
Mar |
Apr |
May |
Jun |
Jul |
Aug |
Sep |
Oct |
Nov |
Dec |
Year |
| Mean daily maximum temperature (°C) | 2.6 |
-1.3 |
-7.2 |
-11.8 |
-13.6 |
-13.6 |
-15.0 |
-15.6 |
-14.4 |
-10.0 |
-2.7 |
2.1 |
-8.4
|
| Mean daily minimum temperature (°C) | -2.6 |
-7.3 |
-13.2 |
-17.3 |
-19.3 |
-19.5 |
-20.8 |
-21.7 |
-20.6 |
-16.4 |
-8.9 |
-3.2 |
-14.3
|
| Mean daily sunshine (hours) | 8.3 |
7.7 |
5.3 |
3.8 |
1.6 |
0.0 |
0.6 |
3.0 |
5.1 |
7.5 |
8.7 |
8.9 |
5.0
|
| Mean number of cloudy days | 16.0 |
13.3 |
13.8 |
11.9 |
10.5 |
9.6 |
10.6 |
10.9 |
11.7 |
13.2 |
14.4 |
15.7 |
151.5
|
Source: Bureau of Meteorology |
Further Information
Get more info on 'Mawson Station'.
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