For the other readers: Russkaya has been abandoned!!! It's in the sector of Antarctica that's NOT claimed... even though they say 9/10 of the PIE "is" claimed-- this ONE SECTOR is not-- it had ONE station-- or perhaps 2 stations with a US station further south-- but not on the coast. On the flat earth map, this sector is a very long stretch between the very popular and well visited "Rothera UK" base... and what looks to be a militarized US base at Scott/McMurdo. McMurdo and Rothera, in my mind now, are BOOKENDS that ISOLATE the South Magnetic Pole and a huge stretch of coastline. Russkaya was my ONLY HOPE of a landing for 1/4 of the way around the likely "fake island" of "antarctica". Thanks to Felix for this find. Here's his comment in another post.
felix has left a new comment on your post "Was Andhoy & his crew stopped?":
I guess you noticed, Rick, that Russkaya was apparently "mothballed" in 1990 [wiki] allegedly due to funding problems.
https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%A0%D1%83%D1%81%D1%81%D0%BA%D0%B0%D1%8F_%28%D0%B0%D0%BD%D1%82%D0%B0%D1%80%D0%BA%D1%82%D0%B8%D1%87%D0%B5%D1%81%D0%BA%D0%B0%D1%8F_%D1%81%D1%82%D0%B0%D0%BD%D1%86%D0%B8%D1%8F%29
along with Molodyozhnaya [Молодёжная] and Leningradskaya and so doesn't appear on the list of facilities
http://web.archive.org/web/20070218093920/http://www.comnap.aq/facilities
There's evidence here that scientists from Germany's Technical University in Dresden have been working at Russkaya
http://eies.ats.aq/Ats.IE/ieGenRpt.aspx?idParty=17&period=1&idYear=2009
Permanent GPS observations at Russian Antarctic stations Leningradskaya and Russkaya; Scientific leader: Prof. Reinhard Dietrich
http://www.egu.eu/awards-medals/vening-meinesz/2014/reinhard-dietrich/
During the 2000s Dietrich had a hand in nearly every ESA/NASA mission pertaining to space geodetic observation of ice sheets
 |
| Reinhard Dietrich.... Does he look like he would be up to living at Russkaya-- a no man's land in Antarctica? |
Reinhard was awarded the 2013 Weyprecht Medal for outstanding Antarctic research in 2013 shortly after his 65th birthday by which time he had retired.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.dgp-ev.de/dgp.html
http://www.qucosa.de/fileadmin/data/qucosa/documents/16117/Festschrift_RD-A-1b.pdf
where there's some biography - he was from the GDR and had initially collaborated with the Soviet Union's scientists in Molodezhnaya Antarctica.
There's a little bit about Russkaya here...
he most important results obtained under separate IPY Projects are given below.
In the framework of the Project “Comprehensive Meteorological dataset of active IPY Antarctic measurement phase for Scientific and applied Studies” (COMPASS) as a result of deployment of automatic meteorological stations at the sites of earlier temporarily closed Molodezhnaya, Russkaya and Leningradskaya stations, the Russian circumpolar observation network in the Antarctic was reconstructed. The results of measurements are presented at the internet-site of the subprogram “Study and research of the Antarctic” http://www.aari.aq.
source: www.ats.aq/documents/ATCM32/ip/Atcm32_ip044_e.doc
Part of the POLENET project
POLENET aims to drastically improve the coverage of geophysical observatons in our polar regions.
There are some pics of the Antarctic GPS system being developed here
https://www.unavco.org/highlights/2008/POLENET_antarctica.html.
UNAVCO, a non-profit university-governed consortium, facilitates geoscience research and education using geodesy.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yxLMk120vMU
That was Reinhard Dietrich's area.
http://eies.ats.aq/Ats.IE/ieGenRpt.aspx?idParty=17&period=2&idYear=2009
One main task of the participation in the 55th Russian Antarctic Expedition consisted in the realization of geodetic field work at Vostok station (central East Antarctica), in the area of the subglacial Lake Vostok and along the continental traverse route Vostok – Progress. The field work focussed on repeated GPS observations at control markers with the aim to determine horizontal ice flow velocity vectors and height changes of the ice surface for further glaciological interpretations. A second task was to check the set up of two permanent GPS sites at the Russian Antarctic stations Leningradskaya and Russkaya. This task was fulfilled in cooperation with FGUP “Aerogeodeziya” in continuation of the IPY project “POLENET”.
I think a lot of scientific work in Antarctica is related to Polenet, particularly US work. You can see snippets of it at their website
eg http://polenet.org/?p=2340
They say it's 3 hours plus in a Bell helicopter from McMurdo SW to Butcher Ridge but the distance is redacted.
Russkaya seems to be the key to some of the mysteries here.
ReplyDeleteIt's shows on the map here along with the similarly closed Leningradskaya and Molodezhnaya stations. [the old Soviet stations seemed to encircle the continent]
So, Russkaya was shut because it was difficult to access. So why was it located there in the first place,especally when it followed all the other stations which would have provided know-how?
In 1985, a Soviet ship, the Mikhail Somov apparently became stuck fast in the ice in the region of Russkaya and had to be rescue by an Icebreaker after 3 months...
As a precaution, 77 people were airlifted from the ship by helicopter, leaving 53 crew members and researchers aboard.
http://articles.latimes.com/1985-06-04/news/mn-6490_1_research-ship#
Question - why leave any researchers on board? Espcecially when all 53 were still on board after more than 4 months...
http://www.csmonitor.com/1985/0723/oice.html
The Vladivostok set out from the Soviet Union's Far Eastern port of the same name on June 10 carrying a large helicopter with navigational equipment able to cope with polar magnetic disturbances.
Western analysts in Moscow say the publicity being given the present rescue attempt -- publicity that is small by Western standards but remarkable in a land where most air crashes go unreported -- has been allowed in anticipation of a Chelyushkin-style success.
so, perhaps a Soviet style psy-op?
The nearest points of habitation are now the Soviet ``Russkaya'' research station it left 31/2 months ago, 500 miles to the east,
In 2008, Russkaya was indeed warmed up, for the annular solar eclipse on February 7.
http://www.space.com/4887-solar-eclipse-penguins.html
t 3:39 UT, as the antumbra starts to slide off of Antarctica and out into the Pacific Ocean, it will pass almost directly over the Russkaya Antarctic research station which originally opened on March 9, 1980, but was mothballed on March 12, 1990. However, according to Valeriy Lukin, the head of the Russian Antarctic Expedition (RAE), a research ship departed Melbourne, Australia on Jan. 16 and will be at the Russkaya station from Feb. 5 to 9.
This station is located in the Pacific sector of Antarctica, which is poorly covered by scientific studies. An automatic weather station and GPS station will be installed at Russkaya.....
....The duration of the ring phase at Russkaya will last 2 minutes 8 seconds.
http://www.space.com/4887-solar-eclipse-penguins.html
Some others who were near Russkaya are reported here in 2000
ReplyDeletehttp://tea.armadaproject.org/reynolds/2.24.2000.html
February 24, 2000
73 31 s 132 33 w
Off Hobbs Coast near Forrester Island **
We are in the middle of what in the old days would have been referred to as a "trackless waste....
Speaking of distances, we are about 80 km (50 miles) away from shore and about 1900 km (1180 miles) from the nearest habitation at McMurdo base. There may be people closer, a ship or an airplane, but no station or camp. We are about 180 km (112 miles) from the now abandoned Russian Base of Russkaya, at the bottom of Mt. Gray. I don't know why, but the idea of being close (in Antarctic terms) to some place of human construction fascinates me.
I asked people on the Nathaniel B. Palmer about the base. They said it had been closed for at least ten or fifteen years. It was evidently very difficult to keep supplied. Food, fuel and other supplies had to be offloaded on fast (semi-permanent) ice, and then transported to the station itself. One year the supply ship stayed too late and got trapped in ice at the station. [see preceding links] An icebreaker had to come from Vladivostok, a Russian port in the North Pacific, to break it free. The supply ship was not freed until July, in the middle of the Antarctic winter. I imagine now Russkaya station must be a cold, empty place, with maybe a door or window banging in the wind, and things just as people left them years ago. Of course that's just a guess, because we can't see it from here!
Stan Jacobs can remember when weather reports used to be relayed from Russkaya. Now, except for the occasional passing ship, there is no weather reporting for the whole coast between McMurdo and the Antarctic peninsula (get a map and check it out!) The United States has a station at Siple, but it is only occasionally occupied. The lack of weather information for this area harms climate studies, because a great deal of the moisture for the Antarctic continent enters in these longitudes. Later in our trip, we will place three automatic weather stations as part of a German study, but they are not expected to last for an extended period.
The writer, Larry Reynolds, was at the time a research assistant to Thomas Kellogg
http://tea.armadaproject.org/tea_reynoldsfrontpage.html
who was interested in Pine Island Bay. The ship is clearly sailing off the coast of West Antarctica and the above page links to Reynolds' log. I'll make a list of his locations by day and perhaps plot the route of the vessel.
** The island was discovered and charted from the USS Glacier on February 5, 1962, and was named by the Advisory Committee on Antarctic Names after Lieutenant Commander John J. Forrester, U.S. Navy, Executive Officer aboard the Glacier at the time of discovery [Wikipedia]
Finally this paper mentions studies of pathogenic bacteria studied by the Russians at their bases, including those previously mothballed.
www.ats.aq/documents/ATCM32/ip/Atcm32_ip046_e.doc
he results of laboratory analyses showed that in different zones of working-living premises of the seasonal field bases Russkaya and Leningradskaya, several bacterial species were isolated with some of them belonging to a category of pathogenic bacteria. The question how these bacteria preserve viability under the conditions of closed stations remains open. At least, for one of the species of isolated bacteria it has been known for quite a long time that it is not capable to grow at the change of temperatures. This indicates that this species of bacteria cannot be a natural part of Antarctic micro-biota. It is probably a peculiar contaminant, which was introduced by investigator during sampling, or preserved its viability during the entire time the station was abandoned. This question can be answered only by additional studies.
Makes one wonder if bacterial research was carried out there, far from human civilisation..
Partial circumnavigation from McMurdo to Palmer in 2000
ReplyDeleteFeb 15 77 51 S 166 40 E refuelling We are about a mile or two from the base at McMurdo
Feb 16 77 10 S 172 34 E 2.15 PM (Tuesday 815 PM Maine time) Ross ice shelf
Feb 20 75 27 S 149 20 W 4.00 am
Feb 21 74 15 S 141 20 w (Off Hobbs and Ruppert Coasts of Marie Byrd Land 10:30 PM,
Feb 22 73 08 s 143 37.5 w
Feb 23 72 58 s 136 47 w
Feb 24 73 31 s 132 33 w [Hobbs Coast, closest to Russkaya]
Feb 25 74 30 s 133 49 w 11:40 PM local (same as Alaska) time
Feb 26 73 53 s 127-26 w
Feb 27 73 09 s 126 42 w Off the north coast of Siple Island
Feb 28 72 30 s 124 24 w
Mar 2 74 04 s 117 37 w Off Wright Island, Amundsen Sea
Mar 3 74 00 s 112 05 w
Mar 4 74 18 s 109 22 w Northeast of Bear Peninsula
Mar 5 73 40 s 115 05 w
Mar 6 73 03 s 121 59 w
Mar 7 72 28 s 119 43 w [sailing at 6 knots, 7mph]
Mar 8 72 08 s, 118 55 w
Mar 9 72 08s, 114 40 w
Mar 10 72 15 s, 114 30 w [5 knots, 6 mph]
Mar 11 71 21 s, 111 59 w
Mar 13 71 18 s, 106 50 w [7 knots, 8 mph]
Mar 14 73 00 s, 107 38 w
Mar 15 74 11 s, 107 38 w In front of Thwaites Glacier Tongue
Mar 16 74 25 s, 105 42 w East of Thwaites Glacier Tongue, northwest of Pine Island Bay
Mar 17 74 22 s, 104 37 w Midway between Canisteo Peninsula and Thwaites Glacier Tongue
Mar 18 73 51 s, 105 30 w
Mar 19 73 25 s, 101 48 w Between Canisteo and King peninsulas
Mar 20 72 54 s 103 54 w
Mar 21 72 04s 105 40 w 90 km west of Cape Flying Fish, Thurston Island 6 knots
Mar 22 71 06 s, 103 45 w Shelf break north of Thurston Island 5 knots
Mar 23 71 03 s 102 20 w 6 knots
Mar 24 69 02 s 90 52 w Off Peter I Island
Mar 27 65 04 s, 65 45 w Just east of Hugo Island and Phelps Rock, 17 mph
Mar 28 64 46 s, 64 03 w Anchored off Palmer Station
Mar 29 63 04 s, 63 06 w 10 nautical miles (11 miles) SW of Cape James, Smith Island, 11.5 knots
Mar 30 56 34 s, 64 35 w In Drake Passage 12 knots
wow, ok.
ReplyDeleterusskaya-- hardy bacteria
no weather stations
i'll see if i can get speed data from your positions-- but i've been battling 115 F heat in Phoenix and my car malfuntions... lately a lot of my electronics have malfunctioned-- tv remote control-- car electronics-- piano-- I wonder if sunstorm hit us...
I plotted it on a map - it is somewhat weird. Why does the blogger [deliberately?] not provide locations between McMurdo and Block Bay and the start of the ramble proper near Cruzen Island?
Deletehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cruzen_Island
74°47′S 140°42′W
It was discovered in 1940 on aerial flights from the West Base of the US Antarctic Service, and named for Commander Richard Cruzen, US Navy, the commanding officer of the USS Bear and second in command of the expedition.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Block_Bay
76°15′S 146°22′W)
discovered in 1929 by the Byrd Antarctic Expedition, and named by Richard E. Byrd for Paul Block, newspaper publisher and patron of the expedition.
And they it takes only a day to go from Thurston Island to Peter Island, then no further reports until they are safely home in Palmer. It could be argued that the purpose of the expedtion was the S-shaped meander along the coast of Marie Byrd Land, but once again, key parts of the partial circumnavigation are left out.
The problem of "incomplete distance and time information" on trips is a problem across the board. That's why I focused on those inspection tours and hoped that maybe those would be more complete. They sort of are-- but still not good enough and as you point out, inspections seem to have ceased. I think it might be worthwhile to consider how many people (explorers, scientists, travellers, etc.) have been "lost" going out beyond 60S... If I could afford it, I would take a ship to that area EXCEPT for FEAR of being intentionally sunk or killed. I'm reminded of a youtube I posted here of an actual sinking-- and death. I'll find it later-- and explore details on this post later too -- however I'll continue in the forum where I can generate an outline.
ReplyDeleteIt's a bit off topic, but I just came across the end for Byrd Jr's son, who ought to be Richard Evelyn Byrd III [Byrd the Third]
ReplyDeletehttp://www.nytimes.com/1988/10/09/us/body-of-adm-byrd-s-son-68-found-in-empty-warehouse.html
sound liks a psy-op in itself. Too crazy for words.
See note at the end of this piece...
http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=156
Excuse my language but.... holy turd! Someone Murdered Byrd the Third? Don't worry about being off topic in these comments areas. Ideas expand beyond categories when brainstorming-- so wherever your mind takes you, get it out. We'll categorize later. I'm working on a forum format to capture these ideas in a better format called "outline".
ReplyDelete