The Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station At The Southernmost Point Of The Earth
Public DomainThe Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station at night.
Antarctica in general is one of the coldest places on Earth, and the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station lies right at the heart of the continent. It was established in 1956 as part of the U.S. Navy’s Operation Deep Freeze to support scientific research into things like the geophysics of Earth’s polar regions. The station was named in honor of explorers Roald Amundsen and Robert F. Scott, the first people to reach the South Pole in 1911 and 1912, respectively.
Positioned at the Earth’s southernmost point, the station experiences some of the planet’s harshest climatic conditions. During the winter months, temperatures can plunge dramatically. According to a 1997 report in The New York Times, that July, the station experienced its coldest month on record, with an average temperature of negative 86.8 degrees Fahrenheit, surpassing the previous record set three decades earlier in July 1965.
Over the decades, the station has undergone significant transformations to enhance its resilience against the extreme Antarctic conditions. The original structure, known as the “Old Pole,” was built by an 18-man U.S. Navy crew and was the first facility to support year-round habitation at the South Pole. Then, in 1975, a 164-foot-wide dome station was constructed that housed various facilities, including a library, a recreation center, and science labs.
By the 1990s, however, accumulating snow posed structural challenges. A new elevated station was built in 2008 that was designed to minimize the impacts of the harsh climate and provide modern amenities for researchers.
