ANTARCTIC SITE FOR SOVIET OBSERVATORY

Press, Volume XCIII, Issue 27911, 7 March 1956, Page 9

ANTARCTIC SITE FOR SOVIET OBSERVATORY

• It has taken many days to explore the east coast of the Antarctic in order to find a suitable site for building the scientific centre of the Soviet expedition. Pilots of the air exploration group investigated a vast area.

“Our explorers covered hundreds of kilometres over Queen Mary Land,’’ reported Mr E. Suzyumov, secretary of the expedition, and Mr V. Tkachev, first captain’s mate of the diesel electric ship Ob in a wireless dispatch, released by the Soviet legation in Wellington. Finally the attention of the pilots and scientists was attracted by the coast of Davis Sea, west of Depot Bay. Flat tops of granite rocks visible in several places through the ice were noticed beyond Helene Glacier and to the south of the rocky islets of the Haswell Archipelago. They stood out against the snowy background. A large group of members undertook the detailed exploration of the locality to determine whether it was possible to equip a scientific base there and whether there were any suitable approaches for ships. The AN-2 made several flights over the area. A meeting of the scientific council of the expedition decided to set up the first Soviet scientific foundation, the Mirny observatory, in that area. . The Ob sailed from Depot Bay to its new anchoring place. No ship had ever sailed there. Marine maps available on board were inaccurate and sometimes even misleading. The flagship set out on her quest in the evening of January 14. She skirted the Helene Glacier and her course lay through a maze of icebergs which had broken away from the ruined spit of the Helene. Approaches to the shore were hin-

dered by rocks and shoals, and by the rocky islets of the Haswell Archipelago. Only three of the 16 islets are on the map. The biggest of them. Haswell Island, which gave its name to the archipelago, is made up of steep rocks.

Manoeuvring among the icebergs, rocky islets and underwater shoals, the Ob, under the command of Captain I. Man, reached the fringe of the ice at mid-day on January 15, and the navigator entered in the log the following bearing of the ship: 66deg. 37min. S. lat. and 92deg. 57min. E. long. The deck squad, directed by Boatswain P. Tsvetkov, rapidly lowered tractors and “go-everywheres” on to the ice. Builders began to lay a road through the ice barriers. The first explosions shook the air. Tractors with sledges moved along the road leading from the ship. They carried prefabricated houses, construction timber, food, wireless equipment, and the like. Automobiles and stacks of cargo appeared on shore.

Builders, together with the leaders of the expedition, prepared the plan of the future settlement. A street extending parallel to the shore will be lined with prefabricated houses. Sites have been' chosen for the houses, for the wireless station, garage, workshops, storages, and other needs. Scientific investigations continue according to plan. A detailed study is being made of this area of Queen Mary Land where the Mirny Observatory is situated. Numerous penguins, snow petrels and seagulls are in evidence on -shore, on the adjoining ice and on the surrounding islands. Seals and spotted sea leopards lie on the ice, paying no attention to the presence of men.

About 70 members of the expedition, representing various branches of knowledge, will winter at the main base. This year they will undertake the organisation of two more research stations in the Antarctic. The first of these, Vostok (East) will be situated near the southern geomagnetic pole, and the second, Sovietskaya, in the area of the Pole of relative inaccessibility. The scarlet flag of the Soviet Union will soon be flying over the Mirny Observatory.