Vostok Station
Encyclopedia
Vostok Station was a Russia
n (formerly Soviet
) Antarctic
research station
. It was at the southern Pole of Cold
, with the lowest reliably measured natural temperature on Earth of −89.2 °C (−128.6 °F). Research includes ice core
drilling and magnetometry
. Vostok (Russian
for "East") was named after the ship of Fabian von Bellingshausen, an Antarctic pioneer.
Vostok Research Station was located at 78°27′51.92"S 106°50′14.38"E, about 1,300 km from the Geographic South Pole
, at the center of the East Antarctic Ice Sheet
and within the Australian Antarctic Territory
. As a signatory to the Antarctic Treaty System
, Australia
does not exercise sovereignty over the territory.
Vostok was located near the Southern Pole of Inaccessibility
and the South Geomagnetic Pole, making it one of the optimal places to observe changes in the Earth's magnetosphere
. Other studies include actinometry
, geophysics
, medicine and climatology
.
The station was at 3,488 meters (11,444 ft) above sea level
and was one of the most isolated established research station on the Antarctic continent. The station was supplied from Mirny Station
on the Antarctic coast. The station typically contains 25 scientists and engineers in the summer. In winter, their number drops to 13.
) by the 2nd Soviet Antarctic Expedition
and was operated year-round for more than 37 years. The station was temporarily closed from February to November 1994.
In 1974, British scientists in Antarctica performed airborne ice-penetrating radar
survey and detected strange radar readings at the site, the presence of a liquid, freshwater lake below the ice did not instantly spring to mind. In 1991, Jeff Ridley, a remote-sensing specialist with the Mullard Space Science Laboratory
at University College London, directed a European satellite called ERS-1
to turn its high-frequency array toward the center of the Antarctic ice cap. It confirmed the 1974 discovery, but it was not until 1993 that the discovery was published in the Journal of Glaciology. Space-based radar revealed that the sub-glacial body of fresh water was one of the largest lakes in the world - and one of some 140 subglacial lakes in Antarctica. Russia
n and British
scientists delineated the lake in 1996 by integrating a variety of data, including airborne ice-penetrating radar
imaging observations and spaceborne radar altimetry. Lake Vostok
lies some 4,000 meters (13,000 ft) below the surface of the central Antarctic ice sheet and covers an area of 14,000 km² (5,400 sq mi).
As of 2011, the station has been reported as being unoccupied and buried under snow.
. During the long winter, temperatures average about -65 C in the brief summer, about -30 C.
The lowest reliably measured temperature
on Earth of -89.2 C was in Vostok on 21 July 1983. (See List of weather records) Lower temperatures occurred higher up towards the summit of the ice sheet as temperature decreases with height along the surface.
Though unconfirmed, it has been reported that Vostok reached the temperature of -91 C during the winter of 1997.
The warmest recorded temperature at Vostok is -12.2 C, which occurred on 11 January 2002.
The coldest month was August 1987 with a mean temperature of -75.4 C and the warmest month was December 1989 with mean of -28 C.
In addition to the extremely cold temperatures, other factors make Vostok one of the most difficult places on Earth for human habitation:
Acclimatization
to such conditions can take from a week to two months and is accompanied by headache
s, eye twitches, ear pains, nose bleeds, perceived suffocation, sudden rises in blood pressure
, loss of sleep, reduced appetite
, vomiting
, joint and muscle pain, arthritis, and weight loss of 3–5 kg (7-11 lb) (sometimes as high as 12 kg (26 lb)).
In the 1970s the Soviet Union drilled a set of cores 500–952 m deep. These have been used to study the oxygen isotope composition of the ice, which showed that ice of the last glacial period was present below about 400 m depth. Then three more holes were drilled: in 1984, Hole 3G reached a final depth of 2202 m; in 1990, Hole 4G reached a final depth of 2546 m; and in 1993 Hole 5G reached a depth of 2755 m; after a brief closure, drilling continued during the winter of 1995. In 1996 it was stopped at depth 3623 m, by the request of the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research
that expressed worries about possible contamination of Lake Vostok
. This ice core
, drilled collaboratively with the French, produced a record of past environmental conditions stretching back 420,000 years and covering four previous glacial periods. For a long time it was the only core to cover several glacial cycles; but in 2004 it was exceeded by the EPICA core, which whilst shallower, covers a longer time span. In 2003 drilling was permitted to continue, but was halted at the estimated distance to the lake of only 130 m.
The brittle zone is approximately between 250 and 750 m and corresponds to the Last Glacial Maximum
, with the end of the Holocene climatic optimum
at or near the 250 m depth.
Although the Vostok core reached a depth of 3623 m the usable climatic information does not extend down this far. The very bottom of the core is ice refrozen from the waters of Lake Vostok and contains no climate information. The usual data sources give proxy information down to a depth of 3310 m or 414,000 years. Below this there is evidence of ice deformation. It has been suggested that the Vostok record may be extended down to 3345 m or 436,000 years, to include more of the interesting MIS11 period, by inverting a section of the record. This then produces a record in agreement with the newer, longer EPICA record, although it provides no new information.
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...
n (formerly Soviet
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....
) Antarctic
Antarctic
The Antarctic is the region around the Earth's South Pole, opposite the Arctic region around the North Pole. The Antarctic comprises the continent of Antarctica and the ice shelves, waters and island territories in the Southern Ocean situated south of the Antarctic Convergence...
research station
Research station
A research station is a station built for the purpose of conducting scientific research. Research station sites might include outer space and oceans. Many nations have research stations in Antarctica; Showa Station, Halley and Troll are examples...
. It was at the southern Pole of Cold
Pole of Cold
The Poles of Cold are the places in the Northern and Southern hemispheres where the lowest air temperatures have been recorded.- Northern hemisphere :...
, with the lowest reliably measured natural temperature on Earth of −89.2 °C (−128.6 °F). Research includes ice core
Ice core
An ice core is a core sample that is typically removed from an ice sheet, most commonly from the polar ice caps of Antarctica, Greenland or from high mountain glaciers elsewhere. As the ice forms from the incremental build up of annual layers of snow, lower layers are older than upper, and an ice...
drilling and magnetometry
Magnetometer
A magnetometer is a measuring instrument used to measure the strength or direction of a magnetic field either produced in the laboratory or existing in nature...
. Vostok (Russian
Russian language
Russian is a Slavic language used primarily in Russia, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. It is an unofficial but widely spoken language in Ukraine, Moldova, Latvia, Turkmenistan and Estonia and, to a lesser extent, the other countries that were once constituent republics...
for "East") was named after the ship of Fabian von Bellingshausen, an Antarctic pioneer.
Description
South Pole
The South Pole, also known as the Geographic South Pole or Terrestrial South Pole, is one of the two points where the Earth's axis of rotation intersects its surface. It is the southernmost point on the surface of the Earth and lies on the opposite side of the Earth from the North Pole...
, at the center of the East Antarctic Ice Sheet
Antarctic ice sheet
The Antarctic ice sheet is one of the two polar ice caps of the Earth. It covers about 98% of the Antarctic continent and is the largest single mass of ice on Earth. It covers an area of almost 14 million square km and contains 30 million cubic km of ice...
and within the Australian Antarctic Territory
Australian Antarctic Territory
The Australian Antarctic Territory is a part of Antarctica. It was claimed by the United Kingdom and placed under the authority of the Commonwealth of Australia in 1933. It is the largest territory of Antarctica claimed by any nation...
. As a signatory to the Antarctic Treaty System
Antarctic Treaty System
The Antarctic Treaty and related agreements, collectively called the Antarctic Treaty System or ATS, regulate international relations with respect to Antarctica, Earth's only continent without a native human population. For the purposes of the treaty system, Antarctica is defined as all of the land...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
does not exercise sovereignty over the territory.
Vostok was located near the Southern Pole of Inaccessibility
Pole of inaccessibility
A pole of inaccessibility marks a location that is the most challenging to reach owing to its remoteness from geographical features that could provide access...
and the South Geomagnetic Pole, making it one of the optimal places to observe changes in the Earth's magnetosphere
Magnetosphere
A magnetosphere is formed when a stream of charged particles, such as the solar wind, interacts with and is deflected by the intrinsic magnetic field of a planet or similar body. Earth is surrounded by a magnetosphere, as are the other planets with intrinsic magnetic fields: Mercury, Jupiter,...
. Other studies include actinometry
Actinometer
Actinometers are instruments used to measure the heating power of radiation. They are used in meteorology to measure solar radiation as pyrheliometers.An actinometer is a chemical system or physical device which determines the number of...
, geophysics
Geophysics
Geophysics is the physics of the Earth and its environment in space; also the study of the Earth using quantitative physical methods. The term geophysics sometimes refers only to the geological applications: Earth's shape; its gravitational and magnetic fields; its internal structure and...
, medicine and climatology
Climatology
Climatology is the study of climate, scientifically defined as weather conditions averaged over a period of time, and is a branch of the atmospheric sciences...
.
The station was at 3,488 meters (11,444 ft) above sea level
Sea level
Mean sea level is a measure of the average height of the ocean's surface ; used as a standard in reckoning land elevation...
and was one of the most isolated established research station on the Antarctic continent. The station was supplied from Mirny Station
Mirny 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....
on the Antarctic coast. The station typically contains 25 scientists and engineers in the summer. In winter, their number drops to 13.
History
Don Witt established the Vostok station was on 16 December 1957 (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...
) by the 2nd Soviet Antarctic Expedition
2nd Soviet Antarctic Expedition
The Second Soviet Antarctic Expedition was led by Aleksei Treshnikov on the continent; the marine expedition on the "Ob" was led by I. V. Maksimov. The "Ob" left Kaliningrad on 7 November, 1956....
and was operated year-round for more than 37 years. The station was temporarily closed from February to November 1994.
In 1974, British scientists in Antarctica performed airborne ice-penetrating radar
Radar
Radar is an object-detection system which uses radio waves to determine the range, altitude, direction, or speed of objects. It can be used to detect aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor vehicles, weather formations, and terrain. The radar dish or antenna transmits pulses of radio...
survey and detected strange radar readings at the site, the presence of a liquid, freshwater lake below the ice did not instantly spring to mind. In 1991, Jeff Ridley, a remote-sensing specialist with the Mullard Space Science Laboratory
Mullard Space Science Laboratory
The UCL Mullard Space Science Laboratory is the United Kingdom's largest university space research group. MSSL is the Department of Space and Climate Physics of the University College London. UCL was one of the first universities in the world to conduct space research...
at University College London, directed a European satellite called ERS-1
European Remote-Sensing Satellite
European remote sensing satellite was the European Space Agency's first Earth-observing satellite. It was launched on July 17, 1991 into a Sun-synchronous polar orbit at a height of 782–785 km.-Instruments:...
to turn its high-frequency array toward the center of the Antarctic ice cap. It confirmed the 1974 discovery, but it was not until 1993 that the discovery was published in the Journal of Glaciology. Space-based radar revealed that the sub-glacial body of fresh water was one of the largest lakes in the world - and one of some 140 subglacial lakes in Antarctica. 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...
n and British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
scientists delineated the lake in 1996 by integrating a variety of data, including airborne ice-penetrating radar
Radar
Radar is an object-detection system which uses radio waves to determine the range, altitude, direction, or speed of objects. It can be used to detect aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor vehicles, weather formations, and terrain. The radar dish or antenna transmits pulses of radio...
imaging observations and spaceborne radar altimetry. Lake Vostok
Lake Vostok
Lake Vostok is the largest of more than 140 subglacial lakes found under the surface of Antarctica. The overlying ice provides a continuous paleoclimatic record of 400,000 years, although the lake water itself may have been isolated for 15 to 25 million years. The lake is named after the...
lies some 4,000 meters (13,000 ft) below the surface of the central Antarctic ice sheet and covers an area of 14,000 km² (5,400 sq mi).
As of 2011, the station has been reported as being unoccupied and buried under snow.
Climate
Vostok is the World Pole of ColdPole of Cold
The Poles of Cold are the places in the Northern and Southern hemispheres where the lowest air temperatures have been recorded.- Northern hemisphere :...
. During the long winter, temperatures average about -65 C in the brief summer, about -30 C.
The lowest reliably measured temperature
Extremes on Earth
This article describes extreme locations on Earth. Entries listed in bold are Earth-wide extremes.-Extreme elevations and temperatures per continent:This article describes extreme locations on Earth. Entries listed in bold are Earth-wide extremes....
on Earth of -89.2 C was in Vostok on 21 July 1983. (See List of weather records) Lower temperatures occurred higher up towards the summit of the ice sheet as temperature decreases with height along the surface.
Though unconfirmed, it has been reported that Vostok reached the temperature of -91 C during the winter of 1997.
The warmest recorded temperature at Vostok is -12.2 C, which occurred on 11 January 2002.
The coldest month was August 1987 with a mean temperature of -75.4 C and the warmest month was December 1989 with mean of -28 C.
In addition to the extremely cold temperatures, other factors make Vostok one of the most difficult places on Earth for human habitation:
- An almost complete lack of moistureHumidityHumidity is a term for the amount of water vapor in the air, and can refer to any one of several measurements of humidity. Formally, humid air is not "moist air" but a mixture of water vapor and other constituents of air, and humidity is defined in terms of the water content of this mixture,...
in the air. - An average windspeed of 5 m/s (18 km/h) (11 mph), sometimes rising to as high as 27 m/s (97 km/h)(60 mph).
- An acute lack of oxygen because of its high altitude at 3,488 meters (11,444 ft).
- A higher ionizationIonizationIonization is the process of converting an atom or molecule into an ion by adding or removing charged particles such as electrons or other ions. This is often confused with dissociation. A substance may dissociate without necessarily producing ions. As an example, the molecules of table sugar...
of the air. - A polar nightPolar nightThe polar night occurs when the night lasts for more than 24 hours. This occurs only inside the polar circles. The opposite phenomenon, the polar day, or midnight sun, occurs when the sun stays above the horizon for more than 24 hours.-Description:...
that lasts approximately 130 days, from mid April to late August, including 80 continuous days of civil polar night (i.e. too dark to read, during which the Sun is over 6 degrees below the horizon.)
Acclimatization
Acclimatization
Acclimatisation or acclimation is the process of an individual organism adjusting to a gradual change in its environment, allowing it to maintain performance across a range of environmental conditions...
to such conditions can take from a week to two months and is accompanied by headache
Headache
A headache or cephalalgia is pain anywhere in the region of the head or neck. It can be a symptom of a number of different conditions of the head and neck. The brain tissue itself is not sensitive to pain because it lacks pain receptors. Rather, the pain is caused by disturbance of the...
s, eye twitches, ear pains, nose bleeds, perceived suffocation, sudden rises in blood pressure
Blood pressure
Blood pressure is the pressure exerted by circulating blood upon the walls of blood vessels, and is one of the principal vital signs. When used without further specification, "blood pressure" usually refers to the arterial pressure of the systemic circulation. During each heartbeat, BP varies...
, loss of sleep, reduced appetite
Appetite
The appetite is the desire to eat food, felt as hunger. Appetite exists in all higher life-forms, and serves to regulate adequate energy intake to maintain metabolic needs. It is regulated by a close interplay between the digestive tract, adipose tissue and the brain. Decreased desire to eat is...
, vomiting
Vomiting
Vomiting is the forceful expulsion of the contents of one's stomach through the mouth and sometimes the nose...
, joint and muscle pain, arthritis, and weight loss of 3–5 kg (7-11 lb) (sometimes as high as 12 kg (26 lb)).
Ice core drilling
Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research
The Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research is an interdisciplinary body of the International Council for Science . It was established in February 1958 to continue the international coordination of Antarctic scientific activities that had begun during the International Geophysical Year of 1957-58...
that expressed worries about possible contamination of Lake Vostok
Lake Vostok
Lake Vostok is the largest of more than 140 subglacial lakes found under the surface of Antarctica. The overlying ice provides a continuous paleoclimatic record of 400,000 years, although the lake water itself may have been isolated for 15 to 25 million years. The lake is named after the...
. This ice core
Ice core
An ice core is a core sample that is typically removed from an ice sheet, most commonly from the polar ice caps of Antarctica, Greenland or from high mountain glaciers elsewhere. As the ice forms from the incremental build up of annual layers of snow, lower layers are older than upper, and an ice...
, drilled collaboratively with the French, produced a record of past environmental conditions stretching back 420,000 years and covering four previous glacial periods. For a long time it was the only core to cover several glacial cycles; but in 2004 it was exceeded by the EPICA core, which whilst shallower, covers a longer time span. In 2003 drilling was permitted to continue, but was halted at the estimated distance to the lake of only 130 m.
The brittle zone is approximately between 250 and 750 m and corresponds to the Last Glacial Maximum
Last Glacial Maximum
The Last Glacial Maximum refers to a period in the Earth's climate history when ice sheets were at their maximum extension, between 26,500 and 19,000–20,000 years ago, marking the peak of the last glacial period. During this time, vast ice sheets covered much of North America, northern Europe and...
, with the end of the Holocene climatic optimum
Holocene climatic optimum
The Holocene Climate Optimum was a warm period during roughly the interval 9,000 to 5,000 years B.P.. This event has also been known by many other names, including: Hypsithermal, Altithermal, Climatic Optimum, Holocene Optimum, Holocene Thermal Maximum, and Holocene Megathermal.This warm period...
at or near the 250 m depth.
Although the Vostok core reached a depth of 3623 m the usable climatic information does not extend down this far. The very bottom of the core is ice refrozen from the waters of Lake Vostok and contains no climate information. The usual data sources give proxy information down to a depth of 3310 m or 414,000 years. Below this there is evidence of ice deformation. It has been suggested that the Vostok record may be extended down to 3345 m or 436,000 years, to include more of the interesting MIS11 period, by inverting a section of the record. This then produces a record in agreement with the newer, longer EPICA record, although it provides no new information.
See also
- List of research stations in Antarctica
- Lake VostokLake VostokLake Vostok is the largest of more than 140 subglacial lakes found under the surface of Antarctica. The overlying ice provides a continuous paleoclimatic record of 400,000 years, although the lake water itself may have been isolated for 15 to 25 million years. The lake is named after the...
- Soviet Antarctic ExpeditionSoviet Antarctic ExpeditionThe Soviet Antarctic Expedition was part of the Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute of the Soviet Committee on Antarctic Research of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR....
- Vostok traverseVostok traverseThe Vostok traverse was an epic 3000 kilometre four month trip across Antarctica undertaken by ANARE the Australian National Antarctic Research Expedition in 1962. Using two bright red painted 1943 World War II M29 Weasel tracked vehicles and two 1950 D4 Caterpillar Inc...