Vostok Station is a Russian research station in inland Princess Elizabeth
Land, Antarctica. Founded by the Soviet Union in 1957, the station lies at the
southern Pole of Cold, with the lowest reliably measured natural temperature on
Earth of −89.2 °C. Research includes ice core drilling and magnetometry. Vostok
was named after Vostok, the lead ship of the First Russian Antarctic Expedition
captained by Fabian von Bellingshausen. Description
Vostok Research Station is 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 is 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 is at 3,488 metres above sea
level and is one of the most isolated established research stations 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.
The only permanent research station located farther south is the
Amundsen–Scott South Pole Station, operated by the United States at the
geographic South Pole. Some of the challenges faced by those
living on the station were described in Vladimir Sanin's books such as "Newbie
in the Antarctic", "72 Degrees Below Zero", and others.
History Vostok Station was established on 16
December 1957 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, when British scientists in
Antarctica performed an 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. Russian 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 below the surface of the
central Antarctic ice sheet and covers an area of 14,000 km².
= Historic monuments = Vostok Station Tractor: Heavy tractor
АТТ 11 which participated in the first traverse to the South Geomagnetic Pole,
along with a plaque to commemorate the opening of the station in 1957, has been
designated a Historic Site or Monument following a proposal by Russia to the
Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting. Professor Kudryashov’s Drilling Complex
Building: The drilling complex building stands close to Vostok Station at an
elevation of 3488 m. It was constructed in the summer season of 1983–1984. Under
the leadership of Professor Boris Kudryashov, ancient ice core samples
were obtained. The building has been designated a Historic Site or Monument,
following a proposal by Russia to the Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting.
Climate Vostok Station has an ice cap climate,
with subzero cold year round. The station sees an average of only 22
millimeters of precipitation per year. On average, Vostok station receives 26
days of snow per year. It is by far the coldest spot on earth, with the lowest
recorded temperature being -89.2℃. The average summer temperature is -31.9 °C.
Meanwhile, the average winter temperature is -68 °C, and the highest
recorded temperature was -14.0 °C. Vostok has the highest sunshine total
for any calendar month, at an average of 708.8 hours of sunshine in December, or
23 hours daily. It also has the lowest sunshine for any calendar month, with a
theoretical maximum of 0 hours of sunshine per month during polar night.
Vostok is the coldest place on Earth. The average temperature of the cold
season is about −65 °C, while the average temperature of the warm season
is about −42 °C. The lowest reliably measured temperature
on Earth of −89.2 °C was in Vostok on 21 July 1983 at 05:45 Moscow Time, which
was 07:45 for Vostok's time zone, and 01:45 UTC. This beat the station's
former record of -88.3 °C on 24 August 1960. In comparison, carbon dioxide
freezes out of the air at −84 °C at typical local atmospheric pressures
based on altitude. Lower temperatures occurred higher up towards the summit of
the ice sheet as temperature decreases with height along the surface.
The coldest wind chill was −124 °C on 24 August 2005 with a real temperature of
−74 °C. Though unconfirmed, it has been reported
that Vostok reached the temperature of −91 °C on 28 July 1997.
The warmest recorded temperature at Vostok is −14.0 °C, which occurred on
January 1974. 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 moisture in
the air. An average windspeed of 5 m/s, sometimes
rising to as high as 27 m/s. A lack of oxygen because of its high
elevation at 3,488 meters. A higher ionization of the air.
A polar night that lasts approximately 130 days, from late April to late
August, including 85 continuous days of civil polar night
Acclimatization to such conditions can take from a week to two months and is
accompanied by headaches, 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). Ice core drilling
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 ancient lake was finally breached on
5 February 2012 when scientists stopped drilling at the depth of 3770 meters and
reached the surface of the sub-glacial lake.
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. See also
Research stations in Antarctica Lake Vostok
Soviet Antarctic Expedition Vostok traverse
References External links
Official website Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute
AARI Vostok Station page Vostok average temperature data
Vostok current met data Antarctic Connection article on Vostok
Station COMNAP Antarctic Facilities
COMNAP Antarctic Facilities Map