Vernadsky (Faraday) Station
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S 65° 14.740 W 064° 15.188
20D E 441452 N 2763584
Vernadsky Station is the only Ukranian research station in Antarctica.
Waymark Code: WM29VX
Location: Antarctica
Date Posted: 09/29/2007
Views: 109
Akademik Vernadsky Station has been run by the Ukrainian Ministry of Education and Science, Ukranian Antarctic Center since 1996. Prior to that time, it was known as Faraday Station and administered by the British Antarctic Survey. Faraday Station holds the record for the longest station continuously occupied by British personnel, having been occupied for 49 years and 31 days (7 Jan 1947-6 Feb 1996).
Prior to its handover, Faraday Station specialized in research on geophysics, meteorology and ionospherics. Faraday station has been credited as one of the main places the hole in the ozone layer was discovered. One of the conditions that the British turned over the station to the Ukranians was that the same type of research had to continue.
Vernadsky Station is home to "the best bar in Antarctica." Prior to the 1996 handover, the British were going to build a new pier at the station. The year they were going to do this, the winter weather was horrible and it was impossible to build the pier. The residents of the station used the materials to build themselves a bar on the upper floor of the station.
The original site was on Winter Island, previously the site of the British Graham Land Expedition (BGLE) hut of 1935-36 which was destroyed (possibly by a tsunami) in 1946. The main hut on Winter Island was named Wordie House after Sir James Wordie, member of Shackleton’s Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition 1914-16, Operation Tabarin Advisory Committee 1943-45 and FID Scientific Committee 1948. It was closed on 30 May 1954 when the station was transferred to Galindez Island. It was re-occupied in the winter of 1960 when personnel for Station T failed to reach Adelaide Island and were forced to winter there. New buildings were erected in Feb 1954 on Galindez Island. The main building was named Coronation House after the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in 1953. (From BAS Page on Faraday Station.)
The original station, on Winter Island, has been designated Antarctic Historic Site #62.
Type of Waymark: Point of Interest
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