Alfred-Faure or Port Alfred is a permanent French scientific station on

Île de la Possession Île de la Possession, or Possession Island, formerly Île de la Prise de Possession, is part of the Subantarctic Crozet Archipelago. Administratively, it is part of the French Southern and Antarctic Lands. It is an important nesting site for ...

(Possession Island) of the

subantarctic The sub-Antarctic zone is a region in the Southern Hemisphere, located immediately north of the Antarctic region. This translates roughly to a latitude of between 46° and 60° south of the Equator. The subantarctic region includes many islands ...

Crozet Archipelago The Crozet Islands (french: Îles Crozet; or, officially, ''Archipel Crozet'') are a sub-Antarctic archipelago of small islands in the southern Indian Ocean. They form one of the five administrative districts of the French Southern and Antarcti ...

in the South

Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or ~19.8% of the water on Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia to the east. To the south it is bounded by t ...

Research Station

It is located at the eastern end of the island on a plateau 143 m (460 ft) above sea level. Depending on the season, there are between 15 and 60 personnel working at the base. Their scientific work includes meteorological,

seismic Seismology (; from Ancient Greek σεισμός (''seismós'') meaning "earthquake" and -λογία (''-logía'') meaning "study of") is the scientific study of earthquakes and the propagation of elastic waves through the Earth or through other ...

, biological and

geological Geology () is a branch of natural science concerned with Earth and other astronomical objects, the features or rocks of which it is composed, and the processes by which they change over time. Modern geology significantly overlaps all other E ...

research.

The research station was first established during the austral summer of 1963–1964. It replaced a temporary scientific base that was built in 1961. The new station was named after Alfred Faure, who was the site's leader in the early 1960s. Alfred-Faure is visited a few times a year by the ''Marion Dufresne'', an oceanographic

research vessel A research vessel (RV or R/V) is a ship or boat designed, modified, or equipped to carry out research at sea. Research vessels carry out a number of roles. Some of these roles can be combined into a single vessel but others require a dedicated ...

which delivers supplies and rotating crews of scientists. There is a 1.6 km road that connects the research station to the coast. An aerial cableway also runs up from the coast to the station.

Climate

References

External links

Virtual Map of Ile de la Possession
Crozet Islands Research stations 1963 establishments in France {{FrenchSouthernTerritories-geo-stub