Port-aux-Français is the main settlement of the Kerguelen Islands, and French Southern and Antarctic Lands, 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 ...

Occupancy

The settlement is located on the shore of the

Gulf of Morbihan The Gulf of Morbihan is a natural harbour on the coast of the department of Morbihan in southern Brittany, France. Its English name is taken from the French version, ''le golfe du Morbihan'', though it would be more precisely called 'the Mo ...

. About 45 residents spend the winter there; the group can reach over 120 people in summer. The place was chosen in 1949 by the head of mission Pierre Sicaud because of its sheltered location which was suitable for the construction of an air runway, though this was never built. From 1955 to 1957, a French slaughterhouse company, SIDAP, built an elephant seal processing plant equipped with Australian machinery. The factory opened its doors just after the wedding of the director, Marc Péchenart, and Martine Raulin on 16 December 1957. This was the first marriage ever celebrated on the islands. The factory closed in 1960, and the equipment was sent to Réunion in 2005. Port-aux-Français has a shallow

seaport A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as H ...

which allows the unloading of supply ships (usually the '' Marion Dufresne'') with

barge Barge nowadays generally refers to a flat-bottomed inland waterway vessel which does not have its own means of mechanical propulsion. The first modern barges were pulled by tugs, but nowadays most are pushed by pusher boats, or other vessels ...

s shuttling to the

quay A wharf, quay (, also ), staith, or staithe is a structure on the shore of a harbour or on the bank of a river or canal where ships may dock to load and unload cargo or passengers. Such a structure includes one or more berths ( mooring locatio ...

. The settlement, in addition to the logistical facilities for its own operation, hosts scientific laboratories (

biology Biology is the scientific study of life. It is a natural science with a broad scope but has several unifying themes that tie it together as a single, coherent field. For instance, all organisms are made up of cells that process hereditary i ...

geophysics Geophysics () is a subject of natural science concerned with the physical processes and physical properties of the Earth and its surrounding space environment, and the use of quantitative methods for their analysis. The term ''geophysics'' so ...

), technical stations (such as

meteorology Meteorology is a branch of the atmospheric sciences (which include atmospheric chemistry and physics) with a major focus on weather forecasting. The study of meteorology dates back millennia, though significant progress in meteorology did no ...

telecommunication Telecommunication is the transmission of information by various types of technologies over wire, radio, optical, or other electromagnetic systems. It has its origin in the desire of humans for communication over a distance greater than that fe ...

s and satellite tracking), a cinema and a small medical centre. There is also a small Catholic Church Notre-Dame des Ventsin the settlement.

Tidal gauges

The base of Port-aux-Français is equipped with a marigraphic station, having three measuring devices: * two

tide gauges A tide gauge is a device for measuring the change in sea level relative to a vertical datum. It its also known as mareograph, marigraph, sea-level recorder and limnimeter. When applied to freshwater continental water bodies, the instrument ma ...

to measure pressure at sea bottom * a

radar Radar is a detection system that uses radio waves to determine the distance ('' ranging''), angle, and radial velocity of objects relative to the site. It can be used to detect aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor vehicles, we ...

measuring the sea level. The two marigraphs and the radar send data to a local server, which relays them hourly to the Internet via the

Argos Argos most often refers to: * Argos, Peloponnese, a city in Argolis, Greece ** Ancient Argos, the ancient city * Argos (retailer), a catalogue retailer operating in the United Kingdom and Ireland Argos or ARGOS may also refer to: Businesses ...

satellite system.

Climate

Port-aux-Français has an ocean-moderated mild tundra climate (

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, notabl ...

''ET''). Temperatures (without windchill) tend to remain fairly stable throughout the year, rarely reaching over or falling below . The average temperature in February, the warmest month, is with a maximum of during the day and during the night. In winter, July and August are the coldest months, averaging during the day and at night. Snowfall is possible in all months, though more common in winter. The climate is windier than in most places, with a recorded gust of . The lowest recorded temperature was on 11 August 2014, which beats the old record of set in June 1953. The highest temperature was on 30 January 1959.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Port-Aux-Francais Geography of the Kerguelen Islands Populated places established in 1944 Outposts of Antarctica

Occupancy

Tidal gauges

Climate

See also

References