Belgrano III Base () was a permanent, all year-round
Argentine
Argentines, Argentinians or Argentineans are people from Argentina. This connection may be residential, legal, historical, or cultural. For most Argentines, several (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their ...
Antarctic
The Antarctic (, ; commonly ) is the polar regions of Earth, polar region of Earth that surrounds the South Pole, lying within the Antarctic Circle. It is antipodes, diametrically opposite of the Arctic region around the North Pole.
The Antar ...
base and scientific
research station named after General
Manuel Belgrano
Manuel José Joaquín del Corazón de Jesús Belgrano (3 June 1770 – 20 June 1820), usually referred to as Manuel Belgrano (), was an Argentina, Argentine public servant, economist, lawyer, politician, journalist, and military leader. He to ...
, one of the
Libertadores and the creator of the
Argentine Flag. It was located on
Berkner Island on the
Filchner Ice Shelf.
At the time of its inauguration it was Argentina's southernmost permanent base.
It was shut down in 1984 over safety concerns due to it being built on increasingly unstable ice, which endangered both personnel and equipment.
History
On 8 January 1980, launching the second stage of the 1979–80 austral summer campaign, the
Argentine Navy's new
icebreaker
An icebreaker is a special-purpose ship or boat designed to move and navigate through ice-covered waters, and provide safe waterways for other boats and ships. Although the term usually refers to ice-breaking ships, it may also refer to smaller ...
ARA ''Almirante Irízar'' sailed away from
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...
with the mission of founding a new base on Berkner Island, on the Filchner Ice Shelf.
[
On 24 January 1980 and after a sixteen-day-long trip, the ship reached the chosen place, about west of the spot occupied by Belgrano I, by then already abandoned because the ice platform it was placed upon was cracking at a fast rate, resulting in unsafe working conditions.][
Belgrano III was officially inaugurated on 30 January after finishing unloading of cargo with the aid of two Puma SA 330 helicopters from the Argentine Army Aviation Command.][ At this time it hosted a nine-men ]Argentine Army
The Argentine Army () is the Army, land force branch of the Armed Forces of the Argentine Republic and the senior military service of Argentina. Under the Argentine Constitution, the president of Argentina is the commander-in-chief of the Armed For ...
complement.[
Belgrano III was shut down after 4 years of continuous service due to the fast deterioration of the ice barrier it was sitting on;][ new, often hidden cracks and crevices endangered the on-duty personnel and material.
The base was closed on 15 January 1984 and all of its staff was evacuated by a helicopter operating from ''Almirante Irízar''.][ Due to a mix of very bad weather and mechanical failure of the second helicopter aboard ''Almirante Irízar'', of packaged equipment had to be left behind to be recovered by land or, if not possible, in a later summer campaign.][
The salvage of such equipment was further delayed for several campaigns because of unusual pack ice thickness and other transport and logistic setbacks. On 1989 a helicopter inspection showed that the base and packages were already completely buried in snow and ice deep; only the antennae were sticking out in the surface.]
Description
The initial facilities at Belgrano III were composed of nine mobile modules coupled together and mounted on continuous track
Continuous track or tracked treads are a system of vehicle propulsion used in tracked vehicles, running on a continuous band of treads or track plates driven by two or more wheels. The large surface area of the tracks distributes the w ...
s. They were constructed of plastic material, which provided structural strength and thermal insulation
Thermal insulation is the reduction of heat transfer (i.e., the transfer of thermal energy between objects of differing temperature) between objects in thermal contact or in range of radiative influence. Thermal insulation can be achieved with s ...
at the same time, necessary features to withstand the rigorous winds and freezing temperatures prevailing in the area. In addition the base had a cubicle mounted on skis. These facilities were assigned to staff accommodation, communications station, infirmary, meteorological station, kitchen, bathroom and power plant.[
A freezing chamber was built in the ice, and some deposits were installed directly on the ground.][
]
Scientific activities
Besides the usual equipment and facility maintenance duties, personnel at Belgrano III carried out various scientific projects regarding meteorology
Meteorology is the scientific study of the Earth's atmosphere and short-term atmospheric phenomena (i.e. weather), with a focus on weather forecasting. It has applications in the military, aviation, energy production, transport, agricultur ...
, geomagnetism and topographic surveys on the area.[
]
See also
* Argentine Antarctica
Argentine Antarctica ( or ) is an area on Antarctica claimed by Argentina as part of its national territory. It consists of the Antarctic Peninsula and a triangular section extending to the South Pole, delimited by the 25th meridian west, 25 ...
* List of Antarctic research stations
* List of Antarctic field camps
References
External links
Fundaciòn Marambio – Base Belgrano III
Dirección Nacional del Antártico
{{Antarctica
Belgrano III
Populated places established in 1980
Berkner Island
1980 establishments in Antarctica