Dakshin Gangotri was the first scientific base station of

India India, officially the Republic of India ( Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the ...

situated in

Antarctica Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean, it contains the geographic South Pole. Antarctica is the fifth-largest co ...

, part of the Indian Antarctic Programme. It is located at a distance of from the

South Pole The South Pole, also known as the Geographic South Pole, Terrestrial South Pole or 90th Parallel South, is one of the two points where Earth's axis of rotation intersects its surface. It is the southernmost point on Earth and lies antipod ...

. It is currently being used as a supply base and transit camp. The base is named after Dakshin Gangotri Glacier. It was established during the third Indian expedition to Antarctica in 1983–84. This was the first time an Indian team spent a winter in

to carry out scientific works. The station was built in eight weeks by an 81-member team that included geologist

Sudipta Sengupta Sudipta Sengupta is a professor in structural geology in Jadavpur University, Calcutta, India, and a trained mountaineer. She is one of the first Indian women (along with Aditi Pant) to set foot on Antarctica. She is also popularly known in Indi ...

. Construction was completed late into January 1984 with help from the Indian army and

Indian Republic Day Republic Day is a public holiday in India where the country marks and celebrates the date on which the Constitution of India came into effect on 26 January 1950. This replaced the Government of India Act 1935 as the governing document of Indi ...

was celebrated at the station along with the Soviets and East Germans.

Description

It was an unmanned station, set up using indigenous Indian equipment, powered by

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. The station was entirely computerised to record all data that was researched. It was built using pre-fabricated timber, and was intended as a permanent station. It had an Inmarsat communication terminal, as well as an amateur radio station. The station was divided into two sections, Blocks A and B. Block A contained generators, fuel supply and workshops while Block B was home to laboratories, radio rooms and other facilities. An automatic weather recording station, powered by solar energy was set up at the Dakshin Gangotri. Apart from this, the station was used to conduct tests on radio waves in Antarctica. Other functions of the Dakshin Gangotri included observations of

physical oceanography Physical oceanography is the study of physical conditions and physical processes within the ocean, especially the motions and physical properties of ocean waters. Physical oceanography is one of several sub-domains into which oceanography is di ...

, the chemistry of the freshwater lakes around, biological traits of the land, biological traits of the water,

geology 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 Ea ...

glaciology Glaciology (; ) is the scientific study of glaciers, or more generally ice and natural phenomena that involve ice. Glaciology is an interdisciplinary Earth science that integrates geophysics, geology, physical geography, geomorphology, c ...

and geomagnetism of the area. In 1984, site for a new runway was identified at a distance of 2 km from the station. Along with this, 2000

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s were marked with ''Dakshin Gangotri''. Later, in the same year, a small field station was set up in the hills, to allow direct communication over a high frequency satellite link between Indian mainland and the station. In 1985, instruments such as the Automatic Picture Transmission Receiver, and the Radio Metre Sonde were set up to calculate wind velocities and solar intensities to determine the feasibility of generation of

wind energy Wind power or wind energy is mostly the use of wind turbines to generate electricity. Wind power is a popular, sustainable, renewable energy source that has a much smaller impact on the environment than burning fossil fuels. Historically, ...

and solar energy. 2000

s were cancelled, while videos were taken on the station. An electrified garage to store snow vehicles and skidoos was constructed as well as a repair workshop for them was constructed along with three cottages made with pre-fabricated material, built by the

Defence Research and Development Organisation The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) ( IAST: ''Raksā Anūsandhān Evam Vikās Sangaṭhan'') is the premier agency under the Department of Defence Research and Development in Ministry of Defence of the Government of India ...

.The

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helped set up the communications system for wireless transmission to India. In 1984, The first Indian post office in Antarctica was established at Dakshin Gangotri and Meteorologist G. Sudhakar Rao was named as the first Indian postmaster in Antarctica in 1988.

Conversion to supply base and replacement

It was abandoned in 1988–1989 after it was submerged in ice. It was succeeded by the Maitri research station, which was set up in a moderate climatic zone at a distance of 90 km and made operational in 1990. Dakshin Gangotri was finally decommissioned on 25 February 1990 and subsequently turned into a supply base. In 1991, the eleventh Indian Scientific Expedition to Antarctica conducted geomagnetic observations simultaneously at Dakshin Gangotri and Maitri. In 2008, India set up its first permanent research base on the

Arctic Ocean The Arctic Ocean is the smallest and shallowest of the world's five major oceans. It spans an area of approximately and is known as the coldest of all the oceans. The International Hydrographic Organization (IHO) recognizes it as an ocean, ...

, Himadri. In 2012, a third research station, the Bharati was made operational, although only for testing. In 2014, the second Arctic research station, a moored obersvatory named

IndARC IndARC is India's first underwater moored observatory in the Arctic region. It was deployed in 2014 at Kongsfjorden fjord, Svalbard, Norway which is midway between Norway and North Pole. Its research goal is to study the Arctic climate and its inf ...

was commissioned.

References

External links

Antarctica
NATIONAL CENTRE FOR ANTARCTIC AND OCEAN RESEARCH (NCAOR)

REVIEW OF THE HISTORIC SITE AND MONUMENT HSM-44 (A PLAQUE ERECTED AT “DAKSHIN GANGOTRI” STATION
{{Authority control Outposts of Queen Maud Land Indian Antarctic Programme Research in India Princess Astrid Coast Historic Sites and Monuments of Antarctica 1984 establishments in Antarctica 1990 disestablishments in Antarctica

Description

Conversion to supply base and replacement

See also

References

External links