An iceport is a more-or-less permanent indentation in the front of an

ice shelf An ice shelf is a large platform of glacial ice floating on the ocean, fed by one or multiple tributary glaciers. Ice shelves form along coastlines where the ice thickness is insufficient to displace the more dense surrounding ocean water. T ...

, that can serve as a natural ice

harbour A harbor (American English), or harbour (Commonwealth English; see American and British English spelling differences#-our, -or, spelling differences), is a sheltered body of water where ships, boats, and barges can be Mooring, moored. The t ...

. Though useful, they are not always reliable, as calving of surrounding ice shelves can render an iceport temporarily unstable and unusable.

Historical and present use of iceports

Iceports have played a critical role in Antarctic exploration. For example, the

Bay of Whales The Bay of Whales was a natural ice harbour, or iceport, indenting the front of the Ross Ice Shelf just north of Roosevelt Island, Antarctica, at the southernmost point of the world's ocean. While the Ross Sea stretches considerably further s ...

(discovered and named by

Ernest Shackleton Sir Ernest Henry Shackleton (15 February 1874 – 5 January 1922) was an Anglo-Irish Antarctic explorer who led three British expeditions to the Antarctic. He was one of the principal figures of the period known as the Heroic Age of Antarcti ...

in the ''

Nimrod Nimrod is a Hebrew Bible, biblical figure mentioned in the Book of Genesis and Books of Chronicles, the Books of Chronicles. The son of Cush (Bible), Cush and therefore the great-grandson of Noah, Nimrod was described as a king in the land of Sh ...

'' in 1908) served as the base for several important

Antarctic expeditions 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 ...

, including: * 1910-1912:

Amundsen's South Pole expedition The first ever expedition to reach the Geographic South Pole was led by the Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen. He and four other crew members made it to the geographical south pole on 14 December 1911, which would prove to be five weeks ahea ...

, led by

Roald Amundsen Roald Engelbregt Gravning Amundsen (, ; ; 16 July 1872 – ) was a Norwegians, Norwegian explorer of polar regions. He was a key figure of the period known as the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration. Born in Borge, Østfold, Norway, Am ...

* 1928-1930:

Richard Evelyn Byrd Richard Evelyn Byrd Jr. (October 25, 1888 – March 11, 1957) was an American naval officer, and pioneering aviator, polar explorer, and organizer of polar logistics. Aircraft flights in which he served as a navigator and expedition leader cr ...

- First expedition * 1933-1935:

- Second expedition * 1939-1941:

United States Antarctic Service Expedition The United States Antarctic Service Expedition (1939–1941), often referred to as Byrd's Third Antarctic Expedition, was an expedition jointly sponsored by the United States Navy, United States Department of State, State Department, United St ...

, led by

Norsel Iceport was used by the Norwegian-British-Swedish Antarctic Expedition (NBSAE) to moor and unload the expedition ship in 1949. The NBSAE established Maudheim Station about 1 mile south of the iceport. The term ''iceport'' was first suggested by the

Advisory Committee on Antarctic Names The Advisory Committee on Antarctic Names (ACAN or US-ACAN) is an advisory committee of the United States Board on Geographic Names responsible for recommending commemorative names for features in Antarctica. History The committee was established ...

(US-ACAN) in 1956 to denote "ice shelf embayments, subject to configuration changes, which may offer anchorage or possible access to the upper surface of an ice shelf via ice ramps along one or more sides of the feature". Prior to the invention of the

ice pier An ice pier or ice wharf is a man-made structure used to assist the unloading of ships in Antarctica. It is constructed by pumping seawater into a contained area and allowing the water to freeze. By repeating this procedure several times, additio ...

, U.S. ships participating in

Operation Deep Freeze Operation Deep Freeze is the code name for a series of United States missions to Antarctica, beginning with "Operation Deep Freeze I" in 1955–56, followed by "Operation Deep Freeze II", "Operation Deep Freeze III", and so on. (There was an init ...

discharged cargo at temporary iceports in

McMurdo Sound The McMurdo Sound is a sound in Antarctica, known as the southernmost passable body of water in the world, located approximately from the South Pole. Captain James Clark Ross discovered the sound in February 1841 and named it after Lieutenant ...

. At that time, freighters and tankers arriving with supplies and fuel were forced to dock as far away as 16 km from the harbor. Ships would moor alongside seasonal

pack ice Pack or packs may refer to: Music * Packs (band), a Canadian indie rock band * ''Packs'' (album), by Your Old Droog * ''Packs'', a Berner album Places * Pack, Styria, defunct Austrian municipality * Pack, Missouri, United States (US) * ...

, where longshoremen would offload cargo onto large sleds.

Snowcat A snowcat (a portmanteau of snow and caterpillar) is an enclosed-cab, truck-sized, fully tracked vehicle designed to travel over snow. Major manufacturers are PistenBully (Germany), Prinoth (Italy), and Tucker (United States). Snow groomer ...

s and

tractor A tractor is an engineering vehicle specifically designed to deliver a high tractive effort (or torque) at slow speeds, for the purposes of hauling a Trailer (vehicle), trailer or machinery such as that used in agriculture, mining or constructio ...

s would then be used to tow the freight over ice to McMurdo Station, a difficult and potentially dangerous operation.

U.S. Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest displacement, at 4.5 million tons in 2021. It has the world's largest aircraft ...

engineers constructed the first floating ice pier at

McMurdo Station McMurdo Station is an American Antarctic research station on the southern tip of Ross Island. It is operated by the United States through the United States Antarctic Program (USAP), a branch of the National Science Foundation. The station is ...

, Antarctica’s southernmost

sea port 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 Hamburg, Manche ...

, in 1973."Unique ice pier provides harbor for ships,"
Antarctic Sun. January 8, 2006; McMurdo Station, Antarctica. Since that time, the use of iceports has declined but not been completely eliminated.

Locations of Antarctic iceports

Iceports 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 (also known as the Antarctic Ocean), it contains the geographic South Pole. ...

include: * Atka Iceport () * Erskine Iceport () * Godel Iceport () * Norsel Iceport () *

()

References

External links

{{Antarctica topics Ports and harbors of Antarctica

Historical and present use of iceports

Locations of Antarctic iceports

See also

References

External links