Yelcho Base is a
Chile
Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...
an
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 ...
research base. It is located on the shore of the
South Bay,
Doumer Island
Doumer Island is an island long and wide, surmounted by a snow-covered pyramidal peak, , lying between the south portions of Anvers Island and Wiencke Island in the Palmer Archipelago of Antarctica. It was first seen by the Belgian Antarctic E ...
.
The station was built in 1962 by the
Chilean Army
The Chilean Army () is the land arm of the Chilean Armed Forces. This 80,000-person army (9,200 of which are conscripts) is organized into six divisions, an army aviation brigade and a special operations brigade.
In recent years, and after sever ...
and was given to the
INACH in 1980. It was abandoned between 1998 and 2014, and was reopened in 2015.
After its last remodeling it went from being a small "sub-base", a scientific shelter of 50 m
2 built, to have a built area of , with its own laboratories and an increase in accommodation capacity, from its original 7 beds, until completing space for up to 28 people.
[Carlos González Isla. ''Inach reactiva investigación antártica en base Yelcho tras 17 años'', La Tercera, 11 de febrero de 2015, p. 43.]
Toponymy
It is named for the ''
Yelcho'' that was commanded by
Luis Pardo, who saved the
Shacketon's Expedition in 1916 from the
Elephant Island
Elephant Island is an ice-covered, mountainous island off the coast of Antarctica in the outer reaches of the South Shetland Islands, in the Southern Ocean. The island is situated north-northeast of the tip of the Antarctic Peninsula, west-so ...
.
History
The construction of the base was initiated by the
Chilean Navy
The Chilean Navy () is the naval warfare service branch of the Chilean Armed Forces. It is under the Ministry of National Defense (Chile), Ministry of National Defense. Its headquarters are at Edificio Armada de Chile, Valparaiso.
History
Ori ...
during the
16th Antarctic campaign of Chile, and was completed in the following season, on 18 February 1962.
See also
*
List of Antarctic research stations
*
List of Antarctic field camps
Many research stations in Antarctica support satellite field camps which are, in general, seasonal camps. The type of field camp can vary – some are permanent structures used during the annual Antarctic summer, whereas others are little more tha ...
References
External links
Official website Chilean Antarctic Institute
{{Antarctica
Chilean Antarctic Territory
1962 establishments in Antarctica
Doumer Island