Vanda Station
{{Use New Zealand English|date=March 2024}}
{{Infobox settlement
| name = Vanda Station
| settlement_type = Antarctic research station
| image_skyline = Vanda Station 1975 01.jpg
| image_caption = The station in November 1975
| pushpin_map = Antarctica
| pushpin_map_caption = Location in Antarctica
| pushpin_relief = y
| coordinates = {{Polecoord|-77.5167|161.6667|type=station|title=y}}
| subdivision_type = Region
| subdivision_name = Victoria Land
| subdivision_type1 = Location
| subdivision_name1 = Near Lake Vanda
| established_title = Established
| established_date = {{start date|1969|1|9|df=y}}
| extinct_title = Closed
| extinct_date = {{end date|1995|df=y}}
| government_type = Administration
| governing_body = DSIR, New Zealand
| elevation_footnotes =
| elevation_m =
| population_footnotes =
| population_as_of =
| population_blank1_title = Summer
| population_blank1 = 8
| population_blank2_title = Winter
| population_blank2 = 5
| timezone1 = NZST
| utc_offset1 = +12
| timezone1_DST = NZDST
| utc_offset1_DST = +13
| blank_name_sec1 = Active times
| blank_info_sec1 = All year-round until 1974, every summer from 1976
| blank1_name_sec1 = Activities
| blank1_info_sec1 =
| blank2_name_sec1 = Facilities
| blank2_info_sec1 =
}}
Vanda Station was an Antarctic research base in the western highlands (Victoria Land) of the Ross Dependency, specifically on the shore of Lake Vanda, at the mouth of Onyx River, in the Wright Valley. It operated from 1969 to 1995, and was west of New Zealand's Scott Base on Ross Island which remains in operation.
History
File:Vanda Station 1975 03.jpg
The four original station buildings were constructed in the austral summers of 1967–1968 and 1968–1969, just prior to the first winter-over by a five-man team from January to October 19, 1969.Harrowfield, 2006 Subsequent wintering parties occupied the station in 1970 and 1974. During summer seasons, Vanda station was fully staffed until 1991. Scientific programs principally included meteorology, hydrology, seismology, earth currents, and magnetics. The station was administered by the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research (DSIR), and was supported logistically by the permanent New Zealand research base of Scott Base on Ross Island.
Vanda Station was well known for The Royal Lake Vanda Swim Club.{{cite book |author=Parfit, Michael |title=South light: a journey to Antarctica |publisher=Bloomsbury |location=London |year=1988 |pages=206–210 |isbn=0-7475-0134-3 }} Visitors to Lake Vanda Station could dip into the high salinity waters when the icecap edge melted out during summer to form a "moat", and receive a Royal Lake Vanda Swim Club shoulder patch. Vanda staff would assist the melt by hacking out a "pool". Many dignitaries and politicians were inducted into the club, The dip had to be naked (Rule 1), complete immersion (Rule 4), witnessed by a "Vandal" (Vanda Station staffer) and with no restrictions on photography (Rule 6) to qualify.[https://vault.si.com/vault/1984/02/27/you-get-to-keep-your-socks-on-when-you-go-skinny-dipping-in-antarctica You Get To Keep Your Socks On When You Go Skinny Dipping In Antarctica] Sports Illustrated, Michael Parfit. Retrieved on 2020-07-11. Rule 10 allowed a natural figleaf, but it had to be natural and also naturally green without artificial aid.
In 1995, environment concerns resulted in the base being closed. Various activities associated with the base's occupation, including excavations, the erection of buildings, disturbances caused by vehicle movements, the storage of consumables, waste disposal, and accidental spills, led to the effort to remove the station. Since removal, analysis of the lake water and algae was performed for a number of years to ensure the lake was not contaminated by greywater and other wastes.
There is now a street named after this base in Queenstown, New Zealand, called Vanda Place, and it is located just a few hundred metres from Scott Place.
Today, an automatic weather station is at the site of former Vanda Station, and Lake Vanda Hut, a shelter that is periodically (summer only) occupied by 2 to 8 New Zealand stream researchers.{{cite web|url=http://www.mcmlter.org/data/streams/Stream_Team_Field_Manual_2005.pdf |title=Stream Team Field Manual |publisher=Mcmlter.org |access-date=2013-11-27}}
Climate
{{Weather box
|location = Vanda Station
|metric first = yes
|single line = yes
| Jan record high C= 15.0
| Feb record high C = 4.4
| Mar record high C =
| Apr record high C =
| May record high C =
| Jun record high C =
| Jul record high C =
| Aug record high C =
| Sep record high C = 2.6
| Oct record high C = 0.7
| Nov record high C = 9.5
| Dec record high C = 14.3
|Jan high C = 4.7
|Feb high C = -2.1
|Mar high C = -15.6
|Apr high C = -25.4
|May high C = -23.5
|Jun high C = -25.1
|Jul high C = -33.4
|Aug high C = -26.5
|Sep high C = -25.7
|Oct high C = -10.0
|Nov high C = -1.6
|Dec high C = 3.6
|Jan mean C = 1.4
|Feb mean C = -5.9
|Mar mean C = -20.4
|Apr mean C = -29.7
|May mean C = -29.2
|Jun mean C = -30.0
|Jul mean C = -38.0
|Aug mean C = -32.3
|Sep mean C = -31.2
|Oct mean C = -15.7
|Nov mean C = -6.2
|Dec mean C = 0.2
|Jan low C = -2
|Feb low C = -9.7
|Mar low C = -25.1
|Apr low C = -34.0
|May low C = -34.8
|Jun low C = -34.8
|Jul low C = -42.6
|Aug low C = -38.1
|Sep low C = -36.7
|Oct low C = -21.4
|Nov low C = -10.9
|Dec low C = -3.1
|Jan snow days = 3.8
|Feb snow days = 3.0
|Mar snow days = 7.0
|Apr snow days = 2.0
|May snow days = 5.0
|Jun snow days = 6.0
|Jul snow days = 2.0
|Aug snow days = 5.0
|Sep snow days = 2.0
|Oct snow days = 0.7
|Nov snow days = 1.9
|Dec snow days = 3.5
|source 1 = {{cite web
|url=http://www.weatherbase.com/weather/weather.php3?s=596555&cityname=Lake-Bull--United-States-of-America
|title=LAKE BULL, ANTARCTICA
|access-date=November 16, 2015
|publisher= CantyMedia }}
|date=May 2016
}}
See also
References
{{Reflist|30em}}
Bibliography
{{Commons category}}
- Vanda Station: History of an Antarctic Outpost by David L. Harrowfield (Christchurch 1999 & 2006, New Zealand Antarctic Society Inc, 52 pp.) {{ISBN|0-473-06467-7}}
{{Portal bar|Earth sciences|Geography|New Zealand}}
{{Antarctic research stations}}
{{Antarctica}}
Category:Outposts of Antarctica
Category:New Zealand and the Antarctic
Category:Outposts of the Ross Dependency
Category:1969 establishments in Antarctica
Category:1991 disestablishments in Antarctica