Territory in Antarctica claimed by France
This article is about the French-claimed sector of Antarctica. For the French colonies in South America, see
France Antarctique
.
Adelie Land
(
French
:
Terre Adelie
[t??
adeli]
) or
Adelie Coast
[3]
is a
claimed territory
of
France
located on the continent of
Antarctica
. It stretches from a portion of the
Southern Ocean
coastline all the way inland to the
South Pole
. France has administered it as one of five districts of the
French Southern and Antarctic Lands
since 1955 and applied the
Antarctic Treaty System
rules since 1961. Article 4 of the Antarctic Treaty deals with territorial claims, and although it does not renounce or diminish any preexisting claims to sovereignty, it also does not prejudice the position of contracting parties in their recognition or non-recognition of territorial sovereignty. France has had a permanent station in Adelie Land since 9 April 1950.
Geography
[
edit
]
Adelie Land lies between
136° E
(near
Pourquoi Pas Point
at
66°12′S
136°11′E
/
66.200°S 136.183°E
/
-66.200; 136.183
) and
142° E
(near
Point Alden
at
66°48′S
142°02′E
/
66.800°S 142.033°E
/
-66.800; 142.033
), with a shore length of about 350 kilometres (220 mi) and with its inland part extending as a
sector of a circle
about 2,600 kilometres (1,600 mi) toward the
South Pole
. Adelie Land has borders with the
Australian Antarctic Territory
both on the east and on the west, namely on
Clarie Land
(part of
Wilkes Land
) in the west, and
George V Land
in the east. Additionally, it is the only territory claimed within
French Southern and Antarctic Lands
that is not an island.
[4]
Its total land area, mostly covered with
glaciers
,
[3]
is estimated to be 432,000 square kilometres (167,000 sq mi).
[5]
The coast of Adelie Land is known for its
katabatic winds
which push snow and sea ice away from the coast.
[3]
In a 1915
Science Magazine
volume, it was named the "stormiest spot on the face of earth".
[6]
History
[
edit
]
The coast of Adelie Land was discovered in January 1840 by the French explorer
Jules Dumont d'Urville
(1790?1842) who named it after his wife,
Adele
.
[7]
This is the basis of the French claim to this Antarctic land. The first French research station,
Port Martin
, was built in 1950. It was destroyed by a fire in 1952, and replaced by
Dumont d'Urville Station
in 1956. Charcot Station was a French inland base built which was occupied from 1957 to 1960.
Cap Prud'Homme Camp, an Italian-French base, opened in 1994. Prud'Homme and Dumont d'Urville are the only currently remaining active stations.
Research stations
[
edit
]
Port Martin and Base Marret (1950?52)
[
edit
]
The site of
Port Martin
was discovered during a
French Antarctic Expedition
under
Andre-Frank Liotard
on 18 January 1950.
[8]
Liotard, along with 11 men, established the station on 9 April 1950 at
66°49′04″S
141°23′39″E
/
66.81778°S 141.39417°E
/
-66.81778; 141.39417
.
[9]
Port Martin housed a winter population of 11 in 1950?51 and 17 in 1951?52.
[10]
A crew under Mario Marret built a temporary secondary base in January 1952: Base Marret on
Petrel Island
.
[8]
Port Martin was destroyed by a fire during the night of 23?24 January 1952. All of the inhabitants were safely evacuated, and they
overwintered
at Base Marret.
[8]
[11]
Only the ancillary buildings of Port Martin were not destroyed by the fire and they have remained mostly untouched since.
[8]
Dumont d'Urville Station (1956?present)
[
edit
]
The
Dumont d'Urville Station
is a year-round French research base located at
66°40′S
140°01′E
/
66.667°S 140.017°E
/
-66.667; 140.017
.
[11]
The station is 4,815 square metres (51,830 sq ft) large
[11]
and houses a summer population of 120 and a winter population of around 30.
[5]
It was built on 12 January 1956 for the
International Geophysical Year
of 1957?58.
[11]
Initially intended to be a temporary station, it was expanded and continually occupied.
[11]
Like Base Marret, the station is located on Petrel Island, which is 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) from the mainland.
[11]
The station's research includes
ecology
,
marine biology
,
glaciology
,
meteorology
and more.
[11]
In the documentary,
March of the Penguins
(2005), Dumont d'Urville Station was the main filming location.
[12]
Charcot Station (1957?60)
[
edit
]
Antarctic research station
Charcot Station
[
fr
]
was a French inland base located on the
Antarctic ice sheet
at 320 kilometres (200 mi) from the coast and from Dumont d'Urville Station, at an
elevation
of about 2,400 metres (7,900 ft). The station, built for the
International Geophysical Year
of 1957?58, paid homage to
Jean-Baptiste Charcot
), and was occupied from January 1957 through 1960 housing alone
[
clarification needed
]
three men.
The base was composed of a main body of 24
square metres
(the "barrack") which consisted of semicylindrical sections of sheet metal assembled end to end. This form was planned to best withstand the snow pressure accumulated on it. Horizontal galleries were connected to house scientific measurement devices, while a vertical air conduit opened a few metres above the snow level provided ventilation.
Robert Guillard Station (1994?present)
[
edit
]
Robert Guillard Station
[14]
known as Cap Prud'Homme (
66°41′28″S
139°53′44″E
/
66.691104°S 139.895677°E
/
-66.691104; 139.895677
) is an Italian-French camp, opened in 1994, located on the coast of the
Antarctic ice sheet
, in Adelie Land, about five km (3.1 mi) from
Petrel Island
, where the French Dumont d'Urville Station is. All the supplies and equipment for the Italian-French
Concordia Station
are transported by a combined convoy of up to 7
Caterpillar
tractors from Cap Prud'Homme, with
Kassbohrer
trailblazers and a team of up to 9 people; each convoy transports an average of 150 tons of payload.
[15]
Wildlife
[
edit
]
Part of the
Pointe Geologie Archipelago
in Adelie Land is protected by the
Antarctic Specially Protected Area
120.
[11]
In 2016, a study predicted that an Adelie penguin colony located in Cape Dennison in Commonwealth Bay might be subject to extinction. In 2010, a fallen glacier blocked the flow of a river and caused sea ice to overflow to the rocky surface that
Adelie penguin
requires to nest.
[16]
Before 2017, an estimated 18,000 pairs of
Adelie penguin
resided in the Adelie Land. However, in 2017, an insurgence of sea ice forced the penguins to travel further to reach the sea. Due to this, nearly all of the newborn penguins had died of starvation and exhaustion.
[17]
The Dumont d'Urville Station is in proximity to Adelie penguins,
emperor penguins
, and seals.
[11]
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
"Official nomination"
. Archived from
the original
on 2 November 2018
. Retrieved
28 November
2015
.
- ^
List of chefs de district
- ^
a
b
c
"Adelie Coast"
.
Encyclopedia Britannica
. Retrieved
25 March
2023
.
- ^
"French Southern and Antarctic Lands"
,
The World Factbook
, Central Intelligence Agency, 17 March 2023
, retrieved
28 March
2023
- ^
a
b
"La station Dumont d'Urville"
.
Institut Polaire
(in French)
. Retrieved
26 March
2023
.
- ^
Greely, A. W. (12 March 1915).
"The Meterology of Adelie Land"
.
Science
.
41
.
ISSN
0036-8075
– via Internet Archive.
- ^
Dunmore, John (2007).
From Venus to Antarctica: The Life of Dumont D'Urville
. Auckland: Exisle Publ. p. 209.
ISBN
9780908988716
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
"Port Martin, Terre Adelie"
(PDF)
.
Management Plan for Antarctic Specially Protected Area No. 166: Measure 1, Annex G
. Antarctic Treaty Secretariat. 2006
. Retrieved
30 January
2013
.
- ^
"Port Martin, Terre Adelie"
(PDF)
.
Management Plan for Antarctic Specially Protected Area No. 166: Measure 1, Annex G
. Antarctic Treaty Secretariat. 2006
. Retrieved
30 January
2013
.
- ^
"Fire destroys station in Antarctica, French expedition's loss".
The Times
. 26 January 1952.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
f
g
h
i
Antarctic Station Catalogue
(PDF)
(catalogue).
Council of Managers of National Antarctic Programs
. August 2017. p. 75.
ISBN
978-0-473-40409-3
.
Archived
(PDF)
from the original on 22 October 2022
. Retrieved
16 January
2023
.
- ^
"The Emperor's Close-Up"
.
National Geographic's Adventure
. National Geographic Society. 2007. Archived from
the original
on 5 June 2013
. Retrieved
29 May
2013
.
- ^
"Charcot /Fr./"
.
SCAR Composite Gazetteer of Antarctica
. Australian Antarctic Data Centre
. Retrieved
9 March
2024
.
- ^
"Stazione Robert Guillard"
.
PNRA
. Retrieved
7 April
2023
.
- ^
"Cap Prud'Homme"
.
Italiantartide
. Archived from
the original
on 29 May 2019
. Retrieved
7 October
2018
.
- ^
Collins, Richard (29 February 2016).
"The Adelie penguins of Antarctica in great danger"
.
Irish Examiner
. Retrieved
24 March
2023
.
- ^
Ganguly, Manisha (13 October 2017).
"Penguin catastrophe leaves thousands of chicks dead with only two survivors"
.
CNN
. Retrieved
24 March
2023
.
75°00′S
139°00′E
/
75.000°S 139.000°E
/
-75.000; 139.000
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