Pole of Inaccessibility research station

This article is about the former Soviet research station. For the geographic features, see Pole of inaccessibility.

Pole of Inaccessibility
Полюс недоступности
Antarctic research station
The station buried under snow showing the bust of Lenin in January 2007
The station buried under snow showing the bust of Lenin in January 2007
Pole of Inaccessibility is located in Antarctica
Pole of Inaccessibility
Pole of Inaccessibility
Location in Antarctica
Coordinates: 82°06′42″S 55°01′57″E / 82.1117°S 55.0325°E / -82.1117; 55.0325[1]
RegionKemp Land
Established14 December 1958 (1958-12-14)
Closed26 December 1958 (1958-12-26)
Named forSouthern pole of inaccessibility
Government
 • TypeAdministration
 • BodySAE, Soviet Union
Elevation
3,800 m (12,500 ft)
Active timesOne summer

The Pole of Inaccessibility research station (Russian: Полюс недоступности) is a defunct Soviet research station in Kemp Land, Antarctica, at the southern pole of inaccessibility (the point in Antarctica furthest from any ocean) as defined in 1958 when the station was established. Later definitions give other locations, all relatively near this point. It performed meteorological observations from 14 to 26 December 1958. The Pole of Inaccessibility has the world's coldest year-round average temperature of −58.2 °C (−72.8 °F).[2]

It is 878 km (546 mi) from the South Pole, and approximately 600 km (370 mi) from Sovetskaya. The surface elevation is 3,724 meters (12,218 feet). It was reached on 14 December 1958 by an 18-man traversing party of the 3rd Soviet Antarctic Expedition.[3] Its WMO ID is 89550.[4]

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference ats was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Crowder, Bob; Robertson, Ted; Vallier-Talbot, Eleanor; Whitaker, Richard. Weather (Revised and updated ed.). William J. Burroughs. p. 59.
  3. ^ Nudel'man, A. V. (1959). Soviet Antarctic Expeditions 1955-1959. Moscow: Izdatel'stvo Akademii Nauk SSSR.
  4. ^ "Catalogue of Russian Federation Antarctic Meteorology Data". Laboratory of Ocean and Climate Antarctic Studies, Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute. Archived from the original on October 29, 2013. Retrieved January 29, 2013.