McMurdo Scientific Station

the principal base of the US antarctic expedition. Located in Victoria Land (western Antarctica) on the southern tip of Ross Island (77°51′ S lat., 166°37′ E long.), which is connected to the continent by an ice shelf. The station has been in existence since 1956. At the base, systematic meteorological and geophysical observations are performed. It is the largest populated point in Antarctica. In the winter there are 200-250 people at the base, and in the summer the population increases to 3,000-4,000. The community has living quarters, scientific laboratories, a radio station, and two electric power stations (one atomic). Near the community are runways (on the ice shelf and the floe ice) and places for expeditionary ships to dock and unload. McMurdo is the supply base for the US antarctic stations in the interior of the continent and a center for field scientific investigations during the summer in Marie Byrd Land, Victoria Land, and the central regions of Antarctica.