Ellsworth Station

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title: "Ellsworth Station" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["populated-places-established-in-1957", "outposts-of-edith-ronne-land", "united-states-antarctic-program", "1957-establishments-in-antarctica", "1962-disestablishments-in-antarctica"] topic_path: "geography/united-states" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ellsworth_Station" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::data[format=table title="Infobox settlement"]

Field	Value
name	Ellsworth Station
native_name	Estación científica Ellsworth
native_name_lang	es
other_name	Base Ellsworth (until 1959)
settlement_type	Antarctic research station
image_skyline	UC-1 Otter of VXE-6 in flight near Ellsworth Station, Antarctica in 1958.jpg
image_alt	UC-1 Otter of VXE-6 in flight near Ellsworth Station, Antarctica in 1958
image_caption	A U.S. Navy de Havilland Canada UC-1 Otter of Antarctic Development Squadron 6 (VXE-6) in flight over a large open crevasse near the station in 1958
blank_emblem_alt	Official Ellsworth Station emblem
pushpin_map	Antarctica
pushpin_map_caption	Last location in Antarctica
pushpin_relief	y
coordinates
coordinates_footnotes
subdivision_type	Region
subdivision_name	Filchner–Ronne Ice Shelf
subdivision_type1	Location
subdivision_name1	Near Gould Bay
established_title	Established
established_date
established_title1	Transferred
established_date1
extinct_title	Removed
extinct_date
named_for	Lincoln Ellsworth
government_type	Administration
governing_body	Instituto Antártico Argentino
elevation_m	42
population_blank1_title	Summer
population_blank1	40
population_blank2_title	Winter
population_blank2	40
timezone1	ART
utc_offset1	-3
blank_name_sec1	Active times
blank_info_sec1	All year-round
blank1_name_sec1	Activities
blank1_info_sec1
blank2_name_sec1	Facilities
blank2_info_sec1
::

Ellsworth Scientific Station (, or simply Estación Ellsworth or Base Ellsworth) was a permanent, all year-round originally American, then Argentine Antarctic scientific research station named after American polar explorer Lincoln Ellsworth. It was located on Gould Bay, on the Filchner Ice Shelf.

It was shut down in 1962 over safety concerns due to it being built on increasingly unstable ice, which produced fast deterioration of its superstructures and endangered both personnel and equipment.

History

Ellsworth Station was built by United States Navy Seabees under the command of Captain Finn Ronne, with the support of the icebreakers USS Staten Island and USS Wyandot, captained by Francis Gambacorta. The originally planned site for the station was Cape Adams, but when the terrain proved impractical due to huge ice cliffs, an alternate location on Gould Bay was selected, on the western coast of the Weddell Sea over the Filchner Ice Shelf, and close to the Argentinean Belgrano I Base.

Part of the scheduled agenda for the International Geophysical Year, Ellsworth Station was commissioned on 11 February 1957 and less than two years later, on 17 January 1959, was handed over to the Argentinean Antarctic Institute. Along with the handover, the United States government gave all the buildings, facilities, and existing food supplies while Argentina provided the logistical and administrative services necessary for the continued operation of the station. It was agreed that scientists of both countries would work together at the place in technical studies and scientific research.

Ellsworth Station was one of seven bases that the United States built for the IGY, which also included McMurdo, Hallett (with New Zealand), Wilkes, Admundsen-Scott (South Pole Station), Byrd, and Little America.

On 31 December 1959, the Argentinean icebreaker ARA General San Martín was heading to Ellsworth Station to exchange personnel deliver and consumables when it received a SOS signal from the Norwegian–South African exploration ship Polarbjorn, which had gotten stuck in ice. The Argentineans managed to set the ship free so it could follow with its planned route along the coastline, However, the General San Martín was later unable to reach its own primary goal—located on the deepest recess of the Weddell Sea—due to unusually thick pack ice on the target area.

On 6 January 1962, Frigate Captain Hermes Quijada of the Argentine Naval Aviation, leading a two-plane flight of Douglas C-47s, made a stopover at Ellsworth Base before continuing to the South Pole. He became the pilot of the first airplane that had taken off from the Americas, and then landed at the South Pole.

Feasibility of the station came into question when structural problems caused by the unstable ice had the base half-sunken during most of the spring. it was eventually covered by snow and ice. The Filchner Shelf sector where it was located as split off a giant iceberg, and then it drifted through the Southern Ocean, where the base's remains have been lost at sea.

Description

The original facilities at Ellsworth Station could house over 40 people.

Scientific activities

During its operational days a number of experiments and observations were carried out at Ellsworth, involving ionospheric riometry observations; biology; human physiology; and surface and high-atmosphere meteorology, including radiation and carbon dioxide measurements.

There was also active research involving glaciology at the Filchner Ice Shelf, which was explored by several expeditions launched from the station. Some of these patrols reached the West Crevice on the huge barrier, completing the Ellsworth–Belgrano triangulation.

Climate

The area is a passage of weather fronts directed towards the north: although they do not precipitate, they do produce strong winds exceeding 200 km/h which radically lower the apparent temperature.

|location = Ellsworth Station |single line = Yes |metric first = Yes |Jan high F = 22 |Feb high F = 9 |Mar high F = -3 |Apr high F = -10 |May high F = -11 |Jun high F = -19 |Jul high F = -21 |Aug high F =-21 |Sep high F = -16 |Oct high F = -2 |Nov high F =11 |Dec high F = 22 |year high F = -2 |Jan low F = 12 |Feb low F = -2 |Mar low F = -16 |Apr low F = -25 |May low F = -26 |Jun low F = -32 |Jul low F = -35 |Aug low F = -35 |Sep low F = -30 |Oct low F = -15 |Nov low F = -1 |Dec low F = 13 |year low F = -15 |Jan precipitation inch = 0.3 |Feb precipitation inch = 0.2 |Mar precipitation inch = 0.3 |Apr precipitation inch = 0.6 |May precipitation inch = 0.2 |Jun precipitation inch = 0.2 |Jul precipitation inch = 0.2 |Aug precipitation inch = 0.2 |Sep precipitation inch = 0.3 |Oct precipitation inch = 0.4 |Nov precipitation inch = 0.5 |Dec precipitation inch = 0.2 |year precipitation inch = 3.4 |source 1 = Weatherbase |url =http://www.weatherbase.com/weather/weather.php3?s=126098&refer=wikipedia |title =Weatherbase: Historical Weather for Ellsworth, Antarctica |publisher=Weatherbase |year=2011 |access-date=24 November 2011}}

References

;Notes

;Citations

;Articles

;Books

References

"Ellsworth /Arg./". Australian Antarctic Data Centre.
"Campaña Antártica 1962–1963". Sitio no oficial del rompehielos A.R.A. Almirante Irízar.
"Antarctica Detail".
"Base Ellsworth". Fundaciòn Marambio.
(2022-07-01). "Celebrating the 65th anniversary of the International Geophysical Year {{!}} NSF - National Science Foundation".
"Primer Vuelo Argentino al Polo Sur". Fundaciòn Marambio.
"Campaña Antártica 1972–1973". Sitio no oficial del rompehielos A.R.A. Almirante Irízar.
"Base Belgrano II". Fundaciòn Marambio.

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