McMurdo Sound

The McMurdo Sound (English: McMurdo Sound) is a bay, the coast approximately 450 km along the Antarctic Victoria Land extends. The bay lies between the Ross Island in the south and the Coulman Island in the north. In the former is the largest research station of Antarctica, the U.S. McMurdo Station.

History of Research

The McMurdo Sound was discovered on February 17, 1841 by the Briton James Clark Ross. According to him, an island is named in the south of the " Sunde ". Just one year later the bay was named after the British Lieutenant Archibald McMurdo (1812-1875), who was on the polar expedition as an officer on board HMS Terror. Simultaneously, a volcano on Ross Island after the second expedition ship has been named Mount Terror.

The McMurdo Sound came not forgotten in the coming years. Since he is one of the few coastal areas of Antarctica that are seasonally ice-free, started many famous polar expeditions on the Sound. Robert Falcon Scott explored the Sound on his polar expedition in 1903, as well as Ernest Shackleton 1908.

1955 was built by the U.S. on the Ross Island McMurdo Station. With more than 200 researchers winter occupation, it is the largest of the Antarctic. New Zealand has also established a research station on the island, the Scott Base. Both stations are just a kilometer away from each other at the southern tip of the island, Cape Armitage.

Icebergs

The McMurdo Sound is one of the few coastal areas of Antarctica that are ice free at certain times of the year. In recent years, it has been reported in the international media over the Sound, as up to 200 km long icebergs blocked the marine section. In December 2000, broke the 11,600 km ² large iceberg B-15 from the Ross Ice Shelf. from. This is still the largest ever recorded iceberg. As more and more often form such icebergs in recent years, researchers see this as a sign of global warming.

Because of the many icebergs and related ice-free as well as many penguin colonies of Sund is interesting not only for research but also for nature filmmakers and photographers. Even a small tourism business has evolved in recent years.