South Pole Traverse

The South Pole Traverse ( English, " South Pole traverse "), even McMurdo - South Pole Highway ( " McMurdo - South Pole highway " ), is a 1,500 -kilometer road in Antarctica which and the American stations McMurdo on the coast the Amundsen -Scott South Pole Station at the South Pole connects. It was built from eingeebnetem snow and filled crevasses. The road is of course not fixed, however, marked with flags. Today tracked vehicles can go to the South Pole, which takes about ten days to complete.

Construction began in early 2002., He was Finished in austral summer 2006/07.

The McMurdo Ice Shelf and the Polar Plateau, through which the road passes, are relatively stable. Most crevasses break in the short, steep stretch where the road rises to over 2000 meters above sea level; this leg must be maintained in each season. Because here collide two different ice shelves, clearly more work needed to be invested in the project as planned.

The project was funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation to make the supply of South Pole Station cheaper and possibly more reliable. Bad weather at McMurdo Sound has in some summers reduces the number of supply flights, which could take the NSF to heranzuschaffen building materials and scientific equipment.

The road also improves the use of heavy equipment that is required to realize the proposed South Pole Connectivity Program, a proposed fiber optic link between the south pole and the French- Italian station Dome Concordia on the edge of the Antarctic plateau, the 24- hour access to geostationary satellites. These satellites can not be used at the poles, as they are located below the horizon; currently used at the South Pole other satellites that are located at the end of their life span. Alternatively, one could also decide to create new satellites the NSF.

On 7 February 2006, the NSF announced in a press release that 110 tons of cargo were delivered as proof of success on the highway to the South Pole station.

Between the main Russian Mirny Station and 1400 km deep located inland Vostok Station, a similar tractor transport is performed once a year, but on an untrodden snow slopes.