Dome A

Dome A or Dome Argus (80°22′S 77°21′E) is an Antarctican plateau located 1200 kilometres inland. It is thought to be one of the coldest naturally occurring places on Earth, with temperatures believed to reach -90 °C. It is the highest ice feature in Antarctica, comprising a dome or eminence of 4,093 m elevation, located near the center of East Antarctica and approximately midway between the head of Lambert Glacier and the South Pole.

The name "Dome Argus" was given by the Scott Polar Research Institute from Greek mythology; Argus built the ship in which Jason and the Argonauts traveled.

Exploration

Details of the morphology of this feature were determined by the SPRI-NSF-TUD airborne radio echo sounding program between 1967 and 1979.

In January 2005 a team from the Chinese National Antarctic Research Expeditions (CHINARE) traversed 1228 km from Zhongshan Station to Dome A and located the highest point of the ice sheet (4093 m above sea level) by GPS survey at 80°22’S 77°21’E on Jan 18. This point is near one end of an elongate ridge (about 60 km long and 10 km wide) which is a major ice divide and has an elevation difference along its length of only a few metres. An automatic weather station (AWS) was deployed at Dome A, and a second station was installed approximately half way between the summit and the coast at a site called Eagle (76°25'S, 77°01'E, 2830 m above sea level). These AWS are operated as part of an ongoing collaboration between China and Australia which also includes a third AWS (LGB69) at 70°50'S, 77°04'E, 1854 m above sea level which has operated since January 2002.

The coldest air temperature recorded at Dome A during 2005 was -82.5°C. The lowest air temperature (-89.2°C) at the surface of the earth was recorded in July 1983 at Vostok, which is almost 600 m lower in elevation than Dome A.

China was planning to build an astronomical observatory at Dome A in 2007. A Chinese expedition from the 24th scientific expedition team is likely to reach Dome A on January 11, 2008, after setting of from Changcheng Station.

See also

• Pole of Cold
• Pole of Inaccessibility
• Dome C (also known as Dome Circe or Dome Charlie)
• Dome F (also known as Dome Fuji)

External links

• China to build Third Station in Antarctica (China Daily, Oct 14 2004)
• Antarctic Team Halfway to Peak (Xinhua, Dec 27 2004)
• Chinese Polar Exlporers Climb North Peak of Dome A (People's Daily, Jan 11 2005)
• Chinese Expedition Reaches Antarctic Icecap Peak (People's Daily, Jan 18 2005)
• Photo Gallery (People's Daily, Jan 19 2005)
• Chinese Engineer Receives Medical Treatment After Falling Ill During Antarctic Traverse (US National Science Foundation, Jan 19 2005)
• Expedition Photographs (People's Daily, Jan 21 2005)
• An account of the Dome A expedition (Beijing Review, May 2005)

References

• Li Yuansheng, Polar Research Institute of China (2005). Introduction to Chinese Dome A Inland Traverse. Proceedings of the Conference on Wide Field Survey Telescope at DOME C/A, June 3-5 2005, Beijing