Polish Polar Station, Hornsund
Encyclopedia
Polish Polar Station, Hornsund is at Isbjørnhamna in Hornsund
fjord, on Spitsbergen
island in the Norwegian
Svalbard
archipelago, operated since 1957.
Expedition within the framework of the International Geophysical Year. The expedition was led by Stanislaw Siedlecki, geologist, explorer and climber, a veteran of Polish Arctic expeditions in the 1930s (including the first traverse of West Spitsbergen island). A reconnaissance group searching the area for the future station site had been working in Hornsund in the previous summer, and selected the flat marine terrace in Isbjørnhamna. The research station was constructed during three summer months in 1957.
The station was modernized in 1978, in order to resume a year-round activity. Since then, the Institute of Geophysics, Polish Academy of Sciences has been responsible for organising year-round and seasonal research expeditions to the station.
, near the entrance to Hornsund
fjord, on its northern shore, at Isbjørnhamna on a flat marine terrace, 10 m above sea level.
In summers and winters, the station functions as a base for research on geology
, geodesics, geomorphology
, glaciology, oceanology and biology
.
Hornsund
Hornsund is a fjord on the western side of the southernmost tip of Spitsbergen island.The fjord's mouth faces west to the Greenland Sea, and is 12 km wide. The length is 30 kilometres, the mean depth is 90 metres, and the maximal depth is 260 metres...
fjord, on Spitsbergen
Spitsbergen
Spitsbergen is the largest and only permanently populated island of the Svalbard archipelago in Norway. Constituting the western-most bulk of the archipelago, it borders the Arctic Ocean, the Norwegian Sea and the Greenland Sea...
island in the Norwegian
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
Svalbard
Svalbard
Svalbard is an archipelago in the Arctic, constituting the northernmost part of Norway. It is located north of mainland Europe, midway between mainland Norway and the North Pole. The group of islands range from 74° to 81° north latitude , and from 10° to 35° east longitude. Spitsbergen is the...
archipelago, operated since 1957.
Station
The station was erected in July 1957 by the Polish Academy of SciencesPolish Academy of Sciences
The Polish Academy of Sciences, headquartered in Warsaw, is one of two Polish institutions having the nature of an academy of sciences.-History:...
Expedition within the framework of the International Geophysical Year. The expedition was led by Stanislaw Siedlecki, geologist, explorer and climber, a veteran of Polish Arctic expeditions in the 1930s (including the first traverse of West Spitsbergen island). A reconnaissance group searching the area for the future station site had been working in Hornsund in the previous summer, and selected the flat marine terrace in Isbjørnhamna. The research station was constructed during three summer months in 1957.
The station was modernized in 1978, in order to resume a year-round activity. Since then, the Institute of Geophysics, Polish Academy of Sciences has been responsible for organising year-round and seasonal research expeditions to the station.
Location
South SpitsbergenSpitsbergen
Spitsbergen is the largest and only permanently populated island of the Svalbard archipelago in Norway. Constituting the western-most bulk of the archipelago, it borders the Arctic Ocean, the Norwegian Sea and the Greenland Sea...
, near the entrance to Hornsund
Hornsund
Hornsund is a fjord on the western side of the southernmost tip of Spitsbergen island.The fjord's mouth faces west to the Greenland Sea, and is 12 km wide. The length is 30 kilometres, the mean depth is 90 metres, and the maximal depth is 260 metres...
fjord, on its northern shore, at Isbjørnhamna on a flat marine terrace, 10 m above sea level.
Research
Current full-year research:- MeteorologyMeteorologyMeteorology is the interdisciplinary scientific study of the atmosphere. Studies in the field stretch back millennia, though significant progress in meteorology did not occur until the 18th century. The 19th century saw breakthroughs occur after observing networks developed across several countries...
- gathering data for synoptic purposes and to detect climatic changes; - SeismologySeismologySeismology is the scientific study of earthquakes and the propagation of elastic waves through the Earth or through other planet-like bodies. The field also includes studies of earthquake effects, such as tsunamis as well as diverse seismic sources such as volcanic, tectonic, oceanic,...
- monitoring of world earthquakes, measuring the seismicity of the Spitsbergen Archipelago region, and registering tremors linked to the dynamics of the Hans Glacier; - Geomagnetism - registering changes in the XYZ components of the Earth's magnetic field;
- Ionospheric soundingIonospheric soundingIn telecommunication and radio science, an ionospheric sounding is a technique that provides real-time data on high-frequency ionospheric-dependent radio propagation, using a basic system consisting of a synchronized transmitter and receiver....
to determine the structure of the ionosphere; using riometer measurements to determine the structure and absorption coefficient of the ionosphere; - GlaciologyGlaciologyGlaciology Glaciology Glaciology (from Middle French dialect (Franco-Provençal): glace, "ice"; or Latin: glacies, "frost, ice"; and Greek: λόγος, logos, "speech" lit...
- measurements of glacier dynamics (Hansbreen, Werenskioldbreen), documentation of glacier recession; - Atmospheric electricityAtmospheric electricityAtmospheric electricity is the regular diurnal variations of the Earth's atmospheric electromagnetic network . The Earth's surface, the ionosphere, and the atmosphere is known as the global atmospheric electrical circuit...
- determining the magnitude of the Earth's electric field and recording its vertical component; - Environmental monitoringEnvironmental monitoringEnvironmental monitoring describes the processes and activities that need to take place to characterise and monitor the quality of the environment...
- recording of selected climatic features and conducting analyses of chemical buildup of air and water pollution and the isotopic content of the snow cover.
In summers and winters, the station functions as a base for research on geology
Geology
Geology is the science comprising the study of solid Earth, the rocks of which it is composed, and the processes by which it evolves. Geology gives insight into the history of the Earth, as it provides the primary evidence for plate tectonics, the evolutionary history of life, and past climates...
, geodesics, geomorphology
Geomorphology
Geomorphology is the scientific study of landforms and the processes that shape them...
, glaciology, oceanology and biology
Biology
Biology is a natural science concerned with the study of life and living organisms, including their structure, function, growth, origin, evolution, distribution, and taxonomy. Biology is a vast subject containing many subdivisions, topics, and disciplines...
.