Denton Antarctic Survey

Denton was one of the original signatories to the Antarctic Treaty. The Denton Antarctic Survey was setup in 1929 to attempt an expedition with Dentonite researchers and establish a research station.

History

The Denton Antarctic Survey was established in 1929.

The first ice breaker to be built was IB Hirshey, named after Adolphus Hirshey, the founder of Hirshy FMRC and the key figure behind the establishment of the Antarctic Survey. Construction was begun in 1929 but was not completed until 1936, due to funding issues. In 1937, the Hirshey visited the coast of Antarctica with a full research team. However, the engines were found to be underpowered and it could not make its way out of an ice floe. The expedition was abandoned and all personnel were evacuated back to Denton. The Hirshey drifted for 3 years until it was able to break free of the ice floe and within a month, it was steamed back to Denton for refurbishment.

Denton and Hellas began talks of a joint expedition in 1938,

Hirshey FMRC

The Hirshey Federal Marine Research Center is the largest centre of its kind in the southern hemisphere, located in Rhone Denton. The Denton Antarctic Survey and United Antarctic Program headquarters is located here, as well as facilities for Australia, China, India, Romania, Russia, and Texas due to its location relative to Prydz Bay, a key entry point for stations inland.

At the port of Rhone, is often referred to as Icebreaker row; in the off-season, there are no less than 6 icebreakers lined-up.

Land Claims

Denton originally claimed the land between 80°E to 110°E, land directly under Denton and conflicting with the Australian claim. Denton held this claim until 1953, when interest turned towards Marie Byrd Land. Denton has still reserved the right to re-establish its original claim but has not exercised it.

Marie Byrd Land

Despite not being directly south of the main Denton islands, Marie Byrd land (commonly referred to as MarBy Land) was of specific interest to the Denton Antarctic Survey, primarily due to its remoteness and excellent research opportunities. Although the United States expressed interest and have documents supporting a claim of MarBy Land, no such claim was ever made and Denton claimed the territory in early 1956, after the opening of the Joint Salidan-Denton Siple Island Station.

Denton's claim of MarBy Land extends from 90°W to 150°W.

Research Stations

Novak Station

Used as a resupply station for the Dome A/Ridge A facilities.

Dome A Research Station

Established in 1964 by a joint Salide-Denton-Hellas Expedition Dome A Station is located on the highest point in Antarctica, at 13,428ft in elevation. An ice runway was created in 1965, stretching over 2 miles long. Dome A Station is supplied by the Australian Davis Station. Direct flights are made from Lock Haven International.

Ridge A Telescope

At Ridge A, a site near to Dome A and known for its view into space being 3 times clearer than anywhere else, a telescope was constructed from 1999 to 2007, with many of the components being airlifted to Dome A Station by an SPSP DST-6E transport. The construction costs were estimated to be 800 million dollars, significantly lower than that of the Hubble Space Telescope, but with the same photographic quality.

Siple Island Station

Often called MarBy's McMurdo in reference to its significance as a gateway, it is the largest Station that Denton or Salide operate on Antarctica.

Yoong Research Station

Established in 1958 in Marie Byrd Land and named after Li Yoong, a Chinese-Dentonite glaciologist.

Bentley Research Station

Located deep within MarBy Land, Bentley Station was named after the subglacial trench which it is built over, the lowest point on earth not covered by water, extending 8,382ft below sea level (13,969ft below the station). To further research the trench, a drilling rig was set up to collect samples of the ice from the station all the way to the rock below and past it.

Whitmore Research Station

Named after the nearby Whitmore Mountains.

Equipment

Ships (in service)

Eitu and Alessia (Icebreakers)

Eitu and Alessia are two large CODLOG icebreakers that were named after the first two Dentonite ships to reach and explore the Antarctic in 1938-1939. The two ships are a part of the same class, but have some major differences. Eitu is primarily focused on station supply and keeping lanes open, while Alessia is more geared toward research, which is evident in the extra lab and accommodation space. The ships originally carried 2x AAC Ranger helicopters, but after field trials, the Donnelley GH-3 Gyrodyne proved to be more reliable in cold weather, as well as less maintenance intensive. Eitu carries 2 and Alessia carries 3.

In 2012, Eitu was resupplying the Denton Yoong Station when it encountered thick ice. In an attempt to power through it, the tips of the center propeller broke off, sending vibrations through the ship. Without enough power to get out of the ice, Eitu was stuck. Alessia was nearby and attempted to free Eitu. Alessia reached within 4 nautical miles before she had to give up on the rescue effort. Salide's Gothic icebreaker was en route from the South Pacific Territory and made its way to the location. As the Gothic tried to reach Eitu, it was clear that more power was needed, so Alessia tied up to Gothic's rear bumper and the two ships combined their forces to provide a channel for Eitu to escape. Eitu was successfully freed after 10 days stuck and was sent back to Lock Haven for repairs.

Ships (out of service)

Eitu and Alessia

Eitu was an E-Class merchant ship built in 1916. She was purchased by the Hirshey FMRC in 1932.

The Alessia was a merchant ship that was owned by a small steamship line in Denton (named after the owner's daughter). She was about 380ft long, and was equipped with a catapult for seaplanes and fueling facilities for the blimp that accompanied the expedition (the blimp was moored to the ship on a long tether, so as to allow for movement in the severe winds of the Antarctic).

Hirshey

The first purpose built icebreaker in Denton was the Hirshey, named after Adolphus Hirshey (a prominent marine biologist from Denton, after which the Adolphus Hirshey Federal Marine Research Center is named). It was a steam powered ship built in 1929, and was built for exploration along the coast of Antarctica, but was laid up due to funding issues and did not visit the coast until 1937. When it did, however, it got caught up in an ice floe and could not generate enough steam to power out of it. Eventually, a notice was sent to Denton, and a rescue effort was organized to airlift the crew and research personnel from the stranded ship. The ship drifted for 3 years (which is why it did not partake in the Hellas-Denton Expedition) until it broke free from the ice floe. It was retrieved and steamed back to Denton. She stayed in service in research fields until 1978, when she was turned into a museum.

Bellingshausen

The second purpose built icebreaker in Denton was the Bellingshausen (named for Alfred M. Bellingshausen team leader of the expedition group of 1938). It was a nuclear icebreaker and entered service in 1962. She was longer than the Lenin icebreaker of the Soviet Union, and even larger than the later Eitu and Alessia icebreakers, at 138m. She was decommissioned in 1996, because of maintenance costs associated with her old age. Bellingshausen is a museum ship in Brunswick, where Bellingshausen lived. (note, this Bellingshausen is completely unrelated to Thaddeus Bellingshausen, for which the Bellingshausen Sea is named after).

Snow Vehicles

The large early Dentonite Ice Tractor is based on an artillery tractor. After the introduction of the Lion MBT, the chassis from the Lion was used for the next generation Ice Tractor and has been in service ever since. The first chassis entered service in 1971 and the design has remained relatively unchanged since 1972. The first engine was a 980hp V12, which was then replaced with a 1040 hp V8 engine in 1983. The road wheels were replaced with hollow, enclosed wheels (like on the BMP) and all of the suspension components were shrouded in materials to keep snow and ice from interfering with their movement. The tracks are duckbilled, in that they have attachments to the outer edges of the track that make them larger and lessen the ground pressure. This adds an extra 18 inches to the width of the vehicle. There are two types of tractors built. One with a cab and body, and one with a full enclosed body. The first one has an insulated cab in front, and a short bonnet allowing access to vital engine parts (like batteries, dipstick, oil filter, etc). The body at the rear is removable. This allows the tractor to transport modules of a station, or large pieces of equipment with ease. The second tractor has a fully enclosed body, which includes the engine compartment and the cab. The engine can be accessed from inside, by opening a hatch and crawling underneath the main floor, or can be accessed from the outside, via the front of the tractor. These tractors have enough pulling power to haul 2x sleds of equipment along the ice.

Aircraft

AAC DST 4E/6E

The Denton Strategic Transport 4E (4 engine) and 6E (6 engine) are large transport aircraft built by Atlanta Aerospace Consortium. The Denton Antarctic Survey has access to 2x of the 4E transports, both owned by Denton Federal Air Freight, as well as the Denton Space Program's (the Dentonite division of SPSP) 2x permanently leased 6E transports for large cargo. Both of the DSP's 6E aircraft were used in the summers of 2000-2006 to transport components of the Ridge A Telescope.

BioFuel Initiative

In 2001, the DAS implemented an 80/20 Biofuel/Petroleum initiative for all of it's vehicles, especially those working in environmentally sensitive areas like Antarctica.

By 2008, after successful implementation of the 80/20 initiative, the DAS changed the policy to a 100% biofuel initiative, to be fulfilled by 2015. However, issues with biofuel replacing pertoleum fully delayed the implentation, though this was resolved by 2018.

Criticisms

Although the Denton Antarctic Survey has not had any recent controversies, there was much criticisms on the Dentonite's treatment of waste and hazardous materials in the 1970s and 80s, being one of the drivers behind the Antarctic Environmental Protocol of 1998. There were multiple instances of waste being dumped or buried in areas and then covered by snow at multiple stations, most of them seasonal, a single instance of an unknown quantity of fuel-oil being discharged through a leak in a cargo ship visiting Siple Island (and the incident subsequently covered up), and the general invasive and destructive treatment of flora and fauna while doing various research projects. After some of these incidents were made public, many of the perpetrators (mainly higher-ups) were tried in court, as they broke environmental laws on Denton territories (and being a Denton territory it was governed under the same law). All available records were collected and all sites that were able to be visited were cleaned and any waste products removed with a cleanup of the surrounding areas as well.

See Also

United Antarctic Programme