Esperanza Base

Esperanza Base seen from Hope Bay

Built in 1953,[2][3][4] the base houses 56 inhabitants in winter, including 10 families and 2 school teachers. Provincial school #38 Presidente Raúl Ricardo Alfonsín (formerly named Julio Argentino Roca) was founded in 1978 and acquired independent status in 1997. It maintains the furthest South Scout troop. The base has an Argentine civil register office where births and weddings are recorded.[5] The base has tourist facilities that are visited by about 1,100 tourists each year. The LRA 36 Radio Nacional Arcángel San Gabriel radio station started transmitting in 1979 and currently broadcasts on shortwave and FM. A wind generator was installed in 2008, mounted by INVAP.[6]

The 43 buildings of the station have a combined space of 3,744 square metres (40,300 sq ft) covered;[7] 18,000 litres (4,800 US gal) of fuel are used annually by the four generators to produce electricity for the station. Research projects include: glaciology, seismology, oceanography, coastal ecology, biology, geology, and limnology.

In the Hope Bay incident in 1952, this area was also the scene of the only shots fired in anger in Antarctica, when an Argentine shore party fired a machine gun over the heads of a Falkland Islands Dependencies Survey team unloading supplies from the John Biscoe to rebuild its damaged base. Following the Argentine show of force, the British team returned to the Falkland Islands. Shortly afterwards, Argentina issued a diplomatic apology, saying there had been a misunderstanding and the military commander on the ground had exceeded his authority. Despite this initial outward show of deference, the party was later welcomed back to Argentina with a hero's welcome. In the meantime, the John Biscoe had returned from the Falklands with a military escort and completed rebuilding the British base.[8] The Antarctic Treaty of 1959 now treats the continent as a laboratory open to all, and provides that "no acts or activities ... shall constitute a basis for asserting, supporting or denying a claim to territorial sovereignty."[9]

The base was the birthplace of Emilio Palma, the first person to be born in Antarctica. There have been at least ten other children born at the base.[10][11]

Like the rest of the Antarctic Peninsula, the base has a polar climate characterized by strong winds that descend downwards from the Antarctic ice sheet.[12] These winds can exceed 250 km/h (160 mph), leading to blowing snow and reduced visibility.[12] The climate is classified as a polar tundra (ET) climate in the Köppen system.[13]

Mean monthly temperatures range from −10.8 °C (12.6 °F) in July, the coldest month, to 1.5 °C (34.7 °F) in January, the warmest month.[12] During summer (December–February), the average high is between 3.8 and 4.3 °C (38.8 and 39.7 °F) while the average low is between −2.0 and −1.2 °C (28.4 and 29.8 °F).[12] In winter, mean temperatures are around −10.2 °C (13.6 °F).[12] A temperature of 17.5 °C (63.5 °F) was recorded on 24 March 2015.[14] This reading was the highest temperature ever recorded on mainland Antarctica and its surrounding islands, until on 6 February 2020, a new high of 18.3 °C (64.9 °F) was recorded at the base, being the current record and considered by the World Meteorological Organization to be the highest temperature ever recorded for mainland Antarctica and its surrounding islands.[15][16] The lowest temperature ever recorded is −38.4 °C (−37.1 °F) on 18 July 1994.[17]

The temperature trend since 1948 is +0.0315 °C/yr (+0.0567 °F/yr) (annual), +0.0413 °C/yr (+0.0743 °F/yr) (winter) and +0.0300 °C/yr (+0.0540 °F/yr) (summer).

Grunden Rock Lighthouse

Location	Grunden Rock, Esperanza Base, Antarctic Treaty area, Trinity Peninsula, Antarctica
Coordinates	63°24′S 57°00′W
Tower
Constructed	1952
Construction	glass fiber (tower), concrete (foundation)
Automated	1994
Height	6 m (20 ft)
Shape	cylinder
Markings	red (tower) , stripe (2, black, horizontal)
Power source	solar power
Operator	Argentine Navy
Light
First lit	1994
Focal height	26 m (85 ft)
Range	8.9 nmi (16.5 km; 10.2 mi), 6 nmi (11 km; 6.9 mi)
Characteristic	Fl W 2s

Cemetery at Esperanza Station

A group of items or structures of historic significance at, or close to, the base have been designated a Historic Site or Monument (HSM 40), following a proposal by Argentina to the Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting. These comprise a bust of General San Martin, a grotto with a statue of the Virgin of Lujan, a flagpole erected in 1955, and a cemetery with a stele commemorating Argentine expedition members who died in the area.[24]

Refuge General Martín Güemes is the name given to two shelters in Antarctica. The first one is covered by ice, the second one is active. The refuge is Administered by the Argentine Army and depends on Esperanza Base, which is responsible for maintenance and care. The two refuges are located on the Tabarin Peninsula on the eastern tip of the Trinity Peninsula on the Antarctic Peninsula 14 kilometres (8.7 mi) south of Esperanza.The refuges pay homage to Martín Miguel de Güemes, a military man who served an outstanding role in the Argentine war of independence.

• Argentine Antarctica
• Hope Bay incident
• List of lighthouses in Antarctica
• List of Antarctic research stations
• List of Antarctic field camps

• Antarctica. Sydney: Reader's Digest, 1985, p. 156-157.
• Child, Jack. Antarctica and South American Geopolitics: Frozen Lebensraum. New York: Praeger Publishers, 1988, p. 73.
• Lonely Planet, Antarctica: a Lonely Planet Travel Survival Kit, Oakland, CA: Lonely Planet Publications, 1996, 302-304.
• Stewart, Andrew, Antarctica: An Encyclopedia. London: McFarland and Co., 1990 (2 volumes), p. 469.
• U.S. National Science Foundation, Geographic Names of the Antarctic, Fred G. Alberts, ed. Washington: NSF, 1980.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Esperanza Station.

• Council Of Managers Of National Antarctic Programs: Base Esperanza
• Temperatures
• (in Spanish) Argentine Army's site about the base
• Official website Direccion Nacional del Antartico
• (in Spanish) Fundaciòn Marambio Esperanza Base page
• COMNAP Antarctic Facilities
• COMNAP Antarctic Facilities Map
• Official website