This drift snow is so fine that it can find its way into even the smallest cracks and crevices, into the pockets of your Tempex overalls, or into the station’s entryway door. Strong winds gather snow particles from the surface and carry them along. Decks 1 and 2 are both above ground and contain the living quarters, offices and common rooms.ĭrift: Often expressed as “Oh, it’s drifting again.” We’re not talking about car races we mean a weather phenomenon frequently seen here. (Photo: Felix Strobel)ĭecks 1 and 2: Many of the names and terms used at Neumayer are nautical the same applies to the levels. We practise evacuating the station using an emergency ladder and meeting up again on Deck 0. ![]() Since it’s made of sheets of plywood, we often call it the wood deck. You could say that Deck 0 is the roof of our basement. Our radio operator does their best to ensure this link is always up, so that we have no interruptions in the flow of scientific data – and so we can share the latest pictures of our penguin chicks on social media.ĭeck 0: Home to the station entrance, or rather, the entrance to the stairwell, which leads to Decks 1 and 2 in one direction, and to U1 and U2 in the other. Thanks to cutting-edge communications systems, we have a satellite link to Bremerhaven, which also connects us to the Internet. Since the ice is very compact, it makes for a good airstrip for larger aircraft, which can land on it with their tyres.Ĭommunications link: Our connection to the outside world. The name comes from the ice’s bluish tint. Regions of the (Antarctic) ice sheet where there is no snow cover, leaving the glacier ice clearly visible. For us ÜWIs, the frozen-over Atka Bay is a favourite place to go – to visit the penguins or to admire the icebergs from up close.īlue ice: Clear glacier water “flavour”. During the winter months, it freezes over, forming the basis for the local emperor penguin colony. 30-km-wide bay that we look down on from the Neumayer Station. 6 km east of the sea-ice ramp, with a row of arched caves on one side.Ītka Bay: The approx. ![]() In the meantime, all the upholstered furniture has been thrown out the only thing left is the table, whose scrapes and scratches are a testament to the dynamic history of German Antarctic research.Īrcade iceberg: A distinctive iceberg approx. It was dubbed the Altmayer corner because that’s where the old (German “alt”) furniture was. In the past, the corner was home to the upholstered furniture salvaged from the Neumayer Station II. If you only understood half of the last sentence, or if you’re asking yourself why we need a gallery in Antarctica or why ÜWIs love their mess, we’ve prepared a small dictionary for you – a (by no means exhaustive) list of terms that have now become part of our day-to-day lives.Īltmayer corner: Lounge in the southwest corner of the gallery. As if it were the most normal thing in the world, when we sit around the dinner table we regale each other with stories of our favourite moments during traverses, discuss the fastest route to Atka11, make plans for which trail should be ploughed next, and wonder whether the lights are still on in the emergency shelter. But after more than 200 days in the ice, everything seems commonplace. We can’t just pop over to the local supermarket, we never have to worry about losing our keys (since none of the doors have locks), and the surrounding landscape could hardly be more different. Needless to say, life at the Neumayer Station is a far cry from what we’re used to in Germany.
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