Posts Tagged ‘Faraday’

Verdansky: Where the Ozone Hole Was Discovered

Thursday, January 7th, 2010

A sign marks the historic discovery of the ozone layer.

The Antarctic ozone hole was discovered in 1985 by British scientists Joesph Farman, Brian Gardiner, and Jonathan Shanklin of the British Antarctic Survey. I recently had the opportunity to visit the scientific station where the discovery took place. As you can see in the photo, the station proudly advertises its discovery with a sign in the main hallway.

Verdansky base (also known as Faraday)—now owned by the Ukranian government—has a long history. It has been populated for the past 63 years (to the day—starting in 07 Jan 1947). The British occupied the station until 1996 when it was sold for a nominal fee to the Ukranians. The spot is particularly good for observing the ionosphere and performing meteorlogical and geophysical studies because it is located at a high geographic latitude and a low magnetic latitude.

The Ukranians are not restricting their activities to research. They make vodka, have a gift shop, and run a post office. You’ll hear more about their vodka bar in a future post.

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