Statue of Jules Sébastien
César Dumont d'Urville on the
grounds of the base in Antarctica

Introduction

On 9 April 1950, nearly 110 years after the landing of Dumont d'Urville in Adélie Land, the French Polar Expeditions (EPF, Expéditions Polaires Françaises) installed the first French scientific base in Antarctica, where personnel conducted observations of meteorology and magnetism, performing a number of exploratory raids.

Situated on the coast at Cape Margerie (coordinates: 66°49'04"S 141°23'40"E or -66.817778, 141.394444), the station was named Port-Martin after the explorer André-Paul Martin – second-in-command of the expedition, who died en route to the Antarctic. Housing a winter population of 11 in its first year and 17 in the second, the base was destroyed by fire during the night of 22-23 January 1952 without injuring anyone. (see map)

A third expedition arrived later in 1952, settling on Petrel Island (coordinates: 66°40'S 140°01'E), 62 km (38½ miles) to the west of Port Martin. Overlooking the Pointe Géologie archipelago, the island is 5 km (3.1 mi.) from the Antarctic continent and about 1 km (1100 yards) from the edge of the Astrolabe Glacier. The buildings of this little temporary observatory, nicknamed Base Marret (after Mario Marret, leader of the French Antarctic Expedition, 1952-53), still exist today – although the station was closed in January 1953.

Petrel Island was again chosen in 1956 for participation in the International Geophysical Year (1957-58). A new base, opened on 12 January 1956, was named Dumont d'Urville (DDU) after the French explorer and naval officer, Jules Sébastien César Dumont d'Urville (23 May 1790 - 8 May 1842), who is honored today with a bust on station grounds.

Buildings erected on this occasion, some of which are still in use, were designed for 20 people and a temporary occupation of 3 years. In 1959, the French government decided to permanently maintain the base in the interests of ongoing research. The station was rebuilt, and expansion continued during the following summer campaigns. Colloquially known as Du-d'U (doo-doo), the base has been continuously occupied ever since. (see satellite view)

France also had an inland station on the Antarctic ice sheet long ago, roughly 320 km (199 mi.) from the coast and from Dumont d'Urville Station, at an elevation of about 2400 m (7,874 ft.), coordinates: 69°22'S 139°01'E. Named the Charcot Station after Jean-Baptiste Charcot – French scientist, medical doctor and polar scientist – it was constructed for the International Geophysical Year of 1957-58. Occupied from January 1957 through 1960, the station housed only three men.

The Station, Yesterday & Today

The first buildings at Base Marret (1952-53) were made of wood, and those still remaining today are badly weathered. One of them, Cabane Marret – the base's accommodations building (which housed workers constructing the airstrip until 1986) – is now preserved as a small museum. Its interior has been restored with original radio equipment and portraits of the eight men who overwintered here in 1953 to study a rookery of Emperor Penguins.

Subsequent buildings constructed at DDU for the International Geophysical Year (IGY: July 1957 - December 1958) were made of steel with thermal insulation sandwiched between fireproofed plywood and Klegecelle (structural foam cores). The characteristic style and shape of these metal buildings, with their sloped roofs and angled walls which resist wind forces very well, identifies them as Les Baraques Fillods^[1], so named after Ferdinand Fillod whose company Constructions métalliques Fillod (CMF, founded 1929) manufactured them. Their original purpose was to serve for just three years, although many of them survive to the present day.

When the French government decided in 1959 that the DDU station would become permanent, buildings with flat roofs were supplied by SPAIR (Société Pour l'Application Industrielle des Résines de Synthèse), a company which operated between 1959-1971. Although DDU saw its former Fillod-style one-story dormitory replaced by a modern two-story structure in 2006, many other buildings are in dire need of repair or replacement, a fact which was cited in a report issued on 24 August 2013 by the Parliamentary Office of the French Senate.

The Dumont d'Urville base is currently suffering from serious problems of dilapidation and sanitation, as it does not have the appropriate equipment for waste treatment.   — French Senate report, 2013

[1] Fillod buildings can also be found in the other TAAF districts (Amsterdam, Crozet, Kerguelen), although – due to their advancing age and propensity to rust badly in damp climates – most of them have been, or will soon be, replaced with more modern structures. Because the buildings could be assembled and taken down very quickly, they were widely used as military barracks.

Features of the base

A long curving boardwalk connects the landing jetty to the DDU station. The station's buildings cover approximately 5,000 m² (1.24 acres) near the island's summit, at an elevation of 41-42 m (135-138 ft.) above sea level. During the winter season (March-November), the base hosts between 30 to 36 people whose tasks are divided among general and scientific duties, maintaining data collection for the French laboratories involved in polar programs. During summer (November-March), the number of personnel swells to about 120.

Resembling a real university campus in some respects, the base comprises about fifty installations that include: a dormitory (rebuilt in 2006), dining room, kitchen, library, hospital, and laboratories for biology, geophysics, meteorology; plus technical facilities such as the power plant, workshops, and garages.

The main base is surrounded by 11 small wooden shelters for various scientific uses and a garage for the maintenance of tracked vehicles such as Weasels and Sno-Cats. During summer seasons, the EPF have the additional benefit of using an army helicopter.

The physical plant is adapted to withstand severe local conditions, including temperatures ranging from 0°C to -35°C (32°F to -31°F), blizzards, long polar nights, and winds that can exceed 300 km/h (186 mph). The highest Antarctic wind velocity, 327km/h (203 mph), was recorded at Dumont d'Urville in July 1972^[2].

[2] As a basis of comparison, the highest wind speed ever recorded by instruments was 407 km/h (253 mph) on 10 April 1996, during Typhoon Olivia at Barrow Island, Australia. The previous world record was a gust of 372 km/h (231 mph) measured at the summit of New Hampshire's Mount Washington on 12 April 1934, before the anemometer broke. According to the Saffir–Simpson Scale, wind speeds of 250 km/h (156 mph) or greater are classified as Level 5 hurricanes.

Electrical power (90 to 100 kWh of average consumption) is currently provided by diesel generators. A desalinization plant converts sea water into fresh water for use by the base's residents. The average volume of water consumed in summer is 5,500 liters (1,450 U.S. gallons) per day. Hot water is produced by using the heat from cooling circuits of the electrical power plant. District heating is supplemented by co-generation.

Effective waste treatment plays an important role in running the base. Current international treaties are committed to reducing the ecological impact of humans in Antarctica. Their focus is on minimizing the volume of waste that needs to be treated, and developing procedures for sorting and storage – before the repatriation to Australia or France of certain types of waste products.

Once a month, a "garbage run" is conducted. Combustible items such as wood or paper are burned. Plastics and some other items are separated for return to civilization. Glass and metals such as iron or steel are hauled to a crack in the sea ice and dumped into the ocean.

The Dumont d'Urville base is ideally positioned to explore solar magnetic phenomena and the upper atmosphere; results obtained in this field during the IGY are remarkable. From DDU many expeditions are organized on the ice sheet for data acquisition in glaciology and meteorology, seismic profiles, and gravimetric studies that estimate the thickness of the ice.

Adélie penguins nest throughout the station, beneath and around the buildings. Also often sighted are emperor penguins from a nearby rookery which was the focus of a two-man film crew that lived at the station for a year, shooting for Luc Jacquet's 2005 hit La Marche de l'Empereur ("March of the Penguins", available on DVD).

In front of the station is Dumont d'Urville's infamous and unfinished airstrip, with abandoned equipment and vehicles, a control tower and a hangar. It was the focus of international attention in 1983 when France began construction on what was planned to be an 1100 m (3,610 ft.) crushed-rock runway. Unfortunately, Lion Island and two adjacent islets (Cuvier and Buffon) were dynamited to level them and provide material to fill in the sea between them.

Greenpeace made headlines around the world when it visited the runway construction site during the 1987-88 season, obtaining photos of penguins killed by rock shrapnel. The airstrip was completed in early 1993 at a cost of 110 million francs (€16.8 million), and test flights were planned for the next season. In January 1994, however, the nearby Astrolabe Glacier calved, causing an enormous wave that destroyed an equipment support building. The government decided in 1996 not to utilize the airstrip.

The base's annex at Cap Prud'homme^[3] (coordinates: 66°41'15.50"S, 139°54'25.42"E or decimal: -66.687639, 139.907061), located on the continent 5 km (3.1 miles) from Petrel Island, is dedicated to the organization of ground convoys (called raids) which supply the French-Italian Concordia Station located 1100 km (684 miles) inland on the continent. During the winter, raid vehicles are stored in a nearby tunnel which has been dug under the ice. (see satellite view)

[3] Named after André Prud'homme, specialist in polar meteorology and leader of the third French Antarctic expedition during the International Geophysical Year (IGY) in 1958. While on a mission at Dumont d'Urville, he disappeared in a violent snow storm on 7 January 1959, at the age of 38. Today, a monument in his memory is located near the weather building at the base.

Life at Dumont d’Urville

The base, cut off from the world in winter by hundreds of miles of ice floes, is only accessible during the austral summer (December-February). Each year, the French icebreaker and scientific research vessel Astrolabe carries out five missions to Terre Adélie, relieving personnel and resupplying the Dumont d’Urville station. It takes about 5 or 6 days to traverse the seas from its port of origin at Hobart (Tasmania), a distance of some 2,700 km (1,678 miles).

When the first rotation of personnel (R0) takes place in November, the ship is unable to reach the base directly as a result of the ice. Instead, the transfer and resupply are managed by helicopter from the Astrolabe, which is moored a couple of dozen miles offshore.

Upon their arrival, IPEV technicians begin preparations for the first raid toward Concordia around mid-November. During subsequent rotations (R1, R2, R3, R4), the Astrolabe is able to moor at the base, and heavy materials can be transferred via traditional methods.

During the austral summer, about 100-120 personnel can live on the base. In addition to preparing the convoys, their activities may include unloading of the Astrolabe, assorted technical work on infrastructure and fluids, scientific programs, and more.

Throughout the winter season (March to November), DDU hosts around 30-36 people, whose tasks are divided between general and scientific services – assuring the continued acquisition of data for the French laboratories involved in polar programs.

The extreme isolation of such a remote community, overcrowded accommodations, and perhaps some degree of promiscuity among the previously all-male overwinterers created special living conditions which were rocked by two new elements in recent years: the arrival of women (still in the minority) and the use of e-mail for personal communication.

Greenpeace – Watchdogs on the Ice

When Greenpeace had a permanent base in Antarctica for 5 years between 1987 and 1991, the professionalism of its operation had gradually earned the respect of other Antarctica Treaty Nations. With each annual re-supply, its facilities at World Park Base (a year-round Antarctic station located at Cape Evans on Ross Island) were gradually improved, better satellite communications were installed, and a wind-power generator lessened reliance on non-renewable resources. In 1987, a new ship was purchased by the campaign: a former icebreaker christened Gondwana, it replaced the Greenpeace as a supply vessel.

But the re-supply of World Park Base was only part of the Antarctica campaign. In its annual trips to the ice, the Gondwana toured bases in the region to monitor how closely they adhered to Antarctic Treaty regulations concerning the environmental impact of their facilities. As a result, many scandals came to light – forcing the Treaty nations to clean up their acts.

In the 1987-88 season, Greenpeace made headlines around the world when 15 protesters blocked the building site for a French airstrip^[3] at Dumont d'Urville. The construction work was controversial because it involved dynamiting the habitats of nesting penguins; even the French scientists admitted that an airstrip violated the terms of the Antarctica Treaty.

On the day of the protest, French construction workers reacted angrily to a Greenpeace demonstration staged on the site of the airstrip. Workers forcibly evicted the protesters and smashed up a hut that Greenpeace had erected. Despite continuing threats of violence, the protesters returned to occupy the landing strip for a second day. The French later abandoned plans to build the airstrip.

[4] Building the xxx.