Mahlon C. Kennicutt II
Texas A&M University

McMurdo Station Monitoring

"McMurdo Station, Antarctica (77 ° 51' S, 166° 40' E) is the largest facility in Antarctica and has been operating continually since its construction by the US Navy in 1955. McMurdo is located on the Hut Point peninsula, Ross Island, which is on the edge of the Ross Ice Shelf. Mt. Erubus, which is an active volcano, is also located here. The station itself is constructed on barren volcanic rocks consisting of pyroclastic deposits. The soil derived from the weathering of volcanic rocks contains virtually no organic matter. The ground is frozen with permafrost underlying the station to a depth of 15-45 cm. The diagram depicts the layers of the cryosphere (the layer of ice covering the surface), and the lithospere (the rock-covered surface of the earth) that compose the Antarctica landscape." read more.....