Captain Arturo Prat Base

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Location of Greenwich Island in the South Shetland Islands
View of base in 1957
Arturo Prat Base from English Strait, with Rousseau Peak and Fuerza Aérea Glacier in the background

Captain Arturo Prat Base is a Chilean Antarctic research station located at Iquique Cove, Greenwich Island in the South Shetland Islands, Antarctica.

Opened February 6, 1947 by the First Chilean Antarctic Expedition, it is the oldest Chilean Antarctic station. Until March 1, 2006, it was a base of the Chilean Navy, on which date it was handed over to the regional government of Magallanes and Antártica Chilena Region. Until February 2004, it had been a permanent base. Afterwards, it had served as a summer base for ionospheric and meteorologic research. There have been plans to reopen the station for permanent occupation starting March 2008. The base is named for Captain Arturo Prat, a Chilean naval officer.

Historic sites[edit]

  • A shelter and cross with plaque was erected near the base and named after Lieutenant Commander González Pacheco, who died in 1960 while in charge of the station. It commemorates events related to a person whose role and the circumstances of his death have both symbolic and educational value relating to human activities in Antarctica. It has been designated a Historic Site or Monument (HSM 33), following a proposal by Chile to the Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting.[1]

Maps[edit]

Topographic map of Livingston Island, Greenwich, Robert, Snow and Smith Islands.

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c d "List of Historic Sites and Monuments approved by the ATCM (2012)" (PDF). Antarctic Treaty Secretariat. 2012. Retrieved 2013-12-30. 

External links[edit]


Coordinates: 62°28′42.84″S 59°39′55.60″W / 62.4785667°S 59.6654444°W / -62.4785667; -59.6654444