Title  : NSF 92-134 FACTS ABOUT THE US ANTARCTIC PROGRAM
Type   : General Publication
NSF Org: OD / OPP
Date   : November 7, 1994
File   : nsf92134

Introduction

     Approximately 2,500 Americans work in and around
Antarctica each year in the U.S. Antarctic Program.  This
National program involves the operation of ships, aircraft,
stations, camps, and communications, and it draws upon the
resources and scientists of numerous U.S. universities,
Federal agencies, and commercial firms.
     This pamphlet provides a digest of the operation:
facilities in Antarctica, objectives, Federal
responsibilities (including environmental protection), the
substantial international aspects, and a brief history of
prior U.S. activities.  A final section provides sources of
further information.

I.   PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION OF ANTARCTICA

     An ice sheet covers all but 2.4 per cent of
Antarctica's 14 million square kilometers.  At its thickest
point the ice sheet is 4,776 meters deep.  It averages 2,160
meters thick, making Antarctica the highest continent.  This
ice is 90 percent of all the world's ice, and it is 70
percent of all the world's fresh water.
     The Transantarctic Mountains cross the continent,
dividing the ice sheet into two parts.  The larger, eastern
part of the ice sheet rests on land that is mostly above sea
level.  It has been there for millions of years.  The
smaller, western part is on land that is mostly below sea
level.
     Other mountain ranges are the Prince Charles Mountains
and smaller groups near the coasts.  The Antarctic Peninsula
has many mountains.  The Ellsworth Mountains are
Antarctica's tallest; the Vinson Massif is 4,897 meters
above sea level.
     Antarctica's few ice-free areas, generally near the
coast, include the McMurdo Dry Valleys of southern Victoria
Land, the Bunger Oasis in Wilkes Land, isolated spits of
land, and peaks of mountainscalled nunataksthat are
surrounded by ice.
     Surrounding Antarctica are the southern parts of the
Pacific, the Atlantic, and the Indian Oceans.  The Antarctic
Convergence, which encircles Antarctica roughly 1,500
kilometers off the coast, divides the cold southern water
masses and warmer northern waters.  An ocean current, the
world's largest, moves eastward around the continent at an
average speed of about half a knot.  Sea ice up to 3 meters
thick forms outward from the continent every winter, making
a belt 500 to 1,500 kilometers wide.  Even in summer the sea
ice belt is 150 to 800 kilometers in most places.  The area
of sea ice varies from 3 million square kilometers in summer
to 20 million square kilometers in late winter.
     Some 200 million years ago Antarctica was joined to
South America, Africa, India, and Australia in a single
large continent called Gondwanaland.  There was no ice
sheet, and trees and large animals flourished.  Today, only
geological formations, coal beds, and fossils remain as
clues to Antarctica's warm past.
     Antarctica is the coldest continent.  The world's
record low temperature of -89.2oC was recorded there.  The
mean annual temperature of the interior is -57oC.  The coast
is warmer.  Monthly means at McMurdo Station range from -
28oC in August to -3oC in January.  Along the Antarctic
Peninsula, temperatures as high as 15oC have been recorded.
     Some coasts of Antarctica are the windiest places in
the world.  Winds on the Adlie Coast in the winter of 1912-
1913 averaged 18 meters per second 64 percent of the time,
and gusts have been recorded at nearly 90 meters per second.
     The interior of Antarctica is the world's biggest
desert, with the precipitation (if it were melted) averaging
under 5 centimeters of water a year.

II.  CURRENT YEAR-ROUND U.S. STATIONS

A.   McMurdo (77o51'S 166o40'E)

     The largest antarctic station, McMurdo is built on the
bare volcanic rock of Hut Point Peninsula on Ross Island,
the farthest south solid ground that is accessible by ship.
     The station was established in December 1955.  It is
the logistics hub of the U.S. Antarctic Program, with a
harbor, landing strips on sea ice and shelf ice, and a
helicopter pad.  Its 85 or so buildings range in size from a
small radio shack to large, three-story structures.  Repair
facilities, dormitories, administrative buildings, a
firehouse, power plant, water distillation plant, wharf,
stores, clubs, and warehouses are linked by above-ground
water, sewer, telephone, and power lines.
     The Albert P. Crary Science and Engineering Center at
McMurdo was dedicated in November 1991.  The laboratory is
named in honor of geophysicist and glaciologist Albert P.
Crary (1911-1987), the first person to set foot on both the
North and South Poles.  The new laboratory contains state-of-
the-art instrumentation to facilitate research and to
advance science and technology.  It contains modern personal
computers and workstations, a computer-based geographic
information system, and a local area network.  It has
laboratory space, analytical instrumentation, and staging
areas for a wide range of scientific disciplines.  The
laboratory also supports special activities, including
environmental monitoring and enforcement, snow and ice
mechanics, and meteorology.  The facility replaces outdated
science buildings that were built as early as 1959.
     The Crary Lab has five pods built in three phases to
make 4,320 square meters of working area.  Phase I has a two-
story core pod and a biology pod.  Phase II has earth
sciences and atmospheric sciences pods.  Phase III has an
aquarium and a dive locker.  Other facilities are maintained
for atmospheric sciences and other disciplines.
     Williams Field, a skiway 16 kilometers from McMurdo on
the Ross Ice Shelf, is the aerodrome for ski-equipped
airplanes.  Wheeled airplanes use a harder, smoother runway
on sea ice in October and November and into December, when
the sea ice usually begins to break up and become unusable.
A permanent, hard-ice runway for wheeled planesthe Pegasus
site on the Ross Ice Shelfwas completed in 1992 and can be
used in all but the warmest months.
     Recorded temperature extremes have been -50oC and 8oC.
Annual mean is -18oC; monthly mean temperatures range from -
3oC in January to -28oC in August.
     Drifting snow can accumulate about 1.5 meters per year,
although the station becomes snow-free in summer.  Average
wind is about 5.1 meters per second; a gust of 52 meters per
second was recorded in July 1968.
     Research is performed at and near McMurdo in marine and
terrestrial biology, biomedicine, geology and geophysics,
glaciology and glacial geology, meteorology, aeronomy, and
upper atmosphere physics.
     Peak summer population can exceed 1,100; winter
population is about 250.  The winterers are isolated from
late February to late August.  Air transportation to New
Zealand is frequent between October and Februarythe
antarctic summer.
     Local features include Mount Erebus (an active
volcano), McMurdo Sound (the station's namesake, named for
Lt. Archibald McMurdo of James Clark Ross's 1841
expedition), the Ross Ice Shelf, and the ice-free (dry)
valleys of southern Victoria Land.

B.   Amundsen-Scott South Pole (90oS)

     Americans have occupied the geographic South Pole
continuously since November 1956; the central area of the
station was rebuilt in 1975 as a geodesic dome 50 meters
wide and 16 meters high that, with 14- by 24-meter steel
archways, covers modular buildings, fuel bladders, and
equipment.  Detached buildings house instruments for
monitoring the upper and lower atmosphere and for numerous
and complex projects in astronomy and astrophysics.  There
is an emergency camp.  A number of science and berthing
structures were added in the 1990s, particularly for
astronomy and astrophysics.   Some 28 scientists and support
personnel winter at the station, and 130 or more people work
there during the summer.  The station's winter personnel are
isolated between mid-February and late October.
     Recorded temperature has varied between -13.6oC and -
82.8oC.  Annual mean is -49oC; monthly means vary from -28oC
in December to -60oC in July.  Average wind is 5.5 meters
per second; peak gust recorded was 24 meters per second.
Snow accumulation is about 6-8 centimeters (water
equivalent) per year.  The station stands at an elevation of
2,835 meters on interior Antarctica's nearly featureless ice
sheet, about 2,850 meters thick at that location.
     Research at the station includes glaciology,
geophysics, meteorology, upper atmosphere physics,
astronomy, astrophysics, and biomedical studies.
     The station's name honors Roald Amundsen and Robert F.
Scott, who attained the South Pole in 1911 and 1912.

C.   Palmer (64o46'S 64o03'W)

     Palmer Station, on a protected harbor on the
southwestern coast of Anvers Island, off the Antarctica
Peninsula, is the only U.S. antarctic station north of the
Antarctic Circle.  The temperature is mild, with monthly
averages ranging from -10oC in July and August to 2oC in
January and February.  The annual mean is -3oC.  The extreme
range is -31oC to 9oC.  It has rained every month at Palmer;
in the year ended October 1981 Palmer received 25
centimeters of rain and 36 centimeters (water equivalent) of
snowfall.
     The station, built on solid rock, consists of two major
buildings and three small ones plus two large fuel tanks, a
helicopter pad, and a dock.  Construction was completed in
1968, replacing a prefabricated wood structure (``Old
Palmer,'' established in 1965) 2 kilometers away across
Arthur Harbor.  Old Palmer has been disassembled and removed
from Antarctica.  Somewhat over 40 people can occupy Palmer
in the summer.  Wintering population is about 10, although
Palmer does not have a long period of winter isolation as do
McMurdo and South Pole.
     Palmer Station is superbly located for biological
studies of birds, seals, and other components of the marine
ecosystem.  It has a large and extensively equipped
laboratory and sea water aquaria.  In 1990 it was designated
by the National Science Foundation as a long term ecological
research (LTER) site.  Meteorology, upper atmosphere
physics, glaciology, and geology also have been pursued at
and around Palmer.  The station operates in conjunction with
a research ship described under Transportation and research
platforms, below.
     Palmer Station is named for Nathaniel B. Palmer, a
Connecticut sealer who, on 17 November 1820, during an
exploratory voyage ranging southward from the South Shetland
Islands, may have been the first person to see Antarctica.
(British and Russian ships were in the area at about the
same time.)

III.  SUMMER CAMPS

A.   Byrd Surface Camp (80oS 120oW)

     On the site of the former Byrd Station (a major under-
snow research facility operated year-round from early 1957
to February 1972) Byrd Surface Camp is operated during the
summer as a fuel stop and weather station for planes flying
between McMurdo and destinations in West Antarctica.
Typical summer population is eight personnel.  The camp
consists of sled-mounted modules.

B.   Major camps

     During some summer seasons, the USA establishes and
operates one or more major summer research camps in areas of
particular scientific interest.  Typically these camps
consist of Jamesways (quickly erected structures made of
canvas and wood), and they support a population of 40 to 60
during the November-January period.  Helicopters or Twin
Otter airplanes are taken to the site and used to support
local scientific operations.  Motor toboggans also are
operated.
     Such camps have been operated in recent years at
various locations on the Siple Coast, at ``Beardmore South''
in the central Transantarctic Mountains (1985-1986),
northern Victoria Land (1981-1982), the Ellsworth Mountains
(1979-1980), at Darwin Glacier in the Transantarctic
Mountains (1978-1979), and in the mountains of northern
Marie Byrd Land (1977-1978).  Geology, geophysics, glacial-
geology, glaciology, and terrestrial biology have been
pursued at these camps.

C.   Huts

     If summer research projects are expected to continue
over several seasons at the same location, huts may be
erected.  Huts can be expected to last for several years,
and they provide space, stable working areas, and comfort
not achievable with tents.  Huts have been used in recent
years in Taylor Valley (an ice-free or dry valley in
southern Victoria Land) for study of lake ecosystems, at
Cape Crozier on Ross Island for population and behavioral
studies of penguin rookeries, and near the summit of Mount
Erebus for volcanology.  Resupply and transport are by
helicopter or tracked vehicle from McMurdo Station.

D.   Tents

     Small parties requiring temporary shelter use single-
or double-walled tents of several designs, both modern and
traditional.  These designs include the Scott tent, a
pyramid shaped tent similar to the design used by Robert F.
Scott early in this century.  These tents are stable in high
winds and can be erected quickly.  Cold-weather sleeping
bags are used on ground cushions, and cooking is by portable
stoves.  Tent camps usually are placed or moved by
helicopter or motor toboggan.  Extended backpacking trips
generally are not practical in Antarctica owing to the
weight of the equipment and the fuel required to melt ice
for water, to cook, and to combat the cold.  All tent camps
and huts are required to have radios, and they maintain
daily contact with the nearest station.

IV.  FORMER STATIONS (SELECTED)

A.   Hallett Station (72o19'S 170o13'E)

     On Cape Hallett on the northeast coast of Victoria
Land, Hallett was operated jointly with New Zealand from
1957 to February 1973.  The station initially was for
geophysics, but after the IGY the predominant discipline was
biology.  Hallett shared a point of land with a large
penguin colony.  All components of the station except for a
large fuel tank have been removed, and penguins have
reoccupied the site.
     Cape Hallett was named by James Clark Ross for a member
of his 1841 expedition.

B.   Byrd Station (80oS 120oW)

     Operated year-round from 1957 to 1972, Byrd was a large
under-snow facility in Marie Byrd Land for upper atmosphere
physics, meteorology, geophysics, and glaciology.  It was
closed because the scientific usefulness of a facility at
the location had diminished and because the increasing snow
load was crushing the station.  The station's name honors
Richard E. Byrd.

C.   Plateau Station (79o15'S 40o30'E)

     Plateau was the highest, coldest, and most remote of
the U.S. stations.  It was operated from December 1965 to
January 1969.  Situated in the middle of the east antarctic
ice plateau at an elevation of 3,625 meters, the station
recorded a climate typical of several million square
kilometers of central Antarctica.  Temperatures ranged from
-18.5oC down to -86.2oC, just short of the world record low
recorded at the Russian station Vostok, Antarctica.  Annual
mean at Plateau was -56.4oC.  Snow accumulation was about 3
centimeters (water equivalent) a year.
     Plateau Station was established for meteorology,
geophysics, and upper atmosphere physics.  The station
comprised five prefabricated vans assembled into a building
8 by 25 meters plus an additional van and a Jamesway for
emergency shelter.  A tower, 32 meters high, was equipped
with 10 sensors of wind speed, wind direction, and
temperature.  Station population was eight during winter.

D.   Dome C (74o30'S 123o10'E)

     This camp was comprised of Jamesways, wood-framed and
wood-floored buildings covered with insulated canvas
blankets that can be erected or disassembled in several
hours.  The camp was in East Antarctica at an elevation of
3,425 meters.  The ice at that location is over 4,200 meters
thick.  Dome C is one of the three major ice domes of the
east antarctic ice sheet (the others are Ridge B and Dome
A).
     Glaciology was the major discipline pursued at Dome C,
which was reached by airplane from McMurdo Station.  Dome C
camp was established in 1974-1975 and used for several years
thereafter.

E.   Siple (75o55'S 83o55'W)

     In Ellsworth Land at the base of the Antarctic
Peninsula, Siple was established in 1969, enlarged and first
occupied year-round in 1973, and, because of high snow
accumulation that distorted the original structure, built
anew in 1979.  It reverted to summer-only use in 1985 and
was closed in 1988.
     Twenty-four connected prefabricated building modules
are located under a steel arch measuring 13 by 80 meters.
By 1981 the annual snowfall of about 1.7 meters, along with
drifting, covered the 7-meter-high arch of the new station,
and by 1987 snow accumulation and pressure had brought the
station near an end of its useful life.
     Temperature extremes recorded at Siple were -52oC and
7oC.  Annual mean was -24oC; monthly averages ranged from
about -35oC in August to -12oC in January.  Winds averaged
6.5 meters per second; a wind of 33 meters per second was
recorded in October 1980.  The station elevation is 1,000
meters; ice thickness is slightly less than that.
     Upper atmosphere physics was pursued at Siple.  The
station featured a crossed horizontal antenna 42 kilometers
long, a radio receiver, and a transmitter for studies in the
very-low-frequency range.  Siple was placed where it is for
study of signals transmitted along magnetic lines of force
that extend from Siple as far as four earth radii into
space, returning to earth at Siple's geomagnetic conjugate
point in the northern hemispherethe thunderstorm-rich
region of southeastern Quebec.
     During large projects in summer, Siple's population
reached 65.  Wintering complement was normally seven, but as
small as four.
     Siple Station was named for Paul Siple, a polar expert
who headed the first wintering science party at the South
Pole in 1957 and first went to Antarctica as a Boy Scout
with Richard E. Byrd in 1928.

F.   Eights Station (75o10'S 77o10'W)

     Eights was 200 kilometers east-northeast of Siple
Station.  It operated from January 1963 to January 1965,
mainly in support of upper atmosphere physics.  Station
population during winter was 10-11.  The station was named
for James Eights, who in 1830 was the earliest American
scientist in the Antarctic.

G.   Little America

     There were five Little Americas, all on the Ross Ice
Shelf adjacent to the Bay of Whales or Kainan Bay.  Numbers
I and II supported Richard E. Byrd's expeditions in 1928-
1930 and 1933-1935.  III was operated in 1939-1941 as part
of the United States Antarctic Service and was also called
West Base.  IV was used by Operation Highjump, 1946-1947.  V
was an International Geophysical Year station, operating
from 1955 to 1959.  The stations have gone to sea as a
result of calving of the Ross Ice Shelf.  In 1987 a large
iceberg (designated B-9) calved from the Bay of Whales area,
eliminating it, at least for several years, as a feature of
the Ross Ice Shelf.

H.   East Base (68o11'S 67o00'W)

     East Base is the oldest existing U.S. station in
Antarctica.  It is on Stonington Island near Marguerite Bay,
on the west coast of the Antarctic Peninsula.
     The United States Antarctic Service established East
Base in March 1940, and 26 men wintered.  There was a main
building, 7 by 18 meters, and several smaller buildings
along with a biplane, a tractor and a tank, and sledge dogs.
The expeditioners left in March 1941.  The (U.S.) Ronne
Antarctic Research Expedition occupied the base during the
winter of 1948.  The base has not been used since then.
     Americans visited East Base in February 1975 and found
three of the original buildings still standing.
     In 1989, at the request of the United States, the
Antarctic Treaty nations declared buildings, artifacts, and
their immediate environs at East Base an historic monument.
U.S.-led expeditions in March 1991 and March 1992 cleaned up
the station, documented its numerous artifacts, and
established a small museum in one of the original buildings.

V.   TRANSPORTATION; RESEARCH PLATFORMS

A.   LC-130 Hercules

     This four-engine turboprop transport airplane is the
backbone of U.S. transportation within Antarctica, and it
also provides much of the air service between McMurdo
Station and New Zealand.  The LC-130 is the polar version of
the familiar C-130 cargo plane; its major unique feature is
the ski-equipped landing gear, which enables operation on
snow or ice surfaces throughout Antarctica.  The plane also
has wheels for landings on prepared hard surfaces.  It was
introduced to the antarctic program in 1960; the National
Science Foundation's fleet numbers seven, operated by the
U.S. Navy.  Four additional LC-130s, owned and operated by
the Air National Guard, also are used in the U.S. Antarctic
Program.  These two groups are the only LC-130s in the
world.
     The plane has a cargo area of 12 by 3 by 3 meters.  It
can, as an example, carry 12,200 kilograms of people and/or
cargo from McMurdo to South Pole (728 nautical miles), then
return to McMurdo without refueling.  Or, it can deliver
10,400 kilograms from McMurdo to Siple (1,280 nautical
miles), fly back empty to Byrd (484 miles) for fuel, then
return to McMurdo.  It cruises at 275 knots.  Wingspan is 40
meters; length overall, 30 meters.

B.   Twin Otter

     When required, deHavilland Twin Otter turboprop
airplanes are chartered for operations in Antarctica.  Skis
are fitted, and the planes can land on open snow and ice.
The payload and range of a Twin Otter are less than those of
the LC-130, but greater than those of the UH-1N helicopter.

C.   Helicopters

     Six UH-1N twin-turbine helicopters are operated out of
McMurdo Station during the austral summer.  With an
operating weight of 3,200 kilograms, the UH-1N can carry a
payload of 730 kilograms or up to five passengers over an
operating radius of 185 kilometers.  Using an external cargo
sling, it can carry 1,400 kilograms.  Cruising air speed is
100 knots.
     Other types of helicopters are chartered in some
summers, sometimes in conjunction with the activities of
other Antarctic Treaty nations.

D.   C-141 Starlifter and C-5 Galaxy

     The Air Mobility Command, U.S. Air Force, charters to
the U.S. Antarctic Program a number of C-141 and C-5 round-
trips between Christchurch, New Zealand, and McMurdo Station
each austral summer from late September to early November.
These large, four-engine jets move the bulk of the program's
passengers and priority cargo during this period.
     In mid-June a C-141, supported by a KC-10 tanker
providing midair refueling, airdrops fresh food and high
priority cargo to McMurdo and South Pole during the long
winter isolation.
     The C-141 can transport some 25,000 kilograms from
Christchurch to McMurdo; the C-5, three times that amount.
The C-5 is America's largest airplane.

E.   R/V Polar Duke

     Polar Duke, built in 1983, is a 67-meter ice
strengthened research ship under charter to the Foundation
since January 1985.  It operates in the Antarctic Peninsula
area and near southern South America throughout the year.
The ship has a crew of 14 and can accommodate 23 scientific
personnel.  Polar Duke cruises at 12 knots, has an endurance
of 90 days, and is well equipped with laboratories, winches,
a piston corer, single channel seismic gear, and other
equipment for biology, geology, and geophysics.

F.   Nathaniel B. Palmer

     Edison Chouest Offshore Inc., Galliano, Louisiana, in
1992 built and delivered a 94-meter research vessel with
icebreaking capability for use by the U.S. Antarctic Program
for 10 years or more.  The ship is a first-rate platform for
global change studies, including biological, oceanographic,
geological, and geophysical components.  It can operate
safely year-round in antarctic waters that often are stormy
or covered with sea ice.  It accommodates 37 scientists, has
a crew of 22, and is capable of 75-day missions.  The ship
is named the Nathaniel B. Palmer to commemorate the American
credited with first seeing Antarctica.  Nathaniel Brown
Palmer, then 21 years old, commanded the 14-meter sloop
Hero, which on 16 and 17 November 1820 entered Orleans
Strait and came very close to the Antarctic Peninsula at
about 63o45'S.  Later in his life, Palmer also won wealth
and fame as a pioneer clipper ship master and designer.

G.   U.S. academic research ships

     As required and available, research ships of the U.S.
academic fleet have worked in ice-free antarctic waters.
These visitors have included Melville, Knorr, and Alpha
Helix.  Research projects generally are in the disciplines
of physical oceanography, marine biology, and marine geology
and geophysics.  In addition, the deep sea drilling ships
Glomar Challenger and Joides Resolution have taken research
cores from antarctic waters.

H.   Icebreakers

     A Polar-class, America's most powerful icebreaker,
operates annually in the Antarctic.  Either the Polar Star
or the Polar Sea deploys to Antarctica each year to break a
channel through McMurdo Sound and perform other logistics
tasks.  Glacier, an icebreaker built in 1955, served in
Antarctica almost every year until it was decommissioned in
1987.  The older Wind-class icebreakers served in Antarctica
until the 1979-1980 season.
     A Polar-class icebreaker is 122 meters long and
displaces 13,400 metric tons.  Its diesel engines provide
13,400 kilowatts for normal operations.  When required for
icebreaking, gas turbines can be operated to increase the
power to nearly 45,000 kilowatts.  In open water the ship
cruises at 13 knots; maximum speed is 17 knots.  The ship
carries two helicopters.  Crew size is 154; the ship can
accommodate 20 scientists.

I.   USNS tanker

     Each year this ice-strengthened tanker or one of its
sister ships delivers approximately 20,000,000 liters of JP-
A fuel (for furnaces and for diesel and aircraft engines)
and gasoline to McMurdo Station.  It is operated under
contract to the Military Sealift Command.

J.   USNS Green Wave

     Annual visits by this or a similar ice-strengthened
container ship deliver most of the cargo used at McMurdo and
inland stations, and it takes U.S. Antarctic Program waste
to the USA for recycling or proper disposal.  It is operated
under contract to the Military Sealift Command.

K.   Inflatable boats

     These 3- to 5-meter inflatable rubber open boats (e.g.,
Zodiacs) are used at Palmer Station and with Polar Duke to
support research operations.  They are powered by outboard
motors.

L.   Ground transportation

     A variety of vehicles is used for transport and
hauling.  These include four-wheel-drive pickup trucks with
oversize tires, all-wheel-drive dump trucks and flatbeds,
tracked vehicles, articulated vehicles with wide, low-
pressure tires, and motor toboggans (snowmobiles).  The
familiar Caterpillar tractor is found in
Antarcticasometimes with low ground pressure wide tracks
for improved operation on snow.  Snowblowers and graders are
used to clear snow from roads.

VI.  RESEARCH OBJECTIVES

     Scientific investigation of Antarctica began on the
present scale with the 1957-1958 International Geophysical
Year.  Since then, continuous research by many nations has
come close to completing a reconnaissance of the continent
and its surrounding oceans.
     The goal is to foster research on worldwide and
regional problems of scientific and social importance and to
expand fundamental knowledge of the region.  Because of the
expense of antarctic operations, research is performed in
Antarctica only if it can be performed only there or if it
can be performed best there.
     Investigators from universities and, to a lesser
extent, from federal agencies and other organizations
perform the research projects.  For most Americans who do
research in Antarctica the National Science Foundation, on
completion of exacting review and selection procedures that
include evaluation by outside scientists, provides both
financial and operational support.  Investigators may
perform research and analysis individually, in small teams,
or in large interdisciplinary groups.
     Preparation and presentation of the results of research
in Antarctica are the responsibility of the investigators.
These resultes appear mainly in scientific journals.
     What follows is a brief description of research
objectives in the scientific disciplines most active in
Antarctica:

A.   Aeronomy and astrophysics

     The polar regions have been called Earth's window to
outer space.  This term originally applied to study of
aurora and other phenomena related to interaction of solar
plasmas and fields.  In this context the polar upper
atmosphere is a screen on which the results of such
interactions can be viewed and through which other evidence
of space physics processes can pass.  Today, this concept of
Earth's polar atmosphere as a window includes research in
other fields as well.  With discovery of polar stratospheric
ozone depletions, a window previously thought ``closed''
(the ultraviolet window) is known to ``open'' in certain
seasons.  In astronomy and astrophysics, favorable
atmospheric conditions and the unique location of the South
Pole enable scientists to use this window to probe the
structure of the Sun and the universe with unprecedented
precision.
     The aeronomy and astrophysics program supports studies
of three regions:

the stratosphere and the mesosphere.  Research focuses on
stratospheric chemistry and aerosols, particularly in the
context of the ozone hole.  The polar stratosphere is
expected to be a field of continued interest and growth.

the thermosphere, the ionosphere, and the magnetosphere.
These regions derive many of their characteristics from the
interplay of ionized plasmas and energetic charged particles
with geomagnetic and geoelectric fields.  The upper
atmosphere, particularly the ionospheric portion of it, is
the ultimate sink of solar wind energy that is transported
into the magnetosphere.  Energy dissipates in the ionosphere
because of particle precipitation, which is the result in
part of resonant wave-particle interactions, and because of
the Joule heating that is a result of currents driven by
electric fields.

astronomy and astrophysical studies of the regions of the
universe outside the magnetosphere, including solar
astronomy and cosmic ray physics.  Astrophysical studies are
primarily conducted at the South Pole station, and long-
duration balloon projects are launched from McMurdo.

     Major goals are to sponsor research that requires or
would benefit from the unique conditions of the Antarctic,
to contribute to understanding of the role of the Antarctic
in global environmental change, to participate in
interdisciplinary studies of geosphere-biosphere
interactions in the middle and upper atmosphere, and to
improve understanding of the coupling of the Earth's polar
atmosphere with the magnetosphere and of the ways in which
both are affected by solar activity.

B.   Biology and medical research

     The goal of antarctic biology and medical research is
to improve understanding of life phenomena and processes.
The program supports projects directed at all levels of
organization from molecular, cellular, and organismal to
communities, ecosystems, and global processes.
Investigators should apply recent theory and technology to
understanding how organisms, including humans, adapt and
live in high latitude environments and how ecosystems may
respond to global change.  Support is focused on these
areas:

Marine ecosystem dynamics.  Understanding the natural
variability of marine ecosystems is the goal.  An important
direction is toward correlating the structure and function
of the marginal ice-zone ecosystem with oceanic and
atmospheric processes.  Of particular interest is the
influence of nutrient limitations on primary production and
the role of marine phytoplankton in carbon dioxide cycling.
Proposals to develop data collection technologies such as
satellite remote sensing are encouraged.

Terrestrial and limnetic ecosystems.  Organisms in ice-free
areas and in perennially ice-covered lakes show remarkable
adaptations.  The presence of relatively few species eases
the study of ecosystem dynamics and the interpretation of
experiments.  Research is needed on adaptive mechanisms and
evolutionary processes.  Studies that include molecular
biological approaches are encouraged.

Population biology and physiological ecology.  Research is
supported in population dynamics, especially metabolic,
physiological, and behavioral adaptations of krill and other
zooplankton and fish species.  Marine mammals and birds have
been the object of much research and merit further attention
in some areas.  Mechanisms necessary for maintenance of cell
function in fishes and their feeding behavior are important
topics.  Long-term observations are needed to improve
understanding of manmade or natural changes.

Adaptation.  The extremes of light, temperature, and
moisture have resulted in unusual adaptations.  Research
topics include low temperature photosynthesis and
respiration, enzymatic adaptations, adaptive strategies such
as development of antifreeze compounds and modifications to
circulation systems, and the response of organisms to
increased UV-B from the ozone hole.  Biotechnology offers
unique approaches to addressing questions involving
adaptation, and such applications are of special interest.

Human behavior and medical research.  Antarctica's extreme
climate can induce social, psychological, and physiological
stresses, particularly during the winter isolation, which
can exceed 8 months.  Research has applications to human
health and performance both in the Antarctic and in other
isolated environments such as spacecraft.  Studies can focus
on topics such as epidemiology, thermal regulation, immune
system function, individual behavior, and group dynamics.

C.   Earth sciences

     Antarctica represents about 9 percent of Earth's
continental crust and has been in a near-polar position for
more than 100 million years.  It is covered by a continental
ice sheet with an average thickness of 3 km.  There is
unequivocal evidence that for a long period after the
continent arrived at its high-latitude position, extensive
continental ice sheets did not exist there.  The ice sheets,
through their interaction with and effect on oceanic and
atmospheric circulation, play a key role in modulating
global climate.
     Some important program goals include:

determining the tectonic evolution of Antarctica and its
relationship to the evolution of the continents from
Precambrian time to the present

determining Antarctica's crustal structure

determining the effect of the dispersal of antarctic
continental fragments on the paleocirculation of the world
oceans, on the evolution of life, and on global
paleoclimates and present climate

reconstructing a more detailed history of the ice sheets,
identifying geological controls to ice sheet behavior, and
defining geological responses to the ice sheets on regional
and global scales

determining the evolution of sedimentary basins within the
continent and along continental margins

     All of these problems involve the need for an improved
understanding of where, when, and how Antarctica and its
surrounding ocean basins were accommodated in the interplate
movements inferred from studies of global plate kinematics.
In short, the program encourages investigation of the
relationships between the geological evolution of the
antarctic plate and paleocirculation, paleoclimate, and the
evolution of high-latitude biota.
     In geophysics, the continent and its environs have a
central role in the geodynamic processes that have shaped
the present global environment.  The tectonic role of the
antarctic continent in the breakup of Gondwanaland, the
close interaction of the antarctic crust and ice sheet with
their attendant effects on the planet's fluid systems, and
Antarctica's present-day seismically quiescent role defines
the important thrusts of geophysical research in the high
southern latitudes.  Modern geophysical and logistical
technology might focus on three broad ``transect zones,''
across the Weddell and Ross embayments and in the area of
the Amery Ice Shelf, where prospects for broad-scale
understanding of the region are highest.

D.   Ocean and climate systems

     Antarctic oceanic and tropospheric studies focus on the
structure and processes of the ocean-atmosphere environment
and their relationships with the global ocean, the
atmosphere, and the marine biosphere.  As part of the global
heat engine, the Antarctic has a major role in the world's
transfer of energy.  Its ocean/atmosphere system is known to
be both an indicator and a component of climate change.
     Research sponsored by the ocean and climate systems
program is intended to improve understanding of the oceanic
environment at high latitudes, including global exchange of
heat, salt, water, and trace elements, sea-ice dynamics, and
tropospheric chemistry and dynamics.  Major program elements
include

Physical oceanography, concerned with understanding the
dynamics and kinematics of the polar oceans, the effects of
interface driving forces such as wind, solar radiation, and
heat exchange, water mass production and modification
processes, ocean dynamics at the pack ice edge, and the
effect of polynyas on ventilation.

Chemical oceanography, concerned with chemical composition
of sea water and its global speciation, reactions among
chemical elements and compounds in the ocean, fluxes of
material within ocean basins and at their boundaries, and
the use of chemical tracers to study time and space scales
of oceanic processes.

Sea ice dynamics, including study of the material
characteristics of sea ice down to the individual crystal
level and the large-scale patterns of freezing, deformation,
and melting.  These processes have implications for both
atmospheric and oceanic ``climates.''  Advances in
instrumentation, including remote sensing or telemetering of
ice type, thickness, motion, and growth, should enable large
scale dynamics of sea ice to be monitored over long periods.

Meteorology, concerned with atmospheric circulation systems
and dynamics.  Research areas include the energy budget;
atmospheric chemistry; transport of atmospheric contaminants
to the Antarctic; and the role of large and mesoscale
systems in global exchange of heat, momentum, and trace
constituents.

E.   Glaciology

     Snow and ice are pervasive elements of high latitude
environmental systems and have an active role in the global
environment.  The glaciology program is concerned with the
study of the history and dynamics of all naturally occurring
forms of snow and ice, including floating ice, seasonal
snow, glaciers, and continental and marine ice sheets.
Program emphases include paleoenvironments from ice cores,
ice dynamics, numerical modeling, glacial geology, and
remote sensing of ice sheets.  Some specific objectives are:

Correlation of climatic fluctuations evident in antarctic
ice cores with data from arctic and lower-latitude ice
cores, and integration of the ice record with the
terrestrial and marine record.

Documentation of the geographic extent of climatic events
noted in paleoclimatic records; and the extension of the ice
core time series to provide information on astronomical
forcing of climate.

Establishment of more precise dating methodologies for deep
ice cores.

Determination of the Cenozoic history of antarctic ice
sheets and their interaction with global climate and uplift
of the Transantarctic Mountains; response of the antarctic
ice sheets to the Pliocene warming.

Investigation of the physics of fast glacier flow with
emphasis on processes at glacier beds.

Investigation of ice-shelf stability.

Identification and quantification of the feedback between
ice dynamics and climate change.

     A Polar Ice Coring Office is supported by the National
Science Foundation to service the technological requirements
of glaciologists.  It focuses on ice drill development for
NSF-supported remote field projects.
     A National Ice Core Laboratory processes, catalogs,
distributes, and archives ice core samples.  The University
of Colorado and the Geological Survey operate the facility
in Denver under contract to NSF.

F.   Environmental research

     This program supports research that can help to reduce
further the environmental impact of NSF's activities in
Antarctica.  Areas of inquiry include policy research,
effects of past practices, materials and waste management,
impacts, resilience of ecosystems, and promising
technologies.

G.   Instrumentation

     Supporting complex, state-of-the-art, multidisciplinary
research in the Earth's most remote and hostile region is a
challenge met increasingly by instrumentation.  Off-the-
shelf instruments, highly capable computers, and support for
the development of new instruments are requested frequently
in research proposals.
     Some existing instruments are well-suited for polar
regions; they can gather data year-round at low operational
cost.  Use of these instruments can reduce the number of
people required to make measurements and even increase the
reliability of the collected data.  Unattended instruments
for collection and analysis of data are essential in
Antarctica, where the extreme environment, great distances,
and logistics constraints limit the spatial and temporal
extent of coverage.

VII. AGENCY RESPONSIBILITIES

The U.S. Antarctic Program is the nation's program for
research and presence in Antarctica.  It is funded and
managed by the federal government, with agency
responsibilities as follows.

A.  Antarctic Working Group

This unit of the Interagency Policy Coordinating Committee
is the policy guidance body for all U.S. activities under
the Antarctic Treaty.  Its members represent the Department
of State (chair), the National Science Foundation, the
Department of Defense, and other agencies as appropriate.

B.  National Science Foundation

     The NSF has overall funding and management
responsibility for the U.S. activities in Antarctica.  This
responsibility involves several functions:

Annual preparation of plans and budget for consideration
within the Executive Branch and for review and appropriation
by the Congress.

Development of scientific goals for Antarctica, obtaining
advice as needed from the scientific community and
communicating these goals to the scientific community.

Receipt of proposals for research projects from U.S.
universities, other research institutions, and federal
agencies; evaluation of these proposals for relevance to
program goals, scientific merit, and logistics feasibility;
and granting of funds (as available) to these institutions
for performance of the projects in Antarctica and completion
of analysis upon return.

Detailed planning of logistics, and transmittal of
logistics requirements and necessary funds to the U.S. Naval
Support Force Antarctica and to the United States Coast
Guard (functions are described below).

Facilities management, design, planning, engineering,
construction, and maintenance.

Development and management of a contract with a commercial
firm (currently Antarctic Support Associates) for operation
of South Pole, Siple, and Palmer Stations, the research
vessels Polar Duke and Nathaniel B. Palmer, construction,
specialized functions at McMurdo Station, and other
services.

Development and implementation of a comprehensive safety,
environment, and health program for U.S. activities in
Antarctica.

Arrangement of cooperative scientific and logistics
programs with other Antarctic Treaty nations.

Designation of a Senior U.S. Representative in Antarctica
and on-site management of the field programs in Antarctica.

Serving as a clearinghouse and source of information
regarding antarctic records, files, documents, and maps
maintained within agencies and nongovernmental
organizations.

C.  Department of Defense

     The Defense Department assists in planning and carries
out logistics requested and reimbursed by the Foundation,
and it assures the continuing availability of essential
logistics components.  This function is performed
principally by the U.S. Naval Support Force Antarctica and
the Navy's Antarctic Development Squadron 6 (VXE-6).  Units
of the Air Force (Air Mobility Command), Air National Guard,
and Army also participate in this work.  Functions include:

Designated activities at McMurdo Station.

Operation of a squadron of seven LC-130 Hercules airplanes
and six UH-1N Huey helicopters in support of science
projects and resupply of inland stations

Arrangement of annual ship resupply of McMurdo by Military
Sealift Command contract ships

Operational communications

Military Airlift Command flights between Antarctica and
adjacent gateway cities

Safety and medical care for U.S. personnel in Antarctica as
assigned

Operation of portions of a staging facility in
Christchurch, New Zealand

D.  Department of Transportation

     The United States Coast Guard, a part of the Department
of Transportation, provides icebreaker services, reimbursed
by the Foundation.  These services include:

Channel breaking in McMurdo Sound in advance of the annual
ship resupply of McMurdo Station

Escort of supply ships into and out of McMurdo Station

Other assistance as required, including onboard research
support

     Each icebreaker has an on-board aviation detachment
consisting of two helicopters used for ice reconnaissance,
personnel transportation, some cargo operations, and other
support.

E.  Department of State

     In addition to chairing the Antarctic Working Group,
the State Department is responsible for the formulation of
foreign policy and the provision of foreign policy direction
relating to the development and implementation of an
integrated U.S. program for Antarctica; for the conduct of
foreign relations regarding Antarctica; and for legal
matters relating to the interpretation and implementation of
the Antarctic Treaty.

F.  Budget

     As of mid-1994, the President had asked the Congress
for antarctic funding in the National Science Foundation
budget in fiscal 1995 as follows:

Awards to institutions for research          $ 31,030,000
Operations and science support                104,420,000
Logistical support                   62,600,000
Total, U.S. Antarctic Program           $198,050,000

VIII.     INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION

A.   Antarctic Treaty

     The Antarctic Treaty, signed at Washington, D.C., in
1959 and entered into force in 1961, establishes a legal
framework for the area south of 60oS, which includes all of
Antarctica.  There are two types of Antarctic Treaty
parties.  Consultative nations are empowered to meet
periodically and to influence operation of the treaty.
Acceding nations agree to abide by the treaty, but, not
being among the original signatories and not having
substantial programs in Antarctica, do not participate in
the consultative process.  Appendix 1 contains the Antarctic
Treaty and a list of participating nations.
     The treaty provides that Antarctica shall be used for
peaceful purposes only; it prohibits military operations
except in support of peaceful activities.  It provides that
freedom of scientific investigation and cooperation shall
continue and that nations shall exchange program plans,
personnel, observations, and results.  The treaty does not
recognize, dispute, or establish territorial claims, and it
prohibits assertion of new claims.  It prohibits nuclear
explosions and disposal of radioactive waste.  It guarantees
access by any treaty nation to inspect others' stations and
equipment.
     The consultative meetings provided for by the treaty
have contributed recommendations, most of which have been
formally adopted by the treaty nations, that provide rules
for operating on the continent.  One of the most significant
is the Agreed Measures for the Conservation of Antarctic
Fauna and Flora, ratified by the United States as Public Law
95-541, the Antarctic Conservation Act of 1978.  Other
significant advances have included the Convention for the
Conservation of Antarctic Seals and the Convention on the
Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources.  A 1991
Antarctic Treaty meeting adopted a protocol for improved
environmental protection that also prohibits mining.

B.   Managers of National Antarctic Programs

     The treaty itself provides for policy formulation on a
range of issues regarding Antarctica.  The government
offices in the Antarctic Treaty nations that operate field
programs in Antarctica have established a Council of
Managers of National Antarctic Programs (COMNAP) to
facilitate working-level decision making and information
exchange.  Issues discussed at this level include, for
example, decisions regarding the exchange of personnel and
cooperation in research and logistics.  For the United
States, the director of the Office of Polar Programs,
National Science Foundation, is the COMNAP representative.

C.   Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research

     SCAR is a committee of the International Council of
Scientific Unions (ICSU), a nongovernmental organization.
As stated in its constitution, SCAR is ``charged with
furthering the coordination of scientific activity in
Antarctica, with a view to framing a scientific program of
circumpolar scope and significance.'' Membership consists of
a representative from each country engaged in antarctic
research, representatives of other ICSU organizations as
appropriate, and the World Meteorological Organization.
Other international organizations may designate observers to
attend meetings of SCAR.  For the United States, the
national committee adhering to SCAR is the Polar Research
Board of the National Academy of Sciences.
     SCAR meets every 2 years in a SCAR country to consider
various scientific and logistics objectives and
accomplishments.  It also sponsors or associates with major
symposia on antarctic subjects.  Sometimes SCAR establishes
working groups to develop information or reports in response
to Antarctic Treaty recommendations.

D.   Bilateral and multilateral cooperation

     Within the context of the Antarctic Treaty, extensive
international cooperation takes place in Antarctica to more
effectively accomplish both science projects and logistics.
Some examples are exchanges of personnel among stations,
cooperative planning and execution of large-scale science
projects such as deep rock core drilling and glaciological
exploration, and the exchange or shared use of logistics
assets such as ships and aircraft.  The United States has
pursued cooperative projects with every Antarctic Treaty
consultative nation.

IX.  U.S. POLICY FOR ANTARCTICA

     Our Nation's policy for Antarcticathe ``marching
orders'' for U.S. plans and activitieshas developed
steadily and consistently over the years.  It is based on
four principles: we recognize no foreign territorial claims,
we reserve the right to participate in any future uses of
the region, Antarctica shall be used for peaceful purposes
only, and there shall be free access for scientific
investigation and other peaceful pursuits.
     The nonrecognition of territorial claims dates to 1924,
when the Secretary of State (Charles Evans Hughes) wrote
that discovery of lands unknown to civilization ``does not
support a valid claim of sovereignty unless the discovery is
followed by an actual settlement of the discovered
country.''  In 1934 the Assistant Secretary of State added:
``I reserve all rights which the United States or its
citizens may have with respect to this matter.''  President
Franklin D. Roosevelt reaffirmed the U.S. stance in 1939:
``The United States has never recognized any claims of
sovereignty over territory in the antarctic regions asserted
by any foreign state.''  And in 1947 Dean Acheson, the Under
Secretary of State, wrote that the United States ``has not
recognized any claims of any other nations in the area and
has reserved all rights which it may have in the area.''
     As early as 1948, drawing on its leadership in
antarctic and world affairs, the United States had proposed
an international trusteeship.  The seven claimant nations
and the USA (and other nations, if they wished) would have
agreed ``not to seek a division of the territory in the
area, but to join with the others.''  The eight nations
would make joint explorations and would have free access
over the area.
     For a decade the idea did not catch.  Then the
International Geophysical Year renewed ties, and in May 1958
President Dwight D. Eisenhower invited the 11 other
antarctic IGY nations to come to Washington to draft an
Antarctic Treaty.  He wrote: ``The United States is
dedicated to the principle that the vast uninhabited wastes
of Antarctica shall be used only for peaceful purposes. . .
.  We propose that Antarctica shall be open to all nations
to conduct scientific and other peaceful activities there.''
Referring to the IGY, the President wrote:  ``Our proposal
is directed at insuring that this same kind of cooperation
for the benefit of all mankind shall be perpetuated.''
     The Secretary of State, John Foster Dulles, referred to
the extensive activities of United States expeditions to the
Antarctic and set forth the basic position and proposal of
the United States in these words:
     ``In view of the activities of the United States and
its nationals referred to above, my Government reserves all
of the rights of the United States with respect to the
antarctic region, including the right to assert a
territorial claim or claims.
     ``It is the opinion of my Government, however, that the
interests of mankind would best be served, in consonance
with the high ideals of the Charter of the United Nations,
if the countries which have a direct interest in Antarctica
were to join together in the conclusion of a treaty which
would have the following peaceful purposes:
     ``A.  Freedom of scientific investigation throughout
Antarctica by citizens, organizations, and governments of
all countries, . . .
     ``B.  International agreement to ensure that Antarctica
be used for peaceful purposes only.
     ``C.  Any other peaceful purposes not inconsistent with
the Charter of the United Nations.
     ``It is believed that such a treaty can be concluded
without requiring any participating nation to renounce
whatever basic historic rights it may have in Antarctica, or
whatever claims of sovereignty it may have asserted.  It
could be specifically provided that such basic rights and
such claims would remain unaffected while the treaty is in
force, and that no new rights would be acquired and no new
claims made by any country during the duration of the
treaty.''
     The nations met, the Antarctic Treaty was written, and
all the proposed provisions were in it.  The treaty entered
into force in 1961.  The Antarctic Treaty became the
keystone of U.S. antarctic policy.
     In October 1970 President Richard M. Nixon stated U.S.
policy for Antarctica to be:
     ``To maintain the Antarctic Treaty and ensure that this
continent will continue to be used only for peaceful
purposes and shall not become an area or object of
international discord.
     ``To foster cooperative scientific research for the
solution of worldwide and regional problems, including
environmental monitoring and prediction and assessment of
resources.
     ``To protect the antarctic environment and develop
appropriate measures to ensure the equitable and wise use of
living and nonliving resources.''
     The President added:
     ``Science has provided a successful basis for
international accord, and the Antarctic is the only
continent where science serves as the principal expression
of national policy and interest.''
     In 1970 and again in 1976 National Security Decision
Memoranda 71 and 318 reaffirmed the ``importance of
maintaining an active and influential United States presence
in the Antarctic'' that is ``responsive to United States
scientific, economic, and political objectives.''
     In February 1982 President Ronald Reagan reaffirmed the
prior policy (appendix) and noted that the presence in
Antarctica shall include ``the conduct of scientific
activities in major disciplines'' and ``year-round
occupation of the South Pole and two coastal stations.''

X.   PAST U.S. ANTARCTIC EXPEDITIONS

A.   Before International Geophysical Year

     United States expeditions to Antarctica have occurred
almost since the beginning of the nation.  Among the notable
ones, in 1820 Nathaniel B. Palmer, a Connecticut sealer, saw
the Antarctic Peninsula from his 14-meter sloop Hero.  John
Davis made the first known landing on Antarctica, at Hughes
Bay, in 1821.  James Eights, a scientist, provided
remarkably advanced natural history reports after
accompanying sealers to the South Shetlands in 1829-1831.
Charles Wilkes headed a Navy expedition that in 1839-1840
explored and mapped 2,400 kilometers of the coast of Wilkes
Land and established that Antarctica is a continent.  Carl
B. Eielson piloted the first airplane flown in Antarctica,
in 1928.
     Richard E. Byrd introduced large-scale mechanization of
antarctic exploration in two expeditions, in 1928-1930 and
1933-1935, that included extensive exploration by airplane
and the first flight over the South Pole.  Lincoln Ellsworth
flew across Antarctica in 1935 and discovered the American
Highland in 1938-1939.
     The Government established two antarctic stations in
1939-1941 that were intended to begin a continuing antarctic
service (World War II ended this plan).  In 1946-1947 the
Navy's Operation Highjump, the largest expedition ever made
to Antarctica, used 13 ships, several helicopters and
airplanes, and 4,700 men; it performed extensive aerial
photography for mapping.  A smaller Navy expedition,
Operation Windmill, followed in 1947-1948.  Finn Ronne's
expedition in 1948 established a wintering station and
explored and mapped at the base of the Antarctic Peninsula.

B.   International Geophysical Year, 1957-1958

     The International Geophysical Year, 1 July 1957 to 31
December 1958, was a great cooperative endeavor by the
world's scientists to improve their understanding of the
earth and its environment.  Much of the field activity took
place in Antarctica, where 12 nations established some 60
research stations.
     The United States established six research stations:
Little America, Hallett, South Pole, and Byrd (described in
section III), plus Wilkes (on the coast of Wilkes Land, East
Antarctica) and Ellsworth (on the Filchner Ice Shelf).
Naval Air Facility, McMurdo Sound (now McMurdo Station), was
set up as a logistics base from which to supply South Pole.
Studies were directed toward geophysics and upper atmosphere
physics and included simultaneous observations at all parts
of the globe.  In addition, long scientific traverses were
made to collect data in glaciology, seismology, gravimetry,
and meteorology.  Geological and biological samples were
collected, although these disciplines were not formally part
of the IGY.

C.   United States Antarctic Program

     The results of research performed during the IGY were
so interesting scientifically that the United States and the
other IGY nations decided to continue their antarctic work.
The National Science Foundation (NSF) was given
responsibility for the U.S. research effort and in 1959
established the U.S. Antarctic Research Program (USARP).
Mapping, biology, and ocean sciences were added to the
already active disciplines of geology and geophysics,
glaciology, meteorology, and upper atmosphere physics.  An
NSF contractor (currently Antarctic Support Associates,
Englewood, Colorado) and the Naval Support Force Antarctica,
identified by the unit name Operation Deep Freeze, support
the scientific effort.  The Air Force, the Coast Guard, and
the Army also provide logistics.
     After 1971, when the National Science Foundation was
assigned overall responsibility for U.S. activities in
Antarctica, the term U.S. Antarctic Program came into use to
designate both the United States Antarctic Research Program
and all operational activities, including Operation Deep
Freeze, that support the research program and other features
of the U.S. presence in Antarctica.
     Since the beginning of USARP, research has been
balanced among the scientific disciplines so that an
understanding of Antarctica's natural features and processes
can be developed along a broad front.  Results of U.S.
antarctic research performed since the IGY have had a great
part in developing an understanding of Antarctica, its role
in global processes, its distinctive needs for environmental
preservation, and its resource potential and have placed the
United States in a position of scientific and diplomatic
leadership in Antarctica.

XI.  ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION

     Protection of the environment has high priority for
nations that operate in the Antarctic.  The Antarctic Treaty
system, with its Agreed Measures for the Conservation of
Fauna and Flora (1964) and its Protocol on Environmental
Protection (1991), prescribes comprehensive protective
measures.
     The U.S. Government is pledged to uphold these
principles.  The National Science Foundation operates the
U.S. Antarctic Program in accordance with U.S. and
international requirements regarding protection of the
environment.  Environmental protection and waste management
procedures have been improved significantly in recent years.
Cleanups have largely removed the waste that had accumulated
during earlier decades.  Following are summaries of the
treaties and laws that apply to Antarctica and of recent
actions taken in the U.S. Antarctic Program.

A.   Treaties and laws that protect the environment

The Antarctic Treaty (1959) prohibits military
fortifications, nuclear explosions, disposal of radioactive
waste, and testing of weapons.  The United States is a
signatory.

The Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic
Treaty (the ``Madrid protocol,'' 1991) prohibits any
activity, other than scientific research, relating to
mineral resources.  It tightens standards for assessing
impacts, conserving fauna and flora, managing waste, and
preventing marine pollution.  The U.S. Antarctic Program is
complying voluntarily until U.S. legislation to implement
the protocol is in place.

 The Antarctic Conservation Act of 1978 (Public Law 95-541),
and the regulations issued under it, govern the taking of
fauna and flora; entry into protected areas; introduction of
nonnative species; material management and waste disposal;
and use of designated pollutants.  A permit system enables
investigators to apply to collect specimens and enter
protected areas for compelling scientific purposes.  The
system provides for public comment on each application.

 The Antarctic Marine Living Resources Convention Act of
1984 (Public Law 98-623) makes it unlawful to harvest marine
species in a way that would damage ecological relationships
among harvested, dependent, and related populations.

The Antarctic Protection Act of 1990 (Public Law 101-594)
bans mineral resource activities by U.S. citizens.

A 1993 decision by the U.S. Appeals Court for the District
of Columbia establishes that the National Environmental
Policy Act (Public Law 91-190 and amendmentsNEPA) applies
to U.S. Government activities in Antarctica.  Before,
Executive Order 12114 (Environmental Effects Abroad of Major
Federal Actions, 1979) guided the U.S. Antarctic Program.

B.   Conservation and environmental procedures

The National Science Foundation requires every scientist
proposing research in Antarctica to analyze the
environmental impact of the proposed project.  NSF carefully
reviews the proposal and does not give approval unless the
project (sometimes modified for this purpose) complies with
antarctic environmental standards.

Activities planned in the U.S. Antarctic Programscience
support, construction, operations, logistics, and facilities
maintenanceare (a) subjected to environmental analysis
specific to the proposed action or (b) governed by a program-
wide environmental impact statement issued in 1980 and
revised in 1991.  More than 120 specific environmental
documents have been issued.  The documents are public (see
last page).

The National Science Foundation administers the Antarctic
Conservation Act permit system, which enables qualified
scientists to obtain access to fauna and flora and specially
protected areas on a controlled basis.  Public comment is
solicited (in the Federal Register) about each application,
and permit requests and final reports are public
information.

The Foundation produces and disseminates documents and
videos to educate U.S. citizens about their environmental
protection responsibilities in Antarctica and the penalties
for noncompliance.  Audiences include U.S. Antarctic Program
participants and nongovernmental entities such as tourists,
tour operators, and adventurers.

A Foundation-managed program places trained observers on
selected tour ships to monitor compliance by U.S. citizens
with environmental standards of the Antarctic Conservation
Act.

All program participants sort and recycle waste at their
work sites and their living areas.

Waste management is now a ``cradle-to-grave'' function that
has been integrated into U.S. antarctic operations from
procurement to disposal.

In 1993 the Foundation's Office of Polar Programs
established and filled two new positionsNEPA Compliance
Manager and Associate Compliance Managerto assure adherence
with NEPA in Antarctica.  A third positionAntarctic
Conservation Act Enforcement Officeralso was established
and filled.  These positions add to four existing managers
whose primary roles are in safety, environment, and health
aspects of the U.S. Antarctic Program.

A U.S. Government interagency group is drafting legislation
to implement U.S. adherence to the new Protocol on
Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty.

C.   Recent initiatives

The 1993-1994 season is the last year of a 5-year antarctic
safety, environment, and health initiative approved by the
President and the Congress.  The initiative includes $36-
million for environmental protection in the U.S. Antarctic
Program.  Some results follow.

Fuel handling has been improved by replacing rubber bladder
tanks with double-wall steel tanks at McMurdo's skiway and
ice runway ; replacing old, short hoses with fewer but
longer hoses having ``dry-break'' connectors; developing
fuel spill contingency plans; and installing spill cleanup
equipment at U.S. stations.  A program is under way to
provide containment berms around McMurdo's single-wall fuel
tanks.  Tanks near Robert F. Scott's 1902 hut (an Antarctic
Treaty historic site) are to be removed.  McMurdo's entire
fuel system (tanks, pipes, pumps) is being evaluated in
detail in 1993-1994.

McMurdo's original dump (used until 1980) on the shore of
Winter Quarters Bay was cleared of surface and near-surface
debris and stabilized.

McMurdo's old trash-burning area (used from 1980 to 1991)
at Fortress Rocks uphill from the station was remediated and
stabilized.  Packaged waste now is staged there for removal
from Antarctica.

At Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station, on the ice sheet in
the antarctic interior, open-trench disposal of solid waste
was terminated.  The station now sends all its solid and
hazardous waste to McMurdo for processing.  In the 1992-1993
season 135 metric tonsmore than 20 cargo plane loadswas
removed.

The U.S. Antarctic Program no longer burns or incinerates
food waste or any other waste in Antarctica.  It is
proposing to remove the waste from Antarctica for proper
disposal.

More than 2,300 drums containing hazardous or unknown waste
were identified, packed in salvage drums, and removed in
1991-1992 to the United States for proper disposal.  Most of
the waste consisted of contaminated fuel, solvents, and
acids and bases that had accumulated over the years.

McMurdo Station is the waste management center for
virtually all U.S. operations on the antarctic continent.
The waste that is collected, labeled, and packaged there is
removed to approved disposal sites outside Antarctica.

The antarctic program has moved significantly toward its
goal of total waste removal from Antarctica.  McMurdo's
annual cargo ship in 1992 removed 2,500 metric tons of
backlogged waste, old equipment, and recyclablesthis was
the peak year.  The 1993 load was 1,500 metric tons.

Waste generated at dormitories and work sites is sorted at
the source into 17 categories for reuse in Antarctica or for
recycling or disposal in the United States.

The several dozen research camps around Antarctica that are
supported each austral summer from McMurdo take their waste
to McMurdo for appropriate handling.

Palmer Station, on Anvers Island off the west coast of the
Antarctic Peninsula, sends its solid and hazardous waste by
ship either to destinations outside of Antarctica for proper
disposal or to McMurdo for further handling and removal from
Antarctica.

Electrical transformers containing PCBs were removed from
Antarctica and replaced with new transformers that do not
contain PCBs.

The program has made major strides in inventory management
to reduce the amount of hazardous and other material stored
in Antarctica.

Chemical, laboratory, and hazardous wastes are prohibited
from station sewage systems.  The science laboratories and
other sources capture such waste for removal from
Antarctica.

Palmer's kitchen, bathing, and toilet waste is macerated
and diluted with brine from the seawater desalination plant
before being discharged into the sea.

McMurdo's kitchen, bathing, and toilet waste is macerated,
diluted with brine from the seawater desalination plant, and
discharged into the sea through a submerged pipe to assure
dilution.

NSF is collecting data for an assessment of the McMurdo
sewage system.  Also, in response to its request, potential
contractors have presented statements of how they might
engineer a sewage treatment plant.

Waste minimization and recycling technologies are being
researched and pursued for McMurdo Station.

The two ships operated by the U.S. Antarctic Programthe
Nathaniel B. Palmer and the Polar Dukewere built in 1992
and 1983 and meet both international high seas standards
(Marpol) and Antarctic Treaty protocol stipulations
regarding discharge of pollutants.

D.   Former stations

The original Palmer Station, built in 1965 across Arthur
Harbor from the present station, has been dismantled and
removed from Antarctica.  The site has been cleaned.

Hallett Station, on the Victoria Land coast 600 kilometers
north of McMurdo, was operated by the United States and New
Zealand from 1956 to 1973.  U.S. and N.Z. teams have removed
most remains of the station except for two refuge huts and
some stored fuel.  Removal of the fuel is being planned.

East Base, on Stonington Island, 400 kilometers south of
Palmer, was operated by U.S. expeditions in 1940-1941 and
1947-1948.  Site of the oldest U.S. structures in
Antarctica, it was declared historic under the Antarctic
Treaty in 1989 and cleaned up, with due regard for its
historic status, in 1991 and 1992.  A small museum has been
set up in one of the buildings.

E.   Studies

High levels of dissolved oxygen (8 to 9 parts per million)
were recorded from sea water samples drawn adjacent to
McMurdo, indicating excellent water quality.  Suspended
solids in the water column were negligible.

Air monitoring stations installed for NSF at McMurdo in the
1992-1993 austral summer season gave readings of carbon
monoxide, sulfur dioxide, the various nitrogen oxides, and
small particulates that are well below (much better than)
U.S. national ambient air quality standards applicable in
the United States.

Studies performed by scientists from U.S. universities with
funding from NSF have shown that the sediments under Winter
Quarters Bay (McMurdo's harbor, a small triangular area 200
meters on a side) include hydrocarbons, other pollutants,
and anthropogenic debris that were deposited during the
years of the seaside dump.  The sediments and waters just
outside this small harbor and elsewhere show little or no
effects from pollution or anthropogenic disturbance.

An Environmental Monitoring and Enforcement Laboratory has
been established in McMurdo's Albert P. Crary Science and
Engineering Center.

NSF has set up a program to support research that will
provide part of the scientific basis for antarctic
environmental management.

XII.  PUBLICATIONS

A.   Maps

     With NSF support, the U.S. Geological Survey has
prepared and published topographic and geologic maps of
portions of Antarctica at scales of 1:50,000, 1:250,000,
1:500,000, and 1:1,000,000.  Most of these maps, which are
the most authoritative ones available, cost under $5 each.
A 1991 satellite image wall map of the continent at
1:5,000,000 scale (``Antarctica,'' Map I-2284) is $5.25.
     The free Catalogue of Antarctica Maps can be requested
by phone from the Survey's Denver office (1-800-USA-MAPS)
at

     USGS Branch of Distribution
     Box 25286, Building 810
     Denver, Colorado 80225

     An older one-sheet map of the continent at 1:5,000,000
scale, published by the American Geographical Society in
1970, is available from the Smithsonian Oceanographic
Sorting Center, Washington, D.C. 20560.  The map measures
107 by 142 centimeters and costs $6 folded or $7 rolled and
shipped in a tube.
     A one-sheet map of the continent and surrounding oceans
(scale 1:6,000,000), a part of the General Bathymetric Chart
of the Oceans series, was published in 1980.  It is
available for $5 from the Hydrographic Chart Distribution
Service, Department of Fisheries and Oceans, 1675 Russell
Road, P.O. Box 8080, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada K1G 3H6 (613-
998-4931).

B.   Library of aerial photographs and maps

     An extremely large and complete library collection of
antarctic aerial photographs and maps produced by both the
United States and other nations is available for inspection
at the SCAR (Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research) Map
Library, U.S. Geological Survey, 515 National Center,
Reston, Virginia 22092 (telephone 703-648-6010).

C.   Hydrographic charts

     A total of 37 hydrographic charts of antarctic coastal
and deep sea waters at scales from 1:500,000 to 1:5,000 are
available from the Defense Mapping Agency (DMA), Office of
Distribution Services, Washington, D.C.  20315 (301-227-
2495).  An index is available from DMA or the Office of
Polar Programs.

D.   Aeronautical charts

     Aeronautical charts and publications regarding portions
of Antarctica are available for purchase by the public from
the Defense Mapping Agency, Combat Support Center, Attn:
DDCP, Washington, D.C. 20315-0020 (301-227-2495 in Maryland
or 1-800-826-0342 outside Maryland).  To decide what to
order, get Public Sale Catalog DMA Stock No. CATP6V03 (First
Edition, December 1987).  These are specialized products and
not very useful to those who are not aviators.

E.   Place names

     A gazetteer of the 12,362 antarctic place names
recognized by the United States (Gazetteer of the Antarctic;
NSF 89-98; xii + 145p.) was published in 1990 and is
available from the Polar Information Program (703-306-1031).
This book also lists 2,546 unapproved variant names, which
should not be used, and it contains a form on which to
recommend new names.
     An updated gazetteer with descriptions of place names
is expected to be published in early 1995.

F.   Bibliographies, 1951-present

     Two bibliography projects provide virtually complete
coverage of the antarctic research literature.
     An ongoing Antarctic Bibliography prepared by the
Library of Congress abstracts and indexes the world
antarctic literature published between 1951 and the present.
     At the end of 1993, 54,270 titles had been cited in the
subject categories of: general, biological sciences,
cartography, expeditions, geological sciences, ice and snow,
logistics equipment and supplies, medical sciences,
meteorology, oceanography, atmospheric physics, terrestrial
physics, and political geography.  Author, subject,
geographic, and grantee indexes are included.
     Twenty hardbound volumes and two cumulative indexes
have been published to date, and some still may be purchased
from the Superintendent of Documents, Government Printing
Office, Washington, D.C. 20402.
     Current Antarctic Literature is a printout of abstracts
issued monthly by the Library of Congress staff that
produces the Antarctic Bibliography.  It is available free
to working scientists and librarians.  Write the Polar
Information Program, Office of Polar Programs (or e-mail
dfriscic@nsf.gov).
     To assure prompt entry of your research papers into the
Antarctic Bibliography please send reprints to:

     Mr. Stuart Hibben, Head
     Cold Regions Bibliography Project
     Science and Technology Division
     Library of Congress
     Washington, D.C. 20540
     tel. 202-707-1181
     fax  202-707-1125

G.   Automated access to Antarctic Bibliography

     Online searching of Antarctic Bibliography citations
since 1961 and of the companion Bibliography on Cold Regions
Science and Technology can be performed on the COLD
database, offered by Orbit Search Service, 8000 Westpark
Drive, McLean, Virginia 22102 (800-456-7248 or 703-442-
0900).
     The Antarctic Bibliography and the Bibliography on Cold
Regions Science and Technology, along with a number of other
polar data bases, are on Arctic and Antarctic Regions, a CD-
ROM disk that is updated twice a year.  Copies are at U.S.
antarctic facilities, at the International Center in
Christchurch, and at NSF in Arlington, Virginia.  For sales
or further inquiries regarding the CD-ROM only:

     NISC Engineering Research Center
     Suite 6, Wyman Towers
     3100 St. Paul Street
     Baltimore, Maryland 21218
     tel. 410-243-0797

H.   Bibliography, pre-1951

     An Antarctic Bibliography (NAVAER 10-35-591) prepared
by the U.S. Naval Photographic Interpretation Center in 1951
was reprinted by the Greenwood Press, 51 Riverside Avenue,
Westport, Connecticut  06880 (tel. 203-226-3571).  The 147-
page hardbound volume lists and indexes some 5,500 titles,
covering the scientific, technical, and popular literature
published from the earliest times to 1951.

I.   Background and reference materials

     Most results of antarctic research are published as
papers in scientific journals, which are referenced in the
Antarctic Bibliography.  The following books and articles
have been selected, somewhat arbitrarily, as representing
the history and present status of antarctic exploration and
research.

     History

     Little America (1930, 420 p.), Discovery (1935, 405
p.), and Alone (1938, 296 p.), by Richard E. Byrd (New York,
Putnams).  The first two are the official narratives of the
first and second Byrd expeditions.  The third described
Byrd's vigil alone on the Ross Ice Shelf.
     The Worst Journey in the World, by Apsley Cherry-
Garrard (first published 1922).  A member of Scott's last
expedition describes the expedition and a winter journey
between McMurdo Sound and Cape Crozier.  This antarctic
classic has been reprinted many times in several editions.
     Cold.  The Record of an Antarctic Sledge Journey, by L.
M. Gould (New York, Brewer, Warren, and Putnam, 1931).
     Quest for a Continent, by Walter Sullivan (McGraw Hill,
1957).  357 p.  History of antarctic exploration to late
1950s.
     Endurance, Shackleton's Incredible Voyage, by Alfred
Lansing (New York, McGraw Hill, 1959).  284 p.  Shackleton's
2-year adventure.
     90 Degrees South: The Story of the American South Pole
Conquest, by Paul A. Siple (New York, G.P. Putnam's Sons,
1959).  The author was first station science leader at the
Pole.
     Antarctic Conquest:  The Great Explorers in Their Own
Words, edited by Walker Chapman (Bobbs Merrill, 1965).  368
p.  Anthology.
     Americans in Antarctica 1775-1948, by Kenneth J.
Bertrand (New York, American Geographical Society, 1971).
554 p.  Authoritative history of U.S. involvement.
     Antarctica:  Authentic Accounts of Life and
Exploration, edited by Charles Neider (New York, Random
House, 1972).  464 p.  Anthology plus editor's personal
narrative.
     Little America:  Town at the Bottom of the World, by
Paul A. Carter (New York, Columbia University Press, 1979).
301 p.  History emphasizing Byrd's expeditions.
     Scott and Amundsen, by Roland Huntford (New York, G.P.
Putnam's Sons, 1980).  665 p.  Comparative biography.

     General

     Encyclopdia Britannica, ``Antarctica.''  18 p.
     Frozen Future:  A Prophetic Report from Antarctica,
edited by Richard S. Lewis and Philip M. Smith (Quadrangle
Books, 1973).  454 p.  Antarctica as political and
scientific laboratory.
     Edge of the World:  Ross Island, Antarctica, by Charles
Neider (Doubleday, 1974).  461 p.  Personal and historical
narrative.
     Life at the Bottom:  The People of Antarctica, by John
Langone (Boston, Little, Brown, 1977).  262 p.  Anecdotal
narrative.
     Antarctica, by Eliot Porter (New York, E. P. Dutton,
1978). 169 p.  Eighty-seven color photographs plus text.
     The New Explorers:  Women in Antarctica, by Barbara
Land (New York:  Dodd, Mead, 1981).  224 p.
     ``A reporter at large (Antarctica):  South of 60
degrees south,'' by Katherine Bouton.  The New Yorker, 23
March 1981, p. 42-122.
     A Pole Apart:  The Emerging Issue of Antarctica, by
Philip W. Quigg (New York, McGraw Hill, 1983). 299 p.
Roundup of political and scientific concerns.
     Antarctica: Great Stories from the Frozen Continent
(Surry Hills, New South Wales, Australia: Readers Digest Pty
Limited, 1985).  320 p.  Detailed overall review of past and
present activities.
     Antarctica: The Continuing Experiment, by Philip W.
Quigg (New York, Foreign Policy Association, Headline Series
No. 273, March/April 1985).  62 p.
     The Seventh Continent: Antarctica in a Resource Age, by
Deborah Shapley (Washington, Resources for the Future,
1986).  315 p.  Review of antarctic affairs.
     Antarctic Treaty System: Politics, Law, and Diplomacy,
by J.D. Myhre (Boulder, Westview Press, 1986).  162 p.
Includes a draft text of the proposed minerals regime for
Antarctica.
     Antarctic Treaty System: An Assessment.  Proceedings of
a Workshop Held at Beardmore South Field Camp, Antarctica,
edited by Polar Research Board.  (National Academy Press,
1986), 435 p.
     South Light, by Michael Parfit.  Macmillan Publishing
Co., 1986.  Book based on a 3-month sojourn with the U.S.
Antarctic Program.
     The Ice: A Journey to Antarctica, by Stephen J. Pyne
(Iowa City, University of Iowa Press, 1986).  428 p.  Judged
by the New York Times Book Review as one of the 16 best
books of the year.  Paperbound: Ballantine Books, 1988.
     Natural History of the Antarctic Peninsula, by Sanford
Moss, illustrations by Lucia deLeiris (Columbia University
Press, 1988).  208 p.
     The Sea and the Ice, by Louis J. Halle (Boston,
Houghton Mifflin, 1973).  286 p.  [Cornell Paperbacks
edition published 1989 by Cornell University Press.]
Personal narrative of a voyage by icebreaker.
     Antarctic Comrades: An American with the Russians in
Antarctica, by Gilbert Dewart (Ohio State University Press,
1989).  194 p.  Glasnost during the era of Eisenhower,
Kennedy, and Krushchev.
     Wild Ice: Antarctic Journeys, by Ron Naveen, Colin
Monteath, Tui de Roy, and Mark Jones (Smithsonian
Institution Press, 1990).  224 p incl 175 color illus.  Four
authors collaborate to present textual and photographic
images of Antarctica.
     The Crystal Desert: Summers in Antarctica, by David G.
Campbell (Houghton Mifflin, 1993).  A biologist's three
seasons with the Brazilian program.
     ``Offshore: A Journey to the Weddell Sea,'' by Barry
Lopez.  Orion, Winter 1994.  An esteemed writer accompanies
the research icebreaker Nathaniel B. Palmer from Louisiana
to Antarctica.

     Research goals and recommendations

     The National Academy of Sciences has published a series
of recommended research objectives and related reports.  The
National Science Foundation has provided partial financial
support for this activity.  For a list of the reports, or to
obtain copies, contact the Polar Research Board, 2101
Constitution Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20418 (tel. 202-
334-3479).  Some recent reports:

     Prospects and concerns for remote sensing of snow and
ice.  1990.

     The role of Antarctica in global change.  28 p.  1989.

     Physical oceanography and tracer chemistry of the
southern ocean.  82 p.  1988.

     Data coordination and career stimulation in polar
biomedical research.  39 p.  1988.

     ``Laboratory Antarctica: research contributions to
global problems,'' Science, 4 December 1987 (p. 1361-1368)
and 22 January 1988 (p. 335).

     Antarctic solid-earth sciences research: a guide for
the next decade and beyond.  40 p.  1986.

     Recommendations for a U.S. ice coring program.  67 p.
1986.

     U.S. research in Antarctica in 2000 a.d. and beyond: a
preliminary assessment.  35 p.  1986.

     Research emphases for the U.S. Antarctic Program.  126
p.  1983.

     U.S. Government publications

     Unless otherwise indicated, the National Science
Foundation publishes these items.  Order those with NSF
numbers from Publications, NSF, Arlington, Virginia 22230
(703-306-1130, pubs@nsf.gov).  Some older NSF antarctic
publications can be obtained from the Foundation's Polar
Information Program (703-306-1031; dfriscic@nsf.gov).

     Antarctic Research Proposal Guide (Annex) (NSF 94-62).
You need this book and the next two to prepare a research
proposal to NSF.
     Antarctic Program Announcement and Proposal Guide (NSF
93-49).
     Grant Proposal Guide (NSF 94-2).
     Guide to Programs (NSF 93-167).  Describes areas of NSF
grant support.
     United States Antarctic Program (NSF 91-92, color
brochure).
     Antarctic Journal of the United States (1966-    ).
National Science Foundation.  Free to U.S. Antarctic Program
participants from Office of Polar Programs.  All others:
Contact Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C.  20402.
Quarterly news plus annual reviews of U.S. Antarctic
Program.
     Antarctic Conservation Act of 1978 (NSF 89-59, 80 p.).
This book contains the law, its regulations, maps of special
areas, and a permit application form.
     Gazetteer of the Antarctic (NSF 89-98, xii + 145p).
Contains the 12,362 place names (and their geographic
coordinates) officially recognized by the U.S. Board on
Geographic Names.
     Antarctic News Clips, 1994 (NSF 94-76, 185 p.).  Polar
Information Program.  Latest annual collection of news
clippings related to the U.S. Antarctic Program.
     Directorate for Geosciences and Office of Polar
Programs Long Range Plan FY 1995-2000 (NSF 94-49, 62 p.).
     Final Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement for
the United States Antarctic Program.  National Science
Foundation, October 1991.  xxvi+431 p.
     Cooperative Agreements for Environmental Research in
Support of U.S. Antarctic Program Environmental
ManagementProgram Solicitation (NSF 93-96) describes
financial support available in this subprogram begun in
1993.

     Slides, movies, and videos

     An NSF contractor holds a large number of indexed
antarctic slides that are available for public use.  For
information, contact:

     Capital Systems Group, Inc.
     1355 Piccard Drive, Suite 350
     Rockville, Maryland 20850
     tel. 301-948-3033
     fax  301-948-2242

     Various antarctic videos may be borrowed from the above
or from the Polar Information Program at NSF (703-306-1031).

J.   Science & Technology Information System

     NSF's free online Science & Technology Information
System (STIS) provides access to many NSF documents, ranging
from the phone book to announcements of research
opportunities. It is available to any computer with vt100
emulation that can access a network or that has dialup
capability.  The service is free.  For information:
stisserv@nsf.gov, phone 703-306-0214.

XIII.  OPPORTUNITIES FOR PARTICIPATION

     Each year the United States deploys to Antarctica about
600 people to perform scientific research and about 1,800
people to operate and maintain year-round research stations
and provide logistics in support of this research.  These
persons include research teams from academia, industry, and
government, military personnel, and contractor employees.
     The National Science Foundation is the federal agency
responsible for funding and managing U.S. activities in
Antarctica, but the Foundation does not directly hire
individuals.  They are selected by participating
organizations and institutions as described below.
Successful applicants will have been prepared through
specialized study, training, or experience in polar-related
topics.  Opportunities fall into these categories:
     Scientist.  Scientific opportunities in Antarctica
center on terrestrial and marine biology, medical research,
meteorology, glaciology, the earth sciences, the ocean
sciences, atmospheric physics, and astronomy.  Eligibility
generally is limited to U.S. scientists with advanced
degrees, who initiate proposals that are submitted by their
employing organizations.  Graduate students are not
encouraged to submit research proposals, but are welcome as
members of research teams.
     Scientist's assistant.  The scientist who submits a
successful proposal typically is authorized to assemble a
research team to help implement his or her project in the
field.  Preference is given to graduate and undergraduate
students in the pertinent scientific discipline.  Although
assistants usually are chosen from within the scientist's
organization, a well qualified individual may be successful
in joining the team.  The Foundation encourages
investigators to include qualified young people (high school
graduates and beyond) in their field projects and offers
several programs to fund such participation.  The
Foundation's Antarctic Journal of the United States lists
recent awardees and the titles of their research.  Inquiries
should be directed to the awardee, not to the Foundation.
     Technician or field assistant (support contractor).
Because of the far flung and difficult environment of
Antarctica, the program has many supporting persons.  These
people operate stations, laboratories, machinery, and
research ships, build or renovate facilities, maintain
vehicles, outfit field parties, and manage camps.  Many
trades and levels of skill are involved.  A contractor is
empowered by the Foundation to do hiring for performance of
these tasks.  The current contract is with Antarctic Support
Associates.  Employment enquiries should be directed to
Antarctic Support Associates, 61 Inverness Drive East, Suite
300, Englewood, Colorado 80112, 800-688-8606.  Direct
inquiries to the contractor, not the Foundation.
     Active duty military.  The U.S. Navy operates
helicopters and airplanes in the Antarctic Program and
performs other logistics functions.  The Coast Guard
operates icebreakers in Antarctica to escort supply ships
and support science.  Employment with these organizations
generally is limited to active duty service personnel and
involves a long-term commitment that might not include
antarctic service.  Direct inquiries to a Navy recruiter or
the Coast Guard, Department of Transportation, Washington,
D.C. 20590.
     Public information representative.  Each year the
Foundation endeavors to send a small number of members of
the press or television crews to Antarctica to observe and
report on U.S. activities.  Selection is based on ability to
understand and present scientific subjects, written
commitment from employing organization, and expected size of
audience.  Contact:  Public Information Branch (703-306-
1070) or Polar Information Program (703-306-1031), NSF.
     Artist or writer.  To enable interpretation and
presentation of the Nation's antarctic heritage, the
Foundation's Antarctic Artists & Writers Program will
consider requests from particularly well qualified writers,
historians, artists, or others in the liberal arts to work
in Antarctica.  This is a limited opportunity that provides
field support but no direct award of funds.  The successful
candidate will be well established and working full time in
the appropriate field and will have a means of presenting
his or her work to the public.  Ask the Polar Information
Program for USAP Information Series No. 31, Antarctic
Artists & Writers Program.
     Excluded categories.  Because some types of activities
are not considered to contribute to the U.S. mission for
Antarctica, NSF will not consider or approve applications
for participation in the program in these categories:
private expeditions by mountain climbers or adventurers,
visits to promote commercial products, photography (except
as in one of the above categories), ``space-available''
passage on support aircraft flights, and sightseeing or
other superficial visits.  The support organizations are
also bound by this National policy.  The Government does not
provide support to private expeditions, but does not
discourage citizens from participating in such expeditions
if they are self-sufficient and meet environmental
standards.
     Equal opportunity.  The National Science Foundation and
its contractors and grantees are equal opportunity
employers.  Women and members of minority groups are
encouraged to apply for participation in all aspects of the
U.S. Antarctic Program.  A number of NSF programs
specifically encourage such participation and are described
in the Foundation's annually updated Guide to Programs,
available from NSF Publications (address above).

XIV. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION

     Inquiries regarding opportunities for scientific
research project support, employment, specific research
results, availability of specimens and data, and other
aspects of the U.S. Antarctic Program may be directed to the
Polar Information Program, Office of Polar Programs,
National Science Foundation, 4201 Wilson Boulevard,
Arlington, Virginia 22230.  Telephone: 703-306-1031.
Facsimile: 703-306-0139.  Electronic mail: dfriscic@nsf.gov.

XV.  METRIC SYSTEM

     NSF encourages use of the metric system, and this
manual uses metric where practical.  Here are some
conversions:

1 centimeter        =    2.54 inches
1 meter        =    3.28 feet
1 kilometer         =    0.621 mile
1 kilometer         =    0.540 nautical mile
1 kilogram          =    2.20 pounds
1 kilowatt          =    1.34 horsepower
1 square meter      =    10.8 square feet
1 meter per second  =    2.24 miles per hour

1 foot              =    0.305 meter
1 inch              =    2.540 centimeters
1 mile              =    1.609 kilometers
1 nautical mile          =    1.151 miles
1 nautical mile          =    1.852 kilometers
1 pound        =    0.454 kilogram
1 horsepower        =    0.746 kilowatt
1 square foot       =    0.093 square meter
1 mile per hour          =    0.447 meter per second

XVI. GLOSSARY

ASAAntarctic Support Associates, the National Science
Foundation's antarctic support contractor
CCAMLRConvention on the Conservation of Antarctic Marine
Living Resources, a part of the Antarctic Treaty system
CD-ROMCompact disk, read-only memory: a high capacity
storage medium for electronic data
CNSFACommander, Naval Support Force, Antarctica: the senior
Navy official in the U.S. Antarctic Program
Continental systemThe part of the USAP that centers on
McMurdo Station, including South Pole and field camps
supported from McMurdo

EPAEnvironmental Protection Agency, U.S. Government
IACInternational Antarctic Center, Christchurch, New
Zealand
IGYInternational Geophysical Year, 1957-1958
LC-130Ski-equipped four-engine Lockheed Hercules turboprop
airplane
NASUNaval Antarctic Support Unit, Christchurch, New Zealand
NGANongovernmental activity
NSFNational Science Foundation, an agency of the U.S.
Government
NSFANaval Support Force, Antarctica
OPPOffice of Polar Programs, National Science Foundation
Peninsula systemThe part of the USAP that includes Palmer
Station, Polar Duke, and other operations in the Antarctic
Peninsula area
SCARScientific Committee on Antarctic Research, of the
International Council of Scientific Unions, a
nongovernmental organization
SEHSafety, environment, and health: specifically, a 5-year
initiative, begun in 1990, to improve these functions in the
U.S. Antarctic Program
SPASpecially Protected Area, an Antarctic Treaty
designation
SSSISite of Special Scientific Interest, an Antarctic
Treaty designation
SUREPASenior U.S. Representative, Antarctica, appointed by
the Director of NSF to oversee U.S. Government activities in
Antarctica
UH-1NTwin-turbine Bell Huey helicopter
USAFUnited States Air Force
USAPUnited States Antarctic Program, the U.S. Government's
program for research and related activities regarding
Antarctica
USARPUnited States Antarctic Research Program, the program
of scientific research supported in USAP
USCGU.S. Coast Guard
USGSUnited States Geological Survey
USNUnited States Navy
VHFVery high frequency: VHF radios are used locally around
stations and ships
VXE-6Antarctic Development Squadron 6, U.S. Navy, the USAP
aviation unit

APPENDIX 1

THE ANTARCTIC TREATY

     The 12 nations listed in the preamble (below) signed
the Antarctic Treaty on 1 December 1959 at Washington, D.C.
The treaty entered into force on 23 June 1961; the 12
signatories became the original 12 consultative nations.
     As of mid-1994, 14 additional nations (Brazil, China,
Ecuador, Finland, Germany, India, Italy, Netherlands,
Poland, Republic of Korea, Peru, Sweden, Spain, and Uruguay)
have achieved consultative status by acceding to the treaty
and by conducting substantial scientific research in
Antarctica.  Russia carries forward the signatory privileges
and responsibilities established by the former Soviet Union.
     Another 16 nations have acceded to the Antarctic
Treaty: Austria, Bulgaria, Canada, Colombia, Cuba, Czech
Republic, Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea, Denmark,
Greece, Guatemala, Hungary, Papua New Guinea, Romania,
Slovak Republic, Switzerland, and Ukraine.  These nations
agree to abide by the treaty and may attend consultative
meetings as observers.
     The 42 Antarctic Treaty nations represent about two-
thirds of the world's human population.
     Consultative meetings have been held approximately
every other year since the treaty entered into force, but
since 1993 they have been held annually.  Each meeting has
generating recommendations regarding operation of the treaty
that, when ratified by the participating governments, become
binding on the parties to the treaty.
     Additional meetings within the Antarctic Treaty system
have produced agreements on conservation of seals,
conservation of living resources, and comprehensive
environmental protection.
     What follows is the complete text of the Antarctic
Treaty.  The headings for each article were added by the
National Science Foundation and are unofficial.

[preamble]

     The Governments of Argentina, Australia, Belgium,
Chile, the French Republic, Japan, New Zealand, Norway, the
Union of South Africa, The Union of Soviet Socialist
Republics, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern
Ireland, and the United States of America,
     Recognizing that it is in the interest of all mankind
that Antarctica shall continue forever to be used
exclusively for peaceful purposes and shall not become the
scene or object of international discord;
     Acknowledging the substantial contributions to
scientific knowledge resulting from international
cooperation in scientific investigation in Antarctica;
     Convinced that the establishment of a firm foundation
for the continuation and development of such cooperation on
the basis of freedom of scientific investigation in
Antarctica as applied during the International Geophysical
Year accords with the interests of science and the progress
of all mankind;
     Convinced also that a treaty ensuring the use of
Antarctica for peaceful purposes only and the continuance of
international harmony in Antarctica will further the
purposes and principles embodied in the Charter of the
United Nations;
     Have agreed as follows:

Article I

[Antarctica for peaceful purposes only]

     1.  Antarctica shall be used for peaceful purposes
only.  There shall be prohibited, inter alia, any measures
of a military nature, such as the establishment of military
bases and fortifications, the carrying out of military
maneuvers, as well as the testing of any type of weapons.
     2.  The present Treaty shall not prevent the use of
military personnel or equipment for scientific research or
for any other peaceful purposes.

Article II

[freedom of scientific investigation to continue]

     Freedom of scientific investigation in Antarctica and
cooperation toward that end, as applied during the
International Geophysical Year, shall continue, subject to
the provisions of the present Treaty.

Article III

[plans and results to be exchanged]

     1.  In order to promote international cooperation in
scientific investigation in Antarctica, as provided for in
Article II of the present Treaty, the Contracting Parties
agree that, to the greatest extent feasible and practicable:
     (a) information regarding plans for scientific programs
in Antarctica shall be exchanged to permit maximum economy
and efficiency of operations;
     (b) scientific personnel shall be exchanged in
Antarctica between expeditions and stations;
     (c) scientific observations and results from Antarctica
shall be exchanged and made freely available.
     2.  In implementing this Article, every encouragement
shall be given to the establishment of cooperative working
relations with those Specialized Agencies of the United
Nations and other international organizations having a
scientific or technical interest in Antarctica.

Article IV

[territorial claims]

     1.  Nothing contained in the present Treaty shall be
interpreted as:
     (a) a renunciation by any Contracting Party of
previously asserted rights of or claims to territorial
sovereignty in Antarctica;
     (b) a renunciation or diminution by any Contracting
Party of any basis of claim to territorial sovereignty in
Antarctica which it may have whether as a result of its
activities or those of its nationals in Antarctica, or
otherwise;
     (c) prejudicing the position of any Contracting Party
as regards its recognition or nonrecognition of any other
State's right of or claim or basis of claim to territorial
sovereignty in Antarctica.
     2.  No acts or activities taking place while the
present Treaty is in force shall constitute a basis for
asserting, supporting or denying a claim to territorial
sovereignty in Antarctica.  No new claim, or enlargement of
an existing claim, to territorial sovereignty shall be
asserted while the present Treaty is in force.

Article V

[nuclear explosions prohibited]

     1.  Any nuclear explosions in Antarctica and the
disposal there of radioactive waste material shall be
prohibited.
     2.  In the event of the conclusion of international
agreements concerning the use of nuclear energy, including
nuclear explosions and the disposal of radioactive waste
material, to which all of the Contracting Parties whose
representatives are entitled to participate in the meetings
provided for under Article IX are parties, the rules
established under such agreements shall apply in Antarctica.

Article VI

[area covered by Treaty]

     The provisions of the present Treaty shall apply to the
area south of 60o South latitude, including all ice shelves,
but nothing in the present Treaty shall prejudice or in any
way affect the rights, or the exercise of the rights, of any
State under international law with regard to the high seas
within that area.

Article VII

[free access for observation and inspection]

     1.  In order to promote the objectives and ensure the
observation of the provisions of the present Treaty, each
Contracting Party whose representatives are entitled to
participate in the meetings referred to in Article IX of the
Treaty shall have the right to designate observers to carry
out any inspection provided for by the present Article.
Observers shall be nationals of the Contracting Parties
which designate them.  The names of the observers shall be
communicated to every other Contracting Party having the
right to designate observers, and like notice shall be given
of the termination of their appointment.
     2.  Each observer designated in accordance with the
provisions of paragraph 1 of this Article shall have
complete freedom of access at any time to any or all areas
of Antarctica.
     3.  All areas of Antarctica, including all stations,
installations and equipment within those areas, and all
ships and aircraft at points of discharging or embarking
cargoes or personnel in Antarctica, shall be open at all
times to inspection by any observers designated in
accordance with paragraph 1 of this Article.
     4.  Aerial observation may be carried out at any time
over any or all areas of Antarctica by any of the
Contracting Parties having the right to designate observers.
     5.  Each Contracting Party shall, at the time when the
present Treaty enters into force for it, inform the other
Contracting Parties, and thereafter shall give them notice
in advance, of
     (a) all expeditions to and within Antarctica, on the
part of its ships of nationals, and all expeditions to
Antarctica organized in or proceeding from its territory;
     (b) all stations in Antarctica occupied by its
nationals; and
     (c) any military personnel or equipment intended to be
introduced by it into Antarctica subject to the conditions
prescribed in paragraph 2 of Article I of the present
Treaty.

Article VIII

[personnel under jurisdiction of their own states]

     1.  In order to facilitate the exercise of their
functions under the present Treaty, and without prejudice to
the respective positions of the Contracting Parties relating
to jurisdiction over all other persons in Antarctica,
observers designated under paragraph 1 of Article VII and
scientific personnel exchanged under subparagraph 1(b) of
Article III of the Treaty, and members of the staffs
accompanying any such persons, shall be subject only to the
jurisdiction of the Contracting Party of which they are
nationals in respect to all acts or omissions occurring
while they are in Antarctica for the purpose of exercising
their functions.
     2.  Without prejudice to the provisions of paragraph 1
of this Article, and pending the adoption of measures in
pursuance of subparagraph 1(e) of Article IX, the
Contracting Parties concerned in any case of dispute with
regard to the exercise of jurisdiction in Antarctica shall
immediately consult together with a view to reaching a
mutually acceptable solution.

Article IX

[Treaty states to meet periodically]

     1.  Representatives of the Contracting Parties named in
the preamble to the present Treaty shall meet at the City of
Canberra within two months after date of entry into force of
the Treaty, and thereafter at suitable intervals and places,
for the purpose of exchanging information, consulting
together on matters of common interest pertaining to
Antarctica, and formulating and considering, and
recommending to their Governments, measures in furtherance
of the principles and objectives of the Treaty including
measures regarding:

     (a) use of Antarctica for peaceful purposes only;
     (b) facilitation of scientific research in Antarctica;
     (c) facilitation of international scientific
cooperation in Antarctica;
     (d) facilitation of the exercise of the rights of
inspection provided for in Article VII of the Treaty;
     (e) questions relating to the exercise of jurisdiction
in Antarctica;
     (f) preservation and conservation of living resources
in Antarctica.

     2.  Each Contracting Party which has become a party to
the present Treaty by accession under Article XIII shall be
entitled to appoint representatives to participate in the
meetings referred to in paragraph 1 of the present Article,
during such time as the Contracting Party demonstrates its
interest in Antarctica by conducting substantial scientific
research activity there, such as the establishment of a
scientific station or the despatch of a scientific
expedition.
     3.  Reports from the observers referred to in Article
VII of the present Treaty shall be transmitted to the
representatives of the Contracting Parties participating in
the meetings referred to in paragraph 1 of the present
Article.
     4.  The measures referred to in paragraph 1 of this
Article shall become effective when approved by all the
Contracting Parties whose representatives were entitled to
participate in the meetings held to consider those measures.
     5.  Any or all of the rights established in the present
Treaty may be exercised as from the date of entry into force
of the Treaty whether or not any measures facilitating the
exercise of such rights have been proposed, considered or
approved as provided in this Article.

Article X

[discourages activities contrary to Treaty]

     Each of the Contracting Parties undertakes to exert
appropriate efforts, consistent with the Charter of the
United Nations, to the end that no one engages in any
activity in Antarctica contrary to the principles or
purposes of the present Treaty.

Article XI

[settlement of disputes]

     1.  If any dispute arises between two or more of the
Contracting Parties concerning the interpretation or
application of the present Treaty, those Contracting Parties
shall consult among themselves with a view to having the
dispute resolved by negotiation, inquiry, mediation,
conciliation, arbitration, judicial settlement or other
peaceful means of their own choice.
     2.  Any dispute of this character not so resolved
shall, with the consent, in each case, of all parties to the
dispute, be referred to the International Court of Justice
for settlement; but failure to reach agreement on reference
to the International Court shall not absolve parties to the
dispute from the responsibility of continuing to seek to
resolve it by any of the various peaceful means referred to
in paragraph 1 of this Article.

Article XII

[review of Treaty possible after 30 years]

     1.  (a) The present Treaty may be modified or amended
at any time by unanimous agreement of the Contracting
Parties whose representatives are entitled to participate in
the meetings provided for under Article IX.  Any such
modification or amendment shall enter into force when the
depositary Government has received notice from all such
Contracting Parties that they have ratified it.
     (b) Such modification or amendment shall thereafter
enter into force as to any other Contracting Party when
notice of ratification by it has been received by the
depositary Government.  Any such Contracting Party from
which no notice of ratification is received within a period
of two years from the date of entry into force of the
modification or amendment in accordance with the provisions
of subparagraph 1(a) of this Article shall be deemed to have
withdrawn from the present Treaty on the date of the
expiration of such period.
     2.  (a) If after the expiration of thirty years from
the date of entry into force of the present Treaty, any of
the Contracting Parties whose representatives are entitled
to participate in the meetings provided for under Article IX
so requests by a communication addressed to the depositary
Government, a Conference of all the Contracting Parties
shall be held as soon as practicable to review the operation
of the Treaty.
     (b) Any modification or amendment to the present Treaty
which is approved at such a Conference by a majority of the
Contracting Parties there represented, including a majority
of those whose representatives are entitled to participate
in the meetings provided for under Article IX, shall be
communicated by the depositary Government to all the
Contracting Parties immediately after the termination of the
Conference and shall enter into force in accordance with the
provisions of paragraph 1 of the present Article.
     (c) If any such modification or amendment has not
entered into force in accordance with the provisions of
subparagraph 1(a) of this Article within a period of two
years after the date of its communication to all the
Contracting Parties, any Contracting Party may at any time
after the expiration of that period give notice to the
depositary Government of its withdrawal from the present
Treaty; and such withdrawal shall take effect two years
after the receipt of the notice by the depositary
Government.

Article XIII

[ratification and accession]

     1.  The present Treaty shall be subject to ratification
by the signatory States.  It shall be open for accession by
any State which is a Member of the United Nations, or by any
other State which may be invited to accede to the Treaty
with the consent of all the Contracting Parties whose
representatives are entitled to participate in the meetings
provided for under Article IX of the Treaty.
     2.  Ratification of or accession to the present Treaty
shall be effected by each State in accordance with its
constitutional processes.
     3.  Instruments of ratification and instruments of
accession shall be deposited with the Government of the
United States of America, hereby designated as the
depositary Government.
     4.  The depositary Government shall inform all
signatory and acceding States of the date of each deposit of
an instrument of ratification or accession, and the date of
entry into force of the Treaty and of any modification or
amendment thereto.
     5.  Upon the deposit of instruments of ratification by
all the signatory States, the present Treaty shall enter
into force for those States and for States which have
deposited instruments of accession.  Thereafter the Treaty
shall enter into force for any acceding State upon the
deposit of its instrument of accession.
     6.  The present Treaty shall be registered by the
depositary Government pursuant to Article 102 of the Charter
of the United Nations.

Article XIV

[United States is repository]

     The present Treaty, done in the English, French,
Russian, and Spanish languages, each version being equally
authentic, shall be deposited in the archives of the
Government of the United States of America, which shall
transmit duly certified copies thereof to the Governments of
the signatory and acceding States.
     In witness whereof, the undersigned Plenipotentiaries,
duly authorized, have signed the present Treaty.
     Done at Washington the first day of December, one
thousand nine hundred and fifty-nine.

For Argentina:
     Adolfo Seilingo
     F. Bello

For Australia:
     Howard Beale

For Belgium:
     Obert de Thieusies

For Chile:
     Marcial Mora M.
     L. Gajardo V.
     Julio Escudero

For the French Republic:
     Pierre Charpentier

For Japan:
     Koichiro Asakai
     T. Shimoda

For New Zealand:
     G.D.L. White

For Norway:
     Paul Koht

For the Union of South Africa:
     Wentzel C. du Plessis

For the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics:
     V. Kuznetsov

For the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern
Ireland:
     Harold Caccia

For the United States of America:
     Herman Phleger
     Paul C. Daniels

     APPENDIX 2
     PRESIDENT'S MEMORANDUM REGARDING ANTARCTICA

Memorandum 6646     February 5, 1982
     THE WHITE HOUSE
     WASHINGTON

MEMORANDUM FOR THE SECRETARY OF STATE
                    THE SECRETARY OF THE TREASURY
                    THE SECRETARY OF DEFENSE
                    THE SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR
                    THE SECRETARY OF COMMERCE
                    THE SECRETARY OF TRANSPORTATION
                    THE SECRETARY OF ENERGY
                    THE DIRECTOR, OFFICE OF MANAGEMENT AND
BUDGET
                    THE DIRECTOR OF CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE
                    CHAIRMAN, JOINT CHIEFS OF STAFF
                    DIRECTOR, ARMS CONTROL AND DISARMAMENT
AGENCY
                    DIRECTOR, OFFICE OF SCIENCE AND
TECHNOLOGY POLICY
                    ADMINISTRATOR, ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION
AGENCY
                    DIRECTOR, NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION

SUBJECT:  United States Antarctic Policy and Programs

     I have reviewed the Antarctic Policy Group's study of
United States interests in Antarctica and related policy and
program considerations, as forwarded by the Department of
State on November 13, 1981, and have decided that:

The United States Antarctic Program shall be maintained at
a level providing an active and influential presence in
Antarctica designed to support the range of U.S. antarctic
interests.

This presence shall include the conduct of scientific
activities in major disciplines; year-round occupation of
the South Pole and two coastal stations; and availability of
related necessary logistics support.

Every effort shall be made to manage the program in a
manner that maximizes cost effectiveness and return on
investment.

     I have also decided that the National Science
Foundation shall continue to:

budget for and manage the entire United States national
program in Antarctica, including logistic support activities
so that the program may be managed as a single package;

fund university research and federal agency programs
related to Antarctica;

draw upon logistic support capabilities of government
agencies on a cost reimbursable basis; and

use commercial support and management facilities where
these are determined to be cost effective and will not, in
the view of the Group, be detrimental to the national
interest.

     Other agencies may, however, fund and undertake
directed short-term programs of scientific activity related
to Antarctica upon the recommendation of the Antarctic
Policy Group and subject to the budgetary review process.
Such activities shall be coordinated within the framework of
the National Science Foundation logistics support.
     The expenditures and commitment of resource necessary
to maintain an active and influential presence in
Antarctica, including the scientific activities and stations
in the Antarctic, shall be reviewed and determined as p[art
of the normal budget process.  To ensure that the United
States Antarctic Program is not funded at the expense of
other National Science Foundation programs, the OMB will
provide specific budgetary guidance for the antarctic
program.
     To ensure that the United States has the necessary
flexibility and operational reach in the area, the
Departments of Defense and Transportation shall continue to
provide, on a reimbursable basis, the logistic support
requested by the National Science Foundation and to develop,
in collaboration with the Foundation, logistic arrangements
and cost structure required for effective and responsive
program support at minimum cost.
     With respect to the upcoming negotiations on a regime
covering antarctic mineral resources, the Antarctic Policy
Group shall prepare a detailed U.S. position and
instructions.  These should be forwarded for my
consideration by May 15, 1982.

                                             Ronald Reagan

     CONTENTS

Introduction     1

I.   PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION OF ANTARCTICA   1

II.  CURRENT YEAR-ROUND U.S. STATIONS     1
     A.   McMurdo (77o51'S 166o40'E)      1
     B.   Amundsen-Scott South Pole (90oS)     2
     C.   Palmer (64o46'S 64o03'W)   2

III.  SUMMER CAMPS    3
     A.   Byrd Surface Camp (80oS 120oW)       3
     B.   Major camps      3
     C.   Huts   3
     D.   Tents       3

IV.  FORMER STATIONS (SELECTED)      3
     A.   Hallett Station (72o19'S 170o13'E)   3
     B.   Byrd Station (80oS 120oW)       3
     C.   Plateau Station (79o15'S 40o30'E)    3
     D.   Dome C (74o30'S 123o10'E)       4
     E.   Siple (75o55'S 83o55'W)    4
     F.   Eights Station (75o10'S 77o10'W)     4
     G.   Little America   4
     H.   East Base (68o11'S 67o00'W)     4

V.   TRANSPORTATION; RESEARCH PLATFORMS   4
     A.   LC-130 Hercules       4
     B.   Twin Otter       5
     C.   Helicopters      5
     D.   C-141 Starlifter and C-5 Galaxy      5
     E.   R/V Polar Duke   5
     F.   Nathaniel B. Palmer   5
     G.   U.S. academic research ships    5
     H.   Icebreakers      5
     I.   USNS tanker      6
     J.   USNS Green Wave       6
     K.   Inflatable boats      6
     L.   Ground transportation      6

VI.  RESEARCH OBJECTIVES   6
     A.   Aeronomy and astrophysics       6
     B.   Biology and medical research    7
     C.   Earth sciences   7
     D.   Ocean and climate systems       8
     E.   Glaciology       8
     F.   Environmental research     9
     G.   Instrumentation       9

VII. AGENCY RESPONSIBILITIES    9
     A.  Antarctic Working Group     9
     B.  National Science Foundation      9
     C.  Department of Defense       9
     D.  Department of Transportation    10
     E.  Department of State   10
     F.  Budget      10

VIII.     INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION      10
     A.   Antarctic Treaty     10
     B.   Managers of National Antarctic Programs  10
     C.   Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research    10
     D.   Bilateral and multilateral cooperation   11

IX.  U.S. POLICY FOR ANTARCTICA     11

X.   PAST U.S. ANTARCTIC EXPEDITIONS     12
     A.   Before International Geophysical Year    12
     B.   International Geophysical Year, 1957-1958     12
     C.   United States Antarctic Program     12

XI.  ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION  13
     A.   Treaties and laws that protect the environment
13
     B.   Conservation and environmental procedures     13
     C.   Recent initiatives   14
     D.   Former stations      15
     E.   Studies    15

XII.  PUBLICATIONS   15
     A.   Maps  15
     B.   Library of aerial photographs and maps   15
     C.   Hydrographic charts  15
     D.   Aeronautical charts  16
     E.   Place names     16
     F.   Bibliographies, 1951-present   16
     G.   Automated access to Antarctic Bibliography    16
     H.   Bibliography, pre-1951    16
     I.   Background and reference materials  16
     J.   Science & Technology Information System  18

XIII.  OPPORTUNITIES FOR PARTICIPATION   19

XIV. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION   19

XV.  METRIC SYSTEM   20

XVI. GLOSSARY   20

THE ANTARCTIC TREATY      21

PRESIDENT'S MEMORANDUM    26