What about Antarctica?

Chris Carrier 72157.3334 at CompuServe.COM
Thu Jun 27 05:16:22 UTC 1996


Peter.Hullah at eurocontrol.fr wrote:
 
>And just for the fun: What about Antartica!!!
 
What about Antarctica?  Here is what I know, and some questions I have that I
wonder if anyone can answer:
 
I remember reading in a book dated 1973 that all interior stations (didn't
mention how that was defined) kept "New Zealand time."  Siple, the first
commander of the South Pole station, stated that he would have liked to have
kept GMT at the station, but that he found it more convenient to keep GMT+12
as supplies for the station were coming from McMurdo Sound, which was on
GMT+12 because New Zealand was on GMT+12 all year at that time (1957).
(Source: Siple's book 90 degrees SOUTH.)
 
Admiral Byrd maintained "180th meridian time" at Little America, which would
have been about a half hour slow on LMT; it is unknown if he meant GMT plus or
minus 12 (can anyone enlighten us).  In the winter of 1934, when he was at
Advance Base, (he wrote the book ALONE based on his experiences there during a
polar winter, including almost dying of carbon monoxide poisoning) he stated
that he was "experimenting with moonlight saving" by putting his time forward
2 hours; don't know if this was GMT+14 or GMT-10.
 
Byrd Station, which operated from the late 1950s until the early 1970s, was
located at 80S, 120W and operated on CST all year; double summer time.
 
Questions:
 
Does McMurdo and Pole Station run on GMT+12 all year, GMT+13 all year (the
time in New Zealand in summer) or switch from +12 to +13 as New Zealand?  If
the latter, don't people at the SP feel kind of silly about seasonal time
changes in a place where daylight lasts 6 months, (nautical) twilight a month
on each end, and 4 months of darkness?
 
Do "all interior stations keep New Zealand time" presently, as was claimed by
the author of that book I read (author and title forgotten) back in 1973?  If
so, when was this convention adopted?
 
Any stations observe seasonal time changes?  (A thought; could some stations
advance time in the austral WINTER, to keep the same time relationship as
their north-hemisphere mother country?)
 
Any stations on a local time that could be considered weird, such as a time
standard >1 hour fast or >30 minutes slow on LMT?
 
Chris Carrier




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