Development
The way station at Marble Point is located on a narrow strip of land between Wilson Piedmont Glacier and the sea about 50 miles from McMurdo Station. United States military forces built the camp on the western shores of McMurdo Sound in 1956 in conjunction with the forthcoming 1957-58 International Geophysical Year (IGY).
Preparation for IGY included constructing a hard-surface air strip at Marble Point. A VX-6 Otter airplane made Antarctica’s first wheels-on-dirt landing at Marble Point in 1957. Aboard were U.S. Navy Admiral Dufeck and New Zealand explorer Sir Edmund Hillary. A de Havilland Canada DHC-3 Otter aircraft crashed on take off at Marble Point January, 04, 1959, taking the lives of two men. The plane was part of Operation Deep Freeze IV.
Contemporary Marble Point is staffed during the austral summer by a station manager, cook, and a "fuelie," a person who fuels helicopters. Hot meals and minimal overnight accommodations for 14 are available for pilots and personnel traveling to and from inland research operations.
Personnel rely upon melted snow for potable water. A bulldozer is used to scoop snow from nearby Wilson Piedmont Glacier. The snow is dumped into a hopper for melting and subsequent filtration. Other facilities at the station include an automated weather station.
United States Antarctic Program (USAP) workers conducted a concerted cleanup at the station during the 1989-1990 and 1990-1991 summer research seasons. Fuel spills are known to have occurred in the area. As late as 2001, spills more than 40 years old were still visible. Contemporary operations include the collection of human waste at the station which is collected and transported to McMurdo Station.
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