Marble Point

<h2 id="history">History</h2>
<p>The way station at Marble Point is located on a narrow strip of land between <a href="/facts/Wilson_Piedmont_Glacier/AkK2ALqM">Wilson Piedmont Glacier</a> and the sea, about 50 mi (80 km) from <a href="/facts/McMurdo_Station/WFgwNaqk">McMurdo Station</a>. United States military forces built the camp on the western shores of <a href="/facts/McMurdo_Sound/yDQddvIa">McMurdo Sound</a> in 1956 in conjunction with the forthcoming 1957–58 <a href="/facts/International_Geophysical_Year/m2HSX6Y6">International Geophysical Year</a> (IGY).
</p><p>Preparation for IGY included constructing a hard-surface air strip at Marble Point. A <a href="/facts/VX-6/QJSIrp8J">VX-6</a> Otter airplane made Antarctica’s first wheels-on-dirt landing at Marble Point in 1957.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:3" href="#fn:3"><sup>3</sup></a> Aboard were U.S. Navy Admiral Dufeck and New Zealand explorer <a href="/facts/Sir_Edmund_Hillary/Iwde7Uch">Sir Edmund Hillary</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:4" href="#fn:4"><sup>4</sup></a>  A <a href="/facts/De_Havilland_Canada_DHC-3_Otter/bRS9Hkrf">de Havilland Canada DHC-3 Otter</a> aircraft crashed on take off at Marble Point, on January 04, 1959, taking the lives of two men. The plane was part of <a href="/facts/Operation_Deep_Freeze/1Q2u4Pst">Operation Deep Freeze</a> IV.
</p><p>Contemporary Marble Point is staffed during the austral summer by a station manager, cook, and a "fuelie," a person who fuels helicopters (typically <a href="/facts/Eurocopter_AS350_%C3%89cureuil/qsf9VPQ4">AStar</a> and <a href="/facts/Bell_212/Alb4U1An">Bell 212</a>'s contracted by the <a href="/facts/United_States_Antarctic_Program/E9g0E5rh">United States Antarctic Program</a> and <a href="/facts/Antarctica_New_Zealand/sW77ugWS">Antarctica New Zealand</a>, owned and operated by <a href="/facts/Petroleum_Helicopters_International/u5xC8wEX">Petroleum Helicopters International</a>). Hot meals and minimal overnight accommodations for 14 are available for pilots and personnel traveling to and from inland research operations.
</p><p>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.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:5" href="#fn:5"><sup>5</sup></a> Other facilities at the station include an automated weather station.
</p><p>United States Antarctic Program workers conducted a concerted cleanup at the station during the 1989–1990 and 1990–1991 summer research seasons.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:6" href="#fn:6"><sup>6</sup></a> Fuel spills are known to have occurred in the area. As late as 2001, spills more than 40 years old were still visible.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:7" href="#fn:7"><sup>7</sup></a> Contemporary operations include the collection of human waste at the station, which is collected and transported to McMurdo Station.
</p>
<h2 id="re-supply">Re-supply</h2>
<p>Each austral summer, a <a href="/facts/United_States_Coast_Guard/6d7SWTP9">United States Coast Guard</a> icebreaker busts a ship channel to Marble Point in order to deliver helicopter fuel. The ship usually can reach within about 1⁄4 mi (0.40 km) from the beach. Fuel is then pumped ashore. Formerly, personnel pumped the aviation fuel into 20,000 gallon bladders for storage. However, the fuel bladders were replaced with steel tanks.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:8" href="#fn:8"><sup>8</sup></a> Contaminated soil is present at Marble Point from fuel spills which occurred between 1957 and 1963.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:9" href="#fn:9"><sup>9</sup></a>
</p><p>Support personnel re-supply the camp annually via a convoy of over-the-ice vehicles from McMurdo Station. Drivers maneuver 15-ton Delta cargo vehicles equipped with large balloon-type tires over a more than 50-mile ice road. Alternatively, vehicles towing snow sleds are used to transport cargo. Drivers also deliver food, construction equipment, and scientific equipment that is staged at Marble Point for subsequent airlift to field camps.
</p><p>Flags placed approximately every quarter mile mark much of the ice road to Marble Point. Drivers carry global positioning devices as navigational aids during the seven-hour journey. Waste materials (including human waste) from Marble Point and garbage dropped off from inland research stations are back-loaded to McMurdo Station for disposal.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:10" href="#fn:10"><sup>10</sup></a> The supply season runs from mid-October to late November or early December.
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<h2 id="see-also">See also</h2>
<ul><li><a href="/facts/List_of_airports_in_Antarctica/MB2P5JYf">List of airports in Antarctica</a></li>
<li><a href="/facts/Antarctic_field_camps/3TyvSUpm">List of field camps</a></li>
<li><a href="/facts/McMurdo_Dry_Valleys/z46JqpcQ">McMurdo Dry Valleys</a></li>
<li><a href="/facts/McMurdo_Sound/yDQddvIa">McMurdo Sound</a></li>
<li><a href="/facts/Operation_Deep_Freeze/1Q2u4Pst">Operation Deep Freeze</a></li>
<li><a href="/facts/South_Stream_(Antarctica)/qGq15n3Q">South Stream</a></li>
<li><a href="/facts/Victoria_Land/w9r0HLyD">Victoria Land</a></li>
<li><a href="/facts/Williams_Field/bCTQnrII">Williams Field</a></li>
<li><a href="/facts/McMurdo_Station_transportation/0ChQpVul">McMurdo Station transportation</a></li></ul>
<h2 id="gallery">Gallery</h2>

<h2 id="external-links">External links</h2>
<ul><li><a href="http://antarcticsun.usap.gov/"><i>The Antarctic Sun</i></a></li>
<li><a href="http://davecarpenter.tripod.com/marble.htm">Marble Point - personal website</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SKI8F_LgFPA">Marble Point - field camp tour video</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.vaq34.com/">THE "UNOFFICIAL" VXE-6 WEBPAGE for the (late-RIP) US Navy Squadron</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.photolib.noaa.gov/">United States National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Photo Library</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/">United States Department of Agriculture</a>.</li></ul>

<h2 id="references">References</h2>

<ol>
<li id="fn:1"><p>"Gas, food and lodging: Marble Point serves up warmth and good cheer" Archived 2007-09-27 at the Wayback Machine, The Antarctic Sun. November 28, 1999. <a href="http://antarcticsun.usap.gov/oldissues99-2000/99_1128/marblepoint.html" target="_blank">http://antarcticsun.usap.gov/oldissues99-2000/99_1128/marblepoint.html</a> <a href="#fnref:1" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:2"><p>First Ever Voyages for Expedition Travel Archived 2007-01-14 at the Wayback Machine See McMurdo Sound for more on Antarctic tourism. <a href="http://www.quarkexpeditions.com/qf/index.shtml" target="_blank">http://www.quarkexpeditions.com/qf/index.shtml</a> <a href="#fnref:2" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:3"><p>"VXE6history". www.vaq34.com. Retrieved 2022-11-26. <a href="https://www.vaq34.com/vxe6/vxe6hist.htm" target="_blank">https://www.vaq34.com/vxe6/vxe6hist.htm</a> <a href="#fnref:3" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:4"><p>"NOAA Photo Library/NOAA Corps Collection/Antarctica/Historical/corp2834". Archived from the original on Oct 4, 2006. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20061004030559/http://www.photolib.noaa.gov/corps/corp2834.htm" target="_blank">https://web.archive.org/web/20061004030559/http://www.photolib.noaa.gov/corps/corp2834.htm</a> <a href="#fnref:4" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:5"><p>"Marble Point". davecarpenter.tripod.com. Retrieved 2022-11-26. <a href="https://davecarpenter.tripod.com/marble.htm" target="_blank">https://davecarpenter.tripod.com/marble.htm</a> <a href="#fnref:5" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:6"><p>"Storage Tanks–Marble Point," National Science Foundation Division of Polar Programs, Office of the Environment. October 23, 1992 <a href="https://www.nsf.gov/pubs/stis1992/opp93081/opp93081.txt" target="_blank">https://www.nsf.gov/pubs/stis1992/opp93081/opp93081.txt</a> <a href="#fnref:6" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:7"><p>Relations (unipr@waikato.ac.nz), Communications and External (2001-10-08). "Antarctic research jigsaw piece in global puzzle: University of Waikato". www.waikato.ac.nz. Retrieved 2022-11-26. <a href="https://www.waikato.ac.nz/news/archive.shtml?article=113" target="_blank">https://www.waikato.ac.nz/news/archive.shtml?article=113</a> <a href="#fnref:7" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:8"><p>"Storage Tanks–Marble Point," National Science Foundation Division of Polar Programs, Office of the Environment. October 23, 1992 <a href="https://www.nsf.gov/pubs/stis1992/opp93081/opp93081.txt" target="_blank">https://www.nsf.gov/pubs/stis1992/opp93081/opp93081.txt</a> <a href="#fnref:8" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:9"><p>"Impact of fuel spills on Antarctica soils", News and Views; United States Department of Agriculture. May 2000. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20060930153924/http://www.nrcs.usda.gov/programs/international/IDP_NV/Issue20.html" target="_blank">https://web.archive.org/web/20060930153924/http://www.nrcs.usda.gov/programs/international/IDP_NV/Issue20.html</a> <a href="#fnref:9" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:10"><p>"Truckin’ on thick ice" Archived 2007-02-18 at the Wayback Machine, The Antarctic Sun. November 5, 2000. <a href="http://antarcticsun.usap.gov/oldissues2000-2001/2000_1105/truckin.html" target="_blank">http://antarcticsun.usap.gov/oldissues2000-2001/2000_1105/truckin.html</a> <a href="#fnref:10" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
</ol>

Marble Point open-in-new

Marble Point