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kmusserAs I site at home waiting for the snow to start, let's do another random point: 75.69° S, 85.94° E. Off to the land of ice.
Physical geography:
We are in Antarctica, and like our first point we are somewhere that has probably never seen a human being. We're in the middle of the East Antarctica Ice Sheet so nothing in view but ice and snow and the ice is probably about 10,000 feet thick here. By far the worlds largest glacier and holding most of the worlds fresh water. It's one of the coldest places on Earth, we're talking -30° F in the summer and -90° F in the winter, and as a bonus there's constant high winds. Too cold for any life here.
Human geography:
We're in the portion of Antarctica claimed by Australia since 1933, but like the whole continent it is open to all countries for purposes of scientific research per the terms of the Antarctic Treaty which has governed the continent since 1961.
The closest humans are going to be the Chinese at Taishen station about 200 miles to the west. This is a relatively new station built in 2014 to serve primarily as a relay between Kunlun station, which is even deeper onto the ice shelf, and the coast. Kunlun is an astronomical station with a impressive array of telescopes. As far as I can tell no research has really been done at Taishen yet, expeditions there have been summer only construction missions. 350 miles to the southeast is the year-round Russian station of Vostok, infamous for having recorded the coldest temperature on Earth (-128.6° F). Research there is on the ice sheet itself and the large subglacial lake underneath it. I'm sure their drilling miles into the ice is perfectly safe and that they'll never awaken any Shoggoths.
You have to go nearly 500 miles the north to get to the Ingrid Christensen coast and possibly escape the ice. On the coast are scientific stations from Australia, China, Russia, India, and Romania. The oldest and largest of these is Australia's Davis station located on a small ice-free section of the coast. The climate is much milder here and Davis would be the likely entry point for this section of Antarctica. From Davis it's about 50 miles to the Chinese, Russian, and Romanian stations which are all connected. They are on a less accessible section of coastline, but are more accessible to the interior and likely starting point for any expedition attempting to actually reach our point, branching off the path that runs between there and Taishen.
Taishen:
Awesome map of Antarctica.
Physical geography:
We are in Antarctica, and like our first point we are somewhere that has probably never seen a human being. We're in the middle of the East Antarctica Ice Sheet so nothing in view but ice and snow and the ice is probably about 10,000 feet thick here. By far the worlds largest glacier and holding most of the worlds fresh water. It's one of the coldest places on Earth, we're talking -30° F in the summer and -90° F in the winter, and as a bonus there's constant high winds. Too cold for any life here.
Human geography:
We're in the portion of Antarctica claimed by Australia since 1933, but like the whole continent it is open to all countries for purposes of scientific research per the terms of the Antarctic Treaty which has governed the continent since 1961.
The closest humans are going to be the Chinese at Taishen station about 200 miles to the west. This is a relatively new station built in 2014 to serve primarily as a relay between Kunlun station, which is even deeper onto the ice shelf, and the coast. Kunlun is an astronomical station with a impressive array of telescopes. As far as I can tell no research has really been done at Taishen yet, expeditions there have been summer only construction missions. 350 miles to the southeast is the year-round Russian station of Vostok, infamous for having recorded the coldest temperature on Earth (-128.6° F). Research there is on the ice sheet itself and the large subglacial lake underneath it. I'm sure their drilling miles into the ice is perfectly safe and that they'll never awaken any Shoggoths.
You have to go nearly 500 miles the north to get to the Ingrid Christensen coast and possibly escape the ice. On the coast are scientific stations from Australia, China, Russia, India, and Romania. The oldest and largest of these is Australia's Davis station located on a small ice-free section of the coast. The climate is much milder here and Davis would be the likely entry point for this section of Antarctica. From Davis it's about 50 miles to the Chinese, Russian, and Romanian stations which are all connected. They are on a less accessible section of coastline, but are more accessible to the interior and likely starting point for any expedition attempting to actually reach our point, branching off the path that runs between there and Taishen.
Taishen:
Awesome map of Antarctica.