McMurdo

McMurdo Station is a United States Antarctic Program research facility located on the southern tip of Ross Island, near Mount Erebus in McMurdo Sound, Antarctica. It serves as the United States’ largest Antarctic research station and functions as the main logistics hub for USAP operations, supporting science across the continent.

The area around Ross Island was explored in the 19th century, with McMurdo Sound named in honor of Archibald McMurdo, a Royal Navy officer who surveyed the region during the era of James Clark Ross. The United States established McMurdo Station during the International Geophysical Year in the late 1950s, and it has since developed into a year-round base for scientific research and logistical support.

McMurdo Station supports a fluctuating population, with roughly 1,000 people during the austral summer and a few hundred overwintering. The site includes multiple laboratories, a medical facility, housing, galley services, power and desalination plants, and an ice pier used for unloading ships. An on-site airfield and an adjacent ice runway enable aircraft operations and intercontinental and domestic resupply flights.

Research conducted at McMurdo spans glaciology, geology, oceanography, atmospheric sciences, biology, and astronomy, among other disciplines. The station also serves as a critical logistics hub for field camps across Antarctica, coordinating supply, transport, and communications for the broader US Antarctic Program.

Operations at McMurdo are conducted under the framework of the Antarctic Treaty System and the United States Antarctic Program, with established environmental and waste-management practices to minimize impact on the surrounding environment.