This Definitive Ross Dependency stamp issue commemorated the 25th anniversary of the opening of Scott Base, near Cape Armitage on Ross Island. By 1982 the base was well established as the centre of New Zealand's scientific research programme on the frozen continent.
5c - Adelie Penguins.
Adelie Penguins.
Well known in this section of the Antarctic continent, these penguins gather each year on the rookeries to mate, hatch and feed their chicks. The Adelie is a medium sized penguin, weighing 3–6 kg and standing 70 cm tall. They are distinguished by the white ring surrounding the eye. Males and females are of similar size and difficult to tell apart.
Like all penguins, Adelies are excellent swimmers. In fact, some have been recorded swimming as far as 300 km (150 km each way) to forage food for their chicks. Adelies are not just good at swimming, they are very determined and successful long distance walkers, even though their short legs restrict them to a waddling gait on land. Their walking speed on ice averages 2.5 km/h and swimming speed from 4–8 km/h.
10c - Tracked Vehicles / Tractor.
Tracked Vehicles / Tractor.
The motorised toboggans and sledges used for polar travel replaced the huskies once used for pulling sledges.
Normal vehicles such as cars and trucks on tires have very limited capability for Antarctica conditions. Scientific bases are often built on snow free areas (oases) close to the ocean. Around these stations and on a hard packed snow or ice, tire based vehicles could be used but once you get away from formed roads the deeper and softer snow mean normal tire based vehicles cannot travel. Due to these limitation vehicles on tracked belts, such as seen in the stamp above, have been the preferred option in Antarctica.
20c - Scott Base.
Scott Base.
Scott Base is a research facility located in Antarctica and is operated by New Zealand. It was named after Captain Robert Falcon Scott, Royal Navy, leader of two British expeditions to the Ross Sea area of Antarctica. Located at Pram Point on Ross Island near Mount Erebus in New Zealand's Ross Dependency territorial claim, it was set up as support to field research and the centre for research into earth sciences, but now conducts research in many fields.
As New Zealand's principal base on the ice of Antarctica. Upgrading and expansion of the site in the 1980s included the construction of a new laboratory, power-house, administration and accommodation facilities. Since the 1980s it has continued to grow and change to meet the demands of New Zealand's Antarctic Program.
30c - Field Party in Upper Taylor Valley.
Field Party in Upper Taylor Valley.
Depicted with their equipment, this group is working near the unusual "stripey" mountains of the Upper Taylor Valley.
Taylor Valley is the southernmost of the three large Dry Valleys in the Transantarctic Mountains, Victoria Land, located west of McMurdo Sound.
The tan bands are sandstone layers from the Beacon Supergroup, a series of sedimentary rock layers formed at the bottom of a shallow sea between 250 million and 400 million years ago. The dark band of rock that divides the sandstone is dolerite (sometimes called diabase), a volcanic rock that forms underground. The distinctive dolerite intrusion—or sill—is a remnant of a massive volcanic plumbing system that produced major eruptions about 180 million years ago.
40c - Vanda Station.
Vanda Station.
Once a Situated in the centre of the Dry Valleys, today this station acts as a summertime base for field parties and search-and-rescue operations.
Vanda Station was an Antarctic research base in the western highlands (Victoria Land) of the Ross Dependency, specifically on the shore of Lake Vanda. The four original station buildings were constructed in the austral summers of 1967–1968 and 1968–1969, just prior to the first winter-over by a five-man team from January to October 19, 1969. Subsequent wintering parties occupied the station in 1970 and 1974. During summer seasons, Vanda station was fully staffed until 1991. Scientific programs principally included meteorology, hydrology, seismology, earth currents, and magnetics. The station was administered by the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research (DSIR), and was supported logistically by the permanent New Zealand research base of Scott Base on Ross Island.
In 1995, environment concerns resulted in the base being closed. Various activities associated with the base's occupation, including excavations, the erection of buildings, disturbances caused by vehicle movements, the storage of consumables, waste disposal, and accidental spills, led to the effort to remove the station. Since removal, analysis of the lake water and algae was performed for a number of years to ensure the lake was not contaminated by greywater and other wastes.
Today, an automatic weather station is at the site of former Vanda Station, and Lake Vanda Hut, a shelter that is periodically (summer only) occupied by 2 to 8 New Zealand stream researchers.
50c - Scott's Hut, Cape Evans.
Scott's Hut, Cape Evans.
Another of Robert Falcon Scott's bases in McMurdo Sound for his 1911-1913 expedition, this was the headquarters for his fateful attempt to reach the South Pole.
A similar view of Scott's Hut to the one shown on the stamp above.
Scott's Hut was prefabricated in England before being brought south by ship. It is rectangular, 50 feet (15 m) long and 25 feet (7.6 m) wide. Insulation was provided by seaweed sewn into a quilt, placed between double-planked inner and outer walls. The roof was a sandwich of three layers of plank and two layers of rubber ply enclosing more quilted seaweed. Lighting was provided by acetylene gas, and heating came from the kitchen and a supplementary stove using coal as fuel. A stable building (for nineteen Siberian ponies), approximately 50 by 16 feet (15.2 by 4.9 m), was subsequently attached to the north wall of the main building. A utility room, approximately 40 by 12 feet (12.2 by 3.7 m), was also added later, built around the original small porch at the South West end of the main building. Considerable effort was made to insulate the building, and to extract the maximum amount of heat from the flues from the stove and the heater, based on lessons learned from the Discovery Hut. Terra Nova expeditioners described the hut as being warm to the point of being uncomfortable.
First Day Cover issued by NZ Post for Ross Dependency.
A First Day Cover issued by the New Zealand Antarctic Society.
Technical information
Date of Issue:
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20 Januaray 1982
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|---|---|
Designer:
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R M Conly, Waikanae
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Printers:
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Leigh-Mardon, Australia
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Stamp Size:
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37.5mm x 26mm
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Sheet Size:
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100 stamps per sheet
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Process:
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Lithography
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Perforation Gauge:
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15.5
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Paper Type:
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Unwatermarked
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