Ukrainian polar explorers tell why they dig a ditch in the snow near Vernadsky station every year

Ukrainian polar explorers showed the passage they dug in the snow among the snow and told about its purpose, UNN writes with reference to the a report by the National Antarctic Research Center.  

The members of the 28th expedition have just finished digging a long ditch through the snow.

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"Among the traditions of Ukrainian polar explorers is to dig a passage to the second to dig a passage to the second berth of the "jet", which is heavily covered with snow during the winter. So, in late spring or early summer (in Antarctica, the seasons are the whole expedition takes up shovels and begins to dig a tunnel in several meters snowdrifts.

Last year, our winterers joked that they were digging ditches to protect themselves from penguin invasions, and some media outlets even took this joke as the truth," said the members of the of the expedition.

According to the research center, this year's snow cover year's snow cover is less than last year's: the maximum snow cover reached just over 2 meters (and last year - 3,5 м). But still, in some places, the snowdrifts reached 5 meters in height. The length of the The tunnel was about 40 meters long and up to 2 meters wide.

"The team spent a little over a week on this work, and this is despite the fact that each person also cleared snow every day in their assigned area near the station. Only the cook was not involved in the big digging, because he had another important mission - to feed his colleagues tasty and nutritious meals after snow "gymnastics," the research center noted.

And they explained why they dig such a ditch every year.

There are two piers near Vernadsky. The first one is called "slip". A powerful crane is installed near it to store boats, which is used to lift the boats to the shore. This berth is used most of the time (as long as the ice situation allows), and the passage to it is always maintained.

The time for the second jetty berth comes in the summer season, when the number of sea departures at the station increases significantly. It is convenient because it is protected from the waves, boats of different types can be parked near it and and leave them for a certain period of time, rather than taking them out of the water every time.

"Since in a few weeks the Vernadsky the arrival of the Noosphere is expected in a few weeks, it was very important to prepare this berth for for the ship's unloading in order to quickly unload it. And the station's team team has successfully coped with this," the research center.