Vernadsky Research Base

Vernadsky Research Base (Ukrainian: Академік Вернадський) is a Ukrainian Antarctic Station at Marina Point on Galindez Island in the Argentine Islands, Antarctica. It is named after Soviet mineralogist Vladimir Vernadsky.

History

United Kingdom

The station was established by the British Falkland Islands Dependencies Survey as Base F, or "Argentine Islands", on Winter Island in 1947.

The main hut, built on the site of an earlier British Graham Land Expedition hut, was named "Wordie House" after Sir James Wordie, a member of Shackleton's Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition who visited during its construction.

Wordie House has been restored and is designated as Historic Site and Monument No. 62. The base moved to the present site on adjacent Galindez Island in May 1954 where the main building was named "Coronation House".

The base was renamed Faraday Station in August 1977 in honour of British scientist Michael Faraday.

Ukraine

Ukraine took over the operation of the base in February 1996, which was sold by the UK for a symbolic one pound. The cost of disassembling the base with good environmental practices and standards would be too costly. The National Antarctic Scientific Center of Ukraine continues a programme of meteorology, upper atmospheric physics, geomagnetism, ozone, seismology, glaciology, ecology, biology and physiology research.