General Information
In accordance with the Antarctic Treaty, the signatories undertake that the Antarctic Continent will only be used for peaceful and scientific purposes. The other founder members are, Britain, the USA, Russia, Australia, Argentina, Chile, Japan, Belgium, Norway, New Zealand and France. Subsequently, several other countries have joined the Treaty.
Since 1960, South Africa has maintained an Antarctic base for scientific purposes. The DEA&T is responsible for the logistics and administration of the base, whereas the scientific work is planned by the South African Committee for Antarctic Research (SACAR), although administered and funded by the DEA&T.
Each expedition is made up of the following personnel:
- 1 Doctor
- 2 Diesel mechanics
- 1 Electrical engineer/technician
- 1 Mechanical engineer/technician
- 1 Electronic engineer/technician
- 1 Senior meteorologist
- 2 Physicists (Electronic/Electrical engineers)
The new SANAE IV base is built at Vesleskarvet, 220 km due South of SANAE III.
Vesleskarvet is a nunatak which is a rocky outcrop peeping out of a snowy surface. In sharp contrast to the white surroundings, its colour is normally black or dark brown and, in some cases, able to support some sort of life, for instance mosses, algae, a few insects or birds, such as Robertskollen's own Snow Petrel colony some 25 km from the SANAE IV base.
The
design of the base consists of three inter linked double storey units
of
approximately 14 m x 44 m each. They are joined at the lower level by
inter leading passageways, which also serve as access and exit points.
All three units are raised 3,5m above the rock surface of the nunatak
on stilts.Wind tunnel tests were conducted at the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) to determine the most ideal shape and proportion of the structure. Rounded corners and smooth surfaces have been employed to minimize the effects of wind.
The base is able to accommodate 20 over wintering team members and 60 summer take-over personnel. A heli-deck and double hangar are provided as part of the structure. The latter serves as storage for the vehicles during winter. The heli-deck incorporates two screw drive lifts to raise the vehicles and provisions into the base.
The base frame is constructed from steel, and the insulation is of rigid, pre constructed foam and glass fibre resin panels.
The interior temperature is fully controlled by means of heat exchangers utilizing generator exhaust and coolant heat to warm the base interior. Fresh water is obtained from a manually operated snow melter outside the base.
A sealed effluent treatment plant is located in the base structure, and all sewage is pumped through the plant to be treated. The discharged effluent conforms to the standard for release into rivers in the Republic of South Africa (RSA). The concentrated sewage sludge is containerized and removed to the RSA during relief periods. All other waste is sorted, containerized and removed to the RSA as well. This includes waste generated by field teams.
Electricity generation is by means of three 250 kW water cooled ADE diesel generating sets, one of which is a spare. An un-interruptible power supply (UPS) system is installed to cater for scientific and medical equipment in case of a system failure.
A computer monitoring system is also installed to relay system performances back to DEA&T and the National Department of Public Works. This enables fault diagnosis and maintenance to be directed by experts in the RSA.
Food, clothing, medical facilities as well as recreational facilities are provided. All private telephone calls/faxes to the RSA or overseas made from SANAE, Marion and Gough Islands are payable. Official calls to the DEA&T or other official calls will be for the account of the Department or Institutions contacted.
TELKOM is responsible for billing the DEA&T for all the communications used on the satellite link to and from SANAE, Marion and Gough. They supply DEA&T with a monthly account which is correlated with a report of calls/faxes made from SANAE, Marion and Gough, which the Team Leader of each team will provide. Thereafter expedition members' salaries are debited accordingly.
