Features of movement by car on the mainland
- The route must pass through refueling points and
SUV repair.The capacity of the tracks is large, including for fuel reserves, but the greater the load on the vehicle, the higher the likelihood of breakdown. Low temperatures also make the steel from which the car is made more brittle.
- The caravan size is at least two cars and two accompanying mechanic guides.
- A maximum of three people, including the driver, can ride on one car, as there must be enough space in the back seat for equipment.
- The average speed when traveling in Antarctica is about 20 km / h, and in bad weather it can be 6-8 km / h.
- The trip can be carried out only on the studied routes.
- You can drive an SUV on your own only if you have preparation and in agreement with the guides.
- The landscape on the continent practically does not change, so you need to be prepared for a monotonous picture outside the window.
Anthropogeos research teamwent on an expedition to Antarctica in the 2019/2020 season and chose modified Toyota Hilux for travel. Initially, these cars were created for the complex landscapes of Iceland, then tested in Greenland, at the North and South Poles.
The expedition was accompanied by Hlinur Sigurdsson - guide,driver and mechanic. He has been designing and modifying cars for more than 20 years, and for the last four years he has been developing cooling systems and periodically travels to Antarctica as a guest mechanic guide.
“Before driving on a new road, wewe carefully study satellite images, radar data, observe how snow slides from the mountains. Then we drive along the road and scan the area to find the best path between the cracks, and it’s quite difficult to determine this,” Hlinur Sigurdsson shared. - A car can easily pass through many places, but a heavily loaded sled can no longer. Not even a person can get through. But even in a car, we drive very slowly, 6–8 km/h, and look at the scanner data. If you need to get out in this zone, then be sure to attach insurance to the car, but it’s better not to leave the car unnecessarily.”
“In many places, a car can easily pass, but a heavily loaded sled is no longer”
The main technical modifications of cars
Ordinary cars on the mainland can't handleharsh climate, so the equipment is specially prepared for low temperatures and extreme conditions of movement in the white desert. The following modifications can be used for this:
- Special tank - for example, in a six-wheeled car it holds 650 liters.
- Cars have large wheels and pressure-controlled tires. For soft snow, the pressure decreases, for dense snow it increases.
- The body changes to redistribute weight.For example, in 6×6 models this is not so important, but in 4×4 models the body should not be heavier than the front. The center of gravity is low and this is one of the most expensive modifications. To implement it, the frame is dismantled, the suspension is strengthened and the body is redesigned, which frees up space for large wheels.
- SUVs have fuel softeners and filters that should be easily accessible to the driver.
- All vehicles on the mainland run on JET A1 aviation fuel.
- At such low temperatures, it is not worth moving the wires, so they are fixed in machines, while using materials that are resistant to low temperatures.
- SUVs are equipped with protective frames to which winches or radar can be attached to scan the surface. With their help, you can push a stuck car.
During the Antarctic winter, cars are covered andplaced on a special structure so that the tires do not touch the ice, the battery is discharged. At the beginning of the season, the equipment is dug out from under the snow and brought into working condition - this is cheaper than bringing new cars to the continent. In Antarctic conditions, with proper care and replacement of parts, equipment lasts a long time. The plus is that due to the dry climate, rust does not form here, so cars that were brought here many years ago can look like new, despite the extreme wintering.
What other land vehicles can be found on the mainland?
SUVs
The main supplier of SUVs to Antarctica— Arctic Trucks company. It was founded in 1990 in Iceland, where, in a harsh climate, residents wanted to adapt cars for off-road driving. The Arctic Trucks team began modifying them to improve performance in rough terrain and harsh climates.
“In the mid-80s, we realized that if in largetires to release pressure, then you can drive in the snow. But if you put an ordinary car on such wheels, then it becomes too high and fragile,” said Emil Grimmson, founder and CEO of Arctic Trucks. “I was working at Toyota at the time, and we started looking for a solution. It is also important that after 10 years the machines have access to service and replacement parts.”
Before being sent to the mainland SUVstested on Icelandic glaciers under the supervision of Swedish scientists, after which they were sent to Antarctica. In general, the modification for Antarctic vehicles is close to what the company makes for rescue vehicles in Iceland, but at home they do not use fuel filters and do not install frames.
“A 6x6 car can carry more than 2 tons of weight(for example, fuel), this is necessary on long-distance expeditions to those places where there are no fuel depots. Thanks to this, we can make autonomous runs of several thousand kilometers - the longest was around 3,200 km, ”explains Emil Grimsson.
SUVs from Arctic Trucks are activelyare used to move tourists, build complex routes, deliver equipment and fuel for scientific and tourist expeditions, and lay new roads and runways. In 2010, two Arctic Trucks AT44 expedition vehicles set the Guinness World Record for the fastest land journey to the South Pole, covering 2,308 km of the high plateau of Antarctica - from Novolazarevskaya station to the South Pole in 4-5 days.
“The main supplier of SUVs to Antarctica is Arctic Trucks”
fire trucks
In addition to SUVs, firefighters are brought to the mainlandcars from the Swedish manufacturer Scania. The company's special equipment is tested in Norway, and then sent to Antarctica, where it maintains runways, polishing the surface and filling cracks with water. The trucks are adapted to low temperatures and are equipped with modifications - a diesel heater, which prevents the jet gun from freezing. The car has SnowCross winter tires with spikes, a 5,600L water tank and a 400L foam tank. Fire trucks are drained of fluid between February and November to prevent ice damage.
“In addition to SUVs, fire trucks from the Swedish manufacturer Scania are being brought to the mainland”
Tractors
For towing cargo sleds and otherTractors are often used for transport, recognition of cracks on the ice surface. Initially, it was an agricultural machinery, but thanks to special adaptations, it became suitable for cold temperatures. Caterpillars of Antarctic tractors have toothed lugs, they provide additional grip on ice. There are also holes for inserting spikes if more security is required.
Tractors have special lifting eyesmounted on a track frame, they facilitate hitching, boarding and unloading. There is also a georadar system in technology, which provides a graphic image, the exact depth and width of an impending crack.
The American company Massey Ferguson producestractors for almost 100 years. They were first used in Antarctica in 1954 by an Australian team that established the first permanent base on the continent. In Norway, this transport was converted for use in the snow.
Here you can also find the company's equipmentCaterpillar, which has already produced a large number of units operating at temperatures down to -40 °C. Together with Finning, it has upgraded two Cat D6N tracked tractors to operate in temperatures as low as -70°C. Additional modifications include:
- isolated canopy with built-in escape hatch and access system;
- complete central heating system for engines and all fluids;
- comprehensive insulation package;
- cooling system airflow package;
- winch and towing device for towing galleys;
- combined crane mount.
“Snowmobiles are designed for extreme conditions on the mainland”
Snowmobiles
Since the 1980s, Pisten Bully snowmobiles have been successfulused in Antarctica as cargo towing over sea ice, they are used for snow clearing, evacuation - equipped with an electric winch, Pisten Bully frees cars stuck in the snow and helps in emergency situations.
Snowmobiles are designed forextreme conditions on the mainland. The technique has georadar that looks for cracks, wide tracks, transport chutes in the front and radio-controlled hydraulic cranes (adjustable rotation angle up to 415 °, while it can be extended to a height of 14.2 m). Such equipment can perform all the tasks of lifting and loading, setting up supply stations, loading and unloading containers.
The snowmobile often paves the way for othersvehicles with a cleaning blade and a blower. It compacts and levels areas so that they can be used as aircraft runways.
Antarctica dictates extreme conditions, withoutequipped machines in the white desert it is impossible to work and move for long distances. Antarctica was discovered 200 years ago, and only relatively recently it was possible to create equipment that can work in such a climate with the least effort, serve scientific stations and tourists.
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