Ellsworth Station

The station was closed due to extreme safety concerns. It was built on the Filchner Ice Shelf, a massive floating sheet of ice. By 1962, the immense pressure from accumulating snow and the movement of the ice shelf were crushing and deforming the station's structures. The imminent danger of the station being completely buried or breaking off from the main ice shelf as an iceberg prompted its abandonment by the Argentine Antarctic Program, which was operating it at the time.

The site of the original Ellsworth Station no longer exists. After its abandonment in 1962, the station was gradually buried under snow. In 1986, the section of the Filchner Ice Shelf where the station was located calved off, becoming part of a massive iceberg. This iceberg has since drifted into the Weddell Sea and broken apart, meaning the physical remnants of the station are now lost to the ocean. The coordinates (-77.650008, -41.0333) now point to a location on the dynamic and ever-changing Filchner-Ronne Ice Shelf.

Ellsworth Station was a significant scientific outpost with a rich history. It was originally established by the United States Navy in 1957 for the International Geophysical Year (IGY), a major global scientific effort. As the largest and southernmost of the American IGY stations on the Atlantic coast of Antarctica, it served as a crucial base for research in fields like glaciology, meteorology, ionospheric physics, and seismology. The station's airstrip, often referred to as Ellsworth Airfield, was vital for logistical support, handling ski-equipped aircraft such as the Douglas R4D (C-47) and de Havilland Canada DHC-3 Otter. These aircraft were used for resupply missions, personnel transport, and aerial reconnaissance. On January 17, 1959, in a gesture of international scientific cooperation, the United States formally transferred the entire station to Argentina. The Argentine Antarctic Program continued scientific operations there, renaming it Base Ellsworth, until its closure.

There are no plans or prospects for reopening Ellsworth Station. The original site is gone, and the inherent instability of its location on a floating ice shelf makes it unsuitable for the construction of a new permanent facility. Any future scientific endeavors in this region would require establishing a new station at a geologically stable location, likely on solid continental rock rather than a mobile ice shelf.