:) Moreover, we are going to India in February, so we will consider this the beginning of preparations for the trip.
So... Chand Baori well... amazing appearance structure built in the 9th century for mining drinking water. It has 13 tiers, 3500 steps. I think the spectacle is unforgettable. It is located in the small town of Abaneri, 95 kilometers from Jaipur, Rajasthan, this is one of the deepest step wells in India, and maybe even on the planet. I didn’t find any competitors for it :)
Step wells (baori) are an invention of the ancient inhabitants of India. These wells go down in steps lower and lower, helping to get to groundwater. Rainwater was also collected in these tanks.
According to legend, this well was dug in just one night by a ghost at the behest of an unknown sorcerer. Well, no matter how it turned out, I think the ghost did a great job :)
UP: Well, we visited there :) Be sure to include a visit to this well in your program! This is the second thing, after , that struck me in India.
Well, the translation of the sign that greeted us in front of the well...
This magnificent stepwell, known as Chand Baori, was built by a Raja named Chand (or Chandra), a Rajput demon from the Chahmana dynasty that ruled the ancient city of Abbha Nagari (or Abaneri) in the 8th and 9th centuries CE. This is one of the earliest well structures on the soil of Rajasthan.
The 19.8 meter deep stepwell is square in shape and surrounded by compound terraces, with an entrance to north side. From the southern, eastern and west side on each of the thirteen tiers are carved double rows steps. On the north side, steps lead to multi-storey pavilions at the rear of the structure. Two specially designed niches carefully store images of Goddess Durga and God Ganesha.
A pavilion built at the top of the well in more late time, suggests that this magical cool refuge has served people for many years.
(not on the mainland coast).
The station was built in November 1956 For scientific targets by order US government.
An aerial photograph of Amundsen-Scott Station, taken around 1983. The central dome is visible, as well as various containers and supporting buildings
The main entrance to the dome is located below the snow level. Initially, the dome was built on the surface, but then gradually sank into the snow
The aluminum unheated “tent” is a landmark of the pole. There were even Postal office, shop and pub.
Any building at the pole is quickly surrounded by snow, and the design of the dome was not the most successful. A huge amount of fuel was wasted to remove snow, and delivery of a liter of fuel costs $7.
The unique design on stilts allows snow not to accumulate near the building, but to pass under it. The sloped shape of the bottom of the building allows the wind to be directed under the building, which helps blow snow away. But sooner or later the snow will cover the piles, and then it will be possible to jack up the station twice (this ensures the service life of the station from 30 to 45 years).
Construction materials were delivered by plane " Hercules» from the station McMurdo on the shore and only during daylight hours. More than 1000 flights were made.
January 15, 2008 in the presence of management US National Science Foundation and other organizations, the American flag was lowered from the dome station and raised in front of the new modern complex. The station can accommodate up to 150 people in summer and about 50 in winter.
Minimum temperature in the south geographic pole Earth was −82.8 °C, 6.8 °C higher than the absolute temperature minimum on the planet and at the Vostok station (there it was −89.6 °C), 0.8 °C lower than unofficially recorded minimum in 1916 in Oymyakon- the coldest winter city in Russia and Northern Hemisphere and was celebrated on June 23, 1982, one day after the date of the summer solstice. IN this century most severe frost at Amundsen-Scott was observed on August 1, 2005, -79.3 °C.
In summer, the station's population is usually more than 200 people. Most staff leave by mid-February, leaving only a few dozen people remaining (43 in 2009) wintering, mainly support staff plus several scientists who maintain the station during the several months of Antarctic night. Winterers are isolated from the rest of the world from mid-February to the end of October, during which time they face many dangers and stress. The station is completely self-sufficient in winter period, is supplied with power from three generators running on aviation fuel JP-8.
Research at the station includes sciences such as glaciology , geophysics , meteorology , physics of the upper atmosphere , astronomy , astrophysics And biomedical research. Most scientists work in low-frequency astronomy; low temperature and the low humidity of polar air, combined with altitudes of over 2,743 m (9,000 ft), provide much greater air clarity at some frequencies than is typical elsewhere on the planet, and months of darkness allow sensitive equipment to operate continuously.
In January 2007, the station was visited by a group Russian high officials, including bosses FSB Nikolay Patrushev And Vladimir Pronichev. Expedition, led by polar explorer Artur Chilingarov, started in Chile on two helicopters Mi-8 and landed at the South Pole.
TV show aired on September 6, 2007 Man Made companies National Geographic Channel with an episode about the construction of a new building here.
November 9, 2007 program Today companies NBC, with co-author Anne Curry, reported via satellite phone, which was broadcast on live from the South Pole.
On Christmas Day 2007, two base employees got into a drunken fight and were evacuated.
Every year the station staff gathers to watch films " Something" And " Shine »
The station occupies a prominent place in a number of
In December 1911, the famous Norwegian traveler Roald Amundsen was the first to reach the South Pole. In honor of this day, we decided to see how polar explorers live in our time.
Photo blogger Sergei Dolya says: “The Amundsen-Scott station, named after the discoverers of the South Pole, amazes with its scope and technology. In a complex of buildings around which there is nothing but ice for thousands of kilometers, there is literally its own separate world. They did not reveal all scientific and research secrets to us, but they a most interesting excursion through the residential blocks and showed how polar explorers live..."
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3. Initially, during construction, the station was located exactly at the geographic South Pole, but due to the movement of ice over several years, the base shifted to the side by 200 meters.
4. This is our DC-3 plane. In fact, it was heavily modified by Basler, and almost everything inside it, including avionics and engines, is new.
5. The plane can land both on the ground and on ice.
6. This photo clearly shows how close the station is to the historical South Pole (group of flags in the center). And the lone flag on the right is the geographic South Pole.
8. It stands on stilts, just like many houses in the north. This was done to prevent the building from melting the ice underneath and “floating.” In addition, the space below is well blown by winds (in particular, the snow under the station has not been cleared even once since its construction).
9. Entrance to the station: you need to climb two flights of stairs. Due to the thinness of the air, this is not easy to do.
10. Residential blocks.
11. At the Pole during our visit it was -25 degrees. We arrived in full uniform - three layers of clothing, hats, balaclavas, etc. - and then we were suddenly met by a guy in a light sweater and Crocs. He said that he was used to it: he had already survived several winters and the maximum frost he experienced here was minus 73 degrees. For about forty minutes, while we were walking around the station, he walked around like this.
12. The inside of the station is simply amazing. Let's start with the fact that it has a huge gym. Popular games among employees are basketball and badminton. The station uses 10,000 gallons of jet fuel per week to heat it.
13. Some statistics: 170 people live and work at the station, 50 people stay in the winter. They feed for free in the local canteen. They work 6 days a week, 9 hours a day. Everyone has a day off on Sunday. The chefs also have the day off, and everyone usually eats whatever is left uneaten in the refrigerator from Saturday.
14. There is a room for playing music (in the title photo), and in addition to the sports room there is a gym.
15. There is a room for trainings, conferences and similar events. As we walked past, there was a Spanish lesson going on.
16. The station is two-story. On each floor it is pierced by a long corridor. Residential blocks go to the right, scientific and research blocks go to the left.
17. Conference hall.
18. There is a balcony next to it, with a view of the outbuildings of the station.
19. Everything that can be stored in unheated rooms lies in these hangars.
20. This is the IceCube neutrino observatory, with which scientists catch neutrinos from space. Briefly, it works like this: The collision of a neutrino and an atom produces particles known as muons and a flash of blue light called Vavilov-Cherenkov radiation. In transparent arctic ice IceCube's optical sensors will be able to recognize it. Usually, for neutrino observatories, they dig a shaft at depth and fill it with water, but the Americans decided not to waste time on trifles and built IceCube at the South Pole, where there is plenty of ice. The size of the observatory is 1 cubic kilometer, hence, apparently, the name. Project cost: $270 million
21. The subject made a bow on the balcony overlooking our plane.
22. Invitations to seminars and master classes hang throughout the base. Here, for example, is a writing workshop.
23. I noticed the palm tree garlands attached to the ceiling. Apparently, there is a longing for summer and warmth among employees.
24. Old station sign. Amundsen and Scott are two discoverers who conquered the South Pole almost simultaneously (if you look at historical context), with a difference of a month.
25. In front of this station there was another one, it was called “Dome”. In 2010 it was finally dismantled. This photo shows the last day.
26. Recreation room: billiards, darts, books and magazines.
27. Science laboratory. They didn’t let us in, but they opened the door slightly. Pay attention to the trash cans: separate waste collection is practiced at the station.
28. Departments for firefighters. Standard American system: everyone has their own closet, in front of them is a completely finished uniform.
29. You just need to run up, jump into your boots and put on your clothes.
30. Computer club. Probably, when the station was built, it was relevant, but now everyone has laptops, and they come here, I think, to play games online. There is no Wi-Fi at the station, but there is personal Internet access at a speed of 10 kb per second. Unfortunately, they didn’t give it to us, and I never managed to check in at the pole.
31. Just like in the ANI camp, water is the most expensive pleasure at the station. For example, it costs one and a half dollars to flush the toilet.
32. Medical center.
33. I raised my head and looked at how perfectly the wires were laid. Not like it happens here, and especially somewhere in Asia.
34. The most expensive and most inaccessible is located at the station gift shop in the world. A year ago, Evgeniy Kaspersky was here, and he did not have cash (he wanted to pay with a card). When I went, Zhenya gave me a thousand dollars and asked me to buy everything in the store. Of course, I filled my bag with souvenirs, after which my fellow travelers began to quietly hate me, since I created a queue for half an hour. By the way, in this store you can buy beer and soda, but they sell them only to station employees.
37. Each employee has the right to use the laundry once a week. You can go to the shower 2 times a week for 2 minutes, that is, 4 minutes a week. I was told that they usually save everything and wash it once every two weeks. To be honest, I already guessed it from the smell.
38. Library.
40. And this is a corner of creativity. There is everything you can imagine: sewing threads, paper and paints for drawing, prefabricated models, cardboard, etc. Now I really want to go to one of our polar station and compare their life and arrangement.
41. At the historical South Pole there is a stick that has not changed since the time of the discoverers. And the marker for the geographic South Pole is moved every year to adjust for ice movement. The station has a small museum of knobs accumulated over the years.
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