Mawson Station

A permanent, year round research station run by the Australian Antarctic Division. It is situated at Horseshoe Harbour, in MacRobertson Land, which is roughly south of the Indian Ocean. It was named in honour of Australian scientist and Antarctic explorer Sir Douglas Mawson

The coast of MacRobertson Land was named after Macpherson Robertson, a supporter of Australian Antarctic research and was first extensively photographed by an American expedition, Operation Highjump, in 1946-47. It was these photos that led to Dr Phillip Law, head of ANARE, to select Horseshoe Harbour as a possible site in 1953. The deep harbour is a relatively ice free rocky outcrop, quite rare in that part of Antarctica and proved to be an ideal site.

In the (southern) summer of 1953/54 a small party set sail in an icebreaker, the Kirsta Dan and ten men over wintered during 1954. By the end of that year they had erected 6 permanent building, including the living quarters, a carpenters shop and two storage shops. In 1956 the first aircraft hangar in Antarctica was built on the site. It is currently the longest continually operating research station south of the Antarctic Circle.

Scientific study conducted at the station includes medicine, meteorology, geophysics, Adelie penguin research, and Weddell seal population research, cosmic ray research, atmospheric and space physics.