Snowmobiles in Antarctica
Snowmobiles are the main form of land transportation for field parties in Antarctica. Recently the United States Antarctic program turned almost exclusively to Ski-Doo Alpine 640-ER snowmobiles, the use and maintenance of which require specialized techniques. The first extensive Antarctic field test...
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1979
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ftunivcalgaryojs:oai:journalhosting.ucalgary.ca:article/65671 2023-05-15T13:54:49+02:00 Snowmobiles in Antarctica Boyles, J. Michael Schmutzler, Robin A. Rowley, Peter D. 1979-01-01 application/pdf https://journalhosting.ucalgary.ca/index.php/arctic/article/view/65671 eng eng The Arctic Institute of North America https://journalhosting.ucalgary.ca/index.php/arctic/article/view/65671/49585 https://journalhosting.ucalgary.ca/index.php/arctic/article/view/65671 ARCTIC; Vol. 32 No. 3 (1979): September: 177–281; 189-200 1923-1245 0004-0843 Snowmobiles Antarctic regions info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion research-article 1979 ftunivcalgaryojs 2022-03-22T21:22:45Z Snowmobiles are the main form of land transportation for field parties in Antarctica. Recently the United States Antarctic program turned almost exclusively to Ski-Doo Alpine 640-ER snowmobiles, the use and maintenance of which require specialized techniques. The first extensive Antarctic field test of these snowmobiles was made during three months of 1977-1978 while engaged in reconnaissance geologic and topographic exploration of the Orville Coast area. Snowmobiles are used to pull large loads of food and gear on two Nansen sledges. When crossing crevasse fields, they are driven remotely by persons on skis. To do this, modifications are made to the stock throttle to enable the engine both to be set at a constant speed and to be shorted out by pulling on a cord that trails behind the snowmobile; steering is by ropes attached to the front ski of the snowmobile. Proper "night" storage is necessary to ensure easiest starting in the morning and to minimize the effects of storms. A routine of trouble-shooting that rapidly isolated and corrected engine problems included first checking spark-plugs or gas-line filters, followed by checking carburetor jet adjustments, drive belt and oil/gas ratio. We found that Ski-Doos are well suited to Antarctica but would be more useful if carburetor fuel filters were replaced by in-line fuel filters and if snowmobiles were equipped with remote throttle controls, tachometers, speedometers, odometers, and a low-gear option. Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica Arctic United States Antarctic Program University of Calgary Journal Hosting Antarctic Orville ENVELOPE(-63.000,-63.000,-75.167,-75.167) Orville Coast ENVELOPE(-65.500,-65.500,-75.750,-75.750) ARCTIC 32 3 |
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Open Polar |
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University of Calgary Journal Hosting |
op_collection_id |
ftunivcalgaryojs |
language |
English |
topic |
Snowmobiles Antarctic regions |
spellingShingle |
Snowmobiles Antarctic regions Boyles, J. Michael Schmutzler, Robin A. Rowley, Peter D. Snowmobiles in Antarctica |
topic_facet |
Snowmobiles Antarctic regions |
description |
Snowmobiles are the main form of land transportation for field parties in Antarctica. Recently the United States Antarctic program turned almost exclusively to Ski-Doo Alpine 640-ER snowmobiles, the use and maintenance of which require specialized techniques. The first extensive Antarctic field test of these snowmobiles was made during three months of 1977-1978 while engaged in reconnaissance geologic and topographic exploration of the Orville Coast area. Snowmobiles are used to pull large loads of food and gear on two Nansen sledges. When crossing crevasse fields, they are driven remotely by persons on skis. To do this, modifications are made to the stock throttle to enable the engine both to be set at a constant speed and to be shorted out by pulling on a cord that trails behind the snowmobile; steering is by ropes attached to the front ski of the snowmobile. Proper "night" storage is necessary to ensure easiest starting in the morning and to minimize the effects of storms. A routine of trouble-shooting that rapidly isolated and corrected engine problems included first checking spark-plugs or gas-line filters, followed by checking carburetor jet adjustments, drive belt and oil/gas ratio. We found that Ski-Doos are well suited to Antarctica but would be more useful if carburetor fuel filters were replaced by in-line fuel filters and if snowmobiles were equipped with remote throttle controls, tachometers, speedometers, odometers, and a low-gear option. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Boyles, J. Michael Schmutzler, Robin A. Rowley, Peter D. |
author_facet |
Boyles, J. Michael Schmutzler, Robin A. Rowley, Peter D. |
author_sort |
Boyles, J. Michael |
title |
Snowmobiles in Antarctica |
title_short |
Snowmobiles in Antarctica |
title_full |
Snowmobiles in Antarctica |
title_fullStr |
Snowmobiles in Antarctica |
title_full_unstemmed |
Snowmobiles in Antarctica |
title_sort |
snowmobiles in antarctica |
publisher |
The Arctic Institute of North America |
publishDate |
1979 |
url |
https://journalhosting.ucalgary.ca/index.php/arctic/article/view/65671 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-63.000,-63.000,-75.167,-75.167) ENVELOPE(-65.500,-65.500,-75.750,-75.750) |
geographic |
Antarctic Orville Orville Coast |
geographic_facet |
Antarctic Orville Orville Coast |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica Arctic United States Antarctic Program |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica Arctic United States Antarctic Program |
op_source |
ARCTIC; Vol. 32 No. 3 (1979): September: 177–281; 189-200 1923-1245 0004-0843 |
op_relation |
https://journalhosting.ucalgary.ca/index.php/arctic/article/view/65671/49585 https://journalhosting.ucalgary.ca/index.php/arctic/article/view/65671 |
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ARCTIC |
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