The role of the wind in the destruction of an historic hut at Cape Adare in Antarctica

Abstract

AbstractIn 1911 the Northern Party of Robert Falcon Scott's British Antarctic expedition (1910–1913), built a wooden hut at Cape Adare, a locality notorious for gusting, high-velocity winds. During the expedition, the hut suffered superficial damage from 18 storms estimated at force 11–12 on the Beaufort scale. Since then, storms during the intervening 84 years have virtually destroyed the hut. This paper outlines the wind and storm events recorded at Cape Adare and suggests that the topography of the Adare Peninsula forces the strong southeast wind to change to an eastsoutheast wind only on meeting high ground. By the time it reaches Ridley Beach, it assumes the character of a highvelocity katabatic wind. It is suggested that at Cape Adare topographically reinforced winds are largely responsible for the destruction of the historic hut. The reasons for this and a possible history of hut destruction is given.