Mawson Station
[5] Mawson Station is an active base for scientific research programs including an underground cosmic ray detector, various long-term meteorological aeronomy and geomagnetic studies, as well as ongoing conservation biology studies, in particular of nearby Auster rookery, a breeding ground for emperor penguins and Adélie penguins.Some of the small pre-fabricated huts used in the first years remain on the station, but these are overshadowed by large steel-framed modular buildings dating from a major rebuilding program that started in the late 1970s.Scientific disciplines represented included cartography, geology and geomagnetism, glaciology, seismology, ionospheric and auroral physics, meteorology, and physiology.Some notable geographic features in the region include the Framnes Mountains, which form the dramatic backdrop to Mawson Station.Mawson Station experiences a Polar climate: During March and April 1960, an ANARE survey party from Mawson Station carried out a barometric mapping control traverse along the route of a 242 kilometres (150 mi) dog sledge journey from Cape Batterbee through the Napier Mountains to Martin Island in Edward VIII Bay.[21] In early summer when sea ice conditions are most favourable, a ski landing area (SLA) is constructed adjacent to Mawson.