India’s Antarctic base

India and Antarctica figure in the Geo Quiz this time. Tropical India is a hemisphere away from the chilly South Pole. It’s more than 8,000 miles.

So that’s how far a team of researchers will travel on India’s first scientific expedition to the South Pole. Eight scientists will fly next week to India’s Antarctic research base. We’re looking for the name of that scientific base.

It’s located on an ice-free, rocky plateau called the Schirmacher Oasis. That puts it squarely in Queen Maud Land in East Antarctica. It’s named after a one-time queen of Norway.

As for the name of India’s research base, it comes from the Sanskrit word for friendship or good will. Its neighbors on the frozen continent are Russian and Norwegian research bases. And there’s the occasional petral flying over and Adelie penguins that stop by.

Geo Answer:

India’s Maitri research station
India operates Maitri research station in East Antarctica, so Maitri station is the answer. Next week, a team of Indian scientists will travel from Maitri to the South Pole in special vehicles. The team will conduct a series of experiments along the way aimed at studying climate change.