Cape Hallett

Cape Hallett is a snow free area (Antarctic oasis) on the northern tip of the Hallett Peninsula on the Ross Sea coast of Victoria Land, East Antarctica. Cape Adare lies to the north.

In 1956, during Operation Deep Freeze II, Arneb was damaged by an ice floe at Cape Hallett. On 16 October 1958, a Douglas C 124C Globemaster II (52 1017) of the USAF crashed into a 3200 foot mountain near Cape Hallett Bay while maneuvering, killing 7 of the 13 occupants. The Globemaster was on an airdrop flight from Christchurch to McMurdo Station and other navigational errors had occurred prior to the crash.

The cape was the location of a joint scientific base, Hallett Station, between the United States and New Zealand during the International Geophysical Year of 1957, and was manned permanently until 1964, when there was a major fire. It was then used as a summer only base until 1973. The site is currently being remediated by removing hazardous materials: fuel, and oil stored in several large tanks. This is an ongoing project which will take several years to complete.

An area of 74 ha is protected under the Antarctic Treaty System as Antarctic Specially Protected Area (ASPA) No.106 because it contains habitats with a rich and diverse range of plant communities that are the most extensive and representative examples known at the northern end of the latitudinal gradient of Victoria Land and the Ross Sea. Surveys have recorded 18 species of lichens and five species of mosses, dominated by Bryum subrotundifolium. Animals found at the site include, as well as four species of mites and three of springtails, breeding colonies of south polar skuas and Adélie penguins.