Neumayer Station II was commissioned in March 1992 as the direct successor to the first German ice shelf station. It was located just a few kilometres from the site of Neumayer I on the Ekström Ice Shelf in Atka Bay.
Like its predecessor, the construction principle was based on two huge steel tubes sunk deep into the ice. Each of the two tubes was around 90 metres long and housed modular containers for living, working and storage rooms. Up to 10 people could spend the winter in the station, while the capacity was significantly higher during the Antarctic summer.
A key research objective was to continue the long-term measurement series in the fields of geophysics, meteorology and atmospheric chemistry. The station had a specialised observatory for measuring the Earth’s magnetic field and recording seismic activity. Through continuous atmospheric measurements, Neumayer II provided important data on the purity of the Antarctic atmosphere and global pollutant transport.
One technical advance was the improved energy supply, which was achieved through more efficient coupling of electricity and heat generation.
The station also served as a logistical hub for field expeditions that ventured deeper into the Antarctic hinterland.
Like all stations on the ice shelf, Neumayer II drifted about 150 metres towards the ocean each year with the flowing ice.
One of the biggest challenges remained the enormous snow load, which caused the station to sink about one metre deeper each year.
To ensure access, the entry shafts had to be regularly extended and snow masses cleared with heavy vehicles.
Over the course of its 17 years of operation, the enormous ice pressure and flow movements led to irreparable deformation of the steel shell.
Despite this extreme mechanical stress, the station was considered technically reliable and scientifically highly productive until its closure.
In 2009, operations were officially discontinued when the more modern Neumayer Station III began service.
Due to its deep location in the ice, dismantling the station was a huge logistical task for the Alfred Wegener Institute.
In accordance with the Antarctic Environmental Protection Protocol, all environmentally hazardous materials and structures were completely removed.
Neumayer II marked the transition from the pioneering era to fully digitalised and internationally networked polar research.
Today, the station’s cavities remaining in the ice lie long beneath a massive layer of snow and are moving inexorably towards the edge of the ice shelf.