Peter.Hullah@eurocontrol.fr wrote:

And just for the fun: What about Antartica!!!

What about Antarctica? Here is what I know, and some questions I have that I wonder if anyone can answer: I remember reading in a book dated 1973 that all interior stations (didn't mention how that was defined) kept "New Zealand time." Siple, the first commander of the South Pole station, stated that he would have liked to have kept GMT at the station, but that he found it more convenient to keep GMT+12 as supplies for the station were coming from McMurdo Sound, which was on GMT+12 because New Zealand was on GMT+12 all year at that time (1957). (Source: Siple's book 90 degrees SOUTH.) Admiral Byrd maintained "180th meridian time" at Little America, which would have been about a half hour slow on LMT; it is unknown if he meant GMT plus or minus 12 (can anyone enlighten us). In the winter of 1934, when he was at Advance Base, (he wrote the book ALONE based on his experiences there during a polar winter, including almost dying of carbon monoxide poisoning) he stated that he was "experimenting with moonlight saving" by putting his time forward 2 hours; don't know if this was GMT+14 or GMT-10. Byrd Station, which operated from the late 1950s until the early 1970s, was located at 80S, 120W and operated on CST all year; double summer time. Questions: Does McMurdo and Pole Station run on GMT+12 all year, GMT+13 all year (the time in New Zealand in summer) or switch from +12 to +13 as New Zealand? If the latter, don't people at the SP feel kind of silly about seasonal time changes in a place where daylight lasts 6 months, (nautical) twilight a month on each end, and 4 months of darkness? Do "all interior stations keep New Zealand time" presently, as was claimed by the author of that book I read (author and title forgotten) back in 1973? If so, when was this convention adopted? Any stations observe seasonal time changes? (A thought; could some stations advance time in the austral WINTER, to keep the same time relationship as their north-hemisphere mother country?) Any stations on a local time that could be considered weird, such as a time standard >1 hour fast or >30 minutes slow on LMT? Chris Carrier