Dome A or Dome Argus is the loftiest ice dome on the Antarctic Plateau, located inland. It is thought to be the coldest naturally occurring place on Earth, with temperatures believed to reach . It is the highest ice feature in Antarctica, consisting of an ice dome or eminence above sea level. It is located near the center of East Antarctica, approximately midway between the enormous head of Lambert Glacier and the geographic South Pole, within the Australian claim. Description Dome Argus is located on the massive East Antarctic Ice Sheet and is the highest ice feature of Antarctica. Dome A is a lofty ice prominence, the highest rooftop of the Antarctic Plateau, and the elevation visually is not noticeable. Below this enormous dome, underneath at least of ice sheet, lies the Gamburtsev Mountain Range, about the size of the European Alps. The name "Dome Argus" was given by the Scott Polar Research Institute from Greek mythology. Argus built the ship Argo, in which Jason and the Argonauts traveled to Colchis in search of the Golden Fleece. This site is one of the driest locations on Earth and receives of snow per year. Due to this, as well as calm weather, this site is an excellent location to obtain ice core samples for the research of past climates. Temperatures at Dome A fall below almost every winter. Exploration Details of the morphology of this feature were determined by the SPRI-NSF-TUD airborne radio echo sounding program between the years 1967 and 1979. In January 2005 a team from the Chinese National Antarctic Research Expeditions (CHINARE) traversed from Zhongshan Station to Dome A and located the highest point of the ice sheet ( above sea level) by GPS survey at on January 18. This point is near one end of an elongate ridge (about long and wide), which is a major ice divide and has an elevation difference along its length of only a few meters. An automatic weather station (AWS) was deployed at Dome A, and a second station was installed approximately halfway between the summit and the coast at a site called Eagle (, 2830 m above sea level). These AWS are operated as part of an ongoing collaboration between China and Australia and include a third AWS (LGB69) at , above sea level, which has operated since January 2002. The station at Dome A is powered by solar cells