Antarctic Treaty System An Assessment: Proceedings of a Workshop Held at Beardmore South Field Camp, Antarctica, January 7-13, 1985 (1986) / Chapter Skim
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8. Summary of Science in Antarctica Prior to and Including the International Geophysical Year
8. Summary of Science in Antarctica Prior to and Including the International Geophysical Year
Pages 87-102
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From page 87... ...
Ptolemy linked southern Africa with the Malay Peninsula, making the Indian Ocean a closed basin, and it was not until the end of the fifteenth century when European sailors reported rounding the Cape of Good Hope and sailing into the Indian Ocean that this concept was proven wrong. Magellan's transit from the Atlantic into the Pacific through the Straits of Magellan in the early part of the sixteenth century lead to the conclusion that the land to the south, Tierra del Fuego, was part of the great southern continent, Terra Australis.
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From page 88... ...
His travels gave the first real impression of the nature of the land mass if in fact one did exist. The circumpolar navigation by Captain James Cook during the period 1772-1775 established the fact that there was no land connection to the legendary southern continent.
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From page 89... ...
Captain Brisbane, whose ship sailed with Weddell, worked in the South Orkney Islands and made rough charts of their southern coasts. e In 1829-1831, Captain Foster, sponsored by the British government, made magnetic observations and measured gravity by pendulum measurements at Deception Island.
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From page 90... ...
In 1839-1843, an expedition led by James Clark Ross and sponsored by the British Admiralty and the Royal Society ventured south in an attempt to reach the south magnetic pole. Ross penetrated deep into the Ross Sea, discovered the Ross Ice Shelf, Victoria Land, and eventually sailed eastward to the Falklands, and then south in an attempt to penetrate the Weddell Sea.
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From page 91... ...
During this same time Period the shin Gronland, commanded by Captain Edward Dallman and sponsored by Albert Rosenthal and the German Society for Polar Navigation, sailed south along the west side of the Antarctic Peninsula, pressing south of Biscoe Island and discovering the Bismark Straits in an area Biscoe in 1832 had presumed was land. A second German party, led by van Rubritz, sailed to Kerguelan and Heard Island to investigate possible sites for a base to observe the transit of Venus.
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From page 92... ...
The Belgica sailed south from Tierra del Fuego to the South Shetlands, then along the west side of the peninsula, penetrating south through Gerlache Strait and eventually into the Bellingshausen Sea. The ship became locked into the ice, and became quite unintentionally the first scientific expedition to winter over in the Antarctic.
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From page 93... ...
Utilizing support from the government, the Royal Geographical Society, the Royal Society, and private donors, the ship Discovery, under the command of Robert Falcon Scott, sailed to Antarctica in 1902. At the Bay of Whales, Scott utilized a captive balloon ascent to make observations of the Ross Ice Shelf topography and extent.
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From page 94... ...
His work was concentrated along the west side of the peninsula, and the contributions included studies of tides, sea ice, magnetics, geology, and biology, including major collections of marine organisms. Shackleton arrived in the Ross Sea with the stated intent of conducting scientific studies and reaching both the south magnetic and geographic poles.
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From page 95... ...
In addition, other members of the Scott expedition made studies of the Cape Crazier Emperor Penguin rookery, completed important geologic studies in the areas to the west and south of McMurdo Sound and on Ross Island, made extended continuous meteorological observations including the use of balloons for upper air studies, and also included magnetic and auroral research as part of the overall effort. The party left at Cape Adare did geologic work primarily.
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From page 96... ...
These voyages, carried out over 15 years using three different ships, were sponsored by the DiScovery Committee of the British Government to provide scientific information related to the various conditions that influence the distribution and number of whales. A scientific station was established at Grytviken on South Georgia, and summer research programs were conducted each whaling season from 1925 to 1931.
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From page 97... ...
The second Byrd Antarctic Expedition in 1933-1935 included a major scientific component, and the utilization of the best technology available to accomplish the goals was a significant factor. Meteorologic records from Little America included both surface and upper air observations, seismic techniques were used to measure ice thickness and subice topography, cosmic ray studies were initiated, significant biologic work was carried out, and again geologic parties worked in Marie Byrd Land and the Queen Maud Range.
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From page 98... ...
The pace and scope of research activities picked up during this period. The privately funded Ronne Expedition to the west side of the Antarctic Peninsula included scientists, and the Chilean government supported numerous expeditions to the Antarctic Peninsula and adjacent islands.
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From page 99... ...
Eleven programs, aurora, cosmic rays, geomagnetism, glaciology, gravity, ionospheric physics, meteorology, international weather control, oceanography, seismology, biology, and medicine were included as part of the scientific program. The antarctic continent was crossed for the first time, and inland stations were established at the South Pole, close to the south magnetic pole (Vostok)
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From page 100... ...
These two international organizations, each with a special mission, have provided a framework for continued scientific activity in a peaceful and essentially apolitical environment that has been marked by exchange of scientists and scientific data, coordinated international research efforts, and the continued growth in our knowledge of the Antarctic and the surrounding seas. B IBLIOGRAPHY American Geographical Society.
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From page 101... ...
1982. The International Geophysical Year 1957/58; in WHO Bulletin, pp.
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