Antarctica: History

Pre-20th-Century History

Unlike other continental land masses, Antarctica's existence was postulated long before it was discovered. Indeed, both Pythagoras and Aristotle felt that the globe would be top-heavy and topple over if there weren't a sizeable land mass to balance it.

James Cook became the first person to cross the Antarctic Circle in 1773, but he circumnavigated Antarctica without once sighting land. Cook's observations on the huge seal and whale populations encouraged sealers and whalers to arrive in droves: nearly one third of the Southern Ocean and subantarctic islands were subsequently discovered by sealers.

In January 1820 Fabian von Bellingshausen of the Russian Imperial Navy became the first person to see the Antarctic continent. He described it as 'an icefield covered with small hillocks'. It wasn't until nearly 120 years later that his achievements were properly appreciated - the Soviet Union was then keen to establish Antarctic claims.

In 1819 and 1822, Scotsman James Weddell discovered the South Orkney Islands; in 1823 he landed on Saddle Island where he took six skins of an unknown species of seal (today known as the Weddell seal). By February he had reached 74°15' south, a new southing record. He named the sea after sovereign King George IV, but in the 20th century it was renamed the Weddell Sea.

Frenchman Jules-Sébastien-César Dumont d'Urville set forth from Toulon in 1838 hoping to reach the South Magnetic Pole (magnetism was then one of science's biggest conundrums), but ice stopped him well short. He did, however, discover Louis Philippe Land and Joinville Island at the northern tip of the Antarctic Peninsula, although sealers had probably already landed on both. In January 1840 he finally sighted land. Sheer ice cliffs prevented a landing on the mainland, so d'Urville landed on an island a few hundred metres offshore and claimed the Great Southern Land for France.

Belgian navy lieutenant Adrien Victor Joseph de Gerlache de Gomery's expeditions left Punta Arenas, Chile, very late in the season in December 1897. Some speculate that de Gerlache knew this would mean the Belgica would become beset with ice and that he would be the first to command an expedition that endured the Antarctic winter. By March the Belgica was stuck in heavy ice and the ship did not budge for 377 days. The crew ate fresh seal and penguin meat to prevent the onset of scurvy and elaborate games were organised to prevent madness. By January 1899 the situation was desperate: for a month the crew hewed a canal through the ice, but when they were nearly finished the wind shifted, the pack ice tightened and the channel closed up within an hour. Just two weeks later another shift in the wind reopened the channel and the Belgica was freed. The real achievement of the expedition was that it provided proof that permanent bases could be established on Antarctica, and that humans, with good provisions and equipment, could survive the Antarctic winter.

Carsten Egeberg Borchgrevink headed the first venture to establish firm bases on the continent. In 1899 this expedition left two simple huts, 10 men, 90 sledge dogs, kayaks for sea travel and a new Swedish invention - the Primus stove - in Antarctica. Despite one death, some near disasters and an ambivalent reaction on returning to England, this exercise was the start of modern Antarctic research.

Modern History

Captain Robert Falcon Scott's well-financed expedition in the Discovery left England in August 1901, crossed the Antarctic Circle in January 1902, penetrated the Ross Sea and discovered King Edward VII Land. Scott's men endured the winter with the comfort of windmill-powered electric lights, their own Royal Terror Theatre and the production of Antarctica's first magazine, the monthly South Polar Times .

With spring came the real work: Scott and two others, with 19 dogs and five supply sledges, took off for the South Pole. None had skied or driven sledge dogs before and their inexperience was telling. Despite this, they reached 82° 16.5' south before they turned back, but the return trip was awful. As the dogs weakened they were shot and fed to the others. They made it back to the Discovery to find that the relief ship Morning had arrived. Scott sent eight men home and spent another winter in the Discovery , leaving the following summer.

Norwegian Roald Engelbregt Gravning Amundsen, who had been part of the de Gerlache expedition that wintered in Antarctica, set sail from Christiana (modern-day Oslo) in 1910 in a bid to become the first man to reach the North Pole. When he heard American Robert Peary had already reached the North Pole, Amundsen did a literal about-face. Aware of Robert Scott's rival expedition, Amundsen secretively headed south. Setting out from his Ross Ice Shelf base on 19 October, 1911, Amundsen and four others headed for the Pole. The planning was meticulous: Amundsen took three or four backups for every critical item and set up 10 well-marked depots down to 82° south. On 14 December, 1911, Amundsen and his party reached the South Pole, claiming it for Norway. Amundsen left a tent at the Pole with a note inside for Scott to read.

Meanwhile, Scott was preparing another sortie and was desperate to beat Amundsen to the South Pole. He sailed from New Zealand in November 1910, and a team of five made a final push to the Pole on 2 October the next year. The journey was very difficult, and they reached the Pole only to find that Amundsen had been there 23 days earlier. Scott's disappointment was enormous, and the party turned around to begin the return journey. Two men died within two months, and the surviving three pushed on for another month until, just 18km (11mi) from a major supply depot, the weather pinned them down. Scott's last journal entry was 29 March and their frozen bodies were found eight months later by a search party.

After WWII only governments could afford to mount Antarctic expeditions, and in 1943 the British began the permanent occupation of the continent. In 1946, the US Navy Antarctic Developments Project, or 'Operation Highjump', was launched. It was the beginning of the Cold War and the exercise was designed to give US troops experience in polar conditions - 4700 men, 33 aircraft, 13 ships and 10 caterpillar tractors were deployed, and helicopters and icebreakers were used for the first time in Antarctica. In February 1954, the Australian National Antarctic Research Expeditions (ANARE) established Mawson station. This was the first permanent scientific station and the only one outside the Peninsula.

The International Geophysical Year (IGY), which lasted from July 1957 to December 1958, brought together the research activities of 66 countries. As part of this, 12 countries - Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Chile, France, Japan, New Zealand, Norway, South Africa, the UK, the USA and the USSR - established more than 40 bases on the Antarctic continent and a further 20 on the subantarctic islands. It was the spirit of international cooperation promoted by the IGY that lead directly to the signing of the Antarctic Treaty, which has administered Antarctic affairs since 1961.

Recent History

In recent years, Antarctica's history has been characterised by international scientific cooperation and increasing concerns about the continent's future. While for the moment the Antarctic landmass has been spared mining activity, chunks of ice bigger than many (admittedly small) countries are breaking off the ice shelf, adding to fears that the effects of global warming are already starting to take effect.

Back to top ^