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Captain Cook First sails into the Antarctic circle.
First sails into the Antarctic circle. No land is sighted but bits of rock does imply that there is a continent. -
William Smith.
Sails into 62° south latitude and 60° west longitude but is unable to dock on the land. -
Fabian Von Bellinghausen first sights the continent
First sights the continent of Antarctica. He is the first to circumnavigates the Antarctic, and is the first to cross the Antarctic circle since Cook. -
Edward Bransfield and William Smith
First sights the Trinity Peninsula now called the Antarctic Peninsula. -
James Weddell discovers the Weddell Sea.
With his ship Jane reached a new farthest south 74°15'S. Weddell was actually a sealer. -
James Clark Ross
James Ross discovered the Ross Ice Shelf, Ross Sea, Mount Erebus (named after his ship), Mount Terror and Victoria Land. -
Discovery Expedition led by Robert Falcon Scott
His team went the furthest south ever at 82° 17′S. -
Nimrod Expedition led by Ernest Shackelton.
They reached 88° 23 ′S (farthest south). -
Jameson Adams, Frank Wild and Eric Marshall.
Jameson Adams, Frank Wild and Eric Marshall (from left to right) plant the Union Jack at their southernmost position, 88° 23', on 9 January 1909. The photograph was taken by expedition leader Ernest Shackleton. -
Professor Edgeworth David.
He reached the south magnetic pole (72°25′S 155°16′E).
Professor Edgeworth David was part of the Nimrod Expedition with Scott and Shackelton. Douglas Mawson (Australian) was a late edition to the team. Scott and Shackelton were not the best of friends! Which resulted in an argument. Scott became ill so Shackelton had to help him. -
Roald Amundsen South Pole Expedition
Reached the South Pole (90° S) -
Terra Nova Expedition led By Robert Falcon Scott
Reaches the South Pole 90° S, just 3 weeks after Roald Amundsen. -
Period: to
Australasian Antarctic Expedition with Douglas Mawson,Xavier Metz(a swiss skier) and Belgrave Edward Sutton Ninnis
On the 14 of December, The headed east on 10 November 1912 to survey King George V Land. After three weeks of excellent progress, the party was crossing the Ninnis Glacier. Ninnis fell down a crevass and fell to his death and brought supplies, dogs and a tent.
Metz died later on the 7th of January, 1913 due to liver poisning. (when Ninnis fel down the crevass (see above).They had to eat there dog's livers, thinking it would be nutritious.) Mawson returned on the 8th of February. But thinking t -
Australasian Antarctic Expedition led by Douglas Mawson.
Mawson's plan was to map the coastline of King George V Land, but instead it ended in a tragedy. On the 14 of January, Belgrave Edward Sutton Ninnis fell down a crevasse to his death, bring with him supplies, dogs and a tent. Then another disaster struck, when Swiss champion skier Xavier Mertz died of poisoning due to the scarce amount of food. Mawson and Mertz ate their huskey's livers, thinking it would be nutritious, it instead killed him. For more info see Mertz's death and Ninnis' death. -
Ninnis' Death
Belgrave Edward Sutton Ninnis, fell down a crevasse, falling to his death. Ninnis was crossing the Ninnis Glacier when it happened.
The crevasse was 480km east of the main base. Mertz and Mawson spotted one dead and one injured dog on a ledge 46m down but Ninnis was never seen again. -
Mertz's Death
Champion Swiss Skier, Xavier Mertz died due to liver poisning. Mawson and Mertz where foced to eat there dogs livers because food was scarce. They thought that the liver would be nutritious but it was anything but. Poor Mertz got more affected then Mawson. Mertz ate his frost bitten finger and fell into a sleep that he would never wake up. Mawson stayed a further day with him and burried him. They where 160 km from the base in Port Denison. Mawson continued alone for the rest of the journey. -
Mawson returns. Mawson is why we have so much land in Antarctica
Mawson finally made it back to base, alone. However it was just hours after Davis's recovery party had left on the Aurora Australis."My god, which one are you?" asked one of the men when he saw Mawson. The ship was recalled by wireless communication, only to have bad weather thwart the rescue effort. Six men who had remained behind to look for him, wintered a second unplanned year until December, 1913. Douglas Mawson was knighted on his return for his bravery and courage. -
Antarctica Treaty
Antarctica is Earth's only continent without a native human inhabintants. For the purposes of the treaty system, Antarctica is defined as all of the land and ice shelves south of 60°S latitude. The treaty, entering into force in 1961 and currently having 50 signatory nations, sets aside Antarctica as a reasearch continent establishes freedom of scientific investigation and bans military activity on that continent. The treaty was the first arms control agreement established during the Cold War. -
Agreed Measures for the Conservation of Antarctic Fauna and Flora
It was put into action in 1982 in Brussels, Belgium.
