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92-512: It is the site of the first confirmed landing on the Antarctic mainland—undertaken from Antarctic in 1895—and the first base on the Antarctic mainland—established by Southern Cross in 1899 . On both occasions an important role was played by Carstens Borchgrevink . Marking the north end of Borchgrevink Coast and the west end of Pennell Coast , the cape separates the Ross Sea to

184-529: A British naval officer, his contribution to Antarctic knowledge might have been better received, but "a Norwegian seaman/schoolmaster was never going to be taken seriously". The Discovery Expedition of 1901–1904 was Robert Falcon Scott 's first Antarctic command. Although according to Edward Wilson the intention was to "reach the Pole if possible, or find some new land", there is nothing in Scott's writings, nor in

276-533: A course to the north-west, but on the following day, a gale scattered the ships. The Marigold was sunk by a giant wave; the Elizabeth managed to return into the Magellan Strait, later sailing eastwards back to England; the pinnace was lost later. The gales persisted for more than seven weeks. The Golden Hinde was driven far to the west and south, before clawing its way back towards land. On 22 October,

368-500: A hint of the fertile continent which some still hoped lay in the south. Cook wrote that if any such continent existed it would be "a country doomed by nature", and that "no man will venture further than I have done, and the land to the South will never be explored". He concluded: "Should the impossible be achieved and the land attained, it would be wholly useless and of no benefit to the discoverer or his nation". Despite Cook's prediction,

460-588: A longitude close to that in which Cook had made his record 47 years earlier. In 1821, the American sealing captain John Davis led a party which landed on an uncharted stretch of land beyond the South Shetlands. "I think this Southern Land to be a Continent", he wrote in his ship's log. If his landing was not on an island, his party were the first to set foot on the Antarctic continent. James Weddell

552-545: A margin "caused some raised eyebrows", but was soon accepted. In November 1823, the American sealing captain Benjamin Morrell reached the South Sandwich Islands in the schooner Wasp . According to his own later account he then sailed south, unconsciously following the track taken by James Weddell a month previously. Morrell claimed to have reached 70°14'S, at which point he turned north because

644-550: A member of a party that had reached the location of the North Magnetic Pole , and he was an obvious choice as commander. The expedition left England on 30 September 1839, and after a voyage that was slowed by the many stops required to carry out work on magnetism, it reached Tasmania in August 1840. Following a three-month break imposed by the southern winter, they sailed south-east on 12 November 1840, and crossed

736-645: A reasonable doubt. The impetus for what would become known as the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration came in 1895, when in an address to the Sixth International Geographical Congress in London, Professor Sir John Murray called for a resumption of Antarctic exploration: "a steady, continuous, laborious and systematic exploration of the whole southern region". He followed this call with an appeal to British patriotism: "Is

828-622: A squadron of five ships, in search of a western route to the Spice Islands in the East Indies . Success depended on finding a strait or passage through the South American land masses, or finding the southern tip of the continent and sailing around it. The South American coast was sighted on 6 December 1519, and Magellan moved cautiously southward, following the coast to reach latitude 49°S on 31 March 1520. Little if anything

920-540: A suitable anchorage that would have allowed the ships to over-winter, so he returned to Tasmania, arriving there in April 1841. The following season Ross returned and located an inlet in the Barrier face that enabled him, on 23 February 1842, to extend his Farthest South to 78°09'30"S, a record which would remain unchallenged for 58 years. Although Ross had not been able to land on the Antarctic continent, nor approach

1012-802: Is no main island to be seen to the southwards but that the Atlantic Ocean and the South Sea meet." This open sea south of Cape Horn became known as the Drake Passage even though Drake himself did not traverse it. On 14 June 1615, Willem Schouten, with two ships Eendracht and Hoorn , set sail from Texel in the Netherlands in search of a western route to the Pacific. Hoorn was lost in a fire, but Eendracht continued southward. On 29 January 1616, Schouten reached what he discerned to be

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1104-636: The Antarctic Circle on 1 January 1841. On 11 January, a long mountainous coastline that stretched to the south was sighted. Ross named the land Victoria Land , and the mountains the Admiralty Range . He followed the coast southwards and passed Weddell's Farthest South point of 74°15'S on 23 January. A few days later, as they moved further eastward to avoid shore ice, they were met by the sight of twin volcanoes (one of them active), which were named Mount Erebus and Mount Terror , in honour of

1196-564: The Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting . The grave of Nicolai Hanson has been similarly but separately designated (HSM 23). Studies suggests that Cape Adare was covered in ice during the Last glacial period , and deglaciated around 16.2 thousand years ago. And the results suggest that it took several thousand years until penguin colonies formed, after ice free surfaces became available. Submarine shoals on

1288-630: The Falkland Islands , suggesting the capacity for even longer sea journeys. Chilean scientists have claimed that Amerinds visited the South Shetland Islands , due to stone artifacts recovered from bottom-sampling operations in Admiralty Bay , King George Island , and Discovery Bay, Greenwich Island ; however, the artifacts—two arrowheads—were later found to have been planted, possibly to reinforce Chilean claims to

1380-735: The Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration . Shackleton's efforts fell short; Scott reached the pole in January 1912 only to find that he had been beaten by the Norwegian Amundsen. In 1494, the principal maritime powers, Portugal and Spain, signed a treaty which drew the Tordesillas line down the middle of the Atlantic Ocean and allocated all trade routes to the east of the line to Portugal. That gave Portugal dominance of

1472-495: The 19th century, away from trade and towards sealing and whaling, and then exploration and discovery. After the first overwintering on continental Antarctica in 1898–99 ( Adrien de Gerlache ), the prospect of reaching the South Pole appeared realistic, and the race for the pole began. The British were pre-eminent in this endeavour, which was characterised by the rivalry between Robert Falcon Scott and Ernest Shackleton during

1564-484: The Antarctic continent. Zoologist Nicolai Hanson died during the winter and was buried at Cape Adare. The closest research station in modern times was Hallett Station , the joint New Zealand / United States station at Cape Hallett , 63 miles (101 km) to the south. This base was in use from 1957 to 1973. The Australian Bicentennial Antarctic Expedition set out from Cape Adare for their successful assault on Mount Minto in 1988. The expedition's support vessel

1656-475: The Antarctic, led by Henryk Bull . In January 1895 Borchgrevink was one of a group from that expedition that claimed the first confirmed landing on the Antarctic continent, at Cape Adare . Borchgrevink determined to return with his own expedition, which would overwinter and explore inland, with the location of the South Magnetic Pole as an objective. Borchgrevink then went to England, where he

1748-543: The Drake Passage. The next recorded navigation of the Drake Passage was achieved in February 1619, by the brothers Bartolome and Gonzalo Garcia de Nodal. The Garcia de Nodal expedition discovered a small group of islands about 60 nautical miles (100 km; 70 mi) south-west of Cape Horn, at latitude 56°30'S. They named these the Diego Ramirez Islands after the expedition's pilot. The islands remained

1840-745: The Frenchman Jean-Baptiste Bouvet de Lozier discovered the remote Bouvet Island , and in 1772, his compatriot, Yves-Joseph de Kerguelen de Trémarec , found the Kerguelen Islands . The second of James Cook 's historic voyages, 1772–1775, was primarily a search for the elusive Terra Australis Incognita that was still believed to lie somewhere in the unexplored latitudes below 40°S . Cook left England in September 1772 with two ships, HMS Resolution and HMS Adventure . After pausing at Cape Town, on 22 November

1932-513: The Gulf of Alaska generated a trans-Pacific Ocean swell that may have contributed to breaking B15-A into many pieces on 27 October 2005. The swell travelled 13,500 km (7,300 nmi) from Alaska to Antarctica over six days. Scientists are studying this event as an example of how weather in one area can have effects in other parts of the world, and with concern over the effects on global warming . A more detailed study in 2010, however, shows that

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2024-467: The Nimrod Expedition, 1907–1909. This was the first expedition to set the definite objective of reaching the South Pole, and to have a specific strategy for doing so. To assist his endeavour, Shackleton adopted a mixed transport strategy, involving the use of Manchurian ponies as pack animals, as well as the more traditional dog-sledges. A specially adapted motor car was also taken. Although

2116-652: The Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen , who had been developing plans for a North Pole expedition, changed his mind when, in September 1909, the North Pole was claimed in quick succession by the Americans Frederick Cook and Robert Peary . Amundsen resolved to go south instead. Amundsen concealed his revised intentions until his ship, Fram , was in the Atlantic and beyond communication. Scott

2208-540: The Norwegian factory Strømmen Trævarefabrikk. These huts are still standing, and the site is recognized internationally as a significant historic site. Members of the Northern Party of Scott 's Terra Nova Expedition over-wintered at Cape Adare in 1911 and 1912. They erected one hut, which has fallen into ruin today. As a result of initiatives by the Antarctic Heritage Trust the site (with

2300-549: The Pacific south of Tierra del Fuego is sometimes attributed to Francisco de Hoces of the Loaisa Expedition . In January 1526, his ship San Lesmes was blown south from the Atlantic entrance of the Magellan Strait to a point where the crew thought they saw a headland, and water beyond it, which indicated the southern extremity of the continent. There is speculation as to which headland they saw; conceivably it

2392-531: The Russian captain Fabian von Bellingshausen , in another Antarctic sector, had come within sight of the coast of what is now known as Queen Maud Land . He is thus credited as the first person to see the continent's mainland, although he did not make this claim himself. Bellingshausen made two circumnavigations mainly in latitudes between 60 and 67°S, and in January 1821, reached his most southerly point at 70°S, in

2484-632: The Spanish ship Aurora in 1762. He failed to discover this non-existent land, but his sealing activities showed a handsome profit. In 1822, Weddell, again in command of Jane and this time accompanied by a smaller ship, the cutter Beaufoy , set sail for the south with instructions from his employers that, should the sealing prove barren, he was to "investigate beyond the track of former navigators". This suited Weddell's exploring instincts, and he equipped his vessel with chronometers, thermometers, compasses, barometers and charts. In January 1823 he probed

2576-412: The annual resupply ships to three research stations. The floe was expected to cause a catastrophic decline in the population of Adélie penguins , as it added considerable distances which parent penguins must travel back from the sea to their chicks. Weddell seals and skuas are also inhabitants of McMurdo Sound and their populations may have been affected as well. On 21 October 2005 a large storm in

2668-505: The area. While the natives of Tierra del Fuego were not capable of true oceanic travel, there is some evidence of Polynesian visits to some of the sub antarctic islands to the south of New Zealand , although these are further from Antarctica than South America. There are also remains of a Polynesian settlement dating back to the 13th century on Enderby Island in the Auckland Islands . According to ancient legends, around

2760-542: The behaviour of the species that some researchers believe to be an indicator of climate change . Over four seasons, sampled between 1981 and 2012, the Adélie colony at Cape Adare had a mean count of 227,000 breeding pairs, making it (along with that at Cape Crozier ) among the largest in the Ross Sea . It occupies Ridley Beach and part of the western slopes of the Cape Adare peninsula. A 294 ha site encompassing

2852-676: The buildings) is registered in the Antarctic Treaty System as an Antarctic Specially Protected Area (ASPA 159) the highest level of protection available under the terms of the Treaty. The remains of two Borchgrevink's Hut , as well as those of the Terra Nova Expedition's hut, have also been designated a Historic Site or Monument (HSM 22), following a proposal by New Zealand and the United Kingdom to

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2944-811: The coast leaving McMurdo Sound . On 27–28 October 2005, the iceberg ran aground off Cape Adare in Victoria Land , generating seismic signals that were detected as far away as the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station and broke into several smaller pieces, the largest of which was still named B-15A (now measuring approximately 1,700 km or 500 sq nmi). Three additional pieces were named B-15P, B-15M, and B-15N. Iceberg B-15A then moved farther up north and broke up into more pieces. These were spotted by air force fisheries patrol on 3 November 2006. On 21 November 2006 several large pieces were seen just 60 km (30 nmi) off

3036-470: The coast of Timaru , New Zealand—the largest measured about 1.8 km (1 nmi), rising 37 m (120 ft) from the surface of the ocean. As of 2018, four pieces remain that are large enough to be tracked by the National Ice Center (at least 70 km or 20 sq nmi). One piece, B-15Z, measures 19 km × 9 km (10 nmi × 5 nmi). It was located in

3128-670: The coast of Antarctica south of Africa. In 2021, B-15ab became the last fragment to remain on the US National Ice Center list of tracked icebergs, still grounded off the coast of Antarctica. On 29 January 2001, researchers from the University of Chicago and the University of Wisconsin installed weather and Global Positioning System instruments on Iceberg B-15A. It was the first time an iceberg had been monitored in this way. The data gathered led to an unprecedented understanding of how giant icebergs make their way through

3220-490: The colony has been designated an Important Bird Area by BirdLife International . A colony of about 300 pairs of south polar skuas is also present. In 1901, Carsten Borchgrevink , part of the British Antarctic Expedition 1898–1900 , published the book, ‘First on the Antarctic continent’. He wrote ca. 1900, in the chapter dedicated to Adélie penguins: We all watched the life of the penguins with

3312-552: The days of Ross. A party consisting of Borchgrevink, William Colbeck and a Sami named Per Savio landed with sledges and dogs. This party ascended the Barrier and made the first sledge journey on the barrier surface; on 16 February 1900 they extended the Farthest South record to 78°50'S. On its return to England later in 1900, Borchgrevink's expedition was received without enthusiasm, despite its new southern record. Historian David Crane commented that if Borchgrevink had been

3404-578: The dogs and the car were used during the expedition for a number of purposes, the task of assisting the group that would undertake the march to the pole fell to the ponies. The size of Shackleton's four-man polar party was dictated by the number of surviving ponies; of the ten that were embarked in New Zealand, only four had survived the 1908 winter. Ernest Shackleton and three companions ( Frank Wild , Eric Marshall and Jameson Adams ) began their march on 29 October 1908. On 26 November, they surpassed

3496-477: The early 19th century saw numerous attempts to penetrate southward, and to discover new lands. In 1819, William Smith , in command of the brigantine Williams , discovered the South Shetland Islands , and in the following year Edward Bransfield , in the same ship, sighted the Trinity Peninsula at the northern extremity of Graham Land . A few days before Bransfield's discovery, on 27 January 1820,

3588-826: The east from the Southern Ocean to the west, and is backed by the high Admiralty Mountains . Cape Adare was an important landing site and base camp during early Antarctic exploration . Off the coast to the northeast are the Adare Seamounts and the Adare Trough . Captain James Ross discovered Cape Adare in January 1841 and named it after his friend the Viscount Adare (the title is derived from Adare , Ireland ). In January 1895, Norwegian explorers Henrik Bull and Carsten Borchgrevink from

3680-554: The expedition ship Southern Cross left London for the Ross Sea , reaching Cape Adare on 17 February 1899. Here a shore party was landed and was the first to over-winter on the Antarctic mainland, in a prefabricated hut. In January 1900, Southern Cross returned, picked up the shore party and, following the route which Ross had taken 60 years previously, sailed southward to the Great Ice Barrier, which they discovered had retreated some 30 miles (48 km) south since

3772-416: The expedition's ships. The Great Ice Barrier (later to be called the "Ross Ice Shelf") stretched away east of these mountains, forming an impassable obstacle to further southward progress. In his search for a strait or inlet, Ross explored 300 nautical miles (560 km; 350 mi) along the edge of the barrier, and reached an approximate latitude of 78°S on or about 8 February 1841. He failed to find

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3864-507: The farthest point reached by Scott's 1902 party. "A day to remember", wrote Shackleton in his journal, noting that they had reached this point in far less time than on the previous march with Scott. Shackleton's group continued southward, discovering and ascending the Beardmore Glacier to the polar plateau, and then marching on to reach their Farthest South point at 88°23'S, a mere 97 nautical miles (180 km; 112 mi) from

3956-561: The first party to reach the pole overland since Scott. Iceberg B15 Iceberg B-15 was the largest recorded iceberg by area . It measured around 295 by 37 kilometres (159 by 20 nautical miles), with a surface area of 11,000 square kilometres (3,200 square nautical miles), about the size of the island of Jamaica . Calved from the Ross Ice Shelf of Antarctica in March 2000, Iceberg B-15 broke up into smaller icebergs,

4048-404: The first ships to do so. Further progress was barred by ice, and the ships turned north-eastwards and headed for New Zealand, which they reached on 26 March. During the ensuing months, the expedition explored the southern Pacific Ocean before Cook took Resolution south again— Adventure had retired back to South Africa after a confrontation with the New Zealand native population. This time Cook

4140-468: The following years gave particular weight to the achievement of new Farthest South records, and began to develop the character of a race for the South Pole. The Norwegian-born Carsten Egeberg Borchgrevink had emigrated to Australia in 1888, where he worked on survey teams in Queensland and New South Wales before accepting a school teaching post. In 1894 he joined a sealing and whaling expedition to

4232-468: The ice shelf. The iceberg measured around 295 km × 37 km (159 nmi × 20 nmi), with a surface area of 10,915 km (3,182 sq nmi). Scientists believe that the enormous piece of ice broke away as part of a long-term natural cycle, which occurs every fifty to one hundred years. In 2000, 2002, and 2003, Iceberg B-15 broke up into several pieces, the largest of which, B-15A, covered 6,400 km (1,900 sq nmi) of

4324-414: The islands where Drake's crew collected wood. This indicates that the navigational calculation was faulty, and that Drake landed at or near the then unnamed Cape Horn , possibly on Horn Island itself. His final southern latitude can only be speculated as that of Cape Horn, at 55°59'S. In his report, Drake wrote: "The Uttermost Cape or headland of all these islands stands near 56 degrees, without which there

4416-657: The known route to the polar plateau via the Beardmore Glacier, Amundsen led his party of five due south, reaching the Transantarctic Mountains on 16 November. They discovered the Axel Heiberg Glacier , which provided them with a direct route to the polar plateau and on to the pole. Shackleton's Farthest South mark was passed on 7 December, and the South Pole was reached on 14 December 1911. The Norwegian party's greater skills with

4508-455: The lack of experience of young penguins. He described it as "depraved". The report was considered too shocking for public release at the time, and was suppressed. The only copies that were made available privately to researchers were translated into Greek , to prevent this knowledge becoming more widely known. After it became lost, it was rediscovered and published in the journal Polar Record only in 2012. The discovery significantly illuminates

4600-403: The land-based David Glacier , which flows through the coastal mountains of Victoria Land. A few kilometres from the ice tongue, the iceberg became stranded on a shallow seamount before resuming its northward course. On 10 April 2005, B-15A collided with the ice tongue, breaking off the tip of the ice tongue; the iceberg seemed unaffected by the collision. Iceberg B-15A continued to drift along

4692-508: The largest of which was named Iceberg B-15-A. In 2003, B-15A drifted away from Ross Island into the Ross Sea and headed north, eventually breaking up into several smaller icebergs in October 2005. In 2018, a large piece of the original iceberg was steadily moving northward, located between the Falkland Islands and South Georgia Island . As of August 2023, the U.S. National Ice Center (USNIC) still lists one extant piece of B-15 that meets

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4784-495: The last great piece of maritime exploration on the surface of our Earth to be undertaken by Britons, or is it to be left to those who may be destined to succeed or supplant us on the Ocean?" During the following quarter-century, fifteen expeditions from eight different nations rose to this challenge. In the patriotic spirit engendered by Murray's call, and under the influence of RGS president Sir Clements Markham , British endeavours in

4876-473: The location of the South Magnetic Pole, on his return to England in 1843 he was knighted for his achievements in geographical and scientific exploration. The oceanographic research voyage known as the Challenger Expedition , 1872–1876, explored Antarctic waters for several weeks, but did not approach the land itself; its research, however, proved the existence of an Antarctic continent beyond

4968-486: The minimum threshold for tracking (70 km or 20 sq nmi). This iceberg, B-15AB, measures 20 km × 7 km (11 nmi × 4 nmi); it is currently grounded off the coast of Antarctica in the western sector of the Amery region. In the last weeks of March 2000, Iceberg B-15 calved from the Ross Ice Shelf near Roosevelt Island , Antarctica. The calving occurred along pre-existing cracks in

5060-709: The most southerly known land on earth until Captain James Cook's discovery of the South Sandwich Islands in 1775. Other voyages brought further discoveries in the southern oceans; in August 1592, the English seaman John Davis had taken shelter "among certain Isles never before discovered"—presumed to be the Falkland Islands . In 1675, the English merchant voyager Anthony de la Roché visited South Georgia (the first Antarctic land discovered); in 1739

5152-688: The most southerly parts of South America were already inhabited by tribes such as the Selk'nam/Ona , the Yagán/Yámana , the Alacaluf and the Haush . The Haush in particular made regular trips to Isla de los Estados , which was 29 kilometres (18 mi) from the main island of Tierra del Fuego , suggesting that some of them may have been capable of reaching the islands near Cape Horn . Fuegian Indian artefacts and canoe remnants have also been discovered on

5244-405: The narrow continental shelf to the east of Cape Adare are the site of unusually frequent submarine collisions with large current-mobilized icebergs transiting northward out of the Ross Sea. Notably, this process led to the sudden breakup of Iceberg B15 in October 2007, as well as a number of other large icebergs. These collisions are energetic enough to be recorded by seismographs in Antarctica and

5336-776: The official objectives of the expedition, to indicate that the pole was a definite goal. However, a southern journey towards the pole was within Scott's formal remit to "explore the ice barrier of Sir James Ross ... and to endeavour to solve the very important physical and geographical questions connected with this remarkable ice formation". The southern journey was undertaken by Scott, Wilson and Ernest Shackleton . The party set out on 1 November 1902 with various teams in support, and one of these, led by Michael Barne , passed Borchgrevink's Farthest South mark on 11 November, an event recorded with great high spirits in Wilson's diary. The march continued, initially in favourable weather conditions, but encountered increasing difficulties caused by

5428-406: The only known route to the east–via the Cape of Good Hope and Indian Ocean , which left Spain, and later other countries, to seek a western route to the Pacific . The exploration of the south began as part of the search for such a route. Unlike the Arctic , there is no evidence of human visitation or habitation in ' Antarctica ' or the islands around it prior to European exploration . However,

5520-460: The party's lack of ice travelling experience and the loss of all its dogs through a combination of poor diet and overwork. The 80°S mark was passed on 2 December, and four weeks later, on 30 December 1902, Wilson and Scott took a short ski trip from their southern camp to set a new Farthest South at (according to their measurements) 82°17'S. Modern maps, correlated with Shackleton's photograph and Wilson's drawing, put their final camp at 82°6'S, and

5612-469: The point reached by Scott and Wilson at 82°11'S, 200 nautical miles (370 km; 230 mi) beyond Borchgrevink's mark. After his share in the Farthest South achievement of the Discovery Expedition, Ernest Shackleton suffered a physical collapse on the return journey, and was sent home with the expedition's relief vessel on orders from Scott; he bitterly resented it, and the two became rivals. Four years later, Shackleton organised his own polar venture,

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5704-440: The pole in January 1912, the location remained unvisited for nearly 18 years. On 28 November 1929, US Navy Commander (later Rear-Admiral ) Richard E. Byrd and three others completed the first aircraft flight over the South Pole. Twenty-seven years later, Rear-Admiral George J. Dufek became the first person to set foot on the pole since Scott, when on 31 October 1956, he and the crew of R4D-5 Skytrain "Que Sera Sera" landed at

5796-420: The pole was a realistic objective, other motives drew adventurers southward. Initially, the driving force was the discovery of new trade routes between Europe and the Far East. After such routes had been established and the main geographical features of the Earth had been broadly mapped, the lure for mercantile adventurers was the great fertile continent of " Terra Australis " which, according to myth, lay hidden in

5888-468: The pole, on 9 January 1909. Here, they planted the Union Jack presented to them by Queen Alexandra , and took possession of the plateau in the name of King Edward VII , before shortages of food and supplies forced them to turn back north. This was, at the time, the closest convergence on either pole. The increase of more than six degrees south from Scott's previous record was the greatest extension of Farthest South since Captain Cook's 1773 mark. Shackleton

5980-485: The pole. Between November 1956 and February 1957, the first permanent South Pole research station was erected and christened the Amundsen–Scott South Pole Station in honour of the pioneer explorers. Since then the station had been substantially extended, and in 2008 was housing up to 150 scientific staff and support personnel. Dufek gave considerable assistance to the Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition , 1955–1958, led by Vivian Fuchs , which on 19 January 1958, became

6072-422: The road to the pole were the discovery of lands south of Cape Horn in 1619, Captain James Cook 's crossing of the Antarctic Circle in 1773, and the earliest confirmed sightings of the Antarctic mainland in 1820. From the late 19th century onward, the quest for Farthest South latitudes became a race to reach the pole, which culminated in Roald Amundsen 's success in December 1911. In the years before reaching

6164-437: The sea surface. In November 2003, after the separation from B-15J, B-15A drifted away from Ross Island on the open waters of the Ross Sea. In December 2003, a small knife-shaped iceberg, B-15K (about 300 km ), detached itself from the main body of B-15A and started drifting northward. By January 2005, prevailing currents caused B-15A to drift toward the Drygalski Ice Tongue , a 70-kilometre-long (40 nmi) extension of

6256-412: The ship Antarctic landed at Cape Adare as the first documented landing on Antarctica, collecting geological specimens. Borchgrevink returned to the cape leading his own expedition in 1899 and erected two huts, the first human structures built in Antarctica. The expedition members overwintered and the survivors were picked up in January 1900. This was the first expedition party ever to winter over on

6348-401: The ship anchored off an island which Drake named " Elizabeth Island ", where wood for the galley fires was collected and seals and penguins captured for food. According to Drake's Portuguese pilot, Nuno da Silva, their position at the anchorage was 57°S . However, there is no island at that latitude. The as yet undiscovered Diego Ramírez Islands , at 56°30'S, are treeless and cannot have been

6440-548: The ship's stoves were running short of fuel—otherwise, he says, he could have "reached 85° without the least doubt". After turning, he claimed to have encountered land which he described in some detail, and which he named New South Greenland . This land proved not to exist. Morrell's reputation as a liar and a fraud means that most of his geographical claims have been dismissed by scholars, although attempts have been made to rationalise his assertions. James Clark Ross's 1839–1843 Antarctic expedition in HMS Erebus and HMS Terror

6532-401: The south. Belief in the existence of this supposed land of plenty persisted well into the 18th century; explorers were reluctant to accept the truth that slowly emerged, of a cold, harsh environment in the lands of the Southern Ocean . James Cook's voyages of 1772–1775 demonstrated conclusively the likely hostile nature of any hidden lands. This caused a shift of emphasis in the first half of

6624-429: The southern Atlantic Ocean, about 280 km (150 nmi) northwest of South Georgia Island . As it continues its move northward, the speed of melt increases. Most icebergs do not last long this far north. By 2020, only two pieces remained large enough to track. B-15aa – a direct remnant of B-15z – was drifting to the east of the island of South Georgia, in the south Atlantic Ocean. B-15ab remained among sea ice along

6716-542: The southern Pacific Ocean region. Cape Adare is the site of the largest Adélie penguin rookery in the world. The only study of this particular colony was done by George Murray Levick , who was a member of the 1910–13 Scott Antarctic Expedition and observed it for an entire breeding cycle in 1911 and 1912. He was reluctant to publish it due to the unusual mating habits of penguins that he recorded, among them homosexuality , sexual and physical abuse of chicks, and mating with dead female penguins, nowadays ascribed to

6808-468: The southernmost cape of the South American continent; he named this point Kaap Hoorn (Cape Horn) after his hometown and his lost ship. Schouten's navigational readings are inaccurate—he placed Cape Horn at 57°48' south, when its actual position is 55°58'. His claim to have reached 58° south is unverified, although he sailed on westward to become the first European navigator to reach the Pacific via

6900-459: The squadron navigated through the strait, they reached its most southerly point at approximate latitude 54°S . This was a record Farthest South for a European navigator, though not the farthest southern penetration by man; the position was north of the Tierra del Fuego archipelago, where there is evidence of human settlement dating back thousands of years. The first sighting of an ocean passage to

6992-479: The techniques of ice travel, using ski and dogs, had proved decisive in their success. Scott's five-man team reached the same point 33 days later, and perished during their return journey. Since Cook's journeys, every expedition that had held the Farthest South record before Amundsen's conquest had been British; however, the final triumph indisputably belonged to the Norwegians. After Scott's retreat from

7084-479: The two ships sailed due south, but were driven to the east by heavy gales. They managed to edge further south, encountering their first pack ice on 10 December. This soon became a solid barrier, which tested Cook's seamanship as he manoeuvered for a passage through. Eventually, he found open water, and was able to continue south; on 17 January 1773, the expedition reached the Antarctic Circle at 66°20'S,

7176-475: The utmost interest, and I believe and hope that some of us learnt something from their habits and characteristics. 71°17′S 170°14′E  /  71.283°S 170.233°E  / -71.283; 170.233 Farthest South Farthest South refers to the most southerly latitudes reached by explorers before the first successful expedition to the South Pole in 1911. Significant steps on

7268-515: The waters between the South Sandwich Islands and the South Orkney Islands, looking for new land. Finding none, he turned southward down the 40°W meridian , deep into the sea that now bears his name. The season was unusually calm, and Weddell reported that "not a particle of ice of any description was to be seen". On 20 February 1823, he reached a new Farthest South of 74°15'S, three degrees beyond Cook's former record. Unaware that he

7360-462: The waters of Antarctica and beyond. Iceberg B-15A collided with Drygalski Ice Tongue on 10 April 2005, breaking off an eight-square-kilometre ( 2 + 1 ⁄ 4  sq nmi) section of the ice tongue. Antarctic maps needed to be redrawn. B-15A prevented ocean currents and winds from assisting in the 2004–2005 summer break-up of the sea ice in McMurdo Sound , and was an obstacle to

7452-743: The year 650 the Polynesian traveller Ui-te-Rangiora led a fleet of Waka Tīwai south until they reached "a place of bitter cold where rock-like structures rose from a solid sea". It is unclear from the legends how far south Ui-te-Rangiora penetrated, but it appears that he observed ice in large quantities. A shard of undated, unidentified pottery, reported as found in 1886 in the Antipodes Islands , has been associated with this expedition. Although Portuguese by birth, Ferdinand Magellan transferred his allegiance to King Charles I of Spain , on whose behalf he left Seville on 10 August 1519, with

7544-656: Was Cape Horn . In parts of the Spanish-speaking world it is believed that de Hoces may have discovered the strait later known as the Drake Passage more than 50 years before Sir Francis Drake, the British privateer . Sir Francis Drake sailed from Plymouth on 15 November 1577, in command of a fleet of five ships under his flagship Pelican , later renamed the Golden Hinde . His principal objective

7636-772: Was a full-scale Royal Naval enterprise, the principal function of which was to test current theories on magnetism , and to try to locate the South Magnetic Pole . The expedition had first been proposed by leading astronomer Sir John Herschel , and was supported by the Royal Society and the British Association for the Advancement of Science . Ross had considerable past experience in magnetic observation and Arctic exploration; in May 1831 he had been

7728-404: Was able to penetrate deep beyond the Antarctic Circle, and on 30 January 1774 reached 71°10'S, his Farthest South, but the state of the ice made further southward travel impossible. This southern record would hold for 49 years. In the course of his voyages in Antarctic waters, Cook had encircled the world at latitudes generally above 60°S , and saw nothing but bleak inhospitable islands, without

7820-460: Was able to persuade the publishing magnate Sir George Newnes to finance him to the extent of £40,000, equivalent to £5.44 million in 2023, with the sole stipulation that, despite the shortage of British participants, the venture be styled the "British Antarctic Expedition". This was by no means the grand British expedition envisaged by Markham and the geographical establishment, who were hostile and dismissive of Borchgrevink. On 23 August 1898

7912-508: Was an Anglo-Scottish seaman who saw service in both the Royal Navy and the merchant marine before undertaking his first voyages to Antarctic waters. In 1819, in command of the 160-ton brigantine Jane which had been adapted for whaling, he set sail for the newly discovered whaling grounds of the South Sandwich Islands. His chief interest on this voyage was in finding the " Aurora Islands ", which had been reported at 53°S , 48°W by

8004-521: Was close to land, Weddell decided to return northward from this point, convinced that the sea continued as far as the South Pole. Another two days' sailing would likely have brought him within sight of Coats Land , which was not discovered until 1904, by William Speirs Bruce during the Scottish National Antarctic Expedition , 1902–1904. On his return to England, Weddell's claim to have exceeded Cook's record by such

8096-455: Was known of the coast south of this point, so Magellan decided to wait out the southern winter here, and established the settlement of Puerto San Julian . In September 1520, the voyage continued down the uncharted coast, and on 21 October reached 52°S . Here Magellan found a deep inlet which proved to be the strait he was seeking , later to be known by his name. Early in November 1520, as

8188-694: Was moored to the ice shelf in the bay and maintained radio contact with the climbers during their ascent. In February 2007, the Japanese whaling ship Nisshin Maru experienced a fire below decks while in the Ross Sea. The vessel drifted without power for days until its engines were repaired, raising concern among New Zealand authorities due to its proximity to the world's largest Adélie penguin rookery at Cape Adare. The first buildings erected by Carsten Borchgrevink at Cape Adare were prefabricated of pine by

8280-536: Was notified by telegram that a rival was in the field, but had little choice other than to continue with his own plans. Meanwhile, Fram arrived at the Ross Ice Shelf on 11 January 1911, and by 14 January had found the inlet, or " Bay of Whales ", where Borchgrevink had made his landing eleven years earlier. This became the location of Amundsen's base camp, Framheim . After nine months' preparation, Amundsen's polar journey began on 20 October 1911. Avoiding

8372-488: Was plunder, not exploration; his initial targets were the unfortified Spanish towns on the Pacific coasts of Chile and Peru. Following Magellan's route, Drake reached Puerto San Julian on 20 June. After nearly two months in harbour, Drake left the port with a reduced fleet of three ships and a small pinnace . His ships entered the Magellan Strait on 23 August and emerged in the Pacific Ocean on 6 September. Drake set

8464-517: Was treated as a hero on his return to England. His record was to stand for less than three years, being passed by Amundsen on 7 December 1911. In the wake of Shackleton's near miss, Robert Scott organised the Terra Nova Expedition, 1910–1913, in which securing the South Pole for the British Empire was an explicitly stated prime objective. As he planned his expedition, Scott saw no reason to believe that his effort would be contested. However,

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