Russian discovery of Antarctica
The naval seaman Faddeus Bellingshausen, who sailed around the world in 1803-1806 on the sloop Nadezhda under the command of Kruzenstern, was appointed in 1819 head of the Antarctic expedition on the sloops Vostok (900 tons), commanded by himself, and Mirny (500 tons) under the command of M. P. Lazarev.
On July 16 (4), 1819, the Vostok and Mirny sailed from Kronstadt and reached the island of South Georgia in December. Russian sailors discovered and described numerous islands in the South Atlantic, established their connection with other islands and rocks, and were the first to identify the presence of an underwater ridge of volcanic origin stretching 2,500 km.
“In this barren country,” Lazarev wrote, “we wandered, or rather, wandered like shadows, for a whole month: incessant snow, ice and fog…” From here we continued our journey to the East (east), trying at every opportunity to the South (south), but always met the ice continent, not reaching 70°. Cook set us such a task that we were forced to face the greatest dangers in order, as they say, “not to lose face.”
According to geographical results, the first Russian Antarctic expedition is the greatest in the 19th century. Bellingshausen described it in his book “Two-time explorations in the Arctic Ocean and voyages around the world, made on the sloops Vostok and Mirny.
Who was the first to set foot at the South Pole
The South Pole has always been of great interest to researchers. For several decades, first whalers and then scientists reached the southern polar islands, reached the coastline and eventually found that the sixth continent, Antarctica, was hidden under a powerful ice cover.
However, it was not until 1899 that a person decided to overwinter here for the first time. It was Norwegian Karsten Borchgrevink. Since then, the South Pole has become the “peak” that the daredevils had to conquer, but all their attempts ended in failure due to the unusually harsh climate and imperfect equipment. It wasn’t until 1911 that the goal was achieved as a result of a dramatic rivalry between two groups of intrepid explorers.
On October 19, 1911, Norwegian Roald Amundsen and four companions set off on a dog sled, taking 52 Eskimo huskies with them, and without much difficulty skied to the pole. It happened on December 15th. And on December 25, he returned back to his original base. A similar attempt was made by the Englishman Robert Scott.
Scott decided to make this journey on a motor sled and on several pony sleds. He took off shortly after Amundsen from his base, located 650 km east of the pole. Difficulties struck one after another: the engines failed due to the cold, and the ponies died. At the cost of incredible efforts, Scott and a handful of his men reached the pole – and as a result discovered the Norwegian flag planted by Amundsen there.
The expedition members, who were mentally and physically broken, were no longer able to make the return journey. Only eight months later, a rescue team discovered a snow-covered tent with their remains. Next to it was Scott’s diary, which the researcher kept until the very end. He made his last entry in anticipation of imminent death on March 29.
The nature of Antarctica
Antarctica is home to the second frost belt on our planet. The nature of Antarctica is in many ways similar to the Arctic. But there is also a significant difference: the area of the South Pole lies within the land – on the southernmost continent on Earth, Antarctica. The entire continent is located within the Southern Arctic Circle.
This means that day and night change only during the off-season, and the rest of the time there is a long polar day and an endless polar night. Only the narrow curved Antarctic peninsula with numerous islands extends beyond the Southern Arctic Circle.
Antarctica occupies a leading position in the list of the coldest places on the planet. The cold pole is located in its eastern part. The lowest temperatures recorded here reach -88.3 °C! The “warmest” place in Antarctica is on the Antarctic Peninsula, on the coast, where in summer the average temperature is positive, although low – 1-2 °C.
The entire surface of the continent is covered by the world’s largest ice sheet, which is 3-4 km thick. And only a tiny fraction (0.3% of the total area of Antarctica) is ice-free. These are Antarctic oases – bare rocks and stretches of coast. Only in these places a poor and thin layer of soil forms, vegetation manages to “catch on”, there are insects and birds.
Antarctica is larger in area than Europe or Australia. Snow and ice cover 98% of its surface. Antarctica’s ice shell is the most powerful in the world, containing about seven tenths of the world’s freshwater supply. In some places, the ice thickness reaches 4.8 km. The lowest temperature, -89.2 °C, was recorded at the Vostok research Station in 1983.
Antarctic wildlife
The most numerous inhabitants of Antarctica are penguins. They settle in colonies on the coasts and soldered ice, framing a wide rim of the coast. The penguins are fed by the ocean. Penguins spend more than half of their lives in the water. The wings of these amazing birds have evolved to resemble flippers. With their help, the penguin perfectly controls his body underwater.
Strong paws allow him to jump out of the water onto ice or rocks. Penguins live in colonies, which often number several hundred thousand birds. Emperor penguins, the largest in the world, live only in Antarctica. The height of such a penguin is about 95 cm. Like all penguins, he cannot fly, but is an excellent swimmer and diver.
He spends most of his life in the water, eating fish and squid, but comes ashore to procreate. The female lays an egg, and the male warms it on his paws. The female returns to the sea, and the male incubates the egg for 60 days. He can’t leave it even if he gets really hungry. And only when the chick hatches, the female returns to take care of him and release the starving father in search of food.
Whales are capable of making long-term and huge-distance journeys – seasonal migrations – from warm to cold waters. A large layer of subcutaneous fat helps to preserve heat. Whales are able to stay underwater for a long time, sometimes this time reaches an hour. But in order to breathe in the air, they have to float up. When they rise above the surface of the water, a fountain appears – this is how whales exhale air through their nostrils located on the top of their heads.
Whales communicate with each other using ultrasound, which is not audible to humans. The food of whales is a variety of fish and shellfish found in Antarctic waters. The whale’s relative, the killer whale, also attacks seals, other pinnipeds, and even small whales. The killer whale’s body is dark, with large white spots.
Do you know?
In many areas of Antarctica, the average annual temperature does not exceed -57 °C.
In Antarctica, in 1983, the lowest temperature was recorded at the Vostok station (-89 °C).
Antarctica covers an area of 14,000,000 square kilometers.
Scientists have discovered a lake the size of Lake Ontario in North America in the depths of Antarctica.
Antarctica is home to 18 species of penguins.
The Papuan penguin is the fastest swimming bird in the world. She can race in the water at a speed of 27 kilometers per hour.;
A male emperor penguin carries an egg on its paws.
Sea leopards (a type of seal) living in Antarctica sing in their sleep! They whistle and chirp while they sleep.
If the ice cover in Antarctica melts, then the level of the World Ocean will rise by 65 m. For comparison, with the melting of Greenland’s ice, the level will rise by 7 m.
