143-680: The British Australian (and) New Zealand Antarctic Research Expedition ( BANZARE ) was a research expedition into Antarctica between 1929 and 1931, involving two voyages over consecutive Austral summers. It was a British Commonwealth initiative, driven more by geopolitics than science, and funded by the United Kingdom , Australia and New Zealand . The leader of the BANZARE was Sir Douglas Mawson and there were several subcommanders (Captain K.N. MacKenzie , who replaced Captain John King Davis for
286-519: A desalination machine . On July 26 the expedition arrived in Deal , and on July 29 reached Spithead in Portsmouth . The sloop Kamchatka under the command of Golovin was already there, finishing its circumnavigation. On August 1, Bellingshausen, Lazarev, officers, and Simonov hired a stagecoach and went to London, where they spent 9 days. The main aim was to receive ordered books, maps, and instruments. As
429-569: A scurvy outbreak, they brought malt broth, coniferous essence, lemons, mustard, and molasses. There were only 196 kilograms of sugar on board, and it was served on big holidays, such as Christmas or the Emperor's Name day . The regular daily crew drink was tea, with stocks refreshed in London and in Rio. Ordinary members of the crew were supplied from the treasury. According to the inventory, every man received:
572-410: A Russian expedition led by Fabian Gottlieb von Bellingshausen and Mikhail Lazarev . The decades that followed saw further exploration by French, American, and British expeditions. The first confirmed landing was by a Norwegian team in 1895. In the early 20th century, there were a few expeditions into the interior of the continent. British explorers Robert Falcon Scott and Ernest Shackleton were
715-616: A displacement of 530 tons; it more looked like a vessel from Cook's expedition. Each sloop carried four or five open boats of various sizes, from a four-row boat to six or eight-row boats. The Vostok was equipped with sixteen 18-pound guns installed on the battery deck and other twelve 12-pound carronades on the Spardek. In those days, it was believed that carronades were more effective for clashes with pirates or native canoes. Mirny had six carronades and 14 three-pound guns. While anchored in Britain,
858-503: A double expedition with four ships to reach the pole from both the Bering and the Davis Strait . When Alexander I heard about Barrow's plans, he ordered the sloops urgently outfitted and sent. However, counter admiral Lev Mitin [ ru ] noted that Bellingshausen's expedition was explicitly scientific and did not imply the goals of territorial expansion. According to Bulkeley,
1001-517: A few blue-ice areas , the wind and sublimation remove more snow than is accumulated by precipitation. In the dry valleys, the same effect occurs over a rock base, leading to a barren and desiccated landscape. Antarctica is colder than the Arctic region, as much of Antarctica is over 3,000 m (9,800 ft) above sea level, where air temperatures are colder. The relative warmth of the Arctic Ocean
1144-496: A half century earlier. Of the expedition's 751 days, 527 were spent at sea; the overall length of the route was 49,860 nautical miles . For 127 days the expedition was above 60° south latitude; the crew approached the Antarctic shore nine times, four times as close as 13–15 kilometres (8.1–9.3 mi) from the continent. Around 28 objects were depicted on the map of Antarctica which emerged, and 29 islands in high southern latitudes and
1287-562: A lieutenant on Blagonamerennyi . Finally, on May 4 [ O.S. April 22], Vasilyev was appointed as commander of the second division. Initially, Traversay wanted to appoint Makar Ratmanov [ ru ] as head of the Southern (first) division. According to the order dated the beginning of May (which is stored at the Russian State Archive of the Navy), Ratmanov was supposed to head
1430-548: A list of all required books and instruments which were needed for the Bellingshausen and Vasiliev divisions. The ships’ libraries included Russian descriptions of the expeditions conducted by Sarychev, Krusenstern, Lisyansky, Golovnin. The French description of Cook's third voyage was also stored in the library since its first edition was absent from the Ministry of Sea Forces. The majority of descriptions of foreign voyages, including
1573-447: A mattress, a pillow, a cloth blanket, and four sheets; four uniforms, two pairs of shirts and six pairs of linen pants, four sets of waterproof clothing (pants and jacket), overcoat, one fur hat and two caps, one nautical hat, three pairs of boots (one with flannel lining), eight pairs of woolen socks, and 11 linen and seven flannel sets of linen. Overall it cost 138,134 rubles to outfit the 298 crew members. Costs were shared equally between
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#17328557340631716-511: A mild climate. West Antarctica was partially in the Northern Hemisphere , and during the time, large amounts of sandstones , limestones , and shales were deposited. East Antarctica was at the equator, where seafloor invertebrates and trilobites flourished in the tropical seas. By the start of the Devonian period (416 Ma ), Gondwana was in more southern latitudes, and the climate
1859-457: A native bacterial community within the subterranean water body of Lake Vostok . The existence of life there is thought to strengthen the argument for the possibility of life on Jupiter 's moon Europa , which may have water beneath its water-ice crust. There exists a community of extremophile bacteria in the highly alkaline waters of Lake Untersee . The prevalence of highly resilient creatures in such inhospitable areas could further bolster
2002-665: A number of mountain ranges in the region, the most prominent being the Ellsworth Mountains. The presence of the West Antarctic Rift System has resulted in volcanism along the border between West and East Antarctica, as well as the creation of the Transantarctic Mountains. East Antarctica is geologically varied. Its formation began during the Archean Eon (4,000 Ma–2,500 Ma), and stopped during
2145-481: A part of it". First Russian Antarctic Expedition The First Russian Antarctic Expedition took place in 1819–1821 under the direction of Fabian Bellingshausen and Mikhail Lazarev . The expedition aimed to reach the Southern Ocean in order to prove or disprove the existence of a suspected seventh continent, Antarctica . The sloop Vostok was under the command of Bellingshausen, while Lazarev commanded
2288-530: A recent graduate of the Martin Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg , and doctor Gustav Kunze of Leipzig University . These scientists were to arrive in Copenhagen by June 24, 1819. Martens was to join Bellingshausen's division, and Kunze would be assigned to Vasiliev. However, when the divisions arrived in Copenhagen on July 15, it turned out that both scientists had refused to participate because of
2431-465: A result of this history, Tammiksaar and Kiik concluded that in addition to the political aims, Traversay initiated this expedition in order to outperform the results of Cook's voyage. This has been indirectly shown by the fact that Traversay did not discuss the south polar project with any of the experienced ocean navigators that were subordinated to him. Also, some notes in French and Russian with extracts from
2574-610: A result, not everything was acquired, and some items came only with the assistance of consul Andrei Dubachevskyi. The restructuring of Mirnyi and the purchase of canned vegetables and beer delayed the expedition in Portsmouth until August 25. On August 20, the transport Kutuzov of the Russian-American Company arrived in England. It was finishing its circumnavigation under the command of Ludwig von Hagemeister . On August 26,
2717-631: Is 1–3 cm (0.39–1.18 in). From the end of the Neoproterozoic era to the Cretaceous , Antarctica was part of the supercontinent Gondwana . Modern Antarctica was formed as Gondwana gradually broke apart beginning around 183 Ma. For a large proportion of the Phanerozoic , Antarctica had a tropical or temperate climate , and it was covered in forests. During the Cambrian period , Gondwana had
2860-533: Is almost 18,000 km (11,200 mi) long: as of 1983 , of the four coastal types, 44% of the coast is floating ice in the form of an ice shelf , 38% consists of ice walls that rest on rock, 13% is ice streams or the edge of glaciers, and the remaining 5% is exposed rock. The lakes that lie at the base of the continental ice sheet occur mainly in the McMurdo Dry Valleys or various oases . Lake Vostok , discovered beneath Russia's Vostok Station ,
3003-471: Is being revealed by techniques such as remote sensing , ground-penetrating radar , and satellite imagery . Geologically, West Antarctica closely resembles the South American Andes . The Antarctic Peninsula was formed by geologic uplift and the transformation of sea bed sediments into metamorphic rocks . West Antarctica was formed by the merging of several continental plates , which created
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#17328557340633146-449: Is caused by the emission of chlorofluorocarbons and halons into the atmosphere, which causes ozone to break down into other gases. The extreme cold conditions of Antarctica allow polar stratospheric clouds to form. The clouds act as catalysts for chemical reactions, which eventually lead to the destruction of ozone. The 1987 Montreal Protocol has restricted the emissions of ozone-depleting substances. The ozone hole above Antarctica
3289-682: Is divided into West Antarctica and East Antarctica by the Transantarctic Mountains , which stretch from Victoria Land to the Ross Sea . The vast majority of Antarctica is covered by the Antarctic ice sheet , which averages 1.9 km (1.2 mi) in thickness. The ice sheet extends to all but a few oases , which, with the exception of the McMurdo Dry Valleys, are located in coastal areas. Several Antarctic ice streams flow to one of
3432-463: Is evidence of a large number of volcanoes under the ice, which could pose a risk to the ice sheet if activity levels were to rise. The ice dome known as Dome Argus in East Antarctica is the highest Antarctic ice feature, at 4,091 metres (13,422 ft). It is one of the world's coldest and driest places—temperatures there may reach as low as −90 °C (−130 °F), and the annual precipitation
3575-408: Is expected to add about 11 cm (5 in) to global sea level rise . Marine ice sheet instability may cause West Antarctica to contribute tens of centimeters more if it is triggered before 2100. With higher warming, instability would be much more likely, and could double global, 21st-century sea-level rise. The fresh, 1100-1500 billion tons (GT) per year of meltwater from the ice dilutes
3718-588: Is part of the Mawson collection at the National Museum of Australia . The BANZARE was also a scientific quest, producing 13 volumes of reports, on geology, oceanography, meteorology, terrestrial magnetism, zoology and botany, between 1937 and 1975. Robert Falla was the assistant zoologist. Antarctica Antarctica ( / æ n ˈ t ɑːr k t ɪ k ə / ) is Earth 's southernmost and least-populated continent . Situated almost entirely south of
3861-569: Is predicted to slowly disappear; by the 2060s, levels of ozone are expected to have returned to values last recorded in the 1980s. The ozone depletion can cause a cooling of around 6 °C (11 °F) in the stratosphere . The cooling strengthens the polar vortex and so prevents the outflow of the cold air near the South Pole, which in turn cools the continental mass of the East Antarctic ice sheet. The peripheral areas of Antarctica, especially
4004-441: Is the largest subglacial lake globally and one of the largest lakes in the world. It was once believed that the lake had been sealed off for millions of years, but scientists now estimate its water is replaced by the slow melting and freezing of ice caps every 13,000 years. During the summer, the ice at the edges of the lakes can melt, and liquid moats temporarily form. Antarctica has both saline and freshwater lakes. Antarctica
4147-500: Is transferred through the Arctic sea ice and moderates temperatures in the Arctic region. East Antarctica is colder than its western counterpart because of its higher elevation. Weather fronts rarely penetrate far into the continent, leaving the centre cold and dry, with moderate wind speeds. Heavy snowfalls are common on the coastal portion of Antarctica, where snowfalls of up to 1.22 m (48 in) in 48 hours have been recorded. At
4290-583: The Antarctic Circle (one of the five major circles of latitude that mark maps of the world), Antarctica is surrounded by the Southern Ocean . Rivers exist in Antarctica; the longest is the Onyx . Antarctica covers more than 14.2 million km (5,500,000 sq mi), almost double the area of Australia, making it the fifth-largest continent, and comparable to the surface area of Pluto . Its coastline
4433-492: The Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean (also known as the Antarctic Ocean ), it contains the geographic South Pole . Antarctica is the fifth-largest continent, being about 40% larger than Europe , and has an area of 14,200,000 km (5,500,000 sq mi). Most of Antarctica is covered by the Antarctic ice sheet , with an average thickness of 1.9 km (1.2 mi). Antarctica is, on average,
British Australian and New Zealand Antarctic Research Expedition - Misplaced Pages Continue
4576-641: The Beardmore Glacier by Frank Wild on the Nimrod Expedition in 1907, and low-grade coal is known to exist across many parts of the Transantarctic Mountains. The Prince Charles Mountains contain deposits of iron ore . There are oil and natural gas fields in the Ross Sea. Antarctica is the coldest, windiest, and driest of Earth's continents. Near the coast, the temperature can exceed 10 °C in summer and fall to below −40 °C in winter. Over
4719-622: The Cretaceous period (146–66 Ma), though southern beech trees ( Nothofagus ) became prominent towards the end of the Cretaceous. Ammonites were common in the seas around Antarctica, and dinosaurs were also present, though only a few Antarctic dinosaur genera ( Cryolophosaurus and Glacialisaurus , from the Early Jurassic Hanson Formation of the Transantarctic Mountains, and Antarctopelta , Trinisaura , Morrosaurus and Imperobator from Late Cretaceous of
4862-662: The Early Triassic . The Antarctic Peninsula began to form during the Jurassic period ( 206 to 146 million years ago ). Africa separated from Antarctica in the Jurassic around 160 Ma, followed by the Indian subcontinent in the early Cretaceous (about 125 Ma). Ginkgo trees, conifers, Bennettitales , horsetails , ferns and cycads were plentiful during the time. In West Antarctica, coniferous forests dominated throughout
5005-635: The Imperial Kazan University . A novice painter, Pavel Mikhailov [ ru ] , was hired to depict the events, landscapes, and biological species encountered during the expedition. His paintings of the South Shetland Islands were used in English sailing directions until the 1940s. The Russian Antarctic expedition ended in complete success and became the second expedition to circumnavigate Antarctica after James Cook 's expedition
5148-604: The Kronstadt Fortress . Four ships sailed as a single squad until Rio. By July 19, the expedition had spent a week in Copenhagen, where the crew received additional instructions and found out that the German naturalists were not going to participate in the voyage. The head of the Royal Danish Nautical Charts Archive , admiral Poul de Løvenørn, supplied the expedition with necessary maps and advised them to buy
5291-519: The Northern Hemisphere , an eventual decline of fisheries in the Southern Ocean and a potential collapse of certain marine ecosystems . While many Antarctic species remain undiscovered, there are documented increases in Antarctic flora , and large fauna such as penguins are already having difficulty retaining suitable habitat. On ice-free land, permafrost thaws release greenhouse gases and formerly frozen pollution. Scientists have studied
5434-542: The Pacific Ocean provided a benchmark for reaching the Arctic Ocean through the Bering Strait . In his report to Traversay, Krusenstern also mentioned Bellingshausen as a potential candidate for the head of the expedition. By January 1819, the Emperor approved this plan, although Gleb Shishmaryov was appointed as head of the expedition instead. In this context, it is not clear how the expedition became global, and how
5577-573: The Russian American Company , even during the First Russian circumnavigation . Out of 23 circumnavigations that were carried out during the rule of Alexander I, half were commercial. Bulkeley suggested that Russian circumnavigations significantly influenced Alaska development and the politics of isolationism in Haijin and Sakoku . The Mulovsky expedition that was initially planned under
5720-420: The crust-like lichen Buellia frigida , has been used as a model organism in astrobiology research. The same features can be observed in algae and cyanobacteria , suggesting that they are adaptations to the conditions prevailing in Antarctica. This has led to speculation that life on Mars might have been similar to Antarctic fungi, such as Cryomyces antarcticus and Cryomyces minteri . Some of
5863-541: The first [ ru ] and second article [ ru ] . The Murny was staffed by five officers, including Mikhail Annenkov, Ivan Kupreyanov , physician Galkin, and hieromonk Dionysius, hired at the insistence of the Minister of the Sea Forces, as well as 22 non-commissioned officers, artillerymen, a servant, and 45 first and second article sailors. The crew received a generous bonus – even before going to
British Australian and New Zealand Antarctic Research Expedition - Misplaced Pages Continue
6006-523: The ozone layer in the atmosphere above Antarctica since the 1970s. In 1985, British scientists, working on data they had gathered at Halley Research Station on the Brunt Ice Shelf , discovered a large area of low ozone concentration over Antarctica. The 'ozone hole' covers almost the whole continent and was at its largest in September 2006; the longest-lasting event occurred in 2020. The depletion
6149-415: The 1st and 15th of each month. General deck cleaning was usually done on the move twice a week, and daily during the long stayings. The living deck was regularly ventilated and heated "to thin the air", and if the weather allowed, the crew took food on quarterdecks and forecastles , "so that decks do not leave damp fumes and impurities". On September 10, a vent pipe was put through the captain's cabin. This
6292-503: The Admiralty department and the Ministry of Finance. Bellingshausen cared about the health of the crew, and always bought fresh products in every port. The team washed regularly, and they tried to keep people on the upper deck until sunset, to ventilate and dry the crowded battery decks. Bellingshausen prohibited physical punishments onboard Vostok , but there is no evidence whether the same was true for Mirny . The Admiralty department made
6435-562: The Antarctic Circle on 17 January 1773, in December 1773, and again in January 1774. Cook came within about 120 km (75 mi) of the Antarctic coast before retreating in the face of field ice in January 1773. In 1775, he called the existence of a polar continent "probable", and in another copy of his journal he wrote: "[I] firmly believe it and it's more than probable that we have seen
6578-759: The Antarctic Peninsula) have been described. During the early Paleogene , Antarctica remained connected to South America as well as to southeastern Australia. Fauna from the La Meseta Formation in the Antarctic Peninsula, dating to the Eocene , is very similar to equivalent South American faunas; with marsupials , xenarthrans , litoptern , and astrapotherian ungulates , as well as gondwanatheres and possibly meridiolestidans . Marsupials are thought to have dispersed into Australia via Antarctica by
6721-423: The Antarctic Peninsula, are then subjected to higher temperatures, which accelerate the melting of the ice. Models suggest that ozone depletion and the enhanced polar vortex effect may also account for the period of increasing sea ice extent, lasting from when observation started in the late 1970s until 2014. Since then, the coverage of Antarctic sea ice has decreased rapidly. Most species in Antarctica seem to be
6864-516: The Antarctic Peninsula: Deschampsia antarctica (Antarctic hair grass), Colobanthus quitensis (Antarctic pearlwort) and the non-native Poa annua (annual bluegrass). Of the 700 species of algae in Antarctica, around half are marine phytoplankton . Multicoloured snow algae are especially abundant in the coastal regions during the summer. Even sea ice can harbour unique ecological communities, as it expels all salt from
7007-404: The Bellingshausen expedition, claimed that it was Emperor Alexander I of Russia who initiated the voyage. According to Tammiksaar and T. Kiik, in 1818 Alexander I was highly interested in the results of Kotzebue 's round-the-world voyage on the sloop Rurik . In September, the Emperor requested a detailed report on the expedition. The report was prepared by Krusenstern, who also sent Traversay
7150-646: The Cambrian Period. It is built on a craton of rock, which is the basis of the Precambrian Shield . On top of the base are coal and sandstones, limestones, and shales that were laid down during the Devonian and Jurassic periods to form the Transantarctic Mountains. In coastal areas such as the Shackleton Range and Victoria Land, some faulting has occurred. Coal was first recorded in Antarctica near
7293-401: The German scientists did not join the expedition have been widely debated by historians. The late invitation may have been dictated by the conditions of secrecy in which the expedition was equipped. According to archival data, decisions regarding German scientists were taken four weeks before the deadline for their arrival, and a formal order was released only on July 10, 1819, when the expedition
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#17328557340637436-516: The Northern (second) division, but his name was later crossed out. Krusenstern claimed that Bellingshausen's appointment was entirely based on merit. However, Bellingshausen stated that he owed his place to Ratmanov's recommendation. At that time, Bellingshausen was serving as a Captain of the 2nd rank and commander of the frigate Flora [ ru ] in Sevastopol . His order of appointment
7579-512: The Royal Navy halved its provision amounts. Since Russian ships spent a lot of time in harbors, their commanders always bought fresh food. This practice was extensively documented in the official expedition reports. In Copenhagen in July 1819, Bellingshausen increased the meat ration to one inch of beef per day and one glass of beer per person, to improve military morale and physical abilities. To prevent
7722-519: The South Pole the romanised Greek name polus antarcticus , from which derived the Old French pole antartike (modern pôle antarctique ) attested in 1270, and from there the Middle English pol antartik , found first in a treatise written by the English author Geoffrey Chaucer . Belief by Europeans in the existence of a Terra Australis —a vast continent in the far south of
7865-427: The Southern continent (if we assume it exists) should lie within the polar region above the southern arctic circle. Still, sea there is so covered with ice that accessing the land is impossible. The risk associated with sailing to these undiscovered and under-researched and covered with ice seas in search of the Southern continent is so large that I can bravely claim that not a single person will reach South further than I
8008-579: The West Antarctic, the ocean has warmed by 1 °C (1.8 °F) since 1955. The warming of the Southern Ocean around Antarctica has caused the weakening or collapse of ice shelves , which float just offshore of glaciers and stabilize them. Many coastal glaciers have been losing mass and retreating, causing net-annual ice loss across Antarctica, although the East Antarctic ice sheet continues to gain ice inland. By 2100, net ice loss from Antarctica
8151-517: The ability to shoot rifles well. There were six officers on board Vostok , including Ivan Zavadovsky [ ru ] , Arkady Leskov [ ru ] , Konstantin Torson [ ru ] , physician Jacob Berg, astronomer Ivan Mikhailovich Simonov , and painter Pavel Mikhailov [ ru ] . The expedition also included 36 non-commissioned officers , artillerymen and artisans (including 4 officers' batmen ), and 71 sailors from
8294-573: The argument for extraterrestrial life in cold, methane -rich environments. The first international agreement to protect Antarctica's biodiversity was adopted in 1964. The overfishing of krill (an animal that plays a large role in the Antarctic ecosystem) led officials to enact regulations on fishing. The Convention for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources , an international treaty that came into force in 1980, regulates fisheries, aiming to preserve ecological relationships. Despite these regulations, illegal fishing —particularly of
8437-416: The biodiversity in Antarctica is still at risk from human activities. Specially protected areas cover less than 2% of the area and provide better protection for animals with popular appeal than for less visible animals. There are more terrestrial protected areas than marine protected areas . Ecosystems are impacted by local and global threats, notably pollution , the invasion of non-native species , and
8580-466: The climate cooled, though flora remained. After deglaciation during the latter half of the Early Permian , the land became dominated by glossopterids (an extinct group of seed plants with no close living relatives), most prominently Glossopteris , a tree interpreted as growing in waterlogged soils, which formed extensive coal deposits. Other plants found in Antarctica during the Permian include Cordaitales , sphenopsids , ferns, and lycophytes . At
8723-399: The coldest, driest, and windiest of the continents, and it has the highest average elevation . It is mainly a polar desert , with annual precipitation of over 200 mm (8 in) along the coast and far less inland. About 70% of the world's freshwater reserves are frozen in Antarctica, which, if melted, would raise global sea levels by almost 60 metres (200 ft). Antarctica holds
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#17328557340638866-404: The colonial authorities in Sydney officially renamed the continent of New Holland to Australia, leaving the term "Terra Australis" unavailable as a reference to Antarctica. Over the following decades, geographers used phrases such as "the Antarctic Continent". They searched for a more poetic replacement, suggesting names such as Ultima and Antipodea . Antarctica was adopted in the 1890s, with
9009-423: The continent as a World Park . The Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary was established in 1994 by the International Whaling Commission . It covers 50 million km (19 million sq mi) and completely surrounds the Antarctic continent. All commercial whaling is banned in the zone, though Japan has continued to hunt whales in the area, ostensibly for research purposes. Despite these protections,
9152-599: The continent's edge, strong katabatic winds off of the polar plateau often blow at storm force . During the summer, more solar radiation reaches the surface at the South Pole than at the equator because of the 24 hours of sunlight received there each day. Climate change caused by greenhouse gas emissions from human activities occurs everywhere on Earth, and while Antarctica is less vulnerable to it than any other continent, climate change in Antarctica has been observed. Since 1959, there has been an average temperature increase of >0.05 °C/decade since 1957 across
9295-496: The continent, although it had been uneven. West Antarctica warmed by over 0.1 °C/decade from the 1950s to the 2000s, and the exposed Antarctic Peninsula has warmed by 3 °C (5.4 °F) since the mid-20th century. The colder, stabler East Antarctica had been experiencing cooling until the 2000s. Around Antarctica, the Southern Ocean has absorbed more oceanic heat than any other ocean, and has seen strong warming at depths below 2,000 m (6,600 ft). Around
9438-402: The creation of small yet permanent polar ice caps. As CO 2 levels declined further the ice began to spread rapidly, replacing the forests that until then had covered Antarctica. Tundra ecosystems continued to exist on Antarctica until around 14-10 million years ago, when further cooling lead to their extermination. The geology of Antarctica, largely obscured by the continental ice sheet,
9581-549: The descendants of species that lived there millions of years ago. As such, they must have survived multiple glacial cycles . The species survived the periods of extremely cold climate in isolated warmer areas , such as those with geothermal heat or areas that remained ice-free throughout the colder climate. Invertebrate life of Antarctica includes species of microscopic mites such as Alaskozetes antarcticus , lice , nematodes , tardigrades , rotifers , krill and springtails . The few terrestrial invertebrates are limited to
9724-594: The description of Cook's voyage and an estimate of the plan for sending two sloops – one to the Arctic and one the Antarctic – are stored in Traversay's personal papers in the Russian State Archive of the Navy [ ru ] . The minister later asked Sarychev, who had bad relations with Krusenstern and Kotzebue, to develop recommendations for a detailed plan. These anonymous notes do not mention such notions as "The North Pole" or "The South Pole". On January 22 [ O.S. January 10] 1819, Traversay met Tsar Alexander I. As of 2014, there were no documents on
9867-432: The early Eocene. Around 53 Ma, Australia- New Guinea separated from Antarctica, opening the Tasmanian Passage . The Drake Passage opened between Antarctica and South America around 30 Ma, resulting in the creation of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current that completely isolated the continent. Models of Antarctic geography suggest that this current, as well as a feedback loop caused by lowering CO 2 levels, caused
10010-414: The elevated inland, it can rise to about −30 °C in summer but fall below −80 °C in winter. The lowest natural air temperature ever recorded on Earth was −89.2 °C (−128.6 °F) at the Russian Vostok Station in Antarctica on 21 July 1983. A lower air temperature of −94.7 °C (−138.5 °F) was recorded in 2010 by satellite—however, it may have been influenced by ground temperatures and
10153-553: The end of that period. During the colder Neogene (17–2.5 Ma), a tundra ecosystem replaced the rainforests. The climate of present-day Antarctica does not allow extensive vegetation to form. A combination of freezing temperatures, poor soil quality , and a lack of moisture and sunlight inhibit plant growth, causing low species diversity and limited distribution. The flora largely consists of bryophytes (25 species of liverworts and 100 species of mosses ). There are three species of flowering plants , all of which are found in
10296-621: The end of the Permian, the climate became drier and hotter over much of Gondwana, and the glossopterid forest ecosystems collapsed, as part of the End-Permian mass extinction . There is no evidence of any tetrapods having lived in Antarctica during the Paleozoic. The continued warming dried out much of Gondwana. During the Triassic, Antarctica was dominated by seed ferns (pteridosperms) belonging to
10439-498: The expedition went to Tenerife with the aim of stocking up on wine and fresh supplies. While being in England, three sailors from the sloop Mirny got a sexually transmitted infection . However, Dr Galkin's prognosis was favorable; there were no sick people on Vostok . In the Atlantic, a working rhythm was established on the sloops: the crews were divided into three shifts. This system allowed sailors to wake up an already rested part of
10582-457: The expedition, Mirny and Vostok . There is not much available data on these vessels. In 1973, S. Luchinninov created abstract designs of both ships, based on surviving drawings from the 19th century. Vostok was built by shipbuilder Ivan Amosov [ ru ] , who worked at Petrozavod in 1818 under the command of Veniamin Stokke [ ru ] . According to Bellingshausen, Vostok
10725-405: The first navigator to cross the Antarctic Circle during his second circumnavigation . However, when he reached 67°15′ south latitude , he faced insurmountable sea ice . In January 1774, Cook reached 71°10′ south latitude , but was again stopped by sea ice. Though Cook never denied the existence of a Southern continent, he thought that it was impossible to reach: ...The most substantial part of
10868-521: The first publications on the expedition, and a series on magnetic measurements were published much later. Approximately half of the measurement material was included in the article on magnetism. All dates are provided according to the Julian calendar , the difference with the Gregorian calendar in the 19th century constituted 12 days On June 23 and 24, 1819, the Emperor and the Minister of Sea Forces visited
11011-454: The first to reach the magnetic South Pole in 1909, and the geographic South Pole was first reached in 1911 by Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen . Antarctica is governed by about 30 countries , all of which are parties of the 1959 Antarctic Treaty System . According to the terms of the treaty, military activity, mining, nuclear explosions , and nuclear waste disposal are all prohibited in Antarctica. Tourism , fishing and research are
11154-468: The first use of the name being attributed to the Scottish cartographer John George Bartholomew . Antarctica has also been known by the moniker Great White South , after which British photographer Herbert Ponting named one of his books on Antarctic photography, possibly as a counterpart to the epithet Great White North for Canada . Positioned asymmetrically around the South Pole and largely south of
11297-402: The gap of 12,000 km (7,456 mi). Large animals such as some cetaceans and birds make the round trip annually. Smaller forms of life, such as sea cucumbers and free-swimming snails , are also found in both polar oceans. Factors that may aid in their distribution include temperature differences between the deep ocean at the poles and the equator of no more than 5 °C (9 °F) and
11440-494: The genus Dicroidium , which grew as trees. Other associated Triassic flora included ginkgophytes , cycadophytes , conifers , and sphenopsids. Tetrapods first appeared in Antarctica during the early Triassic , with the earliest known fossils found in the Fremouw Formation of the Transantarctic Mountains. Synapsids (also known as "mammal-like reptiles") included species such as Lystrosaurus , and were common during
11583-520: The globe to balance the northern lands of Europe, Asia, and North Africa—had existed as an intellectual concept since classical antiquity . The belief in such a land lasted until the European discovery of Australia . During the early 19th century, explorer Matthew Flinders doubted the existence of a detached continent south of Australia (then called New Holland ) and thus advocated for the "Terra Australis" name to be used for Australia instead. In 1824,
11726-420: The gun deck of the battery deck was shut down. Most of the crew were accommodated for the night in tethered hammocks on the battery deck, while officer cabins and the crew company were located at the stern of the ship. One of the main aims of Bellingshausen was to make sure that the sloops remained together during the expedition. The seafaring quality of the vessels was different, and Lazarev thought that Vostok
11869-569: The highly prized Patagonian toothfish which is marketed as Chilean sea bass in the U.S.—remains a problem. In analogy to the 1980 treaty on sustainable fishing , countries led by New Zealand and the United States negotiated a treaty on mining. This Convention on the Regulation of Antarctic Mineral Resource Activities was adopted in 1988. After a strong campaign from environmental organisations, first Australia and then France decided not to ratify
12012-428: The hull further. The only drawback of the ship was its low speed. Bellingshausen decided to take on board supplies for two years, even though military vessels usually only contained stocks for six months. According to the official reports, there were four tons of dried peas, seven tons of oats and buckwheat, 28 tons of corned beef, 65.8 tons of crackers (grained and pickled), a lot of sauerkraut (the report only provides
12155-464: The initial stage of the double expedition project. The project may have been secret. Finally, on April 12 [ O.S. March 31] 1819, the Emperor personally signed an order authorizing 100,000 rubles to finance the expedition. At the same time, Krusenstern sent a detailed letter to Traversay from Hagudi which implies that he was not informed about the negotiations taking place in high circles of power. According to Traversay's personal papers,
12298-493: The instruction that was signed by the Emperor on May 22 [ O.S. May 10]. The most important points were: The Emperor also commands that in all the lands which they will approach, and in which the inhabitants live, to treat them [locals] with the greatest affection and humanity, avoiding as much as possible all cases of causing offenses or displeasure, but on the contrary, trying to attract them with caress, and never apply too strict measures, unless in necessary cases, when
12441-650: The instruments with their own money. Thermometers were designed with the Réaumur scale used in Russia, but Simonov also used the Fahrenheit temperature scale. Bellingshausen also mentioned an inclinometer , which he used onshore. The captain bought a deep-sea thermometer. However, he could not get a Pendulum instrument for gravimetry research. The functions of naturalist [ ru ] in circumnavigations usually spread over on all fields of knowledge which did not require
12584-536: The islands of the Kerguelen Plateau , the earliest of which formed around 40 Ma . Vinson Massif , in the Ellsworth Mountains , is the highest peak in Antarctica at 4,892 m (16,050 ft). Mount Erebus on Ross Island is the world's southernmost active volcano and erupts around 10 times each day. Ash from eruptions has been found 300 kilometres (190 mi) from the volcanic crater . There
12727-520: The lack of political aims in the expedition program does not signify anything since neither the Admiralty instructions for the 1818–1819 British Arctic expedition of Frederick William Beechey , William Parry , and John Ross , nor Franklin's lost expedition of 1845–1848, had any written political aims. Thus, Bulkeley claimed that without any political aims, the expedition would be much less effective. The following passage in Bellingshausen's description
12870-467: The main human activities in and around Antarctica. During the summer months, about 5,000 people reside at research stations , a figure that drops to around 1,000 in the winter. Despite the continent's remoteness, human activity has a significant effect on it via pollution , ozone depletion , and climate change . The melting of the potentially unstable West Antarctic ice sheet causes the most uncertainty in century-scale projections of sea level rise , and
13013-814: The major current systems or marine conveyor belts which are able to transport eggs and larva . About 1,150 species of fungi have been recorded in the Antarctic region, of which about 750 are non- lichen -forming. Some of the species, having evolved under extreme conditions, have colonised structural cavities within porous rocks and have contributed to shaping the rock formations of the McMurdo Dry Valleys and surrounding mountain ridges. The simplified morphology of such fungi, along with their similar biological structures , metabolism systems capable of remaining active at very low temperatures, and reduced life cycles, make them well suited to such environments. Their thick-walled and strongly melanised cells make them resistant to UV radiation. An Antarctic endemic species,
13156-410: The manuscript of his article on the first attempt of Vasily Chichagov in 1765–1766 to reach high Arctic latitudes. Traversay then managed to make the Emperor interested – Krusenstern reported on it on January 26 [ O.S. January 14]. Krusenstern saw that the government's mood was favorable toward sending a state scientific expedition to Antarctica. Kotzebue's discoveries in the northern part of
13299-653: The many Antarctic ice shelves , a process described by ice-sheet dynamics . East Antarctica comprises Coats Land , Queen Maud Land , Enderby Land , Mac . Robertson Land , Wilkes Land , and Victoria Land. All but a small portion of the region lies within the Eastern Hemisphere . East Antarctica is largely covered by the East Antarctic Ice Sheet . There are numerous islands surrounding Antarctica, most of which are volcanic and very young by geological standards. The most prominent exceptions to this are
13442-419: The mathematical calculations made by astronomers or officers-navigators. The duties of expedition naturalist included not only the description of all new species of animals and plants, but also of cultures of primitive peoples, geology, and glaciological formations. Instructions by the Admiralty department mentioned two German scientists that were recognized as suitable candidates: medic Karl Heinrich Mertens ,
13585-499: The minister personally formulated the geographical objectives of both of the expeditions. Later, these items were included in the instructions published in Bellingshausen's report. Probably the main consultant was Sarychev. Due to a lack of documentary evidence, it is almost impossible to determine why the expedition was equipped in such haste, why the funding was doubled, or why four ships were sent instead of two. On February 15 [ O.S. February 3] 1819, Traversay signed
13728-573: The north'). Antarcticus is derived from the Greek ἀντι- ('anti-') and ἀρκτικός ('of the Bear ', 'northern'). The Greek philosopher Aristotle wrote in Meteorology about an "Antarctic region" in c. 350 BCE . The Greek geographer Marinus of Tyre reportedly used the name in his world map from the second century CE, now lost. The Roman authors Gaius Julius Hyginus and Apuleius used for
13871-564: The ocean around Antarctica, including some that normally reside in the Arctic. The emperor penguin is the only penguin that breeds during the winter in Antarctica; it and the Adélie penguin breed farther south than any other penguin. A Census of Marine Life by some 500 researchers during the International Polar Year was released in 2010. The research found that more than 235 marine organisms live in both polar regions, having bridged
14014-409: The one conducted by George Anson , were available in French translations. The crews also acquired Nautical almanacs for 1819 and 1820, guides on navigation, hydrography and magnetism , as well as signal books . Money was also allotted to buy books in London, including the almanac for 1821, and maps from newly conducted voyages (including Brazilian ones). Bellingshausen also bought a world atlas that
14157-432: The order forming the expedition on behalf of the Emperor. In Traversay's documents, units were called "divisions". According to the available data, Krusenstern's role in planning and forming the expedition was minimal. The Vasilyev–Shishmaryov and Bellingshausen–Lazarev expeditions were respectively the third and fourth Russian circumnavigations to be organized and financed by the state. Both squads met in Portsmouth with
14300-543: The plan of also researching the south polar region appeared. In the 18th and 19th centuries, any attempt to reach the hypothetical southern continent was dictated by the geographical theories that were in vogue at that time. One popular theory held that the large landmasses of the Northern Hemisphere should be balanced in the Southern Hemisphere ; otherwise, the Earth could tip over. On January 17, 1773, James Cook became
14443-568: The president of the Saint Petersburg Academy of Sciences Sergey Uvarov . The aim of the project was to explore undiscovered archipelagos and put an end to the Age of Discovery . He suggested that the project be implemented as a joint venture between the academy and the Ministry of Sea Forces. Krusenstern also mentioned this project in his foreword to the 1821 report on the Kotzebue expedition. As
14586-531: The quality of chronometers on Vostok "horrifying". By May 1820 the chronometers on Mirny were ahead by 5–6 minutes per day. In 1819, William Parry spent five weeks reconciling his chronometers in the Greenwich Royal Observatory , while Simonov dedicated no less than 40% of his observation time on the calibration of chronometers and establishing correct time. The deep-sea thermometer broke during its second use. However, Bellingshausen claimed that it
14729-424: The record for the lowest measured temperature on Earth , −89.2 °C (−128.6 °F). The coastal regions can reach temperatures over 10 °C (50 °F) in the summer. Native species of animals include mites , nematodes , penguins , seals and tardigrades . Where vegetation occurs, it is mostly in the form of lichen or moss . The ice shelves of Antarctica were probably first seen in 1820, during
14872-730: The rule of Catherine the Great was a reaction to the first voyage of James Cook in the northern part of the Pacific. Military-political goals determined the equipment of the Vasilyev and Bellingshausen expeditions. After the Congress of Vienna , Russian–British relations significantly worsened. Thus, Sir John Barrow expressed concern in 1817 that Russia would be the first country to open the Northwest Passage . In 1818, there were rumors that Barrow planned
15015-465: The saline Antarctic bottom water , weakening the lower cell of the Southern Ocean overturning circulation (SOOC). According to some research, a full collapse of the SOOC may occur a between 1.7 °C (3.1 °F) and 3 °C (5.4 °F) of global warming, although the full effects are expected to occur over multiple centuries; these include less precipitation in the Southern Hemisphere but more in
15158-452: The salvation of the people entrusted to his superiors will depend on this. Judging by the available archival documents, appointing a commander was a very complicated process. Traversay constantly delayed his decision on the matter. On March 27 [ O.S. March 15], orders of appointment of Shishmaryov and Lazarev were released. Lazarev was given command of the sloop Mirny . Lazarev's brother Alexei Lazarev [ ru ] served as
15301-476: The same melting also affects the Southern Ocean overturning circulation , which can eventually lead to significant impacts on the Southern Hemisphere climate and Southern Ocean productivity. The name given to the continent originates from the word antarctic , which comes from Middle French antartique or antarctique ('opposite to the Arctic ') and, in turn, the Latin antarcticus ('opposite to
15444-447: The same time as a similar expedition to the Arctic taken on by Mikhail Vasilyev and Gleb Shishmaryov on the sloops Otkrytie and Blagonamerennyi . In the 1950s, historians raised the question of who initiated the two Russian expeditions in the high north and south polar latitudes. The prevailing opinion at that time was that in the 1810s, Adam Johann von Krusenstern , Gavril Sarychev , and Vasily Golovnin independently presented
15587-452: The sea, Bellingshausen received 5,000 rubles from the Emperor, Lazarev received 3,000, and all officers and privates were awarded an annual salary that "did not count". The Emperor ordered the salary increased by eight times, even though the standard salary of the sailor of the first article was 13 rubles 11 kopecks per year. However, Bellingshausen never mentioned concrete sums in his reports. Michman Novosilsky claimed that an increased salary
15730-665: The second summer) on board the RRS Discovery , the ship previously used by Robert Falcon Scott . The BANZARE, which also made several short flights in a small plane, mapped the coastline of Antarctica and discovered Mac. Robertson Land and Princess Elizabeth Land (which later was claimed as part of the Australian Antarctic Territory ). The voyages primarily comprised an "acquisitive exploratory expedition", with Mawson making proclamations of British sovereignty over Antarctic lands at each of their five landfalls—on
15873-523: The short time "to prepare everything needed". The instruments and guides the expeditions brought were of varying quality. Bellingshausen noted that after the death of astronomer Nevil Maskelyne , the maritime almanac lost precision, finding no less than 108 errors in the 1819 volume. The chronometers recommended by Joseph Banks , who promoted the interests of John Arnold's family, were unsuitable. The same firm set up for James Cook "very bad chronometers" that were ahead by 101 seconds per day. Bulkeley called
16016-491: The sloop Mirny . Overall, the crew [ ru ] consisted of 190 people. Due to extreme haste in equipping the voyage (the order was released on March 15, and the departure took place on July 4, 1819), it was impossible to assemble a science team. Thus, almost all scientific observations in the fields of geography, ethnography, and natural history were conducted by officers and the only scientist on board, associate professor Ivan Mikhailovich Simonov , who taught at
16159-571: The sloop Kamchatka , which was returning to St. Petersburg from the second circumnavigation under the command of Vasily Golovnin . Vasilyev's squad crossed the equator five days earlier than Bellingshausen. Bulkeley later refuted the theory that the expedition was entirely scientific. According to him, differences between the aims of the Navy and the Merchant fleet were blurred. He claimed that Krusenstern's expedition carried commercial cargoes and specialists of
16302-478: The sloop had an excessively large mast: the mainmast from the keel was 136 feet (41 m) high. The second vessel, Mirny , was of the same type as Blagonamerennyi of the second division, and was created in Kronstadt as a sea freight ship named Ladoga . After renaming, the vessel was modernized for the needs of the expedition. Its length reached 120 feet (37 m) and its width 30 feet (9.1 m). The ship had
16445-470: The sloops Vostok , Mirny , Otkrytie and Blagonamerennyi as they were being equipped. On this occasion, workers stopped retrofitting work until the officials departed. On June 25, captains Bellingshausen and Vasiliev were called for an imperial audience in Peterhof . The departure took place on July 4 at 6 pm, and was accompanied by a ceremony during which the crews shouted a fivefold "cheers" and saluted to
16588-406: The species of fungi, which are apparently endemic to Antarctica, live in bird dung, and have evolved so they can grow inside extremely cold dung, but can also pass through the intestines of warm-blooded animals. Throughout its history, Antarctica has seen a wide variety of plant life. In the Cretaceous , it was dominated by a fern- conifer ecosystem, which changed into a temperate rainforest by
16731-683: The sub-Antarctic islands. The flightless midge Belgica antarctica , the largest purely terrestrial animal in Antarctica, reaches 6 mm ( 1 ⁄ 4 in) in size. Antarctic krill , which congregates in large schools , is the keystone species of the ecosystem of the Southern Ocean, being an important food organism for whales, seals, leopard seals , fur seals, squid , icefish , and many bird species, such as penguins and albatrosses . Some species of marine animals exist and rely, directly or indirectly, on phytoplankton . Antarctic sea life includes penguins , blue whales , orcas , colossal squids and fur seals . The Antarctic fur seal
16874-425: The team in the event of an emergency. In rainy and stormy weather, the watch commanders were instructed to ensure that the "servants" changed clothes, and the wet clothes were stored outside the living deck and dried in the wind. On Wednesdays and Fridays, there was a bath-washing day (in these days one boiler on the caboose was used for these purposes, which allowed the use of hot water). The bunks were also washed on
17017-572: The treaty. Instead, countries adopted the Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty (the Madrid Protocol), which entered into force in 1998. The Madrid Protocol bans all mining, designating the continent as a "natural reserve devoted to peace and science". The pressure group Greenpeace established a base on Ross Island from 1987 to 1992 as part of its attempt to establish
17160-509: The tropics were discovered and named. The results of the expedition were published in Russian in 1831 in two volumes with the drawings applied in an atlas. In 1842, a short report was published in Germany . In 1945, a full English translation of Bellingshausen's only book was edited by polar explorer Frank Debenham and released. Bellingshausen and Lazarev's Antarctic expedition was equipped around
17303-674: The two projects. On the contrary, English writers believed that the plan came from a minister of the Ministry of Sea Forces [ ru ] , Jean Baptiste Traversay . This theory was promoted by Hugh Robert Mill , a librarian of the Royal Geographical Society , and Frank Debenham , director of the Scott Polar Research Institute at the University of Cambridge . Ivan Mikhailovich Simonov , astronomer and head of
17446-453: The understanding that the territory would later be handed to Australia (as it was in 1933). One such proclamation was made on 5 January 1931 at Cape Denison , the site which Mawson's Australasian Antarctic Expedition had occupied in 1912–13. A hand-written copy of the proclamation was left at the site, enclosed in a container made of food tins and buried beneath a cairn. The letter was retrieved in 1977 by an Australian Antarctic expedition, and
17589-413: The upper deck, and other issues. Just before sailing, the underwater part of Vostok was lined with copper sheets. Its hull turned out to be too weak for sailing in polar waters, and the crew constantly had to strengthen and repair it during the expedition. By the end of the voyage, the sloop was in such bad condition that Bellingshausen had to finish the expedition one month earlier than intended. Lazarev
17732-464: The various effects of climate change . Early world maps, like the 1513 Piri Reis map , feature the hypothetical continent Terra Australis . Much larger than and unrelated to Antarctica, Terra Australis was a landmass that classical scholars presumed necessary to balance the known lands in the northern hemisphere. Captain James Cook 's ships, HMS Resolution and Adventure , crossed
17875-746: The volume of the barrels), and 3,926 liters of vodka. Although it was initially planned to use a "dry broth" or soup concentrate, this was not possible because the concentrate did not dry out after the boiling. Bellingshausen named suppliers of dried bread, meat, and cabbage individually because of the high quality of their provisions. The number of provisions was not enough, and the crews had to buy an additional 16 tons of grain and rum in Rio de Janeiro . The expedition also replenished its stocks in Denmark and Australia. They also bought 1.3 kilograms of tobacco per person, which corresponds to 1.5 modern cigarettes per day. Tobacco
18018-412: The water when it freezes, which accumulates into pockets of brine that also harbour dormant microorganisms. When the ice begins to melt, brine pockets expand and can combine to form brine channels, and the algae inside the pockets can reawaken and thrive until the next freeze. Bacteria have also been found as deep as 800 m (0.50 mi) under the ice. It is thought to be likely that there exists
18161-524: Was a fault of the staff. These issues led to no small confusion, not only on the expedition vessels but also in St. Petersburg. There is available correspondence between Traversay and the Minister of National Education , Count Alexander Nikolaevich Golitsyn , judging from which one can conclude that scientific team on Vostok should include naturalist Martens, astronomer Simonov, and painter Mikhailov. The reasons why
18304-626: Was a ship which is "obviously not ready for such expedition due to its small capacity and a small amount of space as for officers, as for the crew". Bellingshausen claimed that Traversay chose Vostok only because Kamchatka had already completed a circumnavigation, even though its captain Golovnin reported on the unsatisfactory qualities of the ship. Besides the excessive height of the mast, the Vostok had an unsuccessful steering device, an insufficiently strong hull built of raw wood, coam hatches of low height on
18447-408: Was able to do. Southern lands will never be researched. Krusenstern completely trusted Cook's authority and directly stated that the famous English navigator had "buried" the idea of Terra Australis . Soon after Kotzebue's return, on July 30 [ O.S. July 18] 1818, Krusenstern presented his project on researching the Pacific region in the belts at 20° north and south of the equator to
18590-456: Was already in the Baltic Sea. Also, Kunze defended his doctoral dissertation on June 22, 1819, and it is unlikely that he would agree and be able to be present in Copenhagen two days after that. In his preface to the publication of the expedition report, Yevgeny Sсhvede [ ru ] wrote that scientists "were afraid of the upcoming difficulties". Bulkeley mentioned that the main problem
18733-401: Was an exact copy of the sloop Kamchatka , the prototype of which, in turn, was a 32-gun frigate designed by French engineer Jacques Balthazar Brun de Sainte‑Catherine [ ru ] . Vostok was launched on July 16, 1818, and had a displacement of 900 tons, a length of 129 feet 10 inches (39.57 m), and a width of 32 feet 8 inches (9.96 m). At the same time,
18876-517: Was cooler, though fossils of land plants are known from then. Sand and silts were laid down in what is now the Ellsworth, Horlick , and Pensacola Mountains . Antarctica became glaciated during the Late Paleozoic icehouse beginning at the end of the Devonian period (360 Ma), though glaciation would substantially increase during the late Carboniferous . It drifted closer to the South Pole, and
19019-548: Was decided to go beyond the budget boundaries, so the crews also bought two chronometers by inventor John Arnold (№ 518 and 2110), and two – by Paul Philipp Barraud [ de ] (№ 920 and 922), three- and four-foot refractors with achromatic lenses , a 12-inch reflecting telescope , and for Simonov – a transit instrument and an attitude indicator . Repeating circles by Edward Troughton proved to be inconvenient for use at sea. For ‘Vostok’ they bought sextants by Troughton and Peter Dollond; officers bought some of
19162-599: Was not always good at what he was trying to do. For instance, on October 5, 1819, Simonov got a severe burn while trying to catch a Portuguese man o' war , even though Bellingshausen warned him. According to Bulkeley, gravimetric and oceanographic observations were conducted more by Bellingshausen than by Simonov. For the captain, magnetic measurements were necessary as a significant aspect of navigation and geographical observations, and not for purely scientific purposes. For Simonov, journalistic and historiographic reasons may have been of equal importance. His travel journals became
19305-472: Was not recorded at a height of 2 m (7 ft) above the surface as required for official air temperature records. Antarctica is a polar desert with little precipitation ; the continent receives an average equivalent to about 150 mm (6 in) of water per year, mostly in the form of snow. The interior is dryer and receives less than 50 mm (2 in) per year, whereas the coastal regions typically receive more than 200 mm (8 in). In
19448-431: Was paid only two times, in silver; the other amounts were paid in assignation rubles that increased allowance by 250%. Besides that, officers and scientists received 30 golden Dutch chervonets Russian coinage [ ru ] food installments per month, which was equal to 70 silver rubles. List of all First Russian Antarctic Expedition members: Crew of Vostok Crew of Mirny Two sloops were equipped for
19591-613: Was released in 1817, and Matthew Flinders ’ 1814 atlas of Australia. During their stay in Copenhagen, he also bought a book on magnetism by Christopher Hansteen (1819). Based on this work, the crew carried out a search for the South Magnetic Pole . Astronomic and navigation instruments were ordered in advance, but not everything had been delivered when Bellingshausen, Simonov, and Lazarev traveled to London in August 1819. Bellingshausen mentioned buying instruments by Aaron Arrowsmith . It
19734-704: Was released on May 4. He arrived in Saint Petersburg on May 23, presumably alone, on a tarantass . On June 16, he received instructions and took the sloop under his command. In addition to funds issued by the treasury for travel on mail horses and the railway, he also received a bonus of 1,000 rubles. After his appointment, Bellingshausen received the ship's treasury of 10,000 silver rubles for unforeseen expenses. The expedition officers and crew were recruited as volunteers. However, there were strict selection criteria: perfect health, age not exceeding 35 years, knowledge beyond any specialty or shipboard skill, and, finally,
19877-563: Was replenished in Rio at the beginning and end of the expedition. There is no detailed description of the provisions for Vostok and Mirny , but records exist for the Blagonamerennyi and Otkrytie . Most likely the provisions were identical for both divisions. According to Bulkeley, standard provisions in the British Royal Navy exceeded the Russian ones; however, in practice provisions were often reduced as much as possible. In 1823,
20020-503: Was responsible for equipping the sloops because Bellingshausen was appointed only 42 days before the departure. He chose for himself the ship Mirny , presumably built by shipbuilder Yakov Kolodkin [ ru ] in Lodeynoye Pole and designed by Ivan Kurepanov [ ru ] . Lazarev was able to equip the underwater part of the ship with a second (ice) covering, to replace the pine wheel with an oak one, and to strengthen
20163-417: Was the unpredictability of the Russian naval bureaucracy. The main aims of the Bellingshausen expedition were to perform geographical research. Since Simonov was the only professional scientist on board, he also had to collect plant and animal samples in addition to his primary duties. As a result, Simonov passed along the collection activities and taxidermy to Berg and Galkin, the expedition medics. Simonov
20306-496: Was very heavily hunted in the 18th and 19th centuries for its pelt by seal hunters from the United States and the United Kingdom. Leopard seals are apex predators in the Antarctic ecosystem and migrate across the Southern Ocean in search of food. There are approximately 40 bird species that breed on or close to Antarctica, including species of petrels , penguins , cormorants , and gulls . Various other bird species visit
20449-535: Was very remarkable: In case of gaining islands and yet unknown costs, and also in commemoration of our stay in different places, it was allowed to leave and to give medals – silver for important people, and bronze – for others. These medals were minted in the Saint Petersburg Mint ; on the one side it was Alexander I, and on the other was the inscription: sloops ‘Vostok’ and ‘Mirny’ in 1819, the same time when they were sent. The Ministry of Sea Forces published
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