Antartica: no longer unknown

Title

Creator

Gauhn, Norma

Identifier

Bottom of the world

Language

English

Source

Panorama Volume XIII (No. 7) July 1961

Year

1961

Rights

In Copyright - Educational Use Permitted

Fulltext

Bottom of the World ANTARCTICA-No Longer Unknown Norma Gauhn Despite death and unbelie vable suffering, man’s quest for the unknown is shrinking the area still unexplored on the frigid waste-land called Antarctica. A hundred years ago, no one had done more than gain the edge of the huge conti nent, and few had done that. It was only 50 years ago that brave men first penetrated to the South Pole. But by 1950, the “explored” territory was beginning to equal the “un explored.” Now the area awaiting its first human is melting like an ice cube in the warm sun. Since permanent coloniza tion has been impractical, the criss-crossing tracks of ex plorers have led to over-lap ping national claims to parts of the vast continent—whose 5-1/3 million square miles make it almost 1-1/2 of the United States. In an attempt to reconcile differences—or at least define areas of disagreement—12 in terested nations recently met at Washington. They agreed that Antarctica should be used only for peaceful pur poses. The pact, subject to ratifi cation, also would freeze the territorial status quo and en courage scientific coopera tion. The diplomatic agreement supports what explorers have learned the hard way about Antarctica: the physical bat tle against incredible weather and terrain is the limit of hu man endurance. Political con flict could bring further prog ress in the area to a stand still. As early as the Middle Ages mapmakers believed a southern continent might exist. And in 1772 the Eng lish captain, James Cook, reached the Antarctic ice pack, establishing that such a continent would lay south of the 60th parallel. Through the 1800s interest in the area was spurred by 74 Panorama the desire to locate the south magnetic pole, needed for more accurate navigation maps. In 1911 two great ex peditions got under way in an effort to reach the geographic South Pole. One of these groups was headed by Norwegian explo rer Ronald Amundsen, the other by Britain’s Robert Scott. Amundsen placed his na tion’s flag at the South Pole Dec. 17. A month later Scott reached the pole only to find the Norwegians had made it first. Bitterly disappointed, he headed back with his four companions. It was the great tragedy of Antarctic exploration. The five men died after an epic struggle against terrible cold and meager rations. The end came when they were only 11 miles from food and fuel. The age of scientific re search in Antarctic explora tion followed. The first man to fly the North Pole, US Adm. Richard Byrd, duplicated the feat at the South Pole on Nov. 28. 1929. He showed that radio and the airplane made it pos sible to explore broad and dangerous areas. His group also included biologists, me teorologists, and geologists to study life in the white wild erness. In 1946 Byrd headed the Navy’s “Operation Highjump” to conduct scientific programs for training men and testing equipment under severe polar conditions. The expedition also provided the first nearly complete outline map of Antarctica’s ice sheathed coast. In the 1950s came the mas sive expeditions of the Inter national Geophysical Year, marking an era of cooperation in scientific research among nations claiming Antarctic lands. The US Operation Deep Freeze set up a South Pole station that showed a party of men could successfully come through the polar win ter. Other IGY study camps were set up by the British, French, Russians, Japanese, Australians, Norwegians, Ar gentines and Chileans. The Antarctic is still being probed. And the space age has opened up new strategic posibilities for the land at the bottom of the world. July 1961 75

pages

74+

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