home » mass media » In what year was the south pole of Antarctica discovered? Who discovered the south pole

In what year was the south pole of Antarctica discovered? Who discovered the south pole

The point of intersection of the Earth's imaginary axis of rotation with its surface in the Southern Hemisphere. Located at an altitude of 2800 m in the Polar Plateau of Antarctica. The South Pole was first reached by the Norwegian expedition of R. Amundsen in 1911. EdwART. Explanatory Naval ... Marine Dictionary

SOUTH POLE, the point of intersection of the Earth's imaginary axis of rotation with its surface in the Southern Hemisphere. It is located within the Polar Plateau of Antarctica at an altitude of 2800 m. For the first time, a Norwegian expedition led by R. reached the South Pole... ... Modern encyclopedia

The point of intersection of the Earth's imaginary axis of rotation with its surface in the Southern Hemisphere. It is located within the Polar Plateau of Antarctica at an altitude of 2800 m. The South Pole was first reached by a Norwegian expedition led by R. Amundsen in 1911... Big Encyclopedic Dictionary

South Pole- The point of intersection of the Earth’s rotation axis with the earth’s surface in the Southern Hemisphere... Dictionary of Geography

South Pole- pietų polius statusas T sritis fizika atitikmenys: engl. antarctic pole; south pole vok. Südpol, m rus. south pole, m pranc. pôle Sud, m … Fizikos terminų žodynas

South Pole- South Pole … Russian spelling dictionary

The point at which the Earth's imaginary axis of rotation intersects its surface in the Southern Hemisphere. Any other point on the Earth's surface is always in the northern direction in relation to the South. Located on the mainland of Antarctica, closer to... Great Soviet Encyclopedia

The point at which the Earth's imaginary axis of rotation intersects its surface in the South. hemispheres. It is located on the Antarctic continent, on the Polar Plateau, at an altitude of 2800 m. The thickness of the ice in the southern region exceeds 2800 m, i.e. bedrock lies... ... Geographical encyclopedia

The point of intersection of the imaginary axis of rotation of the Earth with its surface in the South. hemispheres. Located within the Polar Plateau of Antarctica at altitude. 2800 m. For the first time U.P. reached nor. exp. under hand R. Amundsen in 1911 ... Natural science. encyclopedic Dictionary

Books

South Pole. Amundsen v. Scott, Ousland Björn. The race to the South Pole was akin to a dramatic thriller, in which the forces of nature decided to compete with strong men, testing their strength, technical means and dogs. In the new...

Once man managed to conquer the North Pole, sooner or later he had to reach the South Pole, located in the center of the icy continent of Antarctica.
It's even colder here than in the Arctic. In addition, the fierce hurricane winds almost never subside... But the South Pole also surrendered, and the history of the conquest of the two extreme points of the Earth was curiously linked together. The fact is that in 1909, like Piri, the famous polar explorer Roald Amundsen intended to set out to conquer the North Pole - the same one who, several years earlier, managed to navigate his ship from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean by the northwest sea route. Having learned that Piri had achieved success first, the ambitious Amundsen, without hesitation, sent his expedition ship “Fram” to the shores of Antarctica. He decided that he would be the first to the South Pole!
They have tried to get to the southernmost point of the Earth before. In 1902, Captain Robert Scott of the English Royal Navy, together with two companions, managed to reach 82 degrees 17 minutes south latitude. But then I had to retreat. Having lost all the sled dogs with which they began the journey, the three brave souls were barely able to return to the coast of Antarctica, where the expedition ship Discovery was moored.

In 1908, another Englishman, Ernst Shackleton, made a new attempt. And again, failure: despite the fact that only 179 kilometers remained to the goal, Shackleton turned back, unable to withstand the hardships of the journey. Amundsen actually achieved success the first time, having thought through literally every little detail.
His journey to the Pole was played out like clockwork. Between 80 and 85 degrees south latitude, at every degree, the Norwegians had pre-arranged warehouses with food and fuel. Amundsen set off on October 20, 1911, with four Norwegian companions: Hansen, Wisting, Hassel, Bjoland. The travelers traveled on sleighs pulled by sled dogs.

The costumes for the participants in the hike were made... from old blankets. Amundsen's idea, unexpected at first glance, fully justified itself - the costumes were light and at the same time very warm. But the Norwegians also faced many difficulties. The blows of the blizzard cut the faces of Hansen, Wisting and Amundsen himself until they bled; These wounds did not heal for a long time. But seasoned, courageous people did not pay attention to such trifles.
On December 14, 1911, at 3 pm, the Norwegians reached the South Pole.
They stayed here for three days, making astronomical determinations of the exact location to eliminate the slightest possibility of error. At the southernmost point of the Earth, a high pole with the Norwegian flag and the Fram pennant was erected. All five left their names on a board nailed to the pole.
The return journey took the Norwegians 40 days. Nothing unexpected happened. And early in the morning of January 26, 1912, Amundsen and his companions returned to the shore of the icy continent, where the expedition ship Fram was waiting for him in Whale Bay.

Alas, Amundsen's victory was overshadowed by the tragedy of another expedition. Also in 1911, Robert Scott made a new attempt to reach the South Pole. This time she was successful. But on January 18, 1912, Scott and four of his companions found a Norwegian flag at the South Pole, left by Amundsen back in December. The disappointment of the British, who arrived only second to the goal, turned out to be so great that they no longer had the strength to withstand the return journey.
A few months later, British search parties, concerned about Scott’s long absence, found a tent in the Antarctic ice with the frozen bodies of the captain and his companions. In addition to pitiful crumbs of food, they found 16 kilograms of rare geological samples from Antarctica, collected during the trip to the pole. As it turned out, the rescue camp, where food was stored, was only twenty kilometers away from this tent...

I always dreamed of becoming a traveler, dreamed of discoveries. As a child I loved to read about discoverers. What fascinated me most were the people who discovered the coldest parts of our planet, e.g. South Pole. I want to talk about these brave people.

First attempts

Nothing was known about the South Pole until almost the 20th century. Although attempts to get to him were made repeatedly. Because of lack of proper equipment, and just the skills to survive in the cold, this was unattainable. They tried to open the South Pole:

F.F. Bellingshausen and M.P. Lazarev- Russian navigators, in 1722 reached the coast of Antarctica, discovered and gave names to several islands.
James Ross in 1941 he discovered the ice shelf and Antarctic volcanoes.
E. Shelkton in 1907 he tried to reach the South Pole using a pony, but turned back;

Who discovered the South Pole

The most desperate and stubborn researcher who discovered the South Pole was Raoul Amundsen. Originally from Norway, he knew what cold was; he had already been on several expeditions in extreme conditions. Preparing to conquer Antarctica, he studied secrets survival of Eskimos in the cold. Big paid attention to equipment and clothes. His entire team was equipped with fur jackets and high boots. He also selected for the expedition strong Eskimo dogs who pulled the sleigh during the hike. And he reached his goal on December 14 1911 and remained at the South Pole for three more days conducting research, and then returned safely with his entire team. It is noteworthy that simultaneously with him, a team of British led by Robert Scott. At the cost of incredible efforts, he and the remnants of the team reached the pole, 34 days late, where he found traces of Norwegians, a tent with provisions and a letter addressed to him...

Scott's team died on the way back... It was all to blame insufficient preparedness of the team, a small amount of food, clothing, by the way, was not fur, and the fact that they used ponies that died almost immediately, and motor sleighs that were not suitable for working in such frosts. I think it also had an impact depressed state of people because Amundsen was ahead of them. This is the price at which the South Pole was discovered.

The discoverers of the southern latitudes did not always leave their names to history. Many expeditions are known only by the names of their leaders, leaving the names of the remaining participants into oblivion. Those who reached the South Pole first, fortunately, left their names. An ingenious expedition that achieved its cherished goal took place in 1911.

Roald Amundsen. short biography

The great Norwegian, the one who first reached the South Pole, constantly traveled in the most difficult and sparsely populated corners of the Earth. He was born in 1872 into a family of seafarers. Even in his youth, the future researcher came across a wonderful book by J. Franklin, a polar explorer. Roald Amundsen was inspired by the idea of becoming a pioneer, so from childhood he prepared himself for the upcoming difficulties. He slept with the windows open even in severe cold, was extremely unpretentious in food and constantly trained his body. His mother wanted Roual to devote himself to medicine. He conscientiously studied books and attended classes. But immediately after her death, Amundsen abandoned his textbooks and began to prepare himself for polar travel.

First travels

Roald Amundsen boarded his first ship at the age of 22. Initially, he served as a cabin boy on a fishing vessel sailing in the North Atlantic. In 1896, for the first time, he was forced to spend the winter with his comrades in high latitudes. The winter was sudden and unplanned; the sailors were forced to eat their own shoes to survive. After his return, he appreciated the importance of careful preparation for difficult conditions. Subsequently, Amundsen was able to pass an important exam and received a diploma as a sea captain.

The traveler's first own ship was the sailing schooner "Joa". With a small crew, Amundsen sailed it from Greenland to Alaska, opening the Northwest Passage. Such serious preparation for the conditions of navigation in polar latitudes allowed him to mature for new discoveries, among which was the South Pole of the Earth.

Expedition

In 1910, with the support of the great F. Nansen, R. Amundsen was preparing for a trip to Antarctica. For this purpose, the ship Fram was hired, which was supposed to land travelers in Antarctica. A carefully prepared expedition, consisting of five people, 52 dogs and four sleighs, set off. On October 19, 1911, travelers landed on the Ross Shelf and set off deep into the icy continent.

At first, the expedition walked for a long time through a wide icy desert. After crossing the 85th parallel, the terrain changed - the road was blocked by high ice cliffs. At the foot of the cliffs, the travelers made a small hiding place with food supplies. Amundsen took the rest of the provisions with him, calculating that the South Geographic Pole was within reach, and the journey to it and back should take no more than 60 days.

By the middle of the planned period, the travelers reached a large glacier, which was named after Axel Heiberg, the sponsor of the expedition, who believed in Amundsen’s victory and provided a lot of money to cover expenses. Later, the names of other people, acquaintances and relatives, were put on the map. This is how the Liv glacier appeared on the map of Antarctica, named after the daughter of F. Nansen.

Get there

In mid-summer, the travelers reached a point beyond which no other polar expedition had ever been. The extreme point of the cold continent, discovered by Shackleton, did not reach the geographic mark of the pole by only 180 km. Having passed the last leg of the journey, the expedition reached the cherished point at which all the meridians of the Earth intersected. The name of everyone who was the first to reach the South Pole remains forever associated with the cold southern continent. These are Roald Amundsen, Oscar Wisting, Sverre Hassel, Helmer Hansen and Olaf Bjaland.

The travelers celebrated their stay at the southernmost point of the earth by displaying the Norwegian flag and a pennant from the ship Fram. Not far from the flag, a tent was erected in which Amundsen left a message to his rival, Scott. Having recorded their stay at the South Pole, the expedition moved back.

The entire journey took 99 days. Those who were the first to reach the South Pole were joyfully greeted first on the ship Fram, and then in the small town of Hobard, located in Tasmania. From there, the world's newspapers received a message that the southernmost point of the earth had been conquered. But for Roald Amundsen the journey did not stop...

The history of the discovery of the South Pole is full of drama. Many travelers dreamed of reaching the cherished point of the Earth. Among them is the Frenchman Jean-Baptiste Charcot, a famous explorer of the Arctic and Antarctic. Nansen dreamed of the laurels of a discoverer, intending to go to Antarctica on his “Fram”. The Englishman Ernst Shacklon advanced deeper into the mainland in 1909, but was forced to turn back due to food shortages.

And so in October 1911, two expeditions headed in parallel to the shores of Antarctica - Norwegian and British. The Norwegians were led by that time by the famous conqueror of the Arctic, Roald Amundsen, and the British team was led by the Knight of the Order of Victoria, Captain 1st Rank Robert Falcon Scott.

At first, Amundsen did not even intend to go to Antarctica. He borrowed Nansen's Fram and planned to go to the North Pole. But then news came that the British were equipping an expedition to the southern latitudes and Amundsen turned the ship south, thereby posing an open challenge to Scott. The entire subsequent history of the discovery took place under the sign of competition.

The British chose horses for draft power, although they had dogs and even motorized sleighs, a novelty at the time. The Norwegians relied on dogs. Amundsen skillfully chose the wintering site - 100 miles closer to the goal than the bay where Scott landed.

Overcoming 800 miles from coast to pole, the British lost all their horses, their equipment constantly broke down, they endured 40-degree frosts and, in addition, the route was chosen poorly - they had to make their way through the cracks and icy chaos of the Antarctic highlands.

With great hardships and difficulties, on January 17, 1912, Scott and his comrades reached the mathematical point of the South Pole... And I saw there the remains of the rivals’ camp and a tent with a Norwegian flag. In his diary, Scott wrote: “The Norwegians were ahead of us. A terrible disappointment, and I feel pain for my faithful comrades.”

Amundsen, with his characteristic foresight, without a single casualty or injury, strictly following the developed route, arrived at the Pole a month earlier than his rivals - in December 1911. The entire journey of Roald Amundsen and his comrades Oscar Wisting, Helmer Hansen, Sverre Hassel, Olaf Bjaland to the South Pole and back lasted 99 days.

The fate of the English expedition was tragic. Exhausted by the difficult transition, people lost strength. The youngest member of the expedition, Edgar Evans, died unexpectedly. Having frostbitten hands and realizing that he had become a burden, Lawrence Ots went into the snowstorm to certain death. Lieutenant Henry Bowers, Dr. Edward Wilson and Robert Scott himself were 11 miles short of reaching the food depot. The entire expedition died. It was only seven months later that their bodies were discovered by a search team. Next to Scott was a bag with diaries, thanks to which today we know all the details of this tragedy.

At the burial site of the expedition members, a three-meter cross made of Australian eucalyptus was installed with an inscription-quote from the poem “Ulysses” by the English classic Alfred Tennyson - “Fight and seek - find and not give up!”

As soon as the news of the death of the British expedition reached the world, the history of the competition received a powerful resonance. Many people thought about the moral side of Amundsen’s action. No one doubted that the appearance of an unexpected competitor, his victory, which turned into defeat for the Scott expedition, influenced the psychological state of the British polar explorers.

Amundsen never forgave himself for what happened in the scorching Arctic summer of 1911-1912. Upon learning of Scott's death, he wrote poignant words: “I would sacrifice fame, absolutely everything, to bring him back to life. My triumph is overshadowed by the thought of his tragedy. She's stalking me!

Nowadays, at the very point that brought victory to one and defeat and death to another, the Amundsen-Scott research station is located. The South Pole united the rivals forever.

Type