At the beginning of the 20th century, the fever of discovering new lands began to subside. The lands of South America, Australia, the New Zealand Islands and Africa have been fully explored. And only a few dared to turn their gaze to the harsh lands of the poles. Everyone knows the names of those who reached the South Pole first. But not everyone knows that "Napoleon of the polar countries", the conqueror of the southern point of the Earth, Raul Amundsen was ready to give his triumph for the lives of those who did not reach there.

By sea to the south

The first man to reach the southern continent on a fragile ship made of wood was J. Cook. In 1772, his ship reached 72 degrees south latitude, but further on the way was blocked by insurmountable ice.

Officially, the discovery of the continent was attributed to F. Bellingshausen and M. Lazarev. On two boats in 1820, they approached the shores of Antarctica.

Twenty years later, the ships of J.C. Ross sailed around the mainland along the coastline.

Conquest of sushi

The competition for the title of "First Man to Reach the South Pole" is full of tragic events. In 1895, the Australian G. Buhl was camped on land. But he made no attempt to go inland.

An attempt to become the one who first reached the South Pole was made in 1909 by E. Shackleton. The Englishman did not reach 179 kilometers, he ran out of food and his strength ran out. Before him, in 1902, an attempt by his compatriot Robert Scott was a failure; three researchers miraculously returned to their starting point.

Competition for the championship

October 1911, two famous explorers joined the struggle for the conquest of the pole: the Norwegian Roald Amundsen and the Briton Robert Falcon Scott. Interestingly, Amundsen was going to the North Pole. But he could no longer become a pioneer: the American flag had been there since 1908. The ambitious Roald invites partners Oscar Wisting, Helmer Hansen, Sverre Haasel and Olaf Bjaland to become the first among the conquerors of the other pole. It is these names that will go down in the history of Antarctica as those who first reached the South Pole.

The story of those who reached, but ended up second

After a failed try in 1902, Robert Scott had high hopes for the campaign. He prepared carefully and for a long time, bought a motor sled and worked out the route. From the very beginning, he was haunted by disappointments. The motor sled proved to be useless in overcoming the hummocks. The ponies that were the means of transportation for the expedition were soon exhausted and put to sleep. Robert decided to send part of the group back, and five people continued their journey to the cherished goal.

Overcoming incredible difficulties, carrying all the luggage on themselves, on January 17, 1912, they reached the mathematical pole. But they turned out to be the second: the Norwegians had already been here. Moral shock affected their return journey. The youngest participant, Edgar Evans, was the first to die, hitting his head while falling into a crack. Then Lawrence Ots went into the night, considering himself a burden for his comrades (his legs were frostbitten).

The remaining researchers did not come to the camp. Only eight months later they were found 18 kilometers from the destination. Their fate is known from the diary of Robert, who died last. The snowstorm that overtook them, the end of supplies and the fierce cold caused their death.

Robert Falcon Scott, Henry Bowers, Lawrence Oates and Edgar Evans, as well as the physician Edward Wilson - diaries and geological exhibits weighing about 15 kilograms, and their heroic feat recorded these names in the history of Antarctica.

The story of those who first reached the South Pole

The ambitious Amudsen thought out every detail of his journey. He put on the dogs as draft. At the same time, no matter how cruel, but the weight of the dogs, he calculated as food and painted a schedule for the use of this source of protein. The costumes were specially made from blankets - durable, lightweight and warm. The expedition of five people on December 14, 1911 reached its goal and after 99 days returned to its starting point in full force, becoming the courageous five of those who first reached the South Pole.

Bitter victory

Amundsen himself, having learned about the fate of his rival Robert Scott, wrote: “I would sacrifice fame, absolutely everything, to bring him back to life. My triumph is clouded by the thought of his tragedy. She is following me! " This triumph went down in history along with the tragedy. But the pole remembers both purposeful polar explorers, their names are forever united in the name of the Amundsen-Scott scientific station, located at the site of the defeat of one and the victory of the other.

Hundreds of daredevils conquered the South Pole after the pioneers.

To volunteer to go to the ends of the earth in the name of science, you need to be a special person. But that's exactly what a bunch of people do every summer (in the southern hemisphere at this time it's winter) at the geographic South Pole. is the coldest and driest place on the globe, and our South Pole is among the most forgotten by God. Those living at the Amundsen-Scott polar station during the winter experience a time of adventure, isolation and the very experience that very few people have. Living at the South Pole is difficult, but very interesting. Where else can you find ...

Due to the unique location of the South Pole at the very bottom of the globe, the sun is visible there like nowhere else. It is at the ends of the Earth that you can watch the longest sunset.

Due to the tilt of the planet's axis, the South Pole experiences one sunset and one sunrise per year. These two phenomena take many days to replace, so lovers of looking at the Sun will have something to see, in every sense.

No watch needed

If you work outdoors, you won't need a watch. When the sun finally rises, it will gradually rise until mid-summer and then slowly descend towards the horizon.

While the luminous ball crawls across the sky, illuminating it 24/7, it will be very easy to understand the time of day. When a luminary is at a certain building or identification mark at a certain time, it will appear there every day at the same time. If it's lunchtime when the sun is over the meteorological probe object, you can head to the cafeteria whenever that happens.

A dizzying journey

Upon arrival at the South Pole, you will find that walking there is not that difficult. The ice is well compressed and crystallized, forming a non-slippery surface. Antarctica is the same everywhere, apart from altitude.

The South Pole lies on a 3,000-meter plate of ice, and the new arrivals find themselves about 3 kilometers above sea level. There are no elevators, so whenever the luggage has to be lifted 15 meters, they will sternly remind you of the elevation.

Sleepiness can be a problem

Your body will eventually acclimate to the altitude, but physiologically, the climb will be even harder to bear due to an atmospheric phenomenon that can only be found at the poles. When the barometric pressure drops, the air becomes denser, as it does everywhere on Earth. Our planet rotates on its axis, creating centrifugal force. This force pulls the atmosphere towards the equator, "lowering" the sky at the poles.

As the heavens fall, the air becomes thinner, making the height of the South Pole greater than it really is. Since residents live at 3000 meters above sea level, the extra 600 meters can cause drowsiness that climbers experience when climbing to altitude.

Trapped

Although the South Pole research stations are buzzing with scientific activity during the short summer seasons, only a small team of 50 people remain there for the winter. These brave souls are isolated at the bottom of the planet, starting from the moment the last plane departed in mid-February and until the return of the next one in late October - early November.

Regardless of illness and madness, people have to remain trapped, since the cold temperatures in winter will surely freeze aircraft fuel, making any departure impossible.

Sad month

For those who dare to lay themselves down in the name of science, the winter will be long. After sunsets several days long and a month of twilight, night reigns for several months. Some suffer from seasonal affective disorder, but more often than not, work, life, and creativity in close contact with the same 50 people over the course of weeks is the worst.

Such conditions will make anyone capricious, and even the most cheerful come out with a sour expression when winter ends. Most of the time this happens around August. Although everyone is influenced differently, seeing the same faces in the endless darkness is annoying.

Undressing with friends

Although temperatures are brutally cold and even deadly without the right equipment, the thermometer rarely drops below -73 degrees Celsius. But when that happens, locals have the opportunity to join one of the planet's most exclusive fraternities: the 300 Club.

They gather naked in the research station's sauna and heat it to 93 degrees Celsius (200 Fahrenheit). And when everyone is already good, wet and hot, they put on only boots and jump out to the mark of the geographic South Pole. Leaving the sauna to the mark entails a temperature change of 300 degrees (Fahrenheit) and a beautiful naked shot, with a thin silvery layer of frozen sweat, right next to the historic South Pole.

When the earth wears

The South Pole lies on a 3-kilometer-thick plate of ice. And when the ice is on top, it tends to slide ... slide a lot. Although the true geographic South Pole is not moving, the mark and buildings above it are still as much as 2.5 centimeters a day. Everything relative to the pole is shifted by 9 meters per year.

Surveyors pinpoint the exact location of the South Pole, and the pole mark moves annually to compensate for the long slow slide.

Run around the whole world

Running is a great way to stay in shape, but running in the cold can burn your lungs great. Yet few can resist the temptation to boast that they have literally run around the world. At the South Pole, this will take about 20 steps.

To put runners on fair terms, the station hosts an annual race. The route goes around the pole mark in a loop, allowing the participants to say absolutely honestly that they have really run around the whole world.

New year and again and again and again

The time zones are separated by 15 degrees of longitude. These degrees are most divided at the equator - about 111 kilometers between them. From the equator, they go north and south, gradually reducing the distance between them, until all 24 converge at the poles. Living at the South Pole, people have the ability to move from one time zone to another in a few steps.

In the New Year, this takes on a special scope. Polar inhabitants can celebrate the New Year in each time zone of the Earth, simply by rearranging their legs. Only the strongest can survive the 24-hour celebration.

Charity wall newspaper for schoolchildren, parents and teachers of St. Petersburg "Briefly and clearly about the most interesting." Issue No. 78, April 2015. Site site

"CONQUERING THE SOUTH POLE"

Wall newspapers of the charitable educational project "Briefly and clearly about the most interesting" (site site) are intended for schoolchildren, parents and teachers of St. Petersburg. They are delivered free of charge to most educational institutions, as well as to a number of hospitals, orphanages and other institutions in the city. The editions of the project do not contain any advertising (only the logos of the founders), are politically and religiously neutral, written in easy language, well illustrated. They are conceived as informational "braking" of students, awakening cognitive activity and the desire to read. Authors and publishers, without pretending to the academic completeness of the presentation of the material, publish interesting facts, illustrations, interviews with famous figures of science and culture and hope thereby to increase the interest of schoolchildren in the educational process. Please send your comments and suggestions to: [email protected] We are grateful to the Education Department of the Administration of the Kirovsky District of St. Petersburg and everyone who unselfishly helps in distributing our wall newspapers. Our sincere gratitude to the authors of the material for this issue, Margarita Emelina and Mikhail Savinov, and researchers of the Krasin Icebreaker Museum (www.krassin.ru) - the Branch of the Museum of the World Ocean in St. Petersburg (www.world-ocean.ru).

Antarctica (in Greek "Antarcticos" - the opposite of the Arctic) was discovered on January 16 (28), 1820 by a Russian expedition led by Thaddeus Bellingshausen and Mikhail Lazarev. Further studies showed that the center of Antarctica roughly coincides with the southern geographic pole - the point at which the axis the Earth's rotation crosses its surface. Any other point on the Earth's surface in relation to the South Pole is always in the north direction. The geographical coordinates of the South Pole are curious: exactly 90 ° south latitude. The pole has no longitude, since it is the convergence point of all meridians. Day, like night, lasts here for about six months. The thickness of the ice in the South Pole area is a little less than three kilometers, and the average annual air temperature is about minus 50 ° C.
Researchers of the Icebreaker Krasin Museum (Branch of the Museum of the World Ocean in St. Petersburg), historians Margarita Emelin and Mikhail Savinov, kindly agreed to tell our newspaper about the conquest of this extraordinary point.

Prologue

Captain Nemo in Antarctica. Illustration for the novel by Jules Verne.

On March 21, 1867, two travelers on porphyry and basalt rock ledges climbed to the top of a snowy mountain for two hours. One of them later described what he saw: “From the height where we stood, our gaze embraced the open sea along the very line of the horizon, sharply marked from the northern side by the edge of solid ice. At our feet, a snowy plain spread out, blinding with its whiteness. And above us the cloudless blue of the sky shone! ... And behind us, to the south and east, is the boundless land, a chaotic heap of rocks and ice! " After observing the sun through a "telescope with a mirror that corrects optical illusion when refracting rays" and in the presence of a chronometer, one of them exclaimed, when half of the solar disk disappeared behind the horizon at exactly noon: "South Pole!"
“It couldn't be! - you say. The South Pole was reached much later, in 1911! " And in 1867, the heroes of the novel by the French writer Jules Verne, Captain Nemo and Professor Aronax, visited the center of Antarctica. Jules Verne predicted many technical innovations and discoveries in his novels, described many countries, but was somewhat mistaken, sending his heroes to conquer the South Pole. In the 60s of the XIX century, the coldest continent had not yet been accurately plotted on geographical maps, it really remained a blank spot, exciting the minds of geographers and travelers. There was still a lot to learn about it before setting off to conquer its central point ...
What do we know about the South Pole now, and how did its conquest take place? Let's read!

Why is the South Pole colder than the North Pole?

Landscape of Central Antarctica.

The North and South Poles are the points of the Earth farthest from the Sun. Therefore, it is very cold at both poles. But at the North Pole, the lowest temperature is about minus 43 degrees, and at the South Pole it exceeds minus 82 degrees! At the North Pole, sometimes there is a plus temperature - up to five degrees above zero, at the South - never.
The fact is that the North Pole is in the ocean. The maritime climate - and warm and cold currents create it - is always warmer than the continental one. Only a few meters of ice separates the air of the North Pole from the huge storage of heat - ocean waters. But the South Pole is not only located in the interior of the mainland (to the nearest sea coast - 480 km), but also raised above sea level by 2800 m! And at altitude it is always colder than on the surface of the Earth. The closer to the surface, the denser the layer of air that protects the planet from hypothermia and overheating.
But the South Pole, it turns out, is not the coldest place on our planet.

Pole that has no pair

Usually, each pole has its own pair on the opposite side of the Earth. Geographic North Pole corresponds to Geographic South Pole, Magnetic North Pole corresponds to Magnetic South Pole, and so on. But there is only one point with the lowest air temperature on Earth - this is the Pole of Cold, where the Soviet and Russian polar stations Vostok have been operating for many years. In 1983, here, in the depths of the ice sheet of East Antarctica, at a point with coordinates 78 ° 27'51 "south latitude and 106 ° 50'14" east longitude, the lowest temperature on our planet was recorded, it was minus 89.2 degrees !
Of course, the Northern Hemisphere has its own Pole of Cold - in the area of ​​the Yakut village of Oymyakon. But these poles are not equal to each other, as are geographic or magnetic - on Oymyakon, on average, it is 17 degrees warmer than at Vostok station. This is due to the fact that the South Pole of Cold is much higher than Oymyakon - 3488 m above sea level against 745 m.
Even in the warmest Antarctic summer, the temperature at the Pole of Cold does not rise above minus 13 degrees. But even in this most severe place on Earth, man is successfully working. Vostok is the first of the inland Soviet stations in Antarctica (founded in 1957), and the only one operating today. Polar explorers conduct constant scientific observations here and make important discoveries, the most famous of which was the discovery of a large lake hidden under a layer of ice.

Forest at the South Pole?

Polar Allosaurus. Reconstruction of the BBC.

Could this be? It turns out that it can. The ice continent was not always as cold and lifeless as it is today. Scientists believe that Antarctica began to be covered with glaciers about 50 million years ago. Before that, a relatively mild warm climate reigned there, and vast beech forests grew. In those distant times, Antarctica, Australia and South America were a single continent, which later began to split up. Australia was the first to break away, then South America, which had already been populated by the marsupials that came from Australia through Antarctica. The subglacial mountains of West Antarctica are a direct geological continuation of the Andes of South America.
And even earlier, in the Mesozoic era, the forests of Antarctica reached the polar region. The remains of fossil trees from this era, relatives of the South American araucaria pine, are found just 300 km from the pole point! Of course, it was colder in Antarctica than in other regions of the Earth, where a tropical climate prevailed, but this was expressed only in the change of seasons. The Mesozoic inhabitants of Antarctica - polar dinosaurs - managed to adapt to such conditions, and during the long winter they hibernated, like modern reptiles of temperate latitudes.

Life at the limit

Emperor penguins are the largest members of their squad.

In the seas washing Antarctica, life is in full swing - many species of crustaceans and fish live here, which serve as food for a wide variety of animals - from penguins to huge whales. On the sixth continent itself, life glimmers along the coast. In Antarctica, there are special wingless insects, ticks (some of them penetrate up to the 85th parallel!), Worms. Birds nest on the coast - penguins (they live along the coast, but not in the interior of the continent, where they have nothing to eat), skuas, petrels. There are no land mammals in Antarctica - they cannot survive in the polar winter, but various species of seals, whose life is associated with the sea, thrive.
There are almost no higher plants in Antarctica, but mosses and lichens grow, and there are also primitive algae.
Is there any kind of life directly at the pole point, in the depths of the ice sheet? Some bacteria species that have adapted to extreme conditions can live on the surface. Life can also exist in subglacial lakes, compressed by the thickness of the glacier. But, of course, in comparison with the North Pole, located in the ocean, the South Pole is a lifeless desert.

Magnetic South Pole and Ross Expedition

John Wildman, Portrait of Commander Ross.

The South Pole is a point invisible to our eyes, at which the Earth's axis of rotation coincides with its surface in the center of Antarctica. On geographical maps, meridians converge at this point. As with the North Pole, there are other poles. For example, South magnetic. This is a conditional point on the earth's surface, in which the earth's magnetic field is directed strictly vertically upward. The compass needle points directly to it. And it does not coincide with the geographical one! Like the North, the South magnetic pole slightly changes its coordinates, due to the mobility of the Earth's geomagnetic field. The displacement of the magnetic poles has been recorded since 1885. Over the past 100 years, the magnetic pole in the Southern Hemisphere has moved almost 900 km and entered the Southern Ocean.
It was the South Magnetic Pole that was the target of the first British expedition to Antarctic latitudes. It took place in 1839-1843 under the direction of Sir James Clark Ross on the ships "Erebus" and "Terror". Earlier, with his direct participation, the location of the North Magnetic Pole was discovered (1830-1831, an expedition led by John Ross, the uncle of James Clark). In February 1842, James Ross managed to reach 78 ° 10 ′ S latitude and quite accurately determine the then position of the South Magnetic Pole (now it is located at 64 ° 24 ′ S latitude). Ross also discovered the sea, an ice shelf and a large island with volcanoes - these geographic features now bear his name, and the volcanoes are named after the ships of the expedition. But they failed to land on the continent. On his return to England, the traveler was greeted with coolness, although he was awarded the knighthood. They could not continue his work right away - the sixth continent was too far away, its climate was too harsh. The following travelers went to its shores only 60 years later.

The first ideas of hikes to the South Pole

Ernest Shackleton. Photo from 1908.

By the end of the 19th century, interest in Antarctica revived. In the scientific world, it was believed that a continent of this size could have a decisive influence on weather changes throughout the Southern Hemisphere, and the territory itself could become a platform for various experiments and observations. The only obstacles were cold and ice. However, the obstacles are very serious.
On January 24, 1895, the first man set foot on the Antarctic continent. It was the Norwegian explorer Karsten Egeberg Borchgrevink. He became interested in the research of the Australian Committee for Antarctic Research, established in 1886. The activities of the Committee soon came to naught, and whalers rushed to the Southern Ocean - remember, how Jules Verne describes the fishing of whales in the novel "Fifteen-Year-Old Captain". Borchgrevink was hired on an expedition aboard the schooner Antarctica, whose task was to search for whales in the waters off the icy continent. In addition to observing animals, the Norwegian landed on the mainland and collected samples of rocks and lichens. Upon his return, he set about organizing an expedition to the mainland and suggested using dog sleds to move around the Antarctic glaciers. And so in 1898 the British Antarctic Expedition began, which lasted two years. Borchgrevink first wintered in Antarctica and reached 78 ° 50 ′ S latitude on February 16, 1900. However, the conquest of the South Pole was still far away.
In 1897, Fridtjof Nansen proposed his own version of an expedition to the South Pole, the task of which was not only to study Antarctica, but also to conquer the pole point. But the idea was not implemented.
In 1901–1904, the British Antarctic Expedition led by Robert Scott and Ernst Shackleton took place, which managed to cover a third of the distance to the South Pole. But this was achieved at the cost of exhausting people who suffered from snow blindness, frostbite and scurvy, the inability to cope with sled dogs. In 1908, Shackleton attempted to ski to the South Pole. His group reached 88º South latitude.

Scott's Expedition: A Planned Hike Or A Race For The Championship?

Robert Scott.

Scott and his comrades at the South Pole. 1912 year.

The British Antarctic Expedition led by Robert Scott began in 1910. It was planned not only to conquer the South Pole in three seasons with two winter quarters, but also to conduct a lot of scientific research. Shackleton's experience and the achievement of the North Pole by Cook and Peary presented Scott with the political task of securing the primacy of Great Britain in the Far South of the Earth. Everything seemed to work out. Scott set off for the shores of Antarctica in the Terra Nova with 33 dogs, 17 ponies and three snowmobiles. But the variety of vehicles made it difficult to use. After creating the base and the system of food warehouses, Scott learned about Amundsen's base in the Ross Glacier and that the Norwegians were also going to conquer the Pole. Now it was necessary not to be late.
The trip to the pole began at the end of October 1911. In the history of polar exploration, this was the first winter exploration trip in a polar night setting. Alas, the snowmobiles quickly went out of order, and the ponies were unable to overcome the icy expanses. As a result, people themselves had to drag loads.
On January 17, 1912, the British reached the South Pole point. But they saw the traces of the camp, sledges and skis, prints of dog paws, found documents in the tent - Amundsen's expedition was ahead of them. The travelers set off on their way back. And they did not reach only 20 km to the salvage warehouse.
The last days of the British became known after 8 months, when their camp was discovered along with the materials of the expedition and samples of rocks. They were buried here in Antarctica. The cross over the grave is crowned with the inscription: "Fight and seek, find and not give up!" This motto recalls the feat of scientists who, even in the face of death, did not stop conducting research.

First at the South Pole

Roald Amundsen in 1911.

Helmer Hansen and Roald Amundsen determine their coordinates at the South Pole. December 14-17, 1911.

Routes of Scott and Amundsen's expeditions to the South Pole.

The Norwegian traveler Roald Amundsen was originally going to walk to the North Pole. Since the pole was conquered in 1908 and the interests of the discoverers were directed to the Far South, Amundsen also changed his plans. Having received the ship "Fram" from Nansen, he organized an expedition that reached the shores of Antarctica in January 1911. It is noteworthy that the trip began with the strictest secrecy: most of its participants learned about the true purpose of the trip only when the ship left for the Atlantic.
The Norwegian explorers began by organizing warehouses along the route into obscurity and decided to use dog sleds for transport. A clear organization of the campaign made it possible to achieve success. On December 14, 1911, Amundsen with four satellites (Oskar Wisting, Olaf Bjolan, Helmer Hansen, Sverre Hessel) reached the South Pole region.
Here the travelers set up camp and pitched a three-person tent, which they named Pulheim ("Polar House"). Due to the disputes that arose after Cook and Piri returned from the North Pole about who was the first to be at the desired point and how accurately determined its coordinates, Amundsen approached the determination of the geographical position of the South Pole with particular responsibility. The instruments allowed Amundsen to determine the position with an error of no more than one nautical mile, so he decided to "surround" the pole with ski runs at a distance of 10 miles from the calculated point. For the sake of reliability of the conquest, the South Pole was "surrounded" by the expedition three times and reached on December 16, 1911. Two days later, the Norwegians set off on their way back, leaving the tent as a commemorative sign.
Amundsen was in for a real triumph - a solemn meeting at home. He gave reports and lectures not only in Norway, but also in other countries, in France he was elevated to the dignity of an officer of the Legion of Honor.

The South Pole is conquered from the air

Richard Byrd's Great Antarctic Expedition, 1929.

If the balloonists tried to conquer the North Pole in a balloon, in an airship, and in an airplane, then in the conquest of the Southern Pole, aviation undoubtedly belonged to aviation.
The first flights over Antarctica took place in the summer season 1928-1929. They were carried out by American aviators Hubert Wilkins and Karl Eielson, after their names thundered all over the world in 1927. Then they successfully crossed the northernmost regions of the planet along the Cape Barrow (Alaska) - Spitsbergen route. In Antarctica, they created the first bases, studied from the air the Graham Land and the Bellingshausen Sea. But they could not reach the South Pole. Another polar pilot, Richard Byrd, became the organizer of the Little America coastal base on the edge of the Ross Ice Shelf. On November 29, 1928, he reached the South Pole in his Ford plane and dropped the American flag. Subsequently, Byrd participated in several air expeditions that took place in the skies over Antarctica (1933-1935, 1939-1941, 1946-1947, 1956). And the first crossing of Antarctica by air was carried out by the American Lincoln Ellsworth in November - December 1935. He and his companion, pilot Herbert Hollick-Kenyon, had to make five landings in the white polar desert before their mission was completed and they reached Little America station. Here they had to wait for the Discovery ship for another month.
Admiral George Dufec was the first to land at the South Pole on a Dakota plane. This happened on October 31, 1956, when polar explorers from the United States created the Birdmore and Amundsen bases. Now the planes delivered all the necessary cargo, including such heavy ones - tractors, spare parts for cars, prefabricated elements for building houses, generators, etc., dropping them in containers with a parachute. The landing of passengers and cargo at American bases near the Pole was also commonplace.
Soviet aviators also dreamed of conquering the southern crown of the planet. In October 1958, V.M. Perov made a transcontinental flight of about 4000 km on an Il-12 aircraft and flew over the Pole. On January 10, 2002, a Russian AN-3 aircraft landed at an ice airfield located at the South Pole. It was a very difficult matter - after all, the plane is small, its engines do not have significant power. The plane was assembled directly in Antarctica - at the American base "Patriot Hills". And after the AN-3, due to a malfunction of the engines, I had to leave it at the pole for as much as 3 years! Only in January 2005 did the winged aircraft take off on a return flight.

Raising the National Flag in Antarctica in honor of the opening of the first Soviet polar station Mirny on February 13, 1956.

Model of the diesel-electric ship "Ob", scale 1: 100.

Although for the first time the shores of Antarctica were seen by Russian sailors - in 1819 from the deck of the sloops "Vostok" and "Mirny", after that for more than 125 years Russian expeditions did not appear beyond the Arctic Circle. Then, in the waters of the Southern Ocean (as the waters of the three oceans near Antarctica are conventionally called), Soviet whaling fleets began to work. Our scientists began to directly study the ice continent in the mid-1950s, when the Soviet Antarctic Expedition (SAE) was created. It consisted of both seasonal and wintering research teams. The leaders of the first expeditions were experienced polar explorers M.M. Somov, A.F.Treshnikov, E.I. Tolstikov.
The flagship of the 1st SAE departed from Kaliningrad on November 30, 1955. The first landing on the Antarctic coast took place on January 5, 1956, and the first scientific base, over which the USSR flag was raised, opened on February 13 and was named after one of Bellingshausen and Lazarev's sloops - "Mirny". In total, during the International Geophysical Year (1957–1958), regular scientific observations were carried out at five polar stations. They were created in the least studied and inaccessible places on the mainland. Vostok and Sovetskaya stations were built at an altitude of 3500 meters above sea level. Winter air temperature at Vostok station dropped to minus 87.4 degrees Celsius. On December 14, 1958, the 3rd SAE, headed by Evgeny Tolstikov, reached the South Pole.
The sea part of the expedition on the ships "Ob" and "Lena" studied the geological structure of the seabed, water circulation, flora and fauna of the Southern Ocean. Subsequently, oceanographic research was carried out on other ships. The successor to the SAE since 1991 was the Russian Antarctic Expedition.

Icebreakers go across the equator

The Krasin at the McMurdo Station dock. 2005 year.

What dangers lie in wait for Antarctic polar explorers today? As before, it is cold, wind and ice. A rescue expedition may come to the rescue.
Imagine - under the sun of the tropics, a powerful Arctic icebreaker is sailing along the warm waters of the equatorial Pacific Ocean! Could this be? Maybe when an ice accident occurs off the coast of Antarctica. The Arctic Ocean around the sixth continent is no less merciless to ships than its northern counterpart. And in difficult times, mighty icebreakers go to the aid of the sailors trapped in the ice.
In March 1985, the drifting ice of the Ross Sea captured the research vessel "Mikhail Somov", which provided support for the Russkaya station. Although this diesel-electric ship was specially built for polar expeditions, it was still not an icebreaker and could not move in heavy ice. A long drift began, the course of which was followed in those days by the whole country. The Vladivostok icebreaker came to the rescue of "Mikhail Somov". He crossed the equatorial latitudes of the Pacific Ocean, then the famous storms of the "Roaring Forties" of the Southern Hemisphere. The ocean voyage was difficult for a ship, designed to operate in the northern ice, but the sailors successfully passed all the tests. It was necessary to rescue "Mikhail Somov" at the height of the polar night! The operation was led by leading polar explorers headed by A.N. Chilingarov and Deputy Director of the AARI N.A. Kornilov. And "Vladivostok" successfully coped with the most difficult task - on July 26, 1985, after a 133-day drift, "Mikhail Somov" was released!
And twenty years later, in January 2005, the Russian icebreaker again had to carry out a rescue operation off the coast of Antarctica. This time the Krasin, a powerful diesel-electric icebreaker named after the legendary Arctic veteran, distinguished himself.
A caravan of supply vessels delivering everything they needed to the American station McMurdo fell into heavy ice. American icebreakers "Polar Star" and "Polar Sea" tried unsuccessfully to help them, themselves being seriously damaged. The US government has asked for help. Icebreaker "Krasin" was removed from its planned operations and sent through all climatic zones of the Earth to rescue ships in distress. The most difficult operation of navigating ships in two-meter ice, among many icebergs, was successful. The grateful Americans arranged a sports festival for the Russian sailors and an excursion around their station.

Pole station

At the Amundsen-Scott polar station.

Nowadays, the South Pole is quite a habitable place. In the summer months (and in the Southern Hemisphere it is December, January and February), up to 200 people live at the Pole! All these people are employees of the American scientific station Amundsen-Scott, founded in January 1957 right at the pole point and named after two brave travelers - the conquerors of the southern crown of the planet.
This station is not much older than the Soviet Vostok station. Like the East, it is located deep in the ice sheet that covers the sixth continent. The air temperature in winter at the South Pole is slightly higher than at the Pole of Cold, but in the East it is warmer in summer.
When American polar explorers created a station at the Pole, people still knew very little about life in the conditions of Central Antarctica. Therefore, initially all structures of the station were removed into the thickness of the glacier. Later, a domed structure was built, which stood for several decades. But the dome also fell into disrepair over time and was completely dismantled by 2010.
The modern station building is a huge structure raised on piles above the ice surface. Thanks to this design, it is not covered with snow, and the ice under it does not melt and does not move. The station has many scientific laboratories. Astronomical observations are carried out here (transparency of the air and months of darkness create good conditions for this), study the physics of the atmosphere and the interaction of elementary particles. And to make life easier for employees on the long polar nights, there is a large gym, a library, a computer club and a corner of creativity.

Secrets of Lake Vostok

Polar explorers of Vostok station reached the surface of the subglacial lake.

The main scientific task of the polar explorers of the East is the study of ice. Under the station is a powerful ice dome that has been growing over millions of years. The ice of Antarctica remembers all the changes in the Earth's atmosphere that took place during this time. Warming and cooling, the concentration of carbon dioxide in different periods of the earth's history - all this can be established by studying ice cores - columns of ice from deep wells drilled by the brave winterers of Vostok station.
And what is located in the very depths of Antarctica, under the ice layer? Scientists have long assumed that due to the colossal pressure of the ice, the temperature under the shell can be quite high - high enough so that the water does not freeze there. This is how the possible existence of subglacial lakes was predicted - long before their real discovery.
The largest of these lakes (and more than 140 of them are now known!) Turned out to be just under the Vostok village. It is comparable in size to Lake Ontario - its area is 15,790 sq. km. The maximum depth of Lake Vostok is about 800 m.
For many years, polar explorers have drilled a well to the surface of the lake. Special technologies were required - after all, the water of the East cannot be polluted with modern substances, so as not to distort the results of observations. Finally, on February 5, 2012, the surface of the lake was reached. The pressure really turned out to be very high - the water shot up almost 500 meters along a three-kilometer borehole!
But even under such pressure, in conditions of eternal darkness, life is possible. The lake can be inhabited by organisms that receive energy through chemical reactions. There is a lot of oxygen in the lake - it is delivered there by the melting layers of the glacier. The same unusual life can exist on the moons of Jupiter and Saturn, where there are entire sub-ice oceans.
In January 2015, the surface of the lake was re-reached. New, cleaner water samples were obtained. But scientists have not yet decided to reliably talk about the discovery of new species of bacteria in the subglacial world - almost all of the discovered fragments can be attributed to pollution ... Research continues and, probably, we are still waiting for the most interesting discoveries!

Work at minus 80 °

The Il-14 plane of the Soviet Antarctic expedition at the ice airfield.

“… I grabbed the box, tried to carry it into the house and… could not. On the lungs suddenly, as if someone struck with something cold, heavy and tasteless ... My heart was pounding, my eyes darkened. Odorless air, frozen out, as if woven from the smallest needles, burned lips, mouth, throat ... "
This is how a polar aviation pilot who first landed at Vostok station describes his impressions. But airplanes fly to the inland stations of Antarctica only in summer, on a polar day, when the air there warms up as much as possible. Imagine what happens in the East in winter!
All communication between the station and the outside world is terminated. At temperatures below minus 60 °, snow stops sliding, and aircraft cannot land on ice airfields. The exhalation of a person turns into small ice crystals, you can breathe only through thick scarves, otherwise - frostbite of the lungs. Eyelashes freeze and the cornea of ​​the eyes is frozen. To light matches, they must be warmed up. Solar oil - diesel fuel - turns into a thick mass, kerosene can be cut with a knife. Rescues only electrical energy, which is provided by a continuously operating diesel power plant.
In 1982, at the very beginning of the next wintering, a strong fire broke out in the premises of the Vostok power station. Polar explorers were left without electricity, mechanic Aleksey Karpenko died in the fire. The planes could no longer take out the winterers - it was too cold.
There is something to despair of! But the station staff did not panic for a minute. They managed to repair a small backup diesel engine, with its help they established communication and warmed up fuel for three stoves. The food was transferred to the heated premises. And later they managed to find and restore two diesel generators that had served their time, which were written off by the previous shifts of winterers. So the polar explorers of the East not only managed to survive in the conditions of the lowest temperatures on Earth, but also resumed scientific work - they continued drilling a well in the ice shell of the sixth continent.

A country without weapons

"Who owns the South Pole?" - you can ask this question. Antarctica is the only continent where there are no state borders, military bases and industry. On the southern tip of the planet, humanity is trying to cooperate, conduct scientific research, make new discoveries, without making a distinction from which countries scientists or travelers have come, what kind of faith they are, what language they speak. There is no other similar place on Earth - perhaps only in space on the International Space Station there is an analogue of such interaction and friendship.
The people agreed to ensure that Antarctica is used in the interests of all mankind. And representatives of 12 states on December 1, 1959 in Washington signed the Antarctic Treaty. Subsequently, representatives of 41 more countries joined this agreement. What did the parties agree on? The freedom of scientific research was proclaimed and international cooperation was encouraged, the use of the continent for exclusively peaceful purposes, and any nuclear explosions and burial of radioactive materials were prohibited. In 1982, as part of the treaty system, the Convention for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources entered into force. The application of the provisions of the Convention is regulated by the Commission, which is headquartered in the Australian city of Hobart in the state of Tasmania.
Therefore, the answer to the title question can be given: "The South Pole belongs to all of us."

The name on the map

Ross seal.

How are place names formed in general? First of all, we know many islands, rivers and mountains under the names given to them by peoples who have lived in this area from time immemorial. In other cases, the names of geographical objects are given by travelers-discoverers.
There are no indigenous peoples in Antarctica, so all the names there are formed according to the second model. So, a vast part of the sixth continent, the coast of which faces South Africa, is called the Land of Queen Maud - in honor of the Queen of Norway Maud Charlotte Marie Victoria, wife of King Haakon VII. The name of this Earth was given by Norwegian explorers led by Lare Christensen, who described these places in detail in 1929-1931. And the nearby Enderby Land is named after the British entrepreneurs who financed John Biscoe's fishing expedition, which discovered this part of the Antarctic coast in 1831.
The Antarctic map commemorates many of its pioneers. The name of the English polar explorer James Ross is the sea, the ice shelf and one of the species of seals living off the coast of Antarctica. Another sea is named after the English navigator James Weddell, who discovered this sea in 1823 (by the way, there is also a Weddell seal!) And, of course, there are objects in Antarctica bearing the names of the first conquerors of the South Pole - Roald Amundsen and Robert Scott.

Pole of relative inaccessibility

Bust of V. I. Lenin at the station Pole of Inaccessibility, covered by snow.

If the true and magnetic poles are real geographic objects, then the Pole of Inaccessibility, or Relative Inaccessibility, is a conditional, imaginary place. This is the name of the point in the Arctic or Antarctic, located at the maximum distance from convenient transport routes. The South Pole of relative inaccessibility is located on land, deep in the Antarctic ice sheet, at the maximum distance from the sea coast. In December 1958, the Soviet station Pole of Inaccessibility (82 ° 06 ′ S and 54 ° 58 ′ E) was put into operation here.
In January 2007, four brave travelers - Englishmen Rory Sweet, Rupert Longsdon, Henry Cookson and Canadian Paul Landry for the first time in history reached the Pole of Inaccessibility (and visited the mothballed station of the same name) on skis, using the power of kites.

Ozone hole over Antarctica

Ozone hole over Antarctica in 1998 according to satellite imagery.

In the Earth's atmosphere, at an altitude of 12 to 50 km, there is a layer containing ozone - modified oxygen. Ozone absorbs a significant portion of the sun's ultraviolet radiation. Observations from the 1980s showed that over Antarctica there is a slow but steady decline in ozone concentration from year to year. This phenomenon was called the "ozone hole" (although, of course, there was no hole in the proper meaning of this word) and began to be closely investigated. Subsequently, it was also found that the ozone layer is decreasing over the North Pole.
The main ozone destructors are freons - colorless gases or liquids that are widely used by humans (for example, in refrigeration plants and aerosols), as well as exhaust gases. That is, human activity leads to serious consequences for the ecology of the entire planet. A "hole" has arisen at the pole - where a person does not live at all.
In the spring of 1998, the ozone hole reached a record area of ​​about 26 million square meters. km, which is almost three times the territory of Australia. Why exactly at the pole? It was found that chemical reactions that deplete ozone occur on the surface of ice crystals and any other particles trapped in the high layers of the atmosphere above the polar regions. It turned out that the coldest regions of the Earth are the most vulnerable.
What can be done? Refuse or seriously reduce the use of hazardous substances. In 1987, the Montreal Protocol was adopted, according to which a list of the most dangerous substances was determined, and countries pledged to reduce their release or stop it altogether. The growth of the "hole" stopped at the beginning of the XXI century. Climatologists predict that the ozone layer will return to 1980 levels only by the middle of the century.

How else did you conquer the South Pole?

Women's research team "Blizzard" at the South Pole, 1996.

The plans of the British Commonwealth expedition, exploring the sixth continent on tracked tractors and transporters in 1955-1958, did not include being at the South Pole. The head of the auxiliary party, Edmund Hillary (the conqueror of Everest, the highest peak of the Earth) deviated from the route and on January 3 1958 year became the third person in history, after Amundsen and Scott visited the Pole.
The first person to visit both poles was Albert Paddock Crey (USA). May 3 1952 he flew to the North Pole on a Dakota plane, and on February 12 1961 years as part of a scientific expedition reached the South Pole on a snowmobile.
During the 1979-1982 Transglobal Expedition, led by the British Ranulf Fiennes and Charles Burton, the travelers crossed the globe along the meridian across the poles. Ships, cars and snowmobiles were used as transport. The expedition members ended up at the South Pole on December 15 1980 of the year.
December 11th 1989 Years, the members of the Transantarctic expedition reached the South Pole in dog sleds. In 221 days, they crossed the entire mainland at its widest point. The USSR was represented on the team by Viktor Boyarsky.
December 30th 1989 Arvid Fuchs (Germany) and Reynold Meissner (Italy) were the first to cross Antarctica across the pole point on skis, sometimes using a device similar to a small sail.
Jan. 7 1993 Erling Kagge (Norway) completed the first solo expedition to the South Pole.
On an Antarctic expedition 2000 year was attended by 88 people from 18 countries, 54 of them - champions and ex-world champions in various sports. Such a large international expedition took place for the first time. The South Pole was reached on wheeled all-terrain vehicles in a record short time - five days, for the first time balloonists in balloons rose into the air over the pole, for the first time a wooden Orthodox cross was installed at the South Pole.
December 28th 2013 of the year, Briton Maria Leierstam reached the Antarctic Pole on a tricycle (cycle tricycle) with a recumbent position. The design of the bike allowed it to remain stable during very strong winds and to concentrate on moving forward. Maria had to travel for 11 days from the camp to the Pole at a temperature of about minus 40 degrees, with strong winds, in deep snow.
December 11th 2014 of the year Dutchwoman Manon Ossevoort, at the head of a team of 7 people, conquered the South Pole. The travelers followed the path of Sir Edmund Hillary on the more modern Ferguson tractor.

Interview with Felicity Aston

Felicity Aston in Antarctica.

Felicity Aston's journey across Antarctica.

British traveler and polar explorer Felicity Uston spent three years without a break in Antarctica, studying the climate at the polar station of Adelaide Island. And recently she set two world records at once: she became the first woman to cross Antarctica on skis alone, and the first person to cross Antarctica on skis alone, “using exclusively muscle power” (that is, without the help of a sail and other tricks). Felicity has kindly agreed to tell our newspaper about this expedition.

Felicity, share your secret: how did you achieve such incredible athletic performance? Probably, you have been involved in sports since childhood?
You know, I've never been a sports kid. I don't think I've ever been a good athlete - not at school, not now. Of course, I go on hard expeditions, but I am by no means as strong as I might seem.
Where did you learn to ski so well?
I couldn't really learn to ski until I was in Antarctica in 2000. By the way, I still don't get off the slopes very well. But what I really love is snowboarding!
At what age did you start dreaming about polar travel?
I thought a lot about Antarctica and dreamed that one day I could see it. Fortunately, my first job was connected with Antarctica: I ended up at a research meteorological station.
Do your parents approve of your passion for Antarctica?
Thanks to my parents: they have always been supportive of my hobbies! Although, of course, they would prefer me to be safe at home.
What was the hardest part of the trip: cold, wind, loneliness?
The psychological problems encountered on this expedition were much more complex than the physical ones. After all, every morning, despite the cold and wind, I had to force myself to go forward, and sometimes it was really difficult to do it.
What kind of animals have you met? Probably good that there are no polar bears in Antarctica?
My route passed all alone, not a single living soul was around. I walked far from open water, where one could see wildlife. I did not see any life at all, there were not even moss or lichens.
Probably, it is difficult at a temperature of minus 40 ° to think about everyday life - for example, to arrange a wash?
Of course, this was simply not possible. I had only one set of clothes - I couldn't take more. I walked and slept in the same clothes.
What books have you read during these long three months of travel? Have you listened to music?
I didn’t take a single book with me, because it would be an extra burden, but, of course, I had music in my MP3 player.
Did you have any talisman with you?
I had a small medallion with a photograph of my family, as well as a small icon of St. Christopher.
Have there been times when you regretted going on this expedition?
Every morning! But the task was precisely to overcome oneself, to step over the psychological barrier. Force yourself to move, change your thinking - and reach your goal. This journey was a statement of faith in yourself.
Are you going to write a book about your journey?
Yes, I think I will definitely write. Having walked again, but mentally, along my route, I will understand what this life experience means to me, and what lessons I can learn from it.
You cooperate with the Russian company Kaspersky Lab - why was this choice made?
I have been working with this corporation for several years now. Despite the fact that it is a large international organization, personality is highly valued here. I also like their out-of-the-box thinking, a new approach to any kind of activity. Since they wage a tireless and hard fight, protecting information from viruses and other cyber threats, they are well aware of what difficulties a person can sometimes face - especially in Antarctica.
We know that you have been to Lake Baikal. What are your impressions?
Of course, Baikal, all covered with the purest ice, is unforgettable ... I really like Siberia. I've been here twice. I was greatly impressed by the kindness and responsiveness of the people we met here.
Do you want to visit Russia again?
There are many places in Russia where I would like to visit - for example, in Kamchatka and in the Far North.
Are you planning any specific expeditions?
So far, I have no time to plan the next expeditions: I need to properly rest and eat!
Do you have any children? Pets?
Alas, I cannot have pets - who will take care of them when I am away for a long time? And the children, I hope, will be and will definitely go with me on the next trip!
What can you wish the schoolchildren of St. Petersburg?
Dear guys, first think carefully about what you want to do. And, having made a decision, do not then let anyone hinder you in achieving your goal. Nobody has the right to tell you: "You can't do it anyway!" Be persistent - and you will achieve everything!

Epilogue

Polar Explorer Day logo.

Antarctica is not an object of economic development and will not be in the foreseeable future. The ban on economic activity and the militarization of the continent is enshrined in international agreements, and the development of minerals on the sixth continent, the reserves of which have yet to be established, would be very expensive - more expensive than in the Arctic. The extreme southern point of the Earth continues to attract the attention of the scientific world - we will learn more and more about the past of our planet and about the current state of the ice continent. In recent decades, tourism to Antarctica has been developing, routes - from the extreme southern Argentine port of Ushuaia on Tierra del Fuego to the Antarctic Peninsula with landing there and visiting stations, as well as along the "Golden Ring of Antarctica" from the Falkland Islands to South Georgia. Perhaps some of you will have to make a cruise to the South Pole or spend the winter at Vostok station. And remember that Antarctica keeps many more secrets and mysteries and urges us to continue to "fight and seek, find and not give up."

I have always dreamed of becoming a traveler, dreamed of discoveries. As a child, she liked to read about pioneers... Most of all I admired people who discovered the coldest parts of our planet, for example, South Pole... I want to tell you 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 several times. 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 Antarctic coast, discovered and named several islands.
• James Ross in 1941 he discovered an 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 explorer who discovered the South Pole was Raoul Amundsen... Originally from Norway, he knew what cold was, there were already several expeditions behind him in extreme conditions. Preparing to conquer Antarctica, he studied secrets survival of the Eskimos in cold weather. Big paid attention to equipment and clothes. His entire team was equipped in fur jackets and high boots. He also selected for the expedition strong Eskimo dogs, which during the campaign carried a sled. And he hit the mark on December 14 1911 g. and stayed 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, to the South Pole came a team of the British under the leadership of Robert Scott... At the cost of incredible efforts, he and the rest of the team reached the pole, 34 days late, where he found traces of the Norwegians, a tent with provisions and a letter addressed to him ...

Scott's team is killed on the way back ... lack of preparedness of the team, a small amount of food, clothes, by the way, not fur, and the fact that they used ponies that died almost immediately, and snowmobiles, not adapted to work in such frosts. I think it also affected depressed state of people because of Amundsen ahead of them. This is the price at which the South Pole was opened.

R. Amundsen's expedition

The North Pole of the planet has been conquered, which means that the South Pole must also be conquered. It is much colder in Antarctica than in the Arctic, where fierce hurricane winds practically do not subside, but the will of man turned out to be much stronger. The South Pole surrendered too.

Definition 1

South Pole- This is the point of intersection of the Earth's axis of rotation with its surface in the Southern Hemisphere.

The South Pole is located at an altitude of $ 2800 m within the Polar Plateau of Antarctica. The conquest of the two extreme points of the planet can be linked together. Back in $ 1909, the famous polar explorer Roald Amundsen wanted to participate in the conquest of the North Pole, but R. Peary, who was the first to achieve success, was ahead of him. Without hesitation, the ambitious Amundsen sent his expedition ship "Fram" to the shores of Antarctica, deciding that he would be the first at the South Pole. Before Amundsen, many researchers made a similar attempt, but to no avail. Amundsen thought out all the details of his event. Through every degree of latitude, the Norwegians set up warehouses with food and fuel to use on the way back. The expedition, consisting of $ 4 people, set off on the way $ 20 $ October $ 1911 $. We moved on a sleigh, which was dragged by sled dogs. With regard to the costumes of the participants in the campaign, Amundsen's idea fully justified itself - the costumes made from old blankets were light and warm, but this did not diminish the difficulties. Almost simultaneously with the Norwegian expedition, a British expedition headed for the South Pole, headed by the $ I $ rank, Knight of Victoria, Robert Falcon Scott. For $ 85, the parallel of the Norwegians awaited a difficult climb from the Ross Ice Shelf to the ridge, which was later named after the Norwegian Queen (Queen Maud Ridge). The shortage of provisions was replenished by dogs taken specially for this purpose. Extra dogs were killed in order to feed them the meat of other animals and people. Norwegian expedition $ 15 $ December $ 1911 $, reached the South Pole. Here, at an altitude of $ 2800 m, a tent was pitched and the Norwegian flag was raised. The South Pole submitted to people. All members of the expedition left their names on a board nailed to a pole. Two days later, they turned back, their path led north. On the way back, which took $ 40 $ days, nothing unexpected happened. Every three days, they had to kill one dog so that people and animals eat fresh meat, until they come to the $ 85 parallel - where the first warehouse they left was located.

Representatives of Russia also took part in those events. The young and talented oceanographer A. Kuchin carried out his numerous studies on the "Fram", and among the English winterers were D. Girev and groom A. Omelchenko. In the Whale Bay, where the expedition ship "Fram" was waiting for the researchers, Amundsen returned $ 26 $ January $ 1912 g, having traveled $ 2800 $ km both ways for $ 99 $ days. The victory of the Norwegian expedition was overshadowed by the terrible tragedy of another expedition to the South Pole.

R. Scott expedition

An attempt to reach the South Pole in the same year was undertaken by the second explorer, the Englishman Robert Scott. In his lifetime, having had time to command cruisers and battleships, Scott was a naval officer. He spent two years on the Antarctic coast, being the head of the research wintering. The detachment, which he led, in three months advanced towards the Pole for a thousand miles. Returning to his homeland, Scott began preparations for the next expedition. On the way to Antarctica, they learned that Amundsen's expedition was heading in the same direction to the South Pole. Scott chose short and very hardy Manchu ponies as his main vehicle. In addition to these horses, dogs and motor sleds were taken on the way, which at that time were a novelty. The path to the Pole was difficult - $ 800 $ miles along the terrible crevasses of the glaciers and the return return in forty-degree frosts with a fierce blizzard with a complete loss of visibility. On the way to the Pole, people received severe injuries, frostbite, motor sledges broke down, all horses died. Only persistence and fortitude remained. The members of the escort group, having not reached the goal of $ 150 $ miles, turned back, and the remaining five Englishmen, harnessed to the heavy sledges, went to the finish line. This line was not straight, it looped through the cracks and icy chaos of the Antarctic highlands.

In the mathematical point of the South Pole, R. Scott and the participants of the hike approached $ 17 $ January $ 1912 $. Their gaze opened the remains of someone else's camp, traces of dog paws and a tent with a Norwegian flag. Everything was clear - the rivals reached the pole exactly one month before their arrival. After a little rest and saluting, the British detachment set off on the way back. They also moved from one intermediate warehouse to another. In a terrible bad weather, the strength of young and hardy people melted away. The youngest and strongest Edgar Evans dies. Lawrence Ots, captain of the Dragoon regiment, froze his legs and arms, and it became unbearably painful to move. At one of the overnight stays, Ots leaves the tent so as not to be a burden for his comrades. Everyone understood, he voluntarily went to meet death. $ 3 $ of a person remained alive, but severe blizzards did not allow to move forward, to the warehouse with food and heat. There were $ 11 $ miles left, only $ 11 $ out of those $ 1600 $ already traveled, but the March blizzard stopped them forever.

After $ 7 $ months, the bodies of Lieutenant G. Bowers, Dr. E. Wilson and R. Scott were found by a rescue team that went in search of them. Rescuers next to Scott's body found a bag with diaries and farewell letters. The bag contained $ 35 pounds of geological samples that were collected along the way. Looking into the eyes of death, people continued to drag these stones until their last breath.

Remark 1

In the last minutes of his life, this brave researcher carefully analyzed the causes of the catastrophe, was able to give the highest moral assessment to each of his companions. The last entry in his diaries was a phrase that spread all over the world: "For God's sake, do not leave our loved ones."

Turning to his wife, Robert Scott asked her that his son, as an adult, take up natural history and continue his father's work. Dr. Peter Scott, who passed away in the $ 90 $ years, at the request of his father became an outstanding biologist and ecologist. He was one of the leaders of the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources.

Modern Antarctic Research

A number of states - the USA, Great Britain, Norway, the Australian Union - organized special expeditions in the first half of the $ XX century to continue exploring this harsh white continent. The research carried out concerned only the coast of the mainland, the interior of which remained completely unknown. Only the International Geophysical Year, which took place in $ 1957 - $ 1958, marked the beginning of the joint study of Antarctica. Their efforts in solving this problem were united by $ 12 of the states of the world, and Soviet researchers took one of the leading places in this work. For the expeditions, which were organized at a high scientific and technical level, a rich practical experience in the development of the Arctic was used.

Remark 2

At the head of the first Soviet Antarctic expedition was an experienced polar explorer and a prominent scientist - Mikhail Mikhailovich Somov, at the head of the second expedition was Alexei Fedorovich Treshnikov. In the most difficult climatic conditions, Soviet researchers moved deeper into the continent and in a short period of time built several scientific stations - Mirny, Pionerskaya, Vostok. Soviet scientific stations were stationed not only on the coast of the mainland, but also in the inner and very inaccessible parts of Antarctica. Station Pole of Inaccessibility was built in the literal sense of the place where no human has ever set foot.

Nowadays, the largest and main station is Molodezhnaya station, where the Antarctic aerometeorological center is located. Antarctica has no permanent population and does not belong to anyone. In harsh natural conditions, it is impossible to work on the mainland for a long time, the maximum time spent there by scientists is limited to a year. It is a continent of peace and science, where, by international agreement, any weapons tests and nuclear explosions are prohibited. To date, there are many scientific works on Antarctica, the first national atlas of the continent has been created, containing information about all the components of its nature. Hundreds of names of Russian explorers are immortalized on the map of Antarctica.