List of Antarctic expeditions

This List of Antarctic expeditions is a chronological list of expeditions involving Antarctica. Although the existence of a southern continent had been hypothesized as early as the writings of Ptolemy in the first century AD, the South Pole was not reached until 1911.

Terra Australis
Terra Australis is the large continent on the bottom of this 1570 map.

Pre-19th century

• 7th Century Ui-te-Rangiora claimed to have sighted southern ice fields.
• 13th C. Polynesians settle Auckland Islands (50° S)
• 1522 Ferdinand Magellan – first circumnavigation discovers Strait of Magellan (54° S)
• 1578 Francis Drake discovers Drake Passage
• 1599 Dirk Gerritsz – potentially sails to (64° S)
• 1603 Gabriel de Castilla – potentially sails to (64° S)
• 1615 Jacob le Maire and Willem Schouten first to sail around Cape Horn cross (56° S)
• 1619 Garcia de Nodal expedition – circumnavigate Tierra del Fuego and discover Diego Ramirez Islands (56°30′S 68°43′W)
• 1675 Anthony de la Roché discovers South Georgia (54°15′00″S 36°45′00″W), the first ever land discovered south of the Antarctic Convergence
• 1698–1699 Edmond Halley sails to (52° S)
• 1720 Captain George Shelvocke – sails to (61° 30′ S)
• 1739 Jean-Baptiste Charles Bouvet de Lozier – discovers Bouvet Island (54°26′S 3°24′E)
• 1771 James Cook – HM Bark Endeavour expedition
• 1771–1772 First French Antarctic Expedition – led by Yves-Joseph de Kerguelen-Trémarec discovers Kerguelen Islands (49°15′S 69°35′E)
• 1772–1775 James Cook – sails HMS Resolution crossing Antarctic Circle in January 1773 and December 1773. On 30 January 1774 he reaches 71° 10′ S, his Farthest South, coming within about 75 miles of the Antarctic mainland without seeing it.

19th century

• 1780s to 1839 American and British whalers and sealers make incidental discoveries
• 1819 William Smith discovers South Shetland Islands (62°00′S 058°00′W), the first ever land discovered south of 60° south latitude.
• 1819 San Telmo wrecks in the Drake Passage off Livingston Island
• 1819–1821 Fabian Gottlieb von Bellingshausen – on 27 January 1820, discovers Antarctica mainland at Princess Martha Coast (69°21′28″S 2°14′50″W)
• 1820 Edward Bransfield with William Smith as his pilot – on 30 January 1820, sight Trinity Peninsula (63°37′S 058°20′W) – now the Antarctic Peninsula.
• 1820 Nathaniel Palmer sights Antarctica on 17 November 1820
• 1821 George Powell, a British sealer, and Daniel B. Palmer, an American sealer, discover the South Orkney Islands. Powell annexes them for the British.
• 1821 John Davis – on 7 February 1821 disputed claim of setting foot on Antarctica at Hughes Bay (64°13′S 61°20′W)
• 1823–1824 James Weddell discovers the Weddell Sea; – on 20 February 1823 his ship Jane (160 tons) reached a new Farthest South of 74° 15′ S (74°15′S 30°12′W)
• 1830–1833. – Southern Ocean Expedition led by John Biscoe, an English sealer; circumnavigates the continent, sets foot on Anvers Island, names and annexes Graham Land, discovers Biscoe Islands, Queen Adelaide Island (67.25°S 68.5°W / -67.25; -68.5) and sights Enderby Land (67°30′S 53°0′E)
• 1837–1840 Second French Antarctic Expedition – led by Jules Dumont d'Urville; discovers Adelie Land and sets foot on an islet of Geologie Archipelago (66°36′S 140°4′E) 4 km from the mainland to take samples (66° S)
• 1838–1839 John Balleny discovers Balleny Islands (66°55′S 163°45′E)
• 1838–1842 United States Exploring Expedition – led by Charles Wilkes to Antarctic Peninsula (69°30′S 065°00′W) and eastern Antarctica; discovers "Termination Barrier" ("Shackleton Ice Shelf)
• 1839–1843 James Clark Ross discovered the Ross Ice Shelf, Ross Sea, Mount Erebus, Mount Terror and Victoria Land; extended his Farthest South to 78° 10′ S on 23 January 1842
• 1872–1876 H. M. S. Challenger under Capt. George S. Nares, becomes the first steamship to cross the Antarctic Circle; reopens the study of oceanography in the region after a 30-year gap.
• 1892–1893 Carl Anton Larsen led the first Norwegian expedition to Antarctica aboard the ship Jason. Larsen became the first person to ski in Antarctica where the Larsen Ice Shelf was named after him.
• 1892–1893 Dundee Whaling Expedition discover Dundee Island (63°30′S 055°55′W)
• 1893–1894 Carl Anton Larsen led the second Norwegian expedition to Antarctica
• 1893–1895 Henryk Bull, Carstens Borchgrevink and Alexander von Tunzelmann – set foot on Antarctica at Cape Adare
• 1897–1899 Belgian Antarctic Expedition – led by Adrien de Gerlache
• 1898–1900 Southern Cross Expedition, Carsten Borchgrevink – sails to Cape Adare, winters on Antarctica and takes Farthest South on 16 February 1900 at 78° 50′ S

20th century

• 1901–1904 Discovery Expedition – led by Robert Falcon Scott, on 30 December 1903, reached (82° 17′S)
• 1901–1903 Gauss expedition (or First German Antarctic Expedition) – led by Erich von Drygalski
• 1901–1903 Swedish Antarctic Expedition – led by Otto Nordenskjöld with captain Carl Anton Larsen
• 1902–1904 Scottish National Antarctic Expedition – led by William Speirs Bruce
• 1903–1905 Third French Antarctic Expedition – led by Jean-Baptiste Charcot
• 1907–1909 Nimrod Expedition – On 9 January 1909, Ernest Shackleton reached 88° 23 ′S (Farthest South), and on 16 January 1909, Professor Edgeworth David reached the South Magnetic Pole at (72°25′S 155°16′E) (mean position)
• 1908–1910 Fourth French Antarctic Expedition – led by Jean-Baptiste Charcot
• 1910–1912 Japanese Antarctic Expedition – led by Nobu Shirase
• 1910–1912 Roald Amundsen's South Pole expedition – On 14 December 1911, reached the South Pole (90° S)
• 1910–1913 Terra Nova Expedition – On 17 January 1912, Robert Falcon Scott, reached the South Pole (90° S)
• 1911–1913 Second German Antarctic Expedition – led by Wilhelm Filchner
• 1911–1914 Australasian Antarctic Expedition – led by Douglas Mawson
• 1914–1916 Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition – led by Ernest Shackleton
• 1914–1917 Ross Sea Party – led by Aeneas Mackintosh
• 1920–1922 British Expedition to Graham Land led by John Lachlan Cope
• 1921–1922 Shackleton-Rowett Expedition – led by Ernest Shackleton – the last expedition of the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration
• 1929–1931 British Australian and New Zealand Antarctic Research Expedition (BANZARE) – led by Douglas Mawson
• 1928–1930 Richard Evelyn Byrd – First expedition
• 1931 H. Halvorsen – discovered Princess Astrid Coast
• 1931 Hjalmar Riiser-Larsen – flew over Antarctica, discovered Kronprins Olav Kyst
• 1933–1935 Richard Evelyn Byrd – Second expedition
• 1933–1939 Lincoln Ellsworth – Aircraft expedition
• 1934–1937 British Graham Land Expedition (BGLE) – led by John Riddoch Rymill
• 1936 Lars Christensen – dropped Norwegian flag over Prince Harald Coast
• 1938 Third German Antarctic Expedition (New Swabia, or Neuschwabenland, claimed for Nazi Germany) – led by Capt. Alfred Ritscher
• 1939–1941 United States Antarctic Service Expedition – led by Richard Evelyn Byrd
• 1943–1945 Operation Tabarin – led by Lieutenant James Marr
• 1946–1946 Operation Highjump – led by Richard Evelyn Byrd
• 1947–First Chilean Antarctic Expedition
• 1947–1948 Operation Windmill – led by Commander Gerald Ketchum
• 1947–1946 Ronne Antarctic Research Expedition – led by Finn Ronne
• 1949–1950 Adelie-Land, Ship Commandant Charcot – led by Michel Barre
• 1949–1952 Norwegian-British-Swedish Antarctic Expedition – led by John Giaever
• 1955–1956 Operation Deep Freeze – led by Richard Evelyn Byrd
• 1955-1957 Falkland island Dependency Arial Survey led by P G Mott
• 1955–1957 1st Soviet Antarctic Expedition — led by Mikhail Somov
• 1956 Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station established
• 1956–1958 Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition – led by Vivian Fuchs
• 1956–1958 2nd Soviet Antarctic Expedition — led by Aleksei Treshnikov
• 1957–1958 International Geophysical Year
• 1957–1958 New Zealand Geological Survey Antarctic Expedition
• 1957 Scott Base established
• 1957–1958 Luncke Expedition
• 1957–1959 3rd Soviet Antarctic Expedition — led by Yevgeny Tolstikov
• 1958–1959 New Zealand Geological Survey Antarctic Expedition
• 1958–1960 4th Soviet Antarctic Expedition — led by Aleksandr Dralkin
• 1959–1961 5th Soviet Antarctic Expedition — led by Yevgeny Korotkevich
• 1960 South African National Antarctic Expedition
• 1960–1962 6th Soviet Antarctic Expedition — led by V.Driatsky
• 1961–1963 7th Soviet Antarctic Expedition — led by Aleksandr Dralkin
• 1962–1962 Vostok traverse – led by Australian National Antarctic Research Expeditions (ANARE)
• 1962–1964 8th Soviet Antarctic Expedition — led by Mikhail Somov
• 1963–1965 9th Soviet Antarctic Expedition — led by Mikhail Somov
• 1964–1966 10th Soviet Antarctic Expedition — led by M.Ostrekin, I.Petrov
• 1965–1967 11th Soviet Antarctic Expedition — led by D.Maksutov, Leonid Dubrovin
• 1965–1965 Terrestrial Argentine Expedition to the South Pole Led by Coronel D. Jorge Leal, also called "Operación 90".
• 1966–1968 12th Soviet Antarctic Expedition — led by Pavel Senko and Vladislav Gerbovich
• 1967–1969 13th Soviet Antarctic Expedition — led by Aleksei Treshnikov
• 1968–1970 14th Soviet Antarctic Expedition — led by D.Maksutov, Ernst Krenkel
• 1969–1970 New Zealand Geological Survey Antarctic Expedition
• 1969–1971 15th Soviet Antarctic Expedition — led by Pavel Senko and Vladislav Gerbovich
• 1970–1972 16th Soviet Antarctic Expedition — led by I.Petrov and Yury Tarbeyev
• 1971–1973 17th Soviet Antarctic Expedition — led by Yevgeny Korotkevich, V.Averyanov
• 1972–1974 18th Soviet Antarctic Expedition — led by Pavel Senko
• 1973–1975 19th Soviet Antarctic Expedition — led by D.Maksutov, V.Ignatov
• 1974–1976 20th Soviet Antarctic Expedition — led by V.Serdyukov, N.Kornilov
• 1975–1977 21st Soviet Antarctic Expedition — led by O.Sedov, G.Bardin
• 1976–1978 22nd Soviet Antarctic Expedition — led by N.Tyabin, Leonid Dubrovin
• 1977–1979 23rd Soviet Antarctic Expedition — led by V.Serdyukov, O.Sedov
• 1978–1980 24th Soviet Antarctic Expedition — led by A.Artemyev, O.Sedov
• 1979 Air New Zealand Flight 901 – airplane crash
• 1979–1980 25th Soviet Antarctic Expedition — led by N.Kornilov, N.Tyabin
• 1980–1981 Transglobe Expedition – led by Ranulph Fiennes
• 1980–1982 26th Soviet Antarctic Expedition — led by V.Serdyukov, V.Shamontyev
• 1981–1983 27th Soviet Antarctic Expedition — led by D.Maksutov, R.Galkin
• 1982 Falkland Islands War
• 1982–1984 28th Soviet Antarctic Expedition — led by N.Kornilov, A.Artemyev
• 1983–1985 29th Soviet Antarctic Expedition – led by N.Tyabin, L.Bulatov
• 1984–1987 In the Footsteps of Scott – led by Robert Swan
• 1984–1985 1st Uruguayan Antarctic Expedition - Antarkos I Led by Lt.Col. Omar Porciúncula
• 1984–1986 30th Soviet Antarctic Expedition – led by D.Maksutov, R.Galkin
• 1985–1987 31st Soviet Antarctic Expedition — led by N.Tyabin, V.Dubovtsev
• 1986–1988 32nd Soviet Antarctic Expedition — led by V.Klokov, V.Vovk
• 1987 Iceberg B-9 calves and carries away Little Americas I – III
• 1987–1989 33rd Soviet Antarctic Expedition — led by N.A.Kornilov, Yu.A.Khabarov
• 1987–1988 First Bulgarian Antarctic Expedition — St. Kliment Ohridski Base established
• 1988–1990 34th Soviet Antarctic Expedition — led by S.M.Pryamikov, L.V.Bulatov
• 1989–1991 35th Soviet Antarctic Expedition — led by V.M.Piguzov
• 1991–1992 36th Soviet Antarctic Expedition — led by Lev Savatyugin
• 1992–1993 Antarctic Environmental Research Expedition — led by Kenji Yoshikawa
• 1996 Lake Vostok discovered

2000s

• 2004–2005 Chilean South Pole Expedition.
• 2004–2005 Tangra 2004/05 created Camp Academia.
• 2005 Ice Challenger Expedition travelled to the South Pole in a six-wheeled vehicle.
• 2005–2006 Spanish Trans-Antarctic Expedition, led by Ramon Larramendi, reached the Southern Pole of Inaccessibility using kite-sleds.
• 2007–2008 Norwegian-U.S. Scientific Traverse of East Antarctica.
• 2007–2008 British Army Antarctic Expedition 2007–2008
• 2008–2009 Impossible 2 Possible (i2P) unsupported South Pole quest by Ray Zahab, Kevin Vallely and Richard Weber.
• 2009 Azerbaijan Scientific Expedition
• 2009 Kaspersky Commonwealth Antarctic Expedition
• 2011-2012 British Services Antarctic Expedition 2012,

Agreements

• 1959 Antarctic Treaty System
• 1964 Agreed Measures for the Conservation of Antarctic Fauna and Flora
• 1978 Convention for the Conservation of Antarctic Seals
• 1982 Convention for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources
• 1988 Convention on the Regulation of Antarctic Mineral Resource Activities
• 1998 Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty

See also

• Arctic exploration
• Australian National Antarctic Research Expeditions
• Farthest South
• Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration
• History of Antarctica
• History of research ships
• List of Antarctic expeditions by the Soviet Union
• List of Arctic expeditions
• List of polar explorers
• List of research stations in Antarctica
• List of Russian explorers

References

• Savatyugin, L.M., Preobrazhenskaya, M.A. Russian Exploration of Antarctica (Russian: Российские исследования в Антарктике), published by Gidrometeoizdat, Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute (AARI), Federal Service for Hydrometeorology and Environmental Monitoring of Russian Federation (Roshydromet), in 3 volumes, Saint Petersburg, 1999, ISBN 5-286-01265-5
• Soviet Antarctic Expedition: information bulletin., Amsterdam: Elsevier Pub. Co.; New York: American Elsevier Pub. Co., 1964–, ISSN 0038-5271

Further reading

• Headland, Robert K. (1990). Chronological List of Antarctic Expeditions and Related Historical Events. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-30903-4
• Landis, Marilyn J. (2003). Antarctica: Exploring the Extreme: 400 Years of Adventure. Chicago Review Press. ISBN 1-55652-480-3

External links

• Fram.museum.no, map of Antarctic Expeditions 1772 – 1931 at The Fram Museum (Frammuseet)
• SPRI.cam.ac.uk, index to Antarctic Expeditions at the Scott Polar Research Institute's website
• Antarctic Expeditions, information about some of them from the British Antarctic Survey
• Antarctic-circle.org, Chronologies and Timelines of Antarctic Exploration
• Listen to Ernest Shackleton describing his 1908 South Pole Expedition, and read more about the recording on [australianscreen online].
• The recording describing Shackleton's 1908 South Pole Expedition was added to the National Film and Sound Archive's Sounds of Australia Registry in 2007