Antarctica is the harshest continent on Earth
Antarctica is the harshest and most distant continent on Earth.
Almost the entire continent is located beyond the Antarctic Circle. The sun never rises high above the horizon. In summer, polar day comes to Antarctica, and in winter - polar night, the duration of which at the South Pole reaches up to six months - only once a year can you observe the sunrise and sunset here. The slanting rays of the sun cannot warm this continent, and therefore Antarctica is in the grip of eternal cold. It is covered with a kilometer-long ice shell, only in some places black bare Antarctic rocks - nunataks - can be seen from under the ice.
The natural world of the mainland is quite scarce. Plants here are dominated by mosses and lichens; there are several species of flowering plants. Fur seals set up their rookeries along the shores of Antarctica, and flocks of penguins settle. Due to its removal, Antarctica became the last discovered continent on Earth.
At the Soviet Vostok station, now the only inland Russian polar station, the lowest temperature on Earth was recorded on July 21, 1983 - 89.2 ° C. In addition to the pole of cold, Antarctica has the lowest relative humidity, the strongest and longest winds, and the most intense solar radiation. [2,3]
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Discovery of Antarctica
In 1819, after long and careful preparation, a south polar expedition set off from Kronstadt on a long voyage, consisting of two military sloops - “Vostok” and “Mirny”.
The first was commanded by the Russian navigator, admiral, participant in circumnavigations, leader of the first Russian Antarctic (around the world) expedition F. F. Bellingshausen, the second was by the Russian naval commander and navigator, admiral, who discovered Antarctica M. P. Lazarev. The crew of the ships consisted of experienced, experienced sailors.
The voyage took place in difficult weather conditions. For long weeks and months it snowed incessantly, it was replaced by continuous fogs, the ships were forced to maneuver almost blindly between huge ice floes and entire ice mountains - icebergs. During snow storms, the temperature dropped to minus five degrees Celsius, which, with hurricane winds, corresponds to a temperature of minus twenty degrees or lower.
And on January 16 (28), 1820, Bellingshausen and Lazarev not only gave the Southern Land the name “ice continent”, but also circumnavigated it, proving that it was a separate continent, and not a continuation of already known lands, and also carried out the most important research in field of oceanography.
This branch of science was just in its infancy at that time. F. F. Bellingshausen was the first to correctly explain the causes of sea currents (for example, the Canary), the origin of algae in the Sargasso Sea, as well as coral islands in tropical areas. In total, the voyage lasted 750 days.
Expedition of Thaddeus Bellingshausen and Mikhail Lazarev. 1819–1821
Evgeniy Voishvillo, Boris Starodubtsev. The sloops “Vostok” and “Mirny”. 1985 © Evgeny Voishvillo, Boris Starodubtsev / Museum of the World Ocean / Paulsen Publishing House
The sixth continent was discovered during the circumnavigation of the world by captain 2nd rank Thaddeus Faddeevich Bellingshausen and lieutenant Mikhail Petrovich Lazarev on the sloops “Vostok” and “Mirny” in 1819–1821 . The hypothesis about the existence of Terra Australis Incognita (“Unknown Southern Land”) was put forward by geographers of the ancient world, and it was also supported by medieval scientists. Starting from the 16th century, this land was placed on maps in the region of the South Pole, and sailors unsuccessfully searched for it in the 15th–18th centuries. The famous traveler James Cook claimed after his circumnavigation of 1772–1775 that he “... indisputably rejected the possibility of the existence of a continent here, which, if it could be discovered, would only be near the pole, in places inaccessible to navigation...” Quoted. by: Ya. Light. Introductory article // The second voyage of Captain James Cook. Voyage to the South Pole and around the world in 1772–1775. M., 1964. .
Despite Cook's unconditional authority, Russian navigators dreamed of discovering new lands and planned new expeditions to the Southern Ocean. Naval Minister I. I. de Traverse and Vice Admiral G. A. Sarychev were among the initiators of the expedition. They, as well as I. F. Kruzenshtern and O. E. Kotzebue, outlined their considerations and gave instructions to Bellingshausen. These documents covered both the objectives of the expedition and recommendations for preserving the life and health of the crew.
The main task of the expedition of Bellingshausen and Lazarev was to cross all the meridians in the southern circumpolar zone at the highest latitudes, find out whether lands exist there, and, if possible, go to the South Pole.
F. F. Bellingshausen commanded the sloop “Vostok”, and M. P. Lazarev commanded the sloop “Mirny”. On July 4, 1819, the ships left Kronstadt and headed for Rio de Janeiro, where they arrived on November 2 of the same year.
Pavel Mikhailov. View of the city of Saint Sebastian in Rio Janeiro. Illustration from the Bellingshausen atlas. St. Petersburg, 1831 Scientific Library of the Russian Geographical Society / Paulsen Publishing House
On December 15, “Vostok” and “Mirny” found themselves in Antarctic waters and made a hydrographic inventory of the southwestern shores of the island of South Georgia. Capes, bays and a group of islands were discovered, named after the expedition members. Heading south, on January 16, 1820, Russian ships approached the coast of Antarctica (now Princess Martha Coast). About this important date for world history, F. F. Bellingshausen wrote the following: “Continuing our way south, at noon at latitude 69° 21′ 28″, longitude 2° 14′ 50″ we encountered ice that appeared to us through the snow that was falling at that time in the form of white clouds. The wind was moderate from NO, with a large swell from NW; due to the snow, our vision did not extend far; I brought close-hauled to the SO, and, having gone in this direction for two miles, we saw that solid ice extended from east through south to west; our path led straight into this ice field, dotted with mounds.” F. F. Bellingshausen. Double exploration in the Arctic Ocean and voyages around the world during 1819, 20 and 21, carried out on the sloops "Vostok" and "Mirny" under the command of Captain Bellingshausen, commander of the sloop "Vostok", the sloop "Mirny" was commanded by Lieutenant Lazarev. M., 1960. .
The outstanding oceanographer N.N. Zubov noted in his monograph: “For the first time, people saw these shores, but it was impossible to approach them, ice blocked the way. The Russian sailors conscientiously noted all the signs of land, but did not assert anything more. After all, even a person who would walk along this shore could doubt whether it was land or the ice surrounding it. So modestly, a new date, January 16 (Old Style), entered the chronicle of great discoveries - the day when the Russians discovered Antarctica - the sixth continent of the globe” N. N. Zubov. Domestic sailors are explorers of the seas and oceans. M., 1954..
Pavel Mikhailov. View of the ice islands. Illustration from the Bellingshausen atlas. St. Petersburg, 1831 Scientific Library of the Russian Geographical Society / Paulsen Publishing House
Despite heavy ice and stormy weather, on February 5–6, “Vostok” and “Mirny” again approached the icy shores of the continent they discovered (now the Princess Ragnhill Coast). The voyage continued until mid-February, then the sloops headed to the shores of Australia.
After repairs and replenishment of supplies in Port Jackson (now Sydney), on May 8, 1820, the ships sailed into the tropical Pacific Ocean, where in the northern region of the Paumotu (Tuamotu) archipelago they discovered a group of Russian islands, which were given the names of famous Russian commanders and sailors. In the Line Islands group (Central Polynesian Sporades) Vostok Island was discovered (named after the flagship ship), in the Cook Islands group - Alexandra Island, in the area of the Fiji Islands - Mikhailov and Simonov Islands. Most of these islands are now marked on maps under local names.
On September 9–10, 1820, Vostok and Mirny returned to Port Jackson and, after repairs, on October 31, they again headed to Antarctica, this time to its western part. Maneuvering among ice and icebergs, the sloops crossed the Antarctic Circle twice. On January 9, 1821, the sailors saw the island, which was named after the founder of the Russian fleet, Peter I, and on January 17, a mountainous coast called the Land of Alexander I. During two voyages, Bellingshausen and Lazarev reached the shores of Antarctica in several places (in the Eastern and Western Hemispheres ) and walked around the entire continent.
Then both ships went to the South Shetland Islands, where two archipelagos were discovered and described, the islands of which were named in honor of the victories of the Russian army in the Patriotic War of 1812, as well as the names of admirals and officers of the Russian fleet.
Pavel Mikhailov. View of Leskova Island, Vysoky Island and Zavadovsky Island. Illustration from the Bellingshausen atlas. St. Petersburg, 1831 Scientific Library of the Russian Geographical Society / Paulsen Publishing House
On January 30, 1821, the ships left the waters of Antarctica. On February 27, Vostok and Mirny arrived in Rio de Janeiro. After a two-month stay in Brazil, on April 23, they set out on the return journey and, visiting Lisbon and Copenhagen along the way, successfully completed their circumnavigation on July 24, 1821, arriving in Kronstadt. It is important to note that during more than two years of sailing, the expedition lost only two sailors (the usual mortality rate was much higher). The credit for preserving the lives and health of their subordinates belongs to the ship commanders and their officers.
Speaking about the geographical discoveries made, the commander of the expedition mentions that “during our voyage, twenty-nine islands were discovered, including two in the southern cold zone, eight in the southern temperate zone, and nineteen in the hot zone; one coral shoal with a lagoon was found” F. F. Bellingshausen. Double exploration in the Arctic Ocean and voyages around the world during 1819, 20 and 21, carried out on the sloops "Vostok" and "Mirny" under the command of Captain Bellingshausen, commander of the sloop "Vostok", the sloop "Mirny" was commanded by Lieutenant Lazarev. M., 1960. . In addition, the expedition carried out a large amount of research in a variety of fields - oceanology, zoology, botany, climatology, physical geography and others. The maritime inventory of all the areas explored, as well as the correction of the coastline of lands already mapped, was so accurate that Bellingshausen's map of the South Shetland Islands was used as a basis by English cartographers until the mid-20th century. Even after a century, the drawings of the expedition artist P. N. Mikhailov did not lose their value and were published in the English “Antarctic Pilots”, published in 1930.
F. F. Bellingshausen published the results of the expedition in his works only ten years after the end of the voyage. Books by the professor of the Imperial Kazan University I. M. Simonov and notes by P. M. Novosilsky were also published. In Soviet times, their works were published in the collections: “The voyage of the sloops “Vostok” and “Mirny” to Antarctica in 1819, 1820 and 1821” (M., 1949) and “Russian discoveries in Antarctica in 1819–1820–1821” (M., 1951)..
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Achievements of Russian navigators and basic research
The discoveries of the expedition turned out to be a major achievement of Russian and world geographical science of that time.
In the second half of the twentieth century, exploration of Antarctica became systematic. Since the 50s, constant oceanological and geological work has been carried out here, and expeditions have been undertaken deep into the icy continent. The first Soviet expedition reached the shores of Antarctica in January 1956, Russian scientists founded the village of Mirny. In just 59 years, 59 expeditions were sent to Antarctica.
Today, scientists already have much more significant information about Antarctica than a century ago. Thanks to numerous studies, in the 21st century people know information about the climatic characteristics of the continent, its geology, the characteristics of the sea, and the inhabitants of the continent.
However, the exploration of Antarctica continues actively today. Due to the severity of the climate, Antarctica has no permanent population. However, there are scientific stations located there. It should be noted that no country in the world owns this continent. Although many countries have tried to gain ownership of these lands, an agreement has been reached that grants Antarctica the privilege of remaining the only region on Earth that is not governed by any country.
Scientists pay special attention to the following points:
- Study of ice (a complete picture of the Ice Age was reconstructed, the potential of Antarctic ice as a potential source of fresh water was calculated).
- Geological research (as a result of these works, in particular, it was established that the ice of Antarctica formed much earlier than the ice sheets of the Northern Hemisphere).
- Study of the “oases” of Antarctica (“Oases” in relation to this continent today are called areas of land free from ice).
- Search for minerals (the vast lands of Antarctica contain in their icy thickness many valuable resources: coal, iron ore, non-ferrous metals, and scientists also suggest that in the depths of Antarctica, it is likely that huge deposits of gold, diamonds, uranium, etc. are hidden .) [1,4]
Conclusion
Thus, having become acquainted with the discovery of Antarctica, you understand how brave and courageous the participants in the circumnavigation were.
With this discovery, Russian sailors enriched world science, writing a new wonderful page in the book of Russian naval glory.
