The Early Explorers of Antarctica
Although it is now a frozen wilderness Antarctica was once much further north and it had a tropical or semi-tropical climate. Forests grew there and life flourished. The Ancient Greeks realized there might be a great continent in the southern hemisphere. Aristotle argued that since the world is round there must be a landmass in the southern hemisphere to balance the land in the northern hemisphere. However, the Greeks and later peoples had no way of proving it. It was not until the 18th century that Europeans had the navigation skills to explore the Antarctic region. In 1772-75 n was sent on an expedition to the Southern Hemisphere. On 17 January 1773 Cook became the first person to cross the Antarctic circle. He crossed it 3 times but failed to find land. The first man to actually see the continent of Antarctica was an Estonian named Fabian von Bellinngsingshausen on 27 January 1820. Separately Edward Bransfield was the second person to see Antarctica on 30 January 1820. Then on 6 December 1821, George Powell and Nathaniel Palmer discovered the South Orkney Islands. Furthermore in 1823 a Scot named James Weddell explored the Weddell Sea. Further exploration of Antarctica was carried out by an American named Charles Wilkes in 1838-39, the Frenchman Dumont d’Urville in 1837-40 and the Scot James Ross in 1839-41. The latter discovered the Ross Sea and Ross Ice Shelf. Decades passed and the world showed little interest in Antarctica. Then in 1892-94, a Norwegian called Carl Larson sailed to the southern continent. He discovered fossil wood, the first indication that the climate of Antarctica had once been much warmer. In 1895 another Norwegian, Henrik Bull discovered lichens growing on the Possession Islands, the first time plants had been found growing south of the Antarctic Circle. Then in 1897-98, a Belgian named Adrien de Gerlache led another expedition to the Antarctic. In 1899-1900 a Norwegian named Carsten Borchgrevink led a group of men who spent the winter on the continent of Antarctica. They proved that it was possible to survive even the extremely harsh Antarctic winter. They were also the first people to take dogs to Antarctica.