Related history of Antarctica

More than two thousand years ago, humans did not understand the earth they lived on as well as they do today. At that time, it was only clear that the known continents were all located in the northern hemisphere, but the ancient Greeks believed that there should also be a continent in the southern hemisphere based on the fact that the sun always appeared in the southern sky. The astronomer and philosopher Aristotle (384 BC to 323 BC) at that time once had a famous hypothesis: For the earth to maintain relative balance, there must be a piece of land at each end of the north and south, and it may be that the south is heavier than the north. Light, otherwise, the world of this spherical body will turn upside down. Later, the astronomer and geographer Hippaku (? ~ 127 BC) proposed based on the principle of symmetry that the earth would not be able to maintain balance if there was no land in the southern hemisphere. He called this imaginary landmass the "Southern Continent." In the 1st century AD, the Roman geographer Pomponi. Myra not only supported the idea of ??the existence of the Southern Continent, but also pointed out that the Antarctic region of the Southern Continent, like the Arctic regions, was uninhabited due to severe cold. In the 2nd century AD, the Egyptian Greek astronomer and geographer Ptolemy (approximately 90-168 AD) drew a very imaginative map. He drew an area spanning the south of the well-known continental area. The continent at the bottom of the earth, and gave it the name "Unknown Southern Continent". He believed that the southern continent was so large that it almost filled the southern hemisphere. This map is basically consistent with modern understanding of the map. Therefore, Ptolemy is known as the "father of modern cartography". During the European Renaissance from the 14th to the 16th centuries, Ptolemy's earth science works were re-discovered, translated into various languages, and republished. This "imaginary continent" was found on many maps, but its The location was further south than Ptolemy mapped it, and its name was changed to "The Land of the South".

Ancient maps of Europe continued to depict this imaginary continent until Captain James Cook led the ships HMS Resolution and HMS Adventure to cross the Antarctic Circle for the first time on January 17, 1773. Cook sailed 121 kilometers (75 miles) off the Antarctic coast before turning back due to excessive ice. Although Cook penetrated deeply into the Antarctic Circle again in December 1773 and January 1774, he never discovered Antarctica. According to most organizations (including the National Science Foundation, NASA, the University of California, San Diego, and other sources), the earliest confirmed sighting of Antarctica in the narrowest sense occurred in 1820, by Fabian Gottlieb. ·Von Bellingshausen (Captain of the Russian Imperial Navy), Edward Bransfield (Captain of the British Royal Navy) and Nathaniel Palmer (American Stonington sealer) What you see. Von Bellingshausen discovered Antarctica on January 27, 1820, ten days ahead of Bransfield and ten months ahead of Palmer. That day, the expedition team led by von Bellingshausen and Mikhail Petrovich Lazarev arrived 32 kilometers (20 miles) from the Antarctic continent on two ships and discovered the ice sheet. The first person confirmed to have set foot on the Antarctic continent was the American sealer John Davis, who landed in West Antarctica on February 7, 1821, but some historians dispute this.

Since the 18th century, explorers have gone south to search for the legendary southern continent. From 1772 to 1775, the British Captain Cook spent 3 years and 8 months sailing 97,000 kilometers, sailing around the Antarctic for a week, and entering the polar circle several times, but he ultimately did not discover land.

In 1819, Tsarist Russia sent Belingshausen to lead two ships, the Vostok and the Mir, which lasted two years and 21 days at 69°52′ south latitude, 82°19′ west longitude and 68° south latitude respectively. 43′, 73°10′ west longitude, two islands were discovered.

In February 1823, the British Weddell went south to 74°15′ south latitude, creating the highest latitude southward at that time.

In December 1839, an expedition led by the U.S. Navy and under the American Exploration Expedition of 1838–42 (also known as "Ex. Ex." or "Wilkes Expedition") Weighed anchor in Sydney, Australia, sailed to the Southern Ocean, and discovered a piece of Antarctic continent west of the Balleny Islands. The name "Wilkes Land" has been passed down to this day.

From September 1837 to November 1840, Dilville of France tried to surpass Wedel and set a high-latitude record but failed. However, he named the island he discovered on January 19, 1840, after his wife. Adelaide Land, and named its coastal waters the Dilwell Sea. Later generations also named a penguin, the Adelaide penguin, after his wife. Later, in 1841, the British Ross sailed into Ross Bay, which was later named after him, but he was blocked by ice barriers and could not reach the south magnetic pole he predicted - 75°30' south latitude and 154° east longitude.

In 1841, explorer James Clark Ross crossed the Ross Sea and discovered Ross Island (both are named after him). He sailed over a massive wall of ice, later named the Ross Ice Shelf, the largest ice shelf in the world. Mount Erebus and Mount Troll are named after HMS Erebus and HMS Terror respectively. Mercator Cooper landed in East Antarctica on January 26, 1856.

In 1907, during Ernest Shackleton's Manhunter expedition, a team led by Yegiwoz David completed the first ascent of Mount Eripus, A mission to reach the geomagnetic south pole. The Antarctic team's arduous return journey was led by Douglas Mawson. After the mission was completed, he served as leader of other expeditions until his retirement in 1931. In addition, Shackleton and the other three members of his expedition achieved many unprecedented deeds between December 1908 and February 1909: including the first human crossing of the Ross Ice Shelf, the first The Transantarctic Mountains (via the Beardmore Glacier), and the first time on the Antarctic Plateau.

In 1908, Shackleton reached 88°23′ south latitude, only about 180 kilometers away from the South Pole, but turned back because he ran out of food.

In 1909, Mawson, Davis and McKay first reached the South Magnetic Pole, which was then 72°24′ south latitude and 155°18′ east longitude.

On December 14, 1911 and January 17, 1912, the expeditions led by Amundsen of Norway and Scott of the United Kingdom reached the South Pole.

On December 14, 1911, the Norwegian polar explorer Roald Amundsen’s expedition set sail from the Bay of Whales and sailed to the Heiberg Glacier on the ship Advance. It was the first time humans arrived there. South Pole. Amundsen's archrival, the Scott expedition, also reached the South Pole a month later.

From 1772 when Cook sailed south to the end of the 19th century, many explorers set sail to search for the southern continent. Historically, this period was called the Age of Sailing. From the beginning of the 20th century to the First World War, although the time was short, humans successively conquered the South Magnetic Pole and the South Pole, and many heroic exploration heroes emerged. History calls this period the Heroic Age. From after World War I to the mid-1950s, human exploration in Antarctica gradually replaced dog sleds with mechanical equipment. In 1928, the British pilot Wilkin flew over the Antarctic Peninsula. In 1929, the American Byrd flew over the Antarctic Peninsula. In the same year, another American, Ellsworth, flew from the top of the Antarctic Peninsula to the Ross Ice Shelf. In terms of Antarctic exploration, aircraft provided a reliable means for mankind to correctly understand the Antarctic continent at a macro level. History calls this period the age of mechanization. From the International Geophysical Year of 1957 to 1958 to the present, many scientists have flocked to Antarctica, where they established year-round research stations and conducted multidisciplinary scientific surveys. People call this period the era of scientific surveys. Around 1820, some seal hunters came to Antarctica. They may have been the first people to reach Antarctica. In 1895, several Belgian explorers spent a winter on the ice sheet. In 1901, Robert Scott led a British expedition to Antarctica, but failed. In November 1911, Norwegian explorer Rod Amundsen became the first person to reach the South Pole. Shortly thereafter, Scott also led an expedition to the South Pole. Unfortunately, Scott and his companions all died on the way back.

Antarctica has no permanent residents, only some scientific expedition personnel and whaling teams from other continents. As of 2013, more than a dozen countries have established more than 40 year-round scientific expedition stations on the Antarctic continent and coastal islands. Less than 750 scientific expedition personnel participate in winter expeditions each year, and only 2,000 to 3,000 summer expedition team members. In addition, the number of people traveling by ship or plane to the Antarctic Peninsula and Ross Island (McMurdo Station) during the warm season ranges from a few hundred to a thousand. Antarctica is the only continent in the world without pollution. Antarctica's pristine natural environment provides the broadest natural laboratory for scientists to conduct scientific research on meteorology, glaciers, geology, oceans, biology and other disciplines. So far, 18 countries have established more than 140 scientific research stations in Antarctica. In December 1985, the Chinese expedition team established the Great Wall Station on King George Island in Antarctica and conducted scientific expeditions in Antarctica and the nearby Southern Ocean in terms of hydrology, meteorology and biology. In 1988, China established its second scientific research station, Zhongshan Station, on the coast of the Indian Ocean on the Antarctic continent.

Satellite Map of Antarctica

NASA released a report on March 7 saying that researchers from NASA and the United States Geological Survey used more than 1,000 images taken by the "Landsat-7" satellite The most detailed high-definition map of Antarctica ever created. This satellite map is 10 times more detailed than previous maps.

Robert Binzkadler, a scientist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in charge of the mapping, said that this satellite map shows incredible details on the surface of Antarctica's vast ice sheet. Much of the submap has never been mapped before.

NASA, the Geological Survey, and the British Antarctic Survey have jointly launched a website to open satellite maps of Antarctica to the public. The site contains the original satellite images used to create the map, as well as "close-ups" of different areas of Antarctica, all free to download, and researchers will continue to release new Antarctic image data on the site through this summer.

According to Binz Kadler, the next step for researchers will also focus on "zooming in" observations of the dry valleys between the Antarctic ice sheets.

China and the Antarctic Expedition

On November 20, 1984, our country sent a 591-member Antarctic expedition team aboard the "Xiangyanghong 10" research ship to set up a station and conduct an inspection in Antarctica for the first time. . In February 1985, the China Antarctic Great Wall Station was completed at the southern end of the Fields Peninsula on King George Island. Its geographical coordinates are 62°12′59″ south latitude and 58°57′52″ west longitude, 17,501.9 kilometers away from Beijing. From November 20, 1988 to April 10, 1989, the Chinese East Antarctic expedition team established the China Antarctic Zhongshan Station on the Rasman Hills of the Antarctic continent. The geographical coordinates of the Zhongshan Station are 69°22′24″ south latitude and 76° east longitude. 22′24″, 12553.2 kilometers away from Beijing and 2903 kilometers away from the South Pole. On January 27, 2009, my country’s Kunlun Station in Antarctic Dome A was successfully completed. The geographical coordinates of Kunlun Station are 80°25′01″ south latitude and 77°06′58″ east longitude. Elevation 4087 meters. Antarctic Dome A is 7.3 km away. From 1908 to 1941, seven countries in the world made territorial claims to Antarctica. In 1908, the United Kingdom first declared its territorial rights south of 20° to 50° west longitude and 50° south latitude, and to the south of 50° to 80° west longitude and 58° south latitude, including the Falkland Islands (Malvinas Islands) and the Antarctic Peninsula. It has sovereignty over the fan-shaped land mass and its waters within it; in 1923, the United Kingdom made territorial claims to the Ross fan area from 160° east longitude to 150° west longitude and south of 60° south latitude and entrusted the administration of the Governor-General of New Zealand. This is also the territory of New Zealand. The fan-shaped continent required. In fact, Britain's real intention at that time was to incorporate the entire Antarctic continent into its territory. From 1929 to 1931, a joint British, Australian and New Zealand expedition team led by the Australian Mawson conducted an inspection of the above-mentioned areas. Then, in 1933, the United Kingdom, on behalf of Australia, made territorial claims to 6.5 million square kilometers of land and water south of 60° south latitude, 45° to 136° east longitude, and 142° to 160° east longitude, equivalent to 40% of the Antarctic continent.

France proposed territorial claims to a narrow area south of 136° to 142° east longitude and 67° south latitude in 1924 based on the fact that their explorers first discovered the Adre coast. In 1938, France reiterated its territorial claim. Extend this area to the pole and 60° south latitude.

In 1938, Germany sent a surveying ship to conduct a lightning survey of the Queen Maud Land area. In 6 and a half days, it used aircraft to conduct aerial surveys and photos of the 600,000 square kilometers of Queen Maud Land. , and airdrop a curved cross metal marker every 25 kilometers. Norway also claimed sovereignty over the area between 45° east longitude and 20° west longitude in April 1939, but it neither extended southward to the pole nor specified the latitude of its northern boundary.

During World War II, German warships based on Kerguelen Island often appeared in West Antarctic waters to intercept merchant ships and whaling ships, thus highlighting the Drakenberg gap between the South American continent and the Antarctic Peninsula. The military significance of the strait. For this reason, Chile declared sovereignty over the area between 53° and 90° west longitude and south of 60° south latitude in 1940. In 1941, Argentina declared sovereignty over the area south of 25° to 74° west longitude and 60° south latitude; their basis was the geological affinity between the South American continent and the Antarctic Peninsula, the theory of effective occupation, and Spain's original claim to Succession of Antarctic territorial claims. The territorial claims of the United Kingdom, Chile, and Argentina to Antarctica overlap in most areas, leading to disputes among the three countries. The United Kingdom appealed to the International Court of Justice in 1947 and 1955, but Chile and Argentina believed that the Antarctic Peninsula was their territory and refused to be heard by the International Court of Justice. Since the late 1930s, the United States has been preparing to make territorial claims to Antarctica. In 1939, President Roosevelt explicitly instructed U.S. personnel conducting Antarctic expeditions at the time to set up more U.S. markers in Antarctica. On his third expedition, Byrd built a station on either side of the unclaimed Mary Byrd Land. The United States conducted a large-scale expedition code-named Leap Forward from 1945 to 1947, and in 1948 invited seven countries including Britain, France, Norway, Australia, Chile, New Zealand, and Argentina to discuss the Antarctic issue and proposed that the eight countries *Managed or hosted by the United Nations. However, six of the participating countries insisted on their territorial claims to Antarctica, and the meeting produced no results.

The activities of the above-mentioned eight countries attracted the attention of the Soviet Union. On June 8, 1950, the Soviet Union sent a note to the governments of the above-mentioned eight countries, stating that it did not recognize the territorial claims of any country to Antarctica in any way, nor did it recognize that any decision on Antarctica was made without the participation of the Soviet Union. The resolute stance of the former Soviet Union and the role of early Russian explorers (such as Bellingshausen) in the history of Antarctic exploration forced the United States, Britain and other eight countries to reconsider the way to resolve the Antarctic territorial dispute.

By the 1940s, seven countries including the United Kingdom, France, Norway, Australia, Chile, Argentina, and New Zealand had made territorial claims to 83% of the Antarctic continent. Among them, Australia, France, New Zealand, and Norway recognized each other's territorial claims. Argentina, Chile, and the United Kingdom claimed overlapping territories. Each party insisted on its own sovereignty claims and did not recognize the other's claims; the United States and the Soviet Union did not Recognize any country’s territorial claims to Antarctica while retaining their own right to assert territorial claims to Antarctica.

Due to disputes over territorial claims, the Antarctic continent has become the focus of various conflicts. The existence and development of these contradictions objectively require the formulation of a multilateral treaty to alleviate various contradictions and disputes. On December 1, 1959, representatives of 13 countries including Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Chile, France, Japan, New Zealand, Norway, South Africa, the United Kingdom, the United States, and the Soviet Union signed the Antarctic Treaty in Washington.