Profile: Thomas Crean

ABSTRACTBefore Shackleton arrived at South Georgia aboard Endurance on 5 November 1914 he was aware that the vessel might meet bad pack-ice in the Weddell Sea. This had been forecast on the basis of climate analysis by Robert Mossman, the meteorologist on the Scottish National Antarctic Expedition (1902–1904), who was currently working at the Argentine Meteorological Office. Mossman was interested in teleconnections linking meteorological and oceanic conditions in widely separated places and had studied the links between the Weddell Sea and South America. Mossman's Antarctic data were mainly records from the Orcadas station in the South Orkneys which had operated continuously from 1903. He found a correlation between extensive pack-ice in the Weddell Sea and plentiful rain in a belt across South America that included Buenos Aires. The experiences of Endurance supported this. Modern studies of the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) broadly confirm Mossman's conclusions.

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Against all odds: the birth of the Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition, 1955–1958

Polar Record ◽

10.1017/s0032247411000660 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 49 (1) ◽

pp. 50-61

Author(s):

Stephen Hicks ◽

Bryan Storey ◽

Philippa Mein Smith

Keyword(s):

New Zealand ◽

The United States ◽

Weddell Sea ◽

Antarctic Expedition ◽

Foreign Office ◽

Polar Research Institute ◽

Antarctic Continent ◽

British Foreign Office ◽

The Many ◽

The Antarctic

ABSTRACTWhen the Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition 1955–1958 advance party sailed from the Millwall Docks in November 1955, bound for the Weddell Sea, their departure was the product of five years of intensive effort on the part of Vivian Fuchs to achieve the first overland crossing of the Antarctic continent. This paper investigates the many obstacles that had to be overcome leading up to Theron sailing and explains the manner in which they were overcome by the Fuchs-Wordie-Clifford triumvirate. The British Foreign Office was particularly opposed to the expedition with the office's focus on sovereignty rather than science while an alternative proposal from Duncan Carse raised a unique set of difficulties. The withdrawal from involvement by the Scott Polar Research Institute Director, Colin Bertram, indicated further disaffection. Most important, if political and financial goals were to be met, was the need for participation by several Commonwealth countries of which New Zealand was the essential partner. Fortunately, the vigorous efforts of a few Antarctic enthusiasts in New Zealand were successful in moving their government to assert its long dormant position in the Ross Dependency. New Zealand's commitment turned the tide of commonwealth apathy towards the TAE. Although the TAE preceded the IGY, events, including the dominating IGY presence of the United States, caused the two projects to become tightly interwoven. For these reasons the years leading up to the departure of Theron were as intriguing as the crossing journey itself.

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‘For the sake of science and country’: the Ross Sea party 1914–1917

Polar Record ◽

10.1017/s0032247414000795 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 51 (4) ◽

pp. 343-365 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

David L. Harrowfield

Keyword(s):

New Zealand ◽

Ross Sea ◽

Salt Water ◽

Scientific Work ◽

Field Work ◽

Weddell Sea ◽

Mcmurdo Sound ◽

Similar Work ◽

Glacier Ice ◽

Meteorological Observations

ABSTRACTIn December 1913 Sir Ernest Shackleton released a prospectus and announced The Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition. His goal was to undertake the first crossing of Antarctica from the Weddell Sea via the polar plateau to McMurdo Sound on the Ross Sea. The journey had already been attempted by Wilhelm Filchner whose shipDeutschland, had become beset in the Weddell Sea ice for nine months in 1912. Shackleton aimed ‘to make all possible scientific observations on [the Trans-Antarctic] journey; to carry on similar work by parties operating from the two bases on the Weddell and Ross Seas [and] to carry on scientific work, and travel unknown portions of the coastline, by the two ships of the expedition’(Shackleton 1913: 3). WithEndurancea continental crossing party of six led by Shackleton would begin from the Weddell Sea and a supporting depot laying party led byNimrodveteran Lieutenant Aeneas L.A. Mackintosh RNR, with the auxiliary barquentineAurorabased in McMurdo Sound. Unbeknown to each party, both experienced problems beyond their control.Endurancewas holed and sank in the Weddell Sea andAuroralocked in ice, although damaged, reached New Zealand. Here the ship was repaired and then undertook a relief expedition with Shackleton as a passenger, to McMurdo Sound. In spite of these major setbacks each party conducted valuable scientific observations.When Shackleton published his bookSouth(Shackleton 1919) on the expedition, compiled with New Zealand journalist and friend Edward Saunders, with exception of accounts on the Ross Sea party sledging and drift of the shipAurora, no recognition was given to work undertaken by the four Ross Sea party scientists and an assistant. Later publications have focused on the depot-laying, while books on Antarctic science have largely overlooked the science undertaken.The purpose of this paper is to make this better known, and to give credit to the four scientists involved. The science conducted although primarily concerned with meteorological observations, also covers limited glaciological observations including the ablation of lake ice, solution of glacier ice in salt water, tidal recordings, collection of zoological and other specimens, along with the use of improvised equipment to undertake observations. The science achieved was secondary to the field work. The Ross Sea party science was done however, under conditions not normally conducive for such field work with health issues a major contributing factor. A lack of funding, equipment, personality problems, concern forAuroraand crew, uncertainty of Shackleton's Antarctic crossing and their own relief, led to depression, sleeplessness and insomnia.

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A preliminary note on the fossil plants of the Mount Potts beds New Zealand, collected by Mr. D. G. Lillie, Biologist to Captain Scott’s Antarctic expedition in the “Terra Nova.”

Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Containing Papers of a Biological Character ◽

10.1098/rspb.1913.0030 ◽

1913 ◽

Vol 86 (588) ◽

pp. 344-347 ◽

Cited By ~ 12

Keyword(s):

New Zealand ◽

Fossil Flora ◽

Fossil Plants ◽

Preliminary Note ◽

Full Account ◽

Scientific Staff ◽

Geological Age ◽

Antarctic Expedition ◽

Terra Nova ◽

Geological Work

In the present communication, I propose to discuss very briefly the first fruits, which have reached this country, of Captain Scott’s Second Antarctic Expedition (1910-13). A full account of the fossil flora in question must be reserved for a future occasion. At present I have only permission to contribute a preliminary note on the subject. It is well known that, during the winter months of the last two years, the “Terra Nova,” the ship of Captain Scott’s Second Antarctic Expedition, has been actively engaged in furthering scientific researches in New Zealand waters, returning, however, to the Antarctic each summer. My friend, Mr. D. G. Lillie, B. A., of St. John’s College, Cambridge, one of the biologists of Captain Scott’s Scientific Staff, who has been attached throughout to the “Terra Nova,” has been busily occupied with various researches, partly biological and partly geological. During the short periods when he has been free to proceed with geological work, he has set himself the task of trying to clear up some of the doubtful points, which remain unsolved, in regard to the stratigraphical geology of New Zealand, more especially by means of the fossil floras of the rocks in question. As is well known, the precise geological age of many subdivisions of the stratigraphical sequence of these islands remains in doubt, and in some cases these questions have been matters of keen dispute in the past as at the present time. Among them, none has given rise to greater controversy than the doubt which has existed as to the precise geological age of the plant beds of Mount Potts, in Ashburton County, Canterbury. Do these beds contain Glossopteris , and perhaps a typical Permo-Carboniferous Glossopteris flora? Did New Zealand, as one would expect, in Permo Carboniferous times form part of the great Southern continent, “Gondwanaland,” the home of the Glossopteris flora, like the greater part of Australia, South Africa, and South America? These are the questions as yet in doubt. If, on the other hand, New Zealand, in Permo-Carboniferous times, formed no part of Gondwanaland, we are obviously face to face with a conclusion of the greatest geological importance. This is one of the questions which Mr. Lillie has set himself the task of solving.

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Physical and Structural Characteristics of Antarctic Sea Ice

Annals of Glaciology ◽

10.3189/s0260305500002627 ◽

1982 ◽

Vol 3 ◽

pp. 113-117 ◽

Cited By ~ 16

Author(s):

A.J. Gow ◽

S.F. Ackley ◽

W.F. Weeks ◽

J.W. Govoni

Keyword(s):

Sea Ice ◽

Structural Characteristics ◽

Weddell Sea ◽

The Arctic ◽

Mcmurdo Sound ◽

Frazil Ice ◽

Antarctic Sea Ice ◽

Pack Ice ◽

Fast Ice ◽

Ice Production

Observations during February and March 1980 of structures in 66 separate floes in Weddell Sea pack ice show widespread occurrence of frazil ice in amounts not previously reported in sea ice of comparable age and thickness in the Arctic. It is estimated that as much as 50% of the total ice production in the Weddell Sea is generated as frazil. Average floe salinities also appear higher than those of their Arctic counterparts. Comparative studies of fast ice at 28 locations in McMurdo Sound show this ice to be composed almost entirely of congelation ice that exhibits crystalline textures and orientations that are similar to those observed in Arctic fast ice. However, average fast-ice salinities in McMurdo Sound are higher than those reported for Arctic fast ice of comparable age and thickness.

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Aurora and the Otago Museum: the boundary between Antarctic science and seamanship

Polar Record ◽

10.1017/s0032247416000851 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 53 (2) ◽

pp. 192-198 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Moira White

Keyword(s):

World War I ◽

British Empire ◽

Ross Sea ◽

Weddell Sea ◽

World War ◽

Pack Ice ◽

Antarctic Expedition ◽

Antarctic Continent ◽

Museum Staff ◽

The Antarctic

ABSTRACTSir Ernest Shackleton's Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition famously did not succeed in traversing the Antarctic continent from the Weddell Sea to the Ross Sea. It was, nevertheless, an enterprise that engaged the interest of New Zealanders and the rest of the British Empire even as World War I was being fought. When one of the expedition ships, Aurora, broke from her moorings soon after arrival in McMurdo Sound and drifted trapped in pack ice for months, the construction of a temporary jury rudder while still at sea enabled her crew to make their way to Port Chalmers, Dunedin for more extensive repairs in 1916. This paper discusses interactions between the Otago Museum staff and the crew of Aurora while she was in port, the offer of the replaced jury rudder to the museum, and reflects on the concerns and interests that might have contributed to the offer and its rejection.

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The first publication of The South Polar Times, Volume IV

Polar Record ◽

10.1017/s0032247413000259 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 50 (1) ◽

pp. 112-112

Author(s):

Ann Savours

Keyword(s):

Ice Sheet ◽

The South ◽

Mcmurdo Sound ◽

Antarctic Expedition ◽

Antarctic Continent ◽

Terra Nova ◽

The Antarctic ◽

South Polar

Polar bibliophiles, librarians and readers will be familiar with the three handsome facsimile volumes of the first Antarctic newspaper, published in 1907 and 1914 and edited in turn by E. Shackleton, L.C. Bernacchi and A. Cherry-Garrard during the National Antarctic Expedition, 1901–1904 and the British Antarctic Expedition 1910–1913. These expeditions were led by Captain R.F. Scott R.N. in Discovery and Terra Nova respectively. From S.Y. Discovery, beset for two winters in the ice of McMurdo Sound were made the first extensive sledge journeys into the interior of the Antarctic continent, including the great ice sheet or plateau. These were further prolonged, following Shackleton's Nimrod expedition, while the pursuit of science during both Scott expeditions led to the publication in London of two monumental sets of scientific and geographical results, plus new charts and maps.

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XXXI.—Shackleton Antarctic Expedition, 1914–1917: The Natural History of Pack-Ice as observed in the Weddell Sea

Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh ◽

10.1017/s0080456800016021 ◽

1921 ◽

Vol 52 (4) ◽

pp. 795-829 ◽

Cited By ~ 7

Author(s):

J. M. Wordie

Keyword(s):

Natural History ◽

Weddell Sea ◽

The West ◽

Pack Ice ◽

Antarctic Expedition ◽

History Of ◽

The Antarctic ◽

Land Water

The opportunities for observation were afforded by the voyage and subsequent drift of the S.Y. Endurance. During December 1914 and January 1915 for a period of six weeks she successfully bored her way through pack-ice of every description—drift-ice, open-pack, and very frequently even close-pack. Continually fighting, she penetrated from 59° to 72° S. lat., and finally reached the land water off Coats Land on the latter parallel. As the crow flies, therefore, she was navigated through ice for nearly 800 geographical miles on this voyage; her actual course among the ice-fields and floes was computed to exceed 2000 miles, an achievement without parallel in the Antarctic. The principle adopted was to keep to the east, where presumably there is less pack than in the west; if the Endurance experience is a normal one, however, the meridian of 20° W. long., which was followed, is certainly not far enough east.

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Physical and Structural Characteristics of Antarctic Sea Ice

Annals of Glaciology ◽

10.1017/s0260305500002627 ◽

1982 ◽

Vol 3 ◽

pp. 113-117 ◽

Cited By ~ 78

Author(s):

A.J. Gow ◽

S.F. Ackley ◽

W.F. Weeks ◽

J.W. Govoni

Keyword(s):

Sea Ice ◽

Structural Characteristics ◽

Weddell Sea ◽

The Arctic ◽

Mcmurdo Sound ◽

Frazil Ice ◽

Antarctic Sea Ice ◽

Pack Ice ◽

Fast Ice ◽

Ice Production

Observations during February and March 1980 of structures in 66 separate floes in Weddell Sea pack ice show widespread occurrence of frazil ice in amounts not previously reported in sea ice of comparable age and thickness in the Arctic. It is estimated that as much as 50% of the total ice production in the Weddell Sea is generated as frazil. Average floe salinities also appear higher than those of their Arctic counterparts. Comparative studies of fast ice at 28 locations in McMurdo Sound show this ice to be composed almost entirely of congelation ice that exhibits crystalline textures and orientations that are similar to those observed in Arctic fast ice. However, average fast-ice salinities in McMurdo Sound are higher than those reported for Arctic fast ice of comparable age and thickness.

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Had We Lived ... Phantasms & Nieves Penitentes: Conversation between Anne Noble and Geoffrey Batchen

Membrana Journal of Photography - Augmented ◽

10.47659/m2.020.art ◽

2017 ◽

pp. 20-29

Author(s):

Anne Noble ◽

Geoffrey Batchen

Keyword(s):

New Zealand ◽

The Body ◽

South Pole ◽

The South ◽

Antarctic Expedition ◽

Terra Nova

In the conversation, two of the most prominent New Zealand authors in the field of photography talk about the body of work of Anne Noble’s Antarctica photography projects. Had we lived is a re-photographic project reflecting on the tragedies of heroic age exploration (commemorating the centenary of the deaths of Robert Falcon Scott and his men on their return from the South Pole – Terra Nova Expedition or British Antarctic Expedition to the South Pole, 1912) and on the memory of Erebus tragedy of 1975, when a tourist plane flying over Antarctica crashed into Mt Erebus, killing all 257 people on board. Anne Noble re-photographed image taken by Herbert Bowers at the South Pole – the photograph of Scott and his men taken after they arrived at the South Pole to find Amundsen had already been and gone. Phantasms and Nieves Penitentes projects hint at the triumph of Antarctica over human endeavour and as a non-explorer type herself photographer Anne Noble states: “I rather liked this perverse reversal”. Both tragic events have a notable relationship to photography – Erebus in particular, as those who died were likely looking out of the aeroplane windows taking photographs at the time of impact. This relationship is addressed throughout the conversation between the two, providing an insightful commentary on the questions of authenticity, documentary value and the capacity of photography to exist in the in-between spaces of thoughtful imagining, and rational dreaming. Keywords: Antarctica, authenticity, documentary, photographic imaginary, re-photographing

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