Bellingshausen's first accounts of his Antarctic voyage of 1819–1821

Polar Record ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 49 (1) ◽  
pp. 9-25 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rip Bulkeley
Keyword(s):  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
Soviet Union ◽  
Antarctic Peninsula ◽  
South Shetland Islands ◽  
Shetland Islands ◽  
Covering Letter ◽  
The Past ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
Antarctic Expedition ◽  
The Antarctic

ABSTRACTIn 1949 a reassessment of the Imperial Russian Navy's Antarctic expedition of 1819–1821 was promulgated in the Soviet Union. The contention was that Russian seamen had made the first discovery of the mainland of Antarctica, two or three days before the northern tip of the Antarctic Peninsula was sighted by a British expedition, under William Smith and Edward Bransfield, sent to take formal possession of the South Shetland Islands. The new Soviet line apparently required that an important passage in a report which Captain Bellingshausen had sent from Australia in 1820 should, as far as possible, be overlooked or downplayed. Nineteenth century editions of the report and its covering letter are translated, the contemporary ice vocabulary in which they were phrased is explained, and the practice of discounting parts of them in the past and continuing to ignore those passages today is discussed.

Antarctic Archaeology

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Zarankin ◽  
Melisa A. Salerno
Keyword(s):  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
Twentieth Century ◽  
South Shetland Islands ◽  
Shetland Islands ◽  
The Past ◽  
Late Nineteenth ◽  
Dominant Narratives ◽  
Different Characteristics ◽  
Shed Light ◽  
Over Time

Antarctica was the last continent to be known. Human encounters with the region acquired different characteristics over time. Within the framework of dominant narratives, the early ‘exploitation’ of the territory was given less attention than late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century ‘exploration’. Nineteenth-century exploitation was especially associated with sealing on the South Shetland Islands. Dominant narratives on the period refer to the captains of sealing vessels, the discovery of geographical features, the volume of resources obtained. However, they do not consider the life of the ordinary sealers who lived and worked on the islands. This chapter aims to show the power of archaeology to shed light on these ‘invisible people’ and their forgotten stories. It holds that archaeology offers a possibility for reimagining the past of Antarctica, calling for a revision of traditional narratives.

New trigonioid bivalves from the Early Jurassic to earliest Cretaceous of the Antarctic Peninsula region: systematics and austral paleobiogeography

1995 ◽  
Vol 69 (1) ◽  
pp. 66-84 ◽  
Author(s):  
Simon R. A. Kelly
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Antarctic Peninsula ◽  
Southern Africa ◽  
Late Jurassic ◽  
Early Jurassic ◽  
South Shetland Islands ◽  
Shetland Islands ◽  
Livingston Island ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Antarctic

New discoveries of trigonioid bivalves are documented from three areas in the Antartic Peninsula: the Fossil Bluff Group of Alexander Island, the Latady Formation of the Orville Coast, and the Byers Group of Livingston Island, South Shetland Islands. Eleven taxa are described, representing six genera or subgenera. The faunas are characterized by genera including Vaugonia (Vaugonia), the first Early Jurassic trigonioid recognized on the continent; Vaugonia (V.) and V. (Orthotrigonia?) in the Late Jurassic; and Iotrigonia (Iotrigonia), Myophorella (Scaphogonia), and Pterotrigonia (Pterotrigonia), which span the Jurassic–Cretaceous boundary, reaching the Berriasian stage. The following species are new: Pterotrigonia (P.) cramei n. sp., Pterotrigonia (P.) thomsoni n. sp., Vaugonia (V.) orvillensis n. sp., and V. (Orthotrigonia?) quiltyi n. sp. The faunas show affinities with those of New Zealand and southern Africa. Trigonioids characterize the shallower marine biofacies in the Jurassic of the Antarctic and reflect the principal shallowing events in the history of the region.

scholarly journals Variations in ice rafted detritus on beaches in the South Shetland Islands: a possible climate proxy

2004 ◽  
Vol 16 (3) ◽  
pp. 339-344 ◽  
Author(s):  
BRENDA L. HALL ◽  
ETHAN R. PERRY
Keyword(s):  
Antarctic Peninsula ◽  
Ocean Circulation ◽  
Late Holocene ◽  
Warming Trend ◽  
South Shetland Islands ◽  
The South ◽  
Shetland Islands ◽  
Livingston Island ◽  
The Antarctic ◽  
Glacial Advance

Raised beach ridges on Livingston Island of the South Shetland Islands display variations in both quantity and source of ice rafted detritus (IRD) received over time. Whereas the modern beach exhibits little IRD, all of which is of local origin, the next highest beach (∼250 14C yr BP) has large amounts, some of which comes from as far away as the Antarctic Peninsula. Significant quantities of IRD also were deposited ∼1750 14C yr BP. Both time periods coincide with generally cooler regional conditions and, at least in the case of the ∼250 yr old beach, local glacial advance. We suggest that the increases in ice rafting may reflect periods of greater glacial activity, altered ocean circulation, and/or greater iceberg preservation during the late Holocene. Limited IRD and lack of far-travelled erratics on the modern beach are both consistent with the ongoing warming trend in the Antarctic Peninsula region.

Cretaceous angiosperms from an allegedly Triassic flora at Williams Point, Livingston Island, South Shetland Islands

1989 ◽  
Vol 1 (3) ◽  
pp. 239-248 ◽  
Author(s):  
P.M. Rees ◽  
J.L. Smellie
Keyword(s):  
Antarctic Peninsula ◽  
Direct Evidence ◽  
South Shetland Islands ◽  
Fossil Flora ◽  
Volcanic Arc ◽  
Shetland Islands ◽  
Active Volcanism ◽  
Livingston Island ◽  
Radiometric Ages ◽  
The Antarctic

A terrestrial sequence on Livingston Island, South Shetland Islands, known as the Williams Point Beds contains a well-preserved, diverse fossil flora previously assigned a Triassic age. Because of their supposed age, volcanic provenance and evidence for active volcanism, the Williams Point Beds have occupied a unique position in Gondwana (pre-Jurassic) stratigraphy in the Antarctic Peninsula region. However, a large new collection of plant specimens obtained at Williams Point has yielded several species of angiosperm leaves, which are abundant and occur at all levels within the Williams Point Beds sequence. Thus, a Triassic age is no longer tenable. On the basis of the plants present and published radiometric ages for associated strata, the Williams Point Beds fossil flora is reassigned to the Cretaceous, and there is some evidence for a more restricted Albian–Cenomanian age. This revision of the age of the Williams Point Beds removes all direct evidence for an active Triassic volcanic arc in the Antarctic Peninsula region.

The Bellingshausen-Palmer meeting

Polar Record ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 51 (6) ◽  
pp. 644-654 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rip Bulkeley
Keyword(s):  
Antarctic Peninsula ◽  
South Shetland Islands ◽  
The South ◽  
Shetland Islands ◽  
Contentious Issue ◽  
Balanced Assessment ◽  
Absolute Certainty ◽  
South Shetlands ◽  
The Antarctic

ABSTRACTThe celebrated meeting between Captain Bellingshausen of the Imperial Russian Navy and the American sealing skipper Nathaniel Brown Palmer, off the South Shetland Islands in February 1821, has often been described by following just one or other of the two men's divergent and in some respects irreconcilable accounts. The most contentious issue is whether or not Palmer told Bellingshausen about the existence of a body of land to the south of the South Shetlands, known today as the Antarctic Peninsula. This note attempts to reach a balanced assessment of the matter by examining evidence from both sides, including several previously unconsidered items. It concludes that, although the truth will never be known with absolute certainty, the basic American account is more plausible, by the narrowest of narrow margins, than the Russian.

Identification and characterization of yeasts isolated from the South Shetland Islands and the Antarctic Peninsula

Polar Biology ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 40 (3) ◽  
pp. 649-658 ◽  
Author(s):  
Evelin Troncoso ◽  
Salvador Barahona ◽  
Mario Carrasco ◽  
Pablo Villarreal ◽  
Jennifer Alcaíno ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Antarctic Peninsula ◽  
South Shetland Islands ◽  
The South ◽  
Shetland Islands ◽  
The Antarctic ◽  
Identification And Characterization
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