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Ice
Station Weddell
The South Atlantic's Weddell Gyre is the largest cyclonic gyre poleward of
the Antarctic Circumpolar Current, covering with its western portion the
Weddell Sea. Vigorous vertical fluxes of heat and moisture together with a
variable sea-ice cover couple Weddell waters with the cold polar
atmosphere.
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"The
Endurance"
Shackleton was drawn to exploration by his romantic, questing nature - not
by scientific interest.
He was aware, however, that
an expedition was formally "sanctioned" by its perceived scientific
goals. Accordingly, he had recruited a scientific staff of four; it
included a biologist, a geologist,
a meteorologist and a physicist.
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"The Belgica"
Belgica
Expedition
In 1895 the Sixth International Geographical Congress passed a resolution
that "the exploration of the
Antarctic regions is the greatest piece of geographical exploration still
to be undertaken...this work should be undertaken before the close of the
century". Indeed, it was in that year that the first human footprints were
made on the mysterious southern continent, by Carsten Borchgrevink, a
Norwegian and, by coincidence, a childhood playmate of Roald Amundsen.
When the resolution was made, the Antarctic continent was a blank on the
map. In response to that resolution, Belgium announced an Antarctic
expedition under the command of Adrien de Gerlach. With a reference from a
Norwegian ship owner, and because he was a compatriot of Nansen, Amundsen
was accepted as an officer, without salary. (shown to right)
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Photographs from the Belgica
Expedition to the Amundsen Sea-1897-99
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