Who was the first to reach the North Pole and trample the “top” of the Earth...? Who was the first to reach the South Pole

Where is the South Pole

The South Pole is one of the two intersection points of the Earth's imaginary axis of rotation and earth's surface, where all geographical meridians converge. It is located within the Polar Plateau of Antarctica at an altitude of approximately 2800 m above sea level. I wonder what geographical coordinates The South Pole is usually simply indicated as 90°S. latitude, since the longitude of the pole is geometrically determined. If necessary, it can be specified as 0°.

At the South Pole, all directions point north and are therefore tied to the Greenwich (prime) meridian.

Attempts to conquer the South Pole

A general understanding of the geography of the Antarctic coast appeared only in the middle of the 19th century, so the first attempts to conquer the continent began at this time.

In 1820, several expeditions simultaneously announced the discovery of Antarctica. The first of these was the Russian expedition led by Thaddeus Bellingshausen and Mikhail Lazarev, which reached the shores of the mainland on January 16.

But the first proven landing on the shore is considered to be the landing of the Borchgrevink expedition in 1895 on the coast of Victoria Land.

Amundsen expedition

Initially, Roald Amundsen was going to conquer the North Pole, but during preparations for the expedition it became known that it had already been discovered. But the scientist did not cancel the trip, he simply changed the purpose of his trip.

“To maintain my status as a polar explorer,” Amundsen recalled, “I needed to achieve any other sensational success as quickly as possible... And I told my comrades that since the North Pole was open, I decided to go to the South Pole.”

On October 19, 1911, the expedition set off on a dog-drawn sleigh. At first it passed along the snowy hilly plain of the Ross Ice Shelf, but at the 85th parallel the surface went up steeply - the ice shelf ended. The ascent began along steep snow-covered slopes. According to the researchers, it was difficult both physically and mentally. After all, they didn’t know what would happen next.

At the beginning of the ascent, the travelers set up a main warehouse with food for 30 days. For the entire further journey, Amundsen left food for 60 days. During this period, he planned to reach the South Pole and return back to the main warehouse.

On December 14, Amundsen's expedition reached a point on the white plain, at an altitude of 3000 m, where, according to calculations, the South Pole should have been located. This day is considered the discovery of the South Pole. The expedition also included Oscar Visting, Helmer Hansen, Sverre Hassel, and Olaf Bjoland.

They left a small tent, over which they hung a Norwegian flag and a pennant with the inscription “Fram” on a pole. In the tent, Roald Amundsen left a letter to the Norwegian king with a short report on the campaign.

In his diary, the Norwegian scientist described in detail his arrival at the desired point.

“On the morning of December 14th there was Nice weather, ideal for arriving at the Pole... At noon we reached 89° 53′ by any calculation and prepared to cover the rest of the way in one go... We moved on that same day as mechanically as always, almost silently, but looking more and more ahead... into At three o'clock in the afternoon a "Stop" sound was heard simultaneously from all the drivers. They carefully examined the instruments, all showed the full distance - the Pole, in our opinion. The goal was achieved, the journey ended. I cannot say - although I know it would sound much more convincing - that I have achieved the goal of my life. It would be romantic, but too straightforward. I prefer to be honest and suggest that I have never seen a person who was in a more diametrically opposed position to his goals and desires than I was at that moment.”

Amundsen named his camp “Pulheim” (translated from Norwegian as “Polar House”), and the plateau on which the pole is located was named in honor of the Norwegian king Haakon VII.

Amundsen's entire journey to the South Pole and back lasted 99 days. On March 7, 1912, from the city of Hobart on the island of Tasmania, the scientist notified the world of his victory and the successful return of the expedition.

The Norwegian polar explorer and explorer Amundsen was not only the first to reach the South Pole, but also the first to visit both geographic poles of the planet. The Norwegian made a continuous sea passage through the Northwest Passage (through the straits of the Canadian Arctic archipelago), and later completed a passage through the Northeast Passage (along the coast of Siberia), completing the round-the-world distance beyond the Arctic Circle for the first time.

The scientist died in 1928 at the age of 55 during the search for the missing expedition of Umberto Nobile. The sea, the mountain and the American scientific station Amundsen-Scott in Antarctica, a bay and depression in the Arctic Ocean, as well as a lunar crater are named in honor of the traveler.

I always dreamed of becoming a traveler, dreamed of discoveries. As a child I loved to read about discoverers. What fascinated me most were the people who discovered the coldest parts of our planet, e.g. South Pole. I want to talk about these brave people.

First attempts

Nothing was known about the South Pole until almost the 20th century. Although attempts to get to him were made repeatedly. Because of lack of proper equipment, and just the skills to survive in the cold, this was unattainable. They tried to open the South Pole:

• F.F. Bellingshausen and M.P. Lazarev- Russian navigators, in 1722 reached the coast of Antarctica, discovered and gave names to several islands.
• James Ross in 1941 he discovered the ice shelf and Antarctic volcanoes.
• E. Shelkton in 1907 he tried to reach the South Pole using a pony, but turned back;

Who discovered the South Pole

The most desperate and stubborn researcher who discovered the South Pole was Raoul Amundsen. Originally from Norway, he knew what cold was; he had already been on several expeditions in extreme conditions. Preparing to conquer Antarctica, he studied secrets survival of Eskimos in the cold. Big paid attention to equipment and clothes. His entire team was equipped with fur jackets and high boots. He also selected for the expedition strong Eskimo dogs who pulled the sleigh during the hike. And he reached his goal on December 14 1911 and remained at the South Pole for three more days conducting research, and then returned safely with his entire team. It is noteworthy that simultaneously with him, a team of British led by Robert Scott. At the cost of incredible efforts, he and the remnants of the team reached the pole, 34 days late, where he found traces of Norwegians, a tent with provisions and a letter addressed to him...

Scott's team died on the way back... It was all to blame insufficient preparedness of the team, a small amount of food, clothing, by the way, was not fur, and the fact that they used ponies that died almost immediately, and motor sleighs that were not suitable for working in such frosts. I think it also had an impact depressed state of people because Amundsen was ahead of them. This is the price at which the South Pole was discovered.

After the American polar explorer Robert Peary reached by dog ​​sled in the spring of 1909 North Pole, the whole world was eagerly awaiting the conquest of the other pole.

Who will be first? Within a few months, the English explorer of Antarctica Robert Scott announced that he was going to South Pole. The same expedition was prepared by another famous polar traveler, a Norwegian Roald Amundsen. True, until a certain time he did not tell anyone about this. Everything became clear when the ship of the Norwegian expedition was already in the Atlantic Ocean.

Scott, who was in Australia, realized that the race for the championship could not be avoided.

Without any particular difficulties, the sailors reached the shores of Antarctica and landed on the opposite shores of the Ross Sea. The most dangerous thing lay ahead.

With the beginning of the Antarctic spring, the British and Norwegians rush to the Pole. Squad Scott consisting of eight people set out on a campaign on November 1, 1911. In addition to the dogs and ponies that were harnessed to the sleigh, the detachment also had motor sleighs. “The attempt to use three modes of transport at once,” Oates wrote home, “amazes me ... I am absolutely sure that Scott will not succeed.” U Amundsen but there were only dog ​​sleds.

The first serious trouble in the English detachment was that the ponies began to fall one after another. The animals could not withstand the severe frost. People also suffered greatly from the cold. Their fur clothes were far from the best. Weakened by poor nutrition, with frostbitten faces, they slowly moved towards their cherished goal... And there the Norwegian flag was already waving.

Squad Amundsen and hoisted it over the pole on December 14, 1911. Only a month later the British came here.

The first days of their return to the base by the Ross Sea did not foretell tragedy. A steady polar wind was blowing at our back, and the sleigh moved as if on sails. The solid crust crunched underfoot. Ahead was a convenient descent from the top of the plateau. But soon these brave people suffered a great misfortune: they were unable to find several food storage facilities left on the way to the Pole.

Landmarks - flags and pyramids made of snow - did not help, snow storms did their job. Now people were noticeably weakening every day, moving forward with all their strength.

Evans, who suffered more than others from scurvy, was the first to die. Ots developed gangrene after frequent frostbite. The expedition leader's leg was so frostbitten that he himself became a burden to the detachment.

While resting in the tent, Ots wrote something in his diary for a long time, and then asked his comrades to pass notes to his mother: “She is the only woman I loved.” Then he with difficulty crawled out of the hole. A damp sleeping bag, he hobbled towards the exit and disappeared into the snowstorm. At all.

The rest of the participants in this unfortunate campaign fought for their lives for another week. The last three people - Scott, Wilson and Bowers - died in the camp, not reaching the base only eighteen kilometers. “They had plenty of courage, firmness, and strength. A little more experience - and their enterprise would have been crowned with success,” he later wrote Amundsen about the hike Scott a to South Pole.

Death Scott but I made it national hero. His compatriots reread the lines of his message to the public: “It is definitely to blame for our collapse bad weather… I don’t think anyone has ever experienced what we experienced in one month.”

Scott he was right about the weather, but in this respect he made a serious miscalculation. Having delayed the start, he doomed the detachment to arrive at the polar plateau three weeks later summer solstice. The frosts were already ten degrees lower than those that found the expedition near the Pole Amundsen A.

The South Pole is the point through which the imaginary axis of rotation of our planet passes. It is located not in the middle of Antarctica, but closer to its Pacific coast. Open South Pole was December 11, 1911 (according to some sources - December 14).

Who was the first to reach the south pole?

We set ourselves the goal of visiting this harsh place. globe at the beginning of the last century, two travelers at once - the Norwegian Raoul Amundsen and the Englishman Robert Scott. Both researchers made the most thorough preparations for the trip. Robert Scott decided to use motor sleighs and ponies as draft power. R. Amundsen relied on dog sleds. Both researchers prepared for the trip, of course, as carefully as possible. So who was the first to reach the south pole?

Robert Scott's expedition moved towards its goal slowly, overcoming great difficulties. The researcher's ponies, unfortunately, could not bear the stress of the difficult journey and had to be euthanized. Motorized sleds could not overcome the ice hummocks.

Amundsen was doing much better. Thanks to the hardy northern dogs, he reached the youngest point on the globe faster than Scott. It was Amundsen who is considered the first person to reach the South Pole. Robert Scott's expedition arrived here only on January 17, 1912.

Tragedy

Of course, the moral shock had a negative impact on the return journey of the English group. First, the youngest member of R. Scott's expedition, E. Evans, died. Then, on his own initiative, he left his comrades, so as not to become a burden, and L. Ots froze his feet.

The remaining members of the expedition, including Scott himself, also did not return to base. On the way they were caught in a snowstorm. The bodies of the group members were later found 18 km from the camp. Their fate became known only from the diary of R. Scott, who was the last to die.

Memory of the Explorers

Well, now our reader knows who was the first to reach the south pole. The winner, the ambitious Amundsen, was, of course, very upset by the tragedy that occurred in the ice of Antarctica. Subsequently, he repeatedly told reporters that he would not hesitate to sacrifice his fame as a discoverer just to bring Scott and his people back to life.

This is how one of the most important geographical discoveries of the last century was overshadowed by tragedy. However, the pole remembers both heroic explorers. Their names were forever united in the name of the large Amundsen-Scott scientific station, which still operates at the southernmost point of the Earth.

Every inhabitant of the Earth knows that the South Pole is located in Antarctica. Antarctica itself is a huge piece of land surrounded on all sides by water. That is, it is a continent. It should not be confused with the mainland - a huge piece of land surrounded by water and connected by a small piece of land to another continent. The area of ​​Antarctica is 13.7 million square meters. km. For example, the area of ​​Europe is 10.2 million square meters. km, and Australia - 7.6 million square meters. km.

South Pole

Antarctica contains 90% of all fresh water planets. It is fabulously rich in minerals, but is fenced off from the whole world by a huge ice crust and bitter frosts. In winter, temperatures on the continent drop to minus 60° Celsius. Summer is also not very warm. The most fertile months are December and January average temperature is minus 30°.

They blow over the icy desert all year round. strong winds. Animal world lives only in coastal areas and on the Antarctic Peninsula. On this stretched north small area sushi winter temperature sometimes it is minus 10° Celsius, and in summer it rises to 12° Celsius.

It is in Antarctica, among permafrost and severe cold, that the South Pole of the Earth is located. This is the southernmost point of the planet, and it is located at 90° south. w. It has no longitude, since all meridians converge in this place to one point.

The South Pole has chosen the so-called Arctic Plateau. That is, he did not settle down somewhere in the lowlands, but was comfortably located at an altitude of 2800 meters above sea level. Hence, there is a deficiency of oxygen and low humidity, the average value of which is 18%. In this area, the force of gravity is approximately 15% greater than in other areas of the planet. Atmosphere pressure below the norm by 150 mm. rt. pillar There are also increased solar radiation and magnetic anomalies.

Speaking of magnetic anomalies. In addition to the South Pole, which is a purely geographical quantity, there is also the South Magnetic Pole. In 2007, its coordinates were 64° 30′ S. w. and 137° 42′ E. d. This is the sea of ​​D'Urville. Behind it begin the waters of the Indian Ocean. On the coast of the sea, which is called Adélie Land, there is the French Antarctic station Dumont d'Urville. It has been located in this place since 1956.

For reference, it should be noted that in 1909 the coordinates of the Southern magnetic pole were completely different and equal to 72° 25′ S. w. and 155° 16′ E. d. The pole was located on the mainland, but over the past 100 years it has shifted into the depths of the sea and continues to “creep” to the north. No one knows how this anomalous magnetic phenomenon will end.

Antarctica itself was officially discovered in January 1820. A Russian expedition accomplished this significant event. It was headed by Thaddeus Faddeevich Bellingshausen (1778-1852) and Mikhail Petrovich Lazarev (1788-1851). The first person to winter on the icy continent was the Norwegian polar explorer Karsten Egeberg Borchgrevink (1864-1934). Given historical event took place in 1895.

Finding herself on the coast of an icy continent, restless human nature decided to find out what was in the depths mysterious land. The excitement around the South Pole began in 1909, when the conquest of the North Pole was publicly announced, first by Frederick Cook and then by Robert Peary. Other venerable explorers and travelers decided to glorify their names in the cold south. The first place among them was occupied by the Norwegian polar traveler and explorer Roald Amundsen (1872-1928).

Roald Amundsen

At first, the Norwegian planned to conquer the North Pole and even began preparing an expedition. But the nimble, shameless Americans overtook him, and the journey into the pack ice of the North Arctic Ocean lost all meaning.

Amundsen needed sponsors. He found such in the army. The military provided the traveler with food, tents, and other necessary equipment. The generals needed to test the effectiveness of soldiers' rations under extreme conditions, so they met their compatriot halfway.

The Argentine tycoon Don Pedro Christophersen also provided great financial support. He was Norwegian by origin and readily supported his fellow countryman.

The route to the shores of Antarctica was carried out on legendary ship"Fram." From 1893 to 1912, Norwegian expeditions were regularly carried out on it in northern and southern latitudes. The ship was 39 meters long, 11 meters wide, displaced 1,100 tons, and had a speed of 5.5 knots.

On the momentous day of January 13, 1911, the ship dropped anchor in Whale Bay off the coast of Ross in Antarctica. From that moment, in fact, the polar expedition began, which made Roald Amundsen famous throughout the world.

The Norwegian set off to the South Pole on October 19, 1911. He was accompanied by four people. The whole world also knows the names of these people. These are Oskar Wisting, Helmer Hansen, Sverre Hassel and Olaf Bjoland. All Norwegians. The expedition included four dog sleds. Already on December 14, 1911, a small group of courageous people, having overcome 1,500 km through the icy desert, reached the desired point. It is this date that is considered the official time of the discovery and conquest of the South Pole.

At the southernmost point of the planet, the travelers hoisted the Norwegian flag and headed back. The expedition returned to the original route point after 99 days. Thus, 3000 km were covered in just over three months. It must also be taken into account that the path lay through an icy desert, and, moreover, not level, but with constant ascents, descents, snow drifts and icy winds.

The second to challenge the severe frosts and permafrost was the English polar explorer Robert Falcon Scott (1868-1912). He set off to his intended goal a month later than Amundsen. The English expedition also consisted of five people. It was in this number that the British reached the South Pole on January 17, 1912.

Robert Falcon Scott

The expedition began on October 24, 1911. It consisted of 12 people. All of them were divided into 3 detachments. The first detachment set off on the specified date. He had to take away several tons of provisions and, thus, provide for the other members of the expedition.

Scott himself marched with his men on November 1, 1911. He made a serious mistake by taking Manchurian ponies instead of sled dogs. These animals were not adapted to the harsh southern cold and became not a help, but a burden on the difficult journey.

The third detachment, riding sled dogs, caught up with Scott within a week, and on November 15, all three detachments were reunited. Already on December 4, the expedition reached the foothills of the Arctic Plateau. It became obvious that the small horses could not withstand the climb, and they had to be shot.

After this, the people had to drag the heavy sleigh with provisions themselves. And the ascent ended in early January. The snowstorm was a big hindrance. She delayed the detachment for more than a week.

English Expedition (Scott standing in the middle)

Scott took only four people with him to the South Pole. These were Wilson, a doctor, zoologist and artist, Oates, a pony specialist, and Bowers and Evans, career Navy officers. The remaining members of the expedition headed back on December 5.

As already mentioned, on January 17 the British reached their target. Imagine their disappointment when they saw the Norwegian flag, as well as a tent. In it they found a friendly letter from Amundsen. All efforts and labors were in vain. Representatives of the English crown were ahead of them.

The return journey was complicated by a strong snowstorm. She interfered with walking, took away all the strength from people. After just a couple of days of travel, Evans suffered severe frostbite. Wilson followed him out. He fell and damaged ligaments in his leg.

The first tragedy occurred on February 17, 1912 - Evans died. On small squad this made a grave impression. The body was buried in the glacier and the journey continued. Oates was the next to die, on March 16th. The remaining members of the expedition lasted only the next two weeks. The last entry in Scott's diary, which he kept throughout the journey, is dated March 29, 1912.

The expedition leader was the last to die, as the bodies of Wilson and Bowers lay in the tent, neatly tied in sleeping bags. The search group found the tent itself only on November 12, 1912. The ship's doctor Edward Atkinson examined the dead.

They did not take the bodies with them. They were buried in the tent, having first removed the tripwires. They piled a bunch of snow on top and put the skis crosswise.

Upon arrival at the ship, rescuers made a large cross from mahogany. They carved the inscription on it - “Fight and seek, find and do not give up” and installed it on the top of a high hill called Observer. Thus ended one of the attempts to conquer the harsh and inhospitable southern land.

Richard Byrd conquered Antarctica in 1929. This American pilot flew over the South Pole in an airplane. Next up were Briton Vivian Fuchs and New Zealander Edmund Hillary. In 1958, they carried out a sleigh-caterpillar crossing across the icy desert. These courageous people walked from the Weddell Sea to the Ross Sea and back. Thus, they crossed the South Pole twice and left 3,500 km behind them.

American Antarctic station at the South Pole

Today, the American Antarctic station is located at the South Pole. It is a structure on stilts. This prevents snow from accumulating near the building. It has a telescope 10 meters high, equipment that predicts magnetic storms, as well as a powerful drilling rig.

Lives at the station total, 200 people. Communication with outside world supported via NASA satellites. Scientists working in this coldest corner of the world are specialists in geophysics, meteorology, physics, astrophysics and astronomy. Living conditions are very difficult. An untrained person is susceptible to illness and fainting. Blood thickening, headaches, and muscle cramps may occur. Neglecting basic safety can easily result in lung burns and frostbite.

So the South Pole is not a place for idle recreation. Only the very courageous and strong people. The most low temperature, recorded in this place, amounted to minus 74°. There is no trace of anything like this at the North Pole. From here you can imagine the fortitude of those people who a hundred years ago went to this icy desert to conquer it. And they did it, otherwise we would still know nothing about the southernmost point of our planet.

Yuri Syromyatnikov