Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
Scientific curiosity remains piqued, as less than 1% of Antarctica's rock is actually ac-
cessible for direct examination, and researching the deep geology of the Southern Ocean
presents considerable challenges. There is still a great deal to discover.
Life in the Antarctic
With no indigenous human population, Antarctica is unique. But we should not assume
this was always well understood. One insightful vignette comes from Otto Nordenskjold's
Swedish expedition (1901-4), when the soot-covered men from a lost party were at first
thought to be Antarctic natives until their colleagues recognized them. The idea that soot-
covered men were judged to be indigenous is te a great deal en Peninsulalling, but perhaps
they had read fictional novels such as Edgar Allan Poe's The Narrative of Arthur Gor-
don Pym of Nantucket. Poe speculates about the existence of black natives residing at the
South Pole, and they eventually slaughter all but two of the American expedition who en-
countered them. Poe was not the only one to speculate that there might be secret and long-
lost civilizations residing in the Antarctic awaiting discovery and encounter. Subterranean
fiction, more generally, proved adept at representing the polar regions as entry points into
a hollow Earth brimming with settlement possibilities.
In reality, the first semi-permanent human inhabitants were British and American sealers
who lived on South Georgia from the late 18th century onwards. For the next 200 years,
whalers and sealers, many of them Norwegian, made their home there, and hunted in the
waters of the South West Atlantic. Today, governments maintain research stations, and his-
toric huts and stores offer reminders of past and present encounters. The number of people
residing on the polar continent and outlying islands varies with the summer and winter sea-
sons. During the summer season (October-March), the numbers of scientists, and support
and logistical staff, increase, up to 5,000. In the winter months, this number decreases to
around 1,000 as most depart before the onset of the winter weather. The first 'indigenous'
child born south of the 60° parallel was an Argentine boy called Emilio Marcos Palma, in
1978, at a research station located on the tip of the Antarctic Peninsula. His parents, along
with some other families, had been sent by the Argentine government, to cement the Argen-
tine claim to this particular part of the Antarctic. Since that period, more than ten children
have been born in Antarctica in the Argentine and Chilean bases of Esperanza and Frei
Montalva respectively.
Apart from the scientific community (and the military and naval personnel either living
on bases and patrolling on ships) who enjoy a semi-permanent status in the Antarctic, the
main inhabitants are marine and terrestrial life. Given the relatively recent isolation from
