Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
Sailors, scientists, and sealers contributed to the exploration and early mapping of the
Antarctic Peninsula and outlying islands, many given names - like the South Shetlands and
South Orkneys - that evoked the land of their discoverers. The South Shetland Islands,
again claimed on behalf of the British crown, were roughly charted. Invoking King George
IV, Edward Bransfield took possession of the northern tip of the Antarctic Peninsula, which
was named Graham Land after the then First Lord of the Admiralty, James Graham. This
was followed up by later exploratory voyages and what we might term 'claimant labour' by
Henry Foster, John Biscoe, and in the 1840s, by James Clark Ross. The first three to four
decades of the 19th century established a pattern of engagement with the Antarctic which
proved remarkably persistent. Resources, research, and recognition proved durable
bedfellows.
The United States was a noteworthy player from the start of the 19th century, and the US
Congress sanctioned a major initiative to improve commercial and scientific understanding
of the Pacific Ocean, but also the southerly portions of the world's major oceans. The
United States Exploring Expedition (USEE) (1839-42), organized by the US Navy, sailed
from Australia to explore further the possible existence of a polar continent. Traversing the
Antarctic Ocean, rather than the Southern Ocean as we now describe it, the expedition gave
its name to Wilkes Land - a substantial chunk of what is now called East Antarctica.
Charles Wilkes was one of the explorers connected to the USEE and later had the dubious
honour of being charged with 'immoral mapping' in September 1842. The charge related to
his involvement in the expedition, and his claim that he had sighted a 'vast Antarctic
continent', protected reportedly by an 'impenetrable barrier of ice'. Havin in Buenos
Airesen Peninsulag sighted, mapped, and named it 'Wilkes Land', he was later to be
accused by the British explorer Sir James Clark Ross of cartographical deceit. Wilkes, it is
believed, may have unintentionally been tricked by a cloud mass, which to all appearances
looked like a landmass. Whatever his cartographic merits, Wilkes's naming of a portion of
the polar continent remains his legacy on the Antarctic map, as do the nineteen published
volumes of the expedition that contributed to the collection of objects and ideas by the
newly established Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC (1846).
The last blank spot on the map
The period between the 1840s and 1890s represents a hiatus in the exploration and
discovery of Antarctica. Whalers and sealers continued to journey to the Southern Ocean,
and landings and charting were carried out across the sub-Antarctic, including the Prince
Edward Islands and Heard and Macquarie Islands in the southern Indian Ocean. With seals
being depleted, the rationale for further investment was less clear-cut, and public attention
in Europe and North America in particular was turning northwards towards the Arctic. This
