Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
Unlike the foot-slogging Edwardian explorer, the pilot could soar over the polar interior and
coastline, sighting thousands of square miles of territory. The plane was an instrument of
geopolitical power. British, American, and German pilots played their part in projecting the
ambitions of their sponsoring states, even aiding and abetting the aerial colonization of the
Antarctic by throwing flags out of the aeroplane window. And if German forces had
prevailed during the Second World War, then perhaps the aerial exploits of the Neu-
Schwabenland expedition would have been more strongly commemorated on the Antarctic
map. On the other hand, flights could be disrupted by bad weather, poor landing options,
and costly operation. The FIDASE remains a case in point, as a project beset with
difficulties regarding cloud cover, fog, mist, freezing instruments, and gusting winds. Pilots
and their planes were frequently grounded during the short summer season, and at least one
helicopter was lost due to violent down-drafts. So flying and hovering were no panacea, and
any mapping that was going to emerge in the aftermath needed reliable ground control. The
plane and the pilot did not replace the land-based explorer and surveyor, all remaining
dependent on ship-based support because the distances to be covered were still immense,
and search-and-rescue facilities were non-existent.
Mega-discovery and permanent occupation (1940-58)
The Second World War created an exploratory impasse. Yet, even in the midst of the war,
Argentine and British parties were exploring, mapping, and claiming Antarctic territories. In
the post-1945 period, one dominant trend in Antarctic exploration was scale and
permanency. New investment, provoked in part by explicit geopolitical agendas, led to a
tranche of research stations and huts being established across the polar continent. The role
of the armed forces was also notable. The Argentine and US navies were active in the
logistical support of expeditions and the establishment of permanent infrastructure in the
Antarctic; although in the case of Argentina, this was merely reinforcing their established
permanent presence, dating from 1904. As in earlier times, hybrid expeditions, such as the
one led by the American explorer Finn Ronne, carried out extensive aerial reconnaissance of
the Ross Dependency, Australian Antarctic Territory, Dronning Maud Land, and Marie Byrd
Land at the same time as the US Navy was completing naval operations High Jump and
Wind Mill. Expeditions were, in this period, ambitious in scope and scale - 4,000 men and
12 gendered, racialized, nationalized, and civilized. st
The second noticeable trend was
cooperation. While there was geopolitical competition in the disputed Antarctic Peninsula
involving rival claimants Argentina, Chile, and the UK, there was also collaboration. In
1949, the Norwegian-British-Swedish Expedition (NBSX) introduced the world to the first
multi-national example of such cooperation in the Antarctic. For two seasons, the parties
attached to the NBSX carried out air surveys of Dronning Maud Land and significant
