Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
of starvation, bad weather, scurvy, botulism, and lead poisoning (canned goods at
the time were sealed with lead solder, and the ship's water distillation system may
have had lead-soldered joints). In a belated vindication of Rae's report, the bones
of some of the crew discovered on King William Island were found to bear distinct
blade cut marks. Franklin's grave remains undiscovered.
During 1850-1855, R. Collinson and R. M'Clure searched Amundsen Gulf,
Coronation Gulf, Victoria Island, and Banks Island, confirming the existence of
a Northwest Passage via Melville Sound, reached thirty years earlier by Parry.
These expeditions also made numerous scientific observations (Meteorological
Council,
1879
-1888; Levere,
1993
). C. Schott, for example, analyzed the records
of McClintock (
1862
) in Baffin Bay and Prince Regent's Inlet. An American expe-
dition led by Elisha Kane searched the West Coast of Greenland northward to Smith
Sound during 1853-1855. Weather records were maintained at 78.62°N, 70.67°W
from September 1853 through April 1855 (Kane,
1856
). The topic also includes
monthly mean isotherm charts for Baffin Bay prepared by C. Schott using Kane's
observations and earlier charts of H. Dove. Kane also espoused the recurring notion
of an open polar sea, perhaps based on his observations of the North Water polynya
in Smith Sound (Dunbar and Dunbar,
1972
).
In 1822, William Scoresby, Jr. followed the east coast of Greenland from 72°N
southward to 69°N, while his father explored the extensive sound named after
him. In 1820-1830, W. Graah of the Royal Danish Navy traveled northward along
the East Coast to 65°N using native boats (umiaks). However, he was stopped by
heavy ice. East Greenland was then neglected until 1869 when Karl Koldewey in
the
Germania
over-wintered at Pendulum Island (74.5°N). The next spring they
reached 77°N on a sledging trip. Between 1879 and 1900, Danish Navy expeditions
completed mapping of the East Coast of Greenland and studied the ice conditions
(Ryder,
1896
).
The margins of the Greenland Ice Sheet were visited once or twice in the
eighteenth century, but no serious attempt to visit the interior was made until
Nordenskiold traveled inland near Godthaab in 1870. Soon after, Norwegian and
Danish geologists observed high rates of glacier motion compared with glaciers
in the Alps, arousing scientific interest. Nordenskiold made another unsuccessful
attempt to cross Greenland in 1883. Finally, in 1888, Nansen, Sverdrup, and four
companions skied and sledged westward across the ice at about latitude 64°N, even-
tually reaching Godthaab. In 1892, Robert Peary traveled northeastward from Smith
Sound, crossing the northern part of the ice sheet and finding ice-free Peary Land.
He also reached the head of Independence Fiord and wrongly concluded that he was
at the shore of the East Greenland Sea. This incorrect conclusion had tragic conse-
quences for members of a subsequent Danish expedition in 1906.
In the 1860s and 1870s, Arctic exploration was dominated by attempts to reach
the pole. Among notable expeditions are those of Charles Hall who explored Baffin
Island and Melville Peninsula. In 1871, he took the steamer
Polaris
up Smith Sound
to 82.18°N and explored ice-free North Greenland. Hall's work in Ellesmere Island
was followed by the British Arctic Expedition of 1875-1876 under George Nares.
