POLAR REGIONS

Antarctic Exploration

A Forgotten Continent

E xpeditions had reached the South and Magnetic Poles but vast areas were still unexplored. British and Norwegian whaling companies plundered Antarctic waters. Meanwhile a series of small expeditions came to Antarctica. Many were privately organized and many used aircraft for the first time to help in exploration. Aircraft opened up Antarctica. In 1928 Richard Byrd led an American expedition to the Ross Ice Shelf and made the first flight to the Pole in 1929. Byrd with Floyd Bennett was also the first to fly over the North Pole in 1926. Five years later Byrd returned with a much larger expedition. He extended his old base, called Little America. It now housed more than 40 men in a dozen buildings. Byrd mapped the edge of the Ross Ice Shelf.

A ircraft were used by several expeditions and opened up Antarctica.

Antarctic Crossing From the other side of Antarctica a small expedition prepared their plane for an historic flight. In November 1935, Lincoln Ellsworth and a pilot set out to fly across Antarctica. He believed it would take 14 hours but blizzards forced them to land and wait for good weather. Twenty-two days later they ran out of fuel 16 miles (26 km) from Little America. Ellsworth and his pilot had to walk there. Byrd had left two years before. The two men had to wait a month for their ship to sail round Antarctica to collect them.

Shackleton’s Bravery Ernest Shackleton organized a third expedition. In 1914-16, he attempted to cross Antarctica. But his ship, Endurance , never landed. It was crushed by ice in the Weddell Sea. Only Shackleton’s skill as a leader saved him and his crew. By sleds and boats he reached Elephant Island. Shackleton and five others sailed 800 miles (1,300 km) to South Georgia to arrange a rescue. Shackleton brought all his men safely home.

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