POLAR REGIONS

Antarctic Exploration

Dogs and Planes John Rymill was an Arctic explorer. During one trip he planned to explore the Antarctic Peninsula. Dog sledding and aircraft were now the usual way to travel. Rymill used both to prove that the Peninsula was not an island as had once been thought. It was part of Antarctica. After World War II, the US had a large navy and in 1946 mounted the largest Antarctic expedition ever seen. The expedition was called Operation Highjump. Richard Byrd commanded 13 ships, 25 aircraft, and over 4,000 men. Little America was reopened for the summer but this time nobody stayed for the winter. Aircraft were used to map and photograph more than half of the Antarctic ice cap. Much of it had never been seen before.

M awson reached the South Magnetic Pole.

Mawson and the South Magnetic Pole

When Shackleton set out for the South Pole he sent another group, including the Australian Douglas Mawson, to seek the South Magnetic Pole. They left the hut in late September and found the magnetic pole on January 16, 1909, after a 994-mile (1,600-km) march. Mawson returned to Antarctica in 1911 commanding an Australian expedition which returned to the magnetic pole and discovered many new areas. Mawson returned to Antarctica in 1929. Now Sir Douglas Mawson, he led a joint British, Australian, and New Zealand expedition which set the style for all future scientific work and confirmed that the Antarctic really was a continent.

T he American polar explorer Richard Byrd was the first to fly to the South Pole in 1929.

W hiling away winter in the hut. Using dogs, Rymill’s expedition sledded more than 1,200 miles (2,000 km).

International Expeditions Operation Highjump was followed by Operation Windmill. This was a much smaller expedition. Both expeditions marked the start of a new type of Antarctic exploration. Antarctica is so big that only governments could afford the large expeditions needed. Even governments had trouble finding the money and for some expeditions several countries had to work together.