The history of Antarctica emerges from early Western theories of a vast continent, known as Terra Australis, believed to exist in the far south of the globe. The term Antarctic, referring to the opposite of the Arctic Circle, was coined by Marinus of Tyre in the 2nd century AD.
Elephant Island is an ice-covered mountainous island off the coast of Antarctica in the outer reaches of the South Shetland Islands, in the Southern Ocean. Its name was given by early explorers sighting elephant seals on its shores. The island is situated 245 kilometres north-northeast of the tip of the Antarctic Peninsula, 1,253 kilometres west-southwest of South Georgia, 935 kilometres south of the Falkland Islands, and 885 kilometres southeast of Cape Horn. It is within the Antarctic claims of Argentina, Chile and the UK. Brazil has a shelter on the island, Goeldi, supporting the work of up to six researchers each during the summer and had another (Wiltgen), which was dismantled in the summer of 1997/98.
The Australian National Antarctic Research Expeditions is the historical name for the Australian Antarctic Program (AAp) administered for Australia by the Australian Antarctic Division (AAD).
The British Australian (and) New Zealand Antarctic Research Expedition (BANZARE) was a research expedition into Antarctica between 1929 and 1931, involving two voyages over consecutive Austral summers. It was a British Commonwealth initiative, driven more by geopolitics than science, and funded by the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand.
The Australasian Antarctic Expedition (AAE) was an Australasian scientific team that explored part of Antarctica between 1911 and 1914. It was led by the Australian geologist Douglas Mawson, who was knighted for his achievements in leading the expedition. In 1910 he began to plan an expedition to chart the 3,200-kilometre-long (2,000 mi) coastline of Antarctica to the south of Australia. The Australasian Association for the Advancement of Science approved of his plans and contributed substantial funds for the expedition.
A number of governments have set up permanent research stations in Antarctica and these bases are widely distributed. Unlike the drifting ice stations set up in the Arctic, the research stations of the Antarctic are constructed either on rock or on ice that is fixed in place.
The Swedish Antarctic Expedition (1901–1904) was led by Otto Nordenskjöld and Carl Anton Larsen.
Antarctica has various places of worship and an increasing demand for religious services and construction of sacred architecture on the continent. In spite of the famous saying "below 40 degrees south there is no law; below 50 degrees south there is no God" the exploration of the continent was in fact closely connected to religious activities with contributions from many adherents. Some of the early religious buildings are now protected as important historical monuments. Christian buildings are the only religious buildings on the continent.
Antarctica is Earth's southernmost continent. It contains the geographic South Pole and is situated in the Antarctic region of the Southern Hemisphere, almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle, and is surrounded by the Southern Ocean. At 14,200,000 square kilometres, it is the fifth-largest continent. For comparison, Antarctica is nearly twice the size of Australia. About 98% of Antarctica is covered by ice that averages 1.9 km in thickness, which extends to all but the northernmost reaches of the Antarctic Peninsula.
Shirase Nobu was a Japanese Army officer who led the Japanese Antarctic Expedition, 1910–12.
Posadowsky Glacier is a glacier about 9 nautical miles long, flowing north to Posadowsky Bay immediately east of Gaussberg. Posadowsky Bay is an open embayment, located just east of the West Ice Shelf and fronting on the Davis Sea in Kaiser Wilhelm II Land. Kaiser Wilhelm II Land is the part of East Antarctica lying between Cape Penck, at 87°43'E, and Cape Filchner, at 91°54'E, and is claimed by Australia as part of the Australian Antarctic Territory. Other notable geographic features in this area include Drygalski Island, located 45 mi NNE of Cape Filchner in the Davis Sea, and Mirny Station, a Russian scientific research station.
The Haswell Islands are a group of rocky coastal islands lying off Mabus Point, Antarctica, and extending about 3 kilometres (1.5 nmi) seaward. They were charted by the Australasian Antarctic Expedition under Douglas Mawson (1911–14), who applied the name "Rookery Islands" because of a large emperor penguin rookery on Haswell Island, the largest and seaward island in the group. In 1955 the Antarctic Names Committee of Australia proposed that the name Haswell be extended to the entire group.
The Tryne Islands are a group of numerous small Antarctic islands and rocks, about 7 km (4 mi) in extent, forming the western limit of Tryne Bay and Tryne Sound at the north-eastern end of the Vestfold Hills. The islands were mapped by Norwegian cartographers from aerial photographs taken by the Lars Christensen Expedition (1936–37) and named Trynøyane.
Nelly Island is the largest and easternmost of the Frazier Islands, lying in Vincennes Bay off Wilkes Land, East Antarctica.
Kista Strait is a strait between the Flat Islands and Jocelyn Islands in Holme Bay, Mac. Robertson Land, Antarctica. It was mapped by Norwegian cartographers from air photos taken by the Lars Christensen Expedition, 1936–37. The strait was first navigated by the site on which Australian National Antarctic Research Expeditions (ANARE) established Mawson Station.
Vostok was a 28-gun sloop-of-war of the Imperial Russian Navy, the lead ship of the First Russian Antarctic Expedition in 1819—1821, during which Fabian Gottlieb von Bellingshausen and Mikhail Lazarev circumnavigated the globe, discovered the continent of Antarctica and twice circumnavigated it, and discovered a number of islands and archipelagos in the Southern Ocean and the Pacific.
Mirny was a 20-gun sloop-of-war of the Imperial Russian Navy, the second ship of the First Russian Antarctic Expedition in 1819—1821, during which Fabian Gottlieb von Bellingshausen and Mikhail Lazarev circumnavigated the globe, discovered the continent of Antarctica and twice circumnavigated it, and discovered a number of islands and archipelagos in the Southern Ocean and the Pacific.
