Antarctic Exploration Timeline
Notes
How Antarctica was explored and settled by adventurers, imperialists and scientists over the course of a century
This map shows in broad sweeps how the last continent was revealed to humanity: first the accessible, northern tip of the Antarctic Peninsula; then routes to the coveted South Pole; next the coasts most easily accessible from South America, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand (see how the bulk of West Antarctica remains relatively unexplored, being inconveniently located south of the Pacific Ocean); finally, the forbidding interior of East Antarctica.
As a gazeteer of Antarctic exploration and settlement, this map is by no means exhaustive. Many of the more northerly Antarctic Islands, for example, were used as bases by whalers as far back as the early 19th century. For some reason, it seems that commercial ventures do not find their way into the history books as easily as military or imperial expeditions.
Before 1945, I've concentrated on the expeditions that opened up the continent. After 1945, when various nations began to establish permanent bases on the continent, largely to press competing territorial claims, I've concentrated on these stations. That's not to say, of course, that all expeditions ceased in 1945. On the contrary, the number of expeditions, as well as sorties from the permanent bases, has exploded over the years, so that if this map were complete, there would be thousands of camp icons dotted over the continent. The representation of stations, however, does aspire to be complete.
Where a later expedition established a camp on the same site as an earlier one, I've generally not credited the latecomers. I've made exceptions, though, such as for Robert Scott's 1911-12 expedition, which arrived at the South Pole a mere month after Roald Amundsen's party had established a camp there.
I've refrained from pressing my own claims. In particular, I've resisted adding a personal camp icon on the Wirth Peninsula, having found myself, rather by accident, in the field party that became the first to set foot on one of those enticing white spaces devoid of icons in Ellsworth Land.
Use the slider to the right of the map to show camps and stations for a particular year. Move your mouse over an icon to show details of that camp or station.
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Sources
Council of Managers of National Antarctic Programs – Antarctic Facilities List
British Antarctic Survey – British Research Stations and Refuges – History
Wikipedia – List of Antarctic expeditions
Wikipedia – Discovery Expedition
Wikipedia – Swedish Antarctic Expedition
Wikipedia – Scottish National Antarctic Expedition
Wikipedia – French Antarctic Expedition
Wikipedia – French Antarctic Expedition
Wikipedia – Japanese Antarctic Expedition
Wikipedia – Amundsen's South Pole expedition
Wikipedia – Terra Nova Expedition
Wikipedia – Wilhelm Filchner – Expedition to Antarctica
Wikipedia – Australasian Antarctic Expedition
Wikipedia – Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition
Wikipedia – Shackleton-Rowett Expedition
Wikipedia – British Australian and New Zealand Antarctic Research Expedition
Wikipedia – Richard Evelyn Byrd – First Antarctic expedition, 1928-1930
Wikipedia – British Graham Land Expedition
Wikipedia – Third German Antarctic Expedition – German Antarctic Expedition (1938–1939)
Wikipedia – Ronne Antarctic Research Expedition
Scott Polar Research Institute – John Lachlan Cope's Expedition to Graham Land, 1920-22
Text
A text summary of this presentation is shown below for easy reference
Expeditions
Swedish Antarctic Expedition – Snow Hill Island – 1901
Discovery Expedition – Ross Island – 1901
Discovery Expedition – furthest South – 1902
Gauss Expedition – Kaiser Wilhelm II Land – 1902
Scottish National Antarctic Expedition – Coats Land – 1904
Third French Antarctic Expedition – Adelaide Island – 1905
Nimrod Expedition – Mount Erebus – 1908
Nimrod Expedition – Beardmore Glacier – 1908
Nimrod Expedition – furthest South – 1909
Nimrod Expedition – South Magnetic Pole – 1909
Fourth French Antarctic Expedition – Loubet Land – 1909
Amundsen's South Pole Expedition – Bay of Whales – 1911
Amundsen's South Pole Expedition – Axel Heiberg Glacier – 1911
Amundsen's South Pole Expedition – South Pole – 1911
Terra Nova Expedition – Cape Evans – 1911
Terra Nova Expedition – Beardmore Glacier – 1911
Terra Nova Expedition – South Pole – 1912
Second German Antarctic Expedition – Filchner Ice Shelf – 1911
Japanese Antarctic Expedition – furthest South – 1912
Japanese Antarctic Expedition – Alexandra range – 1912
Australasian Antarctic Expedition – Cape Denison – 1912
Australasian Antarctic Expedition – Shackleton Ice Shelf – 1912
Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition – Caird Coast – 1915
Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition – Cape Evans – 1915
Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition – Elephant Island – 1916
John Lachlan Cope – Danco Coast – 1921
Shackleton-Rowett Expedition – Elephant Island – 1922
Hjalmar Riiser-Larsen – Little America – 1929
Hjalmar Riiser-Larsen – Queen Maud Land – 1930
British Australian and New Zealand Antarctic Research Expedition – Mac. Robertson Land – 1930
Byrd's First Antarctic Expedition – Princess Elizabeth Land – 1931
Lincoln Ellsworth – Dundee Island – 1935
Lincoln Ellsworth – Ellsworth Mountains – 1935
British Graham Land Expedition – Graham Land – 1935
Lars Christensen – Prince Harald Coast – 1936
Third German Antarctic Expedition – Princess Martha Coast – 1939
United States Antarctic Service Expedition – Stonington Island – 1939
United States Antarctic Service Expedition – Trail Inlet – 1940
United States Antarctic Service Expedition – Hilton Inlet – 1940
United States Antarctic Service Expedition – Dyer Plateau – 1940
United States Antarctic Service Expedition – Fosdick Mountains – 1940
Ronne Antarctic Research Expedition – Ewing Iskand – 1948
Ronne Antarctic Research Expedition – English Coast – 1948
Ronne Antarctic Research Expedition – Sweeney Mountains – 1948
Ronne Antarctic Research Expedition – Behrendt Mountains – 1948
Ronne Antarctic Research Expedition – Cape Adams – 1948
Ronne Antarctic Research Expedition – Haag Nunataks – 1948
Stations
Orcadas – Argentinian year-round station – 1904
Deception Island – British year-round station – 1944
Port Lockroy – British year-round station – 1944
Hope Bay – British year-round station – 1945
Sandefjord Bay – British summer-only station – 1945
Cape Geddes – British year-round station – 1946
Stonington Island – British year-round station – 1946
Argentine Islands – British year-round station – 1947
Admiralty Bay – British year-round station – 1947
Melchior – Argentinian summer-only station – 1947
Arturo Prat – Chilean year-round station – 1947
Signy – British summer-only station – 1947
Decepcíon – Argentinian summer-only station – 1948
Bernardo O'Higgins Riquelme – Chilean year-round station – 1948
Port Martin – French year-round station – 1950
Brown – Argentinian summer-only station – 1951
San Martín – Argentinian year-round station – 1951
President Gabriel Gonzalez Videla – Chilean summer-only station – 1951
Esperanza – Argentinian year-round station – 1952
View Point – British summer-only station – 1953
Cámara – Argentinian summer-only station – 1953
Mawson – Australian year-round station – 1954
Horseshoe Island – British year-round station – 1955
Anvers Island – British year-round station – 1955
Belgrano II – Argentinian year-round station – 1955
McMurdo Station – American year-round station – 1955
Danco Island – British year-round station – 1956
Detaille Island – British year-round station – 1956
Dumont d'Urville – French year-round station – 1956
Mirny – Russian year-round station – 1956
Halley – British year-round station – 1956
Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station – American year-round station – 1956
Livingston Island – British summer-only camp – 1957
Prospect Point – British year-round station – 1957
Davis – Australian year-round station – 1957
Risopatrón – Chilean summer-only station – 1957
Syowa – Japanese year-round station – 1957
Scott Base – New Zealand year-round station – 1957
Vostok – Russian year-round station – 1957
Adelaide Island – British year-round station – 1961
Matienzo – Argentinian summer-only station – 1961
Novolazarevskaya – Russian year-round station – 1961
Fossil Bluff – British summer-only camp – 1961
Sub Base Yelcho – Chilean summer-only station – 1962
Molodezhnaya – Russian summer-only station – 1962
SANAE IV – South African year-round station – 1962
Palmer Station – American year-round station – 1965
Petrel – Argentinian summer-only station – 1967
Bellingshausen – Russian year-round station – 1968
Marambio – Argentinian year-round station – 1969
Casey – Australian year-round station – 1969
Lieutenant Rodolfo Marsh M. Aerodrome – Chilean year-round camp – 1969
Eduardo Frei Montalva – Chilean year-round station – 1969
Mizuho – Japanese summer-only station – 1970
Lenindgradskaya – Russian summer-only station – 1971
Rothera – British year-round station – 1975
Primavera – Argentinian summer-only station – 1977
Arctowski – Polish year-round station – 1977
Russkaya – Russian summer-only station – 1980
Neumayer III – German year-round station – 1981
Carlini – Argentinian year-round station – 1982
Soyuz – Russian summer-only station – 1982
Gondwana – German summer-only station – 1983
Dakshin Gangotri – Indian year-round station – 1983
Comandante Ferraz – Brazilian year-round station – 1984
Asuka – Japanese summer-only station – 1984
Artigas – Uruguayan year-round station – 1984
Lieutenant Luis Carvajal Villarroel – Chilean summer-only station – 1985
Great Wall – Chinese year-round station – 1985
Tor – Norwegian summer-only refuge – 1985
Mario Zucchelli – Italian summer-only station – 1986
Law-Racovita-Negoita – Australian/Romanian summer-only station – 1987
Druzhnaya 4 – Russian summer-only station – 1987
Ohridiski – Bulgarian summer-only station – 1988
King Sejong – Korean year-round station – 1988
Zhongshan – Chinese year-round station – 1989
Aboa – Finnish summer-only station – 1989
Maitri – Indian year-round station – 1989
Macchu Picchu – Peruvian summer-only station – 1989
Progress – Russian year-round station – 1989
Juan Carlos I – Spanish summer-only station – 1989
Wasa – Swedish summer-only station – 1989
Refugio Ecuador – Ecuadorian summer-only refuge – 1990
Maldonado – Ecuadorian summer-only station – 1990
Troll – Norwegian year-round station – 1990
Gabriel de Castilla – Spanish summer-only station – 1990
Julio Escudero – Chilean year-round station – 1994
Dallman Lab at Base Jubany – German summer-only station – 1994
Dome Fuji – Japanese summer-only station – 1995
Vernadsky – Ukranian year-round station – 1996
Concordia – French/Italian year-round station – 1997
Browning Pass – Italian summer-only camp – 1997
Ruperto Elichiribehety – Uruguayan summer-only station – 1997
Mid Point – Italian summer-only camp – 1998
Lieutenant Arturo Parodi – Chilean summer-only station – 1999
Sitry – Italian summer-only camp – 2000
Kohnen – German summer-only station – 2001
Enigma Lake – Italian summer-only camp – 2005
S17 – Japanese summer-only camp – 2005
Johann Gregor Mendel – Czech summer-only station – 2006
Princess Elisabeth – Belgian summer-only station – 2009
Kunlun – Chinese summer-only station – 2009
Date
First published 31 December 2013