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Terra Australis
Terra Australis is the large continent on the bottom of this 1570 map.
This list of Antarctic expeditions is a chronological list of expeditions involving Antarctica. Although the existence of a southern continent had been hypothesized as early as the writings of Ptolemy in the 1st century AD, the South Pole was not reached until 1911.
1772–1775 — James Cook – sails HMS Resolution crossing Antarctic Circle in January 1773 and December 1773. On 30 January 1774 he reaches 71° 10′ S, his Farthest South, coming within about 75 miles of the Antarctic mainland without seeing it.
19th century
1780s to 1839 — American and British whalers and sealers make incidental discoveries
1821 — George Powell, a British sealer, and Nathaniel B. Palmer, an American sealer, discover the South Orkney Islands. Powell annexes them for the British.
1872–1876 — HMS Challenger under Capt. George S. Nares, becomes the first steamship to cross the Antarctic Circle; reopens the study of oceanography in the region after a 30-year gap.[5]
1996/97 — “Solo TransAntarctica” – Marek Kamiński attempted solo crossing of Antarctica (1,450 km);
21st century
2004 — Scot100 First ever Scottish Expedition to South Pole [6] began in October 2004 - a century after a historic expedition led by William Speirs Bruce, Edinburgh's "unknown" explorer, who Craig Mathieson views as "truly the greatest polar explorer of all time".
2004 — Together to the Pole - a Polish four-man expedition led by Marek Kamiński, with Jan Mela (a teenage double amputee, who in the same year reached also the North Pole)
2006 Hannah McKeand sets coast-to-pole solo/unsupported record of 39 days, 9 hours and 33 minutes[9]
2007- Pat Falvey leads an Irish team to reach the South Pole, skiing 1140 km only weeks after completing an unsupported Ski traverse of the Greenland Ice Cap in August 2007 in honour of Irish Polar Explorers such as Shakelton and Tom Crean. Clare O'Leary becomes the first Iirsh female to reach the South Pole.
2011−2012 — From Novolazarevskaya to Pole of Inaccessibility to South Pole to Hercules inlet by Sebastian Copeland and Eric McNair Landry by kites and skis.[15]
2012 — Felicity Aston becomes the first person to ski alone across Antarctica using only personal muscle power, as well as the first woman to cross Antarctica alone.[17][18] Her journey began on 25 November 2011, at the Leverett Glacier, and continued for 59 days and a distance of 1,084 miles (1,744 kilometers).[19]
2012-2013 - Aaron Linsdau becomes the second only American to ski solo from the Hercules Inlet to the South Pole. His original plan was to make a round trip but through a series of problems, like all other expeditions this year, was unable to make the return journey.[20]
2012 — Eric Larsen attempts a bicycle ride from coast to South Pole. Completes a quarter of the distance.
2012−2013 — Shackleton's centenary re-enactment expedition of the journey of the James Caird aboard the replica Alexandra Shackleton. Six British and Australian Explorers completed the "double journey" on 10 February 2013 after the 800-mile journey from Elephant Island to South Georgia and the mountain crossing.[21]
2013 — Parker Liautaud and Douglas Stoup attempt in December 2013 the Willis Resilience Expedition[23] to set a "coast to Pole" speed record [24] by reaching the geographical South Pole on skis in the fastest miles per hour ever recorded from an interior of continent start while being followed by a support vehicle.
2013 — Antony Jinman will walk to the South Pole solo for the 2013 ETE Teachers South Pole Mission, during which he will be in daily contact with schoolchildren from across the United Kingdom and will make films using the world's first drone flights at the South Pole.
2013 — Maria Leijerstam completes the first tricycle ride from coast to South Pole.
2013-14 - Lewis Clarke (aged 16) guided by Carl Alvey (aged 30) became the youngest person to trek from the Antarctic coast at Hercules Inlet to the South Pole. His expedition was in support of the Prince's Trust and his achievement is recognised by Guinness World Records.
2013−14 — Daniel P. Burton completes the first bicycle ride from coast to the South Pole.
2013−14 — Chris Turney led an expedition, entitled "Spirit of Mawson", aimed at highlighing the decline in sea ice due to climate change. The expedition was abandoned when its Russian ship became stuck in unusually large amounts of sea ice.
2013 — In December 2013 the Expeditions 7 Team led by Scott Brady made a successful east-to-west crossing in four-wheel drive vehicles from Novolazarevskaya to the Ross Ice Shelf via the Scott-Amundsen South Pole Station. Expeditions 7’s logistic plan included providing assistance to the Walking With The Wounded expedition, which was required at latitude 88°S. From the Ross Ice Shelf the Expeditions 7 team returned to Novolazarevskaya via the same route.
^O'Connor, Tom Polynesians in the Southern Ocean: Occupation of the Auckland Islands in Prehistory in New Zealand Geographic 69 (September–October 2004): 6–8)
^Anderson, Atholl J., & Gerard R. O'Regan To the Final Shore: Prehistoric Colonisation of the Subantarctic Islands in South Polynesia in Australian Archaeologist: Collected Papers in Honour of Jim Allen Canberra: Australian National University, 2000. 440–454.
^Anderson, Atholl J., & Gerard R. O'Regan The Polynesian Archaeology of the Subantarctic Islands: An Initial Report on Enderby Island Southern Margins Project Report. Dunedin: Ngai Tahu Development Report, 1999
^Anderson, Atholl J. Subpolar Settlement in South Polynesia Antiquity 79.306 (2005): 791–800
^David McGonigalm Antarctica: Secrets of the Southern Continent Frances Lincoln Ltd., 2009 ISBN 0-7112-2980-5 page 288-289
Savatyugin, L. M.; Preobrazhenskaya, M. A. (1999). Российские исследования в Антарктике [Russian Exploration of Antarctica] (in Russian). Saint Petersburg: Gidrometeoizdat, Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute (AARI), Federal Service for Hydrometeorology and Environmental Monitoring of Russian Federation (Roshydromet). ISBN 5-286-01265-5.