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Deutschland
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The 2nd German Antarctic Expedition (1911-1913),
led by Wilhelm
Filchner (1877-1957), was primarily focused on the hypothesis
of East and West Antarctica being separated by an ocean. "Deutschland",
the former Norwegian "Björn", was a sailer of 45 m length,
equipped with an emergency engine (ca. 220 kW), and ice-strengthened
for operation in polar seas. On board were 25 crew members,
the expedition leader, and 6 scientists.
During preparation of the German expedition,
it became obvious that a transition of Antarctica through
the "possible bay" (today's Weddell Sea) was beyond the scope
of the project. The following Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition
(1914-1916) led by Sir
Ernest Henry Shackleton (1874-1922), however, focused
on this idea.
W. Filchner, who was able to cross the inner
Weddell Sea, reached the northern edge of today's Filchner
Ice Shelf and was therefore the first to discover the bay-shape
of the Weddell Sea. Although he successfully set foot on the
ice shelf, the entire operation was ill fated. The station,
built near the ice shelf edge and which was almost ready for
occupation, was lost when a huge portion of the shelf broke
off. On her retreat, "Deutschland" was beset in the ice on
7 March, 1913 at ca. 73 19S, 30 16W and was only released
by the ice on 26 November, 1913 at 63 37S, 36 34W. Noteworthy
scientific results are the confirmation of a gyre structure,
inferred from the drift track, in the Weddell Sea, the discovery
of newly formed bottom water, and the existence of the eastern
portion of the South Scotia Arc, inferred from soundings,
between South Orkney und Sandwich islands.
Endurance
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Shackleton was drawn to exploration by his romantic, questing nature -
not by scientific interest. He was aware, however, that an expedition was formally
"sanctioned" by its perceived scientific goals. Accordingly, he had recruited a
scientific staff of four; it included a biologist, a geologist, a meteorologist and
a physicist.
Shackleton's original plan had been that the scientists, working
from their base on the Weddell Sea, would investigate Graham Land to the west and
Enderby Land to the east. Both the Endurance and the relief ship Aurora were equipped
for dredging and hydrological work. In the optimistic words of Shackleton's expedition
prospectus, "The several shore parties and the two ships will thus carry out geological
and scientific work on a scale and over an area never before attempted by any one Polar
expedition."
These plans were quickly frustrated. Although the scientists doggedly
continued their work, the expedition's most significant contribution to science was
unforeseen: its careful record of the drift of the notorious Weddell Sea.
More (e.g.)...
Ice Station Weddell
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The South Atlantic's Weddell Gyre is the largest cyclonic gyre poleward
of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current, covering with its western
portion the Weddell Sea. Vigorous vertical fluxes of heat and moisture
together with a variable sea-ice cover couple Weddell waters with
the cold polar atmosphere. This makes the Weddell Gyre a prime source
of Antarctic Bottom Water which contributes to the ventilation of
the global abyss. Winter expeditions have examined the conditions
in the central and eastern portions of the gyre, but its western
rim, between 65S and 70S and west of 50W, had not been explored
with modern field methods because of difficulties of navigating
the thick perennial ice cover there. An effective way to gather
extensive observations in the ice-cluttered western Weddell is to
borrow a successful method from the Arctic: a scientific station
on a drifting ice floe.
The United States - Russian Ice Station Weddell-1 (ISW-1) was deployed
on 11 February 1992 at 71 48S and 51 43W from the ice-breaking research
vessel Akademik Fedorov. After a northward drift of 3.5 months and
almost 700 km, the station and its occupants were recovered by R/V
Akademik Fedorov and RVIB
Nathaniel B. Palmer on 9 June 1992 at 65 38S and 52 25W (Fig.
1). The drift of ISW-1 followed closely the track of HMS Endurance,
which was beset in the Weddell Sea ice on 18 January 1915 and sank
on 21 November 1915 at 68 38S and 52 26W.
Ice Station Weddell-1 may best be summarized by quoting the closing
statement of 9 June 1992: "The difficult environmental conditions
of the western Weddell Sea have previously prohibited data collection
in this segment of the Southern Ocean. Only now in the closing decade
of the 20th century has this region been thoroughly observed through
this joint effort. Ice Station Weddell-1, the first (manned) drift
station of the Southern Ocean, becomes an important part of the
history of Antarctic exploration, filling a large gap in our view
of this remote part of the global ocean."
Ice Station Polarstern
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