List of Antarctic expeditions
This list of Antarctica 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.
Pre-exploration theories
- 600 BC – 300 BC – Greek philosophers theorize Spherical Earth with North and South Polar regions.
- 150 AD – Ptolemy published Geographia, which notes Terra Australis Incognita.
Pre-19th century
- 13th century – Polynesians settle Auckland Islands
- 1501–1502 – Gonçalo Coelho and Amerigo Vespucci possibly sail to
- 1522 – Juan Sebastián Elcano – first circumnavigation Fernando de Magallanes discovers Strait of Magellan
- 1526 – Francisco de Hoces reportedly blown south from Strait of Magellan to. He discovers the Drake Passage or Mar de Hoces.
- 1578 – Francis Drake claims to have discovered an ocean south of South America and "Elizabeth Island"
- 1599 – Dirk Gerritsz – potentially sails to
- 1603 – Gabriel de Castilla – potentially sails to
- 1615 – Jacob Le Maire and Willem Schouten first to sail around Cape Horn cross
- 1619 – García de Nodal expedition – circumnavigate Tierra del Fuego and discover Diego Ramírez Islands
- 1643 – Dutch expedition to Valdivia – northerly winds push the expedition as far south as 61°59 S where icebergs were abundant. The expedition disproves beliefs that Isla de los Estados was part of Terra Australis.
- 1675 – Anthony de la Roché discovers South Georgia, the first ever land discovered south of the Antarctic Convergence
- 1698–1699 – Edmond Halley sails to
- 1720 – George Shelvocke – sails to
- 1739 – Jean-Baptiste Charles Bouvet de Lozier – discovers Bouvet Island
- 1771 – James Cook – HM Bark Endeavour expedition
- 1771–1772 – Yves-Joseph de Kerguelen-Trémarec discovers Kerguelen Islands
- 1772–1775 – James Cook – sails crossing Antarctic Circle in January 1773 and December 1773. On 30 January 1774 he reaches 71° 10′ S, his Farthest South, coming within about of the Antarctic mainland without seeing it.
19th century
- 1780s to 1839 – American and British whalers and sealers make incidental discoveries.
- 1819 – William Smith discovers South Shetland Islands, the first land discovered south of 60° south latitude.
- 1819 – San Telmo is wrecked in the Drake Passage off Livingston Island.
- 1819–1821 – Fabian Gottlieb von Bellingshausen and Mikhail Lazarev, future Admirals of Russian Imperial Navy, during Russian circumnavigation expedition, on 27 January 1820 were stopped by impassable ice in of Princess Martha Coast that later became known as the floating fragments of Fimbul Ice Shelf. Bellingshausen and Lazarev became the first explorers to see and officially discover Alexander Island and Peter I Island in Antarctica in 21–28 January 1821.
- 1820 – Edward Bransfield with William Smith as his pilot – on 30 January 1820, sight Trinity Peninsula.
- 1820 – Nathaniel Palmer sights Antarctica on 17 November 1820
- 1821 – George Powell, a British sealer, and Nathaniel B. Palmer, an American sealer, discover the South Orkney Islands. Powell annexes them for the British.
- 1821 – John Davis – on 7 February 1821 disputed claim of setting foot on Antarctica at Hughes Bay
- 1823–1824 – James Weddell discovers the Weddell Sea; – on 20 February 1823 his ship Jane reached a new Farthest South of 74° 15′ S
- 1829-1831 - Palmer–Pendleton Expedition
- 1830–1833 – Southern Ocean Expedition led by John Biscoe, an English sealer; circumnavigates the continent, sets foot on Anvers Island, names and annexes Graham Land, discovers Biscoe Islands, Queen Adelaide Island and sights Enderby Land
- 1837–1840 – First French Antarctic Expedition – led by Jules Dumont d'Urville; discovers Adélie Land and sets foot on an islet of Géologie Archipelago 4 km from the mainland to take mineral and animal samples
- 1838–1839 – John Balleny discovers Balleny Islands
- 1838–1842 – United States Exploring Expedition – led by Charles Wilkes to Antarctic Peninsula and eastern Antarctica; discovers "Termination Barrier"
- 1839–1843 – James Clark Ross's expedition of 1839 to 1843 discovered the Ross Ice Shelf, Ross Sea, Mount Erebus, Mount Terror and Victoria Land; extended his Farthest South to 78° 10′ S on 23 January 1842
- 1851–1853 – Mercator Cooper landed on what is now known as Oates Coast in what is probably the first adequately documented landing on the mainland of Antarctica.
- 1872–1872 – German Antarctic Expedition under Eduard Dallmann, aboard the Grönland.
- 1872–1876 – 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.
- 1892–1893 – Carl Anton Larsen led the first Norwegian expedition to Antarctica aboard the ship Jason. Larsen became the first person to ski in Antarctica where the Larsen Ice Shelf was named after him.
- 1892–1893 – Dundee Whaling Expedition discover Dundee Island
- 1893–1894 – Carl Anton Larsen led the second Norwegian expedition to Antarctica, commissioned and funded by the German shipping company Oceana
- 1893–1895 – Henryk Bull, Carstens Borchgrevink and Alexander von Tunzelmann – set foot on Antarctica at Cape Adare
- 1897–1899 – Belgian Antarctic Expedition – led by Adrien de Gerlache; first to winter South of the Antarctic Circle.
- 1898–1900 – Southern Cross Expedition, Carsten Borchgrevink – sails to Cape Adare, winters on Antarctica and takes Farthest South on 16 February 1900 at 78° 50′ S
20th century
- 1901–1904 – Discovery Expedition – led by Robert Falcon Scott, on 30 December 1903, reached
- 1902 - First balloon flight over Antarctica by Robert Falcon Scott
- 1901–1903 – Gauss expedition – led by Erich von Drygalski
- 1901–1903 – Swedish Antarctic Expedition – led by Otto Nordenskjöld with captain Carl Anton Larsen
- 1902–1904 – Scottish National Antarctic Expedition – led by William Speirs Bruce
- 1903–1905 – Second French Antarctic Expedition – led by Jean-Baptiste Charcot
- 1907–1909 – Nimrod Expedition – On 9 January 1909, Ernest Shackleton reached 88° 23 ′S, and on 16 January 1909, Professor Edgeworth David reached the South Magnetic Pole at
- 1908–1910 – Third French Antarctic Expedition – led by Jean-Baptiste Charcot
- 1910–1912 – Japanese Antarctic Expedition – led by Nobu Shirase
- 1910–1912 – Roald Amundsen's South Pole expedition – On 14 December 1911, reached the South Pole
- 1910–1913 – Terra Nova Expedition – On 17 January 1912, Robert Falcon Scott, reached the South Pole
- 1911–1913 – Second German Antarctic Expedition – led by Wilhelm Filchner
- 1911–1914 – Australasian Antarctic Expedition – led by Douglas Mawson
- 1914–1916 – Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition – led by Ernest Shackleton
- 1914–1917 – Ross Sea party – led by Aeneas Mackintosh
- 1920–1922 – British Graham Land Expedition – a British expedition to Graham Land led by John Lachlan Cope
- 1921–1922 – Shackleton–Rowett Expedition – led by Ernest Shackleton – the last expedition of the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration
- 1924–1951 – Discovery Investigations
- 1928 - First aeroplane flight over Antarctica by Hubert Wilkins and Carl Ben Eielson
- 1929–1931 – British Australian and New Zealand Antarctic Research Expedition – led by Douglas Mawson
- 1928–1930 – Richard Evelyn Byrd – First expedition
- 1931 – H. Halvorsen – discovered Princess Astrid Coast
- 1931 – Hjalmar Riiser-Larsen – flew over Antarctica, discovered Kronprins Olav Kyst
- 1933–1935 – Richard Evelyn Byrd – Second expedition
- 1933–1939 – Lincoln Ellsworth – Aircraft expedition
- 1934–1937 – British Graham Land Expedition – led by John Riddoch Rymill
- 1936 – Lars Christensen – dropped Norwegian flag over Prince Harald Coast
- 1938 -1939 – German Antarctic Expedition, – led by Capt. Alfred Ritscher
- 1939–1941 – United States Antarctic Service Expedition – led by Richard Evelyn Byrd
- 1943–1945 – Operation Tabarin – led by Lieutenant James Marr
- 1946–1947 – Operation Highjump – led by Richard Evelyn Byrd
- 1947 – First Chilean Antarctic Expedition
- 1947–1948 – Operation Windmill – led by Commander Gerald Ketchum
- 1947–1948 – Ronne Antarctic Research Expedition – led by Finn Ronne
- 1948–1949 – Fourth French Antarctic Expedition – led by André-Frank Liotard
- 1949–1951 – Fifth French Antarctic Expedition : Port Martin Station established in Adélie Land – led by André-Frank Liotard
- 1949–1952 – Norwegian–British–Swedish Antarctic Expedition – led by John Giaever
- 1950–1952 – Sixth French Antarctic Expedition – led by Michel Barré
- 1951-1953 – Seventh French Antarctic Expedition : Petrel Island Station established in Adélie Land – led by Mario Marret
- 1953 – Esperanza Base established
- 1954 – Mawson Station established
- 1955–1956 – Operation Deep Freeze – led by Richard Evelyn Byrd
- 1955–1957 – Falkland Island Dependency Aerial Survey led by P G Mott
- 1955–1957 – 1st Soviet Antarctic Expedition – led by Mikhail Somov
- 1955–1958 – Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition – led by Vivian Fuchs ; New Zealand support led by Edmund Hillary
- 1956 – Dumont d'Urville Station established
- 1956 – Amundsen–Scott South Pole Station established
- 1956 - McMurdo Station established
- 1956–1958 – 2nd Soviet Antarctic Expedition – led by Aleksei Treshnikov
- 1957–1958 – International Geophysical Year
- 1957–1958 – New Zealand Geological Survey Antarctic Expedition
- 1957 – Scott Base established
- 1957–1958 – Luncke Expedition
- 1957–1959 – 3rd Soviet Antarctic Expedition – led by Yevgeny Tolstikov
- 1958–1959 – New Zealand Geological Survey Antarctic Expedition
- 1958–1960 – 4th Soviet Antarctic Expedition – led by Aleksandr Dralkin
- 1959– 1960 – - led by Robert Cawley
- 1959–1961 – 5th Soviet Antarctic Expedition – led by Yevgeny Korotkevich
- 1960 – South African National Antarctic Expedition
- 1960–1962 – 6th Soviet Antarctic Expedition – led by V. Driatsky
- 1961–1963 – 7th Soviet Antarctic Expedition – led by Aleksandr Dralkin
- 1962–1962 – Vostok traverse – led by Australian National Antarctic Research Expeditions
- 1962–1963 – New Zealand Federated Mountain Clubs Antarctic Expedition – Led by John M. Millen
- 1962–1964 – 8th Soviet Antarctic Expedition – led by Mikhail Somov
- 1963–1965 – 9th Soviet Antarctic Expedition – led by Mikhail Somov and Pavel Senko
- 1964–1965 – South Pole—Queen Maud Land Traverse I
- 1964–1966 – 10th Soviet Antarctic Expedition – led by M. Ostrekin, I. Petrov
- 1965–1966 – South Pole—Queen Maud Land Traverse II
- 1965–1967 – 11th Soviet Antarctic Expedition – led by D. Maksutov, Leonid Dubrovin
- 1965–1965 – Operación 90 – Terrestrial Argentine Expedition to the South Pole Led by Coronel D. Jorge Leal.
- 1966–1968 – 12th Soviet Antarctic Expedition – led by Pavel Senko and Vladislav Gerbovich
- 1966–1967 – New Zealand Antarctic Research Programme Mariner Glacier Northern Party Expedition – led by John E S Lawrence
- 1967–1968 – South Pole—Queen Maud Land Traverse III
- 1967–1969 – 13th Soviet Antarctic Expedition – led by Aleksei Treshnikov
- 1968–1970 – 14th Soviet Antarctic Expedition – led by D. Maksutov, Ernst Krenkel
- 1969 – Base Presidente Eduardo Frei Montalva established
- 1969–1970 – New Zealand Geological Survey Antarctic Expedition
- 1969–1971 – 15th Soviet Antarctic Expedition – led by Pavel Senko and Vladislav Gerbovich
- 1970–1972 – 16th Soviet Antarctic Expedition – led by I. Petrov and Yury Tarbeyev
- 1971–1973 – 17th Soviet Antarctic Expedition – led by Yevgeny Korotkevich, V. Averyanov
- 1972–1974 – 18th Soviet Antarctic Expedition – led by Pavel Senko
- 1973–1975 – 19th Soviet Antarctic Expedition – led by D. Maksutov, V. Ignatov
- 1974–1976 – 20th Soviet Antarctic Expedition – led by V. Serdyukov, N. Kornilov
- 1975–1977 – 21st Soviet Antarctic Expedition – led by O. Sedov, G. Bardin
- 1976–1978 – 22nd Soviet Antarctic Expedition – led by N. Tyabin, Leonid Dubrovin
- 1977–1979 – 23rd Soviet Antarctic Expedition – led by V. Serdyukov, O. Sedov
- 1978 – Fortín Sargento Cabral established
- 1978–1980 – 24th Soviet Antarctic Expedition – led by A. Artemyev, O. Sedov
- 1979 – Air New Zealand Flight 901 – airplane crash
- 1979–1980 – 25th Soviet Antarctic Expedition – led by N. Kornilov, N. Tyabin
- 1980–1981 – Transglobe Expedition – led by Ranulph Fiennes
- 1980–1982 – 26th Soviet Antarctic Expedition – led by V. Serdyukov, V. Shamontyev
- 1981–1983 – 27th Soviet Antarctic Expedition – led by D. Maksutov, R. Galkin
- 1981–1982 – First Indian Expedition to Antarctica – led by Dr. Sayed Zahoor Qasim
- 1982 – Falkland Islands War
- 1982–1983 – First Brazilian Expedition to Antarctica –
- 1982–1983 – Second Indian Expedition to Antarctica – led by V. K. Raina
- 1982–1984 – 28th Soviet Antarctic Expedition – led by N. Kornilov, A. Artemyev
- 1984 – Villa Las Estrellas established
- 1983–1985 – 29th Soviet Antarctic Expedition – led by N. Tyabin, L. Bulatov
- 1983–1985 – Third Indian Expedition to Antarctica
- 1984–1987 – In the Footsteps of Scott – led by Robert Swan
- 1984–1985 – 1st Uruguayan Antarctic Expedition – Antarkos I Led by Lt. Col. Omar Porciúncula
- 1984–1986 – 30th Soviet Antarctic Expedition – led by D. Maksutov, R. Galkin
- 1985–1987 – 31st Soviet Antarctic Expedition – led by N. Tyabin, V. Dubovtsev
- 1986–1988 – 32nd Soviet Antarctic Expedition – led by V. Klokov, V. Vovk
- 1987 – Iceberg B-9 calves and carries away Little Americas I – III
- 1987–1989 – 33rd Soviet Antarctic Expedition – led by N.A. Kornilov, Yu.A. Khabarov
- 1987–1988 – First Bulgarian Antarctic Expedition – St. Kliment Ohridski Base established
- 1988–1990 – 34th Soviet Antarctic Expedition – led by S.M. Pryamikov, L.V. Bulatov
- 1988–1989 – South Pole Overland. Patriot Hills to South Pole. First commercial Ski expedition to South Pole. 1200 km, 50 days – led by Martyn Williams
- 1989–1990 – Antarctic crossing on foot by Reinhold Messner and Arved Fuchs. 2800 km. 92 days
- 1989–1990 – 1990 International Trans-Antarctica Expedition – led by American Will Steger and Frenchman Jean-Louis Étienne, first un-mechanized crossing – 6,021 km, 220-days
- 1989–1991 – 35th Soviet Antarctic Expedition – led by V.M. Piguzov
- 1990 – 1st North Korean Antarctic Expedition
- 1990 – Snotsicle Traverse Ski expedition – South Pole to Ross Sea inland edge via Scott Glacier. 9 611 km in 35 days– led by Martyn Williams
- 1990–1991 – 2nd North Korean Antarctic Expedition
- 1991 – Serap Z. Tilav, a US Antarctic Program field team member, became the first Turkish woman at the South Pole.
- 1991–1992 – 36th Soviet Antarctic Expedition – led by Lev Savatyugin
- 1992–1993 – American Women's Antarctic Expedition- AWE. First team of women to ski to the South Pole: Ann Bancroft, Sunniva Sorby, Anne DalVera, Sue Giller- 67 days
- 1992–1993 – British Polar Plod – led by Ranulph Fiennes with Mike Stroud, first unassisted expedition crossing the continent by ski,
- 1992–1993 – Erling Kagge, first unassisted, and first solo expedition to the South Pole by ski,
- 1992–1993 – Antarctic Environmental Research Expedition – led by Kenji Yoshikawa
- 1994 – Liv Arnesen, first unassisted woman to the South Pole by ski,
- 1994 – Cato Zahl Pedersen becomes the first person with no arms to ski to the South Pole, together with Lars Ebbesen and Odd Harald Hauge
- 1995 – "A Pole at the Poles" – Marek Kamiński solo expedition to the South Pole from Berkner Island ;
- 1995–1996 – Bernard Voyer and Thierry Pétry unassisted expedition to the South Pole by ski
- 1996 – Lake Vostok discovered
- 1996–1997 – "Solo TransAntarctica" – Marek Kamiński attempted solo crossing of Antarctica ;
- 1996–1997 – Børge Ousland first person to travel across Antarctica solo. The crossing went from coast to coast, from Berkner Island to the Ross Sea, and was unsupported. He used a kite as traction for parts of the expedition. 63 days, 3,000 km
- 1997–1998 – Peter Treseder, Keith Williams & Ian Brown become the first Australians to ski unsupported to the South Geographic Pole, 1317 km in 59 days from Berkner Island, 2Nov-31Dec, flown out by ANI.
- 1998–1999 – Eric Philips, Jon Muir and Peter Hillary pioneer a new route from Ross Island to the South Pole through the Transantarctic Mountains via the Shackleton then Zaneveld glaciers. The expedition covers 1425 km in 84 days setting off 4 November 1998 and arriving 26 January 1999. The team were not able to complete their original objective of completing the first unassisted return journey to the South Pole.