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Archive for category: Antarctic Blog

A Discovery Below Penguin Guano

June 2, 2016 - Antarctic Blog

By Stefanie White

Looking through the magnification lens, I take a breath through my respirator and reach for the micro spatula. The belt is encrusted with layers of dried penguin guano and dirt. It stinks. With the spatula, I lift thin sheets of the encrustations to reveal a stained leather surface. Tweezers hold penguin feathers fast and I remove them from within the encrustation with some force. And then finally I role cotton swabs dampened in deionised water across the leather surface and begin to reveal the original surface. The process is slow, deliberate, meditative and satisfying in that oddly pleasurable way.

Antarctic Heritage Trust

As time passes, I notice the wear marks in the belt and notice which punch hole was used most often. I think about the size of the owner’s waist. I see handmade punch holes and contemplate the dramatic weight loss the owner must have experienced while based at Cape Adare. I think about why the owner left his belt behind … perhaps he forgot it, perhaps he suffered from T3.  The buckle is interesting. It’s square, elegant and made out of nickel.

Antarctic Heritage Trust

As I swab, I tune into the New Zealand radio playing in the background and into conversations happening in the lab. I continue to swab and swab and swab the leather belt. And then from beneath the residue of the penguin guano, I see something. I see a gold printed letter. I turn and shout to my colleagues ‘The owners name is on the belt’ and together we decipher the printed letters.

George Murray Levick was a naval surgeon and zoologist on Scott’s Terra Nova Expedition of 1910-13. Being a part of the Northern Party, he spent the summer of 1911-1912 at Cape Adare.  Levick and possibly all members of the Terra Nova expedition were gifted a leather belt by the leather manufacturing company Leckie and Co. based in Walsall, England. They received this gift especially for this British Antarctic Expedition. The discovery of the gold printed letters was a highlight this week in the lab. The discovery is one-of-a-kind as no other belt survives. Information previously unknown was uncovered and it’s always exciting for a conservator to be able to attribute an owner’s name to an artefact.

Scott's Northern Party return to Cape EvansCanterbury Museum

Northern party on arrival at Cape Evans, 7 November 1912. Photographer: Frank Debenham. British Antarctic Expedition, 1910-13

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Meet the Team – Cape Adare Artefacts Conservation Project

May 24, 2016 - Antarctic Blog

By Josefin Jiménez

The work to conserve the artefacts from Cape Adare, the base established by Carsten Borchgrevink’s British Antarctic Expedition (Southern Cross) 1898 ̶ 1900, has just begun. Due to Cape Adare’s inaccessible location the artefacts won’t be conserved on the ice at Scott Base this winter but have instead been frozen and transported to Christchurch for treatment.

The team is made up of four conservators, some of whom are old hands with AHT and some of whom are new faces.

Sue Bassett, lead conservator, has led AHT Winter teams through 2013 and 2014, has experience with many interesting conservation projects in Australia and elsewhere, and has a passion for Antarctic history.

Antarctic Heritage Trust

Sue has selected the first batch of iron alloy objects that will undergo desalination! Objects include stove parts, dog chains, hooks and shackels.

Stefanie White, objects conservator, has also wintered in Antarctica twice before, working with AHT in 2013 and 2014 on objects from Captain RF Scott’s Discovery hut and Terra Nova hut.

Antarctic Heritage Trust

The newcomers to the Trust are Ciarán Lavelle, objects conservator, and Josefin Jiménez, paper conservator. Both have been following the project with interest for some time and are delighted to join the team. 

Antarctic Heritage Trust

Ciaran Lavelle

 

Josefin conserves the deteriorated labels on bottles of pickel and L&P's worcestershire sauceAntarctic Heritage Trust

Josefin conserves the deteriorated labels on bottles of pickel and L&P’s worcestershire sauce

Surprisingly the team has a strong Irish connection as both Stefanie and Ciarán are Irish and Josefin, albeit Swedish, has been living and working in Dublin for a year before coming to New Zealand.

It is going to be an exciting year with many fantastic objects to uncover. It is already amazing to see the new objects emerge and, as Borchgrevink’s hut is located in the middle of the world’s largest Adelié penguin colony (population 750,000), some of them are quite literally emerging … from vague shapes covered in guano and feathers, into recognisable historic artefacts (with a very distinct aroma).

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Favourites

February 22, 2016 - Antarctic Blog

By Sue Bassett

During the decade of work by the Trust’s on-ice conservation teams, many personal insights have been gained into the lives of the early expeditioners. Some of the paper items from Captain RF Scott’s hut at Cape Evans provide good examples.

In addition to a range of adventure stories and military novels, there are a surprisingly large number of paperback romances … and, judging by the degree of wear and sooty fingerprints, they were rather well read!

The stories seem to reflect the sensibilities of the era and are of variable quality – although almost all seem to feature prolonged bouts of blushing between the chief protagonists. One of the best (or worst) involves a hero called Dr Love who finds he has feelings for an impoverished actress and resolves to free her from the profession. The end pages are unfortunately missing, so we can only hope that it ends as a proper romance should.

Antarctic Heritage Trust

Many of the magazines, too, combine stories of popular interest with the frivolous and banal (not to mention articles on fashion for the ladies). To Scott’s men, who often had to survive gruelling conditions, such throwaway reading matter was likely valued as a diversion. Along the same lines are two scrapbook-style montages tacked to the wall in the officers’ sleeping area. One comprises a wonderful selection of images—all cut from magazines—mainly of women with big hats, parasols and big hair, all surrounding a large central image of a very well-fed cat. The other, a firm favourite of ours, is a collection of cut-out pictures of dogs pasted to the back of a plywood crate lid … presumably by someone very fond of man’s best friend and perhaps also missing his pooch back home.

Antarctic Heritage Trust
Antarctic Heritage Trust
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Dogs

October 28, 2015 - Antarctic Blog

By Sue Bassett

While Captain RF Scott wasn’t keen on the idea of using dogs as his main means of transport to the South Pole—largely because of the cruelty and sacrifice involved—he did take a team of 35 sledging dogs (and a collie bitch, ‘Lassie’) to Antarctica on his 1910–13 expedition.

Antarctic Heritage Trust - dogsRoyal Geographical Society

Antarctic Heritage Trust – dogs

The sledging dogs were collected in Siberia, moved by dog-driver to Vladivostok, and transported by steamer to Lyttelton, New Zealand, via Sydney, to be loaded onto the ‘Terra Nova’ for the 5-week voyage to Antarctica. There they lived in the expedition hut’s stables at Cape Evans under the control of their handler, CH Meares. Each had a name and their antics, personalities, highs and lows are referred to frequently in Scott’s journals.

Later, Ernest Shackleton’s 1914–17 Ross Sea support party also had a small team of dogs at the hut. Ten members of the expedition were marooned at Cape Evans when their ship, ‘SY Aurora’, still containing most of their supplies and equipment, broke anchor and was swept away from shore. Ernest Joyce, who was the leader of the sledging party, and his team relied heavily on their surviving dogs to bring their weakened scurvy ridden bodies home after their journey across the Ross Ice Shelf to lay depots of stores.

Samson, one of the dogs that went to the ice with Shackleton's Ross Sea Party.Cantebury Museum

Samson, one of the dogs that went to the ice with Shackleton’s Ross Sea Party.

Nearly a century later, the degraded body of an unidentified sledging dog from one of these expeditions still lay chained to the northern wall outside the stables at the Cape Evans hut. There are photographs of the dog from the 1950s, when it was desiccated but still largely articulated within its coat. Since then, the ravages of the elements and disturbance by opportunistic skuas – scavenging seabirds, which live in abundance around Cape Evans – have resulted in decay and loss of the dog’s flesh and skin, and disarticulation and scattering of exposed skeletal material.

During the Trust’s recent work to carry out essential repairs to the stables, the dog’s remains were re-excavated and moved. As a protection against further deterioration, they were relocated inside the stables and laid out in one of the pony stalls. The dogs of both Scott’s and the Ross Sea Party’s expeditions were usually allowed to roam freely around in the stables so it is a fitting final resting place.

Lucy conserves the skeleton of a husky from the Ross Sea Party at Cape Evans. Antarctic Heritage Trust

Lucy conserves the skeleton of a husky from the Ross Sea Party at Cape Evans. The skeleton was re-associated after several years of meltwater and wind erosion had begun to scatter the bones.

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Midwinter

June 18, 2014 - Antarctic Blog

By Sue Bassett

Midwinter is upon us, for those in the southern hemisphere at least. For those of us in Antarctica, midwinter is traditionally a time of celebration and feasting. We’ve reached our shortest day—our darkest day—and now we move towards the return of the light and the return of the sun in a couple of months’ time. Definitely a milestone to be celebrated!

Antarctic Heritage Trust - midwinter

Antarctic Heritage Trust – midwinter

But where did this ‘tradition’ begin, on a continent with a very short history? Certainly not with the members of the Belgian Antarctic Expedition who, in 1898, became the first expeditioners to winter in Antarctica after being trapped in the ice aboard their ship ‘Belgica’. For them it was all doom and gloom, with tales of ‘dreary, cheerless days’, of hardship, extreme discontent, illness and tragedy. Midwinter was described as ‘the darkest day of the night; a more dismal sky and a more depressing scene could not be imagined’. And, to add ‘another cloud to the hell of blackness’, their beloved cat, Nansen, succumbed to the long darkness at midwinter, and died.

Nansen, the 'Belgica' catCredit unknown

Nansen, the ‘Belgica’ cat

The midwinter tradition should probably be credited to Robert Falcon Scott, who on his first expedition just four years later describes the festivities of midwinter 1902 in some detail. There were decorations ‘with designs in coloured papers and festooned with chains and ropes’ and ‘the tables were loaded with plum puddings, mince pies, and cakes’. There were speeches, presents, sing-songs, champagne, and great revelry, with which, Scott records, ‘we agreed that life in the Antarctic regions was worth living’.

As we at Scott Base hung the decorations, opened gifts and tucked into our 9-course midwinter dinner, shared with some good friends from neighbouring McMurdo Station, we couldn’t have agreed more. Salute!

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Let There Be Light … and Heat!

June 11, 2014 - Antarctic Blog

By Meg Absolon

Let there be light… and heat!

The flick of the switch is usually all it takes for us to enjoy a good read on the couch in a warm room on a cold winter evening. There may be a wood fire or central heating, an electric blanket, underfloor heating or even a lovely heated towel rack in the bathroom. A microwave is a handy way to warm the hot chocolate and the light dimmers can create some ambiance. And everything smells as good as the roast that comes out of the oven. Ahhh…

Back to reality. Lucky for me, my reality is most of the above combined with corrosion removal during the day. And I’ve just completed conserving a fabulous large Homelight Lamp Oil fuel can from Discovery Hut which was a provision of the British Antarctic Expedition.

Homelight lamp oil canAntarctic Heritage Trust

Homelight lamp oil can

The same brand of oil was also sent down in this beautiful wooden box.

Wooden boxAntarctic Heritage Trust

Wooden box

I’ve also recently worked on small oil cans containing oil in remarkably good condition. There were many types of oils and fuels, including calcium carbide for acetylene lighting, brought down on the historic expeditions to create heat and light for the long winters, with seal blubber as the final resort.

Small oil canAntarctic Heritage Trust

Small oil can

At Scott Base today we have all the heat and lighting required to live an exceptionally comfortable winter existence provided mostly by diesel fuel generation with an impressive 22% of delivery by wind power. Plus a toasty gas powered ‘log’ fire to read Scott’s Journal in front of. 

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Can You Still Tell a Man by His Shoes?

June 11, 2014 - Antarctic Blog

By Stefanie White

My grandmother, my mother and even my best friend have been heard announcing the old view that ‘you can tell a man by his shoes’ implying that shoes can portray a man’s moral character. Today that view may be mostly obsolete, especially in the Antarctic.

In the Antarctic, where there is little room for fashionable and aesthetic footwear, our shoes and boots are practical. Designed for Extreme Cold Weather, they are big, sometimes knee high, and insulated with high soles and thick layers of fleece. With wear and tear, we repair them and with decreasing temperature and new demands, we alter them.

Stefanie (front), with Meg, Sue and Aline holding their practical Antarctic boots.Antarctic Heritage Trust

Stefanie (front), with Meg, Sue and Aline holding their practical Antarctic boots.

This was also the case for Scott and his men. They patched, re-stitched and altered their boots often adding hobnails to increase grip for walking on ice and stuffing insulating sennegrass inside to help overcome freezing temperatures.

One may interpret that these men stayed true to their old boots, maintaining and caring for them. These men were professional and practical yet display chaotic domestic habits in the scruff and buildup of dirt on the boot soles. Perhaps, pronate distortions in the boots tell that they were sometimes stressed and exhausted with sore and cold feet.

It was sometimes the case that the historic explorers wore less practical and fancier shoes. Uncovered from under Wilson’s bed, in Scott’s Terra Nova Hut at Cape Evans, a black patent leather pomp, with a decorative grosgrain bow, was found. This rather fancy shoe is completely unsuitable for the harsh Antarctic conditions and may perhaps lend a tale about a man’s more sensitive character. The owner of this shoe was a man with grounded feet; a man with a sense of vanity, style and perhaps even artistic humour.

Overall, we can be sure of one thing: Practical and durable boots are a necessity for surviving the harsh Antarctic conditions and equally as important is  the superficial and impractical accessory that can sometimes lift a man’s moral and make him feel at home.

A dress shoe, found at Scott's Cape Evans hut.Antarctic Heritage Trust

A dress shoe, found at Scott’s Cape Evans hut.

 

Antarctic Heritage Trust - boot

Antarctic Heritage Trust – boot

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Dog Biscuits

March 7, 2014 - Antarctic Blog

By Meg Absolon

I’ve been very fortunate since arriving on the Ice to be working in the on-site conservation laboratory at Hut Point, which is situated directly behind Scott’s Discovery Hut (1901-04). Stefanie and I have been conserving food boxes from an internal wall made from stacked supply boxes.

This wall was built during Shackleton’s British Antarctic Expedition (1907-09) when they used Discovery Hut as a staging point for depot laying. The Hut is described by various expeditioners as a dark and cold place to spend time and Shackleton’s men wished to enclose a cosy space around the stove to make the quarters more habitable. The supply boxes used were predominately Special Cabin Biscuits and Special Dog Biscuits made by Spratts Patent Limited of London, who also supplied the army and navy.

Meg documenting the supply box wallAntarctic Heritage Trust

Meg documenting the supply box wall

Every time we walk into the Hut we get the chance to imagine the many stories and desperate situations the men who passed through Discovery Hut experienced.  It’s incredibly exciting conserving the boxes that make up the internal wall in the Hut as we discover new and different details every day.

Box with paw printAntarctic Heritage Trust

Box with paw print

Dogs are also part of the amazing history of the Hut, with Scott taking 23 dogs for hauling sledges on his National Antarctic Expedition. In 1908, during Shackleton’s Expedition, three puppies ended up at Hut Point. It was decided to leave the puppies in the Hut for nearly a month while depots were laid for Shackleton’s push to the Pole. Dr Eric Marshal recorded that 24lbs of mutton was chopped up for the puppies as well as dog biscuits and snow left for their survival. The men returned to find the puppies had eaten all the mutton but not the biscuits.

Canterbury Museum

Samson, one of the dogs that went to the ice with Shackleton’s Ross Sea Party.

Sue with dog biscuitsAntarctic Heritage Trust

Sue with dog biscuits

Antarctic Heritage Trust - dog biscuit box

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Shackleton’s Car

February 3, 2014 - Antarctic Blog

By Sue Bassett

When Ernest Shackleton led the British Antarctic ‘Nimrod’ Expedition 1907–09 he hoped to reach the geographic South Pole. To achieve this, he took with him dogs, ponies, and a motor car donated by a major sponsor, William Beardmore, who had recently taken over the car company.

The car was a purpose-built 12/15hp New Arrol-Johnston, an open two-seater with a utility tray-back. It had a specially designed air-cooled, four-cylinder engine, used non-freezing oil, had a silencer that doubled as a foot-warmer, produced hot water by passing the exhaust pipe through a hopper that could be filled with snow, and could be fitted with a pair of ski runners on the front wheels.

However, it was also heavy with little traction, sinking to its axles in the snow, and its petrol engine performed poorly from the outset. It was garaged at Shackleton’s expedition hut at Cape Royds and was useful only on the sea ice for transporting light loads, and once fell into a crevasse.

While a couple of parts remain at Cape Royds today, the car left Antarctica with Shackleton and the skis are now held by the Canterbury Museum in Christchurch, where they have undergone conservation treatment by our conservators.

A wheel from Shackleton's car still sits outside the hut at Cape RoydsAntarctic Heritage Trust

A wheel from the car still sits outside the hut at Cape Royds

Alexander Turnbull library

Shackleton’s car in the garage at Cape Royds

Antarctic Heritage Trust - Shackleton's carCredit unknown

Antarctic Heritage Trust – Shackleton’s car

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Ross Sea Party Tent

June 12, 2013 - Antarctic Blog

By Sue Bassett

A century on, we continue to share some of the artefacts we’ve treated from Shackleton’s Ross Sea Party, who were stranded for two years at Cape Evans and charged with laying depots for the ‘Endurance’ party, which, unbeknownst to them, was never coming.

For their long depot-laying sledge trips across the ice, they used a canvas dome tent. It opens like a concertina and is supported by four arched iron poles sewn into the canvas. The circular entrance is protected by a fabric tunnel, tied on the inside to keep out wind and snow. The inner walls of the tent are black with soot from the primus stove, and small holes in the canvas have been patched and hand-stitched to prevent snow leaking in during the blizzards that kept them confined for days at a time. Several of the poles have been repaired with lengths of bamboo and twine.

Antarctic Heritage Trust - pitching campCanterbury Museum

Pitching camp

The men endured shocking conditions, illness, starvation and exhaustion. Not only did they suffer from painful frost bite and snow blindness but also acute scurvy caused by lack of vitamin C in their diet. One team member, Ernest Joyce, is quoted as saying: “Scurvy has got us, our legs are black and swollen, and if we bend them at night there is a chance they will not straighten out. So, to counteract that, we lash pieces of bamboo to the back of our knees to keep them straight”. They also tried to alleviate the pain by massaging the affected areas with methylated spirits. Ultimately, Reverend Spencer-Smith (expedition chaplain and photographer) died of scurvy and was buried in the ice, and later Mackintosh (commander) and Hayward (general assistant) were also lost whilst trying to cross thin sea ice in poor weather.

Miraculously, after Shackleton was able to rescue his entire team from ‘Endurance’, he sailed aboard ‘Aurora’ in January 1917 on the voyage that rescued the party’s seven survivors.

The partially opened dome tentAntarctic Heritage Trust

The partially opened dome tent

A hand-stitched repair to the canvas tentAntarctic Heritage Trust

A hand-stitched repair to the canvas tent

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#OnThisDay in 1908, Shackleton, as part of the Bri #OnThisDay in 1908, Shackleton, as part of the British Antarctic 'Nimrod' Expedition 1907-09, established his base at Cape Royds on Ross Island.

Cape Royds was first discovered during Captain Robert Falcon Scott's British National 'Discovery' Expedition 1901-04, to which Shackleton was appointed third officer. It was named after Royal Navy Lieutenant Charles Royds, who acted as meteorologist on the expedition.

The 'Nimrod' expedition was the third British expedition to the Ross Sea region within 10 years. Aboard the 200 ton 'Nimrod' was a shore party of 14 men, 15 Manchurian ponies, nine dogs, an air-cooled four-cylinder 11kW (15 hp) motorcar, the new Arrol-Johnston and a specially designed hut prefabricated by Humphreys Limited of Knightsbridge in London in 1907. It was first assembled in London and the parts were marked for re-erection on site. The fact that the main part of the hut is still standing today is testament to their efforts and the skill of the designers.

📸 Shackleton's base at Cape Royds, Canterbury Museum.

#OTD #inspire #explore #discover #conserve #Antarctica
#OnThisDay in 1943, New Zealand born Commander Fra #OnThisDay in 1943, New Zealand born Commander Frank Arthur Worsley died just weeks before his 72nd birthday. He was honoured with a full naval funeral and his ashes were scattered at sea.

Worsley was born in Akaroa, New Zealand in February 1872. At age 15, Worsley wanted to pursue a life at sea and his first voyage took him from Lyttleton to London. In 1914, with nearly 27 years’ experience behind him, Sir Ernest Shackleton hired Worsley on the spot for his Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition (1914-17) and made him captain of the expedition ship 'Endurance'.

During the expedition Shackleton and his men were forced to abandon ship in the Weddell Sea when 'Endurance' was crushed by surrounding ice floes. Worsley’s role in ensuring the survival of the men was crucial as he navigated their three lifeboats to Elephant Island, and subsequently their largest lifeboat, the 'James Caird', to South Georgia, 1300km away. This small boat expedition was ‘an astonishing feat of navigation’, Worsley managed to safely steer the 'James Caird' to South Georgia amongst strong winds and powerful currents with only four noon-sight recordings over the 16-day voyage. This journey is still referred to as one of the most heroic ocean voyages of all time and its success came solely down to Worsley’s navigation skills and unbreakable perseverance under the most difficult circumstances.

Worsley's second, and last, expedition to Antarctica was with Shackleton in 1921 as navigator and hydrographer on the expedition ship 'Quest'. It was on this voyage that Shackleton died in South Georgia on 5 January 1922. Worsley wrote and lectured on his Antarctic adventures for many years to come before his death.

📸 COMMANDER F. A. WORSLEY (INSCR. VERSO). PHOTOGRAPHER UNKNOWN, C.1920. FRANK A. WORSLEY COLLECTION, AKAROA MUSEUM. DONATED BY PATRICK BAMFORD

#OTD #inspire #explore #discover #conserve #Antarctica
If you’re passing through Christchurch Airport t If you’re passing through Christchurch Airport take some time to step inside Sir Edmund Hillary’s Antarctic Hut with Antarctic Heritage Trust’s fully immersive virtual reality (VR) experience.

Explore the five rooms of Hillary's Hut and find out what life was like living in the world’s most extreme environment in the first building erected at New Zealand’s Scott Base in Antarctica in 1957.

You can find us at Christchurch Airport, Level One next to International Departures.

Wednesday 1 February - Friday 3 February 11am-4pm

Wednesday 8 February - Friday 10 February 11am-4pm

📸 VR experience © AHT

@autuni @autartanddesign @antarctica.nz @duluxnz @staples_vr @htcvive @christchurchairport

#hillaryshutvr #virtualreality #hillary #vr #heritage #conserve #inspire #explore #Antarctica #discover #conserve
Today marks another double #OnThisDay antarctic hi Today marks another double #OnThisDay antarctic history celebration!

#OTD in 1841, James Clark Ross discovered the largest ice shelf in the world! Ross called this 'The Barrier', often also referred to as the 'Great Ice Barrier', because it prevented Ross and his party from sailing further South. 112 years later, in January 1953, it's name was changed to the 'Ross Ice Shelf'.

Also, #OTD in 1908, during Shackleton's British Antarctic 'Nimrod' Expedition 1907-09, harsh conditions forced Shackleton to head for McMurdo Sound, despite his original plan to base himself elsewhere for the expedition.

📸 From left: James Clark Ross & Sir Ernest Shackleton, Public Domain.

#inspire #explore #discover #conserve #Antarctica
#OTD we celebrate two #antarcticexplorer birthdays #OTD we celebrate two #antarcticexplorer birthdays!

165 years ago #OTD Tannatt William Edgeworth David, Director of Scientific Staff on Shackleton's British Antarctic 'Nimrod' Expedition 1907-1909 was born. During the expedition David was also leader of the party to first climb Mount Erebus, and leader of the Western (South Magnetic Pole) Party.

144 years ago #OTD Hartley Travers Ferrar, scientist on Scott's British National 'Discovery' Expedition 1901-1904 was born. Ferrar was in charge of geology and sea-water analysis. His report on field geology was published in 1907 as part of Vol 1 (Geology) of the Discovery Expedition’s scientific results.

These Antarctic scientists lived and worked in the expedition huts at Hut Point and Cape Royds, Ross Island, the birthplace of science in Antarctica! Antarctic Heritage Trust is proud to look after this legacy on behalf of the international community.

📸 From left: Hartley Travers Ferrar, copyright unknown & Tannatt William Edgeworth David, 1898, photographer J.H. Newman.

#OTD #inspire #explore #discover #conserve #Antarctica #AHTCentenaryYear #heroicera #antarcticexploration
#OnThisDay in 1820 the first sighting of the Antar #OnThisDay in 1820 the first sighting of the Antarctic continent was made! It is now widely accepted that this first sighting was made by Captain Fabien Gottleib von Bellingshausen during a two year exploratory expedition to discover new lands for the Russian Empire. 

Bellingshausen was in command of two Russian ships, the 'Vostok' and 'Mirnyiunder', which were the first to have crossed the Antarctic Circle since Cook nearly 50 years earlier! Upon his return to Russia, Bellingshausen's claim was ignored and his accomplishment was hidden for decades by an incorrect translation of his journal that led historians to assume he hadn’t actually seen land. However, more recently, a closer analysis and better understanding of Bellingshausen's records show that he saw continent earlier than anyone else, three days in fact before the British naval officer Edward Bransfield sighted the tip of the Antarctic Peninsula. 

📸 Captain Fabien Gottleib von Bellingshausen, Public Domain.

#OTD #inspire #explore #discover #conserve #Antarctica
If you’re passing through Christchurch Airport t If you’re passing through Christchurch Airport take some time to step inside Sir Edmund Hillary’s Antarctic Hut with Antarctic Heritage Trust’s fully immersive virtual reality (VR) experience.

Explore the five rooms of Hillary's Hut and find out what life was like living in the world’s most extreme environment in the first building erected at New Zealand’s Scott Base in Antarctica in 1957.

You can find us at Christchurch Airport, Level One next to International Departures.

Wednesday 25 January-Friday 27 January 11am-4pm

Wednesday 1 February - Friday 3 February 11am-4pm

Wednesday 8 February - Friday 10 February 11am-4pm

📸 VR experience © AHT

@autuni @autartanddesign @antarctica.nz @duluxnz @staples_vr @htcvive @christchurchairport

#hillaryshutvr #virtualreality #hillary #vr #heritage #conserve #inspire #explore #Antarctica #discover #conserve
#OnThisDay in 1986, the first dinosaur fossils wer #OnThisDay in 1986, the first dinosaur fossils were found in Antarctica!

70 million years ago, before the ice caps were formed, the 4m long herbivore, Antarctopelta Oliveroi, roamed the continent. Its name, Antarctopelta, means 'Antarctic shield' and like other ankylosaurs, A. oliveroi was a stocky, herbivorous quadruped protected by armored plates embedded in the skin. The dinosaur fossils were discovered by Argentine geologists Eduardo Olivero and Roberto Scasso on James Ross Island. 

📸 Antarctopelta Oliveroi © Alain Bénéteau

#OTD #inspire #explore #discover #conserve #Antarctica
If you’re passing through Christchurch Airport, If you’re passing through Christchurch Airport, take some time to step inside Sir Edmund Hillary’s Antarctic Hut with Antarctic Heritage Trust’s fully immersive virtual reality (VR) experience.

Explore the five rooms of Hillary's Hut and find out what life was like living in the world’s most extreme environment in the first building erected at New Zealand’s Scott Base in Antarctica in 1957.

You can find us at Christchurch Airport, Level One next to International Departures.

Wednesday 25 January-Friday 27 January 11am-4pm

Wednesday 1 February - Friday 3 February 11am-4pm

Wednesday 8 February - Friday 10 February 11am-4pm

📸 VR experience © AHT and Tim McPhee
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    Administration Building, International Antarctic Centre
    38 Orchard Road, Christchurch 8053, New Zealand

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