Scott the Antarctic Explorer
Past Weather: March 1912
Captain Robert Falcon Scott (1868–1912) was the first person to explore deep into the interior of the Antarctic. In the late 1800's and early 1900's interest was growing in reaching the Southern Pole, which meant travelling overland across Antarctica. Antarctica is a vast land mass and the vast majority of it is covered by ice, this can be up to three miles thick in places.
Scott made two expeditions to the Antarctic. The second, on the ship Terra Nova, ended in tragedy in March 1912. There has been a great deal of controversy surrounding the expedition. Some have blamed its failure on Scott's incompetence, while others suggest that a mixture of factors were responsible. The expedition took motorised sleds, ponies and dogs, but the sleds failed and they did not know how to use the dogs properly. They ended up man-hauling their sleds, an exhausting way to travel. Also, the unexpectedly bad weather in March 1912 certainly had a huge impact.
Antarctica and the Ross Ice Shelf. The expanded view (below right) of the ice shelf
("The Barrier") shows Ross Island
Weather in Antarctica in March 1912
Another huge factor in the failure of the expedition was the severe weather on the return journey. George Simpson (shown at the right) was part of the scientific team who prepared for the journey. Simpson was an esteemed meteorologist and a President of this Society. Simpson and Scott had carefully made weather observations, and would have been ready for a normal season, but winter came unusually early in 1912. Simpson did much valuable work and has since been referred to as "the Father of Antarctic Meteorology" (Fiennes, R. 2004: p.155).
Susan Solomon points out in her book The Coldest March (2001) that "Scott and his men carefully probed the weather of the Antarctic, and their 'forecast' of what to expect was remarkably accurate. But the conditions they experienced on their return from the Pole were very far from normal. The daily minimum temperatures they endured in late February and March in 1912 were near -40ºF at a time of year when -20 to -25ºF is typical."
Image right: Simpson taking measurements.
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of the Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington, New Zealand, must be obtained
before any re-use of this image..
The hut that Scott and the party used.
At the same time that Scott's party was heading to the Pole, Amundsen a Norweigen was also en route. When Scott's party reached the pole on 17–18 January 1912, they were disappointed to find that Amundsen had already been there. Amundsen's party had travelled faster, being accustomed to snow and knowing how to use teams of dogs. They had also left more provisions in depots along the route.
The Return Journey
Having reached the Pole, the group had 800 miles to travel back and had to do this before April, when the Antartic winter brought near constant darkness. They knew the meteorology of the area well and had planned to use sails on their sledges to catch a tail wind and speed the journey back. However, when temperatures are very low, as they were that March, the winds are light and this did not work well (Solomon, S. 2001)
They had a disastrous journey and all died. Evans died first followed by Oates on 17 March 1912. According to Scott's journal, Oates' final words were "I am just going outside, and I may be some time". This was the last time he was ever seen, as his body was never found. It is thought that he sacrificed himself for the good of the others as he felt he was slowing them down. Wilson, another of the expedition team wrote to Oates' mother of his bravery. Wilson himself died towards the end of March, along with Scott and Bowers. They were only 11 miles away from the next depot. They were found in their sleeping bags on 12 November by a search party.
A skua flies near observation hill, where a cross
was erected in memory. Inscribed on the cross is “To strive, to seek,
to find, and not to yield”.
The last line of Tennyson’s “Ulysses”.
The Antarctic Today
There are teams from many countries studying the Antarctic. Find out more about the British team. British Antarctic Survey
References
Solomon, S. (2001), The Coldest March: Scott's Fatal Antarctic Expedition.
Newhaven: Yale University Press.
Fiennes, R (2004), Race to the Pole: Tragedy,
Heroism, and Scott's Antarctic Quest.New York:
Hyperion
With thanks to:
Susan Solomon author of The Coldest March: Scott's
fatal Antarctic Expedition
Images Susan Solomon, Turnbull Library New Zealand and various Wiki Commons
contributors