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    A LITTLE ABOUT THE HISTORY OF THE EXPLORATION OF ANTARCTICA.

    MODERN HISTORY BEGINS WITH CAPTAIN JAMES COOK,
THE FELLOW WHO DISCOVERED HAWAII, OF THE BRITISH NAVY. BETWEEN 1772
AND 1775 CAPT. COOK, WITH TWO SHIPS, SAILED COMPLETELY AROUND THE
CONTINENT, BUT NEVER SIGHTED LAND, BUT COOK'S REPORTS OF ABUNDANT
SEALS AND WHALES PROVIDED A FRESH INCENTIVE FOR COMMERCIAL MARINERS.

    IT IS DIFFICULT TO SAY EXACTLY WHO FIRST ACTUALLY SIGHTED THE
CONTINENT, THOUGH IT MAY HAVE BEEN KNOWN TO SEALERS BY THE 1820'S
THE SEALERS, HOWEVER, KEPT THEIR HUNTING GROUNDS SECRET. IT IS
CLEAR THAT AMERICAN AND BRITISH EXPLORERS SIGHTED THE ANTARCTIC
WITHIN A SHORT TIME OF EACH OTHER IN 1820-1821. AN AMERICAN NAVAL
OFFICER, CHARLES WILKES, IS GENERALLY ACCEPTED AS THE MAN WHO
DEFINITELY PROVED THE EXISTENCE OF THE CONTINENT IN 1838-40.

    PERHAPS THE MOST IMPORTANT EXPEDITION OF THE 19TH CENTURY WAS
THAT OF CAPT. JAMES ROSS OF THE BRITISH NAVY.  IN TWO SHIPS
ESPECIALLY STRENGTHENED TO RESIST THE ICE, THE "TERROR" AND THE
"EREBUS", HE HEADED FOR THE PART OF THE CONTINENT SOUTH OF NEW
ZEALAND. HIS EXPEDITION DISCOVERED THE ISLAND THAT NAF MCMURDO IS ON
AND NAMED IT ROSS IS. IN THIS AREA ROSS SAILED AS FAR SOUTH AS ANY
MAN HAD EVER DONE.  IN FACT, HE SAILED AS FAR SOUTH AS IT IS
POSSIBLE TO GO. HE HAD FOUND THE BEST WAY TO REACH THE HEART OF THE
CONTINENT AND THE CLOSEST APPROACH TO THE SOUTH POLE.

    THE MOST DRAMATIC EVENT OF THE EARLY 20TH CENTURY WAS THE
ACCOMPLISHMENT OF REACHING THE SOUTH POLE. THE FIRST MAN TO SUCCEED
WAS NORWEGIAN ROALD AMUNDSEN. AFTER SEVERAL DEPOT LAYING TRIPS
AMUNDSEN BEGAN HIS RUN IN OCT 1911.  HE LEFT FROM NEAR WHAT IS NOW
THE SITE OF LITTLE AMERICA.  HE REACHED THE POLE ON DEC 14, 1911.

    AT ALMOST THE SAME TIME THE GROUP OF CAPT. ROBERT SCOTT LEFT
ROSS IS. FOR THE POLE.  HE HAD TROUBLE AND NARROWED HIS PARTY DOWN
TO FOUR MEN WHEN HE REACHED THE POLAR PLATEAU, WHERE THEY MAN-
HAULED THEIR SUPPLIES. HE REACHED THE POLE ON JAN 12, 1912, ONLY
TO FIND THAT AMUNDSEN BEAT THEM TO IT. RETURNING TO ROSS IS. ALL
FIVE DIED. THE FINAL CAMP WAS 150 MILES FROM THEIR BASE.

    A FEW YEARS LATER SIR ERNEST SHACKLETON, WHO FIRST VISITED
ANTARCTICA AS A MEMBER OF SCOTT'S 1901-04 EXPEDITION, SURVIVED ONE
OF THE WORLD'S MOST HAZARDOUS TRIPS. IN OCT 1915 HIS SHIP ENDURANCE
WAS ICE-BESET IN THE WEDDEL SEA, CRUSHED AND ABANDONED. THE PARTY
OF 28 MEN CAMPED AND DRIFTED TO ELEPHANT IS. IN THE SOUTH SHETLANDS
ON AN ICE FLOE. FROM THIS ISLAND SHACKLETON, WITH FIVE OTHER MEN,
SAILED IN AN OPEN WHALEBOAT 800 MILES TO SOUTH GEORGIA. THE GROUP
ON ELEPHANT IS. WAS RESCUED IN AUGUST 1916.

    REAR ADMIRAL RICHARD E. BYRD CAME IN 1928 AND STAYED UNTIL 1930
SETTING UP THE FIRST LITTLE AMERICA ON THE EDGE OF THE ROSS ICE
SHELF. THIS EXPEDITION WAS BEST REMEMBERED BY MOST PEOPLE FOR
THE 19 HOUR FLIGHT OVER THE SOUTH POLE ON NOV 29, 1929. BYRD SHOWED
CONCLUSIVELY HOW EFFECTIVE THE AIRPLANE, EVEN WITH LIMITED RANGE,
COULD BE USED FOR EXPLORATION. IN 1933 BYRD LED A SECOND EXPEDITION
TO THE ANTARCTIC. HE ESTABLISHED A BASE AT THE SAME SITE AS IN 1929
AND NAMED IT LITTLE AMERICA II.  BYRDS THIRD, AND PROBABLY HIS MOST
PRODUCTIVE, EXPEDITION LASTED FROM 1939 TO 1941. LITTLE AMERICA
III WAS CONSTRUCTED A FEW MILES FROM THE EARLIER BASES.

    TO SUPPORT THE SCIENTIFIC PROGRAM OF THE INTERNATIONAL
GEOPHYSICAL YEAR (JULY 1957 TO DECEMBER 1959) THE DEEP FREEZE
OPERATIONS WERE BEGUN. THIS PROGRAM WAS TO PREPARE FOR AND SUPPORT
IGY ACTIVITIES IN ANTARCTICA. THE SHIPS OF DEEP FREEZE I LEFT THE
U.S. IN NOV 1955. THAT SEASON THEY ESTABLISHED THE MCMURDO AND
LITTLE AMERICA V STATIONS, BEGAN A TRAIL FROM LITTLE A. V TO MARIE
BYRD LAND AND PLANNED THE CONSTRUCTION OF FIVE OTHER IGY STATIONS.
AT SUMMER'S END 166 OFFICERS AND MEN, ALL VOLUNTEERS, STAYED TO
WINTER OVER AT THE TWO STATIONS.

    IN OCT 1956, DEEP FREEZE II BEGAN.  THE MOST WIDELY PUBLICIZED
EVENT OF THIS OPERATION WAS THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A SCIENTIFIC
STATION AT THE GEOGRAPHIC SOUTH POLE. BYRD, HALLETT, WILKES AND
ELLSWORTH STATIONS WERE ALSO CONSTRUCTED DURING DEEP FREEZE II.

    DURING THIS SAME TIME ELEVEN OTHER NATIONS WERE SETTING UP
STATIONS IN PREPARATION FOR THE IGY. WHEN DEEP FREEZE III BEGAN
IN NOVEMBER 1957 THIS WORLD-WIDE EVENT WAS UNDER WAY. DURING
DEEP FREEZE IV THE SCIENTISTS OF THE WORLD CONTINUED TO RECEIVE
SUPPORT FROM THE U.S. NAVY.

    AS THE IGY NEARED ITS END, THE DECISION WAS MADE TO CONTINUE
AMERICA'S SCIENTIFIC PROGRAM IN THE ANTARCTIC. THUS THE PRESENT
OPERATION DEEP FREEZE 60, COMMANDED BY REAR ADMIRAL DAVID M. TYREE,
USN, CAME INTO BEING.

    ANTARCTICA, SCENE OF OPERATION DEEP FREEZE 60,  IS A LAND MASS
ALMOST TWICE AS LARGE AS THE UNITED STATES. I DON'T WANT TO SOUND
LIKE I'M TALKING ABOUT TEXAS, BUT ANTARCTICA IS 20 TIMES LARGER....
AND A LITTLE HIGHER TOO OR IF YOU PREFER, IT HAS AN AVERAGE
ALTITUDE OF 6000 FT.--IT IS THE WORLDS HIGHEST CONTINENT. THIS
HEIGHT IS CAUSED BY ICE AND SNOW THAT HAVE ACCUMULATED OVER UNKNOWN
THOUSANDS OF YEARS. THE INTERIOR OF ANTARCTICA IS COVERED WITH
THIS ICECAP, CALLED THE ANTARCTIC PLATEAU, AND TALK ABOUT TEXAS....
IT'S EVEN FLATTER.

    SCIENTISTS, THE PEOPLE WHOSE WORK WE ARE SUPPORTING, BELIEVE
THAT 85 PERCENT OF THE WORLD'S ICE IS HERE. IN PLACES THE ICECAP
IS MORE THAN TWO MILES THICK. ITS GREAT WEIGHT CAUSES ICE TO BE
PUSHED OUT TOWARD THE EDGES OF THE CONTINENT IN THE FORM OF GLACIERS.
AT THE COASTLINE THE ICE CONTINUES ONWARD IN THE FORM OF ICE SHELVES
SUCH AS THE GIANT ROSS ICE SHELF, WHICH IS THE SIZE OF TEXAS. THIS
ICE SHELF IS A FLAT EXPANSE OF NOTHING BUT WHITE. WHERE THE SHELVES
MEET THE OCEAN, PORTIONS OF THEM CONTINUALLY BREAK OFF TO BECOME
ICEBERGS.

    AN OUTSTANDING FEATURE OF ANTARCTICA IS ITS MOUNTAINS. NUMEROUS
RANGES EXIST ON THIS CONTINENT, AND PEAKS IN EXCESS OF 15,000 FEET
ARE KNOWN. MOUNTAINS ALSO LIE IN THE INTERIOR, COVERED WITH SNOW
AND SHOWING ONLY THE TIPS OF THE HIGHEST MOUNTAINS; THESE ARE
CALLED NUNATAKS. SEVERAL VOLCANOS HAVE BEEN REPORTED: ONLY MT.
EREBUS HERE ON ROSS ISLAND APPEARS TO BE CONSTANTLY ACTIVE.

    ANTARCTICA IS NOTED FOR ITS FIERCE WEATHER. BLIZZARDS DEVELOP
WITH AMAZING RAPIDITY AND MAY LAST FOR DAYS. IT IS REGARDED AS THE
COLDEST AREA ON EARTH. THE LOWEST TEMPERATURE EVER RECORDED IS
127.5 BELOW ZERO REPORTED BY RUSSIAN SCIENTISTS AT THE VOSTOK
STATION IN 1957.  AMERICANS AT THE SOUTH POLE RECORDED 110 BELOW
ZERO IN SEPT 1959--AND I MEAN TO TELL YOU THAT'S COLD!

    COMPARED WITH THE REST OF THE WORLD, ANTARCTICA IS A LIFELESS
CONTINENT. NO TREES, FLOWERS OR HIGHER ANIMALS ARE TO BE FOUND.
MOSS, LICHEN AND A FEW INSECTS HAVE BEEN COLLECTED, BUT ONLY ALONG
THE COASTAL REGIONS IS THERE AN APPRECIABLE AMOUNT OF LIFE.
ANTARCTIC WATERS ARE RICH IN SEA LIFE; PLANKTON, FISHES, SEALS
AND PENGUINS RING THE CONTINENT.

    PENGUINS ARE THE SYMBOL OF ANTARCTICA. THE "EMPEROR", USUALLY
3 FEET HIGH AND WEIGHING ABOUT 80 LBS., USUALLY LOOKS DIGNIFIED.
IN CONTRAST, THE "ADELIE" IS KNOWN AS THE CLOWN OF ANTARCTICA. ABOUT
1/2 THE SIZE OF THEIR COUSINS, THEY ARE CURIOUS, PLAYFUL AND HAVE
NO FEAR OF MEN.

   SOME PERSONS CONFUSE THE ARCTIC AND ANTARCTIC REGIONS. IN
ADDITION TO BEING AT OPPOSITE ENDS OF THE GLOBE, THERE ARE
OTHER DIFFERENCES. THE ANTARCTIC IS A CONTINENT SURROUNDED
BY WATER; THE ARCTIC IS AN OCEAN SURROUNDED BY LAND. THE SOUTH POLE
RESTS ON A POLAR PLATEAU OF ABOUT 10,000 FEET ALTITUDE; THE NORTH
POLE IS IN THE MIDDLE OF A SEA ABOUT 10,000 FEET DEEP. MORE THAN
A MILLION PEOPLE LIVE BEYOND THE ARCTIC CIRCLE, AS WELL AS NUMEROUS
ANIMALS, PLANTS AND INSECTS. BEYOND THE ANTARCTIC CIRCLE NO MAN CAN
LIVE WITHOUT OUTSIDE SUPPLIES; ONLY A FEW LIVING THINGS EXIST.

    AND SO ENDS OUR SUMMARY OF THE ANTARCTICA. WE HOPE YOU HAVE
ENJOYED IT AND WILL PASS IT ON TO OTHERS.....

DE KC4USV

