The Observations of Amundsen and Scott at the South pole

Determining the present precise location of Amundsen's tent is a function of 1) the precision of Amundsen's navigation in 1911, 2) the flow of ice since then, and 3) the amount of burial by intervening snow fall. These factors are discussed and it is concluded that the best location that can be given for the tent in December 2011 is 89 • 58 51 S, 46 • 14 E, and lying 17 m below the present snow surface. The uncertainty in the position is 0.3 km, and is mainly related to uncertainties in the original positioning. It can be concluded with high certainty that the tent lies between 1.8 and 2.5 km from the South Pole.

“…Adding this motion to the position given by Hinks (1944) as 89° 58′ 45″ S, 71° 36′ E places the tent 100 years later in the position 89° 58′ 51″ S, 46° 14′ E (see Fig. 1).…”

Section: The Motion Of the Tent During The Past Centurymentioning

confidence: 83%

“…The observations were reexamined by Hinks (1944). He reconstructed the observations more closely, and used the 24 hour observation to deduce the sextant's index errors and on the atmospheric refraction.…”

Section: The Arrival Of the Five Norwegians At The South Pole And Thementioning

confidence: 99%

The present location of the tent that Roald Amundsen left behind at the South Pole in December 1911

Orheim¹

2011

“…Although both Wilson and Scott seem to have thought initially that the flag was intended to mark the Pole as reckoned by the Norwegian team, the note itself makes it clear that this was not so. Mindful of the controversy over the location of the North Pole, Amundsen sent members of his party east, west and south of his course to encircle the Pole, each group taking a flagpole, a flag and a reckoning of the position of the Pole (Amundsen, 1912; Hinks, 1944). The flag found by Scott's party was planted around eight miles from Amundsen's trial camp, known as ‘Sledge Camp’.…”

Section: The Proposed Provenance For the Sledge Shoe Fragmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The note had been written at the previous camp and was dated 15 December and offered Scott ‘the sledge outside’, which Wilson was unable to find when he looked for it on 18 January (E. Wilson, 1972, p. 232). This is because it had actually been left at the Norwegians' first South Pole camp about 5.5 miles away (later designated Sledge Camp [Hinks, 1944]), but the note had not been corrected when it was placed in the new ‘Polheim’ location on 18 December.…”

Section: The Sledge Shoe Fragment In Contextmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…On 16 December after taking fresh observations, Hassel noted that his ‘under-runner’ flag was the one that was closest to the actual pole (Kløver, 2011c, p. 143), which, if correct, would mean that when Scott's party found the flag near to their own South Pole camp on 18 January 1912, it was Hassel's that they found. Hinks has made a thorough reconstruction from the readings recorded by Scott and Amundsen's parties to show clearly how the courses of the two expeditions intersected at the Pole (Hinks, 1944) and the locations of the different camps and flags.…”

Section: The Sledge Shoe Fragment In Contextmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

On the provenance of a historic sledge shoe fragment, said to have been collected by Edward Wilson at the South Pole in 1912

Rowe¹

2017

This paper discusses the authentication of a metal sledge shoe fragment, believed by the owner to have been collected by Edward Wilson close to the South Pole on 18 January 1912. Microscopic and elemental analysis show that the object is made from ‘German silver’, a copper alloy used only on Norwegian Nansen-style sledges in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, and that it was used to clad a tapering sledge runner end about 10 mm thick. By comparing related objects, including sledges used by Amundsen and Scott in their South Pole journeys and a sledge from the Discovery Expedition, we show that the object cannot have come from an English sledge, but would have fitted one of Amundsen's modified sledges. Written sources have been extensively searched, but no direct written provenance for the object exists. However, contemporary Norwegian and British accounts explain specific features of the object and exclude other possible provenances. We conclude that it is most likely that the proposed provenance and history attached to this artefact are correct.

Roald Amundsen’s route across the polar plateau in 1911–1912

Lantz

2022

Roald Amundsen’s exact route from the top of the Axel Heiberg glacier to the South Pole and back in 1911–1912 has always been somewhat unclear because he never observed his longitude during his southern journey. His approach was simply to steer approximately in a true southerly direction by magnetic compass as long as obstacles did not force him to deviate. The fact that he only knew approximately where he was most of the time on the polar plateau never caused any severe problems for him, but it complicated the search for a depot during the return journey. Based on Amundsen’s bearings of some peaks in the Transantarctic Mountains, in combination with his compass courses adjusted with accurate values for the magnetic declination at the time, this paper elucidates Amundsen’s actual route across the polar plateau in 1911–1912. The main result is that Amundsen must have taken a more easterly route than what previously has been assumed.