Editing History of Antarctica (section)

== Early exploration ==

===Polynesian Travel Claims===
[[File:TonganCanoes.jpg|thumb|Tongan canoes, with sails and cabins, and two Tongan men paddling a smaller canoe from "Boats of the Friendly Isles" a record of Cook's visit to Tonga, 1773-4]]
Some authors have suggested that a figure in [[Polynesians]] oral tradition from [[Rarotonga]], [[Ui-te-Rangiora|Hui Te Rangiora]] (also known as 'Ui Te Rangiora) and his crew explored Antarctic waters in the early seventh century on the vessel ''Te Ivi o Atea''.<ref name="Wehi-2021">{{cite journal |doi=10.1080/03036758.2021.1917633 |title=A short scan of Māori journeys to Antarctica |journal=Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand|volume= 52|pages= 1–12|year=2021 |last1=Wehi|first1=Priscilla M. |author-link1=Priscilla Wehi|last2=Scott|first2=Nigel J. |last3=Beckwith|first3=Jacinta |last4=Pryor Rodgers|first4=Rata |last5=Gillies|first5=Tasman |last6=Van Uitregt|first6=Vincent |last7=Krushil|first7=Watene|issue=5 |doi-access=free|pmc=11485871}}</ref> Accounts name the area "Te tai-uka-a-pia", which literally means 'powdered [[Tacca leontopetaloides|pia]]', but in some interpretations it may refer to snow or ice due to the lack of a word for these phenomena in [[Polynesian languages]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.livescience.com/indigenous-people-discovered-antarctica.html|title=Antarctica was likely discovered 1 100 years before Westerners 'found' it|publisher=Live Science|author=Laura Geggel|language=English|date=15 June 2021|accessdate=28 December 2021|archive-date=27 December 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211227203654/https://www.livescience.com/indigenous-people-discovered-antarctica.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Wehi-2021" /><ref name=Smith>{{cite book |last=Smith |first=Stephenson Percy |author-link=Percy Smith (ethnologist) |title=Hawaiki: the whence of the Maori, being an introduction to Rarotongan history: Part III |url=http://www.jps.auckland.ac.nz/document/Volume_8_1899/Volume_8%2C_No._1%2C_March_1899/Hawaiki%3A_the_whence_of_the_Maori%2C_being_an_introduction_to_Rarotongan_history%3A_Part_III%2C_by_S._Percy_Smith%2C_p_1-48/p1 |access-date=2019-11-21 |year=1899 |publisher=The Journal of the Polynesian Society, Volume 8 |pages=10–11 |archive-date=2020-02-01 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200201220057/http://www.jps.auckland.ac.nz/document//Volume_8_1899/Volume_8%2C_No._1%2C_March_1899/Hawaiki%3A_the_whence_of_the_Maori%2C_being_an_introduction_to_Rarotongan_history%3A_Part_III%2C_by_S._Percy_Smith%2C_p_1-48/p1 |url-status=live }}</ref> However, this interpretation of the original account is disputed by [[Te Rangi Hīroa]] (Sir Peter Henry Buck) who lists evidence for his belief that 'later historians embellished the tales by adding details learned from European whalers and teachers'.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Hīroa |first1=Te Rangi |title=Vikings of the Sunrise |date=1964 |publisher=Whitcombe and Tombs Limited |pages=116–117 |url=http://nzetc.victoria.ac.nz/tm/scholarly/tei-BucViki-t1-body-d1-d9.html |access-date=2021-09-07 |archive-date=2021-09-02 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210902020343/http://nzetc.victoria.ac.nz/tm/scholarly/tei-BucViki-t1-body-d1-d9.html |url-status=live }}</ref> This interpretation of oral history and the probability of such a voyage have likewise been dismissed more recently by [[Ngāi Tahu]] scholars, who agree that 'it is very unlikely that Māori or other Polynesian voyaging reached the Antarctic'.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Anderson |first1=A |title=On the improbability of pre-European Polynesian voyages to Antarctica: a response to Priscilla Wehi and colleagues |journal=Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand |date=2021 |volume=52 |issue=5 |pages=599–605 |doi=10.1080/03036758.2021.1973517 |s2cid=239089356 |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/03036758.2021.1973517 |access-date=2021-12-26 |archive-date=2021-10-17 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211017231618/https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/03036758.2021.1973517 |url-status=live |pmc=11485678 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Anderson |first1=A |title=A southern Māori perspective on stories of Polynesian polar voyaging |journal=Polar Record |date=2021 |volume=57 |doi=10.1017/S0032247421000693 |bibcode=2021PoRec..57E..42A |s2cid=244118774 |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/polar-record/article/southern-maori-perspective-on-stories-of-polynesian-polar-voyaging/CD692ED61C1DAB8F33653C6FCFDDE366 |access-date=2021-12-26 |archive-date=2021-12-26 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211226030336/https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/polar-record/article/southern-maori-perspective-on-stories-of-polynesian-polar-voyaging/CD692ED61C1DAB8F33653C6FCFDDE366 |url-status=live }}</ref>

===The search for ''Terra Australis Incognita''===
{{main|Terra Australis}}
[[File:Theatrum Orbis Terrarum, by Abraham Ortelius, World, 1572.jpg|thumb|right|250px|In 1570, a rudimentary map by [[Ortelius]] showed the imagined link between the proposed continent of Antarctica and South America. Note also the proposed landmasses surrounding the [[North Pole]].]]
[[Aristotle]] speculated, "Now since there must be a region bearing the same relation to the southern pole as the place we live in bears to our pole...".<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://classics.mit.edu/Aristotle/meteorology.2.ii.html |title=''Meteorologica'' Book II 5 |access-date=2018-06-22 |archive-date=2015-06-27 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150627200800/http://classics.mit.edu/Aristotle/meteorology.2.ii.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=The Internet Classics Archive {{!}} Meteorology by Aristotle |url=https://classics.mit.edu/Aristotle/meteorology.2.ii.html |access-date=2025-04-19 |website=classics.mit.edu}}</ref>

It was not until [[Prince Henry the Navigator]] began in 1418 to encourage the penetration of the [[tropics|torrid zone]] in the effort to reach India by circumnavigating Africa that European exploration of the southern hemisphere began.<ref name=EB1911>{{EB1911|wstitle=Polar Regions#Antarctic_Region|display=Polar Regions § ''Antarctic Region'' |first=Hugh Robert |last=Mill |inline=1}}</ref> In 1473, Portuguese navigator [[Lopes Gonçalves]] proved that the [[equator]] could be crossed, and cartographers and sailors began to assume the existence of another, temperate continent to the south of the known world.
[[File:Freti Magellanici ac novi freti vulgo le Maire.jpg|thumb|''"The Magellan Strait and the new strait commonly known as Le Maire."''                                                                                                   1633's map of [[Strait of Magellan]], showing Strait Le Maire at the right, marked ''Fretum le Maire'' ([[Latin]]) and ''Straet Le Maire'' ([[Dutch language|Dutch]])]]
The doubling of the [[Cape of Good Hope]] in 1487 by [[Bartolomeu Dias]] first brought explorers within touch of the Antarctic cold, and proved that there was an ocean separating Africa from any Antarctic land that might exist.<ref name=EB1911/>

[[Ferdinand Magellan]], who passed through the [[Straits of Magellan]] in 1520, assumed that the islands of [[Tierra del Fuego]] to the south were an extension of this unknown southern land, and it appeared as such on a map by [[Ortelius]]: ''Terra australis recenter inventa sed nondum plene cognita'' ("Southern land recently discovered but not yet fully known").<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Barr|first=William|date=2014|title=Review of OF MAPS AND MEN: THE MYSTERIOUS DISCOVERY OF ANTARCTICA|jstor=24363785|journal=Arctic|volume=67|issue=3|pages=410–411|doi=10.14430/arctic4411|doi-access=free}}</ref>

[[File:Governorate of Terra Australis (1539-1555), Spain.svg|thumb|Map of the Spanish governorate of Terra Australis (1539–1555);<ref name=Oscar/> later it was incorporated into the Governorate of Chile.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Zamudio Vargas |first1=Orlando |title=Chile historia de la división político-administrativa, 1810-2000 |date=2001 |page=14 |url=https://www.google.es/books/edition/Chile/Ot9RYEb_emUC?hl=es&gbpv=1&dq=1539+Terra+Australis&pg=PA14&printsec=frontcover |archive-url=https://books.googleusercontent.com/books/content?req=AKW5QacZMWN-r3HI-2zFA2yfnWmvpZeCa2LtDKjzxrQ4asESDl-EcUScskpPJJM8yCelSuB0MdAp0WIK7QUfxOtKlp-Xe9NDuBxiYELdeULfTOoNbJNDYYbreZHu_UHEQBZn_STIBxRbKiUabNbRb0TWXfljODkrbPVvWVsBlQ0RrR1tokTUUXOC-tAXyk9nB1-JmCCOE0Q_rpaavLTJpclEbCFFZHVSl3eZLgfInaoIM7PJ_O8a1qM |archive-date=22 April 2025 |language=es}}</ref><ref name=Mericq>{{cite book |last1=Mericq |first1=Luis S. |title=Antarctica Chile's Claim |date=1987 |isbn=9780756727567 |page=90-91 |quote=After the discovery of the Strait of Magellan (1520), geographers and cartographers were more convinced than ever of the ancient theory of Claudio Tolomeo, who maintained that a continent did exist around the South Pole. They published maps and charts based on the hypothesis that Tierra del Fuego was the beginning of that Terra Australis. The first person ever to have rights over these lands was Pedro Sancho de la Hoy, who received them through a special decree signed by Emperor Charles V on 24 January 1539. This decree gave to de la Hoy all territories to the south of the Strait of Magellan, including Antarctica. During the next two centuries, several other de-crees by the Spanish sovereign confirmed that all lands to the south of the Drake Passage were part of the Kingdom of Chile.}}</ref><ref name="PoliticalGeographyLatinAmerica">{{cite book |last1=R. Barton |first1=Jonathan |title=A Political Geography of Latin America |date=November 2002 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |isbn=9781134828074 |page=200 |quote=Terra Australis (the southern land), south of the Magellan Strait to the South Pole, in 1539 and Chilean governors during the colonial period had territorial jurisdiction over the Antarctic (Paravic Valdivia, 1988).}}</ref><ref name=Arriaga>{{cite book |last1=Arriaga Rodríguez |first1=Juan Carlos |title=El Largo Proceso Histórico de Partición Territorial: Las Fronteras de América Latina y el Caribe, Siglos XVI Al XXI |date=2013 |publisher=Bonilla Artigas editores, S.A. de C.V |location=México, D. F |isbn=9786077588740 |language=es |quote=quinta gobernación llamada Terra Australis. Esta gobernación abarcaba desde la ribera sur del Estrecho de Magallanes hasta el polo; es decir, la parte más austral del continente. Sin embargo, se renunció a esta capitulación y fue cedida a favor de la Gobernación de Chile (véase Mapa 3)}}</ref>]]
In 1539, the King of Spain, [[Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor|Charles V]], created the [[Governorate of Terra Australis]]<ref name=Oscar>{{cite book |author1=Pinochet de la Barra, Óscar |title=La Antártica Chilena |date=November 1944 |publisher=Editorial Andrés Bello}}</ref> granted to [[Pedro Sancho de la Hoz]],<ref name="Jot Down">{{cite web |author1=Calamari, Andrea |title=El conjurado que gobernó la Antártida |url=https://www.jotdown.es/2022/06/el-conjurado-que-goberno-la-antartida/ |publisher=Jot Down |language=es |date=June 2022 |access-date=2022-08-25 |archive-date=2022-09-20 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220920171548/https://www.jotdown.es/2022/06/el-conjurado-que-goberno-la-antartida/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Pedro Sancho de la Hoz">{{cite web |title=Pedro Sancho de la Hoz |url=https://dbe.rah.es/biografias/7380/pedro-sancho-de-la-hoz |publisher=Real Academia de la Historia |access-date=25 August 2022 |language=es |archive-date=20 September 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220920171823/https://dbe.rah.es/biografias/7380/pedro-sancho-de-la-hoz |url-status=live }}</ref> who in 1540 transferred the title to the conqueror [[Pedro de Valdivia]]<ref>{{cite web |title=1544 |url=http://www.biografiadechile.cl/detalle.php?IdContenido=827&IdCategoria=40&IdArea=191&status=S&TituloPagina=Historia%20de%20Chile&pos=30 |publisher=Biografía de Chile |language=es |access-date=2022-08-25 |archive-date=2022-08-19 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220819190503/http://www.biografiadechile.cl/detalle.php?IdContenido=827&IdCategoria=40&IdArea=191&status=S&TituloPagina=Historia%20de%20Chile&pos=30 |url-status=live }}</ref> and later was incorporated to [[Kingdom of Chile|Chile]].

[[File:Geography world map.jpeg|thumb|left|250px|Map from 1771, showing "Terres Australes" label without any charted landmass]]
European geographers connected the coast of Tierra del Fuego with the coast of [[New Guinea]] on their globes, and allowing their imaginations to run riot in the vast unknown spaces of the south Atlantic, south Indian Ocean and Pacific Ocean, they sketched the outlines of the ''Terra Australis Incognita'' ("Unknown Southern Land"), a vast continent stretching in parts into the tropics. The search for this great south land or Third World was a leading motive of explorers in the 16th and the early part of the 17th centuries.<ref name=EB1911/>

In 1599, according to the account of [[Jacob Le Maire]], the [[blown off course]] Dutch [[Dirck Gerritsz Pomp]] observed mountainous land at latitude (64°). If so, these were the [[South Shetland Islands]], and possibly the first European sighting of Antarctica (or offshore-lying islands belonging to it). Other accounts, however, do not note this observation, casting doubt on their accuracy. A similar incident happened to the Spaniard [[Gabriel de Castilla]] claimed to have sighted "snow-covered mountains" beyond the [[64th parallel south|64° S]] in 1603. Both of these potential discoveries had no consequences. Before the construction of the [[Panama Canal]], the passages around Tierra del Fuego, notorious for their harsh weather, served as the primary route between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. Many ships navigating this route reported drifting off course beyond the 60th parallel, yet no land was ever sighted.{{Citation needed|date=May 2023}}

[[Pedro Fernández de Quirós|Quirós]], in 1606, took possession for the king of Spain all of the lands he had discovered in Australia del Espiritu Santo (the [[Geography of Vanuatu|New Hebrides]]) and those he would discover "even to the Pole".<ref name=EB1911/>

[[Francis Drake]], like Spanish explorers before him, had speculated that there might be an open channel south of Tierra del Fuego. Indeed, when [[Willem Schouten|Schouten]] and [[Jacob Le Maire|Le Maire]] discovered the southern extremity of Tierra del Fuego and named it Cape Horn in 1615, they proved that the Tierra del Fuego archipelago was of small extent and not connected to the southern land.<ref name=EB1911/>

Finally, in 1642, [[Abel Tasman|Tasman]] showed that even [[New Holland (Australia)|New Holland]] was separated by sea from any continuous southern continent. Voyagers round the Horn frequently met with contrary winds and were driven southward into snowy skies and ice-encumbered seas; but, so far as can be ascertained, none of them before 1770 reached the Antarctic Circle, or knew it, if they did.<ref name=EB1911/>

The [[Dutch expedition to Valdivia]] of 1643 intended to round Cape Horn sailing through [[Le Maire Strait]] but strong winds made it instead drift south and east.<ref name=Arana280>{{Cite book|title=Historia general de Chile|last=Barros Arana|first=Diego|publisher=Biblioteca Virtual Miguel de Cervantes|location=Alicante|url=http://www.cervantesvirtual.com/obra-visor/historia-general-de-chile-tomo-cuarto--0/html/ff2f1efc-82b1-11df-acc7-002185ce6064_67.html|edition=Digital edition based on the second edition of 2000|volume=Tomo cuarto|language=es|chapter=Capítulo XI|author-link=Diego Barros Arana|page=280|access-date=2019-08-01|archive-date=2019-07-27|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190727005618/http://www.cervantesvirtual.com/obra-visor/historia-general-de-chile-tomo-cuarto--0/html/ff2f1efc-82b1-11df-acc7-002185ce6064_67.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Northerly winds pushed the expedition as far south as 61°59 S where [[iceberg]]s were abundant before a southerly wind that begun on April 7 allowed the fleet to advance west.<ref name=Arana280/> The small fleet led by [[Hendrik Brouwer]] managed to enter the Pacific Ocean sailing south of [[Isla de los Estados]] disproving earlier beliefs that it was part of Terra Australis.<ref name=Arana280/><ref>{{cite book |last=Lane |first=Kris E. |title=Pillaging the Empire: Piracy in the Americas 1500–1750 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bRgFqADzOLkC |year=1998 |publisher=M.E. Sharpe |location=Armonk, N.Y. |isbn=978-0-76560-256-5 |page=88 |access-date=2020-05-27 |archive-date=2023-06-30 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230630103127/https://books.google.com/books?id=bRgFqADzOLkC |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=Kock>{{cite web|first=Robbert|last=Kock|url=http://www.colonialvoyage.com/dutchchile.html|title=Dutch in Chile|publisher=Colonial Voyage.com|access-date=23 October 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160229232448/http://www.colonialvoyage.com/dutch-chile/|archive-date=29 February 2016|url-status=dead|df=dmy-all}}</ref>

===South of the Antarctic Convergence===
The visit to [[South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands|South Georgia]] by the English merchant [[Anthony de la Roché]] in 1675 was the first ever discovery of land south of the [[Antarctic Convergence]].<ref>Dalrymple, Alexander. (1771). ''A Collection of Voyages Made to the Ocean Between Cape Horn and Cape of Good Hope''. Two volumes. London.</ref><ref>Headland, Robert K. (1984). ''The Island of South Georgia'', Cambridge University Press. {{ISBN|0-521-25274-1}}</ref> Soon after the voyage cartographers started to depict '[[Anthony de la Roché#Maps showing la Roché's discovery|Roché Island]]', honouring the discoverer.

[[James Cook]] was aware of La Roché's discovery when surveying and mapping the island in 1775.<ref>Cook, James. (1777). [http://www.gutenberg.org/files/15869/15869-8.txt ''A Voyage Towards the South Pole, and Round the World. Performed in His Majesty's Ships the Resolution and Adventure, In the Years 1772, 1773, 1774, and 1775. In which is included, Captain Furneaux's Narrative of his Proceedings in the Adventure during the Separation of the Ships''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110916093218/http://www.gutenberg.org/files/15869/15869-8.txt |date=2011-09-16 }}. Volume II. London: Printed for W. Strahan and T. Cadell. ([[:wikisource:James Cook and South Georgia in 1775|Relevant fragment]])</ref>

[[Edmond Halley]]'s voyage in [[HMS Paramour|HMS ''Paramour'']] for magnetic investigations in the South Atlantic met the pack ice in [[52nd parallel south|52°&nbsp;S]] in January 1700, but that latitude (he reached {{Convert|140|mi|km|abbr=on|disp=or}} off the north coast of [[South Georgia]]) was his farthest south. A determined effort on the part of the French naval officer [[Jean-Baptiste Charles Bouvet de Lozier]] to discover the "South Land" – described by a half legendary [[Binot Paulmier de Gonneville|"sieur de Gonneyville"]] – resulted in the discovery of [[Bouvet Island]] in 54°10′&nbsp;S, and in the navigation of [[48th meridian west|48° of longitude]] of ice-cumbered sea nearly in [[55th parallel south|55°&nbsp;S]] in 1739.<ref name=EB1911/>

In 1771, [[Yves-Joseph de Kerguelen-Trémarec|Yves Joseph Kerguelen]] sailed from France with instructions to proceed south from [[Mauritius]] in search of "a very large continent." He lighted upon a land in [[50th parallel south|50°&nbsp;S]] which he called South France, and believed to be the central mass of the southern continent. He was sent out again to complete the exploration of the new land, and found it to be only an inhospitable island which he renamed the Isle of Desolation, but which [[Kerguelen Islands|was ultimately named after him]].<ref name=EB1911/>

===The Antarctic Circle===
{{Further|Second voyage of James Cook}}
[[File:Cook-1777.jpg|thumb|300px|[[James Cook]]'s 1777 south-up map of [[South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands#South Georgia|South Georgia]]]]
The obsession of the undiscovered continent culminated in the brain of [[Alexander Dalrymple]], the brilliant and erratic [[hydrographer]] who was nominated by the [[Royal Society]] to command the [[Transit of Venus]] expedition to [[Tahiti]] in 1769. The command of the expedition was given by the admiralty to Captain [[James Cook]]. Sailing in 1772 with the ''Resolution'', a vessel of 462 tons under his own command and the ''Adventure'' of 336 tons under Captain [[Tobias Furneaux]], Cook first searched in vain for [[Bouvet Island]], then sailed for 20 degrees of longitude to the westward in [[58th parallel south|latitude 58°&nbsp;S]], and then 30° eastward for the most part south of [[60th parallel south|60°&nbsp;S]], a higher southern latitude than had ever been voluntarily entered before by any vessel. On 17 January 1773 the [[Antarctic Circle]] was crossed for the first time in history and the two ships reached {{nowrap|67° 15' S}} by {{nowrap|39° 35' E}}, where their course was stopped by ice.<ref name=EB1911/>

Cook then turned northward to look for [[French Southern and Antarctic Lands]], of the discovery of which he had received news at [[Cape Town]], but from the rough determination of his longitude by Kerguelen, Cook reached the assigned latitude 10° too far east and did not see it. He turned south again and was stopped by ice in {{nowrap|61° 52′ S}} by 95°&nbsp;E and continued eastward nearly on the parallel of [[60th parallel south|60°&nbsp;S]] to [[147th meridian east|147°&nbsp;E]]. On 16 March, the approaching winter drove him northward for rest to New Zealand and the tropical islands of the Pacific. In November 1773, Cook left New Zealand, having parted company with the ''Adventure'', and reached [[60th parallel south|60°&nbsp;S]] by [[177th meridian west|177°&nbsp;W]], whence he sailed eastward keeping as far south as the floating ice allowed. The Antarctic Circle was crossed on 20 December and Cook remained south of it for three days, being compelled after reaching {{nowrap|67° 31′ S}} to stand north again in [[135th meridian west|135°&nbsp;W]].<ref name=EB1911/>

A long detour to {{nowrap|47° 50′ S}} served to show that there was no land connection between New Zealand and [[Tierra del Fuego]]. Turning south again, Cook crossed the Antarctic Circle for the third time at {{nowrap|109° 30′ W}} before his progress was once again blocked by ice four days later at {{nowrap|71° 10′ S}} by {{nowrap|106° 54′ W}}. This point, reached on 30 January 1774, was the farthest south attained in the 18th century. With a great detour to the east, almost to the coast of South America, the expedition regained Tahiti for refreshment. In November 1774, Cook started from New Zealand and crossed the South Pacific without sighting land between [[53rd parallel south|53°]] and [[57th parallel south|57°&nbsp;S]] to Tierra del Fuego; then, passing Cape Horn on 29 December, he rediscovered [[Anthony de la Roché#Maps showing la Roché's discovery|Roché Island]] renaming it [[South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands|Isle of Georgia]], and discovered the [[South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands|South Sandwich Islands]] (named ''Sandwich Land'' by him), the only ice-clad land he had seen, before crossing the South Atlantic to the Cape of Good Hope between [[55th parallel south|55°]] and [[60th parallel south|60°]]. He thereby laid open the way for future Antarctic exploration by exploding the myth of a habitable southern continent. Cook's most southerly discovery of land lay on the temperate side of the [[60th parallel south|60th parallel]], and he convinced himself that if land lay farther south it was practically inaccessible and of no economic value.<ref name="EB1911"/>

=== Discovery of the South Shetland Islands (1819)===
[[File:Drake passage.png|thumb|300px|Drake Passage map]]
The first land south of the [[60th parallel south|parallel 60° south latitude]] was documented by captain of the cargo ship ''[[William (1811 Blythe ship)|Williams]]'', Englishman [[William Smith (mariner)|William Smith]], who sighted [[Livingston Island]] in the [[South Shetland Islands|South Shetlands]] archipelago on 19 February 1819 but did not land on it. Smith was blown off course to the south while en route to [[Valparaiso]]. On reaching Valparaiso, Smith reported his discovery of the islands and the abundance of seals there, to Captain [[William Henry Shirreff]], of {{HMS|Andromache|1799|6}},<ref>"NEW SHETLAND". ''Caledonian Mercury'' (Edinburgh, Scotland), 25 June 1821; Issue 15571.</ref> which had arrived there about 5 September 1818. Smith was unable to visit the islands again while his return to the Atlantic.

In October 1819, Smith revisited the South Shetlands, landing on [[King George Island (South Shetland Islands)|King George Island]] on 16 October and claimed the new territories for Britain. On 24 November, ''Williams'' was back at Valparaiso from [[Monte Video]]. At the beginning of the following year, 1820, the [[Royal Navy]] chartered ''Williams'' and dispatched with her with Lieutenant [[Edward Bransfield]] on board to survey the newly discovered islands and formally claim them for Great Britain, because Smith was a civilian and his October declaration had no legal force.<ref>{{cite book|last=Hanessian|first=John|title=Antarctica|year=1963|publisher=Antarctica|location=New Zealand|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=20sOAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA23|page=23|quote=It was in this period that Edward Bransfield surveyed the South Shetlands in 1819–20 and may have been the first to sight the Antarctic Continent}}</ref>

Before Bransfield's expedition reached its destination, [[Seal hunting|sealer]] and Smith's navigator from the previous expedition, Joseph Herring, landed on [[Rugged Island (South Shetland Islands)|Rugged Island]].<ref>Williams, K.L. (2021) ‘Bridgeman Island, Antarctica, “burning mount” or old eroded volcano?’, Polar Record, 57, p. e33. doi:10.1017/S0032247421000152.</ref> The second confirmed ship present in the South Shetlands at this time was the American ''[[Hersilia (1819 ship)|Hersilia]]''. The Americans learned of the new land from the crew of the ''Espirito Santo'', Joseph Herring's ship, that they met on the [[Falklands]].{{sfn|Stackpole|1955|pp=10-11}}

====''San Telmo''====
On September 2, 1819, the Spanish ship ''[[San Telmo (Spanish ship)|San Telmo]]'' was lost in a storm in the Drake Passage. There were 644 people on board, including soldiers who were supposed to support [[Spanish American wars of independence|Spanish forces in Peru]]. There is speculation that the ship may have sunk near the South Shetland Islands, and even left survivors there. On the [[Half Moon Beach]] next to the [[Doctor Guillermo Mann Base]] stands a plaque commemorating the sinking of the ''San Telmo''.<ref>{{cite web |title=Navío San Telmo |url=https://www.todoababor.es/listado/navio-santelmo.htm#google_vignette |website=Todo a Babor}}</ref><ref name=atcm>{{cite web |url= http://www.ats.aq/documents/ATCM35/WW/atcm35_ww003_e.pdf|title= List of Historic Sites and Monuments approved by the ATCM (2012)|access-date=2014-01-04 |publisher=Antarctic Treaty Secretariat |year=2012}}</ref>

It is believed that William Smith found the remains of ''San Telmo'' on Livingston Island,<ref>{{Cite thesis|publisher=University of Canterbury|type=PGCert|last=Xin|first=Zhang|date=2010|title=Be careful, Here is Antarctica - the statistics and analysis of the grave accidents in Antarctica|url=https://ir.canterbury.ac.nz/handle/10092/13919|language=en|access-date=2020-11-01|archive-date=2023-06-30|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230630103119/https://ir.canterbury.ac.nz/handle/10092/13919|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Zarankin|first1=Andrés|last2=Senatore|first2=María Ximena|date=2005|title=Archaeology in Antarctica: Nineteenth-Century Capitalism Expansion Strategies|journal=International Journal of Historical Archaeology|language=en|volume=9|issue=1|pages=43–56|doi=10.1007/s10761-005-5672-y|s2cid=55849547|issn=1092-7697}}</ref><ref name="(España)1987">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=a77vjMllkN4C&pg=PA263|title=Comunicaciones presentadas en el Primer Symposium Español de Estudios Antárticos: celebrado en Palma de Mallorca del 30 de junio al 4 de julio de 1985|author=Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (España)|publisher=CSIC Press|year=1987|isbn=978-84-00-06530-0|language=es|access-date=2020-11-01|archive-date=2023-06-30|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230630103128/https://books.google.com/books?id=a77vjMllkN4C&pg=PA263|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Martín-Cancela2018">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_apSDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA296|title=Tras las huellas del San Telmo: contexto, historia y arqueología en la Antártida|last=Martín-Cancela|date=9 March 2018|publisher=Prensas de la Universidad de Zaragoza|isbn=978-84-17358-23-5|language=es|access-date=1 November 2020|archive-date=30 June 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230630103127/https://books.google.com/books?id=_apSDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA296|url-status=live}}</ref> but Smith himself never mentioned it and the information is second-hand. There is also uncertainty about where the wreck was actually discovered. Smith landed on Livingston Island only during his fifth voyage to the archipelago, after the expedition commanded by Bransfield. One possible explanation for this discrepancy is that Smith named a bay on King George Island 'Shirreff Bay,' but on a subsequent expedition, Bransfield did not confirm this name in the official records, as he had already named a location 'Cape Shirreff' on Livingston Island. There are doubts as to whether the modest remains were related to ''San Telmo''. During the first season at the turn of 1820 and 1821, four sealing ships were wrecked on the islands.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Cazenave de la Roche |first=Arnaud |date=2019 |title=Pesquisas sobre el descubrimiento de la Antártida: tras la estela del Williams of Blyth y del San Telmo (1819-1821) |url=http://fh.mdp.edu.ar/revistas/index.php/magallanica/article/view/3903 |journal=Magallánica: Revista de historia moderna |language=es |volume=6 |issue=11 |pages=276–317 |issn=2422-779X |hdl=10261/245877 |access-date=2020-11-01 |archive-date=2020-08-06 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200806233651/http://fh.mdp.edu.ar/revistas/index.php/magallanica/article/view/3903 |url-status=live }}</ref>

===First sighting of the continent (1820)===
{{further|First Russian Antarctic Expedition}}
[[File:Admiral Faddey Faddeyevich Bellingshausen.jpg|thumb|upright|Admiral [[Fabian Gottlieb von Bellingshausen]] was one of the first to spot the continent of Antarctica.]]
The first generally recognized sighting of the Antarctic continent was made at a point within {{convert|32|km|mi|abbr=on}} of the [[Princess Martha Coast]] on 27 or 28 January 1820. The Russian expedition led by [[Fabian Gottlieb von Bellingshausen]] and [[Mikhail Lazarev]], on the ships ''Vostok'' and ''Mirny''.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Discovery of Antarctica |url=https://www.coolantarctica.com/Antarctica%20fact%20file/History/discovery-of-antarctica.php |access-date=2023-08-22 |website=www.coolantarctica.com}}</ref> The discovery was described with the problematic term "materyi led" ({{langx|ru|матёрой лёд}}) which can be translated as "hard ice".

The route of this expedition was eastward, as far south as the ice conditions permitted. Two more observations were made, and then, because of the approach of winter, they proceeded to [[Sydney]]. While in Australia, Bellingshausen wrote a report in which he stated that the southern continent probably did not exist, meaning that he did not consider the earlier observations to be a continent. When ''Vostok'' and ''Mirny'' returned to the Antarctic Circle the following summer, they continued eastward, discovering [[Peter I Island]] and [[Alexander I Island]], although the latter was considered part of the [[Antarctic Peninsula]] until 1940. They then sailed north along the Antarctic Peninsula and reached the South Shetland Islands, where on 5 February 1821, near [[Deception Island]], they encountered ''[[Hero (sloop)|Hero]]'', commanded by [[Nathaniel Palmer]], previously second mate of the ''Hersilia''.

Meanwhile, on 30 January 1820, Edward Bransfield and William Smith sighted [[Trinity Peninsula]], the northernmost point of the Antarctic mainland.

===Early exploration===
{{See also|List of Antarctic expeditions}}

====Sealing expeditions====
In the years since the discovery of the South Shetland Islands, there have been many sealing expeditions to the area. Most of them have been poorly documented and non-scientific. In 1950s, the notes of [[John Davis (sealer)|John Davis]], captain of ''Cecilia'', one of the ships present there, were discovered. Davis described in them the probably first landing on the continent, which was made by his crew on 7 February 1821.<ref>Alan Gurney, ''Below the Convergence: Voyages Toward Antarctica, 1699–1839'', Penguin Books, New York, 1998. p. 181</ref><ref>{{Cite book |title=Amazing Antarctica Resource |last=Bourke |first=Jane |date=2004 |publisher=Ready-Ed Publications |isbn=9781863975841 |language=en}}</ref>

Of the sealers, the most creditable for the exploration of the coast was captain of ''Hero'', Nathaniel Palmer. The crew of ''Hero'' were the second in history to sight the [[Antarctic Peninsula]], located between 55 and 80 degrees west. Along with English sealer [[George Powell (mariner)|George Powell]], Palmer also co-discovered the nearby [[South Orkney Islands]] archipelago.

In 1823, [[James Weddell]], a British sealer, sailed into what is now known as the [[Weddell Sea]]. Weddell found very favorable ice conditions there, which allowed him to set a record for the [[Farthest South|furthest south]]. Since no land was encountered during the entire voyage, Weddell assumed that the ocean extended to the pole and that there was no continent to the south, only an archipelago.

A piece of wood, from the [[South Shetland Islands]], was the first fossil ever recorded from Antarctica, obtained during a private United States expedition during 1829–31, commanded by Captain [[Benjamin Pendleton]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.south-pole.com/p0000079.htm|title=Charles Wilkes|publisher=South-Pole.com|access-date=2017-06-03|archive-date=2017-04-20|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170420184438/http://www.south-pole.com/p0000079.htm|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|author=M. R. A. Thomson|year=1977|title=An Annotated Bibliography Of The Paleontology Of Lesser Antarctica And The Scotia Ridge|journal=N.Z. Journal of Geology and Geophysics|volume = 20|issue=5|pages=865–904|doi=10.1080/00288306.1977.10420686|bibcode=1977NZJGG..20..865T }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.palmerstation.com/hero/newship.html|title=Hero: A New Antarctic Research Ship|year=1968|publisher=PalmerStation.com|access-date=2017-06-03|archive-date=2017-05-28|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170528182815/http://palmerstation.com/hero/newship.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

As the seal population declined, interest in the region waned. However, the search for new seal colonies led to isolated discoveries, such as the discovery of [[Enderby Land]] by [[John Biscoe]] in February 1831, discovery of [[Kemp Land]] by [[Peter Kemp (sealer)|Peter Kemp]] in 1833 and  discovery of [[Balleny Islands]] by [[John Balleny]] in 1839.

====State expeditions 1840====
In the late 1830s, interest in the far South increased again, resulting in the organisation of three national scientific expeditions during that period. At that time it was still unclear whether there was a continent there or just ice-bound islands.

The first to set off in 1837 was a [[July Monarchy|French]] expedition led by [[French Navy|naval officer]] [[Jules Dumont d'Urville]]. After reaching the Antarctic Circle, ''[[French ship Astrolabe (1811)|Astrolabe]]'' and ''Zélée'' sailed into the Weddel Sea where they failed to repeat Jemes Weddel's feat. At the turn of February and March 1838 the expedition was already in [[Bransfield Strait]], where it had mapped part of the northern tip of the Antarctic Peninsula, which it named the Louis Philippe Land.{{sfn|Alberts|1995|p=445}} In early 1840 a French expedition returned to the Antarctic Circle having sailed from Australia. The two ships reached the north-westernmost and highest [[Débarquement Rock|islet]]<ref>[http://www.ats.aq/documents/ATCM29/att/ATCM29_att030_f.jpg Photography of Débarquement Rock, site of Secretariat of the Antarctic Treaty, Documents, Historic Sites and Monuments]</ref><ref>[http://www.ats.aq/documents/ATCM29/att/ATCM29_att028_f.gif {{in lang|fr}} Views of Débarquement Rock from north and south west, site of Secretariat of the Antarctic Treaty, Documents, Historic Sites and Monuments], length 244 m, height 18.7 m</ref> of the rocky group of [[Dumoulin Islands]],<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.ats.aq/documents/ATCM29/att/ATCM29_att026_f.gif |title={{in lang{{!}}fr}} The Dumoulin islands and Débarquement Rock in the ''Pilote de Terre Adélie'', site of Secretariat of the Antarctic Treaty, Documents, Historic Sites and Monuments |access-date=19 March 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141113014736/http://ats.aq/documents/ATCM29/att/ATCM29_att026_f.gif |archive-date=13 November 2014 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.ats.aq/documents/ATCM29/att/ATCM29_att024_f.gif |title={{in lang{{!}}fr}} The Dumoulin islands by Dubouzet in 1840, site of Secretariat of the Antarctic Treaty, Documents, Historic Sites and Monuments |access-date=19 March 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141113014736/http://ats.aq/documents/ATCM29/att/ATCM29_att024_f.gif |archive-date=13 November 2014 |url-status=dead }}</ref> at 500–600 m from the icy coast of the [[Astrolabe Glacier Tongue]] of the time, today about 4&nbsp;km north from the glacier extremity near [[Cape Géodésie]], and hoisted the [[Flag of France|French tricolour]].<ref>[http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k97685c.image.f2.langFR {{in lang|fr}} ''Voyage au Pôle sud et dans l'Océanie sur les corvettes "l'Astrolabe" et "la Zélée", exécuté par ordre du Roi pendant les années 1837-1838-1839-1840 sous le commandement de M. J. Dumont-d'Urville, capitaine de vaisseau'', Paris, Gide éditeur, 1842–1846, tome 8, p. 149-152, site of Gallica, BNF].</ref> Dumont named the archipelago [[Géologie Archipelago|Pointe Géologie]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.shom.fr/fr_page/fr_prod_cartes/cc/cataligne/carte_7593.htm|title=Catalogue des cartes en ligne|access-date=18 January 2015}}{{Dead link|date=February 2020 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.ats.aq/documents/ATCM29/att/ATCM29_att023_f.jpg |title={{in lang{{!}}fr}} IGN Map of Pointe Géologie archipelago, site of Secretariat of the Antarctic Treaty, Documents, Historic Sites and Monuments |access-date=19 March 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141113014735/http://ats.aq/documents/ATCM29/att/ATCM29_att023_f.jpg |archive-date=13 November 2014 |url-status=dead }}</ref> and the land beyond, [[Adélie Land]]{{efn|Alors, j'annonçais aux officiers rassemblés en présence de l'équipage que cette terre porterait désormais le nom de terre Adélie. Cette désignation est destinée à perpétuer le souvenir de ma profonde reconnaissance pour la compagne dévouée qui a su par trois fois consentir à une séparation longue et douloureuse, pour me permettre d'accomplir mes projets d'explorations lointaines. (Then, I announced to the officers gathered in the presence of the crew that this land would carry from now on the name of ''Terre Adélie''.  This name is intended to perpetuate the memory of my deep recognition for my devoted partner who agreed three times to long and painful separations, to enable me to carry out my plans for remote explorations.)}} The map of the coast drawn under sail by the hydrographer {{Interlanguage link|Clément Adrien Vincendon-Dumoulin|fr}} is remarkably accurate given the means of the time.<ref>[http://www.ats.aq/documents/ATCM29/att/ATCM29_att022_f.jpg {{in lang|fr}} ''Carte des explorations effectuées par les corvettes "l'Astrolabe" et "la Zélée" dans les régions circum-polaires levée par Vincendon-Dumoulin'', 1841 (plate of ''Voyage au Pôle sud et dans l'Océanie sur les corvettes "l'Astrolabe" et "la Zélée"''), site of Secretariat of the Antarctic Treaty, Documents, Historic Sites and Monuments] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141113014738/http://ats.aq/documents/ATCM29/att/ATCM29_att022_f.jpg |date=13 November 2014 }}, enlarge to find the position number 38 of the ships before landing on [[Débarquement Rock]] more than 7 nautical miles southward (about 14 km), near the tongue of the [[Astrolabe Glacier]] called ''Pointe Géologie'' on the map</ref>

[[Charles Wilkes]], as commander of a [[United States Navy]] [[United States Exploring Expedition|expedition]] in 1840,<ref name="antarcticchronology">{{cite web |url=http://www.quarkexpeditions.com/antarctica/exploration.shtml |title=ANTARCTIC EXPLORATION—CHRONOLOGY |access-date=2006-10-20 |publisher=Quark Expeditions |year=2004 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20060908120017/http://www.quarkexpeditions.com/antarctica/exploration.shtml <!-- Bot retrieved archive --> |archive-date = 2006-09-08}}</ref> discovered what is now known as [[Wilkes Land]], a section of the continent around 120 degrees East.

Both expeditions operated in the same region and time, leading to disputed claims of priority of discovery. Dumont d'Urville reached the Adelie Land, on 21 or 22 January 1840. Wilkes, on the other hand, claimed to have discovered the same area, which he named "[[Wilkes Land]]", on 16 January 1840, from a greater distance. The differences in dates and the uncertainties regarding the exact locations of the discoveries led to a rivalry for prestige between France and the United States over who was to be the first to discover the Antarctic continent.

After the [[North magnetic pole]] was located in 1831, explorers and scientists began looking for the [[South magnetic pole]]. One of the explorers, [[James Clark Ross]], a British naval officer, identified its approximate location, but was unable to reach it on [[Ross expedition|his 4 year-expedition]] from 1839 to 1843. Commanding the British ships ''Erebus'' and ''Terror'', he braved the pack ice and approached what is now known as the [[Ross Ice Shelf]], a massive floating [[ice shelf]] over {{convert|100|ft|m}} high. His expedition sailed eastward along the southern Antarctic coast discovering mountains which were since named after his ships: [[Mount Erebus]], the most active volcano on Antarctica, and [[Mount Terror (Antarctica)|Mount Terror]].<ref name="antarcticchronology" />

[[File:Polar Regions exploration 1911.png|thumb|left|Map of exploration routes, 1911]]

These explorers, despite their impressive contributions to South Polar exploration, were unable to penetrate the interior of the continent and, rather, formed a broken line of discovered lands along the coastline of Antarctica. Following the expedition south by the ships ''Erebus'' and ''Terror'', [[James Clark Ross]] (January, 1841) suggested that there were no scientific discoveries, or 'problems', worth exploration in the far South.<ref name="Fogg 2000"/> What followed is what historian [[Hugh Robert Mill|H.R. Mill]] called 'the age of averted interest'<ref name="Fogg 2000">{{cite book|first= G.E.|last= Fogg|title= The Royal Society and the Antarctic|publisher= Notes and Records of the Royal Society London, Vol. 54, No. 1|year= 2000|location= London, The Royal Society}}</ref> and in the following twenty years after Ross' return, there was a general lull internationally in Antarctic exploration.<ref name="Fogg 2000"/>

===History of recognition of priority of discoveries===
{{further|First Russian Antarctic Expedition#Question of priority in the discovery of Antarctica}}
In the second half of the 19th century, one of the commanders of the research expeditions from around 1840 was considered to be the discoverer of Antarctica. In Europe, [[Jules Dumont d'Urville]] was usually considered, while in America, [[Charles Wilkes]]. Wilkes's priority was challenged due to his changing the reported date of his first sighting of the continent twice. The first observation of the land by an American expedition took place on 16 January 1840, from the deck of the ''USS Peacock'' and was supposed to involve distant observation of [[Eld Peak]] and [[Reynolds Peak]] along the [[George V Coast]]. The prevailing view at the time was that the sighting of January 16 and the sighting of January 19 were fabrications, made after d'Urville announced his own sighting of the continent on the evening 19 January.{{efn|Instead of 20 January 1840, since Dumont d'Urville did not add one day on his diary when he passed the 180° meridian from the east, [http://www.ats.aq/documents/ATCM29/wp/ATCM29_wp019_f.doc {{in lang|fr}} ''Proposition de classement du rocher du débarquement dans le cadre des sites et monuments historiques'', Antarctic Treaty Consultative meeting 2006, note 4] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130811130410/http://www.ats.aq/documents/ATCM29/wp/ATCM29_wp019_f.doc |date=11 August 2013 }}}}{{sfn|Беллинсгаузен|2008|p=7}}

In the late 19th century, [[New Zealand]] [[Ethnology|anthropologist]] [[Percy Smith (ethnologist)|Percy Smith]] proposed a theory about a [[Polynesians|Polynesian]] explorer named [[Ui-te-Rangiora]], who may have reached Antarctica or [[subantarctic islands]].<ref name="Wehi-2021" />

By the early 20th century, efforts began to promote [[Nathaniel Palmer|Nathaniel Palmer's]] 1820 expedition, which sighted the Antarctic Peninsula in November of that year.

At the 1925 the priority of [[Edward Bransfield|Edward Bransfield's]] expedition, which had mapped the South Shetland Islands and sighted the Trinity Peninsula on 30 January 1820, began to be promoted in Britain.

The [[first Russian Antarctic Expedition]] remained largely forgotten until 10 February 1949, when [[Lev Berg]], president of the [[Soviet Geographical Society]], presented a report stating that Russian sailors had 'discovered [[Peter I Island]], [[Alexander Island]], [[Traversay Islands]], and others in 1821.' This raised questions about the Russian and [[USSR|Soviet]] role in Antarctic exploration and the scientific research surrounding the discovery of the continent. Shortly thereafter, expedition documents were reexamined.{{sfn|Беллинсгаузен|2008|p=7}}{{sfn|Tammiksaar|2016|p=578}} Based on a letter written by [[Mikhail Lazarev]] to a friend after the expedition, it was concluded that an ice shelf, which Lazarev described as 'materyi led' (translated as 'hard ice'), was sighted on 28{{efn|name=16calendar|16 according to the [[Julian calendar]] used in Russia.}} January 1820. However, there is some uncertainty regarding Lazarev's accuracy in recalling the chronology of events.{{sfn|Балкли|2013|pp=55–56}}