|
At the start of the 20th Century, the race was on for explorers to
risk their lives in an inhospitable land to open up Antarctica to the world.
Many nations wanted a part of Antarctica. This led
to permanent bases being established on Antarctica for scientific research.
Australia built the first permanent base, called Mawson station. It was to
be used for scientific research.
1957 - 1958 was the International Geophysical year. The focus was
Antarctica. 12 countries (Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Chile, France,
Japan, New Zealand, Norway, South Africa, Untied
Kingdom, the USA and the former USSR) established more than 40 stations on
Antarctica and on the Sub Antarctica Islands, such as McMurdo Base
(USA), Scott Base (NZ), and Admundson-Scott South Pole Base (USA). During
this IGY year there were over 5000 people on Antarctica involved in a mass
scale of scientific research.
Antarctica was seen as a place with unique characteristics and people were
looking at what were the impacts of large ice masses on global weather and
oceans. A lot of information collected in Antarctica contributed to
knowledge about the earth and the world weather. Holes were drilled
in the Antarctica Ice Shelf to gather data
on ice temperatures, density and thickness. Nations worked together
gathering and sharing information and data.
The IGY was very successful and therefore many nations decided to
keep their bases in Antarctica and continue with research. This led
to the signing of the Antarctic Treaty in 1959 by 12 nations.
This material has been produced by UNITEC Institute of Technology
under contract to the Ministry of Education.
|
