Antarctica Timeline

By AHEARTD15

  • Whaling and Sealing

    Whalers and sealers used Hobart as a base and collected skins and whale oil.

  • The heroic era: the explorers

    Ernest Shackelton visited Antarctica with several Australians. These included the captain John King Davis and Douglas Mawson. Mawson led a group to be the first to climb mount Erebus and to reach the South Magnetic Pole. They retuned in 1911, mapping over 3000 km of the coastline.

  • Flying, mapping and claiming

    George Wilkins becomes forst person to explore Antarctica by aircraft.
    Mawson used this to map the coastline.

  • Science takes over

    Australia opens its first permanent base in in Antarctica. It was named Mawson station after Douglas Mawson. It was used to conduct experiments and explore inland.

  • Davis station

    Davis station was opened in a large area without ice.

  • Casey station

    Casey station was built.

  • Law base

    Law base was opened. Named after Phillip Law who was in charge of the program between 1949 and 1966

  • Antarcttica reached on foot

    Two Australians and a New Zealander reached Antarctica on foot.