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The frozen continent of Antarctica was the last continent humanity set foot on. The first documented landings made below the Antarctic Circle took place in 1820, when Admiral Fabian Gottlieb von Bellingshausen and the crew of the Vostok and Mirny, as part of the Russian Antarctic Expedition, made land at Peter I Island and Alexander Island.
The history of Antarctica emerges from early Western theories of a vast continent, known as Terra Australis, believed to exist in the far south of the globe. The term Antarctic , referring to the opposite of the Arctic Circle , was coined by Marinus of Tyre in the 2nd century AD.
1000 BC: Athapaskan-speaking natives arrive in Alaska and northwestern North America, possibly from Siberia. 1000 BC: Pottery making widespread in the Eastern Woodlands. 1000 BC–100 AD: Adena culture takes form in the Ohio River valley, carving fine stone pipes placed with their dead in gigantic burial mounds. [1] See Prehistory of Ohio.
Antarctica is the remotest part of the world, but it is a hub of scientific discovery, international diplomacy and environmental change. It was officially discovered 200 years ago, on Jan. 27 ...
It began to separate from northern Pangea during the Triassic, and started to fragment during the Early Jurassic (around 180 million years ago). The final stages of break-up, involving the separation of Antarctica from South America (forming the Drake Passage ) and Australia, occurred during the Paleogene (from around 66 to 23 million years ago ...
The Drake Passage opened when Antarctica separated from South America due to plate tectonics, however, there is much debate about when this occurred, with estimates ranging from 49 to 17 million years ago. [8] [9] The Shackleton fracture zone is under the sea on the Drake Passage zone.
The other time was during the Cambrian Period, which ran from 538.8 million years ago to 485.4 million years ago. During the early Eocene, Australia [15] and South America [16] were connected to Antarctica. 53 million years ago during the Eocene Epoch, summer high temperatures in Antarctica were around 25 °C (77 °F). [15]
Colonization of Antarctica is the establishing and maintaining of control over Antarctic land for exploitation and possibly settlement. [1]Antarctica was claimed by several states since the 16th century, culminating in a territorial competition in the first half of the 20th century when its interior was explored and the first Antarctic camps and bases were set up.