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The South Pole is the southernmost point on the Earth, as defined in any of several ways.
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Geographic South Pole
The Geographic South Pole is the one of two points where the earth's axis of rotation intersects the surface (the other being the Geographic North Pole). This is the point usually meant when an unspecified "south pole" is mentioned.
The first humans to reach the Geographic South Pole were Roald Amundsen and his party on December 14, 1911. Amundsen named his camp Polheim. Amundsen's main competitor Robert Falcon Scott reached the Pole a month later. On the return trip Scott and his party of four all died of hunger and extreme cold. There have been many expions to arrive at the South Pole by surface transportation. The leaders of some of the first of these are, in order: Amundsen, Scott, Hillary, Fuchs, Havola, Crary, Fiennes. US Admiral Richard Byrd on November 29, 1929 became by the assistance of his first pilot Bernt Balchen the first person to fly over the South Pole.
The fastest unsupported walking journey to the Geographic South Pole from the ocean is 47 days and was set in 1999 by explorers Tim Jarvis and Peter Treseder, who manhauled 200 kg sleds containing food and cooking fuel.
At present, Antarctica is located over the South Pole, although this has not been the case for all of Earth's history because of continental drift. The Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station was established during the International Geophysical Year in 1958 and is permanently staffed by research and support personnel.
The projection of the south geographic pole onto the celestial sphere gives the south celestial pole.
The land at the South Pole is located near sea level. However, the ice cap is 3000 metres thick and consequently the Amundsen-Scott Base is a high altitude location.
Ceremonial South Pole
Buildings have to be built on stilts at the South Pole. The ceremonial pole and flags can be seen in the background.
The ceremonial South Pole. Flags of the Antarctic Treaty signatories are arrayed around it, and the Pole Station's old dome is in the background.The Ceremonial South Pole is an area set aside for photo opportunities at Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station. It consists of a metallic sphere on a plinth, surrounded by the flags of the Antarctic Treaty signatories. It is located a few hundred metres from the Geographic South Pole (see above), which is marked only by a small sign and a stake.
The dome seen in the pictures is partially buried due to snow storms. The entrance to the dome has to be regularly bulldozed to uncover it. More recent buildings are now built on stilts so that the snow does not build up against the side of them.
Geomagnetic South Pole
The South Magnetic Pole is one of the two magnetic poles of the Earth's magnetic field. It lies near the Geographic South Pole, but its exact location is gradually shifting. The South Magnetic Pole is named after its proximity to the Geographic South Pole; in a strict magnetic sense, it is a north pole. The south pole of a magnet is attracted to the north poles of other magnets, hence the south pole of a freely suspended magnet (as in a compass) will point towards the Geomagnetic South Pole.
Magnetic South Pole
The Magnetic South Pole is the point nearest the Geographic South Pole where the field lines of Earth's magnetic field point directly into the ground. It does not coincide with the Geomagnetic South Pole.
On 16 January 1909 three men (Douglas Mawson, Edgeworth David, and Alistair Mackay) from an expion led by Sir Ernest Shackleton found the Magnetic South Pole 1.
The Pole of Relative Inaccessibility
It is located at 82°06′ S 54°58′ E on the surface of the Antarctic continent and is the most distant point from the Southern Ocean. It was reached on December 14, 1958 by the 3rd Soviet Antarctic Expion, lead by Yevgeny Tolstikov. At that point they established a temporary station Polyus Nedostupnosti. On the road to the Pole, at 78°24′ S 87°32′ E another station, Sovetskaya, was established by the expion, which existed between February 16, 1958 and January 3, 1959.
Related topics
- North Pole (also contains a description of how the poles of other planets are determined)
External links
- South Pole Station info on 70South
- South Pole Webcam
- Virtual tour of the South Pole
- Images of this location are available at the Degree Confluence Project
- South Pole Photo Gallery
- Current weather conditions at the South Pole (Amundsen-Scott Station)