An ABC documentary on Douglas Mawson & A Bibliography

The information on this site is not owned by us

Bibliography

http://www.antarctica.gov.au/about-antarctica/history/people/douglas-mawson

http://www.abc.net.au/schoolstv/australians/mawson.htm

http://www.antarctica.gov.au/about-antarctica/history/people/douglas-mawson

http://www.coolantarctica.com/Antarctica%20fact%20file/science/clothing_in_antarctica.html

icecube.wisc.edu/pole/weather‎

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http://www.convictcreations.com/history/mawson.html

Douglas Mawson - Polar survivor

Douglas Mawson was a very smart man,he led his men through the icy continent of Antarctica. One day, he looked through the blizzard and said to himself, "I am not going to wait for myself to die" Mawson was 100 miles from his main base,he had just completed making a burial site out of ice for his fellow team member.His fellow team members sat in silence, writing memoirs during their final days in their tents.


Just when Mawson and his team members taught that their lives would soon be over,against everything that had happened, Mawson found some men that were about to leave their ship but were barricaded in by sea ice. He later returned to the base safely with one of the best survival stories that he would be able to tell.

Weather Conditions In Antarctica

Weather conditions in Antarctica are the harshest in the world. Vostok, Antarctica is where the world's lowest temperature (-89.6 degrees C.) was recorded.  It is uncommon for winds in Antarctica to reach 80 kilometres an hour. These strong winds are called katabatics. These winds are cold, dense air. The temperature remains in the mid -20's during summer. As you go further inland, it gets colder and windier. The strongest wind velocity ever recorded in Antarctica was during a blizzard at 327 km/h

Imagine the wind chills under these conditions.  While you might think it snows a great deal in Antarctica this is not true.  Average precipitation (snowing, hail and rain)at the South Pole it adds up to about one inch of water, ice or snow a year. The weather in Antarctica changes by the minute & blizzards are very frequent

Douglas Mawson's Expedition Goals

Unlike other Antarctic explorers, Douglas Mawson's goal was not for wealth or fame. Instead, he wanted to improve scientific research for the Southern Pole. He had despised that whalers and fishermen had only gone to the icy continent for their own personal as well as financial gain. He was disappointed that explorers were going to Antarctica solely for the purpose of being the first to reach the continent.

Douglas Mawson's boat

Mawson's success also came with a few tragedies. A few of his men had died from the freezing cold, one of his men even accused Mawson of putting him under a magnetic spell. Thanks to the Antarctic journey covered by Douglas Mawson, he was able to record Earth's magnetic fields in Antarctica for 18 months at Commonwealth Bay. Douglas Mawson died knowing that his goal was achieved, he helped to gain scientific knowledge of the South Polar continent.

A picture of Commonwealth Bay

Antarctic Clothing

Clothing used by the Antarctic explorers were not very suitable for the weather conditions as the clothing used by the explorers were made of wool. This wool, although it insulated the user, it often got damp in the cold Antarctic winters

Woollen clothing is not as popular as it was before. Polypropylene fleece and lightweight materials that can insulate and protect the user from the cold. This type of clothing is much more suitable for the blizzards of Antarctica as it is usually waterproof

A waterproof polypropylene jacket

Mawson's Travels - From Great Britain To The South Polar Region

The pictures below is from http://www.vwmaps.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/mawson1_full.jpg. We do not own this picture

A map showing Antarctica, on the bottom left hand side, there is a picture of Australia's size compared to Antarctica

Mawson's expedition is shown clearly in blue

Pemmican Recipe - A Lifesaver For The Polar Explorers

Ingredients:

• 4 cups lean meat (deer, beef, caribou or moose)
• 3 cups dried fruit
• 2 cups rendered fat
• Unsalted nuts and about 1 shot of honey

Instructions:

Meat should be as lean as possible and double ground from your butcher if you do not have you own meat grinder. Spread it out very thin on a cookie sheet and dry at 180 degrees F for at least 8 hours or until sinewy andcrispy. Pound the meat into a nearly powder consistency using a blender or other tool. Grind the dried fruit, but leave a little bit lumpy for fun texture. Heat rendered fat on stove at medium until liquid. Add liquid fat to dried meat and dried fruit, and mix in nuts and honey. Mix everything by hand. Let cool and store. Can keep and be consumed for several years.

This recipe is from http://www.wildernesscollege.com/pemmican-recipes.html, we do not own this recipe

Beef being air-dried in order to make Pemmican

Food During The Expedition -

The Antarctican Diet that was consumed by the brave polar explorers mainly consisted on a food that called "Pemmican". Pemmican was originally made by the Inuit people who inhabited the Northern Arctic conditions similar to Antarctica. Pemmican was the perfect food for the South Polar explorers as it had a long shelf life, was easy to make & was somewhat of an energy snack for the explorers.

A block of Pemmican which could also be given to dogs

Pemmican was known as a high-fat and high-energy snack which is sometimes referred to as a imperishable food,pemmican is rich in calories that would provide the consumer the energy they needed for the day.

Homemade Pemmican

Douglas Mawson Expedition Duration & Mode Of Transport

Douglas Mawson’s expedition duration in the freezing wilderness of Antarctica lasted for about a year, he had split up into four groups and two of his group member had died and Mawson was left alone on the icy continent on foot.

Douglas Mawson’s team were the first to use radio communications which were sent to the weather bureau in Melbourne. Mawson’s mode of transportation was mostly on foot but knowing his creativity, he transformed a damaged monoplane into a fully-functional mechanical sled so it was able to transport food supplies arounf.

Douglas Mawson's monoplane which was later turned into a mechanical sled

About Douglas Mawson - The Man Dedicated To Australian South Polar Science

About Douglas Mawson

•       Sir Douglas Mawson was born in 1882 to Robert and Ann Mawson, they gave their son the name Douglas as it was her hometown. Robert & Ann loved their son and knew he was a bright boy but the definitely didn't know he was going to be one of the greatest Antarctic explorers in Australian history

Sir Douglas Mawson was an Antarctic explorer who was devoted to Australia and nearly gave his life to Antarctican research, he was motivated not by the money or the fame but instead the passion of science that he had. He had a wife and two kids (Patricia & Jessica Mawson) but he unfortunately died in the Adelaide suburb of Brighton in 1958 of a cerebral hemorrhage (A stroke). 

A cerebral hemorrhage as shown above