How Arctic expeditions faced shifting ice

The quest for the North Pole was a series of expeditions seeking a route to the Pole, generally using whaling ships already commonly used in cold northern latitudes. One of the earliest expeditions explicitly intending to reach it was led by British naval officer William Edward Parry, who reached latitude 82°45′ North in 1827.

2 articles, 1 video, 1 book · about 43 min of reading and viewing

The reading path

1. Read
   

   the quest for the north pole · Wikipedia · 35 min read

   In the quest for the north pole, Norwegian explorers Fridtjof Nansen and Hjalmar Johansen struck out for the Pole on skis in April 1895 after leaving Nansen's icebound ship Fram. They reached latitude 86°14′ North before abandoning the attempt and turning southwards, eventually reaching Franz Josef Land. The MLAE 2013 Expedition began its quest for the North Pole on 1 March 2013, crossing drifting Arctic Ocean ice from Golomyanny Island in two custom-built 6 x 6 low-pressure-tire ATVs. Led by Vasily Elagin, the team reached the Pole on 6 April and continued to the Canadian coast. For the quest for the north pole, sea ice is typically around 2 to 3 m (6 ft 7 in to 9 ft 10 in) thick, and studies have shown that its average thickness has decreased in recent years.

2. Read
   

   "Arctic Heroes #2 – North Pole 1" · science20.com · 4 min read

   During the quest for the north pole, crews of the Malygin, Sedov and Sadko could not be rescued until April 1938 because of extreme conditions. On August 28 1938, the Malygin and Sadko were freed from the ice by the icebreaker Yermak.

3. Watch
   

   The Arctic vs. the Antarctic - Camille Seaman · YouTube · 4 min watch

   The Arctic pole is located in the Northern Hemisphere within the deep Arctic Ocean, while the Antarctic pole is smack in the middle of the ice-covered Antarctica. Camille Seaman describes how enterprising people and organisms have found ways to reside around both poles despite the frigid temperatures.

4. Book
   

   The Terror · Bookshop.org

   The Terror by Dan Simmons is a fictionalized account of Captain Sir John Franklin's lost expedition to locate the Northwest Passage, describing how HMS Terror and HMS Erebus became trapped in ice and how cold weather and dwindling, often putrid provisions compounded the crews' ordeal.

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