Discovering

Antarctica

Visitor Notes

(Please return after use)

Doomed!

1. Anorthoclase-olivine trachyte lava. Cape Evans, Ross Island. Collected by base station staff rather than the Scott pole party. This is a very rare kind of volcanic rock, found only on Ross Island, and Mount Kenya!

2.and 3 Glossopteris in black and green shales. This Carboniferous plant is also widespread in Southern Africa – this was early evidence that the two continents may once have been joined together. Collected from Mt Buckley by Scott and his companions.

4. Sandstone with infilled desiccation cracks. These cracks were formed by drying-out of older mud or sand, and then this sand filled in the cracks.

5. Granite. This spectacular and unusual granite shows round “orbicules”. The origin of these is still controversial, but is probably connected with rhythmic crystallisation of light and dark “shells” of crystals from the magma.

The above specimens have all been kindly lent for exhibition by the Natural History Museum, London.

6. Dolerite

This specimen is dolerite, a rather coarser version of basalt. This rock forms a spectacular series of intrusive sills in South Victoria Land, on the Antarctic mainland, opposite Ross Island, where this glacial erratic was collected by Priestley, a geologist with Scott’s northern field party.

Modern Geologists in the Antarctic

Both of these meteorites are very large for Antarctic specimens: most weigh only a few grams.

1. Type L6 Stony meteorite. Collected in 1995 from the Grosvenor Mountains. 1260g

This shows a nice black fusion crust, formed by frictional heating as it fell through the atmosphere at speeds of up to 70km per second. One corner has been broken off during scientific sampling of the meteorite – you can see the “natural” colour of the rock inside is much paler. The dark molten glass skin is thin because it is blown away almost as soon as it forms – in places this has caused nice grooves on the surface of the specimen. This process acts a bit like the heatshield on a spacecraft, and protects the inside of the meteorite from being heated up during descent.

2. Type IIAB Iron meteorite, weighing 2038.5 g. Collected in 1978 from Derrick Peak.

This is a spectacular sawn slab cut from the iron meteorite. After sawing, the slab was polished, and then etched with acid to bring out the structure of the metal. Most of the meteorite is made of iron-nickel alloys, showing a complex intergrown structure called Widmanstaetten Structure. This is formed during very slow cooling of such alloys. There are also some large round blobs of troilite (an iron sulphide mineral).

Thank you!

Both of these meteorites have been kindly lent for exhibition by the Smithsonian Institution, in Washington, USA. They are the home of all meteorites collected as part of the US Antarctic research programme.

First!

These specimens include the very first objects ever brought back from mainland Antarctica. They were collected on 23rd January 1895 by CE Borchgrevink from Cape Adare on the mainland. They were scientifically described by the Australian geologist T.W.E. David (who later made the first ascent of Mount Erebus) later the same year. He gave the specimens to J.W. Gregory, who brought them to Glasgow when he became Professor of Geology here, in 1904. Curiously, the specimens escaped notice until 2001, when they were rediscovered in an unmarked box in one of the Hunterian store buildings!

1. Fine-grained lava, probably basaltic andesite. Cape Adare.

2. Trachyte lava. Cape Adare.

3. Fine-grained mica schist. Cape Adare. This was important as it demonstrated the existence of continental rocks on Antarctica.

4. Basalt lava. Possession Island.

5. Basalt lava, with abundant gas-cavities. Possession Island.

6. Fine-grained basalt lava. Possession Island.

There are several “Possession” islands around the Antarctic. This one is just a few miles offshore from Cape Adare, in the Ross Sea.
Bloody Tourists

These are the earliest specimens from Antarctica or the Southern Ocean in the Hunterian collections. They were collected by Chappell, from South Georgia, on a whaling expedition in 1871. They came to the Hunterian via a most circuitous route, in 1915, donated by Professor Pirsson, of Yale University.

1. & 2. greywacke (a kind of impure sandstone) with quartz veins

3. basalt, rich in gas bubbles, some of which have been infilled by later white minerals.

Scotia

The Scotia expedition was one of the first with a deliberately scientific purpose. It was extremely successful, and nobody died, which is perhaps why for a long time, it was not as famous as some of the other early expeditions!

Although they got as far as 74 degrees south, and mapped large tracts of the coast, the expedition did not land anywhere on Antarctica. Despite this, they collected rock samples by dredging from the sea-bed. The depths they recorded, and the rock types found, clearly indicated a regional shallowing of the ocean towards a major continent.

1. Dredge sample with abundant continental rock fragments, including granite, gneiss, and schist. 1410 fathoms. 71 degrees south. Weddell Sea.

2. Foraminifera: giant single-celled calcareous algae, recovered from the same dredge sample.

3. Trachyte lava, from Gough Island, a very remote volcanic ocean island between Antarctica and Tristan da Cunha.

4. Dredged glacial debris with rock fragments from 74 degrees south. Weddell Sea.

5. Dredged glacial clay from Station 300. Weddell Sea.

6. Dredged glacial clay from Station 301. Weddell Sea.

Thank you!

These specimens have all been kindly lent by the Geology Department of the National Museums of Scotland.
Erebus

All these specimens are from Mount Erebus, Ross Island, and were collected on the 1907-1909 Shackleton expedition.

1. basalt with abundant gas bubbles (vesicles).

2. anorthoclase-olivine trachyte. Formerly called “kenyte”. This is a very rare kind of volcanic rock: the two main localities in the world are Mount Erebus, and Mount Kenya.

3. limburgite (a feldspar-poor basalt).

4. anorthoclase-olivine trachyte.

5. and 6. anorthoclase feldspar crystals.

7. anorthoclase feldspar crystal. This crystal was collected high on the mountain during the first ascent by TWE David and others. At one point they found the ground littered with these loose crystals, and collected large numbers of them.

Cape Royds

All these specimens were collected on the 1907-1909 Shackleton expedition, mostly by the geologist TWE David.

1. Unidentified dark volcanic rock. Glacial erratic. Cape Royds, Ross Island.

2. Felsite. Glacial erratic – Cape Royds, Ross Island.

3. garnet-bearing granite. Mount Erebus – probably a glacial erratic from the mainland.

4. Porphyritic microgranite. Glacial erratic. Cape Royds, Ross Island.

5. Dolerite. Glacial erratic. Cape Royds. This rock froms large intrusive sills in South Victoria Land, opposite Ross Island.

6. diorite, with abundant titanite. From a beach below Mount Nansen, in Victoria Land, opposite Ross Island.

7. Augen gneiss. Glacial erratic from the slopes of Mount Erebus, Ross Island.

8. Raised-beach gravel. From a beach 160 ft above the sea, on the slopes of Mount Erebus, Ross Island.

Marooned!

These specimens were brought back from Elephant Island by Shackleton’s geologist James Wordie. He probably collected most of them himself. However, diaries show that other members of the expedition often tried to trade interesting rocks for tobacco, as Wordie’s supply outlasted theirs!

The specimens have numbers scratched onto them, so that Wordie was later able to match up specimens with localities when the scientific report was published in 1921.

All the rocks are low-grade metamorphic rocks called phyllites with veins of quartz running through them.

1. Point Lookout, Cape Wild.

2. Point Lookout, Cape Wild.

3. 200 yards SSE of Cape Valentine.

4. Point Lookout, Cape Wild.

5. East side of Point Lookout Hill (a.k.a Penguin Hill), Cape Wild.

6. mainland, at S.E. corner of spit, Cape Wild.

7. 200 yards SSE of Cape Valentine.

Cape Valentine was the first landing place on Elephant Island, but the beach was too narrow and exposed, so they moved to a spit of land they named Cape Wild.

During this journey, they mapped and named various features on the coast:

This is a more detailed map of the area around Cape Wild:

Lookout Point is not marked on this map, but is at the extreme N end of Cape Wild.
Mapping the New Continent

All these specimens were collected by David Ferguson, and given to the Hunterian museum in 1914 and 1916. These expeditions were largely funded by the Christian Salvasen company, who were interested in the economic potential of the Antarctic. Scientific descriptions were subsequently published by GW Tyrrell.

1. Basalt with gas bubbles. Deception Island, South Shetlands.

2. Granodiorite, Charcot Island, Palmer Archipeligo.

3. Igneous breccia, with chalcopyrite, and green malachite staining. This was some of the very first indications that economic ore deposits might exist in Antarctica. Exploitation of such deposits has never taken place, and is now banned under the Antarctic Treaty. Coughtrey Island, Dancoland.

4. Bedded mudstone and siltstone. Leith Harbour, South Georgia.

5. Quartz-rich schist showing folding. Orne Island, Dancoland.

Whales and Rocks

These specimens were collected in 1937 as part of the Discovery programme. This was a sort of precursor to the British Antarctic Survey, set up by th UK government to carry out research on whale and seal stocks, and other scientific issues.

The South Sandwich Islands are an active volcanic arc 1200 miles south-east of the Falklands.

1. Basalt from Saunders Island, in the South Sandwich Islands.

2. Basaltic scoria from a recent eruption, Zandovski Island, South Sandwich Islands.

3. Black basalt sand from Saunders Island, South Sandwich Islands.

Mawson

Specimens 1-3 Collected by LT Blair, who was First Officer on the Aurora, when Mawson and others were picked up from Adelie Land in 1914, after two years on the continent. During this time two of the party died, and they suffered some of the worst weather recorded in Antarctica. These experiences are recorded in the book “The Home of the Blizzard”.

Specimens 4-6 were collected on one of Mawson’s later expeditions which ran from 1929-31.

1. Sandstone, Commonwealth Bay, Adelie Land

2. and 3. Granite boulders, Commonwealth Bay, Adelie Land

4. Limburgite (a feldspar-poor olivine basalt) lava. Samll greenish yellow phenocrysts of olivine can be seen in the black rock. Heard Island.

5. Olivine basalt, with visible greenish olivine pheocrysts. Heard Island.

6. Nodular trachyte lava. Heard Island.

Cold!

These specimens were probably collected by the geologist Laurence Gould. He took a sledging party across the Queen Maud Mountains so that he could radio to Byrd when the weather was clear, for his attempt at flying to the South Pole. This successfully took place on 29^th November 1929. Their experiences are described in the book “Cold”.

1. Dolerite. Mount Mt. Fridtjof Nansen.

2. Unidentified rock, perhaps a hornfels, probably from the Queen Maud Mountains.

3. Biotite schist. Between Stations 1 and 2, Queen Maud Mountains.

4. Biotite-feldspar schist. Mount Betty, Queen Maud Mountains.

5. Biotite schist. Mount Betty, Queen Maud Mountains.

6. Orthoclase-biotite schist. Supporting Party Mountain, Queen Maud Mountains.

7. Muscovite-biotite schist. S.E. of Station 1, Queen Maud Mountains.

8. honblende-biotite schist. Supporting Party Mountain, Queen Maud Mountains.

9. Biotite-plagioclase gneiss. O’Brien Peak, Queen Maud Mountains.