Bellingshausen and Lazarev sight the Antarctic ice sheet (1820)

Fabian Gottlieb von Bellingshausen and Mikhail Lazarev sighted the Antarctic ice sheet in January 1820 during the First Russian Antarctic Expedition. The expedition crossed the Antarctic Circle on 26 January and sighted the mainland on 27 January, disproving James Cook's contention that land could not be found in the southern ice-fields.

Episodes

Background and detail

Expedition Context. The First Russian Antarctic Expedition took place in 1819–1821 under the direction of Fabian Bellingshausen and Mikhail Lazarev. Bellingshausen was appointed to command the circumnavigation intended to explore the Southern Ocean and find land near the South Pole. The expedition crossed the Antarctic Circle on 26 January 1820, the first to do so since Cook.

The Sighting. Bellingshausen and Lazarev became the first explorers to see the land of Antarctica on 27 January 1820, disproving James Cook's contention that it was impossible to find land in the southern ice-fields. Lazarev claimed the sighting occurred on 28 January, but this data is incorrect and likely reflects the expedition's southernmost point in the 1820 season.

Terminology and Reports. In his report to Traversay from Australia in April 1820, Bellingshausen used the term 'continent of ice'. Simonov's journal of observations from December 1819 to March 1820 was promptly published, though Simonov struggled to interpret the variety of ice he saw, remaining only ice to him.

People involved

Sources

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