Challenger expedition
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The Challenger Expedition (1872–1876) was a British expedition that brought important information about the geological and zoological nature of the ocean floor . It was the first global sea expedition that was designed purely for a research purpose.
In total, the expedition ship Challenger covered a distance of around 130,000 kilometers (70,000 nautical miles) and thus crossed almost the entire ocean . The Challenger Expedition is therefore considered to be the cornerstone of modern oceanology . Important research points were the Bahamas , the Marion Islands in the southern Arctic Ocean , New Zealand and the Auckland Islands and New Guinea, which was still unexplored at the time .
The results were compiled in 50 event volumes (29,000 pages, 3,000 tables and diagrams) over 20 years of evaluation.
prehistory
Before the Challenger expedition, knowledge of the deeper ocean regions was at the very beginning. Only the shallow shelf sea had already been explored. On the other hand, there were only myths and speculations about the deep sea . It was not until the US-American Hassler expedition or the German North Sea expedition Pommerania brought the first information about the deeper ocean regions.
The first commercially interested explorations came from the submarine telegraphy industry, who wanted to learn more about the nature of the bottom of their lines connecting through the deep sea. Numerous scientifically motivated research trips followed. The Challenger expedition became the most important of these major expeditions.
Preparations
Expedition expectations
The tasks for the Challenger expedition were specifically given. The focus was on the physical investigations of the deep sea in the large ocean basins with regard to temperature, depth and currents. In addition, there were chemical investigations of the sea water in various sea and deep regions. The third research goal was the exploration of biological organisms on and in the sea floor. In addition to measurements at sea, explorations and studies of the biological characteristics of the islands and mainlands that were called should also be carried out.
Participant in the expedition
A total of 29 members took part in the expedition as planned, some of whom were eliminated due to early departure or sudden death. Vice-Lieutenant Henry Charles Sloggett was replaced by Henry Cuthbert Eagles Harston from the stage destination Halifax (Nova Scotia) . In addition, Captain George Nares and Lieutenant Pelham Aldrich joined a British Arctic expedition in December 1874 and left the study. They were replaced by Frank Tourle Thomson (captain) and William Benjamin Carpenter (lieutenant). During the trip to Tahiti , the biologist Rudolf von Willemoes-Suhm died of an infectious disease.
In its time, the Challenger Expedition was (after the Second German North Pole Expedition ) with the largest number of scientists and scholars.
| Surname | position | particularities |
|---|---|---|
| George Nares | captain | Left the expedition in December 1874 (Hong Kong). |
| Frank Tourle Thomson | captain | Took over from George Nares in December 1874 |
| Charles Wyville Thomson | Director of Employees | |
| Henry Nottidge Moseley | Natural scientist | |
| John Murray | Natural scientist | |
| Rudolf von Willemoes-Suhm | Natural scientist | Died in Tahiti in 1875 |
| John James Wild | Secretary and draftsman | |
| John Fiot Lee Pearse Maclear | commander | |
| Pelham Aldrich | lieutenant | Left expedition in December 1874 (Hong Kong). |
| Arthur CB Bromley | lieutenant | |
| George R. Bethell | lieutenant | |
| Thomas Henry Tizard | Navigation lieutenant | |
| RRA Richards | Paymaster | |
| Alexander Crosbie | Personal doctor | |
| George Maclean | doctor | |
| James Ferguson | Chief engineer |
Travel time
The voyage lasted from December 21, 1872 to May 24, 1876. The name of the expedition is based on the corvette Challenger under the command of Captain Sir George Nares (who, however, was ordered back during the expedition due to his polar experience and with a different task, an expedition to the North Pole ) and the scientific director Sir Charles Wyville Thomson . In addition to numerous officers, there were also a number of specialist scientists on board who had all kinds of apparatus for deep-sea research : chemical, physical and biological laboratories as well as photographers' chambers were available. Wyville Thomson's assistant, John Murray , published the results of the expedition in 50 volumes up to 1896. With this the science of oceanography was established.
Scientific investigations
In addition to hydrographic research, meteorological , magnetic , geological , zoological and botanical investigations were carried out. The expedition was also responsible for measuring the course of the coast and the position of some little-known islands .
It took decades to process the data and samples collected during the expedition. The material was sent to numerous experts, including international experts, who in turn received a copy of the results as thanks. 4,717 new species of marine organisms were discovered. The German marine biologist Ernst Haeckel was given the radiolarians , of which he described 3500 new species.
The researchers of the expedition solved the mystery of the substance Bathybius , which had previously been described as a primeval living being. It turned out that it was colloidally precipitated calcium sulfate .
Route
About the Bay of Biscay that ran Challenger the Strait of Gibraltar on, sailed over Madeira and Tenerife over the Atlantic to the Caribbean . There they ran Saint Thomas of. In order to study the Gulf Stream , they turned to Bermuda , from here to the Azores , Cape Verde , St. Paul and Bahia .
From there it went across the South Atlantic to Tristan da Cunha and the Cape of Good Hope . There the Challenger passed on December 17, 1873 to the Prince Edward , Crozet , Kerguelen and McDonald Islands in the Antarctic polar region up to 66 ° 40 'south latitude and 78 ° east longitude. One looked for the Terra australis incognita here , but could not discover any land.
They headed north again and reached Melbourne on March 17, 1874 , later went to Sydney , New Zealand , Fiji to the Torres Strait , the south coast of New Guinea and the Moluccas . Then they called at the Philippines , went from there to the north coast of New Guinea to the Admiralty Islands and arrived on April 11, 1875 in Yokohama ( Japan ). The return journey began via the Sandwich Islands , Tahiti and the Juan Fernández Archipelago , on which the Falkland Islands were called via Valparaíso and the Strait of Magellan . Via Montevideo , the Cape Verde Islands and Vigo , the Challenger returned to Portsmouth on May 24, 1876 with a rich harvest of scientific material .
The journey covered a total of 68,890 nautical miles . During the voyage, 374 deep-sea soundings, 255 deep-sea temperature measurements and 240 trawls were carried out.
literature
- Rudolf von Willemoes-Suhm: The Challenger Expedition. To the deepest point of the world's oceans. Edited by Gerhard W. Müller. Edition Erdmann, Wiesbaden 2015, ISBN 978-3-7374-0015-2 .
- Charles Wyville Thomson: The voyage of the Challenger in the Atlantic . 2 volumes. London 1877.
Web links
- The Kiel contribution to the expedition (PDF; 8 MB) with many pictures
Individual evidence
- ^ A b c Rudolf von Willemoes-Suhm: The Challenger Expedition to explore the seas . In: Augsburger Allgemeine Zeitung . November 15, 1872.
- ^ Gerhard Müller: To the lowest point of the world's oceans 1872–1876 . Thienemann Edition Erdmann, Stuttgart 1984, ISBN 3-522-61140-3 .
- ↑ Harold Burstyn: Science and government in the nineteenth century: the Challenger expedition and its reports. In: Bulletin de l 'Institut Oceanographique de Monaco. No special 2, 1968, pp. 603-613.
- ^ Hassler Expedition to South America, 1871–1872. Retrieved October 6, 2013 .
- ↑ Eric Mills: Biological Oceanography: An Early History. 1870-1960 . University of Toronto Press, 2012, ISBN 978-1-4426-1372-0 .
- ↑ Eric Mills: Biological Oceanography: An Early History. 1870-1960 . University of Toronto Press, 2012, ISBN 978-1-4426-1372-0 , pp. 22 .
- ^ Narrative of the Cruise. (PDF; 250 kB) 1885, p. 19 , accessed on October 10, 2013 (English).
- ^ Narrative of the Cruise. (PDF; 299 kB) 1885, p. 20 , accessed on October 10, 2013 (English).
- ↑ Rudolf von Willemoes-Suhm: The Challenger Expedition to explore the seas . In: Augsburger Allgemeine Zeitung . November 15, 1872.
- ^ Narrative of the cruise. (PDF; 2.3 MB) p. 19 , accessed on October 12, 2013 (English).