Austro-Hungarian deep-sea expeditions 1890–1898

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Transport steamer SMS Pola

The Austro-Hungarian deep-sea expeditions 1890–1898 , also known as Pola expeditions , belong to the oceanographic expeditions that were carried out by various states under the impression of the scientifically fruitful British Challenger expedition (1872 to 1876) at the end of the 19th century . The voyages organized by the Austrian Academy of Sciences took the SMS Pola to the eastern Mediterranean , the Adriatic and the Red Sea . The Pola expeditions are closely linked to the name of their scientific director, the Viennese ichthyologist Franz Steindachner . Most of the material brought along is now in the collections of the Natural History Museum Vienna .

Expeditions in the Mediterranean and the Red Sea

In the 1880s, the eastern Mediterranean was still considered to be little explored. After the four research trips carried out annually from 1890 to 1893 by the transport steamer Pola of the Austrian Navy , it was one of the most thoroughly examined marine areas. An inventory of the topographical, physical, chemical and biological conditions was carried out at a total of 417 oceanographic stations - previously determined sea locations where the ship anchored.

In 1894 a supplementary two-month Adriatic expedition followed, flanked by a research trip of the SMS Taurus into the Sea of ​​Marmara , which was under the direction of the chemist Konrad Natterer . Among the scientific yield was the first deep sea fish ever caught in the Adriatic.

In 1895/96 and 1897/98, two research trips to the northern and southern Red Sea followed. The scientific focus was on his zoological research. In addition, there were also extensive meteorological, geodetic, geological, botanical, chemical and physical investigations. In addition to the deep sea, the coasts of the neighboring countries were also explored.

The yield from the Pola expeditions was very rich and of high scientific value. Numerous previously unknown animal species could be described by scientists at home and abroad and published in fourteen series of memoranda of the Imperial Academy of Sciences in Vienna .

On July 28, 1891, the highest known depth of the Mediterranean was measured at 4,404 m, which was named Pola Depth at the request of the Presidium of the Imperial Academy of Sciences .

literature

  • Günther Schefbeck: The Austro-Hungarian Deep Sea Expeditions 1890–1898 . Weishaupt, Graz 1991. ISBN 3-900310-79-3
  • Harald Ahnelt and Benigno Elvira: A collection of marine and freshwater fish from the Austrian Adriatic Deep Sea Expedition 1894 (PDF; 2 MB). In: Ann. Naturhist. Mus. Wien 92B, 1991, pp. 1-13
  • Paul Edler von Pott: Expedition SM ship “Pola” in the Rothe Sea. Descriptive part . 2 volumes: Volume I: Northern half (October 1895 - May 1896) . Volume II: Southern half (September 1897 - March 1898) , kk Hof- und Staatsdruckerei, Vienna 1898–1899

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Entry on Pola expeditions in the Austria Forum  (in the AEIOU Austria Lexicon )
  2. ↑ indicator d. emperor. Academy of Sciences, mathematic and natural science Classe 28, issue 22, 1891, ( p. 223 )

See also