Crossing of the Antarctic Circle and the end of the Terra Australis
Cruce del círculo polar antártico y fin de la Terra Australis
- Date
- 17 de enero de 1773 · confidence high
- Place
- Antarctic Circle (39° E), Antarctica
- Credited to
- James Cook
- Field
- Cosmos & Earth
What was discovered
On his second voyage Cook circled the southern hemisphere at high latitudes, crossed the Antarctic Circle for the first time and found no great southern continent as geographers had imagined. He showed that any land would be icebound and useless for settlement.
Cook did not see continental Antarctica; the documented sighting is from 1820. The crossing point is approximate (66°36' S, longitude 39°35' E).
What it led to
- abandonment of the myth of a fertile Terra Australis
- later exploration of Antarctica by whalers and sealers