AnswersDid you get it right? The correct answers are published on this page. Winners are drawn each Wednesday from 26 October to 14 December, and will be announced shortly after we receive the names/addresses.
14 December: The tent left on the South Pole by Amundsen and his men is still there. But how far beneath the snow and ice do we believe it is?Despite the low amount of precipitation on the Antarctic Plateu, it is calculated that the tent is now located 15–18 metres below the surface. 13 December: What is the most dangerous animal in the Antarctic?The leopard seal (lat: Hydrurga leptonyx), also referred to as the sea leopard. 12 December: There are several Antarctic Heritage sites left by Norwegians. Among them is a hut built over 10 years before Roald Amundsen's station Framheim. Where is this hut located, and who put it there?It is located on Cape Adare, and was erected by the Norwegian Carsten Borchgrevink on the British Antarctic Expedition in the years 1899–1900. 11 December: A Norwegian airline actively participated in the early Norwegian mapping of Antarctica. What is the name of the company?The task was given to the then recently founded Widerøe's Flyveselskap in 1936. The founder Viggo Widerøe himself participated as the pilot. 10 December: A Norwegian trapper from Tromsø participated on the first German South Pole Expedition. What was his name?Paul Bjørvig. 9 December: SCAR laid the foundation for the Antarctic Treaty, but what do the letters in SCAR stand for?The Scientific Comittee on Antarctic Research. 8 December: What is the name of the research station where the only ATM in Antarctica is located?McMurdo Station. 7 December: A former Norwegian research base in Antarctica was given to another country in 1959. What country, and what base?South Africa. The base was called Norway Station. 6 December: Who became, in 1820, the first to see the Antarctic Continent?Fabian Gottlieb von Bellingshausen. 5 December: Who was the first professional photographer in the Antarctic, and when was he there?Herbert George Ponting, the expedition photographer on Robert Falcon Scott's Terra Nova expedition (1910–1913). 4 December: Who became, in 1773, the first explorer to cross the Antarctic Circle?Captain James Cook. 3 December: What's the name of John Carpenter's horror movie from 1982, set in Antarctica?“The Thing”. 2 December: What is the name of Antarctica's largest active volcano?Mount Erebus (3,794 m.a.s.l.) on Ross Island. 1 December: What is “Antarctic Old Fashioned” and what does it consist of?It is a drink consisting of Bourbon Whisky, multiflavored Life Savers, freshly melted snow and Antarctic Glacier Ice. It was invented by the crew of the American station "Little America V" in 1956-7. 30 November: What is the name of the research base located at the South Pole, and who owns it?Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station, owned and run by the USA. 29 November: What does the Antarctic Treaty say about military activity on the continent?The Treaty prohibits “any measures of a military nature”. 28 November: Norway annexed Queen Maud Land (Dronning Maud Land) the 14th of January 1939, five days before a German expedition arrived in the area. Nazi Germany laid claim to parts of Queen Maud Land in the period of 1939–45. What did they call this area?Neuschwabenland / New Swabia 27 November: One of the men who was with Roald Amundsen to the South Pole later died in his cabin on board the Fram. What was his name?Oscar Wisting. 26 November: 99% of Antarctica is covered in ice. How thick is this ice on average (in metres)?Approx. 2000 metres. 25 November: 200 million years ago, Antarctica was part of a supercontinent that, including current Antarctica, comprised of Africa, Australia, New Zealand, India and South-America. What do paleogeographers today call this supercontinent?Gondwana / Gondwanaland 24 November: Roald Amundsen had spent a winter in Antarctica prior to his own South Pole expedition, in the years 1898–99. What was the name of the American doctor also on that trip?Dr. Frederick Cook. 23 November: The Norwegian ship owner Lars Christensen outfitted nine expeditions to the Antarctic in the period 1926–45. What were the names of the three ships he used?Odd, Norvegia and Torshavn. 22 November: There are seventeen species of penguin in the Antarctic. But half of all penguins in Antarctica are comprised of one single species. What is the name of this penguin?The Adelie Penguins (lat: Pygoscelis adeliae) are the most numerous of the penguin species in the Antarctic. 21 November: How large is Antarctica, and how much larger does it get when the sea ice is formed during winter?14 million square kilometres, which rises to about twice that size during winter due to the sea ice stretching up to 1 100 kilometres out from the coast. 20 November: Roald Amundsen crossed the North Pole in the airship N1 “Norge” in 1926. Who constructed this airship?The Italian Umberto Nobile. 19 November: Roald Amundsen completed the four great achievements in the polar exploration. In what sequence did he complete them?1. Northwestern Passage (1903–06), 2. the South Pole (1910–12), 3. Northeastern Passage (1918–24) and 4. flew across the North Pole in 1926. 18 November: In 1838 Edgar Allan Poe published his only complete novel, in which he describes a journey bound to the Antarctic Ocean and Antarctica. This story later inspired both Herman Melville and Jules Verne. What was the name of the main character in Poe's novel?Arthur Gordon Pym. 17 November: Who were the first two people to reach both the South Pole and the North Pole?Roald Amundsen and Oscar Wisting. They both reached the South Pole in 1911 and flew across the North Pole in the air ship Norge in 1926. 16 November: Who was the first (recorded) woman to ever set foot on the Antarctic continent?Caroline Mikkelsen was with her husband, the whaling captain Klarius Mikkelsen, on board the «Torshavn» in 1935. They went ashore on Ingrid Christensen Land in today's Australian Antarctic territorial claim. 15 November: What year was the hottest temperature on the South Pole measured, and how hot was it?-13.6 °C (7.5 °F) was measured 27 December, 1978. 14 November: In his career, Roald Amundsen reached the four great geographical goals in the polar areas (The North and South Poles, and the Northwestern and Northeastern Passages). What was the names of the vessels he used to accomplish this?Roald Amundsen and his men used the Gjøa through the Northwestern Passage, the Fram to the Antarctic (for the South Pole expedition), Maud through the Northeastern Passage, and the air ship Norge to the North Pole. 13 November: How much greater is Dronning Maud Land (Queen Maud Land) in surface area than the Norwegian mainland?About seven times bigger. Norway is 385 252 square kilometres, and Dronning Maud Land is 2 700 000. 12 November: What year was the last Norwegian whale oil factory ship out whaling in Antarctica?1968. 11 November: Roald Amundsen and his men started out for the South Pole with 52 huskies. How many did they have left when they returned to Framheim 26 January 1912?Eleven. 10 November: Fridtjof Nansen, Otto Sverdrup, O.C. Dietrichson, Kristian Trana Kristiansen, Samuel Johansen Balto & Ole Nielsen Ravna were the first to cross Greenland. What is the name of the next Norwegian who completed this feat?Eivind Astrup, who crossed it with the American Robert E. Peary in 1892. 9 November: What is the name of the Norwegian year-round research station in Antarctica?Troll. 8 November: Who was the first person to, without a doubt, reach the North Pole without motorised assistance?Sir Walter William "Wally" Herbert (1969). 7 November: If all the ice in Antarcica melted, how much would the sea level rise (in meters)?Approx. 60 metres. 6 November: When was the first International Polar Year (IPY) held?1882–83. 5 November: Which seven countries held territorial claims in Antarctica when the Antarctic Treaty was first signed in 1959?France, Great Britain, Chile, Argentina, Australia, Norway and New Zealand. 4 November: Which Norwegian polar explorer and scientist tried to find and recover the tent of Roald Amundsen at the South Pole in 1993–94?Monica Kristensen (Solås). 3 November: Jennie Darlington holds a record in Antarctica. Which?She was the first woman to spend the winter on the continent. She participated on a scientific expedition led by the Norwegian Finn Rønne in 1947–48. 2 November: What name did Roald Amundsen give the Antarctic Plateau upon reaching the South Pole in 1911?Kong Haakon VII's Vidde. 1 November: What is the name of Dronning Maud Land's (Queen Maud Land's) highest point?Jøkulkyrkja, with its 3.148 metres above sea-level. 31 October: It is not very common to go skiing in Hvalbukta (Bay of Whales), but Vegard Ulvang is not the only person from Sør-Varanger, Norway to have done so. Who are the other two?Ole Must and Per Savio. Both participated on the British Antarctic Expedition in 1898–1900, led by the Norwegian Carsten Borchgrevink. 30 October: A Norwegian was part of Robert Falcon Scott's Antarctic expedition in 1910–13. What was his name?Tryggve Gran. 29 October: How many of the world’s seventeen penguin species breed in the Antarctic or on the Subantarctic islands?Seven. 28 October: A Norwegian led the Maudheim Expedition – the joint Norwegian, Swedish and British research expedition to Antarctica in the years 1949–52. What was his name?John Giæver. 27 October: What year did Norway establish year-round activity in Antarctica?The upgraded Troll Station was reopened for year-round activity by HM Queen Sonja in February of 2005. 26 October: When was the area of Dronning Maud Land (Queen Maud Land) officially annexed by Norway?Norway annexed the area on 14 January 1939, by the King in Council. 25 October: The Norwegians used dogs to reach the South Pole. What kind of animal did Robert Falcon Scott use in his attempt?Horses (Mongolian ponies). 24 October: In 1993 a Norwegian reached the South Pole. He was the first to make the trip alone and on skiis. What was his name?Erling Kagge. 23 October: What did the original twelve signatories of the Antarctic Treaty have in common?They all participated with activities in the Antarctic during the International Geophysical Year (IGY) 1957–58. 22 October: How many countries signed the Antarctic Treaty in 1959?Twelve. (Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Chile, France, Japan, New Zealand, Norway, South Africa, the USSR, the UK and the US.) 21 October: Roald Amundsen, Olav Bjaaland, Helmer Hanssen, Sverre Hassel and Oscar Wisting were the first five people on the South Pole. Who became the sixth Norwegian to visit this geographic location?Bernt Balchen from Kristiansand, who flew there in a Ford 4-AT Trimotor with Richard Byrd, Harold June and Ashley McKinley in 1929. 20 October: When did Roald Amundsen first visit Antarctica?In 1898, on the Belgian Antarctic Expedition on board the «Belgica». The expedition was the first to spend a winter frozen in the Antarctic sea ice, and lasted from 1897 to 1899. 19 October: What is the lowest temperature ever measured on the Earth's surface? And where?-89.2°C, on the Vostok Station, Antarctica. |
South Pole 1911–2011 is an informational outreach project run by the Norwegian Polar Institute
Contact person:
