Queen Maud Land
Queen Maud Land Dronning Maud Land ( Harald V | |
---|---|
• Administered by | Ministry of Justice and Public Security |
Area | |
• Total | 2,700,000 km2 (1,000,000 sq mi) |
Elevation | 2,000 m (7,000 ft) |
Highest elevation | 3,148 m (10,328 ft) |
ISO 3166 code | AQ |
Internet TLD |
Queen Maud Land (Norwegian: Dronning Maud Land)[note 1] is a roughly 2.7-million-square-kilometre (1.0-million-square-mile)[5] region of Antarctica claimed by Norway as a dependent territory.[6] It borders the claimed British Antarctic Territory 20° west and the Australian Antarctic Territory 45° east. In addition, a small unclaimed area from 1939 was annexed in June 2015.[7] Positioned in East Antarctica, it makes out about one-fifth of the continent, and is named after the Norwegian Queen Maud (1869–1938).
In 1930, the Norwegian
Most of the territory is covered by the east Antarctic ice sheet, and a tall ice wall stretches throughout its coast. In some areas farther within the ice sheet, mountain ranges breach through the ice, allowing for birds to breed and the growth of a limited flora. The region is divided into, from west to east, the Princess Martha Coast, Princess Astrid Coast, Princess Ragnhild Coast, Prince Harald Coast and Prince Olav Coast:
No. | Coast | Western border | Eastern border | Width in degrees |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Princess Martha Coast | 20° 00′ W | 05° 00′ E | 25° 00′ |
2 | Princess Astrid Coast | 05° 00′ E | 20° 00′ E | 15° 00′ |
3 | Princess Ragnhild Coast | 20° 00′ E | 34° 00′ E | 14° 00′ |
4 | Prince Harald Coast | 34° 00′ E | 40° 00′ E | 06° 00′ |
5 | Prince Olav Coast | 40° 00′ E | 44° 38′ E | 04° 38′ |
Queen Maud Land | 20° 00′ W | 44° 38′ E | 64° 38′ |
The waters off the coast are called the King Haakon VII Sea.
There is no permanent population, although there are 12 active research stations housing a maximum of around 40 scientists, the numbers fluctuating depending on the season. Six are occupied year-round, while the remainder are seasonal summer stations. The main aerodromes for intercontinental flights, corresponding[clarification needed] with Cape Town, South Africa, are Troll Airfield, near the Norwegian Troll research station, and a runway at the Russian Novolazarevskaya Station.[8]
Geography
Queen Maud Land extends from the boundary with Coats Land in the west to the boundary with Enderby Land in the east, and is divided into the Princess Martha Coast, Princess Astrid Coast, Princess Ragnhild Coast, Prince Harald Coast and Prince Olav Coast.[9] The territory is estimated to cover around 2,700,000 square kilometres (1,000,000 sq mi),[5] which roughly corresponds to the sizes of India,[10] Argentina[11] or Kazakhstan.[12][13][14] The limits of the claim, put forth in 1939, did not fix the northern and southern limits other than as "the mainland beach in Antarctica ... with the land that lies beyond this beach and the sea beyond".[15][note 2] The sea that extends off the coast between the longitudinal limits of Queen Maud Land is generally called King Haakon VII Sea.[16][note 3]
There is no ice-free land at the coast, which consists of a 20-to-30-metre high (70 to 100 ft) wall of ice almost throughout the entire territory.
Geologically, the ground of Queen Maud Land is dominated by Precambrian gneiss, formed c. 1 to 1.2 Ga, before the creation of the supercontinent Gondwana. The mountains consist mostly of crystalline and granitic rocks, formed c. 500 to 600 Ma in the Pan-African orogeny during the assembly of Gondwana.[20] In the farthest western parts of the territory, there are younger sedimentary and volcanic rocks. Research on the thickness of the ice has revealed that without the ice, the coast would be similar to those of Norway and Greenland, with deep fjords and islands.[17]
History
Early activity
Queen Maud Land was the first part of Antarctica to be sighted, on 27 January 1820 by
The Antarctic Plateau was claimed for Norway by Roald Amundsen as the King Haakon VII Plateau when his expedition was the first to reach the South Pole on 14 December 1911. It was mapped as a circular territory comprising the plateau around the South Pole, including all the land above latitude 85°S. However, roughly the same area had been claimed by the British as the King Edward VII Plateau, which was in conflict with the Norwegian claim. Amundsen's claim has never been officially claimed by the Norwegian government.[23][24][25]
The name Queen Maud Land was initially applied in January 1930 to the land between 37°E and 49°30′E discovered by
Norway's claim was disputed by Germany,[26] which in 1938 dispatched the German Antarctic Expedition, led by Alfred Ritscher, to fly over as much of it as possible.[3][17] The ship Schwabenland reached the pack ice off Antarctica on 19 January 1939.[27] During the expedition, an area of about 350,000 square kilometres (140,000 sq mi) was photographed from the air by Ritscher,[28] who dropped darts inscribed with swastikas every 26 kilometres (16 mi). Germany eventually attempted to claim the territory surveyed by Ritscher under the name New Swabia,[3] but lost any claim to the land following its defeat in the Second World War.[26][note 4]
On 14 January 1939, five days prior to the German arrival, Queen Maud Land was annexed by Norway,[18] by royal decree:[17]
That part of the mainland coast in the Antarctic extending from the limits of the Falkland Islands Dependencies in the west (the boundary of Coats Land) to the limits of the Australian Antarctic Territory in the east (45° east long.), with the land lying within this coast and the environing sea, shall be brought under Norwegian sovereignty.
— Norwegian royal resolution, 14 January 1939.[29]
The primary basis for the annexation were the Norwegian explorations and the need to secure the Norwegian whaling industry's access to the region.
Later developments
Maudheim | |
---|---|
Coordinates: 71°02′36″S 10°55′30″W / 71.0433°S 10.9250°W[31] | |
Established | 20 February 1950 |
Closed | 15 January 1952 |
Government | |
• Type | Administration |
• Body | NBSAE |
Active times | All year-round |
Norway Station | |
---|---|
Coordinates: 70°30′00″S 2°32′00″W / 70.5000°S 2.5333°W[32] | |
Established | 20 January 1957 |
Closed | 1960 |
Government | |
• Type | Administration |
• Body | Sixth Norwegian Antarctic Expedition |
Active times | All year-round |
King Baudouin Station
Base antarctique Roi Baudouin | |
---|---|
Coordinates: 70°26′00″S 24°19′00″E / 70.4333°S 24.3167°E[33] | |
Established | February 1958 |
Closed | 1967 |
Named for | Baudouin of Belgium |
Government | |
• Type | Administration |
• Body | Belgian Antarctic Program |
Active times | All year-round |
Lazarev
Лазарев | |
---|---|
Coordinates: 69°58′00″S 12°55′00″E / 69.9667°S 12.9167°E[34] | |
Established | 10 March 1959 |
Closed | 26 February 1961 |
Government | |
• Type | Administration |
• Body | Soviet Antarctic Expedition |
Active times | All year-round |
The Norwegian–British–Swedish Antarctic Expedition of 1949–52 was the first international scientific expedition in Antarctica. The expedition established its winter quarters at a base called Maudheim at 71°S, 11°W, and mapped much of western Queen Maud Land.[35][36] During the International Geophysical Year (1957–1958), year-round stations were established in Queen Maud Land by Norway, the Soviet Union, Belgium and Japan. The Norwegian expedition continued with topographical mapping, while the others started geophysical and geological research. Norway's Norway Station was lent to South Africa following the withdrawal of the Norwegian expedition in 1960. South Africa later built the SANAE station, near the now-defunct Norway Station. The Soviet Union, and later Russia, has maintained continual operations, although it moved from Lazarev Station to Novolazarevskaya Station. Japan has been based at its Showa Station since 1957, except for a hiatus of a few years. Belgium closed its King Baudouin Station in 1961, though it mounted limited operations in cooperation with the Netherlands in 1964–66. The United States established the temporary Plateau Station in 1966.[17]
In 1948, the newly created
Founded in 1978,
In 1992, an expedition by
In 2015,
Legal status
Like all other territorial claims in Antarctica, the Norwegian claim of Queen Maud Land (along with its claim of Peter I Island) is subject to the Antarctic Treaty System. The treaty makes clear that Antarctica can only be used for peaceful purposes and assures the freedom of scientific activity. It promotes international scientific cooperation and bans any nuclear-related activities. Although territorial claims are not invalidated by the treaty, all claims under Article III of the treaty are in effect suspended as long as it is in force.[40][44][45] Norway, Australia, France, New Zealand and the United Kingdom have all mutually recognised each other's claims in Antarctica.[46] But there is a question on the actual boundaries of the claim, since the initial Norwegian demarcations both towards the South Pole and into the sea were left unclear. Apparently this was to avoid accepting use of the "sector principle" for Arctic Ocean claims by the Soviet Union.[47] In 2015, Norway partially rectified this question by formally laying its claim to the area between the Queen Maud Land and the South Pole.[7]
Norwegian administration of Queen Maud Land is controlled by the Polar Affairs Department of the
Since 5 May 1995, Norwegian law has required all Norwegian activity in Antarctica to follow international environmental law for Antarctica. Norwegian citizens who plan activities in Queen Maud Land must therefore report to the Norwegian Polar Institute, which may prohibit any non-compliant activity. Those who visit Queen Maud Land must follow laws regarding protection of nature, treatment of waste, pollution and insurance for search and rescue operations.[50]
Fauna and flora
There are three types of birds around Troll station: the Antarctic petrel, the snow petrel and the south polar skua. The Antarctic petrel lives on the sea ice for most of the year, with the exception of its breeding season (in Antarctica, from November to February), when it moves to the inland mountains and nunataks.[51] The 3.9-square-kilometre (1.5 sq mi) area of ice-free cliffs in Princess Astrid Coast called Svarthamaren Mountain hosts Antarctica's largest known inland colony of breeding seabirds, almost 1 million (250,000 pairs) Antarctic petrels.[18][51] Many snow petrels and south polar skuas also breed in this area. Snow petrels are generally spread out in smaller colonies throughout the mountainous areas of Queen Maud Land. During the breeding season, the south polar skua feeds exclusively upon the eggs, as well as both young and adult birds, of both petrel species.[51]
The emperor penguin has some of its breeding places concentrated in Queen Maud Land.[52] All four of the true Antarctic seals, namely the Weddell seal, leopard seal, crabeater seal and Ross seal, can be found in the King Haakon VII Sea off Queen Maud Land.[53][54] The Ross seal is notably found in its greatest numbers in the King Haakon VII Sea.[55]
The nunatak areas have a scarcity of flora, limited to lichen, bryophyte and algae. Flowering plants are not found there. The Norwegian Polar Institute has not registered the occurrence of any threatened or rare plants or animals in Queen Maud Land, the known ones thus existing in healthy populations.[53]
Research stations
Queen Maud Land is currently home to at least 13 research stations, six of which are operated year-round.
These stations are connected by the Dronning Maud Land Air Network Project (DROMLAN), which is a cooperative agreement for transportation between eleven nations with research stations in East Antarctica. Long-range aircraft fly between Cape Town, South Africa and either the Troll Airfield, located at the Troll research station, or the runway at the Novolazarevskaya Station. From these two main airfields, smaller aircraft may fly further to other Antarctic destinations.[8]
Norway's Troll station serves as a major hub of the DROMLAN network through the Troll Airfield.[8] Research at Troll include air and atmospheric measurements,[56] monitoring of greenhouse gases and bird colonies, as well as meteorological and climate research.[41] The other Norwegian station, Tor, was established for researching birds at the breeding colony in Svarthamaren Mountain.[51]
Activities conducted by Russia's Novolazarevskaya Station include environmental monitoring, geodesy/mapping, geomagnetic and meteorological observations, glaciology, biology, ionospheric / auroral observations, limnology, geology, geophysics and seismology.[57]
South Africa's
The Swedish
The German
The Maitri station succeeded the Dakshin Gangotri station in 1989, India's first Antarctic base.[62] Maitri's research focus on geology, and the study of the supercontinent Gondwana, when India and Antarctica belonged to the same landmass. It also includes low-temperature engineering research that is relevant to conditions in the Himalayas.[63]
The
Belgium's Princess Elisabeth Antarctica base was established as a project to promote polar sciences, as well as to demonstrate the possibility of building a zero emission station.[66] Research is conducted by an international team of scientists, studying climatology, glaciology and microbiology.[67]
Popular culture
Queen Maud Land is featured in the 2021 video game Battlefield 2042 as the setting of the multiplayer map Breakaway.[68]
A Norwegian pop group is known as Dronning Mauds Land , which translates to Queen Maud Land.[69]
See also
- Queen Maud Mountains – Major feature group in the Transantarctic Mountains
- New Swabia – A territory of Antarctica in Queen Maud Land, first explored by Nazi Germany in 1938/39
Notes
- ^ Also spelled in Norwegian as Dronning Mauds land.[1] The Norwegian name, Dronning Maud Land, is also used by English speakers.[2][3] It is derived from a 1974 agreement between Norway and the United Kingdom not to translate the names of each other's claims. Similar agreements, although informal, also exist with Australia, New Zealand and France.[4]
- ^ At the time of the claim, Norway did not validate the sector method of demarcating polar territory. This was in line with Norwegian claims in the Arctic and hence to avoid compromising Norway's position with regard to the former Soviet Union and present-day Russia. In the 2015 White Paper No. 32 (2014–2015) "Norwegian Interests and Policy in Antarctica" the Foreign Ministry confirmed that while Norway rejected the sector method of delimiting claims it was not intended create a difference in interpretation of the Norwegian claim in the Antarctica; White Paper No. 19 (1939) had stated that the purpose of the annexation was to annex "land which is currently terra nullius and that only Norwegians have researched and mapped".
- Cosmonaut Sea.[16]
- ^ Although some, notably Norwegian writer Bjarne Aagaard and German geographer Ernst Herrmann, have claimed that Germany never actually occupied the territory, it is well documented that Germany issued a decree about the establishment of a German Antarctic Sector called New Swabia after the expedition's return in August 1939.[26]
References
Citations
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- ^ a b c Rubin, 2008, p. 304.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Mills, 2003, p. 540.
- ^ Ørvoll, Oddveig Øien. "Kartlegginga av Antarktis: Internasjonale avtaler" [Mapping Antarctica: International Agreements] (in Norwegian). Norwegian Polar Institute. Archived from the original on 17 August 2011. Retrieved 15 July 2011.
- ^ a b "Minifacts about Norway 2011: 2. Geography, climate and environment". Statistics Norway. 2011. Retrieved 21 August 2011.
- ^ a b "Forutsetninger for Antarktistraktaten: Dronning Maud Lands statsrettslige stilling – "utviklingen" frem til 1957". Norsk Polarhistorie (in Norwegian). Retrieved 15 May 2011.
- ^ a b Rapp, Ole Magnus (21 September 2015). "Norge utvider Dronning Maud Land helt frem til Sydpolen". Aftenposten (in Norwegian). Oslo, Norway. Retrieved 22 September 2015.
…formålet med anneksjonen var å legge under seg det landet som til nå ligger herreløst og som ingen andre enn nordmenn har kartlagt og gransket. Norske myndigheter har derfor ikke motsatt seg at noen tolker det norske kravet slik at det går helt opp til og inkluderer polpunktet.
- ^ a b c d e Rubin, 2008, p. 305.
- ^ "Queen Maud Land". Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 25 April 2011.
- ^ "India - The World Factbook". The World Factbook. Central Intelligence Agency. Archived from the original on 11 January 2021.
2,973,193 sq km
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"Sun shines for king in Antarctica". Newsinenglish.no. 11 February 2015. Archived from the original on 14 February 2015. Retrieved 15 February 2015.
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- ^ McGonigal, 2009, p. 110.
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