Shannon Jackson, age 14, of Utica, N.Y., for her question:
IS THERE MORE THAN ONE SOUTH POLE?
Scientists tell us that the term South Pole is used for several invisible surface points in the Antarctic region. So you would be correct in saying that there is more than one.
The best known is the south geographic pole. But other important south poles include the instantaneous south pole, the south pole of balance, the south magnetic pole and the geomagnetic south pole.
The south geographic pole lies near the center of Antarctica at a point where all the earth's lines of longitude meet. Explorer Roald Amundsen of Norway beat Robert Scott of England to the south geographic polle in 1911 by one month.
In 1956, the United States established a permanent scientific base at the pole called the Amundsen Scott South Pole Station.
The instantaneous south pole lies at a point where the earth's axis, or an imaginary line through the earth, meets the surface. The earth wobbles slowly as it turns on its axis, causing the instantaneous south pole to move. This pole takes about 14 months to move counterclockwise around an irregular path called the Chandler circle. The diameter of this circle varies from less than one foot to about 70 feet.
The south pole of balance lies at the center of the Chandler circle. Its position locates the south geographic pole. The south pole of balance has moved about six inches toward Australia each year since 1900.
The south magnetic pole is the point toward which south seeking compass needles point: This pole may move as much as five miles in a year. In 1970, the south magnetic pole was in Wilkes Land, in Antarctica.
The geomagnetic south pole lies about 900 miles from the south geographic pole, toward Vincennes Bay. In the upper atmosphere, the magnetic field of the earth is directed upward and away from this point.
Richard E. Byrd was an American rear admiral, explorer, aviator and navigator. Between 1928 and 1957, he did more than any other man to direct the exploration of the bleak frozen continent of Antarctica.
In 1925, Byrd had his first taste of polar flying when he commanded the MacMillan Arctic Expedition's airplane flights over Greenland and Ellesmere Island. On May 9, 1926, he and Floyd Bennett became the first men to fly to the North Pole.
Byrd's first Antarctic expedition, from 1928 to 1940, was equipped with aircraft to fly to the South Pole. The expedition established its Antarctic base, Little America, on the Ross Ice Shelf at the Bay of Whales. On November 28 and 29, 1929, Byrd and his chief pilot, Bernt Balchen, flew to the South Pole.
On the second Byrd Antarctic expedition, from 1933 to 1935, many scientific research projects were undertaken.
In 1939, Byrd led the U.S. Antarctic Service expedition. The expedition built Little America III and sent out five major exploring parties.