The Never Ending Gale: its Role in Captain Robert F. Scott and his Companions’ Deaths Krzysztof Sienicki Chair of Theoretical Physics of Naturally Intelligent Systems ul. Topolowa 19, 05-807 Podkowa Leśna, Poland, EU
[email protected] (14 September 2011) Abstract Polar historians and enthusiasts are aware that toward the end of March 1912, Captain Robert F. Scott reported in his journal a meteorological event, which was extraordinary as far as its length and strength was concerned. This event was the gale which according to Captain Scott, lasted nine/ten days. Were the laws of physics suspended at the end of March 1912 in the Antarctic? I have shown that the near surface winds in the Antarctic are self-organized critically and that the winds over the continent form an ergodic system. I have presented an analysis of wind events in the proximity of Captain Scott’s camp and at Ross Island. By com- paring wind events at these locations, and performing an analysis of a gale’s wind duration and strength at One Ton Depôt, I con- cluded that Captain Scott’s wind record was highly inaccurate. I concluded that the nine/ten day gale described by Captain Scott, that lasted from March 21 to 29, did not take place. This result combined with my previous analysis of Captain Scott’s tempera- ture record, shows that two black swan meteorological events: February 27-March 19, 1912 – Extreme Cold Snap and March 21- 29, 1912 – Never Ending Gale reported by Captain Scott, did not take place. Therefore, I conclude that the deaths of Scott, Wilson and Bowers were a matter of choice rather than chance.