Sydney L. Kirkby
Encyclopedia
Sydney L. Kirkby, MBE
(born 1933) is an Australia
n surveyor and Antarctic
explorer.
for 1956, the third year of ANARE operations in Antarctica.
Syd Kirkby was Surveyor and/or Station Leader of the ANARE 16-month wintering party at Mawson Station for three years: 1956-57, 1960–61, 1980-81. Additionally, he was a member of the summer operations team for four years: 1961-62, 1962–63, 1964–65 and 1979-80.
Kirkby's many accomplishments in Antarctica include establishment of the easternmost, westernmost, and southermost astrofixes
in Australian Antarctic Territory
. During his first expedition (1956–57), he was the first man to venture into the Prince Charles Mountains
with sled dogs. In the autumn of 1960, he and his team journeyed 400 kilometers through Enderby Land
from the Napier Mountains
to Mawson station. Between 1961 and 1965, he surveyed more Antarctic territory than any other explorer. His contributions have made a significant impact on the fields of regional geochronology
, petrology
, tectonics
geology
, orogeny
, glaciology
, geomagnetism, and paleomagnetism
.
Other awards and recogniton include:
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
(born 1933) is an Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n surveyor and Antarctic
Antarctic
The Antarctic is the region around the Earth's South Pole, opposite the Arctic region around the North Pole. The Antarctic comprises the continent of Antarctica and the ice shelves, waters and island territories in the Southern Ocean situated south of the Antarctic Convergence...
explorer.
Work
Syd Kirkby was first appointed as Surveyor at Mawson StationMawson Station
Mawson Station is one of three permanent Australian bases in the Australian Antarctic Territory of East Antarctica. Named after Antarctic explorer Sir Douglas Mawson, the base is managed by the Australian Antarctic Division...
for 1956, the third year of ANARE operations in Antarctica.
Syd Kirkby was Surveyor and/or Station Leader of the ANARE 16-month wintering party at Mawson Station for three years: 1956-57, 1960–61, 1980-81. Additionally, he was a member of the summer operations team for four years: 1961-62, 1962–63, 1964–65 and 1979-80.
Kirkby's many accomplishments in Antarctica include establishment of the easternmost, westernmost, and southermost astrofixes
Celestial navigation
Celestial navigation, also known as astronavigation, is a position fixing technique that has evolved over several thousand years to help sailors cross oceans without having to rely on estimated calculations, or dead reckoning, to know their position...
in Australian Antarctic Territory
Australian Antarctic Territory
The Australian Antarctic Territory is a part of Antarctica. It was claimed by the United Kingdom and placed under the authority of the Commonwealth of Australia in 1933. It is the largest territory of Antarctica claimed by any nation...
. During his first expedition (1956–57), he was the first man to venture into the Prince Charles Mountains
Prince Charles Mountains
Prince Charles Mountains is a major group of mountains in Mac. Robertson Land in Antarctica, including the Athos Range, the Porthos Range, and the Aramis Range. The highest peak is Mount Menzies . Other prominent peaks are Mount Izabelle and Mount Stinear...
with sled dogs. In the autumn of 1960, he and his team journeyed 400 kilometers through Enderby Land
Enderby Land
Enderby Land is a projecting land mass of Antarctica, extending from Shinnan Glacier at to William Scoresby Bay at .Enderby Land was discovered in February 1831 by John Biscoe in the whaling brig Tula, and named after the Enderby Brothers of London, owners of the Tula, who encouraged their...
from the Napier Mountains
Napier Mountains
The Napier Mountains are a group of more-or-less separated peaks, the highest being Mount Elkins, at about 2,300 meters above sea level. This mountain range is located in Enderby Land, in the claimed Australian Antarctic Territory, East Antarctica.-Location:...
to Mawson station. Between 1961 and 1965, he surveyed more Antarctic territory than any other explorer. His contributions have made a significant impact on the fields of regional geochronology
Geochronology
Geochronology is the science of determining the age of rocks, fossils, and sediments, within a certain degree of uncertainty inherent to the method used. A variety of dating methods are used by geologists to achieve this, and schemes of classification and terminology have been proposed...
, petrology
Petrology
Petrology is the branch of geology that studies rocks, and the conditions in which rocks form....
, tectonics
Tectonics
Tectonics is a field of study within geology concerned generally with the structures within the lithosphere of the Earth and particularly with the forces and movements that have operated in a region to create these structures.Tectonics is concerned with the orogenies and tectonic development of...
geology
Geology
Geology is the science comprising the study of solid Earth, the rocks of which it is composed, and the processes by which it evolves. Geology gives insight into the history of the Earth, as it provides the primary evidence for plate tectonics, the evolutionary history of life, and past climates...
, orogeny
Orogeny
Orogeny refers to forces and events leading to a severe structural deformation of the Earth's crust due to the engagement of tectonic plates. Response to such engagement results in the formation of long tracts of highly deformed rock called orogens or orogenic belts...
, glaciology
Glaciology
Glaciology Glaciology Glaciology (from Middle French dialect (Franco-Provençal): glace, "ice"; or Latin: glacies, "frost, ice"; and Greek: λόγος, logos, "speech" lit...
, geomagnetism, and paleomagnetism
Paleomagnetism
Paleomagnetism is the study of the record of the Earth's magnetic field in rocks. Certain minerals in rocks lock-in a record of the direction and intensity of the magnetic field when they form. This record provides information on the past behavior of Earth's magnetic field and the past location of...
.
Awards and recognition
Many geographical features in and around Australian Antarctic Territory have been named for Syd Kirkby. Some of these are:- Mount KirkbyMount KirkbyMount Kirkby is a very large, prominent, linear, flat-topped mountain on the northern face of the Porthos Range in the Prince Charles Mountains of Antarctica. Situated about 3 mi E of Crohn Massif, it is approximately 9 km long east-west and 4 km wide at the western end, tapering to...
in the Porthos RangePorthos RangeThe Porthos Range is the second range south in the Prince Charles Mountains, extending for about 30 miles in an east-to-west direction between Scylla Glacier and Charybdis Glacier. First visited in December 1956 by the ANARE southern party under W.G...
of the Prince Charles MountainsPrince Charles MountainsPrince Charles Mountains is a major group of mountains in Mac. Robertson Land in Antarctica, including the Athos Range, the Porthos Range, and the Aramis Range. The highest peak is Mount Menzies . Other prominent peaks are Mount Izabelle and Mount Stinear... - Kirkby HeadKirkby HeadKirkby Head is a sheer coastal outcrop on Tange Promontory, Enderby Land, Australian Antarctic Territory. Continental ice reaches almost to the top on its southern side. It is located at the east side of the entrance to Alasheyev Bight in Enderby Land....
on Tange PromontoryTange PromontoryTange Promontory is an ice-covered peninsula just west of Casey Bay on the coast of Enderby Land, Australian Antarctic Territory. Kirkby Head is a sheer coastal outcrop on Tange Promontory, at the east side of the entrance to Alasheyev Bight....
in Enderby LandEnderby LandEnderby Land is a projecting land mass of Antarctica, extending from Shinnan Glacier at to William Scoresby Bay at .Enderby Land was discovered in February 1831 by John Biscoe in the whaling brig Tula, and named after the Enderby Brothers of London, owners of the Tula, who encouraged their...
, near the Russian Molodezhnaya StationMolodezhnaya StationMolodyozhnaya , , was a Soviet research station in East Antarctica at 67°40′S 45°50′E.-Location:Molodyozhnaya Station is located in the Thala Hills, 500-600 meters inland from the coast on the southern shore of Alasheyev Bight in the Cosmonaut Sea, at 42 meters above sea level... - Kirkby ShoalKirkby ShoalKirkby Shoal is a small shoal area with depths of less than extending about westwards and SSW, about from the summit of Shirley Island, Windmill Islands, and NW of Stonehocker Point, Clark Peninsula.-Discovery and naming:...
in Newcomb BayNewcomb BayNewcomb Bay is a sheltered bay about 1 mile in extent, between Clark Peninsula and Bailey Peninsula in the Windmill Islands. First mapped from U.S. Navy Operation Highjump aerial photographs taken in February 1947. In February 1957, Willis L. Tressler, oceanographer, led a party from the USS...
, near Casey StationCasey StationCasey Station is a permanent base in Antarctica managed by the Australian Antarctic Division located on Vincennes Bay in the Australian Antarctic Territory.- History :...
, Shirley IslandShirley IslandShirley Island is a rocky Antarctic island a long, lying northwest of the western end of Bailey Peninsula, in the Windmill Islands. Kirkby Shoal is a small shoal area with depths of less than extending about westwards and SSW, about from the summit of Shirley Island.Shirley Island was first...
, Windmill IslandsWindmill IslandsThe Windmill Islands are an Antarctic group of rocky islands and rocks about wide, paralleling the coast of Wilkes Land for immediately north of Vanderford Glacier along the east side of Vincennes Bay... - Kirkby GlacierKirkby GlacierKirkby Glacier is a glacier, 20 miles in length. This glacier drains the central Anare Mountains and flows northwest to the sea three miles from Cape North, and just north of Arthurson Bluff, northern Victoria Land.-Discovery and naming:...
on the eastern boundary of Australian Antarctic Territory in the Trans Antarctic Mountains, Oates LandOates LandOates Land is a wedge-shaped segment of East Antarctica stretching along and inland from the Oates Coast. Part of the Australian claim to the Antarctic, it extends between 153°45' E and 150° E, forming a wedge between 60° S and the South Pole. It is bounded in the east by the Ross Dependency and in...
Other awards and recogniton include:
- the Polar MedalPolar MedalThe Polar Medal is a medal awarded by the Sovereign of the United Kingdom. It was instituted in 1857 as the Arctic Medal and renamed the Polar Medal in 1904.-History:...
(1957) - Member of the Order of the British EmpireOrder of the British EmpireThe Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
(1965) - the Gold Medal of the Australian Geographic Society as Adventurer of the Year (1997)
- nominated by the newspaper The AustralianThe AustralianThe Australian is a broadsheet newspaper published in Australia from Monday to Saturday each week since 14 July 1964. The editor in chief is Chris Mitchell, the editor is Clive Mathieson and the 'editor-at-large' is Paul Kelly....
as one of the ten greatest Australian adventurers of the 20th century (1999)
Further reading
- Bowden, Tim (1997). The Silence calling: Australians in Antarctica 1947-97, pp 162–163.