The diet and incidence of scurvy and adopted preventative measures in the two branches of Shackleton’s Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition 1914–1917

Bibliographic Data

ID9220819
AuthorsD L Harrowfield (0000-0002-3862-3065, corresponding author), Bill Alp (0000-0003-4851-1232)
Year2019
Volume55
Issue2
Pages82-92
Publication date2019-03-01
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenuePolar Record (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0032-2474 • E-ISSN: 1475-3057
PublisherCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1017/s0032247419000238
OpenAlexW2962104082
LanguageEN
References cited23

Sir Ernest Henry Shackleton’s Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition (ITAE) 1914–1917, consisted of two parties – a Weddell Sea party led by Shackleton with Endurance, and a supporting Ross Sea depot-laying party, led by Captain Aeneas L.A. Mackintosh with Aurora . The purpose of this research paper is to consider why the Ross Sea party contracted scurvy and the Weddell Sea party did not. The authors suggest that for the Ross Sea shore party there was ineffectual leadership, insufficient medical care and sledging with excessive loads, and an inadequate diet for sledging, in both energy and vitamin C content. In their second season, depletion of vitamin C was again evident with one person dying. The Weddell Sea party, ably led by Shackleton, not only faced the arduous task of sledging heavy stores and moving camps in thick snow, but also had to haul three boats over pressure ridges, before reaching open water and rowing to Elephant Island. Here, the men lived almost exclusively on a fresh meat diet and were not affected by scurvy. This is the final paper for the trilogy commemorating the Ross Sea party centenary (the others are Harrowfield, 2013, 2015)

Ancient history · Art history · Ethnology · Scurvy · Trilogy · Vitamin C · Geology · High Altitude and Hypoxia · History · Internal Medicine · Medicine · Oceanography · Spaceflight effects on biology · Vitamin C and Antioxidants Research

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