Comparison of Antarctic iceberg observations by Cook in 1772-75, Halley in 1700, Bouvet in 1739 and Riou in 1789 with modern data

During Cook's 1772-75 Antarctic circumnavigation on the HMS Resolution, he recorded the positions of hundreds of icebergs. This paper compares Cook's observations and those of Halley in 1700, Bouvet in 1739 and Riou in 1789, with the Brigham Young University/National Ice Center (BYU/NIC) and the Alfred Wegener Institute datasets. Cook's description of the iceberg plume east of the Amery Ice Shelf and the iceberg distributions in the Weddell, Ross and Amundsen Seas agree with modern data. In January 1774, Cook reached his farthest south on the shelf of the Amundsen Sea Embayment, the site of the current International Thwaites Glacier Collaboration field study. Cook's largest iceberg had a 2.5 km diameter, where power-law models show that icebergs of this size or smaller comprise 92% of their total number. In the eastern Weddell, Cook's observation of a sea-ice tongue with a much greater extent than in satellite imagery remains unexplained. Although Riou's icebergs lie 1000 km east of the BYU/NIC trajectories, application of the England and others (2020) fracture and drift model to the trajectories removes the discrepancy and means that all the ship observations are consistent with modern observations and theory.

Automated summary

This paper compares Cook's observations of icebergs during his Antarctic circumnavigation with modern datasets and reveals that Cook's descriptions agree with modern data in many areas. Cook's farthest south location coincides with the current research site for the International Thwaites Glacier Collaboration. Additionally, applying a drift model to the trajectories of Riou's icebergs resolves discrepancies and confirms consistency between ship observations and modern observations and theory.