Plane Geodesy

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THE ANTARCTIC TREATY: VEILING REALITY

Edwin Wright

THE ANTARCTIC TREATY / TRAITÉ SUR L’ANTARCTIQUE / ДОГОВОР ОБ АНТАРКТИКЕ / TRATADO ANTÁRTICO1

Antarctica: The Existence of Geographical Proof That the Earth Is a Stationary Plane

Whereas the large-scale structure of the earth’s surface is planar, being under a vaulted, impenetrable firmament, it is obvious that this firmament must adjoin the earth at the edge of its planar structure, i.e., at the southernmost extremity of that plane, or what is referred to as the Southern Circumference, presumably located at what would otherwise (in the absence of an established planar earth coordinate system) be referred to as 90° South. See Figure 1 below:

Southern Circumference (90°S) Northern Center (90°N) Arctic Circle (66.56373°N) 60°N 30°N Tropic of Cancer (23.43627°N) Equator (0°) Tropic of Capricorn (23.43627°S) 30°S 60°S Antarctic Circle (66.56373°S)

Figure 1. Top view of the planar large-scale structure of the earth’s surface with emphasis on latitude 60° South per Article VI of The Antarctic Treaty.

Empirically then, the vaulted, impenetrable firmament and of course the planar large-scale structure of the earth’s surface could easily be verified by simply launching an expedition to Antarctica, specifically to anywhere along the Southern Circumference, in the same sense that one might launch expeditions to the (small-scale) vertical extremities of the earth, i.e., Mount Everest (Himalayas) and Challenger Deep (Mariana Trench in the Pacific Ocean).

By at least the 1950’s (and probably much earlier) many impartial private interests worldwide would have had more than sufficient technical resources to safely carry out expeditions to almost anywhere along the the Southern Circumference. But those expeditions were not allowed to happen. By the end of that decade, a multinational treaty was signed to restrict access to Antarctica to all but official representatives of the signatory nations. Today, in the 2020’s, that treaty—The Antarctic Treaty—remains in effect.

The Antarctic Treaty: Veiling Reality

On 1 December 1959, The Antarctic Treaty was signed at Washington, D.C. by the Governments of 12 nations, namely: Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Chile, the French Republic, Japan, New Zealand, Norway, the Union of South Africa, the Union of the Soviet Socialist Republics, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and the United States of America. The Treaty came into force on 23 June 1961.2

As of February 2023, 56 States (including the original 12 Signatory States) were Parties to the Treaty.3

A review of Article VII4 of the The Antarctic Treaty will provide the reader with an understanding of its implied but absolute restrictiveness vis-à-vis any private or corporate interests not acting in an official capacity of any or all of the signatory and acceding nations. Article VII is quoted here as follows:

Article VII

      1.    In order to promote the objectives and ensure the observance of the provisions of the present Treaty, each Contracting Party whose representatives are entitled to participate in the meetings referred to in Article IX of the Treaty shall have the right to designate observers to carry out any inspection provided for by the present Article. Observers shall be nationals of the Contracting Parties which designate them. The names of observers shall be communicated to every other Contracting Party having the right to designate observers, and like notice shall be given of the termination of their appointment.
      2.    Each observer designated in accordance with the provisions of paragraph 1 of this Article shall have complete freedom of access at any time to any or all areas of Antarctica. [emphasis added]
      3.    All areas of Antarctica, including all stations, installations and equipment within those areas, and all ships and aircraft at points of discharging or embarking cargoes or personnel in Antarctica, shall be open at all times to inspection by any observers designated in accordance with paragraph I [sic “paragraph 1”] of this Article. [emphasis added]
      4.    Aerial observation may be carried out at any time over any or all areas of Antarctica by any of the Contracting Parties having the right to designate observers. [emphasis added]
      5.    Each Contracting Party shall, at the time when the present Treaty enters into force for it, inform the other Contracting Parties, and thereafter shall give them notice in advance, of
(a) all expeditions to and within Antarctica, on the part of its ships or nationals, and all expeditions to Antarctica organized in or proceeding from its territory;
(b) all stations in Antarctica occupied by its nationals; and
(c) any military personnel or equipment intended to be introduced by it into Antarctica subject to the conditions prescribed in paragraph 2 of Article I of the present Treaty.5

But it is Article X6 of The Antarctic Treaty that ensures that Antarctica remains a closed shop:

Article X

      Each of the Contracting Parties undertakes to exert appropriate efforts, consistent with the Charter of the United Nations, to the end that no one engages in any activity in Antarctica contrary to the principles or purposes of the present Treaty.

It should be noted that tourism (while highly regulated) is permitted, being confined (for the most part) to the Antarctic Peninsula region — the northernmost part of Antarctica closest to the Tierra del Fuego archipelago of South America.7

The High Seas South of 60° South Latitude

Certain podcasters have also discussed The Antarctic Treaty in relation to the issue described above, adding that (non-authorized) civilian vessels have been intercepted at or south of 60° South (see Figure 1 above) by warships presumably acting on behalf of The Antarctic Treaty. This may or may not be true, but if it is true, then the interception of such vessels is illegal as Article VI8 of The Antarctic Treaty clearly exempts the high seas9 south of 60° South, i.e., the region commonly referred to as the Southern Ocean or the Antarctic Ocean. Article VI of The Antarctic Treaty is quoted below in all four Treaty languages:

Article VI

      The provisions of the present Treaty shall apply to the area south of 60° South Latitude, including all ice shelves, but nothing in the present Treaty shall prejudice or in any way affect the rights, or the exercise of the rights, of any State under international law with regard to the high seas [emphasis added] within that area.

En français (in French):

Article VI

      Les dispositions du présent Traité s’appliquent à la région située au sud du 60e degré de latitude Sud, y compris toutes les plates-fromes [sic] glaciaires; mais rien dans le présent Traité ne pourra porter préjudice ou porter atteinte en aucune façon aux droits ou à l’exercice des droits reconnus à tout État par le droit international en ce qui concerne les parties de haute mer [emphase ajoutée] se trouvant dans la région ainsi délimitée.

На русском языке (in Russian):

Сmаmья VI

      Положения настоящего Договора применяются к району южнее 60 параллели южной широты, включая все шельфвые ледники, но ничто в настоящем Договоре не ущемляет и никоим образом не затрагивает прав любого государства ипи осуществпения зтих прав, признанных международным правом в отношении открытого моря [добавлен акцент], в пределах этого района.

En español (in Spanish):

Artículo VI

      Las disposiciones del presente Tratado se aplicarán a la región situada al sur de los 60° de latitud Sur, incluídas todas las barreras de hielo; pero nada en el presente Tratado perjudicará o afectará en modo alguno los derechos o el ejercicio de los derechos de cualquier Estado conforme al Derecho Internacional en lo relativo a la alta mar [énfasis añadido] dentro de esa región.

The fact of the matter is that the entire land mass of Antarctica is well south of 60° South. Moreover, all but a relatively miniscule portion of the Antarctic land mass is actually south of the Antarctic Circle (i.e., south of 66.56373° South). Those raising the matter of (alleged) high seas interceptions at or south of 60° South detract from the central issue which is that of restricted access to the Antarctic land mass in general and to the adjoining firmament-planar earth circumference at 90° South in particular.

Moving Forward: Beyond The Antarctic Treaty

Restricted access to the Antarctic land mass (and certainly, to the adjoining firmament-planar earth circumference, i.e. the Southern Circumference at 90° South) notwithstanding, the planar nature of the large-scale structure of the earth’s surface could easily be ascertained by circumnavigating the earth at a specific southern latitude well north of Antarctica or even north of 60° South for that matter. Whereas a spherical or spheroidal large-scale structure of the earth’s surface implies smaller and smaller circumferences of latitudinal parallels with increasing distance south of the Equator, a planar large-scale structure of the earth’s surface implies larger and larger circumferences of latitudinal parallels with increasing distance south of the Equator, culminating with the Southern Circumference at 90° South. Any private or corporate interests with sufficient resources could underwrite a marine expedition to circumnavigate the earth (unimpeded by any land mass) along a specific latitude, say 56° South (i.e., just south of Cape Horn), said expedition being equipped with the technology necessary to precisely determine the circumnavigated distance at that latitude. Obviously, if the measured circumnavigated distance at 56° South is greater than the equatorial circumference calculated under the spheroidal model, then the area of the world south of the Equator is much larger than the area north of the Equator, thereby pointing to the planar large-scale structure of the earth’s surface.

Would anyone be interested in underwriting such an expedition?


— FINIS —


  1. The Antarctic Treaty. Signed at Washington, on 1 December 1959, United Nations Treaty Series (UNTS), Vol. 402, No. 5778, pp. 71–102 (https://treaties.un.org/doc/Publication/UNTS/Volume%20402/v402.pdf). ARTICLE XIV of the Treaty states: “The present Treaty, done in the English, French, Russian and Spanish languages, each version being equally authentic, shall be deposited in the archives of the Government of the United States of America, which shall transmit duly certified copies thereof to the Governments of the signatory and acceding States.”↩️

  2. Ibid., p. 72.↩️

  3. Secretariat of the Antarctic Treaty (https://www.ats.aq/index_e.html).↩️

  4. The Antarctic Treaty, op. cit., pp. 76–79 (in English and French) and pp. 90–93 (in Russian and Spanish).↩️

  5. Ibid., pp. 72–73 (in English and French) and pp. 86–87 (in Russian and Spanish). Paragraph 2 of Article I of The Antarctic Treaty reads: “The present Treaty shall not prevent the use of military personnel or equipment for scientific research or for any other peaceful purpose.”↩️

  6. Ibid., pp. 80–81 (in English and French) and pp. 94–95 (in Russian and Spanish).↩️

  7. Secretariat of the Antarctic Treaty, op. cit. (https://www.ats.aq/e/tourism.html).↩️

  8. Ibid., pp. 76–77 (in English and French) and pp. 90–91 (in Russian and Spanish).↩️

  9. United Nations, Division for Ocean Affairs and the Law of the Sea, United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea of 10 December 1982, PART VII. HIGH SEAS, SECTION 1. GENERAL PROVISIONS, Article 86. Application of the provisions of this Part (https://www.un.org/depts/los/convention_agreements/texts/unclos/part7.htm). Article 86 defines the high seas in terms of exclusivity as follows: “The provisions of this Part apply to all parts of the sea that are not included in the exclusive economic zone, in the territorial sea or in the internal waters of a State, or in the archipelagic waters of an archipelagic State. This article does not entail any abridgement of the freedoms enjoyed by all States in the exclusive economic zone in accordance with article 58.”↩️