Photographs recovered of the lost Caruthers-Ilsen Terra Nova Expedition of 1912

Wide shot of wind swept edifices, Antarctica, 1912

In 1912, the second Terra Nova expedition to Antarctica, led by Sir Reginald Caruthers and Olaf Nilsen, vanished without a trace. 

An abandoned boat, somewhere off the Ronne Ice Shelf

Majestic ice formations

Caruthers had wished to recover from his disgrace during the 1902 expedition, when he had a failure of nerve during the sinking of the Indefatigable. Nilsen, a Norwegian explorer of some repute, could not raise the funds for another expedition of his own; investors felt his steady temperament could help balance the impetuous Caruthers, and a joint expedition was arranged with the help of a government grant.

One of the mysterious structures. It is unknown how many more there might have been, still buried beneath tons of snow and ice.

The West side of the temple complex

A complex labyrinth of structures in a state of semi-collapse could be found to what researchers speculate was the north side of the site

Caruthers was a hot tempered man of resolute conviction, and would rarely entertain alternate viewpoints. At the same time, he was known for astonishing flashes of insight and intuition. He was a poor judge of character, however, and frequently dictatorial. These attributes were believed to have played a role in the ill fate of the expedition.

Megaliths, many fallen but some still upright, extend over quite a large area

The Imperial Geographic Society contributed maps and a photographer, Benjamin Woolstead; the photographs recovered are believed to have been taken by him.

The three snow shrouded pyramids

Amidst the megaliths, and what could possibly be a water trough or aqueduct

A search party was sent in summer of 1913 after no word had been heard for over a year, led by Sir Reginald Thurmond, an experienced explorer. Unfortunately, he found no sign of the expedition whatsoever. It was speculated that their ship, the Piquant, was crushed by ice. 

Beneath the surface, chambers extended in many directions and were of a cyclopean scale. In earlier times, it would have been speculated that the work was conducted by aliens.

In 2007, the remains of a wooden shack was found near the Ronne Ice Shelf by American research staff from Palmer Station. Phographs, and papers with unintelligible scribblings that matched the hand writing of Sir Caruthers, were recovered from a sealed medical chest.

What appear to be artificial canals cut from the rock. It may also be the result of natural rock formations fracturing along right angles.

The photographs show that the team found incredible edifices of unknown origin or function; some resembled temples of Central America, but covered in glyphs no one has been able to decipher, and which have no bearing on any other in recorded history. Large canals seem to have been carved into the rock, as well, although the photographs are so badly deteriorated it is difficult to tell for certain.

Another view of the megaliths. There appear to be steps, but they are not to human scale

A vast underground chamber mostly filled with a giant flow of ice, which has fragmented and cracked at top.

One of the glyph covered chambers beneath the surface. 

Evidently Caruthers and Ilsen decided to shelter within these cyclopean temple complexes, which extended underground, and there are photos confirming that they moved supplies within, possibly to survive the winter months and attempt a return to civilization in the spring.

Unidentified crewmen near an entrance to the underground complex; the walls behind them seem to be made of sheer ice.

Caruthers (left) and Ilsen (right) with their supplies. Presumably these would have been moved to a chamber near the complex entrance.

Given the extent of supplies they moved underground, they should have been able to weather the entire winter and still had enough to make an attempt to reach safety.

Stacks of supplies in a badly degraded photograph

Another chamber

This chamber is noteworthy for what appear to be stairs (middle, above centre)

Some of the last photographs in the collection show what appears to be a form of sea life frozen in the ice. Biologists have been unable to identify the species; it may yet be undiscovered and only found in Antarctica.

The Explorer Society has posited that the lumps are the remains of giant squid, deposited there due to an undersea geologic event (and subsequent tsunami), then frozen in place. We're still recovering mammoths that've been dead ten thousand years ago and haven't decayed. On the other hand, Shoggoth!

 Who is to say? 

Whales moved to the poles to escape the megalodon, rendering it extinct for want of food. Or so the experts say. Could giant squid have migrated to the poles as well? Or... something else?

Organic shapes carved into the rock, but difficult to distinguish what

A large organic looking mass, but scientists have been unable to identify of what

The photo collection generated considerable controversy in the scientific community and were suppressed until 2019, when they were printed in a fringe magazine filled with wild speculations about unspeakable, squamous beasts out of The Cthulhu Mythos and H. P. Lovecraft. 

The ruins are undated, as obviously the expedition would have had no equipment for such a task. We can only speculate that during one of the warm spells, early human societies either lived there or migrated to ritual sites in Antarctica, possibly as part of their whale hunts. 

A survey of the region by helicopter in 2012 failed to find any hint of the structures or canals, which are likely now buried once again under millions of tons of ice, thanks to the glaciers shifting in the century since the expedition met its grim fate.

I've always found this particular lost expedition fascinating, and the photos, however poor in quality, intriguing to say the least. 

The infamous 'eye' shot could be that of a frozen squid, a bit of sculpture, or a decomposing organ frozen in time. OR it could be a horrific Lovecraftian monster, even Nyarlathotep, ready to leap out of the ice and devour unwary explorers. 

It does fire a writer's imagination, does it not?

What is believed to be the last photographs in the collection, at least what has been released to the public. It appears to be an eye, or an orifice of some kind. Species unknown.