This collection is unprocessed. Materials organized in the order received.
Accession no. PA.56.2000.0051: John Weihaupt, 2000 October; Accession no. PA.2012.0024: John Weihaupt, 2012 December; Accession no. PA.56.2013.0001: John Weihaupt, 2013 January.
[identification of item], John Weihaupt Papers, SPEC.PA.56.0072, Byrd Polar and Climate Research Center Archival Program, Ohio State University
Contains compact discs and an audiocassette.
Materials in this collection are available for use, but may be used in the University Archives reading room only. Audio/visual materials and computer media may need a use copy produced before access is allowed. Contact the Byrd Polar and Climate Research Center Archival Program at polararchives@osu.edu for more information.
Materials in this collection may be protected by copyright, and are made available for research and educational purposes. In general, the OSU Libraries do not own the copyright for materials from our collections and cannot grant copyright permissions for these materials. The user is responsible for making a final determination of copyright status. If copyright protection applies, permission must be obtained from the copyright holder to reuse, publish, or reproduce the work beyond the bounds of fair use or other exceptions to the law. Works in the public domain are not protected by copyright and do not require permission to use.
The collection is unprocessed. Finding aid written by: Archival staff, after 2013; Devon Boerman, 2018 March
Dr. John G. "Jack" Weihaupt was a exploration geophysicist who participated in the Victoria Land Traverse, 1959-1960 and the South Pole Traverse, 1961-1963, in Antarctica. The United States Antarctica Research Program selected him to examine unexplored areas of Antarctica with other scientists, which he did three times between 1959 to 1963. Dr. Weihaupt's field notebooks document his experience during the 2400 kilometers journey into the unexplored hinterland of East Antarctica, the Victoria Land Traverse, 1959-1960, which was the first of his expeditions. As part of the International Geophysical Year/United States Antarctic Research Program, the eight-man traverse team conducted seismic, gravity, magnetic, geological, glaciological, and atmospheric surveys over the continental ice sheet for four months. They discovered the Wilkes Subglacial Basin, the Wilkes Land Gravity Anomoly, the Outback Nunataks, the USARP Mount Range, and the upper reaches of the Rennick Glacier. In so doing, the traverse encountered heavy crevassing on the Skelton Glacier, where Sno-Cats,truck-sized snow vehicles, frequently broke through snow bridges, threatening the end of the traverse. On the high plateau, fuel shortages and frequent equipment failures also threatened to terminate the journey. The latter portions of the traverse were marked by near catastrophes in the vicinity of the Mertz and Ninnis Glaciers, and on the glaciers of the Transantarctic Mountains, where unknown and initially undetected substantial crevasse fields were encountered.
The South Pole Traverse was conducted in 1961 by John G. "Jack" Weihaupt and his assistant, Joji Tomei, to determine the thickness of the continental ice sheet and the nature of the subglacial topography at the South Pole. This had been attempted previously by Andrew Kapitsa of the Soviet Union and Ed Robinson of the United States at sites some distance from the South Pole, with mixed results. Jack and Joji used seismic reflection, refraction, and gravity techniques, and were the first to successfully determine the thickness of the continental ice sheet and the comparatively featureless character of the subglacial topography at the South Pole. They were also alleged to be the first to understand Antarctica's gravity spectrum.
The John Weihaupt Papers, which date from 1959-2012, with most of the collection taking place between 1959 and 1963, contains field notes and notebooks, aerial photographs and compact discs. These materials come from his 1959-1960 Victoria Land Traverse expedition in Antarctica and his 1961 South Pole Traverse expedition. The collection also includes an oral history interview with Brian Shoemaker audiocassette, transcripts and notes.
Dr. John Weihaupt has deposited rock samples and thin sections at the
Contains audiocassette.
This series contains an audiocassette and transcripts of a Byrd Polar and Climate Research Center Archival Program Polar Oral History interview that John Weihaupt did with Brian Shoemaker in Evergreen, Colorado on October 2, 2000. It also contains notes on Weihaupt for the oral history that includes his curriculum vitae, photographs, correspondence, articles and oral history release forms.
There is also a digitized transcript of the interview here:
Audiocassette; approximate run time: 1 hour 44 minutes
There is a digital audio format version of the oral history interview here:
This accession, which contains material that dates from 1959-1960 and 2012, contains field books from his 1959-1960 trip to Victoria Land Traverse, Antarctica and a compact disc.
Contains compact disc.
Contains a compact disc.
This accession, which dates from 1961-1963, contains field notebooks, data memos, and notes on seismic and gravity studies that documents Weihaupt's experience on the South Pole Traverse expedition in the early 1960s.
Contains compact disc.
Contains compact disc.