Map produced by the U.S. Exploring Expedition. The existence of an Antarctic continent had long been rumored but remained unconfirmed. During the 1760s, Captain James Cook reached the Antarctic Circle but found only icebergs. Credit for substantiating Antarctica is divided. Two expedition members, William Reynolds and Henry Eld, sighted land the same day as French explorer Jules Dumont d‘Urville. Wilkes surveyed 2,400 kilometers (1,500 miles) of Antarctic coastline, an area still known as “Wilkes Land.”
