In his time, Scott, the renowned polar explorer, prepared meticulously for his expedition to the South Pole. He accounted for everything: the icy silence of Antarctica, hurricane-force winds, and unprecedented freezing temperatures. He considered the challenges of navigating this frozen continent, where no human foot had yet trodden. But despite the thorough preparation, all members of the expedition perished. They were brought down by a disease unknown to polar explorers at the time—“tin plague.”
How did this happen?
There is no fuel in Antarctica, so Scott stocked up on liquid fuel. He poured it into tin cans and sealed them with the utmost care.
— We sealed them with the best tin!— the craftsmen smiled. — The can might burst, but the seam will hold!
But it was the seam that failed. All the seals broke in the brutal cold, the fuel leaked out, and the expedition members found themselves trapped in the icy grip of Antarctic chill. It turned out that tin is sensitive to extreme cold. At temperatures below 13 degrees Fahrenheit, white crystalline tin turns gray and crumbles into a fine powder. This is exactly what happened to Scott’s expedition with the cans sealed with tin.