CAPTAIN Scott and other members of his ill-fated expedition to the South Pole were killed by inadequate rations, research has shown.

The men expended more energy than Olympic athletes as they hauled their sledges across hundreds of miles of ice.

Their rations were too high in protein and too low in fat, and did not deliver enough calories, say scientists. As a result, the polar explorers starved to death.

"There has been much speculation about what Scott died of," said lead researcher Dr Lewis Halsey, from the University of Roehampton in London. "Almost certainly his death was due to chronic and extreme emaciation."

Appalling conditions greeted Robert Falcon Scott and his team in Antarctica, proving too much for the mechanical sledges, ponies and dogs they brought with them. On January 17, 1912 they reached the pole, only to find that a Norwegian party led by Roald Amundsen had beaten them there.

In mid-February, team member Edgar Evans died, followed by frost-bitten Lawrence Oates who walked into a blizzard to his death. Scott, Edward Wilson and Henry Bowers died in their tent on March 29, 1912 .

Dr Halsey's team examined the expedition in light of today's knowledge of nutrition and exercise.

Scott's rations consisted of biscuits, pemmican (a fat and protein mix), butter, sugar, chocolate, cereals and raisins, with initial supplements of pony meat.

Each of the explorers was burning nearly 7000 calories a day, it is estimated, but was consuming only around 4400 calories. Their rations were also too low in fat, the experts said.

They conclude: "It seems reasonable to conclude that augmented rations based on modern physiological wisdom would have kept them alive.."