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Auckland Star, Volume LXIII, Issue 16, 20 January 1932, Page 10

BACK TO ANTARCTIC.

ADMIRAL BYRD'S PLANS. HUGE AREAS UNEXPLORED, QUESTION OF LAND BASE. (By Telegraph.-—Own Correspondent.) DUNEDIN, this day.

Admiral Byrd's announcement in New York that he intends to establish a subbase in the interior of the continent at the foot of the Queen Maude Mountains, to carry out scientific work and to determine whether or not a channel exists between the Ross Sea and the Weddel Sea, comes e.s a surprise. The explorer's intention when he left New Zealand in April, 1930, was to make arrangements for his next expedition to the westward of the Ross Sea, which would have necessitated his making Capetown his final land base.

The Queen Maude range is a mass of enormous mountains buttressing the polar plateau, and it was over a hump, and to the westward of the Axel Heidel Glacier, the highest point of which is 10,000 feet, that he made his famous flight to the South Pole, in December. 1929. Admiral Byrd has already said that the Queen Maude range is one of the most important places left in the world for geological investigation. From this great chain of ranges he discovered on another flight that a chain of smaller mountains runs to eastward. He was convinced that there was unclaimed land to the east of the 150 th meridian, the eastern boundary of the Ross Dependency, which is claimed in the name of Britain. From there right across to Graham Land, directly to the south of Cape Horn, enormous tracts of land are open to exploration. Only the fringe of the Bellinghauseu Sea, to the west of Graham Land, has been skirted.

It is this unknown continent which Admiral Byrd hopes to conquer. He has not yet announced from which side he will explore the continent, but it is extremely unlikely that he will attempt to enter it from the Weddel Sea. If that is his plan, his last base in civilisation would probably be in the South Shetland Islands or "at Capetown. The most feasible route, however, is via New Zealand, and' after the hospitality and assistance given his last Antarctic expedition it is certain the admiral will not hesitate to avail himself of the Dominions facilities if they arc at all suited to his purposes. The route from the Bay of Whales to the foot of the -Queen Maude mountains has already been explored, while from Graham Land toward the polar plateau the area is unexplored. The one thing certain is that Admiral Byrd will not be satisfied until he attempts further conquests in the Antarctic. The secrets of that great continent fascinate him.