NO APPROACH TO NEW ZEALAND

Press, Volume XCIII, Issue 27987, 6 June 1956, Page 9

NO APPROACH TO NEW ZEALAND

DR. E. I. ROBERTSON’S COMMENT (New Zealand Press Association) WELLINGTON, June 5. New Zealand scientists had not yet been approached on the project for exploding a series of atom bombs in different parts of the world to create earthquakes to determine the composition of the earth’s structure, said the Director of the Geophysics Division of the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research (Dr. E. I. Robertson) today. He was commenting on the statement in Auckland by Professor K. E. Bullen, professor of applied mathematics at Sydney University. Dr. Robertson said that New Zealand’s interest would be in the Pacific project. However, this would be the most difficult experiment to arrange, as it would be necessary to have reasonably adjacent islands upon which to place seismographs for recording purposes. Dr. Robertson said the experiments

would be right in line with the experiments since the war with obsolete explosives in determining the composition of the earth's structure in various countries.

The Pacific would be a logical place to conduct such an experiment, as the earth’s structure there was essentially different from that on the continents.

He recalled the work by his division in dropping depth charges in Wellington Harbour and then recording the “earthquake” effect with seismographs placed at points northwards to beyond Palmerston North.