CONTRIBUTION BY U.S.

Press, Volume XCIV, Issue 28099, 15 October 1956, Page 12

CONTRIBUTION BY U.S.

GEOPHYSICAL YEAR WORK The United States Congress has granted 40,000,000 dollars for expenditure on International Geophysical Year activities, of which a little more than 5,000.000 dollars will be used in the Antarctic. Given these figures in Christchurch at the week-end Mr John Hanessian, executive officer of the regional programmes office for the United States Geophysical Year, with particular responsibility for the Antarctic, Arctic and Pacific areas, said that they did not tell the full story. For instance, established weather stations would be undertaking expanded orogrammes for the Year, but there would be no call for funds from the ,United States national committee for the Year. On the other hand equipment and personnel were being sent to a number of stations which were not United States stations—equipment was being sent to New Zealand for use at Invercargill and Campbell Island—but this was not regarded as part of the United States programme for the Year. The figures for the Antarctic also took no account of the cost of operating the Navy task force with its ships and aeroplanes last summer and again this summer. It represented only the cost of scientific equipment ana supplies and the' salaries and travelling expenses of scientific workers.

The United States will have six International Geophysical Year stations in the Antarctic. The Little America station will be the primary station, and there will also be the Byrd station on the Byrd plateau, the South Pole station. the Weddell station. Knox station on the Knox Coast, and a joint station with New Zealand near Cape Adare known as the Adare station. About 75 scientific workers will spend next winter in the stations and they will have a support party of mechanics and cooks totalling about 100. The scientists will travel to the Antarctic between November and January by aeroplane and by ship. About half of them will be on the U.S.S. Curtiss, which is expected to sail from New Zealand about January 15.

Fields of Study Aurora and air glow, geomagnetism, ionospheric physics, meteorology, glaciology, seismology and gravity measurements are among the studies which will be undertaken by United States scientists.

Many of the fields of observation and research are inter-related, and for instance, glaciologists and seismologists will work hand in hand to determine the depth of the ice that lies over the Antarctic land mass and the configuration of the country below the ice. **Sno-cats,” large vehicles for travelling over the ice, hauling sledges and carrying men and equipment, will stop every 10 or 15 miles on traverses to allow the scientists to explode charges on the surface of the ice. By recording the time that it takes for the sound to penetrate the depaths and bounce back to the surface again they will be able to determine the depth of the ice and compile a seismic profile. At these stops the glaciologists will dig pits in the snow and ice to determine its composition and characteristics.

The glaciologists are also taking to the Antarctic what Mr Hanessian describes as “a fantastic piece of equipment—you can imagine the logistics aspect of it” —a mechanical drill weighing 50 tons which is to be used to drill down as deep as 1000 feet into the ice. The core of ice that is produced by the drilling will be studied, and using refrigeration the cores may be taken to the United States for further examination. Next year the drill will be used on the Ross ice shelf, and in 1958 it is hoped to operate it on the Byrd plateau. lonospheric physics will be one of the most important fields of American investigation in the Antarctic. “The ionosphere, which is the section of the atmosphere which extends from 50 to 250 miles above the earth, is a rather important part of the atmosphere, for it is responsible for all radio communication,” said Mr Hanessian. “We only know a little about it and nothing about the section over the Antarctic.

“The most important of a number of experiments we will' be doing is the taking of ionospheric soundings, which in a sense means that we will be listening in to what is taking place up there.” For this purpose Mr Hanessian said the scientists would be using a complex instrument known as an ionospheric recorder. “We are going to tie in observations down there with simultaneous observations in the Arctic in the same ionosphere,” he continued. “We expect to obtain a good deal of information about the atmosphere.” The reason why the ionosphere was so important was that it was composed of charged particles which had much to do with the magnetic field of the globe, auroral activity, and was linked with radio communication and what the layman called sunspots. When there was a solar disturbance or sunspots was a good deal of confusion in the ionosphere. “We do not know w r hat are the inter-rela-tions,” said Mr Hanessian. “What we find out might well help radio communciation and television transmission. It has got a close practical applica- 1 tion.” Ingenious Camera An ingenious all-sky camera, which photographs the whole of the sky, will be used in studies of the aurora and air glow. The U.S.S. Arneb will again have aboard this summer the neutron moni-1 tor which records electronically the i dispersion of cosmic rays as they come through the atmosphere. Cosmic ray research m the Antarctic will be based on the Knox station. “More than 50 countries are taking Dart in the International Geophysical Year, of which some 10 wall have bases in the Antarctic,” said Mr Hanessian. “The whole idea is to make simultaneous measurements throughout the world using approxi-, mately the same instrumentation so i that scientists in any country will be ; able to use the information gained during the Year. The remarkable thing ' is not that any one country is doing a particular programme, but that they I are all doing it together.” ’