MOUNTAINS OF MARBLE

Press, Volume CII, Issue 30062, 21 February 1963, Page 17

MOUNTAINS OF MARBLE

Discovery In Antarctic

(N.Z. Press Association) McMURDO STATION, February 20. Mountains of pure white marble, in some cases polished to a high gloss by blowing snow and ice, have been found in the southern Heritage Range of Antarctica’s Ellsworth Mountains by a University of Minnesota geological field party. Dr. J. C. Craddock, leader of the 10-man team, reported the find on his return to McMurdo Station after almost three months of research in the mountain chain more than 900 miles from here. Another find, believed to be much more significant, was the first discovery of fossil plants in both the northern Sentinel Range and the central Heritage Range mountains. The fossils, as yet unidentified, may enable scientists to establish the age of layers of rock in the mountain ranges.

“We hope the fossils will enable us to determine whether these mountains were formed aboift the same time as the South American Andean system, or whether they were formed at a later period,” said Dr. Craddock. Dr. Craddock said topographic engineers had established ground control for accurate mapping of the Heritage Range and part of the Sentinel mountains. During the season, he said, the Minnesota group found indications that rocks now exposed had once been covered by a layer of ice at least 1500 feet thicker than at present. “We also found rocks so strongly folded that the layers were almost vertical and parallel to each other."