Four Miles An Hour In Snow

Press, Volume CVIII, Issue 31597, 7 February 1968, Page 1

Four Miles An Hour In Snow

An 815-mile leg of the South Pole-Queen Maud Land traverse was completed for this season on January 30 when nine scientists and some of their equipment were lifted in two flights by a United States Navy ski-equipped Hercules. They had been in the field since December 5, and travelled in three snocats at an average speed of four miles an hour. The leader of the party, Mr N. W. Peddie, of the United States Coast Guard and Geodetic Survey, said in Christchurch yesterday that there had been many white-outs towards the end of the traverse, with the consequent danger of running into crevasses.

“Driving had to be very slow and careful towards the end. We did not see any crevasses, but when 1 called a halt I felt we were getting near them because of the surface conditions. From the Hercules we saw some large

fields about six miles ahead,” Mr Peddie said. The party comprised two seismologists, four glaciologists, two engineers to service the mechanical equipment, and Mr Peddie, who made geomagnetic observations and navigated for the traverse. A third seismologist had to withdraw because of a tooth abscess when the party was 50 miles out of Plateau Station. The two large snocats hauled sled trains carrying scientific equipment, engine and other mechanical spares, tools and food, and a large wheeled fuel transporter which carried 500 gallons of diesel in each of its tyres. The small snocat had icedrilling equipment mounted on the back. Food and fuel capsules were dropped by parachute on three occasions, and a fourth drop was made with a new cylinder head for one of the snocats. Some of the parachutes failed to open, and the fuel capsules had to be dug out from under 10ft to 15ft of snow. Mr Peddie said shot holes were drilled in the ice every 40 miles for seismic determin

ation of the thickness of the ice cap. Radio-sounding equipment was also used for the same purpose throughout the traverse. The temperature and density of the ice monitored at different depths. The glaciologists dug pits three to four metres deep every 40 miles, and one-metre pits every five miles to measure snow accumulation and density, and to take samples for isotopic study in the United States.

The direction and intensity of the electromagnetic field was measured every 40 miles. Mr Peddie said a turn was made in the traverse in an attemp to tie in with the southern terminal of the 1951-52 seismic survey of Norway, Britain and Sweden from Maudheim Station on the coast, but mechanical breakdowns prevented the meeting of the survey.

Other scientific equipment used on the traverse included magnetometers, gravity meters and surveying instruments. Information obtained will be used in the preparation of sub-surface topographical maps, and gravity and magnetic maps. Mr Peddie said tempera-

tures during the traverse ranged from plus 10 degrees Fahrenheit to minus 45 degrees, and winds from zero to 20 knots.