Project in Antarctica likely

Press, Volume CXII, Issue 33061, 31 October 1972, Page 18

Project in Antarctica likely

Some member nations of the Council of Europe are interested in taking part in scientific research in the Antarctic.

The director of French Polar Expeditions (Mr P.-E. Victor) said in Christchurch yesterday that discussions, which began two years ago, were now well advanced.

Britain, France, Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, Italy, and also Switzerland are involved, and of these, five have been or are working in the Antarctic.

However, the proposal was tentative; nothing had been agreed to in any definite form, said Mr Victor. QUEEN MAUD LAND

“Such research as might be carried out by the Council of Europe nations will be in Queen Maud Land, and the programme is likely to be a common one. Two formulas for its execution are under consideration. “There can be a number of national groups working in co-ordination on a common

programme, or, as we had in Greenland for 15 years, an international project where a group is formed regardless of nationality. In the International Glaciological Expedition, in Greenland, of which I was the leader, we had Frenchmen, Germans and Swiss working together perfectly.” Mr Victor said that when agreement was reached, because of the geographical location, it was likely that the Belgian and Norwegian bases would be reopened as base camps. CAPTAIN COUSTEAU Mr Victor, who is a close friend of Captain Jacques Cousteau, said the undersea adventurer has already set sail in his boat Calypso for the Antarctic Peninsula, where he would make television films. Mr Victor said that Captain Cousteau left Monte Carlo late last month.

“Captain Cousteau has already taken the Calypso into the Bering Sea, and it was

his enthusiasm after this voyage that prompted him to go to the Antarctic. The Calypso has a very thin skin, and so is unable to sail in icy waters. That is why he chose the Antarctic Peninsula rather than McMurdo Sound, as there he will find open water.” Mr Victor should have gone to the Antarctic yesterday along with 16 members of the French Polar Expeditions btu because of a technical fault their Military Airlift Command Starlifter jet returned to Christchurch. WINTERING PARTY He is going to the main French base at Dumont d’Urville to spend some time with the men who wintered there and to see off the 10 men who, on November 1, will leave Carrefour, an advance base 25 miles inland from Dumont d’Urville, on the second leg of their 1000mile traverse of Wilkes Land towards the Russians’ Vostok Station. Last summer, the men completed haif this distance. The traverse is part of the International Antarctic Glaciological Project planned by France, the United States, the Soviet Union and Australia.

This summer, this second leg might take a little longer to complete while scientists study an under-ice dome found last year between Vostok and the point where they will resume the second leg of the traverse. Last summer, the Frenchmen used a new type of portable drill for their measurements. It is capable of depths of 50 metres. “It is really only used for superficial drilling through the ice, but with its use we are better able to determine where deen drilling might be usefully carried out.” He believes the Earth is on the threshold of

another cold but not glaciological period. Mr Victor said that the under-ice dome phenomenon had been discovered in Greenland, and drills had gone down into rock 110,000 years old. About 80,000 years ago a catastrophy had occurred when the temperature fell and the Earth experienced a glaciological period which lasted for about 200 years. “Now that we have found this dome in the Antarctic, we are keen to investigate it to see how an analysis compares with what we discovered in Greenland. If they produce similar data then it will mean that the glaciological period covered the Earth and was not just a regional phenomenon.” France had no plans to work outside of Adelie Land unless in some co-operative scientific effort, said Mr Victor. He added that there were no plans to enlarge the expedition’s activities.