Our rivers of ice in Westland

Press, Volume CXV, Issue 33869, 14 June 1975, Page 10

Our rivers of ice in Westland

Glaciers of Westland National Park. By W. A. Sara. Department of Scientific and Industrial Research Information Series, No. 75. 48 pp. N.Z. price $l.BO

Quite apart from their scenic attraction. the Franz Josef and Fox Glaciers are of considerable scientific interest. Their rapid rates of accumulation and flow, and the low altitudes at which they finally melt distinguish them even from other New Zealand glaiers. This is the second edition of a handbook designed for rhe non-scien-tific public in which much of the scientific data that has been gathered about the behaviour of the two glaciers is summarised. The first edition of the booklet was written when the Franz Josef (and the Fox to a less extent) was advancing. This advance reached a peak in 196”. The glaciers have again been in retreat since that year.

The tables summarising the advances and retreats of the Franz Josef have been brought up-to-date, to 1973,

and more conveniently placed. The latest information has been incorporated in other figures where necessary, and the text, altered to take the new information into account.

The photographs in rhe new edition are almost identical with those in the old. Strangely, one of the few new illustrations, showing the extent of the retreat at the terminal of the Franz between 1967 and 1973 is of much poorer quality than many of the older ones.

Anyone planning to visit the Westland National Park who has at least a passing interest in the natural history of some of the park’s main features (other glaciers than the two most famous are mentioned in the text) would find a copy of this handbook valuable. Even if a visit to Westland is not contemplated, amateur naturalists will find much that will sharpen their eyes to the signs of pas glaciation through the South Island and help them to understand the behaviour of glaciers elsewhere in the Southern Alps.