Antarctic study by geologists

Press, 21 August 1979, Page 13

Antarctic study by geologists

2 The Canterbury Museum’s geologist, Mrs M. JA- Bradshaw, will lead a Ip arty of geologists on a ’two-mon th field study to Antarctica in November. The expedition will fttudy the lowest sedijnents of the Ohio range; ;these contain the only Devonian fossils in the ’whole of Antarctica. Mrs .-Bradshaw will make a between these .'.sediments and marine •locks of the same age that .*jhe is studying at Refton. H The party will include ;Dr Lucy Force and Dr ?Karl Kellogg, of the States Geological -Survey, and Mr Graham IjAyres, a Mount Cook National Park ranger, as field Assistant. Mrs Bradshaw will be •Interested mainly in the fossil side of the project, ;»nd Dr Fore e with the 'actual sediments. - Dr Kellogg will studv .lhe paleo-magnetism of -the Beacon Rocks £which, it is hoped • will tie in with New 'Zealand work done in another part of Antarctica last season.

The party will meet at Christchurch and fly to Sco . Base on November 1, where several days will be spent on a trial run to familiarise the group with motor toboggans and sledges. The party will be flown into the Ohio Range by ski-equipped United Stares Hercules on November 12, and then will work along the 25 km escarpment for eight weeks. The Museum Trust Board in 1978 approved the proposal for the trip, official permission from the Ministry of Science and Technology was granted this month. The board has given Mrs Bradshaw official leave for the two-month expedition. The museum’s director (Mr J« Wilson) said research was an important part of the museum’s work that the public were not always aware of. The museum sponsored research in many fields and from these trips could add to the static-display collections acquired over the years, he said.