PROFESSOR DAVID INTERVIEWED

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 80, 28 December 1907, Page 6

PROFESSOR DAVID INTERVIEWED

CLIMATIC CHANGte;..- .. . ' (BT lELEOE^S— special; • Christchurclii Decemher.^G. ' Pri>fes«6r David, Who arrived at Lyttplton yosterday to join expedition, returning bv the _ -Nimrod next March or April, told a Press interviewer that, he hopes' to spend a.-mbnth the great-ice barrier, and'- to make. a slpdgo .louriiey to_tbe soiid rocks of 'Edward VII Land; Professor David; as secretary to tlio Glacial Coirimittee of the Australian Association f.pri the Advancement, of Science;.' has -maae a special study of 'the ,'glaciatipn; of Australia, Tasmania, and' No'w Zealaridi'jnv rdlation-'to his'duties,- gathering; in the/reports of; various Sub-committees - on • that-' subject, Resides making original, observations of own. Unc of the 1 ' 'most -..important - of., ,thes6 : belongs- : to :the.- period'.\when;the-';prp^uctiye coal..measures of 'New ;Soutli /Walq?,,_Q(ijeens-landj-aiid fornied.; fhere was •at ;t-hat :timb^[ftii. rn'ore.; extenpiye .rofrigoration! of. tho -'.earth'-s. cliinate.. ( th-m^, at the. present- time, ,'whiclv ledvtp merit of "vast' fields:. pf ; . snow and ico Tasmania.-and'the s6utbe^n' , coasts o.f/•South-' Australia 'and. northwards into. Ne\y South AValcs, close to tho-valley./.of- the ; -Hunter^ : Rirer, neßr NeWfi castle.':Vtfibatitig--ic^< off from_thoso. glaciers ioveu s extended as'' far .nortli into, the, Tropics as * River coalfields..-in Queensland.,, cial: evidences-had , : recent)y,;ibeen (Jiscovered close - to.'the Trqpic/of : Capricorn, .in the Gas : : cnyno Iliver area. Over the v/hale of tins immense ; . belt of -;country glacial moraines. CQuld.'be .t'raced. at-intervals... It was .largely, in .connection with; studies ■ of that; ancient age-that. Professor-Diyid. was 'anxious;, in the .interest of- v science, to .witness:the action'of. ico' and - sriow. on 'a ;;gigantic scale in 'the Antarctic -.rogibns. : Last' year he' visited' the plaius of Contral India, to collect evidencethere of ,thb relation.', of - the , old glacial moraines - of'.tho Deccan -to'-the coal measure elaciation of Australia,' " I havc hopes," said Hie :Prbfessor,-:" that,'geological investigation ■ in , the,-Antarctic regionsMn .t]ie..rieighbou,r--hood' of''tbeiiirim!^ate;'^bjSaitfe"'of' the:present • expedition', may bringto.-,light 'further bvndence. as -to...the particular/'changes; ■ of clirnate,- either- iii';'the ..directiori of' colder'.climate or:a fbrtoer warriier climate. That ; ,the climate of Antarctica .has formerly' been much warmer than .at present- has - been proved by. tho 'important, discoveries of ; Dr'i No'rdbnskjold and Gunnar.-Aridei"sen... These observers'.found ,numerous- plant -fossils-;of tree's. allied to ;the' Norfolk Island' pine*'.and the. gigaritic-Wellirigt'cnia' pine,. or ; sequoia of California.' .Also ltney'l discovered: numbers of .ferns 'and -'zanjias' in,, that - • of.' AntWct'ica. nearest to"'South';America:, This-portion. is'' nowperennially; coyej^if ; bylf^.sno'w- '.and glacier :ice..- -It- is,-probable,.'whenl the'. Antarctic was evcrgrten .with; itliese fossils, and undergrowth of ferns' arid cycads, there -was no. snow' at,'all > '"nbt v cven; at'.'.th'e:rPola itself; At such .'a- time it would. have, been- easy .to prospect -the -gravels; and safids of the Antr arctio ■ rivers ror alluvial minerals,; sii'ch as gold' or tin, which they probably,-. contain, but .such a .task is, - of rendered very-. difficult bythe':.\ fact., that' 'such old gravels are:-deeply buried ,under, the. snow and j glacial ice:'; Traces' of _both metals, however, 'hayo already been discovered."