EARTH’S BEGINNING

Dominion, Volume 23, Issue 257, 26 July 1930, Page 11

EARTH’S BEGINNING

North and South Poles BYRD’S CONJECTURES Antarctic Continent MYSTERY OF FORMATIONS (By Admiral R. E. Byrd—Copyright.) At the North Pole lies a depression in the earth’s crust—forming tile Arctic Ocean and Polar Seas. At the Soutii Pole lies a great plateau about 10,00(1 feet high—corresponding closely in height to the Arctic Ocean’s depth. Admiral Byrd speculates on whether there is a connection between these two facts.

The contrast between the two polar regions of the earth, both from the point of view of flying and in their many other aspects, is almost startling.

It is probable that the average person who has not made a study of these distant areas has always thought of them as being somewhat similar—ice, snow, extreme cold, and a year of one day and one night. In such respects they are, of course, alike, but there resemblance peases. One is an ocean: the other a vast plateau. The Antarctic Continent is in the clutches of an ice age—the Arctic is not.

It is odd that the great ocean basin of the north should correspond sc closely in depth to the height of the southern plateau. In other words, the earth at the north is pushed in to form the Arctic Ocean, and sticks out below to form the high , land around the South Pole. The earth in its movement through the universe with the rest of our solar system is heading, so the astronomers tell us, toward a far-distant star, and the North Pole always points roughly in that direction. To me these facts have long been a subject of speculation. There is, of course, also the theory that the Antarctic Continent moved to its present position from another point on the earth’s surface. However it may have been formed, the two areas are as different as is possible for two regions affected by similar climatic conditions, and these differences control the work of the explorer in both places. Divergent Polar Conditions. In penetrating the North Polar basin the problems to be met are different from those of the south, whether the explorer travel over the surface or through the air. Sir Douglas Mawson, the great scientist, found an average yearly wind velocity of 50 miles an hour at his winter quarters in Antarctica; that is astonishing—almost the flying speed of a ’plane. There is nothing in the Arctic comparable with this. The surroundings of the two regions are also very different. The Arctic Ocean is enclosed by land over which access may be had to its shores in most places and over which a retreat may be made. It supports some life along these shores, and even on the floating ice of the great sea itself life is found. Animals travel over its surface and live in its waters. The Antarctic Continent is surrounded by an abysmal ocean and its continental shelf is much lower than any other continent on earth. It is surrounded at all times by a belt of ice, which at a few places in the summer opens sufficiently to permit access to the land. The Antarctic has been guarded by Nature in a way which one cannot comprehend until one has seen it. There has been talk. I have heard, of taking sightseers to the Antarctic in a ship. Such a trin would be folly. Even the whalers, those experienced Norwegians who' go south year after year, bring out their ships at times battered and broken, and often barely escape disIn the Arctic there is much life, from musk ox, the northernmost animal, to the Arctic bear and fox, birds, seals, and fish. In many places such as Etah. the northernmost Eskimo village, animal life is so abundant that the Eskimo does not have a very difficult' time sustaining life. Wonderful Antarctic Scenes. There is no life in the Antarctic except on its shores, and most of it is there only in the summer months. This life is limited entirely to seals, birds, and the teeming life of the water, ranging from the invisible diatom, which stains the ice yellow, to the schools of whales. But in the interior there is no life at all, nothing but snow and ice, except when occasionally in the summer months a bird is found wandering on some mysterious errand of its own far in from the sea. Here is a vast area as big as the United States and Mexico combined that has never sustained a human race, as far as we know. I doubt if there is any mountain scenery in the vrorld more splendid than that of the Antarctic. We had read of those mountains, we had talked of them, and knew that they must be some of the finest ranges in the world, but all our paltry imagination, all the words of those who bad described them, failed to bring to us the real majesty of the Antarctic rampart which guards the Polar plateau. . To one who penetrates the Arctic basin there is the thrill of combating ice floes and the beauties of the northern skies, but nothing in the Arctic can compare, 1 am sure, with the feeling of awe with which one first looks upon the mountains of the Antarctic. . Rising as they do from the sea or the flat plain of the barrier only a few fe< t above sea level, they leap into the an 10 000 to 15,000 feet. Most mountains are approached by foothills; not so many of these great peaks. _ They s Pf’ n " .’}**' ruptly out of the plain and 150 miles away one can see them glistening m their jewelled splendour.

Plenty of Comforts. We were less uncomfortable in the Antarctic than most persons seem to think. I have been constantly asked if we did not have trouble during the long night, whether some men did not break down under the strain, whether e had enough to eat, and how we stood the cold. We bad no trouble, we enjoyed the winter night, as we had plenty of work to do, most of the men gained weight, and we seldom suffered from the cold when properly dressed, except at times when doing outside work, and when on the trail in the early spring or late fall. Of course it is easy to freeze when on the trail if one is not properly equipped or if. one does not know how to use one's clothes. I believe that by thought: and care man can exist and travel anywhere on the face of the earth without too much hardship. Martin Ronne. who had spent five winters iu polar regions, four with Amundsen and one with us, the lust when he was 6S years old. summed it all up one day last winter when he said “When I am home and read about the Antarctic, it seems very cold, but when I am here it doesn’t seem cold at all.” Of course. Ronne did not have any outside work, Ambon another occasion Martin uttered the wise statement: “Work all the time, everything all right,” That

is the way to overcome the monotony of the long winter night.

Mystery of Barrier.

I would be remiss not to mention the great Ross Ice Barrier that is peculiar to Antarctica. I know of no more interesting natural phenomenon than _ this great sheet of ice and snow. After living a year on it we find ourselves still puzzled b.v it. „ , , For hundreds of feet we tunnelled the Barrier in all directions; we built snqw rooms down beneath its surface; we travelled by dog teams for over 1600 miles over it and photographed 80,000. square miles of it from the air. And yet it still has for us that fascination that the unknown inspires. It is 400 miles wide north and south, and was' formerly supposed to be about 400 miles long in an east and west direction, but from our aeroplane we saw that it extends on indefinitely to the eastward. Where does it go. and what mystery lies at its end? . This great sheet of snow is largely water-borne. It is from a few feet to 200 feet high above the water, and in places must go to at least 500 feet beneath the water. It is hard-packed snow down as far as the water, and from there on becomes ice. How was this great sheet of snow and ice formed? We think perhaps we can answer that. But why does it not break off in pieces from the attacks of the sea and float off in the form of icebergs? It does break off somewhat, of course, but apparently is not receding. We know that in one place it rests on the bottom of the sea. However, our camp at Little America was over 1500 feet of water. There are a few things we can add to the knowledge our predecessors have gained about the Barrier, but then there are a great manv things that we cannot tell the scientists.

But ten years from uow we believe that our surveys and photographs will tell an interesting story. Widely as the Arctic and Antarctic differ in their geographical characteristics, they are one in their fascination and beauty.

To have seen them both is a rare privilege, and the call to revisit them is almost irresistible. Icebound sea or snowy mountain-rimmed plateau. the polar regions are one in their appeal to all that is most adventurous iu wan.