ANTARCTIC CONTINENT

Evening Post, Volume CXIX, Issue 94, 22 April 1935, Page 7

ANTARCTIC CONTINENT

BYHD EXPEDITION BACK

LEADER REPORTED ILL

United Press Association—By Electric T«l«----crapli—Copyright NEW YOBK, April 20. Mr.'. Harold June, upon his arrival, gave a prepared review oil the Byrd expedition's work. A map showed that despite difficulties, much, more •was' accomplished this time than on Admiral Byrd's former trips south. The possibility of land was eliminate d from the ice-covered sea north of Marie Byrd Land, the coast line .was delineated for about 300"miles to 'the ea.st- of the Edsel Ford Range, and it w as found that the Queen Maud Mountains extended far to the eastward. TThey. blended into a plateau and this ■plateau was traced at a height of 4000 feet from the coast to the Queen Maud Range. This final accomplishment makes it certain that there is no channel between the Ross and Weddell Seas and that the Antarctic continent is a single land mass and, when- the area explored at sea is added to that' oh ice or land, the results of-the expedition were more far-reaching, as far as geographical work is concerned, than those of any expedition since that of Ross about 100 years ago. AMUNDSEN'S UNCANNY JUDG- :' ... ■ M?NT. •■...• , "Soundings proved the accuracy of Amundsen's deduction that the land south of the Bay of Whales and on the eastern side preserved for a long period,the same relative shape as the bay, v.The island that Amundsen suspected was just south of the Bay of Whales was found to rise more than 500 feet above sea level, the remaining 700 feet consisting of shelf ice on it. Even the outlines of this island were traced and Amundsen's uncanny judgment was shown by the fact that he pitched camp directly north of it so that he was protected from advancing ice.from the south. The land also rises above sea level and anchors the barrier ice between Amundsen's camp and Little America, and the cape that rims north of Little America out into. tl?e bay and serves as a> protection 03 * also resting on land. "The eastern side of the bay is very much the same as when we were there before, although pressure on the bay had pi^ up such a mass of ice that it was impossible to get into Little America by the old route. The western side of the bay, however, was moving ;■> north at the rate of about five feet a day in summer tune. It is probably slower in winter,, but this steady ' movement and the land under the barrier which'jorms the eastern side of the bay explain many of the great upheavals and ice canyons to the south which puzzled us so much before. TWO ANCHORED PARTS OF THE BARRIER. "There is no doubt either that th« base in which Little America lies i» between two anchored parts of the barrier ice, and is supported only by water. The accumulated weight of snow and our stores made it break loose at the end of our first summer so that up-and-down movements were definitely seen, bu.. the cape to the north prevented- it moving out to sea and when winter came it quickly froze fast again to the sides of the barrier which surrounded it. "From observation flights and sledge expeditions there is no longer any possibility that the Antarctic is dividedby a frozen strait. Both the Queen Maud and Edsel Ford Ranges apparently blend into the plateau and the Queen Maud (Range far to the east seemed completely covered with ice Rowing down from the Pokr plateau. "I think myself," said Mr; June "that the Queen Maud kange comes put again in Graham Land and the western shore of the Weddell Sea and is a continuation of the Andean chain.' The Edsel Ford Range, the Rockefeller Mountains, and the Scott Nunataks are all part of the same mountain chains that outline the northern coast line of the Antractic. . . ISLANDS ABOVE SEA LEVEL. "This section of the coast iine run» just west of Rockefeller- Mountains, turns south, and runs in a gentle curve to the Queen Maud Range. There is one break in it to the southeast i where there are apparently a number of islands above sea level which cause a break- in the ice that continued far westward in a tremendous chain of crevasses. , "We have all our positions well < marked and have taken hundreds of celestial observations. I think our maps show nearly all mountain ranges and other landmarks within,a mile of ~ their true position. We are well satisfied with the results of the expedition, and would be happy about the whole trip if were not for Admiral Byrd's illness. He is not well at all, although naturally he is gratified^ with ' the results of his plan."