THE SOUTH POLE.

Feilding Star, Volume III, Issue 839, 27 March 1909, Page 2

THE SOUTH POLE.

INTERVIEW WITH PROFESSOR DAVID. VALUABLE SCIENTIFIC WORK. A VAST GLACIER AND ITS MOVEMENTS. INTERESTING DISCOVERIES. Christchurch, March 26. On account of his personality alone Professor David, of Sydney University, is an interesting member of the Nimrod's expedition. It was a courageous undertaking for a man over fifty years to join a polar expedition, and his action appealed strongly to people here. Some fears, indeed, were expressed that it would go rather hard with him amongst the ice and snow. Apparently it had agreed with him splendidly. It seems to have made him twenty years younger: he lookß like a man of thirty-five; he is heavier than he has ever been before, his face has the glow of good health, and lie is in the pnik of condition. When a representative of the Evening Post asked him for an interview on board the Nimrod Professor David shook his head and said that ho was busy packing, and had not a minute to spare. The cause of his haste was shown when he announced that he intended leave that evening for Sydney. He was as good as his word. As soon as the Nimro r l came alongside the wharf at Lyttelton he transhipped to the Maori, and in half an hour he was on his way to Wellington to catch the Maheno for Sydney. In spite of his protestations, however, he was able to supply some interesting details of the work he has done in the Antarctic. FORMATION OF THE GREAT ICE BARRIER, The reporter asked if his investigations had added to the world's knowledge of the origin of the great ice barrier. "Yes," he said, "we have distinctly done some work in that direction. There can be very little doubt now that th* great ice barrier was formed partly by glacier ice and partly by snow. This view of its origin is rendered highly probable by the. disoovez*y by Lieutenant Sbackleton and his southern party of a vast glacier fifty miles wide and 120 miles long, descending from an elevated inland plateau 10,000 feet above the sea level. This great glacier is probably one of many that feed the great ice barrier. The glacier in its turn is fed from snows near the South Pole. By its forward movement it presses on to the surface of the barrier for fully twenty miles from its inland edge into a series ot long pressure ridges like a series of large waves in the ocean. Important evidence was obtained by Mr Mclntosh on a depot-laying party as to the actual renward movement of the barrier c?u&ed by the pressure of the inland glacier ice further south. SEAWARD MOVEMENT. It was found that a depot established near Minna Bluff on the southern journey of the Discovery expedition had travelled two geographical miles to the east-north in a period of six years and two months. It was also proved that in the same period Bft 2in of snow had fallen at the present site of the depot. This may be considered to be a good average estimate of the snowfall for the barrier in that latitude. It is obvious, therefore, that as the need of the barrier is approximately 300 or 400 miles south of its eastward front there is time for a thickness of many hundred feet of enow to accumulate on the surface of 1 the slightly moving glacier before it traverses the distance I have named in order to reach •the sea front, from which icebergs are fom time to time broken off. NATURE OF BERGS. "The observations made by Captain Evans, of the Nimrod, in sounding around typical icebergs show that the bergs most typical and common in the Antarctic are probably not icebergs at all, but snow bergs. Close to our winter quarters, for example, a large tabular berg grounded in. 13 fathoms of water. It projected 80ft -above the sea, and there was, tbrefore, about an equal quantity below and above water. This shows that probably the first of the bergs (launched from the great ice barrier are — in their upper parts, at any rate, if not throughout — formed of snow rather than of glacier ice. The glacier 'cc attached to the. snow has probably dissolved in the sea water on .which" the barrier floated perhaps for many scores of miles before the barrier's nothern limit is reached. GREAT CONTINENTAL AREA I. HIGH PLATEAU. "One of the most important geographical results," Professor David added, "is the proof that the Antarctic region from Ross sea to the South Pale is a great continental area in the nature of a high plateau. Its southern extremity near Cape North is from 6000 to 7000 feet above the sea, 7000 feet near the magnetic pole, 8000 feet where it was traversed by Captain Scott, of the Discovery expedition, and about 10,500 feet at the furthest point reached by Lieut. Shackleton and his party, namely, 88deg. 28min. south. This pkteaii almost certainly continues across the South Pole for some distance, and it probabSy extends onwards in the direction of South America towards Coatesland, discovered by Bruce, who went on the Scottish expedition in the Scotia. "The discovery of coal measures and thick masses of limestone as far south as 85deg. is extremely interesting, as showing a former mild climate close to the South Pole, as both limestone and coal accumulate only under conditions of a mild olimate. This coal measure and sandstone formation extends from 85deg. in an almost unbroken sheet south to Mount Nansen, near the magnetic pole, a distance of over 1100 miles. Under the coal and sandstone formation there is a widely-spread foundation of very oflti rocks of granite iineiss. schists, and coarsely crystalline marbles. The mineral marazite, from which thorium is commercially extracted for incandescent gas mantles, is so common in places that it is one of the locaf rock-forming minerals. It is, in fact, like black mica in granite*. This mineral was discovered by Mr Mawson at several places along tlie coast on the western side of Koss sea in the old foundation series of granite and schists. THE METEOROLOGICAL WORK. IMPORTANT AND INTERESTING RESULTS. Professor David said that the meteorological work had been very interesting and very successful. There was no doubt it would be useful to Uoiii A'tisfojalk and New Zealand. He hoped that the whole of the information would be placed at the disposal of .fhe Commonwealth and the Dominion. It was proposed to work at the results in this part of the world so that meteorologists here could compare conditions in the (Antarctic during the past fifteen months with local conditions and ascertain what effect Antarctic blizzards had on the Australian and New Zealand weather. A oompllete series of observations had been taken simultaneously at Cape Royd By the Farthest South party and by men on the vessel at Cape Royd. The currents of the air could be traced by means of the vast volumes of smoke that arose from Mount Erebus. MICROSCOPICAL LIFE. Mr Murray's observations of microscopical animal life. Professor David said, were specially interesting. He found rotif era which had probably been frozen in the solid ice for many years. Soon after they were brought out they sprang back into life at once and began to feed. There had been obtained good microscopical specimens, which had probably been frozen for three years m temperatures of from 50 degrees to 60 degrees belowzero, Fahr. THE SOLITARY PENGUIN. A REMARKABLE MIGRANT. Professor David was asked to explain the, reference in the Daily Mail's message, published yesterday, to the discovery Dy Mr Murray of a "ringed penguin." Up to the present time only two species of penguin have been recorded from the part of Antarctica visited by the' Nimrod expedition. They are a large species known as Emperor, and a smaller species. The London message seemed to show that

another species unknown to science had been discovered. Professor David said that the explanation was a very interesting one. Only one specimen of the new penguin had been found, and it was recognised as belonging to a species commonly called the ''ringed penguin," which had been reported from Graham Land, on the other side of Antarctica, south of South America. It is presumed that the bird, .which was found at Cape Royd amongst a number of adelial nenguins, wandered all the way worn its original home, probably coming v inost of the way by sea. The interesting specimen was secured, and the skin was brought to New Zealand. ASCENT OF AN ANTARCTIC VOLCANO. A TERRIFIC BLIZZARD. Dr. A. Forbes Maekay, surgeon and farrier to the expedition, talked interestingly to a reporter regarding the ascent of the famous Antarctic volcano Mount Erebus, which was made by a party consisting of Professor David, Lieutenant Adams, Sir Philip Brocklehurst, Dr. Marshall, Mr Mawson, and Dr. Mackay. The party started from Cape Royd on oth March, returning four days late. "Professor David was the first to propose the ascent," said Dr. Miukay, "and I was also very keen on it, as I had had some experience of mountain climbing. After a great deal of persuasion Lieutenant Shaokleton at last consented to our making the attempt. "We had two days ofheavy sledge work, hauling the sledge containing a fortnight's rations ourselves, and in those two days we attained an altitude of 6000 feet. We then came to the end of the snow. THIRTY-SIX HOURS IN SLEEPING BAGS. WITHOUT FOOD AND WATER. The sledges were "left at a depot, and we thenceforward carried our provisions and our -cooker on our shoulders. Half-way up the rock slopes a terrific blizzard came up, and we had to spend 36 hours in our sleeping bags without food or water. I managed, however, to drink some snow water, melting it in my liands. At the summit of the rocky ascent we came to the edye of the old t rater which had been piled up with snow till it had become a iiugc snow plain, about five miles in diameter. Behind this snow plain was the active crater. Dotted over tlie snow plain were numerous fumarolos which looked very like ruined cottages with smoke issuing from them. UP IN' THE CRATER. CURIOUS PHENOMENA. The next day ihe party together started across the old crater's snow plain, and on our way we got some excellent photographs of fumaroles. We reached the edge of the activo crater , N suffering one and all from "mountain dizziness." It was hard to describe the active crater in words. AM 1 can tell you is that it is something like Arthur's Seat at Edinburgh turned upside down and scooped out inside. There is a. huge gaping chasm about 800 feet deep and more than a quarter of a mile across. The sides are formed of snow and ice. Despite the intense internal heat, on one side of the crater a very curious phenomenon was seen of ice sandwiched out) between stratified layers of worn, hot rocks. The ice was continually melting in these places and evaporating into columns of steam. The bottom of the crater was generally obscured by steanl clouds, and when these clouds momentarily rifted, we saw three or four large pot holes, in which I thought I distinguished* glowing lava. Now and' then an enormous mass of ice would fall into one of the pot holes, and a column of steam would immediately arise. There was a constant roaring sound, which could only be compared to that made by a sawmill. The return journey was made hurriedly, and occupied only 24 hours. A SURGICAL OPERATION. On the journey, Sir Philip Brocklehurst had one of his feet badly frostbitten, and on the return ,to the hut at Cape Royd it was found necessary to amputate the great toe of his right foot. Dr. Marshall performed .the operation, and used chloroform.