SOUNDS EXPEDITION

Greymouth Evening Star, 4 March 1946, Page 2

SOUNDS EXPEDITION

SEARCH FOR URANIUM AND

THORIUM NO SPECTACULAR RESULTS (P.A.) WELLINGTON, March 3. The Government scientists who remained behind when the rest of the party of seven which had been exploring the West Coast sounds for possible sources of radio-active material returned to Wellington, have completed their trip overland from Doubtful Sound to Dunedin. They are Messrs J. F. M. Cahan and K. T. Fowler.

“The main work of the expedition finished at Doubtful Sound on February 18,” said Mr. Fowler to-day. “The next day the party split into two and .climbed the precipitous ridges looking for Alpine plants, one of the secondary objects of the trip. It was then decided that Mr. Cahan and I should remain and continue the radio-active survey inland through the Manapouri, Queenstown, and Central Otago region. “The area had been carefully mapped geologically so we knew where to find rock masses,” said Mr. Fowler. “There was gradual transition from gneiss of Westland to schists of Central Otago. We took readings and recorded the average radio-activ-ity wherever we noticed a change in the rock masses.” Commenting on the results of the expedition Mr. Fowler said that some people seemed to believe the expedition was looking (or a mountain of uranium. Actually its main purpose was to establish the average uranium and thorium content of the rock masses of fiordland. There were no spectacular results, but some hightly useful information had been obtained.