SUBMARINE RANGES

Hawera Star, Volume LI, 20 February 1932, Page 9

SUBMARINE RANGES

What Wilkins Discovered

vyiHEX JSir Hubert Wilkins returned iu the Nautilus from the Arctic Ocean in October he reported that his' expedition had discovered three mountain ranges extending under the northern sea from 'Spitzbergen toward Greenlaml. Soundings indicated that the peaks of these mountains were from 400 to 600 fathoms below the surface of the water; their 'lowest valleys may lie some 2000 fathoms deep. It was not 'Sir Hubert’s intention to take his party into the Arctic for intensive scientific study of the region, a project which requires many 'months of operations from a stationary camp on land; but his discovery of the unmapped ranges beneath the ocean is of considerable interest at this time when geographers are regarding with increasing attention the Arctic and Antarctic regions as fields for research on a number of scientific problems related to the weather, the formation of icebergs and radio transmission.

The mountain ranges found by the Nautilus expedition were described as lying “some hundreds of miles oast of (Greenland.” The Williams expedition will not traverse that part, of the Arctic Ocean but will travel along the west coast of Greenland and make its headquarters in Grant 'Land, at the northern tip of Ellesmere Island, which is separated from Greenland iby an arc of seas. There it will encamp for two years, collect meteorological data, observe temperature and tides with an eye to their influence on the formation of icebergs and make experiments for study of the phenomena of static electricity.

:But probably one of the strangest and most difficult tasks" iCaptain P. M. 'Williams will assume on this expedition into the Arctic will be a study of continental drift. me theory often has been advanced 'by geographers that the North American ‘Continent floats about on the liquid interior of the earth; it is thought that such a movement may be observed in the Arctic, if -anywhere. The Williams party will take a number of aerial photographs; these Wni show the relative positions of a series of geodetic markers established in 'Grant Land and on the icoast of Greenland. The positions of the markers also will be checked against astronomical observations during the two years of the expedition’s encampment.— f| ‘New York (Sun. ’ ’