POLAR EXPLORATION

Otago Daily Times, Issue 22121, 27 November 1933, Page 7

POLAR EXPLORATION

ADMIRAL BYRD’S PLANS STUDY OF WEATHER CONDITIONS WINTER BASE ON SOUTH PLATEAU (Special to Press Association from the Byrd Expedition aboard the Jacob Ruppert.) JACOB RUPPERT, At Sea. (Received Nov. 26, at 7.30 p.m.) Admiral Byrd has announced the plans of a spectacular experiment in polar exploration. After arriving at the base, Little America, it is expected early in January, the party will establish a winter base on the rim of the South Plateau for continuous meteorological observations. This base will be completely isolated, even from Little America. One man, or possibly two men, will be left there for eight months, four of which will be spent in total darkness in a speciallyconstructed but to withstand 90 degrees below zero and weather a gale of 150 miles per hour. The base will be reinforced and will stand for months under the snow. Its dimensions will. be 13ft by Oft, and 7ft high. The structure will retain a 00 per cent, heat, generated from a special liquid fuel, and will have equipment to maintain continuous 24hour weather observations. A small portable radio, with a hand-crank generator, will enable the observer to communicate with Little America.

Admiral Byrd gives this reason for establishing a base to study the Antarctic weather: “The South Polar icecap is the greatest weather breeder m the world. Storms originate there which affect the crops and the living conditions throughout the southern hemisphere. Heretofore, all Antarctic weather observations have been confined to coastal bases. We want to push inland as far as possible and maintain a continuous watch on the area where the storms are bred. By co-ordinating those observations with those of Little America wo hope to develop important information dealing with how these tremendous storms are born.” He said he had not yet chosen the man or men for the staff at the outpost.