MYSTERY REMAINS

Otago Daily Times, Issue 22410, 3 November 1934, Page 14

MYSTERY REMAINS

ABOUT THE ANTARCTIC THREE BANDS OF EXPLORERS In spite of the many Antarctic expeditions of the last 30 or 40 years there remain unsolved several of the greater problems of Antarctic geography (writes R. N. Rudmose Brown, in the Manchester Guardian). Some of these problems concern the structural character of the' earth’s crust and so are of outstanding importance. The two Ameri- ' can expeditions of this year, those of Admiral Byrd and Mr Lincoln Ellsworth, and' the British Graham Land expedition, under Mr J. Rymill, may be expected between them to throw considerable light on these vexed questions. The certainty of continental land around the South Pole was established beyond any reasonable doubt before the end of the nineteenth century and much information about its structure has since been » obtained by various explorers. Broadly speaking, it is known that Antarctica, as the continent is named, is built of an elevated ice-capped plateau of ancient rocks on the sides towards the Atlantic and Indian oceans and of much folded, relatively recent rocks in the side , towards the Pacific Ocean. The problem is to reconcile these two entirely different formations. The plateau structure may be said to be analogous to the plateau structure of Africa, and Western Australia, while the folded ranges are almost identical in age and composition with the Andean ranges of South America. Most of the coastline of Antarctica is now known, but the gaps in knowledge occur in those parts where the two structures may meet or,, on the, other hand, may be separated by a permanently frozen sea strait. *

In other words, is the Antarctic continent built of two great land areas, of which the greater extends from Coats Land in the Weddell Sea across to Enderby Land and to Victoria Land in, the Ross Sea, and the smaller, perhaps much submerged and broken, fringes the Pacific • Ocean in an archipelago of islands extending from Graham Land (now known to be itself, an archipelago) through Alexander Island and Charcot Island to Edward VII Land and Marie Byrd Land on the east of the Ross Sea? Is there, bettyeen these two areas, a strait from the unexplored south-west of the Weddell Sea to the south-eastern side of the Ross Sea?

Thq question has so far been unanswered, because the south-west of the Weddell Sea and the Pacific coast of the Antarctic have defied access to any ship. They present coasts which seem to be permanently congested with heavy pack ice which no vessel can penetrate. In ■ the Weddell Sea this congestion seems to be due to the action of certain currents which collect the ice. The Scotia in 1902 and 1903, the Deutschland in 1912, and tne Endurance in 1915 all failed in attempts to find this coast. South of the Pacific various ships have. tried to penetrate and been repulsed. • There it is not impossible that the pack ice is held in position by the existence of many islands, of which Edward VII Land, Scott Land, and Marie Byrd Land may represent several.

The problem is now to be attacked from the two ends of this possible strait. The Byrd expedition hopes to fly from its base on the Ross Sea to the south and south-east to discover what lies where some 20 years ago Amundsen seems to have been mistaken in believing he saw land from a great distance. Between Scott land to the north and the Queen Maud Range to the south there may possibly be the end of a frozen strait, in which the ice is held fast by the great Ross Barrier, which is the permanently ice-covered southern part of the Ross Sea. The attack from the Graham Land end, however, promises more important discoveries. Mr Rymill’s expedition, sailing in the Pcnola, hopes to establish winter quarters on the west side of Graham Land as far south as ice permits, and from there to sledge with dog teams, after reconnoitring the route with an aeroplane, along the west of the Weddell Sea as far as the Wilhalm or Filchner Barrier, discovered in 1912, which marks the limit of the coast already known. Then in the following summer, 1996-37, it is proposed to sledge westward into equally unknown areas. These journeys should be full of interest and reveal much of importance, even if the main discoveries of distribution of laud and water in the area are anticipated, as is not impossible, by Mr Ellsworth’s projected flights. From Deception Island, the whaling base to the north of Graham Land, Mr Ellsworth proposes to fly along the same coasts in November this year, eventually reaching Byrd’s base in the Ross Sea.. This will entail a non-stop flight of 2800 miles, and may reveal broad features, but cannot fill in the important scientific detail of the sledge travellers. Mr Rymill’s expedition, with its two years’ stay in the Antarctic, will be able also to make a scries of important meteorological records which cannot fail, to elucidate the problems of the Antarctic weather and its relations to the climate of the southern hemisphere in general.

“STITCHCRAFT” SPRING ISSUES. Fascinating issues of “ STITCHCRAFT” for Spring. Latest Paris and London styles in knitwear and crochet. New season’s bathing suits. FVee transfers. Dress accessories, home decorations, novelties. Spring and summer issues—--16, 20 and 22. 9d each. Send stamps to Patons and Baldwins, Box 1441 P, Wellington. —Advt.