The Journal of the New Zealand Antarctic Society Vol 16. No. 4, 1998-99

SEASON 1998-99

IRIDIUM ICETREK

iAw Antarctic FEATURE

When that storm had passed the trio trekked to within banquet with a need for impromptu speeches." The expe 98km of the Pole, now only four days distant. dition was flown with ministers to Christchurch and Unbelievably, bad weather again struck and once more within 72 hours of ending the trek found themselves in a they pitched their tent in a fierce storm, unable to venture cauldron of controversy. out in 60-100kmh gales with temperatures fluctuating Suddenly, the heroic achievement of the inwards trek between -30deg and -50 deg. (and the sponsor's new satellite-direct mobile phone) was After a tortuous 84 days of battling blizzards, frostbite overshadowed by media generated allegations of a rift in and illness the Icetrek trio arrived at the South Pole. the team. The initial transition from isolation was gradual. "The 'Damage control' by Iridium's public relations advisers first people we saw were two people on a skidoo salvaged the inner integrity of the overarching achieve researching ice dust clouds then a lone skier came over," ment of Icetrek but internal disagreement by the trekkers recalled Phillips. "We crossed another valley and then we over the causes of the decision to halt at the Pole now saw the flags. And five minutes short of the Pole station the emerged. binding broke on my ski!" Whilst all were frustrated that the return journey was Peter Hillary says "a small contingent from the abandoned, Phillips, his undoubted skills in using quadri- American base were there to foils so superbly demonstrated meet us . . . then we found a on an earlier solo crossing of quiet spot to reflect on our Greenland, publicly showed shared experience and put up the intensity of his disappoint our own ceremonial 'South ment. "As with every expedi Pole' a piece of driftwood Jon tion you plan and train but you Muir brought all the way from never have enough time. Our the Victorian coastline in quadrifoiling and kiting skills Australia." were not as good as they could "I didn't sleep that night." be and the fact was we weren't says Phillips, "We had clean fast enough — we went sheets and were warm but it ' through a learning curve and was so alien getting back into started slowly." the real world and was Muir was deeply introspec uncomfortable." tive and declared at a media Queen Elizabeth II New conference in Christchurch's

Zealand PM Jenny Shipley and Eric Phillip* towing a fledge Rydges Hotel that going back Australia's Communications was not a burning ambition Minister each wired their congratulations. Ed Hillary, who and he was now planning solo journeys across deserts and had ridden a modified Massey Ferguson tractor to the Pole along remote coastlines. in 1957, told his son "Congratulations Peter on this marvel A perplexed Hillary diplomatically played down the lous achievement of reaching the Pole." apparent dissension, thanking Antarctica New Zealand for Ed Hillary had shared updates constantly throughout its confidence in supporting "something less mainstream, the expedition with Peter's wife Yvonne Oomen who wrote a small group facing the elements in a place of great epics in a wife's perspective of the trek published in 'The Press' and dramas and communicating this back (to the public)." "Not long ago we heard that due to the relentless blizzards, For him the highlight of Icetrek was the journey through the delays and the resulting logistical problems with rescue the Shackleton Glacier. "On the eastern side it reminded requirements, the team would have to call a halt at the Jon and I of the Himalayan peaks, vast and stunning, while South Pole." the western side was like the incredible terrain of the Crossing to the Pole, she wrote, had been "such an American Rockies. At the top of the Glacier in the cama arduous affair with hugely heavy sleds and endless mono raderie of the climb we all told each other Monty Python chromatic Harness. The vast emptiness affected the team jokes." deeply. It required great physical endurance and mental "The Polar Plateau went on forever, an absolutely aston discipline. Peter's calls would bring me shockingly into the ishing place, the harshest place I've ever visited, a surface reality of a wild, lonely and vicious place, and I would fret etched by wind. We encountered not one but five storms about dwindling food, their state of mind and the vastness and it was quite incredible putting up a tent in a 50 knots of their task. But still they marched on inexorably . . ." gale . . . knowing that if it blew away it might tumble for "Ironically the return part of the journey was always lOOOkms." going to be the easiest, with the katabatic winds blowing "The actual snow does not pose a problem. At no stage the right way for the team to use the huge quadrifoil kites is it deeper than six inches and not difficult on skis." they were carrying. But every expedition must work with But the kites proved difficult to deploy to best Nature. advantage. The quadrifoils were in various sizes, operated "Triumphs are achieved not through conquering Nature like a parachute or flown higher to generate greater speed but by being graciously blessed by her opportunities." and lift. Hillary says that as a qualified pilot he was aware From South Pole Station it was a very fast transition back of how air works "but nothing beats specific training." Or, from isolation. Ferried by Hercules aircraft to Scott Base, of course, wind from the right direction. There were few they found the "Ministerial-on-Ice" meeting under way northerly winds en route to the Pole and Hillary says there and participated not in "a quiet barbecue but in a full is little existing evidence of wind coming from the North

Volume 16, No. 4, 1998-99 The Journal of the New Zealand Antarctic Society Vol 16. No. 4, 1998-99

SEASON 1998-99

IRIDIUM ICETREK THE NEW ZEALAND Sfr* COMPANY REGISTER

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Contents

NEW ZEALAND Ministerial on Ice at Ross Island Ross Sea Environmental Report Update

UNITED STATES National Science Foundation - From Sea-bed to Universe

NEWS Duck Billed Dinosaur Bones The Cape Roberts Project was a highlight of the 1998-99 scientific season at Antarctica AUSTRALIA Tribulations for Aurora Australis Volume 16, No. 4, 1998-99, Issue No. 166 FEATURE Captain Scott's Body Drifts Past Depot ANTARCTIC is published quarterly by the New Zealand Antarctic Antarctic Storms Repel Icetrek's Return Plan Society Inc., ISSN 0003-5327. Please address all editorial enquiries and contributions to Warren Head, Publisher, 'Antarctic', P O Box 2369, Christchurch or BOOK REVIEW telephone 03 365 0344, facsimile 03 365 4255, e-mail headconf"chch.planet.org.nz. Norwegian's Solo Ski Journey Printed by Adams Print, Annex Road, Christchurch

SCIENCE NOTES ANTARCTICA First Summer Course Raises Fresh Perspectives

OPINION Fears for Future of Antarctic Material

■. zzr-^f EDUCATION Antarctic Collection at New University Home

•... SCIENCE NOTES 5- Four New Fish Discovered By Accident •i / / The ponds at McMurdo 1

ANTARCTIC / PENINSULA TRANSITION Navy Flies Last Antarctic Mission Operation Deep Freeze

Volume 16, No. 4, 1998-99 Antarctic NEW ZEALAND Law and Order to the Wild South ' • ' ' Ministerial on Ice at Ross Island if- -■ S^lfe -'. Bringing law and order to the wild Zealand Government "declared south was the focus for a top level war" on toothfish poachers, flying a informal Government meeting held Royal New Zealand air force Orion in Antarctica in January. surveillance aircraft over Antarctic The meeting was the first of its waters and deploying the frigate kind for Antarctic Treaty Nations "Te Kaha" into the New Zealand and it was hosted by New Zealand controlled Ross Sea to detect and with assistance from the Italian deter poachers of Pantagonian and United States Antarctic toothfish. programmes. Representatives from In a speech made at McMurdo 23 parties to the Antarctic Treaty Station on January 27 Simon were present from 25-28 January. Upton told delegates that vigilance New Zealand's Associate by all signatory countries was Minister of Foreign Affairs and required if illegal toothfishing and Trade, with responsibility for other exploitation of Antarctic Antarctica, Simon Upton led the resources were not to get out of forum and focused on the conti hand. nent's dependent eco-systems "However comfortable we might saying that it was have been in believing that our time for politicians decision to impose a 50 year to give some moratorium on mining has safe Members of the ministerial group pictured near Scott i m p e t u s t o t h e guarded Antarctica, pressures Base. Courtesy Antarctica New Zealand. conservation of for resource utilisation are here Antarctica. and now. Given what is Antarctic Marine Living Resources He used the what happening to fisheries elsewhere (CCAMLR) has been and continues he termed "the in the world, we cannot be to be carried out by companies and toothfish-saga" to surprised that it is precisely in citizens from parties either to the illustrate the the area of marine resources that Antarctic Treaty or to CCAMLR. Simon Upton growing pressure the Antarctic is coming under "Frankly, this is an awful indict being brought to greatest immediate threat" ment of us and our claim to be the bear on Antarctica, a continent that Upton pointed out that the bulk stewards or guardians of the is no longer as isolated from the rest of uncontrolled fishing for toothfish Antarctic — what's going on with of the world as it once was. in the waters managed by the toothfish is a free for all that smacks During January 1999 the New Convention on the Conservation of of piracy and threatens the credi bility and integrity of the Antarctic. "The fact that this fishing may be made "legal" through the use of flags of convenience or elaborate company arrangements, does not make it morally right," Upton said. The expensive price tag on toothfish means that corporate companies are willing to go to extremes to reap the rewards, concealing illegal fishing behind labyrinthine company structures designed to hide ownership of assets. It is estimated that to date an estimated 22,000 tonnes of toothfish (double the legal quota) worth $200m has been plundered from Antarctic waters. The Ministcrinl-on-lce party arrives in Antarctica by Hercules. Courtesy Antarctica New Zealand "We should not be surprised,"

74 Volume 16, No. 4, 1998-99 Antarctic NEW ZEALAND

Upton said, "money can talk just as Protection established under the A u s t r i a ' s M i n i s t e r o f t h e loudly in the Antarctic situation as Madrid Protocol and CCAMLR in Environment, Martin Bartenstein; it does in others around the world addressing the threat to the Antarctic Finland's Minister of Foreign Affairs, in our newly globalised economy." eco-systems. Tarja Halonen; South Korea's Upton said while it made no differ • Looked forward to the 23rd Minister of Maritime and Fisheries, ence to an albatross whether it died Consultative Meeting of Parties to be Kim Sun-kil; the Netherland's State on the hook of a longliner flagged to held in Lima, Peru, from 24 May to 4 Secretary of Transport and Water a CCAMLR party or a non- June 1999 and to the commemoration Management, Monique de Vries; CCAMLR party, it was several at that occasion of the 40th anniver Norway's Minister of Justice, Aud hundred times less likely to be sary of the Antarctic Treaty. Inger Aure; Peruvian Foreign drowned if the long-liner is • Twenty four ministers, deputy Minister, Fernando de Trasegnies; working in accordance with the ministers and officials attended the S w e d e n ' s M i n i s t e r f o r t h e precautionary approach adopted by two day summit. Those attending Environment, Kjell Larsson; and the the CCAMLR. included: The Australian Minister for United States' Assistant Secretary of "Eco-systems do not keep to neat the Environment, Robert Hill; the State, Oceans, and International boundaries which We as human United Kingdom's Minister for the Environment and Scientific Affairs, beings like to in our efforts to bring Environment Michael Meacher; Melinda Kimble. precision to our world, and CCAMLR can work — if it is . ANTARCTIC TREATY MINISTERS MEETING given a chance. If it does not a The lirstThe government-level first government-level meeting to be held in Antarctica on January 25-28 hopes to focus political attention on the frozen continent and Its fragile environment very dark shadow indeed will be cast on the entire Antarctic THREATENED WILDLIFE Penguins Krill X Emperor and addles penguins TreatyJ System." J • u i o o a i w a r m i n g l e m p e r a i u r e s a r e This key species in ASS, are dependent on krill for food, the adelies have also declined A communique released by thought to have risen 2.5-4.5"C over the Antarctic food («j]) . .. the past 20 years in the Antarctic chain are in danger \\ * because changes in pack ice government representatives peninsu,a and this may be causing from rising sea ^ patterns have damaged their breeding grounds attending the meeting says changed pack ice and fishery patten and over I. £hpy' ' • a b Ozone o v e t h e depletion c o n t i n e n t The e a c ozone h s p r i n h t fishing ^Or • Recorded the achievements to expand since first discovered A l b r a t r o s £ ? Seabirds are WfndWandering Albatross of the Antarctic Treaty in • Over fishing Fish stocks, still n falling victim to i ,, .. ( from over exploitation in the 197 snaring by long line fishing Antarctic fishing has boomed in recent years and now keeping•seeping the u«s continent wiLuiKiu net;free threatened threatened by by widespread widespread illegal illeoal t techniques used in fishing some species stand at only 5% of their original numbers from discord and dedicated to the antarctic continent peace and science; KEY • Stressed the importance of *'-»Undabove«••,8M' © * > 6 Taylor Rookery Large colony ol the Protocol on Environmental <>Pr0,ec,edna,uralarea Emperor penguins Protectionr , , . - . , ,to r r the > . Treaty 4 > B a s e& s / Bases/facilities f a c i l i t i e s ,. ... r to Possible oil and gas deposits promoting the protection of j*Q Possible oil and gas deposits , © K n o w n m i n© e rKnown a l mineral d e p deposits o s i t s the Antarctic; Including:coal,Including: copper. coal, copper, Soulh Pole gold, silver.silver, • Stressed the importance of platinum, iron scientific research being conducted in areas like global Scott Base (New Zealand) Magnetic South Pole and McMurdoe Base (U.S.) climate change; Antarctic Minsters meeting • Expressed their grave Ronne Ice Shell • .-"'€>'-- concern at the continuing threat of illegal, unregulated, LESSER ANTARCTICA unreported fishing for toothfish. Antarctic Peninsula Ross Island and Cape Hallett Budd Coast Nine sites including ft Victoria Land B-rd colonies • Pledged themselves to work Biscoe Point, supporting »' Ten sites including Cape Royds. including Antarctic plant and insect lifo home ol threatened Adelie penguin petrel breeding grounds to meet these new challenges and to maintain the integrity of Antarctica compared TERRITORIAL CLAIMS the Antarctic Treaty System. SEE .; to the United States • Acknowledged the signifi 1. Chile/Britain cance of the work of the 2. Argentina /Chile/Bntain □ Permanent ice Convention on the Conser JL 3. Argentina/Britain ™'£ /South Pole lip. 4. Britain ( © I □ Mean minimum ice vation of Antarctic Marine 5. Norway Q Mean maximum ico 6. Australia 7. France Living Resources (CCAMLR) 8. Australia and welcomed the prospect of 9. New Zealand 10. Chile close cooperation between the u- Committee foi* Environmental Sources: Bntish Antarctic Survey /The Greenpeace Book ol Antarctica, Dorting Kindersley/The Antarctica Project

Volume 16, No. 4, 1998-99 Antarctic NEW ZEALAND

Drafting of the Ross Sea Region historic features and values. The priate regional flavour. Experts State of the Environment Report report will also help to identify any from Australia, Italy and the USA, has commenced and it is expected significant gaps in our under among others, will have input. to be published by December next standing about the ecosystems of However, she says, all the authors year. the region and human impacts on will be New Zealanders because The New Zealand initiative was them and will provide a basis for the report is a New Zealand initia announced at an Antarctic Treaty identifying potential indicators for tive. consultative meeting in monitoring the effects of human The group had a workshop at Christchurch in May 1997. activities. the end of April to update people The report aims to benchmark Environmental manager for on the project's progress. the state of knowledge about the Antarctica New Zealand, Emma They now have a website within Ross Sea Region, to document Waterhouse says authors have been the Antarctic NZ website and current and potential threats to its appointed for chapters on marine, enquiries can be sent via E-mail to values and to identify appropriate terrestrial and atmosphere and envi [email protected] responses to protect these values. ronments. Drafting has commenced An executive committee chaired It will provide a scientific basis and consultants operating in the by Antarctica New Zealand's CEO for future management of the region are being approached for Gillian Wratt with members drawn from Antarctica new region by pulling together key their advice and input. information (that is both accessible Ms Waterhouse says it is appro Zealand and the Royal Society of and relevant) on the state of the priate to have international involve New Zealand, will oversee the region's natural, physical and ment to give the report the appro- production of the report. British Deliver Scott Hut Items Ed Hillary honoured by Smithsonian Artifacts removed from Scott's hut in Sir Edmund Hillary was honored by the 1957 were returned by the British Smithsonian Institution last year when Minister for the Environment, he was presented with the James Michael Meacher during the top-level Smithson Bicentennial Medal for his "monumental explorations and human meeting of International itarian achievements". Government officials held at In Washington to McMurdo Station in January. receive the award in The dog harness, coat hook and November Sir Edmund lantern were taken from Scott's hut as told reporters that souvenirs by a New Zealand member Virgin routes and of the TransAntarctic expedition. untried techniques are Late last year, the items showed up the Everests for today's at a Christies' auction in London. . explorer. "For explorers in general, the They were withdrawn before being sold after a complaint filed by the challenge is not just getting there, but New Zealand Government. doing it in a more difficult way," he said. Smithsonian director, Milo Beach said The items were sent by diplomatic the medal also honoured Sir Edmund's pouch to New Zealand by the British unwavering commitment to the region Government, then hand carried to centred on Nepal, where his efforts have Antarctica by Mr Meacher, who helped build schools, airfields, and returned them to Cape Evans where hospitals, started reforestation projects he presented them to AHT chairman, Michael Meacher, British Minister for the and improved the living conditions of Dave Crerar. Environment, hoots up for Antarctica. Himalayan villagers. Antarctic UNITED STATES From Sea-bed to the Universe for NSF Research ranging from sea floor sediments to the origins seals' dives and correlate that information with a video of the universe was conducted by National Science of the seals' heads and the immediate environment in Foundation during the 1998-99 austral summer research front of the seal. season in Antarctica. Other information gathered allows them to calculate Approximately 130 projects were supported by the how efficient the seals' foraging strategies are in different National Science Foundation (NSF), the federal agency environments and when hunting for various types of that funds and manages the U.S Antarctic Programme prey. (USAP). USAP also collaborates with other countries' Fossil Finds Antarctic programmes. Research was conducted in the earth sciences, glaciology, biology, medicine, oceanography, meteo In conjunction with the Argentine Antarctic Institute, rology, astrophysics and agronomy (study of the upper researchers excavated Mosasaur and Plesiosaur fossils atmosphere). During the season approximately 700 and searched for Cretaceous age Hadrosaur fossils on investigators and technicians were deployed to Vega Island near the Antarctic Peninsula. The Mosasaur Antarctica. Highlights of the 1998-99 season included: and Plesiosaur fossils will provide important informa The Cape Roberts Project, an international effort tion about this class of marine reptiles and about their involving scientists from the United States, New geographic distribution during the age of dinosaurs. In Zealand, Italy, the United Kingdom, Australia and the previous season, the same team discovered the only Germany who attempted to collect cores from the Ross Hadrosaur fossils known in Antarctica. Sea floor (see below). Hadroaurs were large land-dwelling, plant-eating dinosaurs and the Antarctic fossils are important because A Seals Eye View they demonstrate an easy connection between the Americas and Antarctica. They are also evidence for a complex and extensive For an air-breathing mammal, seals forage for food in an plant ecosystem in a region which was then at a high unforgiving environment-under water covered in ice. southern latitude, not unlike its current position. Researchers attached a small video system and a data logger to Weddell seals backs and measured oxygen Sulphur at the South pole consumption during drives to determine how seals hunt for food and how efficient they are at doing so. Using the data gathered, the researchers conducted Microscopic sulphur particles in the atmosphere are computer analyses of data on depth, swimming speed, some of the major components in climate change and bearing, enabling them to create a 3-D path of the scenarios-both naturally produced and man-made

Cape Roberts Project

The team drilled through sea ice and about 170m of water into the underlying sea floor reaching a depth of 620m. Ice at least 1.5m thick was required to serve as the drilling platform. Sediments and fossils in the drill core will help provide information about conditions 25-70 million years ago, and fill in gaps in our knowledge of the Earth's climate. During this interval of time, the first ice sheets in Antarctica began to form. This period is particularly important as it covers a time in the earth's history when temperatures were as warm as those expected over the next few centuries due to green house warming. This season's drilling was crucial to the project, which has been plagued by poor sea-ice conditions in the two previous seasons. Drilling site at Cape Roberts on the Ross Ice Shelf. Courtesy of Antarctic New Zealand

Volume 16, No. 4, 1998-99 Antarctic UNITED STATES

From Sea-bed to the Universe for NSF zooplankton as well the photochemistry of bacterial Continued from page 77 growth processes in the ocean. They examined how biological responses to ultravi sulphur compounds reflect solar radiation, produce olet radiation are affected by ozone, and explored inter atmospheric haze and acid rain, and affect ozone actions with marine viruses,. They also studied the depletion. interplay within the food web. Sulphate particles are very good at acting as conden sation nuclei for water vapour, creating clouds. Interactions Between Researchers sought to improve understanding of the Atmosphere and Ocean atmospheric chemistry of sulphur compounds (some of which are produced by oceanic phytoplankton) and The ROAVERRS (Research on Ocean-Atmosphere the climatic interpretation of sulphur-based signals in Variability and Ecosystem Response in the Ross Sea), Antarctic ice core records. conducted a multidisciplinary study of the atmospheric and oceanic interaction while on board the Nathaniel Ballooning over Antarctica B.Pahner. The research aimed to lead to a better understanding of the polar marine ecosystem in response to climate A major long-duration balloon flight circled the variables. Ship-based scientists measured wind and air continent gathering data at an altitude of approximately temperature; ice cover, ice movement and sea surface 120,000 feet for about two weeks before being para temperature; small-scale water circulation in the top chuted to the ice for recovery. The balloon, supplied and layers of the sea; organic materials within the ocean launched by NASA, has a volume of about 30 million circulation; and the amount, distribution and respiration cubic feet and can lift payloads heavier than a ton. rates of plants and animals on the sea floor. The project measured, with unprecedented sensi Combined with meteorological data, scientists tivity, the temperature variations across the sky of the expected to be able to monitor changes in the airflow cosmic microwave background radiation. Details about patterns in the southwestern Ross Sea to determine their these relic photons left over from the beginnings of the influence on oceanographic and biological patterns. universe will help scientists discriminate with extreme sensitivity among various models of the cosmos. Construction at Pole

West Antarctic Ice Sheet Construction of the new South Pole station has intensi fied, focusing on the completion of vehicle maintenance and ship facilities and the replacement of rubber fuel The West Antarctic Ice Sheet, which rests on thin conti bladders with steel tanks. nental crust, may be an important contributor to a future These safety and environmental upgrades will global warming-induced sea level rise. A number of complement the South Pole Station Modernisation-a US studies are adding to our knowledge of the history of $128m project to replace the existing station by 2005. The the ice sheet, which has implications for understanding current station is 20 years old and nearing the end of its the Earth's past climatic conditions and for models useful life. predicting future climate changes. At Siple Dome, an enormous semi-circular ridge of ice Gould between two quickly flowing glaciers or "ice streams", a 1,000m ice core was drilled and the layers of snow, This was the first full season of the R/V Laurence M. somewhat like rings in a tree, were examined for infor Gould, after several initial expeditions the previous mation about past climate conditions. Researchers also season. The research vessel embarked on expeditions in tried to determine the dynamics of ice flow at Siple support of ultraviolet research, Long Term Ecological Dome, a topic critical to understanding the stability of Research, marine geology and geophysics as well as the ice sheet. providing logistic support to Palmer station. Researchers also examined the glaciologic history of The Gould is an ABS Al icebreaker (capable of the Transantarctic Mountains. Other geologists studied breaking ice one foot thick) and is 230 feet long with a the deposits from volcanoes in West Antarctica in an displacement of 3,411 tons. attempt to determine past ice sheet elevations by dating It was built in LaRose Louisiana and is owned and imbedded volcanic rocks. operated by Edison Chouest Offshore Corporation (ECO). The Gould is under a charter with Antarctic Ultraviolet Support Associates (ASA). Both USAP Icebreaking Research Vessels — the Gould and the Nathaniel In this multi-disciplinary cruise, researchers studied the B.Palmer-are owned and operated by ECO under charter effects of solar ultraviolet radiation on bacterioplankton, to ASA.

78 Volume 16, No. 4, 1998-99 news Antarctic Duck Billed Dinosaur Bones

A team of American and existed during the end of the Cretaceous of South America to the Antarctic Argentinean researchers believe they period 65 million years ago, when Peninsula, the route that would have are closer to proving their theory that marsupials are theorized to have been been followed by marsupials. once upon a time marsupials walked present in Australia. The next step, one that Woodburne to Australia from South America "Fossils can tell you the age of land will participate in next January when he passing through Antarctica on their connections when geophysical evidence returns to Antarctica for fieldwork, is way. is vague," explained Woodburne, searching for marsupial fossils at the Their research on Vega Island professor emeritus of geology. Vega Island site. Such a discovery would (Antarctic Peninsula) this summer Scientists believe that South America, provide the missing link to this biological has found a tooth and several toe Antarctica and Australia were once part and geological puzzle. bones of a duckbilled dinosaur of a large southern land mass known as Woodburne and his colleagues found known as a hadrosaur. Gondwana, parts of which began to break the first fossilized remains of a land- The scientists believe that apart about 110 million years ago. based marsupial in Antarctica in 1982, a kangaroos, koalas, wombats and Australia was believed to have broken jaw and teeth of a creature slightly other Australian marsupials walked away about 64 million years ago. South smaller than an opossum. However, it across a land bridge from South America and the tip of Antarctica's was only 45 million years old, an era America, travelled across a relatively peninsula had been separated enough by when the land bridge from Antarctica to balmy Antarctica and into Australia, about 50 million years ago that it is Australia was already under water. where they flourished, filling ecolog In the past 16 years, they have found ical niches that on other continents Fossil the fossil remains of an amazing assort are held by birds, rodents, primates, ment of other creatures, including an and carnivorous placental mammals. enormous, flightless bird with an 18- The finding made national news in is further inch-long skull that was clearly carnivo the United States and whetted the rous. They have found now-extinct excitement of team member and evidence of a key placental mammals, hooved creatures, University of California (Riverside), ground sloths and insectivorous marsu palaeontologist Michael O.Wood- pials, but none old enough, yet, to prove burne, who had uncovered a number land bridge in the continental connections. of fossil remains in Antarctica since In fact, Antarctica tens of millions of 1982. years ago had a surprisingly temperate A paper written by Susan Sullivan Antarctica climate and was carpeted by Southern for a University of California publi beech forests, according to Woodburne. cation explains how the research is virtually certain that no land animals Antarctica was at that time warmed by coming along: were travelling between those places by equatorial currents. Once it separated Woodburne and his colleagues have then, said Woodburne. from the South American land mass 36 been slowly fitting together the pieces of The fieldwork on Vega Island was million years ago, it became completely an ancient puzzle that, when complete, designed to search for thejbssil remains encircled by the much colder Antarctic will show a picture of continental of marsupials which, according to current, as it is today. connections and mass migrations of current theories and evidence, would Next January, during the Southern animals 65 million years ago, about the have dispersed from South America to Hemisphere's summer Woodburne same time that dinosaurs went extinct. Australia across Antarctica sometime and his fellow researchers will "This is the first duck-billed dinosaur between 64 million and 70 million years painstakingly sift through the frozen, to be found outside the Americas," ago. sandy soil with dry screening and Woodburne claims. "This gives us more Because Woodburne's team knew that sieving equipment in search of pieces support for the idea of a land bridge some dinosaurs and birds had been of bones and teeth from ancient between South America and Antarctica preserved in rocks dating back 65 to 70 marsupials. at the time. million years ago on Vega Island, they As there is no other logical way for "Working with colleagues from St. spent January and February prospecting marsupials to have migrated to Mary's College, the Smithsonian those rocks in hopes of discovering the Australia, the work amounts to Institution, the South Dakota School of sought-after marsupials. Although none "definitively proving that something Mines and Argentina's Antarctic have surfaced to date, the discovery of a that likely happened did indeed Institute and La Plata Museum, hadrosaur dinosaur in these deposits is happen," Woodburne said. Woodburne has been painstakingly not only a first for Antarctica, but gathering evidence that a land-bridge demonstrates that a land animal of the (From the University of California, between South America and Antarctica time was capable of walking from the tip Riverside, website)

Volume 16, No. 4, J 998-99 79 Antarctic AUSTRALIA Tribulations for the Aurora Australis

Australia's Antarctic ice followed by towing ropes. The breaker, Aurora Australis, has first tow rope broke after less set sail again after being than 30 minutes. plagued with problems since its y/ A second tow was started journey to Antarctica in <3^ but the ice between the two Julyl998. "l vessels was too thick and A fire in the vessel's engine towing was abandoned after an room in July required it to hour. Shirase continued to break return to Hobart for repairs, but ice around Aurora Australis it left again in October 1998 to overnight and the following deploy expeditioners to . ... morning before commencing Australia's stations, including towing in the early afternoon. re-supply of Davis Station. Aurora Australis's owners P&O However a serious break The engine room of the Aurora Australis. Polar made arrangements for Courtesy of Aurora. down in its main propulsion the /o//;; Ross, a 94.5m, system left Aurora Australis ice which is based on international coop 19,200bhp South African ocean bound about 75 nautical miles off eration in the Antarctic," he said. going tug to met Aurora and Shirase Davis station at the beginning of "During the period of immobilisa at the edge of the sea ice for the 4700 December. tion the voyage leader aboard the kilometre journey back to Fremantle. Japanese icebreaker Shirase came Aurora Australis, Suzanne Stallman Shirase towed Aurora Australis to the vessel's rescue, arriving to said passengers, 69 expeditioners through pack ice for two days, but release the trapped ship from the and 24 crew, occupied their time advised that the prolonged slow sea ice on December 13. The with field training classes concen running of its engines could lead to rendezvous was made at 69 deg 9'S, trating on basic knots. "Everyone is some problems. Aurora Australis's 75 deg 12'E, in sunny, still condi getting good at doing a one-handed smaller engine was engaged and tions. bowline" she said. Other activities the ship moved under its own The Director of the Australian included bird and sea ice observa steam. Antarctic Division, Dr Tony Press tions, deck tennis on the heli deck (in Before leaving the Shirase, at the said the Division was very grateful to temperatures of -11 degrees), edge of the sea ice, Aurora Australis's the Japanese Government for Japanese and Spanish lessons, crew wrote 241 Christmas Cards, agreeing to make Shirase available aerobics and hackey sack coaching addressed with a message to each of and also to "our Japanese Antarctic and film shows. the crew and expeditioners on colleagues for their efforts on our It took Shirase a full day to break Shirase. "We thank them for their behalf". "Their support is very much ice around Aurora Australis after assistance and company," Suzanne in the spirit of the Antarctic Treaty which a heaving line was passed Stallman said. The Aurora Australis berthed at Million Dollar Upgrade for Super Computer Fremantle at noon on Sunday December 27,1998 having completed The most powerful computer in research in climate change. the journey from the Antarctic ice "To represent such a vast Tasmania — and one of the most edge under its own power, although powerful 'number-crunchers' in natural feature as the Southern escorted by the tug John Ross. Australia — has had a one million Ocean and couple it with simula On January 13, after further dollar upgrade which will boost tions of climate for decades or repairs, the Aurora Australis departed the country's climate research even centuries into the future Fremantle on its way back to the effort. requires tremendous computing Antarctic, but was thwarted by The CRAY J 90 computer is capacity." another fire in the engine room. The used by climatologists to simulate Dr Bindoff says the speed of fire occurred when the vessel was how the behaviour of the number-crunching by the CRAY some 90 nautical miles (140km) Southern Ocean affects global has increased by five times. Its southwest of Rottnest Island, off the climate. data storage capacity has Western Australian Coast. increased 200-fold to ten Dr Nathan Bindoff, who chairs Emergency procedures were the committee which oversees the thousand gigabytes and its initiated immediately and once all on operation of the computer says memory to 4 gigabytes. board were accounted for, the fire the upgrade is a shot in the arm The CRAY was originally was extinguished with halon. There for Australian and International installed in 1995 at a cost of $lm. were no injuries.

Volume 16, No. 4, 1998-99 Antarctic FEATURE Captain Scott's Body Drifts Past Depot /a am map ntarctic explorer captain Robert Falcon Scott has finally reached Ross Island .the place he so desperately Prtsixx2.ca needed to find in his last days. Base Camp' His frozen body, along with two of his expedition party, chief scientist Dr Current location of Scott's body Bill Wilson and Lieutenant Henry One Ton Depot Q a rescue team ^Scott's last carp "Birdie" Bowers are thought to have waited 6 days ♦ drifted in the moving ice sheet forming their tomb past the depot of provisions they failed to reach in 1912, according to the "The Press". frozen bodies, ~^~— Courtesy of-The Press- Scott's ill-fated expedition ran into early trouble. Scott's records and Equipped with ponies, motor sledges, and dogs, he diaries, and geological specimens. The men had died on 31 and 11 others had started overland for the Pole on March 1912, just 17km from rescue. October 24, 1911. The untried motor sledges soon A cairn was erected over the bodies, but over the broke down. The ponies, useless in the extreme condi years it sank through the snow into ice. tions, had to be shot, and the dog teams were sent back Their bodies have now been carried about 60km because Scott decided to man-haul the expedition's from the spot where they were buried. And it is now sledges. thought Captain Scott has passed the site of One Ton By December 31 seven fortunate men had also been Depot. sent back to base. The others arrived exhausted at the Based on interpretations of ice sheet drifts glacial South Pole after man-hauling their sledges only to find dynamics expert Dr Ian Whillans, of the Byrd Polar they had been beaten by five weeks by the Norwegian Research Centre, Ohio, has plotted Scott's last journey. explorer Roald Amundsen. The Ross Sea ice sheet flows north, in response to the The weather on the expedition's return journey was weight of snow falling, and is known to flow faster in exceptionally poor and the party was affected by certain areas. scurvy, frostbite and depression. Scott was accompa According to Dr Whillan's calculations, the bodies nied by four men but on the final leg Edgar Evans died of Scott and his two companions now lie about 30m on the Beardmore Glacier from blood poisoning after a below the surface, covered by about 30cm of new ice hand cut on sledge runners became gangrenous. each year. Their bodies have been moving at just In a famous incident, Captain Lawrence Oates, at the under one kilometre a year, and Dr Whillans believes end of his tether with severely frost-bitten feet, that will accelerate at the edge of faster ice flow. committed suicide by walking out into a blizzard. He considers that in about 250 years the frozen By March 21 the remaining three men had been grave will break into icebergs, and the bodies will halted again by impenetrable weather. The blizzard eventually sink to the bed of the Ross Sea. now destroyed the exhausted men's chances of finding New Zealand glaciologist Dr Harry Keys agrees the major depot, One Ton Depot, built earlier on the with Dr Whillans's calculations. Dr Keys believes the Ross Ice Shelf. bodies moving north-north-easterly, will emerge On March 29,1912, Scott wrote his final diary entry: about 120km west of Ross Island in a little over 250 "Every day we have been ready to start for our depot years if the ice shelves calve about that time. The 11 miles away, but outside the door of the tent it bodies would be perfectly preserved but dehydrated, remains a scene of whirling drift. I do not think we can he says. It would be difficult, but possible to find them hope for any better things now. We shall stick it out to with radio echo-sounding gear. the end, but we are getting weaker of course, and the In more recent years the bodies of members of the end cannot be far. It seems a pity, but I do not think I ill-fated 1840s Arctic expedition of Sir John Franklin can write more." were found well preserved in the permafrost, enabling A dog team had waited for them at the depot for six scientists to find out why members of the expedition days, but the blizzards kept the weakened men in their had died. tent until their death. "We know why Scott died," Dr Keys says. "It would On November 12, 1912, searchers found the tent, the be better to leave them in peace."

Volume 16, No. 4, 1998-99 Antarctic FEATURE Antarctic Storms Repel Icetrek's Return Plan '" By Warren Head

South Pole and back the Iridium Billed Icetrek as an in unassisted the summer journey of 1998-99 to the 1 presented an ambitious (and ultimately ■tt-( A 1 deceptive) challenge. In November 1998 three vastly experi ■'" / ^ enced ice adventurers Peter Hillary, Eric BWF ■f^diil Phillips and Jon Muir set out from the ^^K^A'wtr ' 1 "^r coast of Antarctica to ski and parasail to wL^x bSj the South Pole . . . and back ... on one of the longest unsupported polar treks. They used traditional methods of laying P. .*>■ $ E*v £-- depots of food and fuel along the pole ward leg with the intention of collecting ^^^^■i the provisions on the homeward route. ^>" •*£?>^ At least 100 days was allowed for the trek .: ^Kr <^^ mv across some of the most inhospitable The Iridium Icetrek team in November. terrain on Earth. Publicists for Iridium saw the Icetrek as completing at sea level, availing the team of moderate tempera Robert Falcon Scott's ill-fated 1911 mission — to manhaul tures." an expedition to the South Pole and back. They would be • They would be the first to traverse a new route through the first 'antipodeans' to do so and the first expedition to the little-known Shackleton Glacier, a 140km long river communicate via telephone from the Antarctic plateau of ice cutting through the Transantarctic Mountains, (using the Iridium satellite-relayed mobile). It was, they adding pure exploration to the adventure. said, the "last great polar journey", "a culmination of 50 • Having climbed the glacier, skiing at an altitude close to years' combined adventuring success "for the trio 3000m the team would continue south crossing 480kms including their ascents of Mt Everest and Mt Vinson and of the plateau to the South Pole, laying three more ski crossings of Greenland and Canada's Ellesmere Island. depots, their arrival scheduled for Christmas Day. The team would each tow 150kgs sleds 28kms daily Once there they would not accept food, equipment or helped wherever possible by traction kites called quadri- accommodation from the American Scott-Amundsen Base foils, steerable kites ranging from 3 to 7 sq metres. at the Pole. "A single cup of tea would render the expedition Media expectation was generated with press statements a 'supported' journey," said Iridium. describing the trek in three stages: "Most South Pole expeditions are flown home from this • The team would begin by crossing 780kms of the point — their pinnacle achieved. Iridium Icetrek however, infamous Ross Ice Shelf, a floating ice table attached to must turn around and retrace the 1400kms back to the coast the continent, laying five depots along a 782kms route, . . . fortunately Antarctic winds flow from the Pole to the each marked with a snow cairn and the position GPS coast, allowing the expeditioners to race homeward aided recorded. "This section of the journey is predominantly by their powerful quadrifoils." The target was to arrive at Scott Base in early February . . . 2804kms within 100 days. The trek began well in very cold winds. "But after a week the air temperatures warmed up incredibly," Peter Hillary told 'Antarctic'. " We skied our way across the Ross Shelf, taking 38 days to get to Shackleton Glacier." The glacier was deceptive with the true underlying nature of the surface uncertain, Hillary wary of crevasses he described as 'human fly-traps'. "Despite all sorts of dog legs we found a very good route and made good progress. It was very gradual except for the top section which had steeper terrain over 'blue ice' and many crevasses. "We turned left to the Zanefield Glacier which was pretty hard work, using crampons for 100-120kms. The sleds moved constantly on the ice and it was hard work on crampons. The three men in their expedition tent.

82 Volume 16, No. 4, 1998-99 Antarctic FEATURE

"Once on the Polar Plateau we moved up to 3200m where we stayed. You could feel the altitude effects and temperatures were lower typically -30deg to -40deg. Then it fell to -50deg, with the wind chill factor even worse, just bitter. I cut little squares of foam and taped them on my cheeks for protection against frostbite." "We encountered five storms on the Plateau and we could see time and supplies slipping away," said Hillary. With only 15 people ever crossing to the Pole there was limited knowledge of what to expect. "The weather could build up over a number of days, first forming balls of Peter Hillary (left), Eric Phillips (middle) and Jon Muir at Scott Base before their return to Nexv Zealand. spindrift and haloes." Station at South Pole. "It became clear that a resupply The coldness was so intense that Writing for "The Press", was necessary when food and fuel breath condensation immediately Christchurch writer Colin Monteath originally allocated for a depot on the froze on the inside of the tent fly and said "With heavier, bulkier, Polar Plateau had to be consumed to over four days becoming a centimetre equipment Captain Scott's man maintain progress." thick, insulating the trekkers from the hauling party of five had already On 5 January 1999, Jon Muir sound of the elements. "A number of crossed the 87th parallel on New confirmed by telephone interview times we thought the wind had died Year's Eve 1911, well ahead of with New Zealand media that down only to find it was still raging Icetrek's position on that date." But supplies were sufficient to get them to outside." Scott's ill-fated expedition had help the South Pole. "It's by no means a By Christmas the team was far from support parties as far south as dangerous situation; we would just short of the Pole and delayed three 88deg on the Polar Plateau and dogs like it to be a bit more comfortable." weeks behind schedule by poor had been used to help lay depots Within two weeks the team was hit weather and illness. across the Ross Ice Shelf. by yet another "horrendous" ground Tentbound in a blizzard near The decision made to halt at the blizzard. By telephone Eric Phillips latitude 87deg the team contemplated Pole, a USAP Twin Otter ski-aircraft reported "the wind blew up to about their misfortune. With inadequate piloted by Max Wenden landed 50 knots, we had less than 10m visi wind to inflate the quadrifoils they beside the trio just south of 87deg bility". At one point Hillary had needed to sustain a daily average South to offload vital supplies. fallen a short distance behind and the distance on foot but were thwarted by Monteath added "Obliged to leave two forward trekkers saw only a the weather. The dilemma of how to the Continent as they found it, "wall of rime (frost)" as the tracks make up for long delays while still Icetrek's depots . . . will be later be leading back vanished. Fortunately, hampered by poor weather and recovered by aircraft. Footing the bill, Hillary held a straight path by dwindling supplies worsened. Icetrek will need little reminding that compass and emerged safely from the "The time factor said 'you won't air operations of this nature are murk. For three more days the make it' at your current rate of expensive and risky and can create an trekkers were tent-bound still 200km progress," Hillary told 'Antarctic'. awkward precedent." from the Pole. "There was the constraint of getting back by the 7th of February, the diffi culty of standing by that arrange ment, with all its ramifications if we didn't. We were not there as a private event but as an official New Zealand event, K390." "There was the worry of putting pilots at risk making rescue landings lOOOkms from anywhere if anything went wrong." There was barely enough time to catch a routine USAP Hercules aircraft leaving mid-January from the South Pole to Scott Base. With intense regret, plans to attempt the return leg were abandoned. The goal now became the US Amundsen-Scott The rigours of the trek show . . . back at Scott Base in January 1999.

Volume 16, No. 4, 1998-99 83 Antarctic FEATURE

When that storm had passed the trio trekked to within banquet with a need for impromptu speeches." The expe 98km of the Pole, now only four days distant. dition was flown with ministers to Christchurch and Unbelievably, bad weather again struck and once more within 72 hours of ending the trek found themselves in a they pitched their tent in a fierce storm, unable to venture cauldron of controversy. out in 60-100kmh gales with temperatures fluctuating Suddenly, the heroic achievement of the inwards trek between -30deg and -50 deg. (and the sponsor's new satellite-direct mobile phone) was After a tortuous 84 days of battling blizzards, frostbite overshadowed by media generated allegations of a rift in and illness the Icetrek trio arrived at the South Pole. the team. The initial transition from isolation was gradual. "The 'Damage control' by Iridium's public relations advisers first people we saw were two people on a skidoo salvaged the inner integrity of the overarching achieve researching ice dust clouds then a lone skier came over," ment of Icetrek but internal disagreement by the trekkers recalled Phillips. "We crossed another valley and then we over the causes of the decision to halt at the Pole now saw the flags. And five minutes short of the Pole station the emerged. binding broke on my ski!" Whilst all were frustrated that the return journey was Peter Hillary says "a small contingent from the abandoned, Phillips, his undoubted skills in using quadri- American base were there to i foils so superbly demonstrated meet us . . . then we found a on an earlier solo crossing of quiet spot to reflect on our Greenland, publicly showed shared experience and put up ' the intensity of his disappoint our own ceremonial 'South ment. "As with every expedi Pole' a piece of driftwood Jon tion you plan and train but you Muir brought all the way from never have enough time. Our the Victorian coastline in quadrifoiling and kiting skills Australia." were not as good as they could "I didn't sleep that night." be and the fact was we weren't says Phillips, "We had clean fast enough — we went sheets and were warm but it through a learning curve and was so alien getting back into started slowly." the real world and was Muir was deeply introspec uncomfortable." tive and declared at a media Queen Elizabeth II New conference in Christchurch's Zealand PM Jenny Shipley and Eric Phillips towing a sledge Rydges Hotel that going back Australia's Communications was not a burning ambition Minister each wired their congratulations. Ed Hillary, who and he was now planning solo journeys across deserts and had ridden a modified Massey Ferguson tractor to the Pole along remote coastlines. in 1957, told his son "Congratulations Peter on this marvel A perplexed Hillary diplomatically played down the lous achievement of reaching the Pole." apparent dissension, thanking Antarctica New Zealand for Ed Hillary had shared updates constantly throughout its confidence in supporting "something less mainstream, the expedition with Peter's wife Yvonne Oomen who wrote a small group facing the elements in a place of great epics in a wife's perspective of the trek published in 'The Press' and dramas and communicating this back (to the public)." "Not long ago we heard that due to the relentless blizzards, For him the highlight of Icetrek was the journey through the delays and the resulting logistical problems with rescue the Shackleton Glacier. "On the eastern side it reminded requirements, the team would have to call a halt at the Jon and I of the Himalayan peaks, vast and stunning, while South Pole." the western side was like the incredible terrain of the Crossing to the Pole, she wrote, had been "such an American Rockies. At the top of the Glacier in the cama arduous affair with hugely heavy sleds and endless mono raderie of the climb we all told each other Monty Python chromatic flatness. The vast emptiness affected the team jokes." deeply. It required great physical endurance and mental "The Polar Plateau went on forever, an absolutely aston discipline. Peter's calls would bring me shockingly into the ishing place, the harshest place I've ever visited, a surface reality of a wild, lonely and vicious place, and I would fret etched by wind. We encountered not one but five storms about dwindling food, their state of mind and the vastness and it was quite incredible putting up a tent in a 50 knots of their task. But still they marched on inexorably . . ." gale . . . knowing that if it blew away it might tumble for "Ironically the return part of the journey was always lOOOkms." going to be the easiest, with the katabatic winds blowing "The actual snow does not pose a problem. At no stage the right way for the team to use the huge quadrifoil kites is it deeper than six inches and not difficult on skis." they were carrying. But every expedition must work with But the kites proved difficult to deploy to best Nature. advantage. The quadrifoils were in various sizes, operated "Triumphs are achieved not through conquering Nature like a parachute or flown higher to generate greater speed but by being graciously blessed by her opportunities." and lift. Hillary says that as a qualified pilot he was aware From South Pole Station it was a very fast transition back of how air works "but nothing beats specific training." Or, from isolation. Ferried by Hercules aircraft to Scott Base, of course, wind from the right direction. There were few they found the "Ministerial-on-Ice" meeting under way northerly winds en route to the Pole and Hillary says there and participated not in "a quiet barbecue but in a full is little existing evidence of wind coming from the North Antarctic FEATURE except on the higher slopes of the Continent on the South "The trek had the flavour of old expeditions, three African side. people taking a new route to the Pole and through Iridium In a day of 24 hours sunlight, Hillary thought it vital to able to share the experience with the public..enormous have a very regimented 'workday' of 8 hours. "We had coverage raised the profile of Antarctica to the forefront four two hour sessions and over time the regimen protects and reminded the public of the substantial involvement we you overdoing it." have in one of our closest neighbours. "There needs to be a definite start and stop to the day," "It is not sufficient that keen interest in Antarctica Hillary says. "When you are man-hauling for 8 hours, trav should only be scientific interest." elling 6km every 2 hour session, to do more risks being Antarctica New Zealand's Chief Executive Gillian Wratt shattered the next day and putting the whole schedule out. says the Icetrek showed the New Zealand public that When you can sail on the kites up to 80km a day it makes Antarctica is still a challenge and a difficult, hostile, place. it worthwhile going on." I 1 "But an interested an informed public is "It was a huge journey and one of the essential if we are to manage Antarctica most ambitious since Scott," said Phillips. and the expedition achieved a new "Over the inwards half of the journey we awareness of the nature and importance couldn't use wind assistance. We used of Antarctica." the quadrifoils less than 10% of the way Perhaps if the Icetrek had not so we had to do it on foot all the way been profiled as an attempt at a return there. journey the magnitude of what was "If we could have done it in 60-65 days actually achieved might have remained and kited home we'd have been dragged ' k unclouded. The blazing of a new route to along and not expending the same energy a the Pole via the Shackleton Glacier and on skiing. There was nothing wrong with the back-breaking uphill haul of sledges the objective and it is achievable but this to the Pole certainly rates Icetrek as an was a 'cutting edge ' adventure and this historic achievement. time we didn't make it." The decision to stop at the Pole "There are certain trips I'd do with became itself inevitable when the trek certain people," he said, explaining to was so delayed by raging storms a return media that he was a 'flatlander". "If Peter journey might not have been completed chose people to come with him to Mt in time for the party to make the final Everest I wouldn't expect to be there. Jon Muir. flight to New Zealand of the late summer. Both Peter and Jon are high altitude As an exercise in risk analysis, the climbers. If the expedition was to Patagonia, well, Peter is decision to abort the homeward leg was finally determined not a kayaker." not by fitness but by logistics. "If you're going to do a technical rock climb you'd Hillary is adamant that on a team expedition "each choose partners for that. An expedition is complex and it's person needs to think about the issues, contribute to the important to be compatible and have the right set of skills." decision-making and then go with the flow." Phillips' pragmatism did not diminish his opinion of the Muir says "Sure the second leg would have been the others. "I think we had an amazing strength. We didn't icing on the cake but the cake wasn't bad!" fail. We'd all agree that slogging it for 84 days was a Yvonne Ooomen wrote "It is hard for me to read about fantastic privilege. I'd rather spend 84 days (getting there) other people saying they've failed when all I can see is and call it quits than pull out of the return leg after 10 what they have achieved, taking one of the hardest, days." longest, most difficult routes to the South Pole. Being the Hillary said that at times his nose was almost touching first over the Shackleton Glacier." the snow under the "unbelievable strain" of the heavy "Supporting each other through illness and frostbite." sledges and Phillips challenged the media to "think of a "It must have been desperately hard to maintain healthy place 30kms away and then imagine dragging a 170kgs relationships within a team when it constituted three men sled , the combined weight of three people, that far in a day who sought refuge every day for nearly 100 days in a one- and again tomorrow . . ." man team. Hillary spoke of feeling closer to Scott. "In the last 20 Cooking, eating, sleeping talking to loved ones, trying to years there has been some criticism of Scott and it's absurd. get comfortable, even toileting, within centimetres of each Sure, he made mistakes but we've come away with a other. But the team respected each other in the face of all renewed admiration for his expedition...they nearly made this. They are still good friends .... it back. If we had an emergency we could at least ring up "For me, this expedition would have been a failure if the and arrange something." men had endangered themselves ... or gone beyond their Jon Muir says the trio passed near where Scott's party means. Peter's talent has always been to know when to stopped and perished. "We were just east of their stop. That is why he is alive today." position." Icetrek has broadened the public's awareness of Pictured on the following page: (top left), Peter Antarctica at a time when perceptions of the Continent had Hillary; Eric Philips, (mid and lower page) and become cosy. "The useful scientific work involves things Muir (top right), are welcomed by the taxpayers don't understand and aren't that interested in," says Hillary. Christchurch in a city victory parade.

Volume 16, No. 4, 1998-99 Antarctic FEATURE

86 Volume 16, No. 4, 1998-99 Antarctic BOOK REVIEW Norwegian's Solo Ski Journey Across Antarctica

ALONE ACROSS ANTARCTICA — BORGE OUSLAND. ISBN # 82-994379-1 -I. Published privately in Norway — English edition 1997. Large formal, 160 pages, 195 colour photographs plus aerial photo/maps. Available by mail order — wuw.ousland.com (profit to cancer research) Reviewed by Colin Monteath.

that they went back up and did it when polar historians again). Mid waycompile through overviews next of century signifi As the 1996/97 season approached cant private Antarctic expeditions of Ousland learned that Ran Fiennes was the 20th Century, particularly those also planning to return to Antarctica, involving major traverses, a notable this time to make his bid in the quest few will stand head and shoulders for the first solo crossing. Sensing the above the rest. Even now, reflecting on emergence (in the media) of yet the past 100 years of polar travel, each another Norwegian/British 'race', of us will have our own list of favourite Ousland perhaps took some comfort by Antarctic expeditions which have studying the methodology of the somehow captured the imagination. As 1992/93 crossing attempt by Fiennes a bonus, some of the many expedition and 'Footsteps of Scott' veteran Mike books to appear have turned out to be Stroud. Emaciated, the two Britons well-written, dramatic accounts of were finally evacuated by ANI from remarkable achievements. As such, the southern extremity of the Ross Ice they will stand the test of time. Others, Shelf, suffering from frostbite and star though no great shakes as literature, vation after a 2500 km trek. Their books contain a pleasing blend of word and "Mind over Matter" (Fiennes) - Sinclair- photographic image, thereby Stevenson, London, 1993, and Shadows succeeding in graphically illustrating on the Wasteland (Stroud) - Jonathan the style in which these 'milestone' Cape, London, 1993, highlighted just expeditions were executed. While it what pitfalls to avoid - surprisingly, may not quite be an ice-shattering they had used stiff plastic mountain piece of writing (remember, I've only boots/mountain skis on a flat continent read a translation) Borge Ousland's Norwegian explorer Borge Ousland with skis (and wondered why their feet couldn't decorated by his children. lavishly-illustrated book "Alone Across take the punishment), took no Antarctica" of his solo ski journey across the continent crampons for the hard bare ice of the Beardmore (and so must remain firmly near the top of anyone's list. fell repeatedly, further injuring themselves), had no expe Ousland (ex marine commando and deep sea diver) rience using parawing chutes and used equipment which had skied to the North Pole in 1990 (with Kagge, - no ultimately proved too heavy. depots/air pick-up), then again to the North Pole (from In late October 1996, Borge Ousland had returned (with Siberia) in 1994, this time alone (52 days - no depots). In ANI) to Berkner Island to commence the 2800km slog to 1995/96 Ousland took on Antarctica - to attempt a Ross Island. Others were out there too, dodging crevasses complete solo crossing (no depots) from the Weddell and hauling crippling weights across the Plateau's Sea - but pulled out just past the South Pole (severe sastrugi - Fiennes (England - solo - though evacuated abrasions/cold damage to his groin) as he commenced early in the piece with a kidney stone problem), Marek the long descent to the Ross Sea. Tasting defeat was not Kominski (Poland - solo) and Young He Heo (Korea - six easy, but even failing in its main objective, this expedi persons) - each bent on going all the way. Ousland tion still made him the first person to ski solo to both geographic poles. Determined to return and complete the job, Ousland refined his thinking, his equipment and trained harder. From the outset he had been inspired by the fifth crossing of Antarctica in 1991/92 when Norwegians Simen and Sjur Mordre drove dogs to the South Pole, flew the dogs out, then skied on (with a photographer) to Ross Island. Expert Nordic skiers, they made very effective use of parawing chutes to help pull their pulka sledges on the final leg down from the Pole and across the Ross Ice Shelf. (The Mordre brothers enjoyed skiing down the Axel

Heiberg glacier so much during their 105 day crossing Borge Ousland completes his solo crossing of Antarctica in 1996.

Volume 16, No. 4, 1998-99 87 Antarctic BOOK REVIEW completed his impressive crossing knocked unconscious near the start trated). This is all the more in only 64 days. He then flew back of his trek - scary in the extreme. powerful when you look at the from Scott Base (as a VIP guest of Clearly, by managing a record variety of self-portraits and the US/NZ programme along with personal best of 226 kms in one icescapes he has achieved (in all Ed Hillary) to South Pole Station stint, Ousland had perfected his weathers) by cunning use of a self- (Ousland hadn't camped there on judgement of when and how to use timer or a camera clamped to a ski. his traverse so as not to break his his two different-sized parawings. One of Ousland's secret weapons concentration and rigid routines) in Ousland's tale is remarkable. I was his skis, richly adorned with time to meet the incoming Koreans. find it inspirational that with the his son's artwork, so that he could On the point of giving up their clever use of modern equipment an constantly be reminded of his crossing, the Koreans were dumb individual can live and travel safely family's love and strength. The founded at Ousland's speed. through the cruelest wilderness for inner tent is similarly decorated Kominski had flown back to Patriot 64 days, hauling less than 200 kgs and one of the best wide-angle Hills from the Pole also without of gear. Ousland's text combines images in the book shows Ousland, attempting the rest of his crossing. his own thoughts and fears with tired at the end of a day's march, But before you think it was all plain passages from his support person looking at a print of his wife and sailing for any of them out there on on radio watch at Patriots as well as son, with his boy's sketch splashed the Polar Plateau, even with the from Amundsen's writing. For me, across the tent fabric. Ousland did spasmodic extra grunt provided by the great strength of the book is in his 'homework'. Remember, parawings, read Ousland's version its photographic coverage (many of ruthless planning equals good of Kominski's near-fatal drag the recent books such as Messner's planning. Antarctica demands no across the ice when he fell and was and Fiennes' are very poorly illus less. Researcher Revives Byrd's North Pole Saga "To the Pole" — The Diary and Polar Colloquy commemorating some controversy such as Notebook of Richard E. Byrd 1925- the anniversary of Operation High whether Byrd did in fact fly over 1927 — Edited by E. Goerler (Ohio Jump and the 70th anniversary of the North Pole in 1926, the editor State University) Admiral Byrd's historic flight to the has, as far as possible, deciphered Reviewed by Robert (Bob) Thomson North Pole and to select material Byrd's handwriting and also suitable for a Richard E. Byrd exhi provided the opinions of others. Most of us with interests in the bition to be held later that year at Readers may, therefore, come to Antarctic over the years soon the Shirase Antarctic Museum in their own conclusion. became aware of the name Konoura, Japan. This book is most timely for as "Admiral Byrd" and read much Raimund E. Goerler provided we approach a new millennium of the history of his early expedi fullest assistance in my quest to many of the outstanding feats of tions to Antarctica and his lead select Byrd material. This was no this century, unless accurately ership in "Operation High Jump" easy task for the amount of material and fully recorded, will become and "Deep Freeze 1". was enormous, with hundreds of forgotten and lost in competition Few New Zealanders sought large boxes containing tens of with future events. Thanks to information on Byrd's early life thousands of photographs, reports, Raimund Goerler, the full life of for the North Pole was simply too letters, personal records, paintings, Richard E. Byrd has now been far away! For many, Byrd's films etc. During this time I was written and available for future family life, his early naval career also able to learn a great deal about generations. and his exploits in the far north Richard Byrd's early life and his I thoroughly recommend "To the remained little known. outstanding accomplishments in Pole — The Diary and Notebook of I was more fortunate than advancing the development of Richard E. Bryd" edited by some in becoming a close friend aviation. Raimund E. Goerler, to all inter of the late Eddie Goodale and The book "To The Pole — The ested in reading about highly Larry Gould who were very Diary and Notebook of Richard E. Byrd successful lives or adding active members of the early Byrd 1925-27", edited by Raimund E. important information to their Antarctic expeditions. In our Goerler, provides a very concise existing Byrd or Polar collection. many discussions we concen and accurate account of those early trated on Antarctica where our years in Byrd's life. The reader does Bob Thomson, O.B.E., was, for many then activities were taking place. not have to wade through years, the Director of the New In March 1996 I visited the hundreds of boxes of archives to Zealand Antarctic Division and now Byrd Polar Research Centre at seek such information as Raimund lives in the United States in his Ohio State to attend the Byrd had to do. While there remains retirement.

88 Volume 16, No. 4, 1998-99 Antarctic EDUCATION First Summer Course Raises Fresh Perspectives

By Margaret Bradshaw Quite a few of the students had their first real taste of cold Seventeen students participated in the University of Canterbury's and snow when they spent two days and a night out on inaugural summer course in Antarctic studies, 10 of them women. survival training away from base. The resident survival team of They came from a broad spectrum of professions, with ages Kevin Nicholas and Sam Bosshard was swelled by the ranging from 21 to 56 years. Professions included journalism, voluntary help of Scott Base chippy Grant Shadbolt and Field architecture, law, orthodontics, weaving, clinical medicine Support Officer Logan Akers. After learning basic ice and snow education and information services, with the balance from recent techniques and roping up as four groups to thread their way in graduates in zoology, business studies, geology, chemistry, elec and out of the ice cliffs, the group then had to make three giant trical engineering and environmental science. snow mounds as communal "dormitories", and to cook a meal The course had been initiated as a Graduate Certificate (see in the open for each mound's-worth of people. The next day, in Antarctic 16/3) but after a remarkably fast-tracked conception and whiteout conditions and falling snow, the group learned the implementation, it met unexpected delays obtaining approval rudiments of polar tent erection, then returned to base to from the University Qualifications Board, and in January was prepare for a proper "Fieldtrip" where they would experience forced to go ahead only as a Certificate of Continuing Education. what it was really like living in the field, This was seen as an The course was led by Professor yr*\ important part of the Antarctic "expcri- John Hay of Auckland University j ence", to offset the easily acquired and Dr Brian Stewart of Otago impression of Antarctica based on the University. At the official launch of > ■ / considerable comfort of Scott Base, the intensive 12 week study period where even the squeaky floored Q-Hut on 11 January, the Deputy Vice had been transformed into smart four Chancellor of Canterbury University, or eight bunk rooms, with carpets, Professor Bob Park, outlined the wardrobes, desks and doorways that proposal for a Centre for Antarctic could be closed with a proper door. research and study at the University, With Peter Cleary (Operations stimulated by the transfer of Manager) leading a safety team of Antarctica New Zealand's Antarctic library and ICAIR to the campus. travelled to Black Island in two The course began with a concen hagglunds piled high with supplies, Studying lichens on Black■ kIsland. I s l a n d . j i t - . i trated series of lectures and activities gear and bodies. A young lone that covered all aspects of Antarctic geography, science, history, moulting Emperor penguin beside by the flagged route to politics, tourism and current issues of concern. A total of 26 Pegasus Runway was the student's first chance to see a penguin lecturers contributed at various times with live video links with "in the flesh" and for a while the silence was broken only by a Bill Manhire, Kim Stanley-Robinson, David Walton, Anne multitude of clicking shutters. Shortly afterwards the convoy Kershaw, and Klaus Dodds. Visits were made to Canterbury left the runway "road" to follow the flagged route northward Museum's Antarctic displays, the International Antarctic Visitor round Black Island. But the weather was closing in and a cap of Centre, and to Antarctica New Zealand where the group had a high wind cloud was sitting snugly over the top of Mt chance to question representatives from the New Zealand, Discovery. With some worried looks at the weather, and American and Italian Antarctic Programmes. A conference call conscious of leading a large and inexperienced party, Peter was also made to Scott Base. Cleary recommended returning to a more sheltered site on the Two afternoons were kept free for local fieldwork as training southern side of the island. for the Antarctic visit, one sampling the water in the Avon estuary Fourteen polar tents were offloaded and erected with for faecal colliforms and the other to study the volcanic rocks on varying degrees of eptitude and confidence. A communal "loo" the Port Hills. was established behind a massive wall of iceblocks (all waste Four syndicate groups began to research specific topics: was removed), a meal was cooked, and the camp settled down Human artefacts in Antarctica treasure to be conserved or junk to for the "night", and what some later said was the "real" be removed? Emerging fisheries - threat or opportunity? Tourism Antarctic experience. - where to?, Antarctica - a strategic asset? The next day the group moved en masse up onto the slopes These were presented et the end of the formal part of the of Black island, studying the volcanic rocks, lichens, desert course, before the students returned home to each undertake their pavements and patterned ground as they went. The disadvan final investigative report on an approved topic. tages of such a large and varied party became immediately The highlight of the course for both students, co-ordinators and obvious, and credit must go to Peter, Kevin, Sam and Logan two extra tutors (Gary Steel, Lecturer, Lincoln University and who made it safe for people who would otherwise never have Margaret Bradshaw, Research Associate, University of felt inclined to venture onto ice and snow and unstable scree. Canterbury) was the visit to Scott Base on 5 February. The 10 day By the time a mummified seal was inspected and some attempt visit was prolonged to 13 days when mechanical problems with made to do metre-square analysis of the ground to assess the Starlifters delayed the party's return. affects of large surface stones on lichen populations, the cold, There was no doubt that the influx of such a large group at the persistent wind and the descending cloud base cut the day end of the season put considerable strain on Scott Base staff and short and the part)' returned for its second night in camp. resources, especially when it came so soon after the Ministerial Camp was struck remarkably quickly the following morning visit, but the course slotted in extremely well. and a sweep by 25 people across the site produced only a few

Volume 16, No. 4, 1998-99 Antarctic EDUCATION threads, down feathers and a couple of tiny pieces of plastic deadline to work towards, and the base staff were to complete the tape. The party was satisfied that nothing had been left behind interior of the building over the winter. apart from some rough snow and a myriad of footsteps. Maybe Scott Base could have managed with the perfectly good On the return journey to Scott Base, after another stop to see ablutions facilities for just one more year? the same penguin in the same place, a detour was made in Such were the thoughts that circulated round the students and perfect conditions to see the Volcanic explosion vent that tutors as they spent a total of four hours picking up the poly comprises Castle Rock. For many, the dramatic and silent view styrene fragments around the construction site, even resorting to of the Ross Island coastline and the distant Transantarctic vacuuming up the finer pieces as best they could. The students Mountains which was suddenly revealed from the top of the were flown home, however, before the polystyrene had finished ridge was the highlight of the whole trip and to many repre falling. sented what Antarctica was really about. Since the group's return, it has become known that urethane- Back at Scott Base, and as part of another science project, the foamed panels had originally been planned by the designer, but students selectively sampled the water intake over a 24 hour could not be sourced from the manufacturer as they had closed period for testing, and the following day had a further 24 hour down. A new composite urethane/styrene panel that was being schedule counting the prepared and incubated samples for developed was twice the cost of a styrene only panel, and the faecal colliforms. Despite quite high levels of these in the intake cheaper option prerailed. water, additional tests showed that the Scott Base Reverse Some students came back from the ice keen to pursue further Osmosis system produced only the purest of water, In another Antarctic work and research, others felt they had had a life- project, each student had to perform a taped interview with changing experience and were reviewing their future directions. randomly selected workers at McMurdo Station about Antarctic New enriching behaviours emerged - a need to write and express, humour. A real but quickly controlled fire in the Scott Base bar the production of poetry, the desire to draw, the start of the first early one morning and the rapid response of base staff and the McMurdo fire team, was another instructive experience for the group, and the extra pairs of hands for the clean-up were very welcome. The Antarctic visit produced a remarkable variety of responses from the students, Nearly all of them became passion ately concerned about the human impact on the Antarctic envi ronment. While most were very impressed with the tour of the new Crarey Science Lab at McMurdo, few of them liked McMurdo itself which they thought untidy and ugly, and they were appalled over the marks left by bulldozers scraping gravel from the lower slopes. 1 felt this view was pretty harsh, having seen the awful untidiness and poor practices of the mid 1970's which have gradually changed over the years into today's very ordered arrangement. 1 was impressed with the neat lines of tracked vehicles, the clearly labelled bins for separating materials which stood outside every building, the carefully stacked supplies that showed up tidily from the top of Kate Dozoner, a student on the Antarctic studies course, adding to Scott Base's first Antarctic weaving. Observation Hill. McMurdo may still look like a dusty mining town, but at least its a tidy one without smouldering rubbish weaving to be made at Scott Base, an Antarctic scene using fires on the edge of Winter Quarters Bay as in the past. materials found only around the base - tent fabric, paper servi Nor was Scott Base exempt from having the finger pointed at ettes, pillow stuffing, unravelled nylon cord and discarded socks. it. The students were highly critical of the siting of the new Quite a few of the group contributed, but time ran out and it was windowless ablutions block, which was being rapidly erected left, half finished, for the winter-overers to complete. by the army team whilst they were there. In the students As an Antarctic scientist, this was a new insight into people and opinion, it totally destroyed the view from the bar and science the Antarctic. Were these students perhaps more honest than lab corridors, and would have been better built at the back of the scientists about their feelings for Antarctica and why they wanted base. But the use of polystyrene as the insulating material sand to be there? Did they express their concerns better and more wiched between the walls, and the way this littered the ground bluntly, not being worried about lessened future support from the when panels were cut and erected, really got their ire. Many resource givers? Did they, after the intensive and varied lecture wondered how such a building could have got the environ programme, acquire an overview of Antarctic knowledge more mental impact consent necessary for it to go ahead when rapidly than scientists who often took years to accumulate this everyone knew that polystyrene was frowned upon in knowledge because it was always secondary to their immediate Antarctica and that it would be released as soon as the panels speciality? Are these courses with their very limited scientific were cut. The panels could have been cut and pre-erected in content, just as important on a broader scale as some of the deeper New Zealand, then sealed to minimise release of fragments scientific projects? before transport to Antarctica and "kit-set" erection on site. It Its all a question of balance. 1 think we need both, and despite might have been best to wait an extra year and do it this way a few details of planning that will need to be addressed, including rather than litter the ground with material that would never the effect of such a large group being in any one place at any one decompose and could travel far on the wind? The Army time, 1 think carefully packaged and academically controlled constructors were embarrassed by the mess and made every educational courses such as this are helpful for the future well- attempt to minimise the damage. But they had a very tight being of Antarctica and should be continued.

Volume 16, No. 4, 1998-99 Antarctic OPINION Fears for Future of Antarctic Material By Colin Monteath of Canterbury library and I cannot improving the logistic operation and I write in defence of a small, 40 year imagine a university ordering system social interaction between New old library of unique Antarctic ever having the same 'feel' or ability Zealand and the other nations, prin material which, by the time I return to add the sort of material I believe cipally USA and now Germany and to Christchurch in November, will be we need to be accumulating for Italy, that use Christchurch as their ail-but dismembered and dispersed. future generations. gateway to the Ross Sea. It seemed I am referring to the old DSIR I considered that the Antarctic fitting to have the host nation's Antarctic Division library from Division library complimented the library properly displayed and easily which, in 1984/85,1 was banned by Skellerup collection of purely historic accessible to all in the luxury of a the then Director for daring to write books on 'permanent' loan to large, peaceful setting in a building in defence of the validity of retaining Canterbury Museum as well as the touted as an International Antarctic the Scott Base huskies. I wrote as a collections of readily-available polar Centre. freelance journalist starting to science text books at New Zealand And now, as I write in 1999, with specialise in polar matters but having universities involved in our Antarctic the long-serving librarians ditched just finished long-term employment science initiative. When considering on the scrap heap of redundancy and with the Division. the tragedy of potential fire damage I much of the library deposited on the During those years of planning felt it was an advantage to have seventh floor of the University of New Zealand's Antarctic expeditions collections housed under different Canterbury's library, I ponder the I spent a considerable amount of time roofs. future. While we are told "The in that library using its maps, aerial I always viewed the library, under change does not significantly affect photos, irreplaceable black and white funded and young in stature though the accessibility of the collection to photographs dating back to TAE and, it was, as a national resource in the the Antarctic community" I wonder most importantly, the many books same way I thought of the impressive who will actually make the effort to and obscure periodicals gathered libraries at British Antarctic Survey use an integrated Antarctic collection from all over the polar world, princi and Australia's Antarctic Division when it becomes functional - pally SCAR and Treaty countries. when I toured their offices. For all its students and university staff one When researching new geograph faults I still considered our library as hopes, but who of the public and ical areas of endeavour for New a place of wonder and excitement for who of Antarctica New Zealand's Zealand's science field parties I often the annual crop of new-comers who, staff or employees let alone transitory didn't precisely know what I was just as I did, joined NZARP as a foreign scientists, writers or looking for when I entered the library youngster about to venture to Scott researchers will give this new remote that was an integral part of our office. Base for the first time. library little more than perfunctory When dealing with the alien world of Even if individuals just wandered credence? Antarctica which is still governed by through the place for a few minutes Trying to view recent events in a an unusual set of rules, this resource and barely touched a book, I felt they positive way I must remember that in immediately took on vital impor gained some sense of history, past England in the 1920s one of Scott's tance during search and rescue oper personalities and NZARP traditions scientists, Frank Debenham, created ations for accidents to remote field and, if they dug deeper, a knowledge what is now the prestigious Scott parties, for downed aircraft and for of field techniques, geography and Polar Research Institute as a branch stricken vessels. the importance of international co of the geography school at The In a way that only librarians can, I operation in Antarctica. University of Cambridge. I can but was quickly and skilfully directed to Today, the ail-too prevalent, hope that someone with passion and potentially relevant material tucked tightly cost-effective approach to vision emerges from our ranks to away in dusty corners of that shabby many aspects of government work create something of lasting value. little office in Oxford Terrace. results in a contentment to downplay Already, many hundreds of books Many individuals and organisa the importance of tradition. Therein I and journals from the old Antarctic tions come to mind - such as Les feel government errs, indeed errs Division library have been dumped Quartermain, NZ Antarctic Society, greatly, by discarding some of the on the second hand book market here Arnold Heine, Jim Caffin and Bob greatest assets we hold as a small- in Christchurch. Many of them are Thomson to name a few - who tight-knit nation. presumably doubles already held in helped pull this library together or The concept of moving Antarctic the university collection - specialist who donated/loaned books, Division's office from Oxford Terrace polar texts in glaciology, geology, pamphlets, news cuttings and to the Christchurch airport was remote sensing, microbiology etc as private expedition memorabilia. overdue. It was a costly move with well as sets of journals such as the Now elements of this library are to expensive rented library space. The Journal of Glaciology. be amalgamated with the University gain though was the great benefit of Continued on page 92 Volume 16, No. 4, 1998-99 91 Antarctic EDUCATION Antarctic Collection at New University Home The Antarctic Collection is the result building up a comprehensive collec scientific work, logistic support, of a partnership between Antarctica tion of historical publications environmental concerns and New Zealand and the University of covering New Zealand's Antarctic Antarctic Treaty matters), Antarctica Canterbury Library. interests and that of other countries in general and Antarctic science. It was moved from the in the Ross Dependency." This later Some material is received under International Antarctic Centre to the changed to establishing "a compre the Antarctic Treaty requirement of university library in September 1998. hensive scientific and technical "free exchange of information". A The collection will be managed by collection of Antarctic literature". special strength is the full text of the University Library on indefinite When the DSIR was disestab microfiche of the items listed in the loan and will continue to be lished the New Zealand Antarctic Antarctic Bibliography, which is on developed as a focal point for Institute Act 1996 created Antarctica loan from the National Science Antarctic researchers, says Rosalind New Zealand which took over the Foundation. The Antarctic Patrick, sciences librarian at the library. Bibliography is included among the university. The library served the Arctic & Antarctic Regions group of In a communication to staff and International Antarctic Centre databases which can be searched students, she backgrounded the (including Antarctica New Zealand, online. A small collection of history, use, content and location of the International Centre for valuable "heroic era" books is the collection: Antarctic Information and Research, housed in the library's Special History of the collection the Visitor Centre, members of the Collections Room. The Antarctic Division of the DSIR United States and Italian Antarctic Materials in the collection include and its library were established in programmes while in Christchurch, not only books and journals, but 1959. "The initial emphasis was on and Scott Base). also maps, aerial photographs and It was also open to researchers videos. Links to information on the Future of Antarctic and members of the public inter Internet are available through the Material ested in Antarctica. As part of library's web pages under both Antarctica New Zealand, the library and Continued from page 91 saw its mission as "the prime source . On the surface, even though many of information on New Zealand's Some materials are still held at are long out-of-print or limited run activities in Antarctica". Antarctica New Zealand. These texts, this may seem as no great loss. Use of the collection include photographs, slides and the Others though, are unusual books Now based at the university, the Field Event reports and Field Event that are personally inscribed to collection will continue to be used by Diaries of the Antarctic Research NZARP, Vanda Station or Scott Base staff of the International Antarctic Programme. They may not be libraries by visiting scientists Centre and the wider research borrowed, but may be consulted by including Tetsuya Torii, Haroun community who are interested in appointment with Natalie Tazieff and George Denton, to name Antarctica. Cadenhead, information services a few. It will also support teaching and specialist, (phone 35802000 or email: Donating such books on their life research within the university, at all [email protected]). work was one way of expressing the levels and from all faculties. The Location of the collection joy and pride of their past association interdisciplinary course on Antarctic The books and journals can be with NZARP. One of these books, an Studies (INCO 103) which is taught found in the north-west corner on inscribed book on Antarctic mete by staff from ten departments is an level 7 of the central library. The orites by a Japanese scientist who indication of the widespread interest videos, maps and aerial was active with NZARP in the Dry at the university, an interest which photographs of the Antarctic Valleys in the 1970s, has already been continues at higher teaching levels Collection have been incorporated sold and is on its way to a collection and in research. into the library's Audiovisual in USA. The new Certificate in Antarctic Collection which is housed on the Ironically, the Italian government Studies, offered for the first time in south side of level 7. The Antarctic recently bought large numbers of 1999, is another example of the part Collection is a focal point for those books from this library, transporting nership of the university and interested in the continent, but other them by ship from Christchurch to Antarctica New Zealand. material on Antarctica continues to their national antarctic institute at the Content of the collection be available in all branches of the end of this past season. The subject coverage of the collec library. I fear much has been cast adrift tion is wide-ranging, but has partic The collection is being recata- and I am left with a feeling of ular emphasis on New Zealand logued so that it integrates better sadness. activities in Antarctica (records of with the university's collections.

92 Volume 16, No. 4, 1998-99 Antarctic EDUCATION University 'Values' the Antarctic Collection The University of Canterbury values the Antarctic collection and will integrate it as a discreet unit within the context of its broad collection - but as a specialist collection, the vice- chancellor Professor Daryl Le Grew writes to 'Antarctic'. "The library will also be placed in the context of the university's "Gateway Antarctica" Centre, a research centre that will provide a that are of day-to-day significance to graphic database which can be national focus for Antarctic Studies their research activities. There is searched by any library in New and intends to draw together inherent flexibility also in that Zealand and from overseas. Antarctic scholars, ICAIR and other materials can be released from the "A benefit for those who do come Antarctic resources. university on long-term loan as to use the Antarctic Collection is that "The university will, therefore, required. Many of the maps and they will also be able to use the rest of treasure the Antarctic library collec slides have also been retained by the university library's collection. tion and see that it is curated, Antarctica New Zealand as working "It should be noted too that the enhanced and developed and well resources. Antarctic Collection will be kept used by new generations of Antarctic "The University Library has together as a specialist collection students and scholars. endeavoured to be flexible about within the library. "Whilst I appreciate Dr who has access to the collection and "Decisions as to what was dept Monteath's feelings on the matter, I to make it as easy as possible to use and what was not kept in the collec can assure you that the transfer and the collection. It is expected that tion were carefully made, and were curatorial care of the collection is in those who would normally have the results of protracted negotiations excellent hands." The university's used the collection at the centre will with Antarctica New Zealand. librarian Gail Pattie advised the vice- be fully informed of and referred to "The University librarian would chancellor, by way of response to the University Library for access. be very happy to have Mr Monteath Colin Monteath's letter to 'Antarctic' "The materials held are also listed visit and examine the future plans for that the University of Canterbury on the New Zealand national biblio the collection." Library "is honoured and very SCIENCE NOTES pleased to have been the recipient of the Antarctica New Zealand library collection last year when Antarctica Four New Fish Discovered by Accident New Zealand sought a new home for An Ohio University researcher who discovered four previously unknown its collection." species of fish during a recent Antarctic research cruise says the discov While the University Library eries confirm his hypothesis that the continent's frigid seas represent a (pictured) is not a "special" library world-class evolutionary laboratory. with the special and individual "Antarctica is under-appreciated as an evolutionary site," says Joseph services that that term implies, it is a Eastman, an anatomist who made his discoveries aboard Nathaniel B major research library physically Palmer, an icebreaker of the NSF's polar research fleet. close to the Antarctic Centre, and sits Eastman's discoveries - which include the first identification of a new within an institution which is species in the genus Artedidraco in 80 years - occurred almost by chance. building on its already impressive Eastman studies the anatomy of buoyancy and how it evolved in Antarctic range of Antarctic research activities, fishes. "It wasn't my intention to look for new species," he said. she says. "The University Library Based on his 20 years of research and his new discoveries, Eastman says believes the collection has come to "as far as bottom habitats are concerned, sponge beds in Antarctica are the the best home it could have outside equivalent of coral reefs in the tropics; sites of high fish diversity. Antarctica New Zealand". Polly Penhale, who oversees medical and biological research for the U S "It is important to note that not all Antarctic Program, said that Eastman's findings indicate that "future of the collection has come to the research is likely to lead to a greater appreciation of biodiversity in the university as Antarctica New polar regions." Zealand has retained those materials

Volume 16, No. 4, 1998-99 Antarctic SCIENCE NOTES The Ponds of the McMurdo Ice Shelf Life in continental Antarctica is dependent on the avail ability of liquid water. Probably the commonest type of wet habitat are the small pools which accumulate meltwater in summer, and freeze solid during winter. Such ponds are typically colonised by a range of aquatic biota, with benthic mats of algae and cyanobacteria partic ularly common. "During summer, these ponds provide a benign habitat, with temperatures above zero and abundant light for photosynthesis," says Clive Howard Williams, Rob Smith, Ian Hawes and Ann-Maree Schwartz of NIWA, in Christchurch Setting up a solar panel lo power remote sampling instruments al a pond on the McMurdo Ice Shelf s Bratina Island. "It is only during the period of freezing that this habitat becomes stressful." In order to better understand the This led to a two-fold increase in conductivity of pond nature of these stresses, and how organisms respond, the bottom water, but affected shallow water only marginally. physical environment in ponds of the McMurdo Ice Shelf, The characteristic conditions under which the majority of close to Bratina Island, was monitored over a 12 month the benthic mat material froze were; temperature slightly period between January 1997 and January 1998 using a below zero, conductivity slightly elevated from open network of automated sensors. water conditions, light levels low but not yet dark. Based on these environmental data, a series of experi Manipulative experiments have shown that increasing ments investigated how the dominant cyanobacterial salt concentration, to the levels observed prior to freezing, communities adapted to tolerate conditions outside the had no effect on rates of photosynthesis in benthic mat traditional summer sampling. communicates. Photosynthesis and respiration both Air temperature at the study site was above zero for a continued at temperatures of -2°C, and behavioural very short period during the summer of 1998. Mean daily adaptions of the benthic photosynthetic community, incident irradiance showed the expected gradual decline involving vertical migration of active cells, allowed them to darkness with the onset of winter and the period of near to remain photosynthetically active up to the moment they total darkness lasted from 20 April to 1 September, a froze. period of 130 days. These data confirm that the active period of benthic Ice formed on the ponds in February 1997, and communities in Antarctic ponds is likely to extend well gradually increased in thickness until most of each pond beyond the summer open-water period. was frozen by early April. Lowest temperatures recorded Ongoing research is designed to investigate the effects in the ponds were -35°C. As more water froze, salt concen of prolonged freezing to temperatures below -35°C on mat tration in the remaining water increased. survival.

Wavelengths Penetrate to Significant Depths There is overwhelming scientific evidence that UVB (280- tica a pivotal component and determinant of the Antarctic 320) wavelengths are damaging to marine organisms and microbial community. penetrate to biologically significant depths in the marine The bloom-forming colonial stage of P. antarctica environment. possesses high concentration of UV-absorbing compounds Column ozone concentrations over Antarctica presently which enhance the survival, production and growth of fall to less than 50%, and may fall below 30% of pre-ozone colonial cells when exposed to UVB radiation. hole concentrations annually, an Australian research team "Our results show that production of UV-absorbing reported at the VII SCAR International Biology compounds by P. antarctica is responsive to UVB exposure, Symposium. increasing linearly with increased UVB dose," the team says. Significant depletion of ozone also persists into "While many marine organisms are incapable of detecting January and February the team says. The consequent and/or responding to UVB radiation, P. antarctica alters its increase in short wavelength UVB coincides with the level of UV-protection in response to UVB wavelengths. proliferation of phytoplankton in the sea ice and "Changing the duration of dark incubation following marginal ice zone (MIZ). exposure to UVB radiation did not alter the UV- absorbing There is great interspecific variation in tolerance to UVB pigment concentration at a given flux, irrespective of the flux exposure; the susceptibility being dependent on the effec rate. tiveness of the UV tolerance mechanisms they possess. "Thus, the metabolic expense of protection against UVB Phaeocystis antarctica is one of the most abLindant compo was minimised by producing and maintaining a concentra nents of the phytoplankton in the ice and MIZ. The unique tion of UV-absorbing compounds that was determined physiology and vast biomass of its blooms make P. antarc solely by the UVB exposure."

Volume 16, No. 4, 1998-99 Antarctic TRANSITION Navy Flies last Antarctic Mission A 44-year long era in aviation came to an end in February this year when the US Navy made its final flight in support of the National Science Foundation's (NSF) U S Antarctic Program. Logistical support for the US Antarctic Program is now carried out by the New York Air National Guard's 109th Airlift Wing, based in Schenectady, New York. The Navy squadron played a vital role in shuttling personnel and cargo to Antarctica and to research locations throughout the continent. The last ski-equipped LC-130 cargo aircraft flight by VXE-6, the Antarctic Development Squadron, was made in February 1999 from McMurdo Station in Antarctica to Christchurch, New Zealand, where it was met by a large crowd VXE-6 squadron commanding officer Commander Dave Jackson is congratulated after the squadron's last ice flight in February 1999. of well-wishers. Aviators and support personnel of VXE-6 were Dave Jackson, the unit's last commanding officer. "For honoured by the people of Christchurch who turned more than 44 years, the US Navy has committed itself to out to farewell the squadron at Christchurch leading the way in the support of science in Antarctica. International Airport, on February 20. Today, I am proud to say that our mission is done." "This is a proud but sombre day for the men and The Schenectady-based 109th is now the world's only women of VXE 6 and the US Navy," said Commander ski-equipped LCI 30 unit. The Workhorse of Operation Deep Freeze

VXE-6 had its roots in "Operation necessary for the construction of Freeze, the squadron operated a High Jump", the fourth Antarctic Little America base camp, the Naval variety of aircraft, including the expedition conducted by Rear air operations facility on Hut Point P2V-2 Neptune, UC-1 Otter, R4D & Admiral (USN) Richard Byrd. (McMurdo Station) and South Pole C-47 Dakotas, R5D and C-54 Sky In December 1946, this expedi Station, and assisted in the location Masters, R7D Super Constellation, tion, involving sea-based Martin of four other base sites on the and LH-34 and HUS-1A helicopters. PBMs and land-based Douglas continent. Deep Freeze '61 marked the arrival R4Ds, set out to conduct an Following its return from Deep of the ski-equipped LC-130 extensive aerial survey of Freeze 1 in February, 1956, VX-6 Hercules, then dubbed the "work Antarctica. was relocated to NAS Quonset horse of the future", due to its long Based in the Ross Sea ice pack, Point, Rhode Island (this was also range and heavy load capability. they eventually mapped about 1.5 the home of Naval Construction During Deep Freeze '72, the UH- million square miles of the interior Battalion 200, which had been 1N Huey was introduced to the and 5,500 miles of coastline. formed to do the construction of continent, with VXE-6 being the Established as Air Development facilities in the Antarctic). first Navy recipient of this now Squadron XIX (VX-6) at Naval Air In January 1969, VX-6 was world famous twin-engine heli Station (NAS), Patuxent River, re-designated as Antarctic copter. Providing an additional Maryland on 17 January 1955, the Development Squadron Six (VXE- means of direct scientific support, squadron's mission was to conduct 6). Since its establishment, VXE-6 the Huey had the capability of operations in support of U.S. logged more than 200,000 flight rapidly transporting field teams Department of Defence responsibil hours in direct support of United and cargo to otherwise inaccessible ities in connection with the United States' interests in the Antarctic. locations within a 150-mile radius States Antarctic Programme. The squadron transported more of McMurdo Station. VX-6 made its first deployment, than 195,000 passengers, delivered VX-6 has had many aviation Deep Freeze 1, in November 1955, over 240 million pounds of dry firsts. On 20 December 1955, two as part of "Task Force 43". That first cargo and nearly 10 million gallons P2V-2 Neptunes and two R5D Sky season, VX-6 completed nine long of fuel to numerous sites Masters forged the first air link with range exploratory flights, and trans throughout the continent. the continent of Antarctica with a ported people and materials In support of Operation Deep flight from Christchurch, New

Volume 16, No. 4, 1998-99 Antarctic transition

Zealand to McMurdo Sound. During Deep Freeze II "open-up" South Pole Station. Topping off the season, "Que Sera Sera", an R4D Dakota (BUNO 12418) became VXE-6 was again awarded the Chief of Naval Operations the first plane to land at the South Geographic Pole on 31 Safety Award. October 1956. Also in Deep Freeze II, R4D (BUNO 17274) Deep Freeze '93 saw VXE-6 break many records, the delivered the first group of 11 Seabees and 11 dog most amazing being the total cargo flown in a single sledges, together with tents and other equipment to the season: nearly 9.4 million pounds of cargo and fuel were South Pole, to begin construction of the first South Pole transported on continent. station. Deep Freeze '96 marked the squadron's 40th annual By January 1958, a VX-6 Otter made the first wheels- deployment to Antarctica. Together, the Hercs and the on-dirt landing in Antarctica at Marble Point. On 9 April Hueys flew over 4700 hours to deliver more than eight 1961, the first midwinter fly-in was accomplished to thousand passengers and over 6.7 million pounds of rescue a seriously ill Russian scientist from Byrd Station. cargo and fuel. On 3 February 1996, the squadron In February 1963, VX-6 completed the first delivery of operated its last helicopter mission in Antarctica (the heli bulk fuel (3000 pounds) by an LC-130 aircraft. In 1964, copter programme is now bid-contracted every five VX-6 conducted the first-ever flight, from Capetown, years). South Africa to McMurdo Station, Antarctica, first-ever The Navy's helo programme in Antarctica ended with flight of US aircraft to the Russian-operated Antarctic the disestablishment of VXE-6's helo component in April station Vostok, and the first successful demonstration of 1996. At the conclusion of the 96/97 deployment, the Trimetrogon photography, used extensively to map the Antarctic continent.

Other Significant Milestones/Events: During Deep Freeze '78, VXE-6 evacuated five critically injured Soviets from the crash site of an IL-14 transport aircraft at Molodezhnaya, on the Prince Olav Coast, located 1,825 miles (about 24 flight hours, round trip) from McMurdo Station. This arduous and hazardous life- saving flight earned the squadron the Navy Unit Commendation. The squadron received the 1982 Chief of Naval Operations Safety Award in recognition of its accident free

flight operations for that year and for its outstanding Tlie Mayor of Christchurch, Carry Moore, farewells VXE-6 in 1999. safety programme. Deep Freeze '88 was a particularly challenging season. squadron held an Old Antarctic Explorers Reunion, A medical evacuation to the South African station of Sanae commemorating the 40th anniversary of Antarctic broke the record for time and distance in a single Antarctic research support. Approximately 200 past and present flight. Another highlight of the season was the recovery of VXE-6 personnel were in attendance, including members an LC-130 (BUNO 148321) that had been buried in ice and of VX-6 Deep Freeze 1. snow since its crash in 1971 near Dumont D'Urville. That Deep Freeze '97 proved to be very successful in spite of aircraft, designated as "XD-03", has been fully restored a delay in "opening-up" South Pole Station until early and still operates with VXE-6 to this day. November due to extremely low temperatures. Despite Deep Freeze '90 was a highly successful season. With many delays and maintenance difficulties due to extreme the combined efforts of HH-1N and LC-130 aircraft, VXE- weather conditions, VXE-6 and the Air National Guard's 6 moved almost 8,000 passengers and over six million 109 Airlift Wing completed all planned missions. pounds of cargo which included five re-supply flights to Plagued by the "worst weather for 24 years", Deep the Russian-operated Vostok Station. Additionally, VXE-6 Freeze '98 ended successfully with the completion of an completed the first wheeled landing of an LC-130 aircraft extremely busy air lift schedule, including the delivery of on a "blue ice" surface near the Beardmore Glacier. a substantial amount of materials necessary to begin the Capping this successful season, VXE-6 was awarded the erection of the new South Pole Station, slated for comple COMNAVAIRPAC Aircraft Squadron Battle Efficiency tion in 2005. Award. Deep Freeze '99 was VXE-6's last deployment in Deep Freeze '92 marked the first year in which aircraft support of the United States Antarctic Programme. The (UH-1N Hueys) were operated during the period between season's LC-130 airlift schedule was the busiest on WINFLY and the start of normal operations in October. All record, with nearly 500 missions are planned; 320 to the helicopter missions were completed despite being South Pole alone! Following the closure of South Pole grounded for over a month because of a suspected drive- Station's summer operations in mid-February, VXE-6 shaft problem. Another historic milestone occurred on 25 returned to Naval Air Station, Point Mugu, CA, to be October 1991 when an all-female crew took an LC-130 to disestablished. membership

The New Zealand Antarctic Society You are invited to join - please write to: Overseas Branch Secretary, Inc., was formed in 1933. It comprises National Secretary, P O Box 404, New Zealand Antarctic Society Inc., New Zealanders and overseas friends, Christchurch 8000, NEW ZEALAND P O Box 404, Christchurch 8000, many of whom have been to the or Telephone: +64 (0) 3 377 3173 NEW ZEALAND Antarctic and all of whom are interested Facsimile: +64 (0) 3 365 2252 in some phase of Antarctic exploration, E-mail: [email protected] Subscriptions to Antarctic: history, development or research. Visit us at: NZ$45 New Zealand http://www.icair.iac.org.nz/news/nzas Airmail: Annual membership of the Society NZ$51 Australia and South Pacific entitles members to: Antarctic which is All administrative inquiries should be NZ$54 North America and East Asia published each March, June, September directed to the National Secretary. NZ$56 Europe, including Great Britain and December. It is unique in Antarctic Inquiries regarding back issues can be NZ$60 Everywhere else literature as it is the only periodical made to the Back Issues Officer, at the Surface Mail: which provides regular and up to date above address. NZ$48 Australia and South Pacific news of the activities of all nations at NZ$50 North America and East Asia work in the Antarctic and Sub-antarctic. Members should direct other inquiries NZ$51 Europe, including Great Britain It has a world-wide circulation. to their local branch. NZ$51 Everywhere else Secretary, Auckland Branch, Advertising rates: Members also receive a regular New Zealand Antarctic Society Inc., Full page colour $700 newsletter called Polar Whispers, an P O Box 8062, AUCKLAND 1035 Half page colour $400 annual Polar Log, which records the Secretary, Wellington Branch, Full page B&W $300 decisions made by the Society's Council New Zealand Antarctic Society Inc., Half page B&W $250 at its AGM, catalogues of the Society's P O Box 2110, WELLINGTON 6000 I n s e r t s $ 3 0 0 mailorder bookshop 'The Polar Bookshop' and occasional brochures Secretary, Canterbury Branch, Advertising Enquiries: from the Society's 'Sales Stall'. New Zealand Antarctic Society Inc., Advertising Manager, P O Box 2369 Occasional meetings are held by the P O Box 404, CHRISTCHURCH 8000 Christchurch 8000, NEW ZEALAND Tel: +64 (0) 3 365 0344 Auckland, Wellington, Canterbury and Secretary, Otago Branch, Fax: +64 (0) 3 365 4255 Otago branches. New Zealand Antarctic Society Inc., P O Box 7083, DUNEDIN 9030 Deadline: 20th of preceding month

VX-6/VXE-6 Commanding Officers

Cdr E. M. Ward, USN 17 Jan 55 to 02 Apr 55 Cdr J. W. Jeager, USN 02 Jun 77 to 31 May 78 CdrG. K. Ebbe,USN 02 Apr 55 to 15 Jun 55 Cdr W. A. Morgan, USN 31 May 78 to 11 May 79 Cdr E.M.Ward, USN 15 Jun 55 to 16 Jul 56 Cdr D. A. Srite, USN 11 May 79 to 30 May 80 Capt D. L. Cordiner, USN 16 Jul 56 to 10 May 57 Cdr V. L. Pesce, USN 30 May 80 to 22 May 81 CdrV.J. Coley,USN 10 May 57 to 07 Jul 58 Cdr P. R. Dykeman, USN 22 May 81 to 28 May 82 Capt Slagie, USN 07 Jul 58 to 04 May 59 Cdr M. J. Harris, USN 28 May 82 to 27 May 83 Cdr J. M. Barlow, USN 04 May 59 to 21 Jul 59 Cdr M. J. Radigan, USN 27 May 83 to 25 May 84 Caot W. H. Munson, USN 21 Jul 59 to 01 Jun 61 Cdr D. D. Fisher, USN 25 May 84 to 24 May 85 Cdr M. D. Greenwell, USN 01 Jun 61 to 25 Apr 62 Cdr P. J. Derocher, USN 24 May 85 to 18 Apr 86 Cdr W. H. Everett, USN 25 Apr 62 to 29 Apr 63 Cdr J. D.Mazza,USN 18 Apr 86 to 22 May 87 Cdr G. R. Kelly, USN 29 Apr 63 to 06 May 64 CdrJ.B. Rector, USN 22 May 87 to 27 May 88 Cdr F.S.Gallup, USN 06 May 64 to 05 May 65 Cdr J. V. Smith, USN 27 May 88 to 26 May 89 Cdr M. E. Morris, USN 05 May 65 to 17 Jun 66 Cdr K. S. Armstrong, USN 26 May 89 to 25 May 90 Cdr D. Balish, USN 17 Jun 66 to 26 Apr 67 Cdr S. E. Sebastian, USN 25 May 90 to 22 May 91 Cdr A. F. Schneider, USN 26 Apr 67 to 14 Jun 68 Cdr W. R. Reeves, USN 22 May 91 to 15 May 92 Cdr E. W. VanReeth, USN 14 Jun 68 to 10 Jul 69 Cdr J. D. Keho, USN 15 May 92 to 07 May 93 CdrJ.R.Pilon,USN 10 Jul 69 to 24 Jun 70 Cdr M. J. Duvall, USN 07 May 93 to 19 May 94 Cdr D. B. Eldridge, USN 24 Jun 70 to 01 Jul 71 Cdr S. G. Gardner, USN 19 May 94 to 25 May 95 Cdr C. H. Nordhill, USN 01 Jul 71 to 30 Jun 72 CdrJ.P.Morin,USN 25 May 95 to 24 May 96 Cdr J. B.Dana, USN 30 Jun 72 to 27 Jun 73 Cdr W. B. Stedman, USN 24 May 96 to 06 Jun 97 Cdr V.W.Peters, USN 27 Jun 73 to 18 Jul 74 Cdr W. R. Warlick, HI, USN 06 Jun 97 to 22 May 98 Cdr F. C. Holt, USN 18 Jul 74 to 11 Dec 76 Cdr D. W. Jackson, USN 22 May 98 to 31 Mar 99 CdrD.A.Desko,USN 11 Dec 76 to 02 Jun 77