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A News Bulletin New Zealand Antarctic Society

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A News Bulletin New Zealand Antarctic Society A NEWS BULLETIN published quarterly by the NEW ZEALAND ANTARCTIC SOCIETY IS MY DAY DONE? Scott Base is one of the few Antarctic st,ations where the husky still has his part to play. Vol. 4. No. 8 DECEMBER. 1966 ~.Iao·w. AUSTRALIA Wintif and Summlr blses Scott 1((/'i~rON Summer ba...se anly T H~llett {]NEW ZEALANO' 1ran,ferrea base Wilke~ U.S.frJAust • Tempora.rily nan -aperatienal.....'5yow& .e Marion I. (lA) f o·w. .1.M.S.til OkAWN IY D£PARiM£NT OF LANDS" SURVEY WllllNGTON, NEW ZEALAN.D, MAR. 19b4­ J.".oEDITION Vol. 4, No. 8 DECEMBER, 1966 Editor: L. B. Quartermain, M.A., 1 Ariki Road, Wellington, E.2, ew Zealand. Assistant Editor: Mrs R. H. Wheeler. Business Communications, Subscriptions, etc., to: Secretary, ew Zealand Antarctic Society, P.D. Box 2110, Wellington, .Z. CONTENTS EXPEDITIONS Page New Zealand 374 New Zealand Bird Banding in Antarctic Regions: C. J. R. Ro'bert- son 380 France 382 U.S.A. 384 A New Zealand Ornithologist on 'Eltanin ': Peter C. Harper 389 Australia 391 Ice Cap Study, Wilkes, Antarctica: A. McLaren ...... 393 Belgium-Holland 396 Japan 398 Chile 400 United Kingdom 402 U.S.S.R. 406 Argentina 409 South Africa 411 Sub-Antarctic Islands 422 Bouvet Island Weather Station Considered Practicable ...... 424 Veterans Meet 395 The Veterans Pass 408 50 Years Ago 413 Meeting in Santiago. 4'14 Antarctic Bases - 8 - Syowa 417 Whaling 419 Bookshelf 426 374 ANTARCTI'C December. 1966 EW ZEALAND FIE DPARTI ET OUT FRO, CO' TB S After a two-month lie-up period during midwinter the dog­ teams were given a training run on July 22, and despite cold August temperatures (as low as - 40° to - 50° C) several men made short sledge journeys. The final August sortie with the SEASON BEGINS dogs was on the 27th, when Bartlett, The 1966-67 season began on Octo­ Porter, Temahan and Greeks crossed ber 1, when Mr. R. B. Thomson the sea-ice to Cape Royds. T'ravelling (Superintendent Antarctic Division) was good as far as Cape Evans, but and Colin Clark, the new Leader at the final six miles took nearly two Scott Base, flew from Christchurch hours owing to the rough nature of to McMurdo by V.S. Hercules air­ the fresh sea-ice, which was rafted craft. Last year's Leader, Mike into stacks and crossed by open Prebble, returned to New Zealand leads of water. Two days later the with Mr. Thomson on the 8th, and party returned to Scott Base, in the other members of the 1966 win­ bleak, windy weather, in six hours. tering team returned at intervals, The dogs were fitter, the gear and the last member, Bartlett, coming equipment had been tested and the out on November 10. old huts at Cape Evans and Cape The next members of the new Royds, restored by a New Zealand team to fly in, on October 11, were team in 1960-61, were checked for the new postmaster, D. H. Brown, damage, all at the cost of a few and the Public Relations Officer, frost-bitten noses and fingers. John Murphy, who also filled the position last summer. The remaining BASE BATTERED members were flown down at inter­ vals up to mid-November. On September 19, after a long spell Field operations from Scott Base, of fine weather, Scott Base was sub­ like the extensive American projects, jected to hurricane force winds. The were considerably delayed because weather during the day had been of ski-trouble on the V.S. Hercules mainly overcast with snow falling aircraft used to put down parties at and intermittent winds of up to 2u their operational bases. Schedules knots. But in the evening the wind were perforce greatly modified. swung swiftly to the south and speeds of over 100 knots were recorded, with a maximum of 112 CHANGE OVER knots or 130 miles per hour. This is On October 6 Colin M. Clark probably the highest wind ever (Christchurch) officially became recorded at the base. leader of Scott Base. At one o'clock Throughout the night little sleep the Leader for the p'ast year, Michael was possible, with the howling of Prebble (Eastbourne), lowered the the wind, the rattling of stones and New Zealand flag and Mr. Clark pieces of ice on the roofs, and the replaced it with another. There was shaking of the huts. But examination no wind and in the temperature of of the base in the morning revealed - 35°C. the twelve men who have nothing worse than the filtering of wintered-over stood about the flag snow through cracks and the blow­ pole. Also at the ceremony was the ing over of various pieces of equip­ Antarctic Division, DSIR, Superin­ ment. The sturdy construction of the tendent, Mr. R. B. Thomson, and base withstood wind which would two members of this summer sea­ have caused considerable destruc­ son's suppo t part. tion in New Zealand. A Leader at Scott Base Mr. Clark Decem ber, 1966 ANTARCTI'C 375 i an Officer of th Ross Dependenc . at Scott Base in October than during He is Stipendiary Magistrate, a Jus­ the same month in any of the past tice of the Peace, a Coroner, and for three years. However, the a erage the winter eason a Po tmaster. temperature had remai~ed. normal. These powers are vested in Mr. 9,160 units of solar radIatIon were Clark by the Govenor-General of recorded, about a hundred more New Zealand who is during his term than for the past three Octobers. of office Governor of the Ro Depen­ The average temperature for the dency. month, - 19.8°C., was only 0.5° armer than last October. The mini­ mum temperature, - 39.6°C., and the EREBUS SCALED AGAIN maximum - 6.6° were al 0 about the An ascent of Mt. Erebus was made ame as October 1965. on Septemter 29 b a e Zealand On October 28 a 61-knot wind wa party. Erebus, the active olcano recorded and on the morning of which dom·nates the landscape in ovember 1 gusts were reaching 60 the McMw-do Sound area, was knots. These winds abated during climbed by Scott Base Field Assis­ the afternoon to a steady 40 knots, tant Roger Bartlett of Dunedin and but blowing snow limited visibility Science Technician Ray Vickers of to about 20 feet. Wellington. On October 25 the sun ceased set­ Using a motor toboggan, the partv ting and so began the four months of travelled twenty-five miles north continuous sunlight. from Scott Base across the sea ice Twenty men from Scott Base went to Cape Royds on September 27. "over the hill" to McMurdo on Nov­ When a break in the overcast ember 25 to attend a Thanksgiving weather conditions occurred, the Day dinner as guests of the V.S. motor toboggan was driven to 7,000 Navy. The dinner, which included feet on the \ estern slopes of Erebus such items as roast Young Tom and a high camp pitched. From this Turkey and Hawaiian Baked Ham, camp the pair took six hours to began at 10 a.m. and continued till tramp to the summit of the active two in the afternoon. crater, thus becoming the seventh R.N.Z.A.F. FLIGHTS party to ascend the peak since it was Three flights to the Antarctic will first climbed in 1908 by men from be made by the Royal New Zealand Shackleton's expedition. Air Force in January. Hercules air­ The return to the hut at Cape craft of No. 40 Squadron will be used Royds was made the same day, and in conjunction with the V.S. Support radio contact established with Scott Force, and they will carry both men Base. and equipment from Christchurch to McMurdo Sound. BUSY SPRING Three similar flights were made last ear. This ascent of Mt. Er bus, the No dates for the flights ha e been third b a Ne Zealand party, decided et but it i expected that brought to a clo e hat has probably they will take place in mid-January, been the busiest spring sledging sea­ phased into the Americans' summer son since Scott Base was opened ten air lift operation. years ago. Since August 12 dog teams have covered over 130 miles, and "ENDEAVOUR" reached White Island, Station 81 on The New Zealand supply ship the McMurdo Ice Shelf, Cape Evans H.M.N.Z.S. "Endeavour" is scheduled and Cape Royds, while vehicles to leave Lyttelton on her first 1966-67 covering over 300 miles ha e visited voyage to McMurdo on December 6. the Emperor Penguin colony at Cape Among those t avelling on the vessel Crozier, the snow-free valleys of the are the three Scouts, Goulden, Mort Koettlitz Glacier on the western side and Hunt. Th bulk of the cargo i of McMu do Sound and finall Mt. fuel for McMurdo, but among the Erebus. gen ral cargo ar two new genera­ Scott Ba e reported on November tors and a new "International" that more unshine was r corded track d ehicl for Scott Base. 376 ANTARCTI'C December. 1966 BREAK OUT transport immensely. Wheeled trac­ tors can be used instead of sledges. As previously reported, the ice Last summer some 30 tons of sup­ break-out south-west of Scott Base plies were unloaded plus ten tons of in February and March was the most back-loading, in a period of 24 hours. extensive reported since 1956, and at least equal in extent to those recorded earlier in the century.
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