Vol. 5, No. 12 DECEMBER 1970 , I / E 180" W AUSTRALIA ) WELLINGTON -SCHRISTCHURCH/ I NEW ZEALAND
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Vol. 5, No. 12 DECEMBER 1970 , I / E 180" W AUSTRALIA ) WELLINGTON -SCHRISTCHURCH/ I NEW ZEALAND TASMANIA \ ^0SS DEPENDENCE ^ ' n / B,rdius,*> I I y y j O I « ANTARCTICA Jf f cS > I Plat.ju (US)O^ Altera SobralfArri*V ' ( U S S R ) / . > b«VVAYJ* /£ ^V/^Pr' <UK> DRAWN BY DEPARTMENT Of LANDS & SURVEY WELLINGTON. NEW ZEALAND. AUG 1969 ]rd EDITION eer (Successor lo "Antarctic News Bulletin") 60th ISSUE DECEMBER 1970 Editor: H. F. GRIFFITHS, 11 Dartford Street, Christchurch 5. Asst. Editor: J. M. CAFFIN, 17 Wilfrid Street, Christchurch 4. Address all contributions, enquiries, etc., to the Editor. All Business Communications, Subscriptions, etc., to: The Secretary, New Zealand Antarctic Society, P.O. Box 404, Christchurch, N.Z. CONTENTS ARTICLES ANTARCTIC RELICS 497, 498 OUR SIXTIETH NUMBER POLAR ACTIVITIES NEW ZEALAND ... 480, 481, 483 482, 485 UNITED KINGDOM 489, 490, 492 AUSTRALIA 486, 487, 488 U.S.S.R 494 JAPAN 495, 496 ANTARCTIC BOOKSHELF 504-506 New President of Antarctic Society The new president ot* the New Zealand Antarctic Society is Mr L. S. Donnelley, the president of the Wellington branch. He succeeds Mr H. F. Griffiths, who has completed his term of office. Mr Donnelley is the Hutt County Council's engineer. He has visited the Antarctic twice. A new Dominion secretary was appointed at a meeting of the council of the society. Miss Janet Garraway, secretary of the Canter bury branch, replaces Mr V. E. Donnelly, of Wellington. The council decided to ask the Prime Minister (Sir Keith Holyoake) and Mr L. B. Quartermain to become patrons of the society. As Minister of Foreign Affairs Sir Keith Holyoake is concerned with Antarctica. Mr Quartermain is a former Dominion president, and well-known as editor of "Antarctic" for many years. ANTARCTIC December 1970 Seven-year rebuilding plan for Scott Base A welcome sight to footsore field parties returning at the end of a long summer, and a home for more than two dozen summer staff, Scott Base has served the New Zealand Antarctic Research Programme for 14 years as the major New Zealand outpost in the Antarctic. Scott Base was built in the summer of ^-'-^—-^-^-~--~ ——-—-x_~_-v_-^-v_ 1956-57 and was designed to remain /;, ,/„-, arMe „u, New Zealand only three years the length of lime Antarctic Research Programme research was then planned to take. After information officer, Mr Brian Jack- 14 years, however, .t st.ll fulfills the roles son> ,s lhc rok, of Sc()„ Base of sc.ent.fic stat.on a comfortable home. in New Zealand's research in Ant- and quarters lor field parties in transit. arctica. The base was built by the Ministry of Works to Australian designs, and a sub- —-^-^-—-—-— -^-w-^-v_-^^^- slantial portion was pre-fabricated in New Zealand and assembled on the site The base now consists of ten huts at Pram Point. Pram Point was chosen connectedconnected byby aa coveredcovered way,way. which by Sir Edmund Hillary in 1956-57. the allows easy access during the winter,winter. period of the International Geophysical ElectricityElectricity isis suppliedsupplied by a Caterpiller Year and the first trans-Antarctic cross- generatinggenerating plant.plant. IfIf thethe plant fails, a standby system operated by two Lister New Zealand's contribution to the engines can be used. I.G.Y. programme was made at Scotl The base has accommodation for 38 Base, where valuable data on aurora, people, and facilities for one or perhaps ionospherics, and seismology was col two women provided their stay is short. lected. Since the base was built, a garage Scott Basc, on Pram Point, Ross Island. This has been a familiar summer scene to many New Zealanders since the base, Nov Zealand's major Anlarctic outpost, was established 14 years ago. December 1970 ANTARCTIC Except for the stove in thc corner, this room at Scott Base is not very different from a staff cafeteria in New Zealand. But the occasional beard and thc woollen shirts, the New Zealand paintings, and thc Queen's portrait, on the walls indicate that it is part of a New Zcaland outpost. has becn added and the carpenter's gramme covering the seven-year period workshop has been added. The Post may begin within two years. Office took over E hut four years ago. Scott Base will be rebuilt on the same Each hut is heated by oil heaters site, hut by hut. A hut will be erected which circulate warm air through the each year, and smaller huts will be re base. Humidifiers in thc sleeping quar built together in the year. Reconstruc ters give some relief from the intense tion on the same site will be possible dryness of the Antarctic. because of efficient waste disposal and Since 1957 Scott Base has been main the absence of pollution round the base. tained solely for the advancement of If the old Scott Base is torn down to science. Programmes have been main make way for the new, many New Zea tained all the year round in iono- landers will have treasured memories ol" spherics, whistler research, auroral the life they led there. It is quite likely physics, geomagnetism, earth currents, that a new base will have a de-salinisa- seismology, and meteorology. lion plant, and ice gathering parties will In recent years New Zealand's Ant become a thing of the past. arctic research programme has expanded, Electricity may come from a more especially in the summer. As a result the automated source, and the comforting base is sometimes overcrowded in the rumble of the sturdy diesels of the summer. generating plant will no longer drift into Within the next seven years Scott the bunk rooms. Base will be rebuilt. It will be bigger Scott Base today is not equipped to and better. Mr R. B. Thomson, superin meet the needs of the future. A new tendent of the Antarctic Division of the base will assist New Zealand to main D.S.I.R., has said that a building pro tain its research programme. December 1970 Soap and Razor Blades Slow Sellers in South Shopping in the Antarctic has its problems, and its advantages. Soap and razor blades are slow sellers at the ship's stores which are the Ameri can stations' shops, cigars and cigarettes dry out because of the low humidity, and beer and soft drinks freeze in the extreme cold. But if you are living at Byrd or sweatshirts, towels and sweaters. All of Amundsen-Scott South Pole Stations them bear the well known Operation you can run a charge account like you Deep Freeze insignia designed by Walt do at home. The ship's store at Byrd Disney Productions in thc early days of Station offers penguins for sale, and the operation. scientific parties in the field use the Next year the main ship's store at stores as mail order houses. They order McMurdo Station will not have the supplies by radio, and delivery is by problems of dry cigarettes and cigars or the first available Hercules aircraft. frozen beer and soft drinks. Storage of Each of the four permanent Ameri liquor both hard and soft requires a can stations in Antarctica has its ship's heated warehouse. At present, when thc store but because of the limited staff at heat rises, the four rows of cases of the smaller stations, such as Byrd and bottles at the bottom of the stack are Pole Stations, a hospital corpsman subject to extreme cold and the contents (medical orderly) has to do the clerking freeze. This is a real problem because behind the counter. He runs the store, the warehouse holds 20,000 to 25,000 sees patients, drives vehicles, and has to cases. turn his hand to all kinds of jobs. A But next month, when the beer and credit ledger is kept for all men at Byrd pop arc nearly sold out before fresh and Pole Stations, and when they check supplies arrive by ship, heating ducts out through McMurdo Station on their will be installed in the floor of thc return home, the accumulated bills are warehouse to prevent the contents of the paid. bottles from freezing. And a humidified In the winter months when the men room will be constructed in the ware are cut off from the rest of the world, house to store cigars and cigarettes and the ship's store becomes a form of keep them normally moist. recreation. Men can't amuse them Photographic film is not a problem selves outside so they come into the in the Antarctic climate. It contains its store when it is open and browse just own moisture in an airtight pack, and as they would at home. can be stored almost indefinitely with Penguins are one of the most popu out loss in the cold. lar items at the Byrd Station store. But Clerks in the ship's stores have to buyers don't get a smartly dressed wait until January for stock to fill their Adelie for their dollars; they have to empty shelves. Two supply ships arrive accept a cloth stuffed substitute. at McMurdo Station with the soap, the Each store's stock ranges from pen razor blades, the beer, and everything guins and penguin charms to stereo else for all the stations except Palmer sound equipment. The men also buy Station on the Antarctic Peninsula. It patches and stationery for individual is resupplied from South America. commands, Antarctic licence plates, When the ships come in, however, lighters, glasses, ash trays and plaques, most of the men who have been at the December 1970 VUW PARTY MAKES RICH FIND OF FISH FOSSILS The richest deposit of fossilised fish ever discovered in the Antarctic has been found in South Victoria Land by the Victoria University of Wellington geological research expedition.