A NEWS BULLETIN published quarterly by the

NEW ZEALAND ANTARCTIC SOCIETY

A mother seal rebukes her too playful pup. Photo: A. C. Bibby.

Vol. 4. No. 5 MARCH. 1966 L vI. . AUSTRALIA 4{: 'r Wint@r ana Summ~r bases ...... Scott (Ll Summer base enly.. t HaJleit , lIVerON NEW ZEALAND 1ra.nsferres ba.se...... Wilke~ c), U.S.ftJAust !J Temporarily nen -eperationaJ.. '~Syow~ ~TASMANIA • ~JHOBA.R.r

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f,O·W. N.I.M.5.161 DRAWN IY DEPARTMENT OF LANDS" SURVEY W[lllNGTON, NEW ZEALAND, MAR.19b+ ],;",0 [DITION (Successor to U Antarctic News Bulletin")

Vol. 4. No. 5 MARCH. 1966

Editor: L. B. Quartermain, M.A., 1 Ariki Road, Wellington, E.2, New Zealand. Assistant Editor: Mrs R. H. Wheeler. Business Communications, Subscriptions, etc., to: Secretar, ew Zealand Antarctic Societ , P.O. Box 2110, Wellington, .Z. co TENTS EXPEDITIONS Page New Zealand 218 McMurdo Ice Shelf: A. J. Heine ...... 2·19 N.Z. Party Re-visits Famous Fossil Site: Alan C. Bibby ..... 222 ~orthern Party: Campbell Glacier Area ...... 224 Biological Team 225 V.U. Geological Research in Dry Valleys: Edward D. Ghent 227 France 230 U.S.S.R...... 235 Visit to Vostok: M. M. Prebble 238 Australia 239 Japan 242 Belgium-Holland 244 United Kingdom 246 Chile 248 Argentina 250 U.S.A...... 252 Sub-Antarctic Islands 260 Auckland Islands Expedition 262 Antarctic Stations - 5 - Dumont d'Urville 233 50 Years Ago 247 Whaling 263 Obituary...... 264 Wintering Over: Poem by Alison Sanson 266 The Reader Writes 267 Is Antarctic Tourism Here? 268 Bookshelf ...... 269 218 ANT ARC TIC March, /966 o BA E H AO Although the topographical and glaciological reconnais ance of ew Zealand's Ross Dependency has now been completed, the detailed study of this historic slice of Antarctica has only begun. When the sun set for a short time During December at Scott Base at midnight on February 21, to the men were working outside in mark the end of another season, shirtsleves. However, jackets were eight New Zealand Antarctic Re­ needed for most outside work in search Programme field projects January. had been completed. 11 0 WINTER OVER The furthest south party was at the head of the Beardmore Glacier, The 12-man team to winter at about half-way between Scott Base Scott Base has been completed by and the Pole: the furthest north the addition of two men who have party 400 miles away at Cape Hal­ been members of the summer perty, lett. Biology and geology were the R. O. Bartlett and R. P. Greeks. principal sciences studied, as well Reference was made to Mr Bartlett as geophysics and glaciology. The in our September 1965 issue, p. 116. last field team returned to Scott Raynor Greeks (21) of Lower Base on the 22nd. All projects have Hutt will be the Base Carpenter been carried out to .the scientists' Field Assistant. He T\N'as educated at satisfaction. Naenae College 1957-9, and was an At Base, work in the science apprentice carpenter in 1959-63. At laboratory has ranged from seis­ 19 years of age he was the oungest mology to satellite tracking, from man in ew Zealand to pass the the earth beneath to outer space. examination for the Advanced Trade When "Endeavour" left McMurdo Course in carpentry. He is fond of on February 24 the eight summer fishing, hunting, tramping and support men were on board. motor-racing. NEW LOOK On D'ecember 13 he fractured an IScott Base is no longer painted ankle~bone while ski-ing near Scott yellow. The base has been repainted Base. The ankle was X-rayed and in two shades of green, the build­ the bone set at the McMurdo ings proper a lettuce green, and hospital. the covered ways a much darker shade. Most of the work was done A FEW DAYS EARLY by working parties including scouts, Gordon H. Banfield, assistant Boys' Brigade boys and visitors, as maintenance officer at Scott Base well as regular base members after this summer, was flown to Christ­ their day's work was finished. church on February 20 for an ap­ COLD JANUARY pendicitis operation. He had been Not only was January colder at due to come home just two days Scott Base than December, but it later, on It Endeavour". He had been was colder than January, 1965. The admitted to the McMurdo dispens­ average temperature during Decem­ ary on the night of the 19th suffer­ ber was 3.5 deg. below zero and in ing from severe pains. January it was 6.3 deg. below. He as flown in a special flight The maximum temperature in to the Christchurch Public Hospital, January this year was 1.8°C. and where he immediately underwent the minimum 17.5°C. below zero. an operation. His condition is re­ For January last year the maximum ported a satisfactory. was 3.5°C. and the minimum 12.5°C. Mr Banfi Id is the son of the below zero. Rev. C. W. Banfield of Masterton. March. 1966 ANTARCTIC 219

Dec mber 3, we found two female McMUR 0 IC SHELF seals and two pups. One of the adult seals was tagged, and I have PROJECT since learned that thIS seal was By A. J. HEINE tagged at White Island on Decem­ ber 16, 1964. Perhaps tbe seals live During the 1965/66 s~mmer, ex­ there all the year; during the tensive work was carrIed out on winter remaining under the ice, but the McMurdo Ice Shelf. The surve below air-giving tide c acks. work was carried out by Keith Two 'emperor pen uins were Lloyd and Andy Simm, travelli!1g sighted about 10 mil south of by Polaris motor toboggan, whIl Scott Base; in fact th y remained Roger Bartlett and myself measured in that area for several weeks. On accumulation markers and cop1­ Februar 22 a seal wa sighted b pIeted a series of now densIty Roger Bartlett and Ray Greeks measur ments begun the previou about 16 miles east of Scott Base, summer. In the course of this work, while a week earlier, had found we also measured temperatures another seal 15 miles s 'uth of Scott down to 30 feet which is the point Base, and eight miles N.E. of Black at which the temperature is ap­ Island. proximately equal to the mean an­ nual air temperature of that area. We found the mean annual temper­ ICE CORES ature of the Wi.ndless Bhsht area For the glaciological and geo­ to be about -25°F. to -26°F., con­ physical proiect initiated by Dr M. siderablv colder than that of Scott Hochstein, the drilling team J. H. Base, about -20°F. This would D. Hill, B. T. °Muddiman and geo­ agree with Wilson's observations of physicist G. Riske, with R. Rae as extremely cold temperatures during a replacement when Hill was in­ "the worst journey in the world." jured and evacuated, struck blizzard While taking snow density meas­ conditions when they reached Scott urements in the thinner parts of Base on November 7, and had only the Ice Shelf, the "brine layer" was one fine day in their first fortnight. struck on numerous occasions. Pre­ The three men first bivouacked on viouslv mea ured up to two miles the ice four miles from Scott Base in day tempe atures ranging from from J the Shelf edge, it has now been sampled about nine mil~s 20° to 43°F. Subsequent drilling site from the nearest open water. Thls were about 5 and 12~ miles from phenomenon is unusual, as far a the base. ice shelves are concerned, and the The team drilled holes to about reason for the sea water soaking 100 ft. in pure glacier ice, taking into the shelf is not yet clearly regular temperatures and other understood. measurements. The c re samples Following the discovery of sub­ \vere brought back to ew Zealand surface melting in the clear ice area for detailed analysi at the D.S.I.R. north of Black Island, further in­ laboratories. vestigations were made this sum­ mer. The V.S. Navy has built a new ice run ay on the northern limit of Two technicians from the En­ this area, about eight miles south gineer-in-Chiefs office f the Wel­ of Observation Hill. The problem lington East PDSt Offic , W. V.. Gla­ of melt pools forming below the vin and W. Gray, in taIled sIngle surface \vill need to be overcome side-band radio equipment at Scott before the runway is operational all Base thi summer to replace the the summer. much less powerful t ~hich has been in use at the ba sInce 1957, As reported last year, a number and which will be maintained as a of penguins and seals were sighted stan -by and for contact during on the McMurdo Ice Shelf. During sumrner seasons with ew Zealand our fir t vi it to White Island on field partie . 220 ANTARCTIC March. 1966

ICE BREAKOUT SPECTA,CULAR Scott Base men back from the On ebruary 3 the sea ice started Antarctic are talking about the mag­ to bre k out in front of Scott Base. nificent scene in mid-February Last summer, the sea ice south of when the midnight sun was II wink­ Ross I land and some of the Mc­ ing behind high landmarks along Murdo iceshelf broke out further the horizon-Mt. Discovery, Black than 'n any other summer since Island and White Island". On the Scott ase was built. This summer night of February 21-22 the crim­ the b ak-out developed into the soned sky 'was reflected in a sea biggest known since Captain Scott's of beaten copper while the full An­ time hen men on Captain Scott's tarctic effect was provided by a first e pedition rowed a small boat thousand-foot long slab of Mc­ along the Ross Island coastline Murdo Ice Shelf which drifted where Scott Base now stands on slowly past the Base and onward Pran1 Point. to destruction in the warmer This portion of the coast wa northern eas. named Pram Point because a Nor­ wegian-type dinghy called a II pram" WHAT DO I SEE? was used for crossing the sea to the Ra s Ice-shelf. P.R.O. John IMurphy waxes lyrical The record break-out this summer over these unprecedented occur­ turned the sea in front of Scott rences: IIAntarctica's silent sea in Base into a mass of jostling ice, front of Scott Base has come to life which bumped and crashed as the and shed its shell of sea-ice. The wind and tIdes carried it back and once solid sea top with stolid ice forward. sentinels jutting upwards is now The edges of roads that led down rippling water. to the sea crashed into the water "Large floes looking as though and marker flags and 40-gallon they do not know what to do drums ,that lined the edges of nudge each other, then screech as routes across the shelf could now the winds jostle them about. Wed­ be seen bobbing on chunks of ice dell seals seem bewildered ... as in the open water. they remain sprawled on bobbing At the weekend (February 5-6) floes that \,vere previously part of members of the New Zealand party the restful and stationary sea ice. at Scott Base were forced to for­ Huge killer whales 'Cut by the floes, sake their usual Sunday relaxation sound, then arabesque through the of skiing, because the run out for ice leaving a trail of foam. Vehicle the most popular ski hill was a tracks end abruptly on the edges casualty of the breakout. of ice chunks that have been dis­ sected from highways of earlier in MIGHTY SPILL summer." One spectacular casualty in front of Scott Base was the huge 10,000 THAW-FALL V.S. g llon rubber tank (about 25 ft. by 10ft., and holding 2ft. depth During a warmer-than-usual sum­ of diesel oil), which was somehow mer, Charlie Hough was taking his shaken from its low stand about turn in clearing away the weaken­ 80 feet from the coast-line on Janu­ ing ice with pneumatic drill and ary 23 and rolled down the ice shovel when he found a £1 note slope, ipping as it rolled over the frozen into the ice which had ac­ low cH f into the now open sea. cumulated over the past few years. Probab Y 5,000 gallons of valuable fuel w re lost. The 'Governor-General, Sir Bern­ A replacement bladder has now ard Fergusson, who was holidaying been obtained, firmly (it is hoped) in the Bay of Islands, phoned the based and upported, and filled with men at Scott Base as they were diesel oil, which is piped from the recovering from their Christmas huge t nk into smaller steel tank dinner. Lady Fergusson and Geordie nearer the base. also spoke. March, 1966 ANT ARC TIC 221

ICE BREAK-OUT Looking from Scott Base across the ski-slope towards Observation Hill. Instead of the normal rUrl-out, below the Bren-gun-carrier in .centre, the slope now ends in a 20-25 ft. drop to open water. Photo: A. C. Bibby.

THE 0 D HUT because it destroyed the desired tllived in" appearance. he hut door Writing to itAntarctic" on Febru­ is kept locked but th key can be ary 12, Scott Base Leader Mike obtained from the a.e. Mc:Murdo Prebble says, tiThe three historic or from the Leader, Scott Ba e. huts are in excellent condition. Ray Many people have been shown Greeks is going to make up a new through the hut during the sum­ outer door for the Cape Royds hut mer by New Zealand Public Rela­ as the old door blew off. Cape tions Officer John Murphy. Evans, except for some drifting in Vince's cross on Hut Point is the porch is in good order and so being left in its present position, is Hut Point.!' The cyclone netting which, while slightly precarious, is fence which was erected round the scenically and historically the most Hut Point hut has been removed fittin place. 222 I\t-.JTARCTIC March, 1966

SKI-HIGH training on Mt. Ruapehu. • Mr Roy Turner of Mt. Ruapehu HThis is the world's most has been elected patron of the southernmost ski club and has a Scott Base Ski Club, the southern­ membership of only 50." most in the world. HYour election", With his letter, Mr Prebble in­ wrote Scott Base Leader M. M. cluded the distinctive Hand very Prebble, in a letter to Mr Turner, rare" identification patch of the His a gesture of our appreciation club. It featured an Adelie pen~in for the excellent instruction and fitted with red skis and ski stIcks guidance you gave us while we were on a navy blue background. NEW ZEALAND FIELD PARTY RE-VISITS FAMOUS FOSSIL SI'TE ALAN c. BIBBY

About 575 million years ago, huge area this summer. numbers of coral creatures died at the bottom of a sea which then In 1911-12, Captain Scott's ill­ covered the continent of Antarctica. fated party followed Shackleton's Their bodies settled into calcareous route to the head of the Beardmore ooze and the fleshy parts disinte­ and managed to reach the Pole. On grated. Cataclysmic changes took their return to the Darwin and place: the land rose out of the sea Buckley Nunataks, Dr E. A. Wilson -rivers scoured valleys and eddied and Lieut. Bowers IIhunted over and among lush forests-active vol­ over for Archaeocyathinae and canoes spewed liquid rock over found nothing except one minute wide areas-and finally the ice ages fragment". They -made, however, came, purging life from the Antarc­ one of the most important geologi­ tic continent. But the fossilised out­ cal discoveries in Antarctica. Wil­ line of the coral creatures remained son found fossil plants called Glos­ exposed to the polar winds. sopteris in coal seams and insisted on carryin~ back 351bs. of speci­ EXPLORERS COME mens-a sCIentific labour which was to severely tax their slender re­ In 1908, a four-man party led by sources of strength. This was only Shackleton hauled heavy sledges up three days before Scott wrote that the Beardmore Glacier to the nuna­ they were lIin a very critical condi­ taks which lie on the extreme edge tion", and six weeks before they of the Polar Plateau. They stopped died. Survivors of the expedition at Buckley Nunatak and investi­ found their bodies and the speci­ gated a small outcrop of limestone mens, realising with profound satis­ jutting out of the ice, the only lime­ faction that the lIfossils were the stone seen during their 500 'mile best preserved of any yet found in journey. Despite the lack of a trained geologist in the party, they Antarctica". found small symetrical markings The Glossopteris genus is widely imbedded in the rock later identi­ distributed throughout the world fied as the coral fossil 11Archaeocya­ and enabled geologists to relate An­ thinae". The existence of primeval tarctic rocks to the rocks in Aus­ life only 300 miles from the Pole tralasia, South Africa, India and captured the imagination of geolo­ South America. Further fuel had gists and laymen alike. A long­ been thrown on the argument standing controversy arose, and it whether Antarctica had ever been was to seek further evidence bear­ linked to the southern continents ing on this dispute that New Zea­ collectively known as Gondwana­ land geologists went to the same land. March, 1966 ANTARCTIC 223

HIGH UP ON THE BEARDMORE View from 7,869 ft. Mt. Bartlett (84°58'5.) across the western stream of the Beard­ more Glacier towards the Marshal! Mountains, on left. The Cloudmaker (84°20'5.) on extreme right. Photo: A. C. Bibb .

GEOLOGISTS FOLLOW camp and we enjoyed efficient cloth­ ing, adequate food, radio contact Another fraction of a geological and almost perfect weather. Unex-\ econd passed. Fifty-three year pectedly easy terrain and settled after Wilson collected hi Glossop­ weather enabled the geological sur­ teris specimen', the N.Z. 1965-66 vey of the nunataks to be corn; Southern Party (senior geologist D. pleted in under a month. Young, geologist R. Rybum, field assistant A. Rayment and field On December 11, two days after leader A. Bibby) stood at 85°South. our put-in flig4t, Rod Ryburn Our man-hauling sledges, polar found our first Glossopteris speci­ tents and primuses were almost rnen in the glacial moraine below identical with those used in the Mt. Darwin. It took another day to "heroic age" but there the imi­ fill in gaps in our first reconnais­ larity ended. A ski-equipped Her­ sane and confirm that Glossopteris cules airlifted us into our base and Archaeocyathinae were not to March, 1966 ANTARCTIC 225

bell and Priestley Glaciers. The best Between daytime m teorological part of a week was spent here. No observations every six hours Mr descent into the Priestley was made. Kirk slept so as to be able to work In one 24 hour period katabatic through the night on the beach and winds built up sastrugi which made therefore obtain a mor continuous travelling difficult. study of the animal and bird life The party got back on to the in the area. Campbell Glacier just before Christ­ Another of his tasks was reading mas. Working down the glacier the instruments at Roc y Point, an they left depots at strategic points outlying weather statio some three and visited potentially interesting miles from the Cape R yds base. outcrops. 'Most of the time was spent on the south-west side of the Dr E. C. Young, Canterbury Uni­ glacier, with occasional forays versity biologist, with fi Id assistant across to the opposite, north east, R. H. Blezard return d to Scott side. Base from Cape Bird ,n February They now traversed Browning 15. They had been stud ing penguin Passage between the Campbell and and skua life at the ookeries on the Priestley, ascending the Boomer­ Cape Bird for three months. On the ang Glacier for ome miles en same day R. Kirk, Canterbury Uni­ route. Once on the Priestley, the versity geographer, returned from party went up as far as its junction Cape Royds, where h had been with Corner Glacier, back to the since November. To assist Ian Spel­ pick-up point north of Cape Canwe, lerberg R. Vickers, who is to and on down the Priestley to In­ winter at Scott Base, went to Cape expressible Island and the Nansen Royds. Ice Shelf. A colony of about 150 penguins WHAT PENGUI SEAT was seen on the southern tip of Inexpressible Island. They now Mr F. C. Kinsky, ornithologist at moved up the Priestley again past the Dominion Museum, Wellington, Vegetation Island and were picked spent nearly three months at Hal­ up on January 11 and returned to lett Station continuing his studies Scott Base. of the Adelie penguin and its feed­ ing habits. BIOLOGISTS BUSY Mr Kinsky spent four days at Scott Base, and flew by helicopter This summer at Scott Base, with for a four hour visit to rCape Cro­ an English field assistant, Anthony zier to see the Emperor penguin Rayment, lan Stirling, of the UnI­ rookery there. He was flown to Cape versity of Canterbury, started a Hallett on November 8. Except for three-year project on Weddell seal a short period when H. J. Cran­ population dynamics and behaviour. field was also carrying out biologi­ Mr Stirling and a United States cal work, he was th only tNew scientist assisted with the killing of Zealander at the stati n, although 50 seals for feeding to the Scott Dr Choate, an American biolo­ Base dogs during the winter. Many gist at present lecturin at the Uni­ parts of the seals will be used for versity of Otago, wa. at Hallett biological examination and blubber carrying out an N.Z.A.R.P. project. samples will be sent to New Zea­ land for testing the presence of Mr Kinsky after collecting, dis­ D.D.T. in Antarctic fauna. ecting and analysing he stomach content of selected Ad /}ie penguins, AT CAPE ROYDS estimated that far and away the major portion of the Adelies' diet R. Kirk, who was awarded a burs­ consisted of eunhosia, with smaller ary last November by the Canter­ quantities of fish and arnphipods. bury branch of the New Zealand Antarctic Society, studied the geo­ SKUA DEATH ROLL morphology of the nearby sea Mr Kinsky was concerned at the beaches when not doing routine heavy mortality this ason at the meteorological work. skua colony at Hallett. Out of a 224 ANTARCTIC March, 1966 PARTY CAMPBELL GLACIER AREA One of the first New Zealand teams in the field since the change­ over from topographical and geo­ logical reconnaissance to the de­ tailed geological examination of a particular limited area was the four man party led by D. R. Lowe which spent six weeks in the general area of the Campbell Glacier, northern Imprint of a leaf (approximately half-size) Victoria Land, about 250 miles north 270 million year's old found on Mt. Bart.. of Scott Base, an area where the leH by the New Zealand Southern Party. major place names recall the ex­ Photo: A. C. Bibby. ploits of Campbell's Northern Party during Scott's Last Expedition. be found in situ at Darwin Nunatak. Using two Polaris toboggans draw­ ing three sledges, the team was We then manhauled our two 6001b. flown ,to Half-Ration Neve at the sledges across to Buckley Nunatak head of the Aviator Glacier by U.S. and made a series of day trips from R4D aircraft, D. R. C. Lowe and a base camp to have a close look R. J. Cavaney on November 25, D. at nearly all the exposed rock faces. R. Bates and R. G. Adamson on the Mts. Bowers, Buckley, Bartlett and 28th, a third 'R4D coming in soon afterwards with additional fuel. "Brighton 'Rock" were climbed in They were greeted by worsening the process. The elusive limestone conditions-a five day blizzard, outcrop reported by Shackleton which pinned them down with was found, along with good fossil winds of up to 60-70 knots. impressions, and Glossopteris and As soon as the conditions per­ other Permian fossils kept cropping mitted, they headed about 10 miles up in such quantity that they be­ east to the Navigator unatak and gan to lose their former power to spent a day there placing movement produce wild cries of EUREKA! stakes on the Aviator Glacier, a Other evidence of the lush vegeta­ project which had been suggested by 'Gair three years before. Particu­ tion that once flourished there were lar attention was given to an ap­ found including coal seams up to parent volcanic flow from Mt. Over­ 14 feet thick and fossilised tree lord on the northern side across trunks. the Aviator Glacier to avigator Nunatak. Returning to their put-in On New Year's Eve, with survey­ point, the team now headed south ing and geology completed, we driving their toboggans across a started hauling back to Darwin and 9,000 ft. pass south west of the the pick-up point. A Hercules landed Neve between the Cosmonaut and beside us on January 7, bringing Campbell Glaciers on the north east side of the Campbell. with it the hot exhaust fumes of civilisation. After travelling 30 or 40 miles they worked on to the Campbell Our survey will not make geo­ Glacier about eight miles above Mc­ logical history but it should settle Lea Nunatak. Descending the Camp­ the 50-year-old controversy that has bell they examined the tributary centred around these 75 square glaciers on its south west side. At the head of Recoil Glacier they miles of Antarctica. Not many parts climbed to 10,000 ft. under the of New Zealand get such close escarpment of Mt. Hewson and up attention. to the plateau between the Camp- 226 ANTARCTIC March. 1966 total kua population of about 400 birds h found in 'December alone "ENDEAVOUR" no fe r than 37 dead adult birds. The naval supply tanker HEn­ He strongly suspects poisoning, but deavour" left Devonport, Auckland, hopes that analysis of the stomach on December 1 to spend four content will establish the cause of months travelling between Lyttelton the deaths. and the bases at McMurdo Sound and Scott Base, with supplies and BREEDING LOSSES men. The skuas fared badly too in re­ An American icebreaker was al­ gard to the breeding figures. There ready standing by to clear the were ome 150 breeding pairs but tankt:r a passage through the An­ only about five per cent were suc­ tarctIc waters. cessful in raising chicks. This was The captain, Commander L. E. chiefly due to the weather. A 48­ Hodge, was making his first visit hour storm on November 3~Decem­ to the Antarctic as Captain. He ber 1 destroyed 75 per cent of the .ioined the vessel in October. About nests known at the time and half of the crew have been to though most of the birds re-laid, southern waters once or twice these ggs were not hatched until previously. mid-January, too late in the season The vessel left New Zealand ror th chicks to survive. To make from Lyttelton on December 11 matters worse, a heavy snow-fall and reached McMurdo Sound on began on January 21, and it was December 22. The vessel carried still snowing when Mr Kinsky left 650,000 gallons of diesel and aviation on the 23rd. By that time there wa fuel for the United States McMurdo a 12 in~h layer of snow on the spit Station as well as 36 tons of cargo on whIch Hallett Station is built. for Scott Base, and one and a By contrast, the breeding result quarter tons of parcel mail for Mc­ f?r the Adelie peng~ins was excep­ Murdo station. tIonally good. The dIfference is ex­ Hard work by all hands, plus the plained by the fact that even in 24-hours-a-day summer daylight re­ such a heavy snow-fall the penguins sulted in the unloading being com­ can sit it out, and in most cases pleted in 10 hours. survive even if completely snowed under. But the skua as soon as IN TROUBLE any considerable quantity of snow falls on its wings, abandons the • 11 Endeavour". suffered damage by nest. Ice when comIng out of McMurdo Sound on December 27 and one of her shafts and propellers needed Returning from a run with the replacing when the vessel reached dogs t the Cape Crozier area at Wellington on January 9-on one the end of January, a New Zealand propeller. party ncountered unusually diffi­ Originally HEndeavour" was to cuIt surfaces in the Trough (be­ make an oceanographic cruise be­ tween Cape Mackay and Cape fore th~ second supply run to the Crozier, with snow two to three AntarctIC on February 7. This cruise feet de p and so soft that the dogs was now out of the question. found # t quite impossible to pull the sled e. Ice conditions were the heaviest in years and three U.S. ice-breakers were continuously engaged in keep­ For a project supervised by Dr !ng the 10-mile channel clear. The Patt~rson, a scientist from Cali­ Ice was so thick that uEndeavour" fornIa, ~r New Zealand university had to follow directly behind the stud~nt In December were Hhired'" U.S.S. B'urton Island to get through. to dIg a trc:nch .180ft. long, 7ft. deep The ship, besides her normal com­ and Sft WIde In the Polar ice-cap ple~ent, carried 12 civilians. She at Byrd Station. The snow at this receIved a hattering on the way to depth as estimated to have been Wellington from a severe storm but deposit about 1850. was never in any danger. Despite March, 1966 ANTARCTIC 227 the damaged propeller she averaged that only the propellers needed re­ seven knots durIng the 14-day trip placing. -one that usually occupies nine Ice also damaged the propellers days. Her crew were not able to be of the United States Navy cargo in Lyttelton for New Year's Day as ship Priv~te John R. Towle but she originally planned. was luckIer than the 11 Endeavour". Inspection on .the floating dock at Pieces broken off each of the four Wellington revealed that the dam­ propeller blades balanced and age was not as great as was feared. caused little vibration, and the ship Officers believed the screw and was able to travel to Wellington at shaft had suffered more damage its normal speed of 14 to 15 knots. than it actuallx had, because of SECOND VOYAGE the excessive VIbration during the IIEndeavour" left Lyttelton on her trip back. second trip south on February 9, The Navy had two spare shafts reached McMurdo on the 23rd and and propellers sent down from was due back in New Zealand on Auckland, but inspection indicated 'March 7.

Victoria University Geological Research in the Dry Valleys By Edward D. Ghent The tenth Victoria University of photographs of the Mt. Falconer Wellington expedition consisted of area. An area. of approximately four geologists who successfully eIght square mIles was geologically completed a detailed study of bed­ mapped on a scale of one inch == rock geology in parts of the Tay­ 700 feet. The Mt. Falconer area was lor and Victoria Valleys. selected as being particularly suit­ The party consisted of: able for the study of pre-Beacon Dr Edward Ghent (Leader/Geolo­ petrology and structure because of gist) the good rock exposures and the Robert Henderson (Deputy Leader ease of accessibility. /Geologist) The party was moved by heli­ Ian Smith (Geologist) copter to Lake Bonney on Decem­ Graham Hancox (Geologist) ber 17 and proceeded to study The research programme was car­ granite rocks in the areas north ried on from three base caml?s: Mt. and south of the snout of the Tay­ Falconer area (above Lake Fryxell, lor Glacier and in the Nussbaum lower Taylor Valley), Lake Bonney Riegal area. Reconnaissance work (middle Taylor Valley) and Lake by previous university expeditions Vida (Victoria Valley). Five weeks indicated that these areas were par­ were spent in the field, including ticularly suitable for detailed study two and one-half weeks at Falconer, of some of the granitic rocks. In one week at Lake Bonney and one addition, the level of Lake Bonney and one-half weeks in the Victoria was measured at Bonney hut. Valley area. Logistic support was On December 22 Henderson re­ provided by U.S. Navy VX-6 heli­ turned to Scott Base and from copters. there back to New Zealand. and The V.U.W. party arrived at Scott on December 23 the remainder of Base on the sixteenth of November, the party was. moved.by 1?-elicopter but owing to transport difficulties, to Lake Vida In the VIctorIa Valley. did not reach the Mt. Falconer Here the party investigated some area until November 27. The U.S. granite-schist contacts, collected a Navy VX-6 Squadron at McMurdo section through a 1,400 foot thick Base kindl provided large scale dol rite sill, and also collected 228 ANTARCTIC March, 196,6

numerous samples of wind-faceted potassium feldspar crystals and boulders (ventifacts). their inclusions provides us with a potential key to the chemical and On January 2 the party returned physical details of the crystallization to Scott Base and arrived back in of the granite body as a whole. We New Zealand on January 4. plan to do a detailed mineralogical Because much laboratory work and chemical study of these crystals remains to be done, we can at the and their inclusions. present time present only those con­ This year's university expedition clusions which were arri ed at on completed the first highly detailed the basis of the field work alone. mapping project ever attempted by In the Mt. Falconer area the fol­ a V.U.W. Antarctic party. We feel lowing generalised sequence of that the reconnaissance stage for rocks, from oldest to youngest, was V.U.W. Antarctic geological research has ended. Geological problems un­ delineated: covered by previous expeditions can (1) light to dark grey biotite only be solved by detailed work by schists and gneisses personnel with specialised interests. Such detailed work will not anI (2) granite gneiss provide solutions to problems posed (3) dark-grey dikes (lampro- by reconnaissance work, but also phyres and microdiorites) will point the way to new avenues of future research. We will obtain (4) Mt. Falconer granitic pluton both a better understanding of the geological evolution of the Antarctic (5) dark-grey dikes (lampro- continent as well as a better phyres) understanding of the geological evo­ Both sets of dikes (3) and (5) as lution of the Antarctic continent as well as the Mt. Falconer granitic well as a better understanding of pluton (4) cut across structural some geological processes which trends in the schist (1) and granite can be more profitably studied in gneiss (2). Since the structural Antarctica than in New Zealand. trends of the dikes and the granite Much valuable geological research pluton are approximately parallel, remains to be done in the Dry it is likely that the emplacement of Valleys! all of these bodies was controlled by a stress environment of similar geometry. Dark-grey dikes (3) are WINTER STATIONS IN cut off by the granite pluton and DRY VALLEYS? angular blocks of lamprophyre have been stretched and flattened by Preliminary consultations are in movement of the granite and new progress regarding the setting up of nlinerals have crystallized within a small winter station in one of the blocks. At present, we are study­ the Dry Valleys west of McMurdo ing mineralogy, chemistry and tex­ Sound, where British explorers were ture of all of these rocks in the active in the time of Scott and laboratory. Shackleton, and where Victoria Uni­ versity of Wellington men in par­ In the Lake Bonney area an ticular have carried out extensive earlier group of granitic rocks, studies in more recent times. which are gneissic in some areas, contain potassium feldspar crystals It seems likely that an inter­ up to 7.5 cm in maximum dimen­ national team of United States, sion. These crystals often contain Japanese and New Zealand scien­ inclusions of plagioclase, quartz and tists will establish a base, probably biotite which are zonally arranged. a small prefabricated building like These crystals contain a unique the biological laboratory at Cape record of the sequence of crystal­ Royds, somewhere in the vicinity lization. An understanding of the of Lake Vanda in the Wright Val­ processes responsible for the chemi­ ley, early in 1967, preparatory to cal and textural features of these wIntering over there that year. March, 1966 ANTARCTIC 229

in 1911}. b ~ame almost completely PETER SCOTT VISITS fill d wIth Ice, and was restored by the New Zealand Huts Restoration ANTARCTICA party in 1961, 50 years later. Captain Scotfs son, Mr Peter Scott, eminent ornithologist and I CHRISTCHURCH artist, and renowned for his ex­ During his short stay in Chri t­ ploits in many other fields} arrived church, Mr Scott was one evening in Christchurch on January 6, and the guest of the Canterbury Branch flew in a United State plane to of the New Zealand Antarctic McMurdo on January 12. He was Society, when he wa presented accompanied by two members of with an Antarctic Society tie. the B.B.C. who went to the Antarc­ When Mr N. F. Griffiths, chair­ tic to film an hour-long document­ man of the branch, expre sed the ary for television. It will be hown hope that Mr Scott ould wear the on the B.B.C.' weekly current tie on occasions. Mr Scott promptly affairs programme "Panorama." removed his Wildfowl Tru t tie, and "For years my ambition has been put on his new tie. He wore it for to take part in activities that were the rest of the evening. not connected with the Polar During the evening Mr Scott met regions," said Mr Scott} now 56 the only three survivors in New years of age. Zealand of the crew of the "Terra Nova" during his father's last ex­ "But when this trip was sug­ pedition to the Antarctic. They were gested by the B.B.fC. I decided that Messrs. W. Burton and W. Mc­ this vanity could no longer con­ Donald (Christchurch), and ~1. Mc­ tinue." Carthy (Lyttelton). Mr. Scott, vice-president and Mr Scott visited 14 Kinsey Ter­ chairman of trustees of the World race, Sumner, where his parents Wildlife f'und. is intensely interested stayed for about four weeks before in the conservation of wildlife. He Captain Scatt sailed from Lyttelton. is also chairman of the B.B.C. nature programme llLook." While in the Antarctic, as well as .s. AD .Z. GEOLOGIST ' visiting the South Pole and other EXPEDITIO places of interest, Mr Scott spent some time at New Zealand's Scott It had been planned to send a Base. On the evening of January 17 combined United States-New Zea­ he was guest of honour at a dinner land party, including two experi­ there, and the following night enced geologists from each country, camped out in a tent on the lce­ into the northern Victoria Land shelf. Sharing his tent was Roger area next summer to straighten out Bates of Wellington. various terminological and other discrepancies which have arisen fol­ AT CAPE EVANS lowing New Zealand and American journeys into this still compara­ liThe mo t exciting part as far tivel little-known area. a personal emotions were con­ However, heavy U.S. commit­ cerned," he aid, "wa my visit to ments have made it necessary to Cape Evans, which was my father's po tpone the combined expedition base in 1911. The hut ha been mar­ till the 1967-68 season. The party vellously restored, and the corner plans to use helicopters for mo e­ where my father had his writing ment from area to ar~a. table, his books on the wall behind, is exactly as it was in the famous photograph \\There he is sitting, pipe A fortnighf conference of in hand, writing in his diary ... met orologists from seven countri s It was a really great thrill for me opened in Melbourne on February to sit in the same place." Mr Scott 24 or the first meeting of the spent about eight hours in and Working Group on Antarctic about the old hut, which was built met orology. 230 ANTARCTIC March. 1966 Massive rench Summer Programme Involved 74 Men The operations of Expeditions Polaires Francaises in Adelie and during the 1965-66 summer have been of particular importance, and go far to justify the statement of veteran Polar ship-master Vilhelm Pedersen of "Thala Dan" that the French Dunlont d'UrvilIe Base is built "not for the present but for the future." IiThala Dan" was scheduled to tion member on board. Most of the make three round trips between 29 men who are to winter over left Hobart Australia, and Base Dumont Paris by air on November 29 to d'Urvilie, Adelie Land. join the ship at Hobart. The re­ (1) Hobart, December 7: at Du­ maining members of TA 16 re­ mont d'UrviIle, December 13­ joined their team-mates in Adelie 29. 'Land, travelling by air to Australia (2) Melbourne, January ID, 1966: to board HThala IDan" on her second at Dumont d'UrviIle en route round trip early in January. to Wilkes and Davis Stations, In addition to It Thala Dan's" January 18. initial cargo, six and a half tons (3) Melbourne-Dumont d'Urville­ were shipped aboard MS HVelay" Hobart, leaving Dum 0 n t on December 5 at le Havre, to be d'Urville probably in the first transferred to ItThala Dan" at Mel­ week of March. bourne before the third round trip. In vie\v of the importance of the At the Adelie Land base, between building programme, unloading had the first arrival and the final de­ an absolute priority over all other parture for the season, were 74 activities. Four motor-boats were men, comprising 20 who had win­ available (the "Thala Dan's" two tered during TA 15, 29 who are to and two loaned by the Lauritzen winter over as TA 16 this year, and Company), a ten-ton and a two-ton 25 members of the 1965-66 summer sledge and weasels, if necessary the party. glaciological team's amphibious ve­ In overall charge of the initial hicles, and of course the helicopter. operations was Paul-Emile Victor, Unloading began on December 13 veteran Polar explorer and Director and was completed by December of Expeditions Polaires Francaises, 29. All the available transport was who has been in charge of summer in fact brought into use in order activities in Adelie Land every sum­ to complete the task and so free mer expedition since 1955. the ship as soon as possible. The summer party, with Robert During January and February Guillard as operations chief and Mar­ HThala ,Dan" effected the relief of cel Renard responsible for the dis­ Australian stations before returning embarkation, included four men to Dumont d'Urville to embark the who had wintered in the Antarctic men of T"A 15 and the summer in earlier years, and six who had party and return them to France previously participated in summer at the beginning of March. operations. The "Thala Dan" which had made The new (1965-67) winter team a brief call at l'Ile des Petrels on under Rene 'Merle includes nine January 18 was again off the Adelie who have wintered before and two Land coast on March 1 at 20 hours who have taken part previously in local time. M. Jean Vaugelade. 'MIle summer activities. It is Merle's Christiane Gillet and M. Haize of fourth expedition. the National Space Studies Centre THALA DAN were on board. tlThala 'Dan" was due to leave a few hours later to IIThala Dan" left le Havre on (Continued foot of column one October 17 with only one expedi- page 231) March, 1966 ANTARCTIC 231

BUILDING PLA S port of goods. Betwe n January 1 and February 28 it f1 \V a total of During the disembarkation period sum~ 145 hours and carried 603 tons of the new winter team and the cargo. mer party lived on the ship. Later, use. was made of the new garage Technical and scientific work has whIle the old ·Marret Base recondi­ been carried out as pI nned some­ tioned and supplied with' cooking times days in advanc of the time facilities, was used for meals. set, thanks to the men's hard ork and relatively favourable weather While the winter party was dis­ conditions. Some examples: a mes­ charging the 970 tons of cargo a sage dated February 19 announced big building programme was uncter­ that the floor of th n w dormitory !aken by the .summer party, includ­ had been laid. that 11 ilometre of Ing the erectlon of three building cabl for the electri I suppl of with their respective equipment the the laboratories had b en laid. and siting of three scientific sheiters that the beacon atop the 72,80 m. the installation (to be spread ove; mast was functioning. The glacio­ two years) of a new pumping and logical field party haa returned. sea-water distillation station re­ pairs and additions to the 'iono­ sI?here station, including a 73 m.­ A TARCTIC SPACE PROBE hIgh pylon, and the foundations for the firing of the Dragon rockets in At Hobart M. Victor gave some the following summer. particulars of the purpose and nature of the French plan to Among the scientific apparatus to launch a Dragon rocket into space be installed are a new sounder and from Adelie Land early next year. rio~eter for the ionosphere station, An important element in the mas­ eqwpment for the seismological sive French summer programme station and a new photometer for was the building of a launching the night-sky observations. A new ramp for this, the first launching automatic telephone station has of a rocket into space from the also been instaIled. Antarctic. THE INLAND ICE The immediate aim of the rocket During the summer operations programme is to investigate anoma­ Claude Lorius, who led the 1964-66 lies in ionospheric conditions 0 er expedition, headed a glaciological the Dumont d'Urville Base. M. team of five men on the polar ice~ Bemard MoHet, of the French cap.. This group had at its disposal National Committee for Space Re­ three weasels, one fitted with a search, who is in charge of the BLU transceiver, and lived in a rocket programme, e plained that caravan with full cooking facilities. the rockets he would be using were The motor-boats ensured transport standard scientific D agons about to and from the base on l'Ile des 15 feet high with a maximum alti­ Petrels and the Alouette 11 heli­ tude of 400 miles. H would, how­ copter was available in case of ever, only be using th 'm in the 50 emergency. The helicopter team of to 90 mile bracket. "Our Dumont four men from l'Armee de l'Air d'Urville base is prac ically at the was headed by ;Lieut. J. C. Marescot. South Magnetic Pol ," he aid, The past few month have been tlquite a special poin in the An­ intensely busy ones at Dumont tarctic, especially a far as the d'Urville Base. The helicopter an physics of the upper atmosphere i Alouette 11 of l'Armee de l'Air'was concerned. Some i 0 0 s p her i c used to carry out a topographical anomalies have been consistently and glaciological photographic observed at our bas and not at coverage and to ensure the trans- others in the Antarctic or anywhere else." bring the summer party and the In association with the rocket members of TA 15 back to probe the Fr nch party will build Australia. a 250-foot radio mas for the nor- 232 ANTARCTIC March, 1966 mal so nding of ionospheric layer . to a French party bound for the Fran e is expected to spend south. £500,000 on the rocket programme Mrs Stephensen left Tasmania on in the next two years. January 17 to settle in Queensland near her daughter and son-in-law. WINTER PROGRAMME In February, 1963, she was honoured The main activIties of the winter­ for her work by being given a free ing party will be in the fields of trip to and from France in the radio-el ctric phenomena, magnet­ "Magga Dan". She was away for 10 ism, 'Optics, upper atmosphere months. physic, meteorology, seismology, ROMANCE IN THE OFFING? radio activity and animal biology. Among the men wintering will be Who said the romance has de­ a con truction team which will parted from Antarctic exploration? compl te the planned building pro­ When "Thala Dan" left Hobart on gramme. Among the more import­ December 7 a Danish seaman took ant of their tasks will be interior off one of his heavy working gloves, work in the Summer Party dormi­ wrote something on it, and threw it tory and the daytime living quar­ at the feet of a blonde girl bush­ ters (mess-room, kitchen, photo walker from the mainland. She lab., recreation room), and the com­ picked it up and made to throw it pletion of the rocket-firing instal­ back, but he signalled her to read lation. what he had written and keep the glove. APTAIN BOWS OUT Standing on the Elizabeth St. Captain Vilhelm Pedersen, the pier, in jeans and sweater, she read Danish skipper of the Danish-owned it, blushed and beamed. She was CtThala Dan" will be experiencing still smiling five minutes later when his ninth and last Antarctic 'Sum­ HThala Dan", horn blaring, was mer before retiring. He brought his h e a din g down river for the wife and two children, aged 13 and Antarctic. 7, with him from Denmark to Aus­ tralia. When they return to Den­ (See Illustration opposite) mark about 'May I, Captain Peder­ sen will be taking a shore job with Foreground: Laboratory no. 1 con­ a sea insurance firm. structed of prefabricated panels of polyesterglass fabric on a timber SEAMA PRIEST frame, with metal floor and up­ rights. otice the scientific appara­ One member of the French ex­ tus below the masonry posts; on pedition is Father Jean-Paul Coelen­ the roof a safety balustrade; to the bier of Pontigny, who is both sea­ right the meteorological tower. Lab. man and priest. He manned the e ­ no. 2 similar in construction to the pedition's workboats during the above is out of this picture to the summer operations at Dumont left. d'Urville as well as conducting Church services on Sundays. In Middle Distance: left to right-the France he is attached to the Mis­ new generator house, of similar con­ sions to Seamen. His dual role re­ struction to the laboratories; old sults from the post-war movement (IGY) generator house, the original for "worker priests" within the base and met. tower, provisions Catholic Church. storehouse. FINAL FAREWELL Background Right: Meteorological shelter and pylons of the ionosphere Mrs. M. L. Stephensen of Hobart antenna. has be ome \vell-known for her labour f love in meeting, enter­ Background Centre: the floating taining nd farewelling members of tongue of the Astrolabe Glacier. French xpeditions in Tasmania en Beyond: the coast of Terre Adelie route to or from the Antarctic, over trending to the east as far as the the pas 20 years. On December 7 horizon, with icebergs calved from for the last time she said goodbye the Zelee Glacier. March. 1966 ANTARCTIC 233

Expeditions Polaires Francaises. Photo: J. P. Suinot.

tation . It is located on l'Ile de ANTARCTIC STATIONS Petrels (Petrel Island) in th Point Geologie archipelago, and i in the 5 immediate vicinity of the Antarctic Continent and Astrolabe Glacier. BASE DUMONT D'URVILLE

0 The Point Geologie archipelago i 66 40' 5----140 0 0I'E the first part of the Antarctic which Our illustration shows a general was sighted by the French naviga­ view of Base 'Dumont d'Urville look­ tor J. S. C. Dumont d'Urville, on ing roughly South-East during the Ja~uary 20, 1840. Just as the t:vildly period of Summer activity. Spl ning con1passes on the Astro­ lab" and the tlZelee" indicated that This French base is situated in the Magnetic Pole must be quite Adelie Land far to the south of nea , to the south, land was sighted. Australia, and is the nearest to New A boat's crew pulled to shore on Zealand of all the major Antarctic on of a groUp of rocky islets and 234 ANTARCTIC March, 1966 a proclamation was made taking possession of the territory for AIR CUSHION VEHICLES France. Geological specimens were gathered, hence the name Pointe IN ANTARCTICA Geologie. D'Urville named the land Terre Adelie after his wife. . 1}1e use of the hovercraft, or as It IS more correctly named the Air After a failure in 1949 to break Cushion Vehicle, A.C.V. in the An­ through the pack off Adelie Land a tarctic appears to be drawing French expedition in January 1950 nearer. In a well-informed and built a base, Port Martin 66°50'S' Decou~ soberly written article in an ACV 141 c05'E, to the west of Cape supplement to the -November issue v~rte,. ~xa~tly 100 years after of "Flight International," J. R. d UrvI1le s dIscovery of Adelie Land. Green, Operations Officer of the The archipelago (50 miles west British Antarctic Survey, points out o.f Port Martin) was visited by a that the ACV has not yet been fIeld party of Andre F. Liotard's ex­ t~sted in Antarctica, where objec­ pedition, and by Michel Barre in tIves, problems and weather are all 1951, a~d the discovery was made different from those pertaining in of an Immense Emperor penguin the Arctic. rookery of 12,500 birds. For this reason the French expedition of Mr Green, speaking from experi­ 1952 led by Mario Marret erected ence, depicts vividly the intolerable there on l'Ile des Petrels a small delays which can easily disrupt a ~ase which is still used today dur­ whole season's programme in the Ing the summer camlJaigns. When Antarctic Peninsula area. tllf you duri~g the relief perIod the Port have ever been on a ship stuck in MartIn base was destroyed by fire ice you will know what it is to feel on January 23, 1952, the small party frustrated. There's the land only 50 of four which under 'Marret was to miles away but it might as wen be ~vinter among the penguins was re­ 5,000! An ACV could do it in an Inforced by three other men in­ hour: the ship might take six cluding Australian Robert Dovers weeks". and so a base on l'Ile des Petrel' was occupied year-round for the Mr Green takes full cognisance of first time,· in a hut 16 ft. by 13 ft. the difficulties and the many un­ known quantities involved, but he There was no French team in the sees other immense advantages in Antarctic after the relief of Marret's the use of the ACV: scouting for a party on January 14, 1953, until with route ashore, rapid, safe deploy­ the advent of the International Geo­ ment of personnel, easier supply physical Year a team under Robert and transfer of field parties, and he Guillard lived at Pointe Geologie in concludes that efficient ACV's with the embryo Base Dumont d'Urville a 2-ton payload could supersede from January 1956 till they were re­ most forms of mechanical surface lieved by Bertrand Imbert's party transport in the Antarctic. while in January 1957. smaller ACV's with a payload of 1,OOOlb could replace the dog team Since then the base has been in all but the steepest and most great~y improved and enlarged. broken areas. especIally from 1963 onwards and has been continuously in 'occu­ After pointing out the need for pation. J;'he usual wintering party such modifications as the provision has consIsted of 20 men of Expedi­ of a ski-type understructure and tions Polaires Francaises. improved braking-power, Mr Green concludes, "What is important is The principal scientific work at that a dialogue should begin now the base is in the fields of geo­ between those with first-hand know­ physics (upper atmosphere, middle ledge of the conditions and a press­ and lower atmosphere, t rrestrial ing need for ACV's and those in a magnetism) and biology. position to design and build them". March, 1966 ANTARCTIC 235 CHA GI PA TEB TA C IC OPE The summer of 1965-66 has seen several innovations i the annual Soviet relief plans, and a further development in the enhan ed statu of Molodezhnaya Station. This season the l'Ob" arrived in on December 30 left on the Ilyushin Antarctica in the middle of spring. aircraft on the return flight to No previous expedition has left Russia. RussIa so early in the year-in The arrival of the 55 en brought October. l'Ob' left Leningrad about out to Australia by air nd to Mirny the 25th and in 45 days anchored on HOb" brought the e pedition up in IMirny roadstead. The HOb" stop­ to full strength. Members of the ped only once on this trip-at party disembarked at the 'Mirny base Vakar, where she replenished her and the "Ob" then sailed to Molo­ stores. dezhnaya station and on to the Only 140 members of the expedi­ Novolazarevskaya area for a series tion travelled aboard the HOb", the of oceanographical explorations. remainder arriving in Australia by The other members of the 11th plane tovJards the end of the year. expedition, who wer taken to Mirny by the "Ob" early in Decem­ AT MIRNY ber, were already settling down in New buildings are going up at Antarctica. Biologists, who include Mirny in spite of the fact that this skin-diving among their accomplish­ is its last year as the Soviet Antarc­ ments, had already collected speci­ tic Hcapital". The most important mens from the sea bed near Mirny. building is the fuel storage build­ TO VOSTOK ing. The prefabricated fuel con­ Some members of the expedition taIners were stored in large rolls in were flown from Mirny to Vostok the HOb's" holds and these will be station, in the area of the Pole of assembled in Mirny. For the first Cold, and relieved explorers who time in Soviet Antarctic history a had spent more than a year in tanker will arrive in Antarctica. Antarctica. This Hguest visit" will provide the On New Year's Eve a group of station with fuel for several years. American and New Zealand ex­ plorers spent three hours at Vostok. SO FAR BY AIR The group included th head of the On December 29 a Russian wintering party at the V.S. Mc­ Ilyushin-18 four-engined jet aircraft Murdo station and the Leader of carrying men for the 11 th Soviet New Zealand's 'Scott tation. With Expedition landed at Perth airport, them were three American geo­ Western Australia. physicists, two of whom were to The 55 passengers were trans­ spend a month at Vost k, while the ferred to the "Ob", which after third will work with Soviet scien­ being delayed for over a week by tists for a year. bad weather, left Fremantle for the Antarctic on January 2, her second MOLODEZH A A voyage between Australia and the Molodezhnaya will oon become Antarctic this season. Before leav­ the centre of Soviet Antarctic scien­ ing again for Mirny "Ob" took on tific research.. At pr sent a n.ew stores and fuel, and loaded scien­ power statIon IS under constructIon tific equipment brought from there and nearing its ompletion is Russia. the new mess-room while some of Fifty Russians who had wintered the Arbolite house's have already over at Soviet stations returned be n occupied. The houses are being from the Antarctic on HOb", and built, unlike those at Mirny, on 236 ANTARCTIC March. 1966

piles, 0 that the snow can blow ICEBERG AGROUND throug underneath instead of pil­ ing a inst them. Apart from the An iceberg five times the size of usual research in the fields of London has run aground near Russia's South Polar base, Molo­ geodes 1 geology, astronomy, hy­ drolo etc., this year the Russians dezhnaya, in Enderby Land. will c 1 ry out microbiological re­ The part of the iceberg above search for the first time. Scientists water is about 87 miles long and are p bing for the best sea ap­ has an area of some 2,700 miles. proach s to lVlolodezhnaya in view Russian explorers are trying to of the more important role planned discover where the berg broke for thi station in the future. Search away from the Great Polar Ice has aI, begun for a uitable air­ Shelf so they can trace its track field ite, and an area of 11,000 through the Antarctic waters and squar miles i being surveyed. estimate its speed. Active J?rospecting is going on for econOmIC minerals. LITTLE KNOW AREAS SKIN DIVERS Thre members of the Leningrad Th~ huge Lambert Glacier situ­ Zoological Institute will be the first ated to the south of MacRobertson aqualungers of Antarctica. M. Coast has been studied very little Propp, A. Pushkin and E. Egorov owing to the fact that it is not will lower themselves down to 30 easily accessible. It has always m. where they will take samples of aroused much interest among Rus­ water and soil in order to study sian geologists and now for the the conditions of life of micro.. first time the region has been in­ organisms. cluded in the geological research ~ number of ttAN-6" planes and programme. two specially built truck-tractors A party of So iet geologists fIe have been taken south. Thirty over 1000 km to reach it and collect pilots, technical and mechanical ex­ sufficient data for new geological perts, will assist the scienti ts in maps. Two "AN-6" plans transported their research work. Some 2,000 a party of 14 geologists on ew meteorological balloons will be Year's Eve. The party camped 1100 launched. km south-west from Pravda Coast. The So iet Hydrometeorological Commonwealth Mountains and the Service reports that it is proposed southern slopes of Prince Charles to build a radio meteorological Mountains, 680 miles south-west of centre at Molodezhnaya, which Mimy, were studied for the first should ensure the adequate two-way time from the plane. One newly exchan e of aero..meteorological in­ discovered mountain was named formation between the Soviet base New Year Mountain and it wa and th se of other nations. At pre­ here that the party celebrated their sent thi material, which is neces­ 1966 New Year' day. Interesting sary fo the qualitative analysis of geological data were collected in weathe maps, is received only the inner regions of the continent. irregularly on some links. An Australian geophysici t, John The I Vi party includes a group Hay, joined the field party and of Ame ican scientists. One of them, visited with them the Manning geophys'cist John Taylor, will winter Nunataks and Loewe Plateau. Until with th Russians (Leningrad geolo­ then Australian scientists had never gist Le Klimov will spend a year visited these parts of Australian An­ with the Americans at McMurdo). tarctic territory. Data obtained on Hungarian and Polish scientists will this trip will be used in the com­ also op rate from Mirny. pilation of new geological maps of Snow ractors with sledge trailers Antarctica. At the end of the assign­ have's out for Vostok Station ment the party went on to 'M010­ with f od and supplies. Their dezhnaya via Mawson to continue iourney out and back will cover from there research work in '1800 miles across the ice-covered Enderby Land and the Napier plateau. Mountains. March, 1966 ANTARCTIC 237

"OB" DAMAGED A TRAVELLING PENGUIN While delivering the members of During the 10th Soviet expedition the 11th Expedition to Mirny the la t year, a banded Adelie penguin uOb" suffered slight damage. The was seen at Molodezhnaya. It had ship suddenly sprung a leak in the tr veIled over 350 km from the first hold and began taking water. Japanese Antarctic station Showa, Soon a number of skin divers and acroSS fast ice and drifting blocks other members of the crew repaired of ice. The penguin had been the damage. This occurred when the banded there six years ago (Novem­ ship was trying to force its way ber 15, 1959). through fast ice surrounding Pravda Coast. Two uAN-6" planes were de­ livered to Mirny aboard the "Ob". MORE ABOUT THE "OB" They were assembled and began It is ten years ince the "Ob" and operating on the spot between the the IILena" headed for the first time ship and Mirny. V. Borisov and I. towards the shores of the Sixth Stepanov piloted the IIIL-14" for the Continent where So iet scientist first time from Pravda Coast to and explorers established an Antarc­ Molodezhnaya in Alasheev Bay. tic observatory and named it Mirny. "Ob", a huge floating laboratory, is still taking an active part in the study of Antarctica. 'During these expeditions the ItOb" travelled OASIS STATION 325,000 miles, 35,000 of these in Seven years ago the Russians heavy ice. She has crossed the handed over to Poland their Oasis equator 20 times. From the data Station situated 370 km west of collected by the marine staff on Mirny in the Banger O'asis. Last board 15 nautical charts and 10 year the Polish Academy of Sciences general maps have been compiled. asked the leaders of the 11th Soviet Forty-thousand foreigners have Expedition to inspect the station visited the ship during her many which had remained mothballed in stopovers in foreign ports. the meantime. During January this year an "LI-2" piloted by 1. Step­ During her 11 th expedition the anov headed for the station with 1I0b" is under the command of a the following passengers on board: young master, E. Kupri, who will L. Dubrovin, director of 'Mirny; V. be taking over from N. Sviridov. Borisov, head of the flying squad During the summer the ship under­ went a thorough 0 erhaul. Durin~ of the 11th Expedition and B. Mait­ all these trips, tests and expen­ chak, a Polish journalist. ments were carried out in Antarc­ The plane landed on an ice­ tic waters while the overland covered lake several miles from the parties continued the work initiated station. Suddenly the ice which had bv their predecessors in the fields appeared quite solid from the air of geophysics, g e 0 log y , and began to crack and the plane began glaciology. to slide down and finally hung on a slope while the occupants scram­ bled out. They reached the station S.C.A.R. on foot and from there informed Mirny of what had happened. The ninth meeting of S.C.A.R., the Scientific Committee on Antarctic A plane was dispatched under the Research is to be held in Chile in command of N. Vahonin, but un­ Septemb~r. This meeting will mark fortunately it could not land any­ the successful completion of 10 where owing to bad weather con­ years of co-operation. in the ~ci~n­ ditions. It dropped fresh supplies tific study of .A.ntarctIca: a strIkIng to the party and returned to Mirny. contrast with the constant quarrel­ On the next day the same plane ling 0 er territorial rights which landed safely and rescued the marked the 10 years following the stranded part . second World War. L:38 ANTARCTIC March, 1966 VISIT TO VOSTOK Me M. Prebble (Leader, Scott Base, 1966)

On December 28 I was invited by rarely rises above 20 knots, yet on the USARP Representative at Mc­ the other hand it is rarely absent. Murdo, Mr Kendall Moulton, to The station consists of one cen­ visit the Soviet Antarctic station, tral complex with partitioned Vostok. The flight wa made in a rooms. Four 9KVA generators keep USN ski-equipped Hercules aircraft the temperature inside at a com­ to take three USARP scientists who fortable level, and a lot of the base are operating VLF, riometer and has the quaint, rustic, atmosphere earth current studies at Vostok. of a back country sheep station. One of the American scientists will Faded wallpaper, ornate crockery, winter with the fifteen Russians at scenes of village life in the U.S.S.R. Vostok, while the other two Ameri­ combine to give Vostok a cosy can scientists returned to McMurdo tllived in" appearance. Outside, the at the end of January. featureless plateau extends for thou­ McMurdo and Scott Base are Vos­ sands of miles and the station tok's closest neighbours in Antarc­ buildings are well drifted in. The tica being 800 miles distant, while vehicles present were two large Mirny the main Russian supply truck-type machines, with tracks base, is 1,000 miles away on the over the wheels, which have ap­ Queen Mary Coast. The flight to parently been responsible for the Vostok took three hours and the major re-supply of all Soviet inland aircraft remained at Vostok for stations. three hours to enable the pilot, While at Vostok we partook of a Commander Morris, the aircrew sumptuous buffet dinner including and the Chief of Staff, Captain Ber­ various Russian dishes and caviar. sik, time to look over the station Using a USARP scientist who had and meet the 'Russian scientists. Al­ previously wintered at Vostok as an though Vostok is at the same lati­ interpreter, various toasts were pro­ tude as Scott Base it is situated on posed to international co-operation the polar plateau of East Antarc­ In Antarctica. I presented the Rus­ tica at a height of 11.500'. The win­ sian leader with various publica­ tering over team is flown in from tions on Scott Base and the work Mirny early in the season, as are of New Zealand in the Antarctic some lighter supplies. However, the and extended to him and his team main fuel resupply of Vostok is good wishes from all at Scott Base accomplished by tractor train. for the winter of 1966. POLE OF COLD Mr Prebble is the second ew Life at this Antarctic station is Zealander to visit the Russian similar to life at Scott Ba e in that station. the main work is accomplished in In 1962-63 the Antarctic Division the field of upper atmosJ?here (D.S.I.R.) superintendent (Mr R. B. studies, but dissimIlar domestIcally Thomson) visited Vostok but he because of its location. Vostok is went the hard way. As leader that also known as the "Pole of Cold" year at the Australian Antarctic and temperatures during the winter station, Wilkes, Mr Thomson led an plummet to -128°F., making 1800 mile seismic traverse in danger of frostbite to the extremi­ vehicles from Wilkes to Vostok. ties as well as the lungs imminent The return trip took him four if more than 15 to 20 minutes are m.onths, and at that time the Rus­ spent outside. Although tempera­ sian station was temporarily unin­ tures fall to twice as low as at habited. Scott ,Base, the wind at Vostok (see l'Antarctic" Sept. 1963) March, 1966 ANTARCTIC 239 u 'alian eliefs ampere in s n Ice

AIRCRAFT DAMAGED towards IIThala Dan" and then John Treatt flew Dr Law in the heli­ The ltNella Dan" sailed from Mel­ copter acro the pack ice toward bourne on December 29. On January ltT'hala Dan". Conditions around th 2 the Bea er aircraft on board th ship were uniformly difficult, but ItNella Dan" was severely damaged reconnaissance found a more en­ when it wa struck by a giant wa e couraging area 10 mile south to­ during a 70 knot storm 700 mile wards hich th ship battled. south-we t of Ta mania. Five feet Rea cloud came across fast a of leading edge of the starboard the helicopter took off for the r ­ mainplane was crushed in. Arrange­ turn flight and, flying low, it was ments were made to ship a ne guided to ltNella Dan" by the ship's wing on board the IIThala Dan" for searchlight, arriving at midnight. delivery to the It ella Dan" at flNella Dan" then returned to Wilkes Station. For two days the ItNella Dan" was hove to in moun­ Wilkes. tainous seas. ICE TROUBLE Earlier th ltThala Dan" had drop­ SHIPS IN DIFFICULTIES ped off seven French scientists at On January 22 a freak storm Dumont d'Urville in Adelie Land. struck the I'Nella Dan", then an­ The ItThala Dan", carrying the chored at Wilkes, Antarctica. Rising 1966 Australian expedition to from dead calm to fifty knots in Wilkes, reached the station at 1.20 five minutes, the wind broke adrift a.m. on January 5, after a very the ship's motor boat and the ex­ strenuous three days of breaking pedition's rubber landing pontoon through a 65-mile belt of pack ice. which ere tied alongside the ship, The ship, led by D. F. Styles, and swept them out to sea. Assistant Director of the Antarctic Division, spent most of these three The launch, MacPherson Robert­ days manoeuvring through ice son, was lowered and piloted by covering nine tenths of the surface Dr Law, who was accompanied by of the sea in immense floes, two t Macklin, Dr R. L. Oliver (of e five miles acros and up to 29 feet Zealand and now a geologist of thick. Adelaide University) and Second The ice was eviden ly old bay ice Mate Granholm of the ItNella Dan", which had broken out from among set off in pursuit of the escaped the icebergs tranded on the Great craft. They recovered them both Petersen Bank which stretche out after a rough trip in nasty sea into the sea north f Wilkes. The while the ItNella Dan" wei~hed floes were heavily hummocked and anchor and followed to facihtate snow-covered. the rescue. All were hoisted on IIThala Dan" had had to top in board safely. the pack in a storm for 13 hour on Janua 22, when isibility drop­ HEL~ AT HAND ped to les than 200 ards. For tl].e following everal h urs the ShIp Meanwhile ItThala Dan" had dif­ was nipped between two large floe ficulty penetrating the pack ice belt and hauled herself out Nith the aid north of Wilkes. On January 23, 60 of her ice anchor aft -r Dr Law had miles north-west of the station, Cap­ Inade the ice reconnaissance by the tain Pedersen asked the ltNella 'Dan" h licopter. Emerging at last into for helicopter econnaissance. Cap­ open water inside the pack at 8.30 tain Gommesen took It ella 'nan" p.m. on January 24, IIThala Dan" through open water thirty miles out r ached Wilkes fi e hours later. 240 ANTARCTIC March, 1966

WILKES REBUILDING On November 15, a field party The rebuilding of Wilkes station returned to Wilkes Station after a is necessary because the present tractor train journey of 500 miles. prefabricated buildings have be­ The party was led by Lanyon, the come very dilapidated. The re­ others being Allen, Seismologist, building is estimated to cost For e cas t , Weather Observer, £250,000 over four years. Holmes, Radio Technician, and Wig­ A building party will work at the gins, Diesel Mechanic. station for five weeks before being They left Wilkes on October 1 picked up on the IINella Dan's" re­ with three D4 caterpillar tractors, turn voyage. one weasel, one snowtrac, and two The ship is due back in Hobart living caravans. The weasel was fit­ in mid-March. ted up as a seismic laboratory for When ItNella Dan" left Melbourne the measurement of ice thickness on December 29, one member of on the Antarctic plateau by the re­ the 40-man team on board was Dr flection of sound waves. Koshiro Kizaki, a geologist. The purpose of the journey was The expedition's leader, Dr Philip to carry out glaciological studies Law, said representatives of other and ice depth measurements over nations had accompanied Austra­ a domed portion of the Antarctic lian teams as observers, but Dr Continental sheet about 2000 square Kizaki was the first non-Australian miles in area. The men established to be an official member of an 32 seismic stations, recording a expedition. maximum depth of ice of more than 10,000 feet. 'G'ravity at 472 sites and Twenty-seven members of the ex­ elevations at 2360 points were pedition are going to Mawson for measured and observations were a year. made of snow accumulation and 1966 PROGRAMME stratification along the route. We have some detail of the SNOW DRIFT BEATE plans for the 26 men at Mawson and the 27 at Wilkes for the 1966 The present American-built Wilkes year. Station, of which Australia has cus­ tody under an agreement signed .At each of these stations the cur­ with the United States in 1939, has rent observatory programmes of been endangered by encroaching ice. scientific observations in meteor­ Wind-borne snow has collected ology, geomagetism, cosmic rays, against the building, thawed, and upper atmosphere physics and seis­ then frozen into solid ice which mology will continue. encases the huts. From Mawson a survey party_ will Wind tunnel research in Mel­ travel 160 miles to Stinear Nuna­ bourne has led to the design of taks to link these features by tel­ building for Wilkes which will not lurometer with Depot Peak, the become ·ced in. most southern part of the accurate The 'Supply Department's aero­ survey from 'Mawson. The survey nautical esearch laboratories used will then be extended fifty miles its main subsonic wind tunnel to further south to embrace the test building designs which would northern ranges of the Prince prevent he snow accumulating. Charles Mountains. The successful design provides Glaciological studies of the for the rection of the buildings on PIateau ice within fifty miles of stilts. Tbe buildings are linked to­ Mawson will be made during a gether i a straight line, presenting number of field trips. The work to the p evailing winds an appear­ will be concerned mainly with ance like the leading edge of an measurements of the accumulation aircraft ing. of snow, of the movements of the Russian and French Antarctic ice sheet, and of the crystal struc­ workers are reported to have ture of snow and ice at different adopted the Australian design. places and depths. March, 1966 ANTARCTIC 241

Glaciological studies at Wilkes most eventful months with two will be concentrated upon an area par:tie~ in. ~he field, ret~rning John about 150 miles in dIameter, im­ HaIgh s VISIt to the Russians and mediately east of Wilkes, which con­ their return visit to Mawson These stitutes a dome of ice similar to plus. an i~tense program'me of the great Antarctic ice sheet in statIon maIntenance, made the miniature. Measurements involved month literally fly. We are now will be accumulation of snow, eagerly awaiting the advent of the chan~es in elevation, changes in little red ship and its cargo of news positIon of the coast and urface from home. With onl three days to movements of the ice. go before she berths, a great deal of last-minute polishing up is still going on, but the station is looking UP TO DATE a picture, and we are all rather proud of our efforts. The latest news from Wilkes is this letter from the new leader "Haigh's visit to th Russian geo­ Alan Blyth at the end of January. logical field party gave him an op­ portunity to learn a few facts about HAfter an eventful trip on the Russian living standards in the "Thala Dan" and an even more field. They have much bigger tents eventful visit to the French base, than we do, use fur sleeping bags, Dumont d'Urville, we finally struck have far less variety in their meals, the pack ice outside Wilkes. Four smoke strong, coarse cigarettes, days and sixty miles later we rapid­ drink vodka and are pretty much ly approached Wilkes. With the de­ like you and me. On their return parture of the old party, the entire visit we found them very pleasant personnel were kept busy with un­ fellows and rather partial to our packing and organising the usual hospitality. There was much trading chaotic situation. of hats, with Ritchie winning out in the end. He had to get a birth­ liThe mechanical team are en­ day present, somehow or other! gaged in a rush programme con­ The field party returning from cerning the proposed nine-weeks Depot Peak met the Russians at field trip in early March. Ruddy Gwamm on their way back to their and Williams have already begun aircraft. A pleasant half-hour's their unlimited number of trips to fraternising took place during which the distant transmitter hut. Sillick Corry entertained the visitors with and Nicholson are busy breaking rides on the Polaris, much to their away blue ice with a rock drill, obvious delight. hoping to re-open the corridor con­ necting the main camp to their liThe spring trippers had many workshop before winter." tales to tell on their return. They were relieved to find that the four­ man, twcrdog team they met at WAITING FOR RELIEF Twintop was not a search party out looking for them. This party, 'Ben­ nett, Lachal Martin and Vrana, At Mawson Station the 1965 party spent a most exhilarating week or patiently waited for relief and so climbing in the 'Masson and leader Woinarski wrote at the end David Ranges. On their last night of January: out, Vrana learned to his cost that IlUnexpectedly we can bring you the Antarctic wind is a force to be another month's doings. This oppor­ reckoned with, when a 90-knot wind tunity has presented itself due to lifted him off his feet to end up the sea ice which has successfully against a boulder some 15 yards delayed first the "Nella" then the away. Doctor Cameron at last had 11 Thala". This has put forward our a chance to demonstrate his tech­ changeover date to the first week nique and Vrana is now hobbling in February-hence the newsletter. around the station with a plaster ca t on h1s leg-nothing broken. "Januar proved to be one of our .iu t tom ligament attachments." 242 ANTARCTIC March. 1966 EVE T JAPANESE EXPEDITIO S TTL S AT SHOWA

Sbowa, the base for si Japanese Antarctic expedition (1956-1962) but unoccupied since February, 1962, has been re-opened.

The new 7,760 ton icebreaker A major problem was how to "Fuji" left Fremantle on Decem~er land the heavy snow-car (9 tons) 11, and met the Antarctic pack Ice which was newly built for the long line at 63°S, 84°E on 'December 20. in I and trip scheduled for the She was so powerful that she could wintering team. So "Fuji" tried to easily advance through closed pack, get nearer to the station against and reached the rim of fast ice hard fast ice for a week, during some 30 miles north of Showa which a further 30 tons of goods Station on the 30th. The first heli­ were transported by air. On the copter flight to reopen Showa Base 27th she fortunately found a lead, was successfully accomplished on and could reach within a mile of December 31 when Shikolsky S61A the station. The snow-car was land­ carried nine men including Mr M. ed and driven on fast ice. The Murayama (leader of JARE VII) to scheduled supplies to the station the station. The buildings and ve­ were successfully transported. The hicles were all well preserved after 400 tons of material unloaded is four years' absence. Ice conditions the largest quantity ever by a this season were very favourable Japanese expedition. JARE I un­ for helicopter operations. There loaded 151 tons, 11 none, III 57 were three major air-lift periods tons, IV 154 tons, V 121 tons and until January 26. Finally the ship VI very little. The ship stayed at mored to fast ice extending from the mooring site from January 26 Ongul Island, on which the base to Februar 1. After surveying the has been established, for a distance coastal area, she left the ice edge of about 200 metres. It was about in order to make oceanographic 1.6 km from the base itself. observations. On board "Fuji" were 182 crew­ men, 40 members of the Japanese team, five observers and three WINTER PARTY pre'ss-men. About a third of the team, whose average age is 34, have O'n February 1, 18 wintering mem­ been members of earlier expedi­ bers were left at the station as well tions. as five summer party personnel who were picked up later. Routine UNLOADING observations of surface synoptic meteorology, ionospheric physics, A total of about 400 tons of cargo seismology and tide were com­ was airlifted including about 14 menced at 0000 hours (local time), tons of oversnow vehicles and of February 1. sledges. There. were ab

Station in 1965), 2 radio operators, WINTER PROGRAMME 2 mechanics, 2 logistic supporters and one cook. The wintering party The ~intering. party's main re­ is expected to travel over the conti­ search, In additIOD to the usual nent toward 75 degrees S. lat. m teorological recordings, will be in the fields of: Oceanographical observations Superstratospheric P h y sic s : were made in Lutzow-Holm Bay, aurora, noctilucence ionosphere during which some expedition mem­ and. terrestrial magn' tism, all of bers including Mr Murayama and partIcular significance since 1966 is Captain Honda visited neighbouring the International Qui t Sun Year, stations by helicopter; the Soviet when sunspots are least active. A Molodezhnaya Ba e on the 3rd, newly developed instrument will where they met the crew of the filter the light of th aurora into "Ob" (an "intimate friend of the ix different colours and continually Soya''') and the Belgian Roi Bau­ measure the changes in strength of douin Ba e on the 9th, ,vhere they the respective lights. were also warmly received. The five nlen who had supported the winter­ Biology: intensive studie on the ing team at Showa Station finally lichens and plankton living under returned to the "Fuji" by -air on the Antarctic ice fields. The mobile the 7th. observatories mentioned above will be used for this purpose and also The "Fuji" was to leave the An­ for c.1ose observations at penguin tarctic coast on February 16. and colonIes. after calling- at Cape Town between All meteorological observations, February 24 and March 3 will re­ temperature, humidity, atmospheric turn to Tokyo on April 8. pressure, wind velocity and direc­ tion, will be completely automatic and continuous. One device an elec­ NEW BUILDINGS tronic computer, will record the ayerage wind velocity -and direc­ The old Showa Base is being tIon every ten minutes. A plant­ greatly enlarged. Eleven new build­ growing device will enable the men ings are being constructed, all con­ to grow ve~etables at the Base, in­ nected by covered-ways. Some of cluding spinach, lettuce and rad­ the new buildings are pre-fabri­ ishes. The device. which emplovs cated. The first structure erected artificial rays and chemical fertil­ this year will ultimately serve as a isers. has Deen successfully tested warehouse, but accommodated the in Japan, and should ensure an 40-man team while further building abundance of green vegetables dur­ operations continued. It has an area ing the long winter night. of approximately 80 sq. m. The second building erected, an AND FOR SPRING oval structure of light metal, with an area of approximately 70 q. m., When spring come , trips will be houses the generating plant. The made into the interio to make pre­ two 45 k.w. generators were ex­ liminary observation for the estab­ pected to start operating within 48 lishment of an advan e base, Showa hours of installation. Other new 2, a few years hen e, and for a buildings are a refrigerating room projected journey to he South Pole (10 sq. m.), a wireless transmitting in the near future. building (30 sq. m.), a communica­ A large-size snow- ar ha been tion building (47 sq. m.), an iono­ constructed for th probes into spheric observatory (41 sq. m.) and the Antarctic hinterland. It is 5.5m. roms for measuring the change in long, 2.7m. high, an is equipped terrestrial magnetism and for the with a 140 h.p. engin capable of a observation of earthquakes. Finally, maximum speed of 25 km. per hour. there are to be mobIle observation It can operate at 60° below zero C. rooms which can be mounted on and can cross a creva se two metres sledges and transported anywhere. wide. March, 1966 ANTARCTIC 245 of maintenance of the base kept at nl0spheric electricity were success­ high level by the 1965 expedition fully carried out. The biologists under th command of civil in­ studied and collected 30 emperors genieur Winoc Bogaerts, in spite of and 8 Adelie penguins for study of the heavy snow accumulation on the mycose disease. top of the building. The unl ,ading of the 1966 expedi­ TAKE OVER tion material (350 tons) started on January 14. The two miles of bay The official ceremony of taking ice at the bottom of the bay was over the Base took place on Febru­ very insecure owing to small leads ary 4. "Magga Dan" sailed on the of water. This imposed the use of same day and arrived in Cape Town only the light Muskeg tractors to on the 15th. The members of the pull the sledges loaded with 1965 expedition and of the Sum­ material to the top of the shelf mer Campaign were flown back by where the snocats were awaiting the Belgian Air Force to Brussels them. On Janufu-Y 17 all the bay ice where they landed on February 20 and the slope at the bottom went and were officially welcomed home away and Captain Nielsen succeeded by many Belgian and Dutch authori­ in putting "Magga Dan" alongside ties. Only bIologist Van den Sande the shelf to continue unloading remained on board of the "Magga operations. The Hanomag tractor Dan" to take care of the penguins. was then safely unloaded and was The ship is expected in Antwerp on driven immediately to the base to March. 24. dig with its blade two 40 metres long, 3 metres wide tunnels which TRAIL PARTY LEAVES were covered with arched corru­ gated plates for the storing of Latest news from King Baudouin material. Base indicated that Leader T. Van Autenboer left the base for a two The diesel engineers of both the months' trail party with one other 1965 and the 1966 expeditions were geologist, two surveyors, one radio­ kept very busy with the replace­ man and one mechanic. They are ment of the motors of two of the travelling with two dogteams a three 20 KVA generators. Polaris Toboggan and two snocats. The Japanese ice-breaker "Fuji" AIR OPERATIONS paid a visit to King Leopold III Bay on February 12. The Leader and the On January 19 unloading was members of his expedition went over. In the meantime the summer aboard and were welcomed by Mr activities went along very well in Muruyama, leader of the Japanese spite of a few days of bad weather. expedition, and by Captain Honda. The a iation team under the Then Leader Muruyama and three leadership of Lieutenant Bernard de members of his expedition went to Biolley had 130 flying hours: verti­ Base Roi Baudouin where the re­ cal air photographs of the coast be­ mained two days. Souvenirs wer tween 24° and 28° East-per onneI exchanged. transportation especially for the surveyors who were landed along Baron Gaston de Gerlache, Chair­ the coast at six different places for man of the Belgian-Dutch Antarctic astro fixes-cargo transportation to Committee did not go to Base Roi the mountains for the February and Baudouin this year. He was the October trail parties. guest of the Chilean expedition and visited with them in December and The oceanographers made echo­ January their bases in Greenwich soundings in the different coastal Island, Deception Island and Palmer bays, took tide measurements, Peninsula. He sailed on the gathered plankton and made fish "Yelcho" for a week in the de Ger­ collections. Special Summer pro­ lache Strait discovered by his grammes in Solar Particles and father, Baron Adrien de Gerlache, Radiation monitoring and in at- on the IlBelgica" in 1898. 244 ANTARCTIC March. 1966

ew Belgian-Dutch earn or • ase IU OUln

Eighteen men, twelve Belgians and six Dutchmen, left Antwerp b air on December 27, with a summer party of 20 for the relief of the oi Baudouin Base (70 0 26' S., 24 0 8' E.).

The 18 men of the 1966 Expedi­ the Belgium/Netherlands Antarctic tion, with the 15 men of the Sum­ Committee, chaired by Baron de mer Campaign (amongst them four Gerlache. This Committee is assist­ Dutchm n) and the US Navy ob­ ed by a scientific committee under server Lt. Myers boarded the Professor Paul Bourgeois. The aver­ IlMagga Dan" in Cape Town on age budget of an expedition is January 1, 1966. around 25 million Belgian francs, to which the Netherlands contributes M.S. tlMagga Dan" had left An­ 8 million. The Ministry of National twerp on December 5 with three Defence gives substantial assistance members of the Summer expedition to the expeditions, both in person­ in charge of an oceanographic pro­ nel and in equipment. gramme between Antwerp and Cape Town. On board also were 13 The expedition's aircraft com- huskies, an Otter and a Cessna 180 prise: aircraft, one jet-powered helicopter 1 Cessna 180 Alouette, two snocats, one Muskeg 1 Alouette 11 and a Hanomag heavy tractor. 1 Otter Leading the expedition is geolC)­ For land transport the expedition gist Tany Van Autenboer, who on has three sno-cats, two muskegs, two former occasions wintered at three Polaris toboggans, two AS 24 Roi Baudouin base and surveyed the vehicles, a bulldozer and two teams Sor Rondane mountains, more than of dogs. 200 kilometres inland. In addition, Mr Van Autenboer has taken part The old, unoccupied Roi Baudouin in many summer expeditions in the Base built in 1960 has heating and Arctic and in Antarctica. lighting facilities, and could in an emergency be occupied by 20 men Other polar veterans are the with enough food and fuel for eight pilot de Biolley, head of the avi­ months. ation team, the meteorologist On the 10th the ship entered pack Gordts, the biologist Van de Sande, ice in latitude 67°40'S. and was the doctor Buis, the mechanic stopped for 10 hours. After an air Pierre, and the topographers Mous­ reconnaissance with the helicopter set and Van der Salm. she was able to resume her route The winter team relieved at the and arrived in King Leopold Bay end of J nuary the 1965 expedition on the 13th. CaptaIn Hans A. J. command d by W. Bogaerts and Nielsen, Master of the tlMagga Dan" will complete the 1965 expedition's had for the second time a lucky program e. The summer pro­ journey South. This year's journey gramme ncludes the mapping of a was even shorter than last year's. coastal p rtion provisionally map­ The new winter expedition leader, ped during the 1960 expedition. veteran geologist Tbny Van Auten­ boer, was flown immediately to The expedition was organised in King Baudouin Bas'. He was very Belgium under the responsibility of impressed b the ery good state March, 1966 ANTARCTIC 247

GO for breakfast: 51 ~lb. of meat and half a cup of In March, 1916, the 28 men of Shackleton' watery milk. Trans-Antarctic Expedition were being borne Lunch on a vast ice-flo by wind and current from 1 sledge biscuit + tinned her­ the Weddell Sea, where the "Endurance" ring. had been trapped and eventually sunk, north­ Dinner wards along th ea t coast of the Antarctic ~lb. of dog pemmican or ~lb. of Penin ula to ards South America. boiled meat and 6 cubes of On March 25 carpenter McNeish wrote in sugar. his diary:

There is a blizzard on at present Sunday, March 26, Lat. 63-1 South, I prophesied this yesterday as ther~ 58.27 West. Temp. plus 4, light NW is never a fine day In these latI­ wind. Nothing doing only trying to tudes but there is eight bad ones sleep away the hunger. We are against it. Our floe is b~gi~ning .to going on a shorter allowance to­ look dangerous now as It IS begIn­ morrow ~lb. of dog pemmican and ning to crack in many places but a cup of milk for breakfast. Lunch it is generally the way. Through 1 biscuit and 3 cubes of sugar. Din­ putting off till tomorrow what can ner ~lb. of boiled seal meat of be done today. Our bill of fare now which there is not 2 ounces of nutirement, so we are longing for had to put to sea again for three open water. Joinville Island is still days owing to bad weather but re­ in sight, but it is no good to us as turned to complete the job in good we can't move over the rough hum­ time. Going north she found no i,?e micy ice. and is due to reach South GeorgIa on February 9J five days earlIer than expected. Monday 27th: Lat. 62-57 South, The latest news from the South 53-10-15 West, Temp. plus 4. We Shetlands is that they have visited are 5 months on the floe today and most of the sites previously selected there is a(s) much chance of us for study, and several others found getting of(f) it now as there was to be of interest. Amongst these at the start, in fact less as we have was Dee Island where the remains not the dogs and as the leeds open of a petrifie forest was discovered, they freeze over. I only hope for much of it embedded in a cliff face. good SE gales so as to jam us in the straits and not let u drift out ANTARCTIC VANDALS to sea. vVhilst assisting with this work H:M.S. HProtector;' visited the old Thursday, March 30: We had a base in Admiralty Bay. When last rude awakening this morning ... visited by one of the Survey's ships as our floe started to break-up. Well the hut was in good condition with we got the boats and sledges shifted the windows boarded up, the doors and was going to have breakfast closed and everything generally when cracked again under the ready for occupation either by sum­ J ames Caird. But we got her over mer field parties or anyone in need before she fell in the ditch. ... of shelter. "Protector" reports that While at breakfast a sea leopard she found the hut in a shocking came up and went to sleep pea ­ state with all windows broken and fully but it was his last sleep ... the interior littered with empty we got the boats sledges shifted bottles and beer cans. Her Captain stomach and we are having them said it looked as though a jolly for breakfast tomorrow. good party was \lnder way when Ten days later the floe had become so someone blew the whistle and the small Ca triangle with sides 90, 100 and 120 party broke up in a hurry. Let us yards) that they took to the boats and after hope that, one day, those re­ six more days of cold, hunger and thirst sponsible will find themsel es in the made a landing on desolate Elephant need of shelter. I land. 248 ANTARCTIC March, 1966 CHILEAN STATIO SR LIEVED The annual operation for the relief of the Chilean Antarctic bases al in the area of the Antarctic Peninsula (still called O'Higgins Land by the Chileans!), began on December 4, when the " elcho' (Capitan de Corbeta don Victor Henriquez) sailed south from Valparai o.

"Yelcho" reached Punta Arenas on extensive programme is planned, December 12 and was joined by the embracing repair work, radio­ icebreaker "Piloto Pardo" on the activity, meteorology and glaciology. 15th. It was anticipated that after a During the summer cientlsts from s cond voyage the whole operation the University of Chile will be en­ would be completed by March 10. gaged on a programme comprising Selection of the new base person­ volcanology, seismology and ecology. nel began as early as July and a Aguirre Cerda Base was estab­ rigorous selection was made from lished in 1951. personnel of the three Armed Ser­ A penguin census will be carried vices and from the scientific per-. out at all three bases. sannel of the Universities. Gonzalez Videla Base is at present In charge of the whole relief occupied as a summer station only. operation was Capitan de Fragata It is situated on Paradise Bay on don Mario Poblete. In addition to the Danco Coast, in 65°49'S, 62°51'W. the inspection of bases and the change-over of wintering personnel, FIRST VOYAGE COMPLETED scientific observations were carried On New Year's Day ltYelcho" ar­ out during the traverse of the rived back at Punta Arenas with Bransfield, Gerlache and Grandidier the teams which had wintered over Straits, Marguerite Bay and other at the three bases. There was the parts of the Pacific Coast of the usual emotion-charged w e 1corn e Antarctic Peninsula. "Yelcho" car­ home. ried fuel and supplies as well as Captain Henriquez told reporter building material for the reconstruc­ that after a 44-hour crossing of tion of a hut at Bernado O'Higgins Drake Strait the ship entered An­ Base which was destroyed by fire tarctic waters on December 16. nine years ago. Drake Strait was an old friend for BERNADO O'HIGGINS (63°19'S, the ship's crew as they had spent 57°54'W) on the west coast of the some time in its often stormy Peninsula was inaugurated in 1948. waters in March and April, while A new dormitory and a hospital participating in Operation Mar Chile were scheduled for construction IV. The strait was again friendly. h re and studies were planned in However, said the captain, Hln the meteorology and seismology. The vicinity of the Antarctic we encoun­ n w Officer Comamnding is Teni­ tered great bergs, regular monu­ ments rising to a height of 80 or ente Sr Oscar L. Bustamente. The 90 metres. They were lined up like wintering team will number eight. soldiers on parade." AT ARTURO PRAT (62°29'S, 59° When the ship reached Pedro 38'W) on Greenwich Island in the Aguirre Cerda at 6 a.m. she met the South Shetlands, established in 1947, Argentine vessel HBahia Aguirre". eight men will winter over under But after an hour's stay to di tri­ Capitan de Corbeta Sr Ernesto L. bute mail, fruit and vegetables, the Taucan. Repair work is being car­ first the wintering team had had ried out and meteorological observa­ for a year, IIYelcho" proceeded to tions made. Arturo Prat naval base. This rear­ PEDRO AGUIRRE CERDA (62° rangement of programme was made 56'S, 60 0 36'W) on Deception Island because of threatening adverse will be under the command of Com­ \veather conditions. As soon as mail mandante de E s q u a d rill e Sr and supplies had been delivered, the Roberto S. Bahner. Here a more ship returned to Pedro Aguirre March, 1966 ANTARCTIC 249

Cerda, which is well-sheltered from SECOND VOYAGE the prevailing winds. Here petrol was unloaded, urgently required in uYelcho" left Chile for the south view of the building operations again about a week after her re­ which are eferred to above and turn from this first voyage, with which were soon begun. more cargo for the bases, and in Christmas Day was spent at Ar­ order to service the various Chilean turo Prat and the opportunity was beacons. taken to alloW men to communicate The summer working parties were by radio ,vith their friends in the scheduled to return to Chile by air, motherland. the Army and Navy personnel by aircraft of Linea Aerea Nacional, The e pedition re-opened Gabriel the Air Force men by a transport Gonzalez Videla Base, which had of their own service. been closed for some time. They found the station intact, and with­ out even a trace of dust. They set CHILEAN CLAIMS RECALLED the II refrigerating" and communi­ cation systems going and unloaded In a long article published on petrol. To their delight they found October 31, the Chilean newspaper the mess-room table laid for break­ El Mercurio recalled that November fast and were very soon taking ad­ 6 was the 25th anniversary of the vantage of this fact. promulgation of Decree no. 1747, by which Chile in 1940 laid claim to AT PALMER STATION the sector bounded by the meridi­ 0 IlYelcho" now visited the United ans 53°W and 90 W of Greenwich. States Palmer Station on Anvers No specific mention is made of Island on the west coast of the An­ the northern limit of the claim, but tarctic Peninsula. The weather was the map accompanying the article rough and visibility poor. A small bears out the usual assumption that party went ashore by boat at mid­ it coincides with the southern limit night, their arrival being a com­ of Chile itself. The decree does plete surprise to the Americans at specifically refer to "all the lands, the base who, in response to knock­ islands, islets, reefs, pack-ice, etc., ing, opened the door-to confront a known or still to become known group of Chilean sailors. and the corresponding territorial waters" as constituting the actual It had been hoped to visit a physical features to which the claim nearby British base but this was refers. impossible as the sea was com­ The writer declares that Chile's pletely frozen over. claim to sovereignty is based on "historical, geographical, adminis­ I GERLACHE STRAIT trati e, legal and diplomatic titles". At the first Chilean base visited Unlike the claims of other the IIYelcho" company were de­ countries, including New Zealand, lighted to meet Baron Gaston de Chile's claim is not based on dis­ Gerlache, Director of the Belgian covery and occupation. Chile's pri­ Antarctic programme. On the return mary contention is that Chile was oyage he traversed 'N"ith them the a colony of Spain, and that the route followed by his father, Adrien Spanish monarch Charles V laid de Gerlache, who in 1897, in these claim to the Antarctic lands right waters, led the first expedition ever to the Pole, which were governed to winter in the Antarctic. Gerlache in his name by the Captain General Strait is of course named after him. of Chile. This was an emotional experience When Spain granted Chile her in­ for Baron de Gerlache, who was dependence in 1810 it is claimed, moved to tears as the ship passed all these claims passed to the in­ features bearing the names of hi fant nation. relations. He expressed his deep The IIgeographical" aspect con­ gratitude to the Chilean Government cerns the contention that "Chile for giving him the opportunity to and the Antarctic are joined by a make this journe . submarine ridge". 2~O ANTARCTIC March, 1966 Argentine Aircraf es orce nding In r Sou A period of several days intensive search ended happily when the crew of an Argentine plane which force-landed south f the Weddell ea wa discovered alive and well.

On S 'ptember 30, 1965, the crew sion would be easier than at th o a Cessna AE 205, returning from very rugged terrain where the crash the southernmost scientific base So­ occurred. At the same time another bral, south of the Weddell Sea, to­ team left Belgrano for the scene of wards General Belgrano Station the accident and linked up with (77°58'S, 38°48'W), where the air­ the first team, which had arrived craft was based, found this station at Shackleton the day before. closed because of fog and had to Next day, the 3rd, the Douglas return to Sobral. Here the same plane from Matienzo landed at Bel­ conditions prevailed and a landing grana at 3 p.m. to refuel, and de­ was impossible. spite some mechanical troubles left The pilot, Teniente Eugenio Goetz, immediately to make a thorough decided to make another attempt search. either aircraft nor ground to land at Belgrano, but during the patrol had succeeded in finding the flight it became necessary to make personnel of the crashed plane. an emergency landing in an area On October 4 the Douglas DC 3 where snow drifts were piled up again set out from Belgrano, with and the resultant crash broke the the Base Con1mandant Mario L. aircraft in two. Fortunately none of O'1ezza and Colonel Jorge E. Leal, the four crew members was injured. Chief of the Antarctic Division of They had food for 20 days, a port­ the Army Staff. After eight hours' able sledge, and survival kit. They flying, at 2.30 p.m., Lieutenant Goetz were unable to establish their exact and his companions were sighted position because of adverse weather 25 km south of the extreme eastern conditions but made radio contact point of the Gran Grieta, 'obviously with Belgrano and reported the completely lost as a result of the accident. fog and the impossibility of obtain­ At 5.30 p.m. on the same day a ing accurate astronomical observa­ rescue team left Belgrano for the tions. The rescue plane dropped sur­ site of the crash but was forced vival kit and radio equipment, and b ck by climatic conditions. Early the men were told to remain here n xt morning another rescue bid they were. as attempted. The weather was so At 6.15 p.m. a rescue team left bad that a search plane could not Belgrano under Captain Gustavo b sent out from the Matienzo Giro. early three days later at Base, but the rescue team managed 2.45 p.m. on the 7th, Captain Giro t reach Shackleton, the abandoned returned to Belgrano with the Weddell Sea base of the Trans­ crash personnel safe and sound. Antarctic Expedition. On October 2 the weather im­ Droved and at 11 a.m. the Dougla THREE NATIONS CONCERNED DC 3 TA-OS aircraft of the Arflen, tine Air Force left Matienzo B~ase The American Palmer Station, on (64°58'S, 60 0 03'W) far to the north. Palmer Peninsula, was visited by Meanwhile the team of the crashed the Chilean Naval vessel "Yelcho" plane had been able to establish on Christmas Eve. The "Yelcho" their position, 20km. south of Bel­ was on her way to supply the Bel­ grano. Leaving the wrecked aircraft gian-Dutch Antarctic expedition. On they set out on foot for Belgrano, board was Baron A. de 'Gerlache, ,vhere it was hoped that transmis- the president of the expedition. t\~arch, 1966 ANTARCTIC 251

POLAR TREK LAW MOVES ON . Buenos Aires gave a demonstra­ tIve welcome on February 8 to the The head of Australia's Antarctic Argentine Army team under Colonel programme, Dr Phillip Law will be Jor~e Leal who are reported as the first vice-president of the newly­ havIng made lithe first Argentine formed Victoria Institute of Col­ land expedition to the Pole." leges. The Institute was established The party left Belgrano Station last year by the Victorian Govern­ (77°53'S) on October 26, 1965, m~nt as a co-ordip.ating body to ad­ reached Sobral, the furthest south mIt to membershIp as affiliated col­ Argentine bEtse, in 81°4'S, 40 0 36'W, leges any institutions in Victoria 420 km from Belgrano, and covered otner than the universities which the remaining 900 km to the Pole offer tertiary courses. Dr Law who to arrive th re on December 10. is at present in Antarctica will take The team comprised, in addition up his appointment in April. Dr Law will be the chief execu­ to Colonel Leal, Captain G. A. Giro, tive officer of the institute with R. Seppi, J. Ortez, J. A. Rodriquez, th~se A. H. Carreon, A. F. Perrez, 1. D. responsibilities similar to of Zacarias and A. O. Moreno. the vice-chancellor of a universit . The team of ten men using three Dr Law, 53, at present Director s!l(}-cats drawing eight sledges took of the Antarctic Division of the De­ SIX weeks to cover the 600 miles partment of External Affairs has from Belgrano to the Pole which been over the past 25 years scien­ they reached a da earlier than ex­ tist, administrator and author of pected. For much of the time they many scientific publications. had temperatures of 20° below zero Some years ago he held a teach­ but the weather improved as they ing position at the University of neared the Pole. For 58 hours Melbourne, membership of the shortly after the arrival at the Pole council of the University of Mel­ radio contact \",ith their base was bourne and of the interim council lost. of Latrobe University.

THOSE DOGS WOMEN AN ASSET News that the Japanese team at Women would be a definite asset the re-opened Showa Base has two in Antarctica, but it would be a dogs recalls the world-wide interest few years yet before facilities were aroused when two of the 15 Kara­ available for them, an American futo dogs left behind when the base scientist said in Auckland on Febru­ was evacuated in 1957-58 were ary 7. found alive the following summer HI would certainly like to ee (see HAntarctic" March 1958, p. 239, women in Antarctica," said Dr T. March 1959, p. 27). Readers will be O. Jones, director of environmental interested to know that one of science _ar:d Anta:r:ctic programmes these dogs, Toro, after three and at the NatIonal SCIence Foundation a half years in the Antarctic, is now Washington. ' enjoying a comfortable life on the ~s an example, he pointed to the campu of Hokkaido University in UnIted State research ship HE1­ northern Japan. Jiro died during tanin", which took on four women the Antarctic winter, 1960. His stuf­ a year ago for a 60-day expedition fed body may be seen in the in the Antarctic region. "That ship Japane e National Science Museum. improved one hundred per cent the day women went aboard," he said. As i~ the ItEltanin", women in In our next issue AntarctIca would be scientists doing research studies. MEET 4 VETERANS Although he could foresee women there for a few eeks during the of the summer, Dr Jones felt the six-month DISCOVERY EXPEDITIO winter re idence would be out of 1902.. 1904 the que tion. 252 ANTARCTIC March, 1966 BUSY UMME ..,....SO D A U ITED TATE BA ES s OTE Station is no exception. Remote and isolated as it is.. McMurdo can boast McMURDO of a number of clubs, ranging from its Playboys Club, an after-work December was ushered in at Mc­ meeting place for sailors; the Bam­ Murdo with a record fall of lOin. boo Hut (or, officially, the Staff of snow in 48 hours, accompanied Lounge); Harold's Club of 'Reno, by 75-knot winds which halted all another partitioned-off section of air operations. Yet two weeks later the Navy's living quarters, and there was so little snow about that finally, the Ross Hilton Hotel, by ships coming into the Station were necessity the best hotel in Antarc­ asked to pump 5000 gallons of fresh tica, where Hilton Hotel towels, water ashore for local consumption. matchbooks, bathmats, etc., from all Not that ships found the entry easy. over the world are proudly dis­ A large ice-floe in McMurdo Sound played. The hotel stationery boasts blocked the shipping channel and of -"the traditional elegance of the had at one stage trapped the ice­ deep, deep, deep South" and ad­ breaker tlBurton Island." vertises various features such as the Shiver and Shake Room, the Cold On watch 24-hours of the seven Compress Cocktail Lounge, the Bar­ days of the week are members of ren Vista Room and the Deep the McMurdo Fire Station, ten in Freeze Rathskeller (men only, at all, and all graduates of fire-fight­ luncheon). ing schools. Fire in the almost totally dry climate of the Antarctic A sketch of the planned new ac­ is perhaps the greatest threat to commodation for McMurdo has just man, destroying as it could his shel­ been released showing a compact ter and his supplies, without which two-storey building, described as the he could not exist for any time at largest building ever erected in An­ all. McMurdo's Fire Brigade has tarctica, with an over-all length of been trained in the use of Ansul, 315ft. and width of 165ft. The build­ a dry chemical powder compound ing, a 25D-man barracks, barber which effectively replaces the usual shop, ship's store, dining hall, foam extinguisher, which freezes up laundry and mechanical equipment in the bitter cold. Automatic alarms area, Will be prefabricated and pro­ in the Station's buildings blink vide 68,000 sq. ft. of floor space. lights in the Fire 'Chief's office: an alarm bell in the Fire House pro­ duces the same results as alarms in any Fire Brigade building, with men sliding down the pole and SOUTH POLE STATION rushing to man trucks fitted with water and Ansul. Less than 5 An explosion shattered both the minutes later, on an average, the silence of the Ilnight" and the bal­ fire has been put out. As well as loon-inflation shelter at the Pole fire-fighting the men are divided Station on January 31 when static into three eight-hour shifts for fire electricity, it is surmi ed ignited a prevention. patrolling buildings, weather balloon filled with some checking oil stoves, looking for fire 100 cu. ft. of volatile hydrogen gas. hazards and checking fire ex­ No one was in the helter at the time. Although the hydrogen genera­ tinguishers. tion room of the tati n was fortun­ Wherever there are men, it seems, ately not damaged, the shelter was there are clubs, and McMurdo destroyed, its walls demolished or March, 1966 ANTARCTIC 253

deformed 'ts door hurtling ten In January Palmer wa re-sup­ yards away and it~ roof blown ?ff plied by "Eastwind" and "Wyan­ and deposi ed besIde the remaIns dot", which also gave support to of the shelter. No other buildings biological research in the Antarctic were dama ed. The wreckage wIll Peninsula area. This included an have to be azed before it collapses ecological survey of spiders, mites across the station's ionosonde an­ and similar insects, the distribution tenna and no weather balloons can of marine fungi and of the parasites be reieased until a new facility has of Antarctic cephalopods. been constructed. The 19-man wintering-over part HALLETT at the mo t southerly station in the Hallett Station (72°18'S, 170°18'£) world said farewell to civilisation which was closed down as a year­ with the departure of the last air­ round station after the 1964-65 sea­ craft for the 1965-66 season on son, was re-opened as a summer February 20. Six scientists and 13 station only on September 6, when navy men remained behind to con­ an LC-U7 from McMurdo flew in duct scientific research into iono­ nine Americans to layout an ice spherics, earth magnetism, sei~­ runway and reactivate the aero­ mology, meteorology. ar:d cosmIC logical equipment. The station was rays. Amongst the SCIentIsts are an fully operative when the first planes Australian and a Swede. One at flew in from Christchurch to Mc­ least of the navy men will not ~e Murdo on September 30. altogether sorry that summer IS Admiral Bakutis visited the over. He i. HospitalCorpsman Station on October 8. In addition Second Class Denis Sullivan who to the aerological work, the main became postmaster, an office only summer projects have been in the existing durin~ the summer months, fields of biology, including endo­ at the Pole Station for this sum­ parasitic studies of vertebrates, a mer season and has, since October study of parent-chick relationships 24 1965 cancelled more than 35,000 among Adelie penguins, a study of lefters with South Pole cachets for insects and their ecology, and for collectors in more than 40 countries. a 'brief period the ecology of algae. Sullivan now has a new hobby­ As noted elsewhere, a group of stamp collecting-and already has New Zealand biologists was also more than 100 stamps from letter based on Hallett Station, formerly requesting the Pole cachet. a joint U.S.-N.Z. base.

Accidental death struck a D.S. Weather satellite photographs Navy ser icemen at Amundsen­ have shown several errors in relief Scott South Pole Station in Febru­ maps of Antarctica. Mt. 'Siple, used ary when he was crushed between by pilots as a navigational aid i a tractor-pushed sled and a C130 shown to be some 45 miles away Hercules during unloading opera­ from its mapped position, the Koh­ tions. He was Mr Andrew Burl ler Range i in fact non-existent Moulder. (but perhaps a misplacing of another range by an early expedi­ tion), while the shape of the Fil­ PALMER chner Ice Shelf is now more clearly depicted. Nearly 300 pictures have Eights was closed down on been studied by the U.S. 'Geological November 14 after three years of Survey. Geologist at the Goddard operations, qut work at Palmer Space Flight Centre, Dr Paul Lo ­ Station on Anvers Island off the man, says that one Nimbus photo­ Antarctic Peninsula is to be main­ graph covered a million square tained for another year by the miles and can be used for geologic Ohio State University (glaciology) and ice-pack reconnaissance, topo­ and the Bernice P. Bishop Museum graphic mapping, forestry, h drol­ (ecology of land anthropod ). og. and oceanograph . ANTARCTIC March, 1966

PLATEAU STATIO·N 'ESTABLISHED

The record, so far, in high-speed face. Where there is usually snow housing development has been compacted by wind and its own reached in the Antarctic this ea­ weight, at Plateau Station not only son. And in a place 11,500ft. above was the surface snow so soft that th sea, 600 miles deeper into the vehicles, aircraft and men sank into heart of Antarctica than the South it disconcertingly easily, but even Pole itself, where the eight inhabit­ 10ft. down, wher the weight of ants of this, the latest U.S. station snow abo e would normally have in the continent have already seen compacted deeper levels, the snow their last aircraft for the year dis­ remained soft. A Hercules aircraft appear into a distance made even hit a soft spot and its skis had to more definite by their isolation. be dug out, and six Jato bottle The new station is Plateau were used before it wa able to Station, a scientific outpost for the leave the ground on departure. The collection of information about the thin atmosphere at that height also earth's magnetic field, aurora aus­ hindered work, and left many of tralis, VLF radio emissions near the the visitors to the official opening earth, and Antarctic weather. The ceremony dizzy and gasping. Station remote site of the outpost was and construction personnel soon chosen in part to enable scientists adapted themselves to the atmos­ to learn more about the extremes phere, which is equivalent to that of cold weather in the heart of the at a normal 13,000ft. altitude, the continental ice sheet, where tem­ extreme dryness and cold exaggerat­ peratures may drop to at incredible incr the rarity. 125°-130° befow zero. Radio com­ Plateau Station, planned for two munication will be the occupants' years' operation, was the destina­ only link with reality for some nine tion for the American traverse months. party crossing Queen Maud Land The station comoonents, manu­ from the Pole of Inaccessibility. factured in Canada, were Deep Frozen to the Plateau and assem­ At the end of January the 27 bled into a unit for the four scien­ Seabees of the construction team tists, under the leadership of Stan­ had returned to McMurdo and all ford University radio scientist that remained to be done was the Robert Flint, and a four-man naval completion of the bulk fuel storage. support group headed by navy doc­ tor Lt. James Gowan, who will have near-uerfect conditions for re­ se rch into the phvsical and psycho­ I THE PE SACOLA 10 .cal effects of inescapable close­ quarters living for a considerable MOD TAINS length of tjme-nrovided he too is not over-affected b those con­ A major scientific assault on the di ions. remote Pensacola Mountains was afetv precautions aga'nst dis- completed in February, with seven r'lS ers brol1ght about by ~ reather or separate projects comprising 18 fir includ~ nrovi. ions for a two­ scientists, 12 army and 8 navy per- ve r isolatiorl ~nd ;:In emergency onnel and a co--ordinator from the sh Iter and fond within a quarter­ National Science Foundation com­ mile of the main buildings. bining to make up the largest sum­ mer group ever put into the field. SOFT SNOW All members of the group, whether topographic engineers, An unforeseen additional diffi­ geologists, seismologists, geomag­ culty faced by naval units con­ neticians, palaeontologists, entom­ structing Plateau Station was the ologists, helicopter pilots and crews, surprising softness of the snow ur- or support personnel, doubled up March, 1966 ANTARCTIC 255

PLATEAU STATION One of the eight pre-fab huts being unloaded from the Hercules aircraft which brought it from McMurdo. Official V.S. Navy Photo b G. V. Gra e .

on their jobs to help the comple­ ured movements of markers in the tion of the survey. The five-man thick ice sheet over an area laid team of topographic engineers from in 1962. the D.S. Geological Survey, assisted Continental drift theories may be in more ways than scheduled by stren~thened or weakened by the helicopter crews, travelled 516 miles examInation of tillite drifts for and established geodetic control for comparison with similar drifts in mapping some 15,000 square miles South America, Africa, India and of Antarctica, taking gravity read­ Australia. Amongst the samples of ings for the seismologists and col­ soil brought to the entomologist lecting s.oil samples for the entom­ from every area visited by other ologists. Seismologists travelled team members were found three about 550 miles making gravity species of mites and one of spring­ measurements, with the help of the tail. Invaluable experience was engineers, measuring ice ranging gained by the multiple discipline from 1,600 to 10,000 feet in thick­ field party in the versatility of army ness. Geologists collected informa­ turbo-helicopters and in the prob­ tion expected to throw more light lems of logistic support, which will on the mountains' geological his­ aid in the planning of a similar tory and re]ationship to other programme designed for the coastal mountains, while a glaciologist in­ region of Marie B rd Land next vestigat d ice feature and mea- ear. 256 ANTARCTIC March. 1966

SCIENCE METEOROLOGY Weather satelli s, Tiros 9 and GLACIOLOGY 10, have this sea on been used for the first time in forecasting Antarc­ The recent, perhaps only several tic weather, a feature of paramount hundred years old, advance and re­ importance to th continent. Storm tr at of glaciers west of the Ros centre positions, t pes and positions S a and the present northward of clouds, and i formation, re­ march of 1800ft. a year of ice near lays back to ea th from each of the seaward edge of the Ross Ice the satellites hav been correlated Shelf have been e timated by V.S. with normal ground data. The satel­ scientists working in the field thi lites' information is gathered by ason. special receiver in the northern hemisphere and transmitted on to Geologist Dr. Wakefield Dort, Jr., the meteorological facility at Mc­ from the University of Kansas be­ Murdo Sound. Thi facility receives lieves that some of the land forms weather informati n from stations in Southern Victoria Land-mor­ of every country involved in Antarc­ aines, curved ridges of rocky debris tic research, and it is now able to deposited by retreating glaciers-are give a comprehensive survey of An­ not more than a few thousand years tarctic and near-Antarctic weather. old, possibly only several hundred. A special receiver is planned for Instead of retreating in the period McMurdo's weather facility to re­ following their formation, as they ceive satellite data direct. did in the Northern Hemisphere, the Victoria Land Glaciers, says Dr RADIO REFLECTION FROM Dort, advanced, despite the far D·REGION warmer conditions. This, he thinks, was caused by the greater evapora­ Ward Helms, a young University tion allowed by the non-freezing of of Washington electrical engineer the Ross Sea, evaporation of water has succeeded in bouncing a low then deposited as snow in the frequency radio signal off the lowest region of the ionosphere. mountains west of the sea. The Helms transmitted signals of from snow became deeper, formed ice three to 30 kilocycles from a 20­ and caused a minor glacial advance. mile-long antenna laid out on the It was not until the weather became Antarctic icecap about 12 miles colder again, freezing the Ross Sea from Byrd StatIon. The signal was and therefore starving the glaciers reflected from the lowest or ItD" of snow and ice that the moraines region of the ionosphere and re­ h investigated were formed, as the ceived by a Stanford University an­ glaciers then retreated. tenna at Byrd Station. Estimation of the apparent move­ Helms said the success of the Inent of marker pole in the Ros very low frequency IIsounder" would Ice Shelf, placed in the 1962-63 An­ make possible an investigation of the variation in electron density in tarctic summer, has led Egon Dor­ the liD" region with height and time rer, glaciologist from Grand Valley as well as studies of what happens State 'College, Michigan, to believe in the region during such events as in the northward movement of the aurora and magnetic storms. Shelf at the rate quoted. ot that Similar studies of higher regions this guesstimate suggests that the of the ionosphere have been con­ whole shelf is expanding north­ ducted for several years using a wards. Large pieces of the seaward sounder of higher frequency. The ice break off to become ice-bergs, high frequency sounder could not the shelf is constantly fed from ice­ be used to study the IIID" region cap based glaciers and the forward because the radio waves passed edge of the shelf has remained through that part of the ionosphere comparatively stable for a number and were reflected (actually re­ o years. radiated) from higher region. I\~arch, 1966 ANTARCTIC 257

The ounder designed and con­ eventually, the exact shape of the structed by Helms requires an ex­ earth, by studying its gravitational tremely long antenna to transmit field. By monitoring a continuous the long very low frequency radio signal transmitted by each atellite, wave. Helms said such antennas tracking instruments can detect the could not be used on solid ground most minute changes in radio sig­ because th y were very inefficient. nal frequencies as the satellite is The long antenna near Byrd Station drawn nearer to or pushed further is much more efficient because it is from the earth in response to vari­ lying on top of more than 8,000 feet ations in the strength of the gra i­ of Ice, a oor conductor of elec­ tational field. Alread it is known tricity. that the earth' pear- haped form, The tlD" region of the ionosphere flattening at the Poles and bulging is responsible for the relatively at the Equator, has four other poorer radio reception during the bulges or 11 corners" rising some day than at night apparent to radio 60yds. above it normal surface listeners. When high energy par­ near Ireland, South Africa, Peru ticles from the sun penetrate to and New Guinea. that region it absorbs more radio Six satellites are currently being waves of medium and high fre­ tracked full time by the McMurdo quency, the frequency range of com­ Observatory, plus two more part mercial radio stations. During the time, and these numbers are likely night the particles do not enter the to change with the launching of tlD" region and such radio signals more satellites in polar or near­ penetrate to higher regions where polar orbits. The existing satellites they are reflected back to earth. were all built for the Navy or ASA, and all carry equipment be­ U.S.N.S. "ELTANIN" yond the transmitter used for geo­ detic purposes. "Eltanin", the "floating labora­ tory", has completed her 20th and IN PROSPECT 21st cruises, which were predomin­ antly in the South Pacific. The ship Although scientific activity in the left Auckland (N.Z.) on September Antarctic bases would next year be 13 and after a southern fora somewhat restricted, several im­ reached Valparaiso on ovember portant projects will be carried out, 12. Cruise 21 took her to Juan Fer­ according to Dr T. O. Jones, direc­ nandez ('Robinson Crusoe's Island), tor of environmental sciences and then along the 40th parallel to 120 0 Antarctic programmes in the W, then due south to 65°S and back National Science Foundation. A Dry to Punta Arenas. Cruise 22 took Valley station is under considera­ "Eltanin" into the South Sea (Janu­ tion to study winter conditions in ary 14-March 18) and back to Punta these apparently ice-free areas; ice Arenas. She is then expected (on drilling near Byrd Station should cruise 23 ) to visit ew Zealand begin next season on a heretofore about the end of Ma . unknown cale, with electric drill melting through 8000ft. of ice, al­ lowing cores to be brought up for SATELLITES investigation into temperature and other changes through the ages; The density of satellite traffic up topographical mapping of Marie there in space is proven by the Byrd Land will be started, working tracking of 9,823 satellite passes by from the aerial photogral?hs already the McMurdo Geodetic Satellite Ob­ taken; Plateau Station WIll continue servatory between its going into full running, being, to Dr Jones, the full operation at the end of Febru­ greatest achievement in the Antarc­ ary 1965 and the end of December. tic, a last frontier, the place from This observatory, supported by a which there is nowhere else- to go grant from the National Science but the moon. There will be no tra­ Foundation to New Mexico State verse next summer eason, or until University is part of a arId-wide routes for the 1967-68 traverses ha e network aimed at det rmining, been settled. 258 ANTARCTIC March, 1966

FOUR YEAR TRAVERSE CONTINUED

The second leg of the projected Though the temperatures through­ 0 SOOO-mile, four-year survey of Queen out the traverse anged from 30 ­ Maud Land came to a successful 50 0 below zero, s ft snow was the conclusion with the arrival of 11 main handicap, while all those scientists in three lar~e tracked ve­ taking part are reported to feel hicles at Plateau StatIon at the be­ better at the end than at the be·· ginning of February. ginning. All major goals in this 830-mile Complete analy is of data col­ traverse had been successfully ac­ lected will be carried out in the complished by the scientists, said United States and Belgium, while the leader, Dr E. E. Picciotto from the vehicles used were flown to the Free University of Brussels, Bel­ McMurdo for overhaul in prepara­ gium, currently on leave to the tion for their use during the third Ohio State University. Surface leg of the traverse, planned for topography had been studied, 1967. measurements of the depth of the ice cap under the traverse route made, along with studies of the land underlying it, and studies car­ ried out of the ice, the weather and LOGISTICS the earth's magnetic field. During the month of January NEAR DISASTER alone four ski-equipped C-130s of the U.S. Navy's Antarctic Air Squad­ Not one of the traverse's 47 days ron VX-6 flew a total of one and had been lost to bad weather and a half million hours, with each air­ only one day to a minor break­ craft averaging 12 hours in the air down, but tragedy had threatened for each of the 31 days. And this some members when the front despite two of the 'planes spending tracks of their vehicle broke seven days undergoing routine through a snow bridge over a cre­ checks in Christchurch, New Zea­ vasse in an area supposed to be land. The winner of the Itheavy crevasse-free. It was winched out hauler" title chalked up 466.6 hours, by the other Snocats, and the crew an average of 1S.5 airborne hours a of a navy airplane preparing to day. drop supplies warned the group of another nearby crevasse field, in­ One and a half thousand tons of structing the vehicles around the cargo, fuel and food were tran­ menace. All but one of the support­ parted to inland stations in the An­ ing airdrops was successful, only tarctic to support scientists and one parachute failing to open, even their studies and to provision them e gs and tomatoes being dropped. for the winter isolation. One of the biggest uccesses of On the wrong side f the ledger the traverse, said Dr. Picciotto, was were three mishaps anging from the operation of a new radio sound­ minor to tragic. A b oken engine ing device which provided Cl con­ starter-motor shaft immobilised a tinuous indication of ice depth and ski-equipped Hercule assisting in sub-ice rock surface profiles. This the establishment of the Plateau was a great improvem nt on the Station; a similarly quipped DC­ previous examination on a spot 3 suffered damage When its star­ basis by slow and cumbersome ex­ board landing gear collapsed dur­ plosion seismology methods. Seis­ ing a landing in the Ohio Moun­ mic soundings and gravity measure­ tains on a scientific mission from ments were still used. Byrd. March, 1966 ANTARCTIC 259

home port in Boston, Glacier will T liGIC CRASH change her flag and her colour and In February came the cruellest enter the U.S. Coastguard Service. blow of 11 when a C47 from This changeover will also be effect­ VX-6 cra hed at Nlile 60, east of ed by It£disto'', ltAtka", lIStaten Roosevelt land, in partial white­ Island" and I. tlurton Island." out conditions, killing all six mem­ A 26-mile channel from McMurdo bers of its crew. The C47, a modi­ Sound to Winter Quarters Bay was fied version of the D'C-3, was one cleared by these two ships, plus of the last three of its type still in ltAtka", but this season has since use in Antarctic operations, and brought very concentrated and lug­ was on it way from MeMurdo to gish ice, as a result of continued pick up a group of geologists and fine, calm weather. The ice, once 'transfer them to another site. It broKen through, remained stub­ stalled and dived almost vertically bornly in pOSItion, presenting the into the now, where fire and ex­ breakers WIth two huge icebergs, ploding J to bottles destroyed all one of 300ft. by 20Uft., with 80tt. but the tail section. Those killed above the water line and estimated were: at weighing in the vicinity of Lieutenant Harold M. Morris, 10,OOO,OUO long tons. The iceberg pilot; Lieutenant William D. For­ blocked the Channel most effectively dell, co-pilot; Lieutenant-Com­ to the five inward-bound merchant­ mander Ronald Rosenthal, naviga­ men supplying this summer's V.S. tor; Petty Officers Richard F. Sim­ Antarctic operations, and it took mons, Wayne M. Shattuck and the combined efforts of the three Charles C. Kelly. ice breakers a day's pushing to The crash was reported back to shift the iceberg three quarters of McMurdo by another VX-6 aircraft a mile towards the sea. which had landed just ahead, and At the end of December lIB'ur­ the bodies of the killed men were ton Island" made a fortnight's flown back to D.S. for burial. cruise along the Victoria Land coast as far as Cape Adare, while a study WINTER FLIGHT? of seals and plant life on the main­ The V.S. Navy intends to make land and off-shore islands was made another mid-winter flight to the An­ by V.S. scientists. Also aboard were tarctic, following the successful some New Zealand scientists from mercy-flight in June, 1964, to evacu­ Cape Hallett, some of whom were ate a seriously injured Seabee. Mak­ landed at the Possession Islands to ing the announcement, the com­ further studies of penguins and bird m'ander of the V.S. Navy Antarctic life. lIBurton Island" returned to Support Force (Rear-Admiral F. E. ew Zealand with Mr F. C. Kinsky, Bakutis) said it was likely that the Dominion Museum ornithologist, flight would be made in 1967 by a who had spent three months at VX-6 ski-equipped Hercules although Cape Hallett making a biological the possibIlity of a Starlifter being study of penguins and skuas. used had not been ruled out. The The first V.S. ship to visit Palmer navy's ski-way 14 miles from Mc­ Station this season was the Coast Murdo, Hgood for at lea t ten years" Guard icebreaker "Eastwind" which is expected to feature in the pro­ was expected there on January 5 posed flight. with the first mail since last sea­ son. The cargo ship "Private John THE SHIPS R. Towle" damaged her propeller The annual task of breaking _a in the broken ice in McMurdo channel through the ice to Mc­ Sound. Murdo Station was begun by the Two weather picket ships, V.S.S. Navy's icebreakers lIGlacier" and "Calcaterra" and "Thomas J. Gary" lIBurton Island" at the end of have served Antarctic operations November, 1965, lIGlacier" being on this season. "Calcaterra" suffered a her eleventh consecutive, and broken-down crankshaft in her last Deep Freeze mission as a generator and sent for a replace­ Navy ship. On her return to her ment from Philadelphia. 260 ANTARCTIC March, 1966

SUB-ANTARCTIC STATIONS REPORT

MACQUARIE I LAND The relief was delayed by bad weather. Several attempts were (Australia) made to land mat ials for a new hut at Bauer Bay n the west coast Forty-eight scientists, soldiers and before the job wa completed and ea scouts left Melbourne on De­ this wa accompl' hed at the ex­ cember 6 in the IINeHa Dan." pen e of damaged boats and pon­ The party included two D.S. toons. cientists, four women biologists A number of elaborate biological and two Queen's Scouts. studies will be carried out. The e 'Dr. Law said they were "headed include breeding tudies of eals, for a_ place where the climate was penguins, albatrosses, and skuas. like Melbourne at its worst every During the six day visit of 11 ella day of the year." Dan" for the relief in December. a 'Nineteen of the scientists, mainly number of visiting biologists includ­ biologists, replaced the 18 men ing two from D.S.A. worked on a manning the Macquarie Island variety of short term studies. Two base in 1965. Three more stayed for of these visitors will remain on the the 11 summer" period of three island until March. months. The rest of the expedition stayed NEW TEAM SETTLES IN only for the "change-over period"­ In his first newsletter, December six days, during which the new com­ 1965 and January 1966. new leader plement was shown the ropes and Rivers says: liThe time spent at Mac­ supplies unloaded. quarie Island since our storm dis­ Three army DDKWS were used rupted the arrival and changeover to unload the many tons of has given all of the 1966 party a supplies. chance to establish themselves and RABBITS adjust to the environment, to new jobs, to each other and to the four Scientists will carry out a IIkilling 1965 members remaining with us programme" on 'Macquarie Island until March at least. The island is next year. It will be aimed at eradi­ a little more stable than "NeHa cating thousands of rabbits which Dan" but most members travelled have overrun the island and are well and enjoyed the voyage and destroying the vegetation. the Danish hospitality. Many thanks Rabbits were introduced to the and best wishes go to the previous island as a source of food for ship­ party for their kindness and assist­ wrecked mariners, long before it ance during the \vindiest week many was manned by Australian scien­ of us have experienced. Still, we tists. were secretly glad when they em­ They multiplied virtually un­ barked and the island became checked and are now a serious our ." problem. Christmas followed immediately. RELIEF Chef Ricky Schmitter produced magnificent meals and gifts (some The M.V. IINeHa Dan", bringing genuine and some of dubious origin) home members of the 1965 Mac­ were presented to all. quarie Island party, berthed at M.el­ Electrician Crabbe and carpenter bourne on December 22. In addi­ Parker spent three weeks at the tion to thirteen members of the biology field station at Bauer Bay 1964/65 expedition_party who have erecting new huts. spent a year on Macquarie Island, Doug Pocock, the last surviving the ship brought back two couts, '65 met. man, used a pare week to two physicists, eleven biologists and complete his ambition of camning ven army Dukw crew who have in all of the island' seven field made the round trip to the island. huts and also of climbing Mount March, 1966 ANTARCTIC 261

Hamilton, the loftiest peak. British­ M.S. "Gallieni" anchored off Port­ Kiwi-Aussie Dean PoIson regales all aux-Francais on December 11 after with tales of his Campbell Island a call at Port Christmas in the sojourn. north of the archipelago to land The biology group is the largest, Prof. Bellair (geologist) and Hureau with three wintering and six in the (ichthiologist). Between the 11th summer party. and the 20th, 200 tons of supplies When Rivers wrote, Smith and were landed, bad weather slowing McKenzie were at Bauer Bay assist­ up the operation. "Gallieni" called ing with the huts and carrying out again at Port Christmas on the continuous 'Royal Penguin observa­ morning of the 22nd en route for tions, Purc ase, a third-trip veteran, Reunion. walks vas mileages daily on the Work began at once. Eight oil plateau s udying skuas, Shaugh­ storage tanks were set up. The re­ nessy, Carrick and 'Simpson spent construction of the quay was com­ most of January at Caroline Cove, menced. The hospital roof was re­ the furthest extremity of Macquarie, stored and more painting under­ studying wandering albatrosses. taken. Between November 15 and 25 a CROZET ISLAND ~ive-man team which ha~ .. been p-ut (France) In at the head of Bosslere Fjord During the quarter October­ rejoined the Tillman and returned December precipItation was fre­ to Port Jeanne d'Arc by way of quent, except for a fine fortnight Lake Bouchier and Lake Marioz. in November. Work was kept going, Two of them reached the Cook however, chiefly painting, whenever Glacier Dome on November 19. conditions allowed. The painting of the outside walls was completed, a BOUVET ISLA D porch constructed for the genera­ (Norway) tor house, a shelter at the upper terminal of the overhead railway Fifteen men left Pretoria on De­ completed, and the shelter at the cember 30 to spend 13 months in disembarkation beach considerably the ice of Antarctica, living in huts enlarged. sunk 50ft. -underground. By the end of the year there was Their aim is to find out whether no paint or cement left, and noth­ it is possible to set up a weather ing could be done apart from the station on uninhabited Bouvet Island, about 1,800 miles south of routine maintenance. Capetown. KERGUELE Several D.S. scientists are among (France) the members of the expedition which is sponsored by the South During the period October-Decem­ African Government. ber, 1965, the temperatures were mild, but there were frequent rain­ CAMPBELL ISLAND falls and violent winds up to 230 ( ew Zealand) k.p.h., a velocity not reached since 1956. The Campbell Island summer The approach of the relief date weather has been most inclement: saw a rush of activity as the count­ in fact it has proved to be one of down began: preparation of the the worst on record. Rain and low foundations for oil-storage instal­ temperatures have prevented the lations ready for the arrival of the usual excursions to the more out­ fuel from France; new refrigerating lying regions of the island. plant ready for operation on Octo­ The highlight of a quiet period ber 15; new Port-aux-Francais tele­ was the return visit of the Russian phone exchange-with 44 sub­ research vessel the 11 Gnevny". The scribers-opened on November 13; duration of the stay was only six trial and completion of a three­ hours. However it was long enough point alarm system for the two for friendships to be renewed. fire sirens at the base, which will Visits were exchanged betweeri function simultaneou lYe shore and ship and reciprocal hospi- 262 ANTARCTIC March, 1966 iality was on the usual scale. Al­ meteorological observers R. M. F. though, it was noticed that Kiwi Craig and D. Paul!. These men had personnel seemed to succumb completed an eight en month tour. rather rapidly to the Russian The picket ships USS liP. J. Gary" national beverage, one member of and VSS "Calcaterra" have through­ the station party was so imbued out the season pr vided an unfail­ that he disdained the transport pro­ ing mail service. Supplies and per­ vided and decided to walk home sonnel were carri d and unloaded, from the ship; he proved to be often in unsuitable conditions. This mortal after all! co-operation and support has been The last picket ship called at the much appreciated by all con­ end of February and uplifted two cerned. Auckland slands Expedition 1966

The scientific expedition to the of birds probably a number of Auckland Islands of which the "firsts". One notable capture was original plans were outlined in the a small rail, an elusive bird thought last issue of "Antarctic" returned to be extinct, or at least known to Dunedin on February S. Owing only from inconclusive sight to the mishap of propeller damage records. in McMurdo Sound, H.M.N.Z.S. "Endeavour" was not available for NORTHERN PARTY transport, and the project would A last-minute change was made have had to be abandoned had it in the con1position of the northern not been for a generous offer of party as W. Groenestein who was the Deep Freeze authorities and to have been radio operator was Lieut. Comander Earl to convey unable to go. As Colin Clark was the parties both ways in V.S.S. able to take over the operating HCalcaterra". This meant a shorter duties, the replacement was R. H. time in the field than originally Taylor, an animal ecologist from planned, the ocean station duty the D:S.I.R. He had already partici­ time for the picket ship being three pated in two earlier expeditIons to weeks, but in the event it proved study the distribution and behaviour to be worthwhile. of introduced mammals, especially rabbits, and his programme in­ SOUTHERN PARTY volved field camping for several days on Enderby and Rose Islands. The southern party, with Dr. E. A special study of the large tree J. Godley as leader, after being de­ daisy, Olearia lyalli, by the botanist layed for 24 hours by high winds B. Fineran, also required field camp in Carnley Harbour, set up camp establishment, mainly on Ewing on Adams Island. Field camps Island. Essential communication established on the tops enabled the from Ranui Cove was maintained members to explore the main ridge with a 10' 6" dinghy and outboard and points on the south coast in motor. The Dominion 'Museum pro­ spite of much persistent low cloud. gramme in entomology and ornith­ The boat, operated by B. D. Bell ology was conducted from IRanui and T. Kendrick, was used for trips Cove and the main work of the to the adjacent main island, an northern party, the restoration of extension especially important for the field station buildings, was com­ the studies of geologist Peter Rick­ pleted by the sustained effort of wood. The large collections of the carpenter, K. 'Bum, assisted by plants, and of insects and 'other in­ C. Clark. This camp is now reason­ vertebrates contain many new ably equipped for the use of future records from Adams Island and the field parties. Weather conditions photographs and sound recording throughout the period ranged from March. 1966 ANTARCTIC 263 very good to very bad but there was luckily no delay in embarka­ WIALING SUMP tion and the varied collections were Figures published in the Decem­ brought back intact for working up. ber issue of Norsk Hvalfangst­ Tidende (the Norwegian Whaling Gazette) highlights the spectacular TRAI ING THE RESCUE decline in Antarctic pelagic whaling TEAMS activities over the past few years. FACTORY SHIPS For several summers now teams 1963-64 1964-65 1965-66 of New Zealand mountaineers have Norway 4 4 2 been training Americans at Mc­ Japan 7 7 5 Murdo in the techniques of ice and V.S.,S.R...... 4 4 3 snow. Netherlands 1 This year the pupils have been seven members of the tough Ameri­ Total ...... 16 15 10 can para-rescue team, whose job it is to find aircraft accident sur­ The numbers of chasers engaged vivors in the "backwoods" of An­ has fallen from 190 in 1963-64 and tarctica and to get both the sur­ 172 in 1964-65 to 128 in the season vivors and themselves back to Mc­ just closed. Murdo alive. All team members are qualified parachutists and the New FEWER WHALERS Zealand-run survival school was the The number of men engaged in coping-stone of their arduous the season 1965/66 is 11,140 as com­ training. pared with 14,728 men in the pre­ ceding season. There is thus a de­ The New Zealanders this summer cline of 3,588 men, apportioned as were Wynn Croll of Christchurch, follows: Max Pemberton of Wellington and Allan ,Berry of Auckland, who gave Norwegian personnel 885 up their summer vacations to Japanese personnel 1,922 "teach" the Americans in the An­ D.S.'S.R. personnel 700* tarctic. Croll, who has been an in­ Other personnel 81 structor on previous occasions and Total decline compared has also been a member of a New with 1964/65 ...... 3,588 Zealand field party, said that he * Estimated. had deliberately chosen the exercise The decline is due to the fact area because of the type of country. that the Norwegian factory ships After some days spent on such HSir James Clark Ross" and HThors­ techniques as cutting snow and ice hovdi", the Japanese factory ships steps and the use of crampons and HNisshin 'Maru \No. 2" and HKyo­ pitons, the party moved to the kuyo :Maru No. 2" and the D.S.S.R. slopes of Mt. Erebus in a tempera­ factory ship HSlava" did not take ture of 40 degrees below zero and part in the whaling operations in a 40 mile an hour wind. Here an the present season. aircraft was presumed to have There has since 1956/57 been a crashed and the para-rescue men reduction of 6,318 in the number of had realistic practice, including Norwegian personnel alone on the rescuing men from deep crevasses. whaling expeditions. The conditions were such that it QUOTAS took the party four hours to cover the five-mile journey to the "crash" The official press release from the site. . 17th meeting of the International Whaling Commission held in Lon­ don, June 28-July 2, 1965, includes For the first time Russian ex­ this paragraph: plorers are using radar to deter­ No quota of Blue Whale units for mine Antarctic ice depth and have the 1964-65 season had been agreed found the ice cover to be nearly at the 16th Meeting but at the 6,000 feet in an area about 60 mile Special 'Meeting in May 1965 Com­ from lMirn . missioners had agreed to recom- 264 ANTARCTIC March, 1966

mend to their Governments that the WHALER IN TROUBLE quota for the 1965-66 Antarctic sea­ ItVodny Transport", Moscow, re­ son should be 4,500 Blue Whale ported on February 5: The whaler Units and that further reduction ItKomsomolets Ukrainy" lost a should ,be made in the 1966-67 and blade from her propeller when 1967-68 seasons so that the quota cruising near Antarctic shores. In­ for the 1967-68 season would be less stead of being towed into the than the 'combined sustainable nearest port as i customary, to yields of the fin and sei wha!e have a nevl propeller fitted, the stocks as determined on the 'baSIS ship's crew decided to fit a spare o more scientific evidence. At the propeller themselves with the help present meeting this rc:commen.da­ of experienced skin divers. H~w­ tion of the Special MeetIng was Im­ ever, something went wro.ng WIth plemented by an amendment of the the explosive charge WhICh was schedule which was proposed. by supposed to dislodge the prope.Her the Commissioner for the UnIted from the shaft. At the same tIme Kingdom and seconded by the the weather deteriorated and huge Commissioner for Canada. The icebergs began to threaten the ship. amendment was to delete in Para­ Help had to be summoned from graph' "8(a) the words HI0,000 blue Mirny. In spite of bad weather ~nd whale uni s in 1963-64" and add very low clouds a plane carryIng 41 45 500 blu whale units in 1965-66. Th~re the necessary explosive charges and shall be further reductions other equipment managed to spot for the years 1966-67 and 1967-68 the little ship and drop the well­ that will assure that the total catch packed material into the sea. The for 1.967-68 will be less than the next day "Komsomolets Ukrainy" combined sustainable yields of the was able to leave the Antarctic fin and sei stocks as detennined on shore \vith its new propeller. the basis of more precise scientific evidence." On being put to the v,ote all 12 Commissioners present 'were found WINTER FLIGHT to be in favour of the amendment. Readers will regret the necessi~y CONS·ERV TION PLAN for this postscript* to the story In REJECTED our September 1964, issue about the As Russia has rejected a scheme first midwinter flight made to to .conserve sperm whale stocks, bring out an American who had ~ee suffered a neck injury with conse­ Wtistern Australia may again quent paralysis of arms and leg~. fleets of 'whale chasers operatIng "This spectacular act of huma!u­ off the south coast of the state: tarianism did a great deal to buIld Russia and Japan, the two gIaJ?t morale among the isolated parties whaling nations, had 90 days In on the continent: unfortunately which to ratify a majority agree­ however, nothing can be done to ment of the International Whal!ng rebuild a lacerated spinal cord." Convention aimed at protectIng (In an article by Dr Richard U. Light in sperm whales from fleet whalers o the Geographical Review, vo!. 56. o. 1 b tween the, latitudes of 40 N. and January 1966). 40 0 S. Russia rejected the proposal only two days befor~ the 90-d.ay Hmit expired. Japan dId not ratIfy ') the agreement within the 90 d?-ys. • Both countrips had voted agarq.st CAN YOU SPARE A COpy OF the Australian motion to restryct VOLUME 3, NUM,BER 7 sperm .whaling inside the 4,800-m.I1e­ wide belt to land-based companIes. SEPTEMBER 1963 The D.S.S.R. fleet raised a storm We appreciate the forwarding of of A.ustralian protest by hunting off a few copies of vol. 3, no. 5, enabl­ the south· coast of Western Aus­ ing us to fulfil outstanding orders. tralia in March 1965 when on t~e Now vol. 3, no. 7 is completely sold return voyag.e'· from the AntarctIC out. If you can help, it will be whaling grounds. appreciated. March. 1966 AN .T ARC TIC 265

graphical Society Lecturer in geo­ THE VETERANS graphy at Cambridge, a few years later Reader and finally in 1931 the FRANK DEBENHAM first professor in the new Depart­ FRANK DEBENHAM, O.B.E., ment of Geography, a post which he geologist to Scott's Terra Nova An­ held until he retired in 1949. His tarctic expedition of 1910-13, Emeri­ interests in geography by no means tus Professor of Geography at the ended there, for he then travelled University of Cambridge, founder ~xtensively in central Africa, explor­ and first Director of the Scott Ing the resource's of the Bangweolu Polar Research Institute, died in Swamp and producing an important Cambridge on November 23, 1965, work on the water resources of the after a long period of ill-health. region. He was born on December 26, Meanwhile his interests in polar 1882, son of the vicar of Boural, matters continued and eventually New South Wales. After leaving came to concrete fulfillment in the King's School, Paramatta, he went establishment of the Scott Polar on to take an Arts degree at the Research Institute.in Cambridge, of University of Sydney in 1904, then which he was founder, and between taught for a period while saving 1915 and 1946, first Director. His enough money to return to uni­ many published works included versity and gain a B.Sc. in geology Terra Nova expedition reports and in 1910. Soon afterwards, Scott other scientific papers, pop-ular visited Australia on his way south, books on the polar regions, prac­ and invited Debenham to join his tical manuals _of -surveying, and a expedition. He took part" in the biography of David Livingstone. Western Journey to the Granite For all this. however, no one who Harbour area in 1911-12, when in knew Deb ever doubted but that addition to his geological work, he the man himself was greater than made a plane table map of the his achievements. He was the most route and many detailed measure­ good-hearted of men, the most re­ ments of glaciers-work that had ceptive of -listeners, never without an important influence on his later time to welcome. to encourage and career. He was a member of the to give practical help. He was a party which made the first ascent modest :man though he knew his of Mount Erebus in December, 1912 worth, and an honest man to whom (though not of the final assault all pretensions were equally foreign. party). He also took over the He' had a spirit that reacted with photography work of the expedition enthusiasm to every new challenge after Ponting left. - and a mind of endless inventiveness. At the end of the expedition he After a lifetime'of physical exertion came to Cambridge to work up his he accepted the confinement of in­ results -and was in the midst of this validism wi.th uncomplaining resig­ when the Great War began. He nation; and spent his-last years sit­ joined the 7th Oxford and Bucks ting at his table, working, talking, Light Infantry, becoming a maior reading, planning. and seeing service in Salonika -Max Forbes. where he was seriously ,vounded. J. H. H. PIRIE After the ,var, he returned to Cambridge to continue his Terra Dr J. H. Harvey Pirie died re­ Nova reports to which was added cently at the age ,of 86. He was the the task of working up all the ex­ geologist, bacteriologist and medi­ pedition charts, as the cartographer cal officer of the Scottish National had been drowned in 1915. Deben~ Antarctic Expedition, 1902-4, under ham was the only person with the W. S. Bruce in the "Scotia". Dr local knowledge and the skill to Pirie was one of the three co­ complete the charts and so car­ authors of The Voyage of the tography, which had been his "Scotia", contributing four of the hobby, became his chief occupation. 17 chapters, including the chapter In 1919 he became Royal ,Geo.. on HSledge and Boat Journeys." 1.06 ANTARCTIC March. 1966 WINTERING OVER

B)" ALISON SANSON

Over Arrival Heights and above the memorial, A white light charged with stillness Appears, stands in the skies, moves, And swiftly vanishes away. Like a signal A whine from the dog-lines, And scarecrow shapes rise from the snow-drift, Shake frozen manes a-jingle; Glass dogs whimper at the lights re-forming. Then old pack instinct stirs in tl1e huskies, One after another, their were-wolf baying Rises along the snow slope, Howling of fangs, torn flesh, And ancient slaughter. What is the matter? Muffled and hooded A man comes out to the darkness. Through the lighted door before him Steps his drunken shadow. A shout fr01n within, the door closes, And he is engulfed under the dark horizons Great frosts have 1Ivelded to the starlight. He breathes the air harsh as iron filings. Ice masked he goes Bridled by beard and eyebrows, His big felt boots soft as bear pads A1akin~ muffle and screech at each footfall Over the frost-grit's dry vvhite fire. Where can he go? The land half revealed reels backwards. To the south sleeps the wind, . And under the bay-ice the dark sea is quiet. Winter holds a headlock on its tides. But what skies What stars burning like cold blue n1etha. One n1an under their wheeling- ,"'here can he go in a land Where dark is for ever? What did he come out for? Thoughts unrelated and without ernotion Form in his n1ind and like an aurora Shift, re-shape and vanish, Playinf!. across his isolation in a dull longing. For cold suffers no loyalties to grieve him. Soon nothing stirs but a weary wonder At the stillness, the vibrant clarity Of a land gone under the heel of the world. .4imless he pads ,down to the d;og-lines Where the huskles were howllng; Then fin.ds he has nothing to do there. March, 1966 ANTARCTIC 267

So back to the huts and someone playing Blues drowsily on the piano, The others still as he left then?, The warm, known slnell of living, His out reaching unsolved, Work again. THE READER WRITES Sidelights of Antarctic Research Letters, preferably not longer than 500-600 words, are invited from readers who have observed some little known facet of Antarctic life or who have reached conclusions of interest on some Antarctic problem.-Ed. FIRST YACHT? peditions. These are the high de­ Sir, gree of maintenance which such With reference to the article in equipment would require and the relatively costly fuel and related your issue vo!. 4, no. 4J entitled IIYacht in Far South." During my logistic support which would be in­ sojourn at Mawson in 1963, several volved in sustained Antarctic opera­ of my team and myself who were tions. keen yachtsmen converted a 14-foot Hovercraft are aircraft, not dinghy to a sailing vessel, com­ ground or oversnow vehicles. Ex­ plete with Gaff Sail, Lee Boards, peditions \vhich plan to use Hover­ RUdder, etc., and enjoyed several craft must be prepared to accept exciting and interesting tours sail-­ the financial and logistic burdens ing in Horseshoe Harbour and East of air operations. Thus, the appar­ Bay amongst crash ice and icebergs. ent advantages of Hovercraft may I have several photographs of this be offset by economic considera­ yacht. Perhaps we may uncover tions. In the V.S. operations in the someone who has sailed a yacht MoMurdo Sound area, for example, below the Antarctic Circle prior to the high volume of cargo and pas­ 1963. sengers which might be transported RAY McMAHO . by Hovercraft can be moved less expensively and more efficiently by [We thank Mr McMahon for this traditional means. This situation information and gladly accept his will prevail for some years to come. offer to provide a photograph. We I cannot share the enthusiasm of thank mm also for his kind com­ some of my colleagues about the ments on IIAntarctic."-Ed.] immediate use of Hovercraft. PHILIP M. S'MITH, HOVERCRAFT Program Director, Sir,- Field Requirements and Several recent issues of IIAntarc­ Co-ordination Program tic" have carried notes on the use V.S. Office of Antarctic Program. of Hovercraft in Antarctica. Your comments in the December issue * * touched upon one of the important INDEX VOL. 3? problems associated with this new BINDING? equipment, namely, the capital in­ vestment. There are two other fac­ A must for all who have a tors in Hovercraft operations that continuing interest in the Hmit their usefulness on an opera­ Antarctic. tional basis in toda 's 'Antarctic ex- See last issue p. 215. 268 ANTARCTIC March. 1966

Is Antarctic Tourism Here?

Lars-Eric Lindblad, Swedish-born New York tr' vel agent, has organised and carried through an Antarctic tourist cmise described by one of the women passengers as "a fabulous experience."

Widely advertised as IlAntarctic c;nrertainment with an eight-man Expedition 1966", the "Antarctic" band and visits from station per­ section of the cruise was made on sonnel. Series of optional lectures a converted Argentine Navy troop­ were arranged on the history of ship the m.s. "Lapataia". Fifty­ Ant arc tic exploration, marine seven p'assengers, all but four of biology, meteorology, ornithology, them Americans and a majority of wild-life conservation, geology and them women (one aged 86), paid glaciology. Lectures were scheduled the $2,800.00 to $3,000.00 fee, which for two hours in the morning and included air transport (Boeing 707) two hours in the afternoon. Films both ways between New York and and slides were used to give the Buenos Aires. Veteran Antarctic background for these lectures. As traveller Finn 'Ronne, evidently (by a trump c'ard the promoters pointed the attention paid him in the out: "Being aboard an Argentine colourful brochure) regarded as a ship you may be sure to get plenty draw-card, gave daily lectures to of the finest beef in the world", the tourists. A minimum of Antarc­ and 'the whole tour is described as tic clothing was provided: pants, a "fabulous opportunity to share parka and mittens, as well as medi­ the fascination which surrounds ex­ cal atention. But the prospective ploration and to be one of the few tourists were advised to take -very few indeed-to have set foot "plenty of dramamin or bonamin in Antarctica." for the crossing of Drake's P'assage, The cruise ship returned to which may be rough". Buenos Aires on schedule and the Actually the tour covered only the tourists flew back to New York on northern tip of the Antarctic Penin­ February 11. To reporters Mr Lind­ sula, some 600 miles from South blad saId: "This trip proved that America. After two or three days Antarctic tourism is possible", but in Buenos Aires and about the same added: liNo ship can get that far time in Ushuaia, the vessel was down without Navy help and no scheduled to cross Drake Passage insurance company will make out on January 21. The tourists would a policy at reasonable rates because then spend a fortnight cruising to of the fierce winds, storms and Smith and Melchior Islands, Grous­ pack-ice ... The "Lapataia" was sac and Palmer Stations, 'Deception always accompanied by the ocean Island (British, Chilean and Argen­ tug-boat It Irigoyen", and the ice­ tinian stations), Half Moon Bay, breaker "San Martin" was ne er Lassere and Hope Bay, before re­ far away". turning to Buenos Aires via Ush­ Mr Lindblad said he was plan­ uaia." Apart from a holdup of 36 ning tvvo more Antarctic trips for hours in Tierra del Fuego for re­ 1967, which he estimates will net pairs to the shin's genprator and A.rgentina about $500,000 worth of the fact that conditions did not per­ revenue. Argentina, he says, is the mit a crossing of the Antarctic only country able to exploit Antarc­ Circle, the tour seems to have gone tic tourism, no doubt because of a .planned. her proximity to Antarctic bases Visits ashore at the various and the relative ease with which stations by the three motor launches Navy protection can. be provided. carrie'd were diversified by nightly Mrs Bessie Sweeney, the 86-year- March, 1966 ANTARCTIC 269

ANTARCTIC BOOKSHELF~

If you have not already got Cherry-Garrard's "The Wo r s t "ANTARCTICA" Journey in the World" on your shelves, here is your chance. Chatto SOME REVIEWERS' COMMENTS and Windus have published a new one-volume edition (1965) which is Readers may like to know what prefaced by a 30-page memoir of is being said about the Society's Cherry-Garrard by George Seaver, new treatise "Antarctica". Here, well-known as the author of from the many (all favourable) re­ biographies of Wilson, Scott and views we have seen, are a few ex­ Bowers. The New Zealand price is cerpts from the comments of re­ 37/-. viewers in three maJor periodicals. Times Science Review, Winter 1965. "Almost by accident the New Zealand Society has found itself LA POBLACION RES ID ENT E organising by far the best survey HABITUAL de ANTARTIDA AR­ yet of Antarctica and getting all GENTINA 1904-1960 by J. C. M. the authors they might want to Beltramino. work for them. It began as an in­ tended mid-century survey which, Dr Beltramino, well known to published in 1952, came at the right American and British Common­ interval before the International wealth Antarctic men, has made a Geophysical Year to make its mark. special study of Antarctic popu­ Now, with a new survey made lation problems, and in this 14 page necessary by all the research that cyclostyled report published in New has been done in the interval, the York last year he assembles some Society has probably acquired the very interesting information about job for good. No one else now the "permanent" (year round) would dare compete." population of the Antarctic Penin­ sula area, from the establishment The review in the Times Edu­ of the meteorological station on cational Supplement ends, It ••• Laurie Island in the South Orkneys a book of wide scope, attractively in 1904, to 1960. For some 40 years written and produced, yet essential­ the total population in the area ly scholarly, and one which should varied between 4 and 6, rising certainly find a place in the school sharply from 1944 onwards (17,29,36, library." 55,82) and again between 1952 and The New Scientist, which, like the 1958 (114,130,132,182,208,300,304). In Times Science Review, gave "An­ 1958 (the I.G.Y. year) the total An­ tarctica" top billing, said: "To 'sur­ tarctic "resident" popula.tion was vey the present state of knowledge' 891. of this great area, after so much Dr Beltramino tells us that the has been done there, is a major density of population in the Antarc­ undertaking and 'Antarctica' suc­ tic Peninsula area in 1960 was ceeds amazingly well in the attempt 0.00019 per square kilometre. ... 'Antarctica' reviews all these fields remarkably well. With so broad a coverage, even a large book cannot probe any topic in sufficient depth for the research specialist in old, in an article written for the that particular field. But the Associated Press said that the trip volume is i n v a I u a b 1e if that through the Le Maire Strait in specialist wishes to find out what splendid sunshine had been the has been done in fields other than highlight of all her travels around his own, and so set his work in the world. context. It will also prove invalu- 246 ANT ARC TIC March, 1966 hi of Br·lis I relic urvey Eo]o ee-Free a e s With not much ice about, the summer relief operations of the Briti h Antarctic Survey in the Antarctic Peninsula area and at HaIle Bay have gone well. BAD START about by helicopter and accom­ plished a long awaited survey re­ The I4Shackleton" reached the connaissance of the Cape Rater F lklands on November 2 and sailed area. for South Georgia five days later. H re she re-fuelled the Government NO TROUBLE WITH ICE station at Grytviken and landed a two-man geological party. Upon By now it was apparent that ice arrival in the South Orkneys she en­ off the west coast of the Peninsula countered pack ice and had to force w~s dispersing early and that the h r way through to the base on ShIpS would have no difficulty in Signy Island. That she had incurred entering Marguerite Bay. For the slight damage was not apparent three men stranded on Detaille Is­ until she ran into bad weather on land this was good news. After four passage to relieve Deception Island months of inactivity they could look and to land a geomorphology and forward to an early return to base biology field group in the South by ship. Whilst the 14John Biscoe" Shetlands. Heavy seas forced water sailed direct for Adelaide the into the forward hold and much "Shackleton" diverted to Detaille of the cargo for Deception and Ar­ Island to pick the men up. Though gentine Islands was ruIned. Replace­ there was ice in the 'Matha Strait ment stores were promptly ordered the passage down the coast of Adel­ and will be delivered before the aide Island was clear and the two end of the season, but the ship lost ships met again in the anchorage the time allotted to magnetometer near base. Stonington and Adelaide work in the area of the Burdwood were accordingly relie ed and re­ Bank. Subsequently, however, her supplied in good tinle. The programme has largely gon~ a~cord­ tlShackleton" went north leaving ing to plan. Two ShIp seIsmIC re­ the "John Biscoe" to take advant­ fraction measurements with H.M.S. age of the ice free conditions by "Protector" in the vicinity of the carrying on with hydrographic sur­ South Orkneys took place on time vey for as long as possible. The De and then she helped the South Havilland Otter had, in the mean­ Shetlands field party by moving time, been hard at work supporting them from one location to another. the field party working on the east In the meantime both the "John coast of the Peninsula and on the Biscoe" and H.M.S "Protector" had plateau. With the arrival of new reached the Falklands and sailed men and supplies it could now turn south. The "John Biscoe" re-sup­ to reconnaissance and building up plied Signy bef?re starting hydro... depots for the spring of 1966. graphic survey In the western ap­ proaches to the South Orkney HALLEY BAY RELIEVED using Hi-Fix. T.hough at first incon­ venienced by Ice she completed a Over at Halley Bay four of the valuable amount of work before re"­ field party returned to base in De­ turning to Stanley to re-fuel. H.IM.S. cember leaving three men behind "Protector" joined the 14Shackleton" in the Heimfrontfjella to continue for seismic work and then sailed working until autumn. The HKista for the Bransfield Strait where she Dan" arrived on January 25 to re­ moved the South Shetlands part lieve and re-supply the base. She 270 ANTARCTIC March. 1966 able to the geographer, and to the ANTARCTIC MAPS AND SURVEYS non-polar sCIentist, who wishes to 1900-1964 obtain a sound, balanced impres­ sion of the work of his colleagues in t.he far south. As a whole, the American Geographical Society book is well-balanced, national con­ tributions are fairly treated, the F?lio 3 in the An.tarctic Map Folio chapters are competent, accurate ~er~es of the AmerIcan Geographical and well documented (and only SOcIety has recentlY become avail­ locally suffering from the scrappi­ able under the tI le of tlAntarctic ness inevitable in broad reviews), ~aps and Surveys, 1900-1964". This and the illustrations are good, even IS an exhaustive compilation of the though some maps have suffe,red mapping aChieved by all nations in greatly from over-reduction. There that period, illustrated for easy are gratifyingly few errors. Trevor reference upon blanks of the contl­ Hatherton and his colleagues are l1:ent with the nec~ssary informa­ to be congratulated on providing tIon. as to the avaIlabilIty of any an excellent general handbook of partIcular map. Naturally in so Antarctic research, and one that is comprehensive a reference, no maps a worthy successor to his SocietyIS or even sample plates of maps are earlier manual, The Antarctic To­ appended. The plates are introduced by .a 3,000 word text by Geo. D. day." vybItmore, Chief Topographic En­ REPORTS RECEIVED gIn~eT of the. U..~. Geological Survey, WhICh organIsatIon has assisted the The DistrIbution of Planktonic American Geographical Society in Foraminifera in Deep-Sea Cores the production of this valuable from the Southern Oce'an, Antarc­ re~

UPhysical Characteristics of the An­ cative of the extent of geological tarctic Ice Sheet." work in Antarctica and more volumes like the present one must J. H. MILLER. be expected. Anderson's paper is (The folio may be consulted at the office esentially a resume-he is not led of the Antarctic Di ision, 124 Ghuznee Street, into fields of his own speculation­ Wellington). and for that reason is comparable with Warren's paper on -Geology in Antarctica, 1965, but more detailed and more extensive. It does succeed GEOLO,GY AND PALEONTOLOGY in what Anderson set out to do Hto edited b Jarvis B. Hadley. fulfil the need of a comprehensive 281 pp. 122 figs 20 plates, 4 fold­ synthesis of the literature ... and ing maps. Vo!. 6 Antarctic Research a summary of the present (1962) Series. American Geophysical Union stage of knowledge". 1965. Price $14.00 (U.S.). The Ohio Range of the Horlick Mountains, geologically a most (Reviewed by Dr R. W. Willett, intere ting area, is dealt with fully N.Z. Geological Society) by three papers, one in which the entire fossil fauna from the Hor­ Following close on the heels of lick Formation (Lower Devonian) is the SCAR Geology Symposium 1963 described. William E. Lang de­ Volume comes a very welcome addi­ scribes the stratigraphy of the area tion to our shelves, a number of in a well illustrated paper, which collected papers by United States includes lengthy discussion on the workers (ten in all) on geology and Buckeye Tillite, its nature and paleontology of several areas scat­ origin and direction of ancient tered over the continent. Particu­ movement. His discussion will be larly of interest are the papers deal­ of interest to all who have been ing with the area of V.S. activity concerned with the tillite problem. between Queen Maud 'Range and The fact that the Buckeye Forma­ Edith Ronne Land. tion meets most of the diagnostic New Zealand readers are by now features laid down by Schwartz­ familiar with the extensive geologi­ bach (1963) causes Lang to describe cal work carried out in Victoria it as a tillite. Lang accepts other Land south to the Queen Maud tillites as such described from other Range in the Trans-Antarctic Moun­ localities but the lithology of the tains but will be unfamiliar with Mawson "tillite" causes him to the work on Horlick, Thiel and doubt its origin. The igneous and Pensacola Mountains. Likewise, New metamorphic rocks of the Ohio Zealand geologists will welcome the range are described by Samuel B. volume for its account of the Travers and included are three iso­ geology of some of the lesser known tope ages averaging 'approximately areas. Paleontologists too will find 482 m.y. suggesting batholithic in­ the fauna from the Horlick Forma­ vasion during Cambrian to Ordo­ tion of the Ohio Range fully de'­ vician times. James M. Schopf de­ scribed and illustrated. scribes the anatomy of the axis in a petrified specimen of vertebriia The olume opens with a Sum­ collected from the Ohio Range in mary of Exploration (1831-1962) of 1961/62 from Mount Glossopteris Bedrock Geology of Antarctica. This Formation. resume by John T. Anderson is ex­ tensively comprehensive, listing no A further paper on fossil conchos­ less than 320 references, but re.. traca from coal measures of the stricted as its title indicates and it Ohio mountain is by S. A. Doumani omits the quaternary geology of the and Paul T'asch. area. Thi is in contra t to Har­ A final paleontological paper b rington's review, 1965, in Bio­ nine authors is devoted to the geography and Ecology in Antarc­ Lower De onian Fauna of the Hor­ tica. The fact that such reviews of lick Formation, Ohio Range. Thi , the geology now exist is it elf indi- well illustrated b 18 excell nt 272 ANTARCTIC March, 1966 plates, illustrates the various sec­ meridian at bottom. One thing is tions of this paper, namely Bracho­ noted, that not all papers give the poda, Byroza, Gastropoda, Pe1e­ measurement in metres but this is cypoda, Crincoconarida, Trilobita an inconsistency in Ant arc tic and a fish plate. No less than 118 geology to which we here in pages of this volume are devoted to New Zealand must plead guilty. the geology and paleontology of the With more and more such volumes Ohio R'ange. and special issues on Antarctic The geology of Mount Weaver geology likely to appear surely here area at the head of Robert Scott on the scientific continent we can Glacier is described by Doumani use the accepted scientific measure­ and Minshew. Formations are de­ ment units. scribed but wisely no formation names given; they are correlated NEW SNOW CAR with others already described from the Trans-Antarctic Mountains. The tlSnow Volks", the vehicle de­ signed by former colonel, Parker B. A further contribution to the Mudge, for use in the Antarctic, geology of the Trans-Antarctic could not be tested this season, as Mountains is a study of some previously intended, because of samples of basement complex rock transport problems between New collected from the Queen Maud Zealand and McMurdo. Mountains between Liv and Amund­ sen Glaciers. Extensive testing of the proto­ type Snow Yolks was made in 'New Two other major contributions: Zealand's Southern Alps. It is not one the geology of the Mount Gran designed to replace the tracked ve­ area and one the General Bernardo hicles already proven in the snow O'Higgins area. The Mount Gran and ice but to offer a fast (35 .paper by Minsky, Trever and Cal­ m.p.h.), easily adaptable supple­ kin, confines itself to the strati­ mentary vehicle for the use of graphy and petrography of the travel between bases, short scien­ Beacon Sandstone Group and the tific or exploratory trips by two to Ferrar Dolerite. This is an import­ four men or short haul operations, ant paper for here Minsky dis­ with a reliable, easy to maintain cusses the Beacon based on meas­ and economical converted car. ured sections in Mount Gran area. Mechanical analyses and heavy By altering the hand brake of the mineral studies form a part. The conventional Volkswagen, braking is second, that of O'Higgins area by possible on either or both of the Halpeen, describes the geology of rear wheels, to control wheel sQin an area that has been isolated for in soft snow and to aid steering operational reasons from the FIDS or as an emergency replacement for programme. The paper is, like all the foot brake. The fibre glass skis others in this volume, well illus­ stood up to hard use during tests, trated. The final paper is by R. L. showing very few scratches after Cameron on the Vanderford Sub­ some very rough treatment. On marine Valley at Vincennes Bay hard wind-packed snow rubber near Wilkes Station, East Antarc­ tyred dual wheels appear to be the tica. This valley is about 24 km answer, giving better traction than long and has a maximum depth of a four-wheel drive vehicle. 2,287 metres, decreasing seawa:rds to 1,829 metres. I t is similar but deeper than that of the Northwest Fjord THE LAST LINK of Scoresby Sound, Greenland, p're­ Tangible ,contact between the sently regarded as the deepest fjord. men to winter at Scott Base and The volume is clearly and cleanly their friends in New Zealand was printed with excellent diagrams and ended for the winter when U.S.IN.S. each paper has a standard Antarctic HWyandot" sailed from McMurdo locality map consistently set in the on March 3. She was due to reach now accepted convention of 0 0 Lyttelton on March 9 en route for meridian at top of sheet and 180 0 the United States. . e ew Zea n An arc ic QC ey is a gro,up of ew Zealanders, many of whom have seen Antarctica for themsel es, and all of whom are vitally interested in some phase of Antarctic exploratio,n, develop.ment, or research. Yo re in ited to become a member. The membership fee include ubscription to "Antarctic." BAC SECRETA IES ellington: W. J. P. Macdonald, Box 2110, Wellington. Can rbu : Mrs. E. F. Cross, 34 Clissold St., Christchurch 1.

\\ TARCTIC" is published quarterly in March, June, September, and December. Subscription for non-members of the Antarctic Society, £1. Apply to tIle Secretary, ew Zealand Antarctic Society, p.a. Box 2110, Wellington, New Zealand.

OUT OF PRI T Volume 1, numbers 1 and 9; Volume 2, numbers 3, 4, 7, 8, 9; Volume 3, numbers 5, 7. are OUT OF PRI T. Some others are in very short sup,ply. Copies of available iSSlles may be obtained from the Secretary of the Societ , Box 2110, Wellington, at a cost of 5/- per copy. Indexes for volumes 1 and 2 are also available, price 2/6 each index. An index for olume 3 ha been prepared and is now a ailable. rice 3/-.

OCIETY TIES The .Z. Antarctic Societ tie is now available. The design is similar to those used for the ties of kindred organisations in the United Kingdom and Australia. The dark blue background, light blue and white stripes and motif of penguills and kiwis provide a striking pattern, yet a reserved note is retained over all. Tie are available t11rough ,Z. and Brancll Secretaries of the Society at a cost of 17/6.

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