flNiTflRCljIE A NEWS BULLETIN published quarterly by the NEW ZEALAND ANTARCTIC SOCIETY (INC) .*• <*% Registered at Post Office Headquarters, Vol.10, No. 3 "Wellington. New Zealand, as a magazine. September, 1983 SOUTH GEORGIA. SOUTH SANDWICH Is' / S O U T H O R K N E Y l l / \ ^ S i g n y l u K , ^Swe s^^NoyoUiittvikava u s s r / / o O r u d i s a r & (Syowa japan \ ecrf SOUTH AMERICA Boro'a r~^«"Molode7hnaya \^ SOUTH . m. r\ *r\ussR ^\ SHETLAND i Jl* 1 E N O E R B Y \ ) ^ ^ \ / S E A U K J C O AT S U LAND T>^ \ s Drwhnaya^General Belgranp arg sX\ Mawson AVTARCTIC'V^- MAC ROBERTSON LANjA \ *usi /PENINSULA'^ (set mip twlowl ^a. Sobral arc Dayis aust South Pol* _i/_ Siple — 1—y—— 1 U S A Amundsen-Sam I OUEEN MARY LAND 4Mimy a [ELLSWORTH" LAND * U S A / / i T i U S S R °Vos1ok ussr y R o s ^ - i i . / MARIE BYRD i> Ice Shelf Y>C LAND WILKES LAND Sarnj^U, > ROSS|N2i? V'n,tar' sea I j^v/vicroRiA .vO^ / LANDLAND > Y/ GEORGE V LdL. Oumont (f Urville i ranc t Lemngradsfcaya USSR ,- ANTARCTIC PENINSULA 1 Teniente Matienzo arg 2 Esptranza arg 3 Almirante Brown arg 4 Petrel arg 5 Decepcion arg ANTARCTICA 6 Vicecomodoro Marambio arg * 7 A/turo Prat cmii.i WO IOOO Miks 8 Bernardo O'Higgins emit 9 P r e s i d e n i e F r e i e m u ( \ WOO Kilometre 10 Stomngton I u« I! 11 Adelaide I u« r [abbreviations | 12 Argentine Is u» arc argentina 1 3 P a l m e r u s * f aust australia 14 Bellingshausen ussr - S A SOUTH Af RICA UK UNaCO KINGDOM lorsen USA UNITED STATES O* AMERICA USS-R UNION Or SOVIET SOCIAUS' Ice Shell RF PUBLICS (successor to 'Antarctic News Bulletin') Vol. 10, No. 3. 111th Issue. September, 1983 Editor: J. M. CAFFIN, 35 Chepstow Avenue, Christchurch, 5. Address all contributions, inquiries etc. to the Editor. CONTENTS ARTICLES HALLETT STATION 95-96 POLAR ACTIVITIES NEW ZEALAND 82-94, 120 UNITED STATES 97-102, 114 AUSTRALIA 103-107, 120 UNITED KINGDOM 108-110 ; ■ I INDIA 110 WEST GERMANY 111-112 SOVIET UNION 106, 113 BRAZIL JAPAN GENERAL HANG GLIDING 115 READER WRITES 116-117 POLE JOURNEYS 117 OBITUARIES 118-119 ISSN 0003-5327 New Zealand Antarctic Society (Inc) 1978. 3e reproduced in any >n of the publishers. SsfflPWPlfll ' p**e>m!WWS$m "S^^^-fiW^"'-" I ANTARCTIC September 1983 NEW ZEALAND PLANS FOR SEASON New Zealand's Antarctic research programme for 1983-84 includes the establishment of a base camp and other scientific and logistic preparations for the first stage of the long-term offshore drill ing project Cenozoic Investigations in the Ross Sea (CIROS). Next year two holes will be drilled into the seabed of McMurdo Sound at Butter Point, New Harbour. A study of Hallett Station, the joint United States-New Zealand station established in 1957 and closed early in 1973, will be made to decide weather it can be used again as a scientific base. Mr R. B. Thomson, director of the Antarctic Division, who was station sci entific leader at Hallett in 1960, will lead a joint New Zealand-United States group there in January, and a small team will remain to do some preliminary tidying up and make another report on the feasibility of re-opening the station. New Zealanders will take part in or All the continuous long-term seismic, support projects with United States and geomagnetic, ionospheric, and meteoro Japanese scientists in the dry valleys and logical programmes will be maintained on Mt. Erebus. Five Japanese geochem- at Scott Base. The Meteorological Ser ists will work in the New Zealand pro vice intends to expand its programme at gramme and guest scientists from the the base from 1984-85 onwards and a People's Republic of China and Brazil, technical officer will go south this sum and a logistics expert from Uruguay mer to prepare for the installation of have been invited to participate. Pro specialised instrumentation. fessor Yoshime Ikeda, of the Institute of Scientists from five universities will Oceanography, University of Sao Paulo, undertake a number of field research is the Brazilian visitor, and one of the projects listed elsewhere in this issue. two Chinese representatives is a woman Men and women from the Antarctic geologist, Xie Youyu. The other Chinese Division, Ministry of Works and visitor is a power plant engineer. Development, Geological Survey, This season the New Zealand pro Geophysics Division, Soil Bureau, gramme will call on up to 200 scientists Physics and Engineering Laboratory, and support staff. Most of the projects Meteorological Service, Lands and will be undertaken in the McMurdo Survey Department, Ecology Division, Sound/dry valley region, and on Ross Marine and Freshwater Science Divi Island. But there will be an aerial survey sion, and the Commission for the of Adelie and Emperor penguin colonies Environment will work on a wide range along the North Victoria Land coastline of projects. An Army construction team from McMurdo Sound, and a remote will continue the Scott Base rebuilding geological project in the Ohio Range of programme, and the Post Office riggers cfie Hor&fc Mountains 550 km from the will check aerial installations. South Pole. New Zealand geophysicists Logistic preparations for the first will take part in seismic cruises in the year's drilling next season will be the Ross Sea and off the coast of Wilkes main objective in the long-term offshore Land aboard the United States drilling project Cenozoic Investigations Geological Survey's research vessel in the Ross Sea (CIROS) this summer. Samuel P. Lee. Equipment and building materials September 1983 ANTARCTIC stored at Scott Base last season will be heavy-weight operations on the sea ice moved to Butter Point across the sea ice such as the annual tractor train journey of McMurdo Sound, and a camp will be to Marble Point with supplies for Vanda erected there ready for occupation in Station, CIROS drilling operations from September next year. 1984 to 1986, and sledging routes for CIROS, which is co-ordinated by the scientists working in McMurdo Sound. Antarctic Division and Victoria Univers Complementing CIROS this season ity of Wellington, is a geological drilling will be an international drilling pro programme spanning two seasons. Next gramme in the Lower Taylor Valley summer two holes will be drilled off But designed to decipher the Late Cenozoic ter Point in New Harbour, and in glacial history of the valley as reflected 1985-86 two more holes are proposed in fluctuations of the Ross Ice Sheet. off Cape Roberts near Granite Harbour. Three Americans, Drs Don Elston and To recover a stratigraphic record of Hugh Reick (U.S. Geological Survey) the sediments in McMurdo Sound from and Gary Calderone, and Dr Paul the present day through to pre-glacial Robinson (N.Z. Geological Survey) will times, believed to be in the Cenozoic era work with four New Zealand drillers, 60 million years ago, is the main purpose John Hay and Stephen Pilcher (Antarc of CIROS. The objective is to drill tic Division), Bruce Morris and Warwick through the seabed to a depth between Potter (VUW) on a combination of 280m and 500m. Study of the sub- geological mapping and drilling with bottom cores is expected to throw light detailed paleomagnetic, paleontological, on the development of the Antarctic ice- and geochemical analyses to determine sheet and the rise of the Transantarctic the age, environment of deposition, and Mountains. Scientific results will also be the source of glacial drift sequences in helpful in assessing hydrocarbons in the the Lower Taylor Valley. McMurdo Sound area although that is Last season New Zealand drillers not the purpose of CIROS. using Antarctic Division equipment Preparations for CIROS this season drilled a series of 60m holes between began late last month when John New Harbour and Lake Bonney. A Sandys, the Antarctic Division camp major part of the field work this season construction overseer and Gerald Tay will be to drill six holes between 40 and lor, an assistant maintenance officer, 80 metres in the Lower Taylor Valley. flew south. They will be followed next Two will be in the 1982-83 drilling area month by nine more members of the and four near Lake Fryxell. It is hoped logistic team: Murray Wilson, Keith that at least two holes will penetrate Whitehead (AMOs), Colin Poole, Larry beneath the sediments deposited by the Weller (drillers), three Geophysics Divi Ross Ice Sheet onto the older fiord sion drillers, Leon Olliver, Paul Carroll, sediments beneath. and Dave Clemence, and two New This project will also tie into studies Zealand Army drivers, Chris Mitchell undertaken in the area by the University and John Flintoft. In November Jack of Maine, Ohio State University, and Hoffman, the Geophysics Division's geochemical investigations by Waikato drilling superintendent, will join the University, and the Japanese Polar team. Research Association. Dr Chris Hendy, Every fortnight from this month dur of the Waikato Antarctic research unit, ing the summer season measurements and two of his geochemistry students will be made of the sea ice thickness off will make detailed studies of exposed Cape Armitage, Butter Point, New Har sediments in the Miers and Taylor bour, and Marble Point. Results of the Valleys in association with the inter measurements which will be made by national programme. John Sandys and the two Scott Base dog Once again one of the most remote handlers, Bill Eaton (1982-83) and projects in the programme — a Alasdair Roy (1983-84) will have a bear geological expedition to the Ohio Range ing on the use of tractor trains and other of the Horlick Mountains 1422km from September 1 jjBwjM^ir Ohio Range country: Flat-lying Beacon sediments can be seen at the top of 600m granite cliffs on Darling Ridge in the Ohio Range of the Horlick Mountains where a Canterbury Museum geological expedition led by Margaret Bradshaw will work this season.