HNjTflRCiTilG A NEWS BULLETIN published quarterly by the NEW ZEALAND ANTARCTIC SOCIETY (INC) Eight years of exposure to wind and snow on the Polar Plateau have almost completely buried this United States Navy Hercules in the ice of Wilkes Land. It crashed at 68deg 20min S on December 4 1971 when supporting French traverse. The photograph was taken four years after the crash by another French traverse party. „ Expeditions Polaires Francaises photo Registered at Post Office Headquarters, Wellington, New Zealand, as a magazine. December, 1979 SOUTH GEURGIA SOUTH SANDWICH Is / S U U T H O R K N E Y I s /o Orcadas arg Sanae 5 * Novolazarevskaya ussr i J F A L K L A N D I s / 6 S i g n y l u K \60'W / SOUTH AMERICA ; Syowa japan x \ -/ sa i >r~>yi Molodezhnaya A$ SOUTH a .a p S H E T L A N D * - ^ / Halley Bay*/ DRONNING MAUD LANO [ND[RBY J , ■ / S E A u k J C O A T S I d / L A N D T V ANTARCTIC -\ Dfu^hnaya^XGeneral Belgrano arg / MAC ROBERTSON LANDX /PENINSULA'^- (see map below) r Sobral arc Davis aus' •./_ Siple — j U S A Amundsen-Scott / ouEEN MARY LAND {Mirny ,1 ELLSWORTH USA / Ji USS', fa"I LAND ' . / ° VA o s t o k u s s/ r / . -/ , MARIE BYRD ^ Ro« W L LAND ^^JceShe/f\^' WILKES LAND ROSS|NZt§>Vanaa^ SfA I^r/VICTORS 4P&[ LAND Leningradskaya V USSR,-'' \ - " " * B A L L E N Y I s ANTARCTIC PENINSULA 1 Teniente Matien/o arg 2 Esperanza arg 3 Almirante Brown arg 4 Petrel arg 5 Deception arg 6 Vicecomodoro Marambio arg ' ANTARCTICA 7 Arturo Prat chile 8 Bernardo O'Higgins chile S00 1000 Mitts 9 P r e s i d e r r r e F r e i c h i l e * " 1000 Kilometres 10 Stonington I. uk 13. \ \ A d e l a i d e ) , u k , 12 Argentine Is uk ABBREVIATIONS 13 Palmer us a M Bellingshausen ussa • ' larsen -f iceShelt. 9 (successor to Antarctic News Bulletin' 96th Issue December, 1979 Editor: J. M. CAFFIN, 35 Chepstow Avenue, Christchurch, 5. Address all contributions, inquiries etc. to the Editor. CONTENTS! ARTICLES POLISH SUMMER 427-430 POLAR ACTIVITIES NEW ZEALAND 406-409 UNITED STATES 413-418,420,426 UNITED KINGDOM 421-424 WEST GERMANY 409, 425 SOVIET UNION 426 GENERAL DC10 DISASTER 410-412 BYRD ANNIVERSARY 419 CONSERVATION TROPHY 432 THE READER WRITES 430 OBITUARY 431 ISSN 0003-5327 © New Zealand Antarctic Society (Inc) 1978. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any way without the prior permission of the publishers. ANTARCTIC December 1979 NEW ZEALAND FIELD WORK BEGINS New Zealand's Antarctic research programme for 1979-80, which began officially on October 8, was not materially affected by the Air New Zealand DC 10 crash on Mt Erebus last month. Although the resources of Scott Base were concentrated on the search and recovery operation for 10 days, and pressure on base facilities caused one pro ject to be cancelled, and another to be delayed, the first part of the programme was in full swing by the middle of this month. Five days before the DC10 crash, and trying conditions. Lower tem however, early movement of the annual peratures affected the drilling equip sea ice in McMurdo Sound caused the ment, and the drillers were hampered by abandonment of the largest project broken ground under the seafloor, scat undertaken so far — drilling two holes tered boulders in the mud of the glacial into the seafloor to obtain core samples moraine, and cracks in the strata which of sediments which can provide a record prevented proper circulation of mud and of the early history of Antarctic glacia water in the drill hole. tion. Drillers working from an ice plat There was a sudden emergency on form 22km south-east of Marble Point November 16 when the drillers had and 80m west from Scott Base expected reached a depth of 200m. Drilling stop ;lacial strata beneath ped because the drill bit struck soft mud the seafloor at 280m but were forced to and sand which produced continual stop 50m short of the scientists' target. cave-ins of the drill hole. The solution to Because the drilling programme for the problem was found in New Zealand the project known as the McMurdo — a supply of bentonite clay from north Sound Sediment and Tectonic Study had of Christchurch. to be completed early this month while A consignment of 240kg of bentonite, the sea ice was still firm, the second stage which is used in oil drilling operations, ofthe project also had to be abandoned. was sent south by the first Royal New Another hole was to have been drilled Zealand Air Force Hercules flight to An below the seafloor at a site known as tarctica on November 17. The bentonite MSST2, which is 16km into New was taken 80m over the ice from Scott Harbour near the main drilling supply Base to the drill site, and was pumped depot at Rig Point on the mainland. into the drill hole to provide a firm wall Drilling from the rig at MSSTS 1, and enable the drilling to continue which was established on 2m of sea ice, through the sandy layer deep in the began on October 18. Three days later seafloor. the drill bit passed through 194m of water to reach the seafloor. The first DRILL BIT BENT geological core samples were extracted Drilling stopped completely on the next day, and by November 11 the November 23 when an apparent obstruc drill bit was 168m beneath the seafloor. tion was encountered. Inspection re vealed that the drill bit had been bent to five degrees as a result of movement of ICE PLATFORM the sea ice which put the drilling rig plat Living and working on an ice platform form out of alignment with the drill with 194m of water beneath them, the hole. Although the drillers had reached a Ministry of Works drillers encountered depth of 230m the obstruction occurred substantial problems in cold, difficult, only 6m below the surface. December 1979 ANTARCTIC . ~ • c One of New Zealand's most remote field parties at the beginning of its research in the Ohio Range of the Horlick Mountains 525km from the South Pole. The United States Navy Hercules which landed the party in the area last month is ready to return to McMurdo Station. Mrs Margaret Bradshaw, leader of the party, is in front of the aircraft with the expedition flag. On the left Graeme Ayres, an Antarctic Division field leader, checks the field radio. Antarctic Division photo. Scientists and drillers at MSSTS1, a to move out from Scott Base to the dry joint project by the Antarctic Division, valleys of Southern Victoria Land, the Victoria University of Wellington, and Ellsworth Mountains, the Ross Ice the Ministry of Works, were disap Shelf, and to a remote field camp in the pointed not to reach their target. But the Ohio Range of the Horlick Mountains data obtained from the 230m core is ex only 525km from the South Pole. They pected to provide much information were transported to their research areas about the development of the Antarctic by United States Navy aircraft and ice sheet, the flora of old Antarctica, helicopters. Other teams in the pro and more recent geological events in the gramme began their research at or from Ross Sea area. The core is older than any Scott Base, and in McMurdo Sound. previous Antarctic geological core, and One of the early parties in the field rock samples brought up during the was the geological expedition led by Mr drilling are estimated to be about 16 R. H. Findlay, of the Antarctic Divi million years old. sion, who left Scott Base on November 1 After the drilling project ended four with two motor toboggans and three drillers remained at the site until early sledges on a two-month journey to the this month. Assisted by members of the Blue Glacier region about 80km west of Antarctic Division staff under the super Ross Island. Its mission was to make a vision of the project manager, Mr Garth* geological analysis of the metamorphic Varcoe, they dismantled the rig and rock in the Blue Glacier region of the other equipment, and transported it Royal Society Range, and to continue across the sea ice of McMurdo Sound to the New Zealand programme of Scott Base. geological mapping of the Ross In the first two months of the new Dependency. season New Zealand field parties started For the first 10 days the expedition ANTARCTIC December 1979 was accompanied by Mr Colin With four tonnes of equipment the Monteath, field operations officer, An Ohio Range party will be self-sufficient tarctic Division, whose responsibility for two months, and will not be resup- was to monitor and test Antarctic equip plied by air during its stay in the only ment while it was used in the field by a locality in Antarctica where an abun research party. One of the two geologists dance of marine fossils can be found. in Mr Findlay's team, Adrian Daly, had Mrs Bradshaw will study these fossils, to be brought out to Scott Base by heli Dr Force will pay particular attention to copter and flown back to New Zealand sedimentology of the area, and Dr when his toes became frostbitten. He Kellogg will study the magnetism of the was replaced by Mr J. McConchie.