A N E W S B U L L E T I Np u b l i s h e d q u a r t e r l y b y t h e

N E W Z E A L A N D A N T A R C T I C S O C I E T Y

WINTER AT SCOTT BASEPhoio: H. D. O'Kane.

Vol. 3, No. 7 SEPTEMBER, 1963

TA S M A N I A

N E W Z E A L A N D

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DRAWN BY DEPARTMENT OF LANDS t SURVEYWELLINGTON, NEW ZEALAND, SEP. Z96Z-

(Successor to "Antarctic News Bulletin")

Vol. 3, No. 7 SEPTEMBER, 1963

Editor:L. B. Quartermain. M.A., 1 Ariki Road. Wellington, E.2, New Zealand.

Business Communications. Subscriptions, etc.. to:Secretary. New Zealand Antarctic Society, P.O. Box 2110, Wellington. N.Z.

GOVERNOR-GENERALTO GO SOUTH

His Excellency the Governor-General of New Zealand, Sir BernardFergusson, is lo visit the Ross Dependency towards thc end of thisyear. He will l ly in about mid-November, and is tak ing verygreat interest in his visit. It is hopedlo make it possible for him to seesomething of the field work of theNew Zealand summer programmeas well as the life at Scott and McMurdo Bases.

Only one head of state of anycountry has previously visited theAntarctic. This was President Videlaof Chile who travelled by sea inFebruary, 1948, to inspect a numberof Chilean bases in the AntarcticPeninsula (O'Higgins Land) area.(The Duke of Edinburgh visitedBritish bases in the same area afew vears ago.) But Sir Bernardwill be much further south thanany titular head of state has previously been.

ON DECK AGAIN

Readers will be interested to hearthat Jim Lowery, who was severelvinjured in the Sno-cat tragedy ofNovember, 1959, is now wel l ,reasonably "mobile" (with the helpof a car), and is teaching mathem a t i c s a n d s c i e n c e a t J o h nMcGlashan College, Dunedin.

NOW READYI N D E X " A N TA R C T I C " V O L . 2

After considerable delays forwhich we apologise, the Index forvolume 2. covering the years 1959,1960 and 1961, is now published, andmay be obtained from the Secretaryat a cost of 2/6 per copy. We areagain indebted to Mrs. N. W. Fair-cloth for the compilation of theindex.

Subscribers who wish to bind theircopies of "Antarctic" may have thembound in uniform style with volume1 by forwarding the twelve issuesplus the index to

Express Binding Service,69 Victoria Street,WELLINGTON. C.l.

with a remittance of 15/-.

ASSISTANT EDITORThe Council of the New Zealand

Antarctic Society has appointed Mrs.R. H. Wheeler as Assistant Editorof "Antarctic". Mrs. Wheeler, whohas had journalistic experience, isthe wife of Ralph Wheeler, leaderof the Victoria University of Wellington expedition, 1960-61.

PHOTOGRAPHERThe photograph of Scott Base

and environs taken from the air,on page 230 of our June issue shouldhave been credited to H. D. O'Kane.

A N T A R C T I C September. 1963

NEW ZEALANDERS AT SCOTT BASEGREET THE SUN

When the sun returned to Scott Base on August 20, ColonelTinker raised the New Zealand flag at "mid-day" for the first timesince "sundown" last April.

It has been a good winter, theysay. Apart from one record low,temperatures have averaged about25° below zero. Winds, normally ascourge at Antarctic bases, have onthe whole been moderate, only infrequently rising over 70 knots.

It was now light for several hoursaround noon although the sun itself would not shine on the basefor some time, being blocked by themassive mountains Erebus andTerror. However, it was a spectacular glimpse for the dog driver sledging out on the sea ice or the skiertravelling in anticipation along thetop of Hut Point Peninsula.

SUMMER PLANSThere is now an increase in the

tempo of activities, with a greatrise in scientific work and the preparations for the change-over. Fieldmen will be departing very soon ina series of training trips to testgear and to get fit for the comingsummer mapping journeys.

A major undertaking will be thebuilding of a new hut 27 miles awayat Cape Royds for the use of biologists studying seals and penguins.Some 30 miles of movement polesare to be surveyed for position aspart of a long-term programme determining the motion of the Rossice shelf.

In October the first plane willcome in bringing mail, the newbase leader (Mr. R. Rawle) and Mr.J. H. Miller, veteran of the trans-Antarctic expedition and the leaderof this summer's northern fieldparty. Following them will be thereplacements for the base staff, whoare keen to get home to theirfamilies.

A COLD WINTERA mid-August report from Scott

Base said:

It must be cold when kerosenefreezes to a jelly, and that is justwhat happened at Scott Base onAugust 2, when the lowest tempera-lure in the history of the base, minus5-L9°C, was recorded. The keroseneused for heating is stored in a 2500gallon tank where in the extremecold it jelled and could not bepumped. It took thc mechanic, electrician and carpenter some hours offorcing hot air around the pumpwith an aircraft type preheatcr be-for the fuel line functioned again.

Further trouble came when thewaste water in the heated outletfrom the washroom block frozesolid and as fast as the maintenancestaff hacked away the ice from theoutside the water froze again.

August is generally the coldestmonth of the Antarctic winter and adrop in temperature was expected.The first signs came during thenight, when ~the buildings creakedas they contracted and periodicshots came from the evermoving tidecrack and pressure ridges.

Daily routine remains normal despite the continuing cold. In a sluggish snow weasel the house-mousedigs off once soft snow that hasnow become brittle and iron-hard.The huskies are fed every secondday and remain outside as fit and aslively as ever.

A favourite sport is throwing acupful of hot water into the air tosee it burst spectacularly into acloud of crackling ice crystals as itfreezes instantly.

Until sunrise in three weeks timewe can expect anti-freeze lo freeze,oil to look like pitch, the snow tosqueak underfoot and no doubt icecream will still remain the mostpopular item of the menu. Evenbottles of whisky were frozen solid.

Seotember, 1963

NEW ZEALAND FIELD PARTIESWILL COVER WIDE AREA

DURING THE COMING SUMMER NEW ZEALAND GEOLOGICALAND SURVEY TEAMS WILL BE WORKING IN SEVERAL WIDELYSEPARATED AREAS IN THE ROSS DEPENDENCY, AND IN ONE CASEWILL "TRESPASS" ON AUSTRALIAN ANTARCTIC TERRITORY.

The Antarctic Geology and Map- Antarctic Society, who was Deputyp ing Seminar he ld in Wel l ing ton Leader o f the New Zea landearlier this year, when some 30 component of the Commonwealthgeologists, surveyors and carto- Trans-Antarctic Expedition and withgraphers considered the importance Dr. George Marsh in the 1957-58 sea-and relative urgency of the work son made one of the longest dog-in their spheres still remaining to be sledge journevs in Antarctic history.A . ^ n n : « * i - ~ r * r \ j . i _ . i ■ *

The Antarctic Geology and Mapping Seminar held in Wellingtonearlier this year, when some 30geologists, surveyors and cartographers considered the importanceand relative urgency of the workin their spheres still remaining to bedone in the Ross Dependency, ledto a modification of the originalplans for field work in the comingseason.

It soon became apparent that eventhe prel iminary reconnaissancemapping of northern Victoria Landmay require more than one season'swork, and that there were specialprojects of considerable value whichwould require the mounting of aseries of more localised expeditionsin various parts of the Dependency.

In consequence, there will be twofield parties, working in areas 1000miles apart, the one in northernVictoria Land in continuation of thereconnaissance mapping, the othersouth of the Ross Ice Shelf, in aportion of the area covered by W. W.Herbert's Southern Party in 1962-63,representing the first of the contemplated special projects. In addition there will be further field workby the Victoria University of Wellington and the University of Canterbury, and it is hoped that a reconnaissance can be carried out onthe Balleny Islands, a couple ofhundred miles north of the VictoriaLand northern coast.

NORTHERN PARTYThe major effort towards the com

pletion of the reconnaissance geologyand topography of the Dependencywill bc made by a six-man teamled by J. Holmes (Bob) Miller, theWellington surveyor and ImmediatePast President of the New Zealand

This northern party with foursledges and 36 dogs will probablvbe flown from McMurdo to HallettStation by late-October. From Hallett men and dogs will be flown byU.S. aircraft about 300 miles to aput-in point as far north of Mt.Welcome as proves practicable, inapproximately 7P30'S., 160CE., at analtitude of about 7,000 feet. The onlyprevious "resident" visitors to thisarea have been the men of the UnitedStates Victoria Land Traverse, including New Zealander A. J. Heine,in the summer of 1959-60. This partynamed Mt. Welcome because itwas the first "land" they saw afterc r o s s i n g h u n d r e d o f m i l e s o ffeatureless plateau in their sno-cats,coming in from the west. Gair'sNew Zealand Party last year wereclose to the area, and the UnitedStates "Topo West" hel icopter-borne surveyors worked here fora few days.

From their put-in point somewheresouth of the Oates Coast of VictoriaLand, Miller's team will carry outtopographical and geological surveys :(1) North and west as far as the

Pennell Glacier for about amonth.

(2) South to the Mt. Welcome areafor a week or more.

(3) East, crossing the RennickGlacier at about 5,000 feet toa re-supply depot already laidb y a i r c r a f t n o r t h o f t h eLeitch Massif in approximately

A N T A R C T I C SeDfember, 196371°30'S., 164°30'E. This depotwill contain 60 days' supplies.A month is allowed for thisphase of the party's work.

(4) North-west and "north in theregion of the Lillie Glacier forabout a month.

(5) South-east down the TuckerGlacier to the pick-up point onthe glacier near Football Mountain.

One major advantage of this planis that both the put-in point andthe pick-up point are known to pilotsof VX-6 squadron from their operations in support of the Victoria LandTraverse of 1959-60 and the TopoWest helicopter tellurometer surveyof last season. New Zealand keymen, including Miller and the 1963and 1964 Scott Base leaders, wereflown over the area in United Statesaircraft last summer. The localitvhas been carefully air-photographedand sketch maps have been drawnby the Cartographic Branch of theN.Z. Lands and Survey Department.Australian and Russian aerial photographs taken on reconnaissanceflights from ships operating off theOates Coast have also been carefully studied.

SOUTHERN PARTYThe Southern Party will be im

plementing the first of the smaller-scale localised projects referred toabove. This project stems directlyfrom the Seminar, where its importance was immediately recognised.

The party of four men will operate from an area traversed by W.W. Herbert 's southern party in1961-62, and will be led by V. R.McGregor, who was a member ofHerbert's party. McGregor's teamwill use the two motor-tobogganswhich were tried out on the sea-iceof McMurdo Sound and up theHarbord Glacier last summer.

The team will comprise threegeologists and a surveyor, and willoperate in the area between theAxe l He iberg and Shack le tonGlaciers, both of which flow northfrom the Polar Plateau to feed theRoss Ice Shelf. The party is notexpected to make any deeper penetration than about 30 miles, and

will be in the field a much shortertime than the Northern Party, approximately mid-November to mid-January.The party will be operating fromtwo supply depots on the Ross IceShelf:(1) West of the mouth of the Strom

Glacier, adjacent to the area between the Axel Heiberg and LivGlaciers;

(2) On the ice-shelf in a positionsuitable for the coverage of thearea be tween the L iv andShackleton Glaciers.

The team will spend approximatelya month making sorties of a fewdays' duration from the first depotinto the countains; then moveacross the ice-shelf to the seconddepot and work similarly for amonth from there. This project is ofparticular interest as being' the firststudy of a specific geological problem by New Zealanders in this area,and also as being the first NewZealand field journey in which reliance is being placed solely on motorloboggan transport.McGregor's partv will be flownfirst of all to the Beardmore Depot,and then to the field depots byUnited States aircraft.

The specific aim of the projectis to resolve a geological anomalvwhich became apparent as a resultof earlier field work by New Zealand parties in the areas to the westand north and by the United Statesteams in the Sentinel Range furthereast. This concerns the structural relation between the Ellsworth mountains, which extend southward fromthe Antarctic Peninsula, and theQueen Maud Range. The work ofMcGregor's team may help to solvethis problem.

V I C TO R I A U N I V E R S I T Y O FW E L L I N G T O N

' ; T h i s v e a r ' s V i c t o r i a t e a m ,V.U.W.A.E.8, will comprise sevenmen under Warwick M. Prebble, withProfessor H. W. Wellman and Dr.A. T. Wilson as leaders of the scientific research projects. The University Grants Committee has givenabout £2,000 to feed and outfit theexpedition.

September. 1963

The principal objective will thisyear not be geological, but geochemical study in continuation ofwork done by previous VictoriaUniversity parties on the warm lakesof the Taylor and Victoria Dry Valleys. It is hoped to provide an explanation of the chemical and physical processes taking place in theseunique lakes. Work will later be donein the Darwin Glacier area, studying lakes there in order to date geo-chemically the last glacier retreatin the region.

Prebble and Henderson will visitthe whole of the Dry Valley area tocorrelate the work done and drawa geological map.

AT THE SOUTH POLE

Dr. Wilson and House will spenda week or two in early Novemberat the U.S. Pole Station to makechemical analyses of snow samples,in order to determine the residualchemicals and dust present in theatmosphere when the snow was precipitated. In mid-November they willreturn to Scott Base, where theywill be joined by Prebble, Popple-well, Hoare and Henderson and willproceed to the Taylor Valley andother localities for detailed geochemical work on the saline lakes.About mid-December they will beflown to the Darwin Glacier to investigate lakes in that area. AboutNew Year Dr. Wilson will be replaced by Professor Wellman.

Before returning to New Zealandic team will carry out glaciological

and geological studies in the BlackIsland-White Island area, probablycrossing the ice by toboggan or dogteam. The party will return to ScottBase by air.

McMURDO ICE SHELFLast summer New Zealand scien

tists began a study of the ice shelfbetween Ross Island and the mainland, now known as the McMurdoIce Shelf and of the ice break-outin McMurdo Sound itself. Mr. A. J.Heine, who worked on the projectlast year, will again be in the fieldwith an assistant. He hopes to establish a grid of stations at whichvarious parameters of the ice-shelfwill be measured annually.

United States scientists as well asihe New Zealand authorities are interested in the unique glaciologicalproblems presented bv this area,and realise that the possibility ofpredicting the nature and extent ofIhe break-out in any year would beof coniderable practical value. Theresearchers want to find out whathappens over the whole McMurdoarea throughout a whole season, andto relate this to the meoteorologicalpicture al the time.

To do this it will be necessarylo arrange high-level photographyon specified flight-lines at regularintervals throughout the season aswell as to carry- out further studiesat ice level.

B I O L O G YThe biological hut which it was

hoped to erect at Cape Royds lastsummer will be set up early thisseason, and a team from the University of Canterbury will continuethe study of Adelie penguins andWeddell seals in this area. The sealstudies will be continued later atScott Base. Work will also be donein soil science, and plankton willbe collected from the ice-edge.

The seal-population study begunin the McMurdo Sound area lastsummer will be continued. Thisproject will involve considerableaerial photography.

The Dominion Museum will besponsoring biological work at CapeHallett and Cape Adare.

EXPLORERS OF THEFUTURE

Once again this summer threeyoung New Zealanders will have theopportunity of seeing the Antarcticfor themselves and of taking somepart in the work of the New Zealandexpedition. Two Queen's Scouts andone member of the Boys' Brigadewith corresponding qualificationshave been se lec ted to t rave lsouth with the New Zealand party.

They are:Douglas Crawford, Auckland.Duncan J. McDonald, Palmerston

North.Francis John Stanton, Christ

church.

A N T A R C T I C SeDtember. 1963

New Zealand Teams Selectedfor Coming Season

As usual there has been no shortage of applicants—some 300 menhave applied for the 30-odd positions. Over 200 of these men werepersonally interviewed before thefinal selection was made.

i late August, thc 24th to theOlh, a training course was held for~ lointees. The men were quar-

at Waiouru Military Campafter four days of basic lectures

in administration matters, healthand first aid, equipment, etc., proceeded by army transport each dayto the slopes of Ruapehu for practical training in snow and ice techniques, ski-ing, crevasse rescue work,fire fighting and so on.

TO WINTER ATSCOTT BASE

The following men have been selected as the wintering team atScott Base for 1964:

R. E. RAWLE: Leader. (See Juneissue).

A. G. LEWIS (31) of Wellington,Senior Technical Officer in chargeof Base Scientific Party. Mr. Lewis,an Englishman and an electronicsengineer who has spent some timein Germany, served for two yearsin the Antarctic with the FalklandIslands Dependencies Survey, andis at present wintering at ScottBase with the New Zealand team.

D.R. MILLER (27) of Wellington,Scientific Officer. A science teacherat Wellington College, Mr. Miller wasborn in England and gained hisdegree in 1957 at Nottingham University, where he rowed for the firstVI I I .

H. A. HORSFIELD (27) of Wellington, Technician. Mr. Horsficld is alsoEnglish by birth, coming to NewZealand in 1953. He joined the PostOffice as a radio-technician traineein 1958 after attending WellingtonColleee.

J. E. GAWN (45) of Wellington,Radio Oflicer. Born in Dunedin, Mr.Gawn attended Wellington Technical College and was a radio operatoron various ships and a radio technician with the Broadcasting Servicefrom 1947 to 1952 before returninglo sea. As a radio-oflicer in the NewZealand component of the Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expeditionhe wintered at Scotl Base in 1957.He is married and has two children.

B. D. GEORGE (21) of Christchurch, Cook. Leading-Cook Georgehas been serving in the shore establ ishment H.M.N.Z.S. Tamaki. Aformer pupil of Christchurch Technical College he joined the Navy in1959. He will follow another Navvcook, Les. Wells, at Scott Base.

D. W. HOBBY (35) of Ashley Bank,North Canterbury, Fitter-mechanic.He was born of Army parents inQuetla, Pakistan, trained as amaintenance engineer, worked onvarious mining and other projectsin Northern Australia, wintered overwith the Australian Antarctic Expedition at Mawson Base in 1960, andafter nine months in Fiji, came toNew Zealand in 1962. He is marriedand has two children.

J. D. C. FABIAN (26) of Petone,Fitter-Mechanic. Fabian served hisapprentieeship in the N.Z. Railwaysand is now a N.Z.R. maintenancefitter. He has had experience withthe maintenance of both diesel andpetrol engines. He has had wideexperience of Alpine conditions, including search and rescue work.

B. M. JUDD (28) of Taupo, Fitter-elecrician. After attending St. John'sCollege, Hastings, he was apprenticed to the N.Z. Electricity Department and has worked in variousparts of New Zealand. He is atpresent an employee of the Ministryof Works at Wellington Airport. Heis married.

September. 1963 A N T A R C T I C

W. R. LUCY (26) of Balclutha,Surveyor -Handyman. Mr. Lucyattended Timaru Boys' High Schooland the University of Otago (1955-56)and is a registered surveyor working for the Otago Catchment Board.He is an enthusiast for the highcountry, having spent much timetramping, mountaineering and deerstalking. He has also done someflying.

D. R. MASSAM (28) of Nelson,Handyman and Field-Assistant. AnAucklander by birth and an old-boyof Mt. Albert Grammar School, Mr.Massam is a motor-mechanic bvtrade.

SUMMER FIELD PARTIESNORTHERN PARTY:

J. H. Miller: Leader and Surveyor.M. R. J. Ford: Surveyor.A. G. Sturm: Senior Geologist.M. J. Sheehan: Field Assistant.J. F. Graveson: Field Assistant.S. J. Carryer: Geologist.Ford, Sheehan and Graveson are

at present wintering at Scott Base.SOUTHERN PARTY:

V. R. McGregor: Leader and Geologist.

P. J. Barrett: Geologist.A. L. Gough: Surveyor.P. C. Le Couteur: Geologist Field

Assistant.McGregor was a member of last

year's southern field party.VICTORIA UNIVERSITYEXPEDITION:

W. M. Prebble: Leader.Prof. H. W. Wellman: Geologist.Dr. A. T. Wilson: Chemist.R. A. Henderson: Geologist.R. Hoare: Physicist.D. A. House: Chemist.K. B. Popplewell: Chemist.Prebble, Popplewell, Wellman and

Wilson have all had previous Antarctic experience.ICE SHELF PROJECT:

A. J. Heine: Leader.D. R. Massam: assistant (winter

party).Heine is an experienced Antarcticman having spent one winter andsix summers in the Antarctic witheither New Zealand or United Statesexpeditions.BIOLOGY PROGRAMME:

At Cape Royds (University ofCanterbury

Dr. B. Stonehouse: Leader.

BALLENY ISLANDSEXPEDITION

In the 124 years since CaptainsJohn r-

foot on these forbidding coasts.(1) Captain Freeman himself, in

1839, scrambled ashore an Bor-radaile Island up to his middlein icy water and grabbed a fewstones—which were lost when"Sabrina" sank with all handsa few weeks later.

(2) In 1948 Austral ian StewartCampbel l made an equal lyp r e c a r i o u s l a n d i n g f o r a hequally insignificant reward, onSabrina Island, south of BuckleIsland.

(3) Better fortune attended a partyof Frenchmen from "Commandant Charcot", in 1949. Foiledin the first attempt to establisha base in Adelie Land, CaptainMax Douguet made for the Ballenys, a party landed on SabrinaIslet and spent an hour or twoon a tiny beach.

(4) Three years ago USS StatenIsland spent a tew days in Balleny waters. A party which included Sir Raymond Priestleywas landed by helicopter onSabrina Islet.

(5) Next clay a party which includedNew Zealanders Murray Robband Don Thompson landed bylanding caft on the north-easterntip of Buckle Island and stayedfor about an hour.

(6) A landing is also said to havebeen made from the Russianwhaling factory ship "Slava" inrecent years.

And that is all.Dr. Trevor Hatherton will lead

M.S.R. Smith: Biologist.P. Fitzgerald: Soil Chemist.And probably one other man.

Smith has wintered at Scott Basethis year.

At Cape Hallett and Cape AdareJ. C. Kinskev.T. L. Riggert'.

A N T A R C T I C September, 1963the New Zealand reconnaissanceparty which hopes to make thc firstconsiderable planned study of theforbidding island group.' Details,especially regarding transport, havenot yet been fully worked out, butthe main objectives are as follows:

Biology: A study of the so farlittle known fauna and flora of theislands to establish their relationship with known Antarctic and sub-Antarctic forms. Plant life must bepractically non-existent, but if primitive plants are found the link between Antarctic and sub-An tare tic-flora will be of interest.

Geology: A study of the volcanicrocks of which the islands arethought to be comprised.

Geophysics: Gravity measurementswill be made, also geomagnetic andionosphere observations.

Oceanography: The general morphology, structural aspects andbottom fauna of the ocean in thevicinity of the islands.

Survey: So far only a very fewrunning surveys have been madeand from the data thus obtainedplus aerial photography rough mapshave been made. The large southernSturge Island has never been properly surveyed.

AT SCOTT BASEThe following will be stationed

at Scott Base for the summermonths:

R. B. Thomson: Deputy Leader.I. D. Smith: Postmaster.G. J. Billing: Public Relations

Officer.D. C. Lawford: Storekeeper.D. W. Fen ton: Carpenter.B. R. Ahernc: Carpenter.H. L. Mallitte:ArtistH. McK. Fowler: Film Unit.S. Grau: Film Unit.Mr. Thomson has spent two

winters in the Antarctic and one inthe sub-Antarctic. In 1959 he wasat Campbell Island. In 1960 he wasone of the three New Zealandersat Hallett Station, where he wasin charge of the scientific programme. Subsequently he was PublicRelations Officer at Scott Base forthe summer. Last winter he servedas Leader of the Australian WilkesStation and led the traverse fromWilkes lo the inland Russian station.Vostok (see p. 292).

University of Canterburyin Antarctica, 1962-63

by BERNARD STONEHOUSEThe Antarctic summer of 1962-63

saw University of Canterbury biologists continuing their studies ofseals, penguins and skuas in McMurdo Sound. Now in its third vear,the Biology Unit is undertakinglong-term studies of populationnumbers and trends, paying closeattention to man's influence on thebreeding and welfare of animals inthe far south. Already there are indications that man's presence maybe disturbing at least one colonvof Adelie Penguins; the small groupof breeding birds at Cape Royds,most southerly colony of penguins

in the world, has diminished alarmingly since the present spate ofAntarctic activity began. Seals andEmperor Penguins by contrast seemto be thriving, and McCormick Skuas,most versatile and adaptive of polarb i rds , may be extend ing the i rbreeding range southward in response to man's arrival.

Over one hundred Weddell Sealsare killed each year at Scott Base,to feed thc large number of huskieswhich haul thc sledges of New Zealand field parties. For two reasonsthe main killing has been undertaken by the university team, which

September. 1963 A N T A R C T I Cmeasures and weighs each carcass,dissects out important organs, andbrings back to New Zealand theskeletal remains for further study.

In this way material is accumulating from which studies in anatomy,physiology, reproductive biology andparasitic infection can be made. Murray Smith, who is at present wintering at Scott Base, is in charge ofthe killing programme and has already begun analysing the resultsof two seasons' energetic work.Warren Featherston has almost completed a first report on intestinalparasites and is planning experimental work for the coming season. Dr.Bernard Stonehouse, leader ofthe unit, is studying the skeletalmaterial, and attempting to findthe age of each specimen fromweights, measurements, fusion ofbones, tooth structure, and otherindications.

SEALS FROM THE AIRThe season's work began in Nov

ember, 1962, when seal censuses weretaken between Scott Base and CapeRoyds (the main headquarters ofthc unit in Antarctica). Early inDecember Dr. Stonehouse and GuyManner ing (An ta rc t i c D iv i s ionphotographer) made the first of ascries of low-level reconnaissanceflights along the whole length ofMcMurdo Sound, counting seals andphotographing the main concentrations. The flights were later continued by Smith and Mannering,providing a valuable record of sealnumbers and movements throughoutthe summer. Later in the seasonSmith and Dr. Vagn Flygcr, a visiting American biologist, experimentedwith drugs to narcotise the seals forexamination and marking; the techniques will prove most useful inthe coming season's work. Smithalso found a minute ectoparasite,Antarctophthirus ogmorini, l ivingon the hair of some of his seals;we believe this is the first time theyhave been recorded from so farsouth.

TWO EMPEROR COLONIESThe Emperor Penguins of Cape

Crozier were visited by helicopter

early in December, for their annualcensus. Although a bad season forice, with little open water visiblefrom high land above the colony,thc Emperors seemed to be flourishing. About 1,250 chicks werepresent, and some of the largestwere already beginning to lose theirdown. Stonehouse and Manneringflew past the little-known colony ofEmperor Penguins at Beaufort" Island and were able to photographit and make notes of its size andposition. Slightly smaller than theCape Crozier colony, the groupstands on broken sea ice under thesteep, rocky cliffs on the easternside of the island.

The large Adelie Penguin coloniesol Beaufort Island and Cape Bird,together numbering well over 100,000birds, were also photographed andexamined from the air. Solid seaice covered most of McMurdo Soundwell into December, and breedingat ali the colonies must have beenaffected by the difficulties of obtaining food. Small groups of Emperorand Adelie Penguins were seentravelling at high speed over theice toward open water; a few wereeven making use of the wide swathesopened by U.S. Navy and CoastguardIcebreakers. At Cape Royds, thirtymiles further down the Sound, theAdelie Penguins began breeding asusual in late October and the firsteggs appeared early in November,but incubation watches were prolonged to over two weeks and more,and many nests were abandonedbefore the end of incubation.

The Cape Royds colony, situatedso far down the coast of Ross Island, is peculiarly vulnerable to thevarying sea ice conditions from yearto year. Long-term changes in climate may be indicated by the discovery of old. abandoned colonvsites under the surface soil andrubble in the Cape Royds area. PaulFitzgerald, a soil chemist attachedto the Biology Unit, has been collecting soil samples with thc objectof tracing the extent, and if possiblethe age, of some of the old colonyareas. It seems probable that, atsome time within the last few hundred years, more penguins than atpresent were able to breed on thewest side of Ross Island. Next season

A N T A R C T I C September. 1963

Fitzgerald hopes to extend his investigations to the west side of theSound, where breeding penguins arefound only as far south as Inexpressible Island.

FEWER ADELIESThe Unit's observations at the Cape

Royds breeding colony show a continuing decline in the number ofbreeding pairs. In the days ofShackleton and Scott between 1,500and 2,000 pairs were believed tobreed annually on the colony, andapproximately 2,000 pairs were estimated to have bred in the 1955-56season when expedition activitiesbegan once again in McMurdoSound. Since then the colony seemsto have declined steadily; in 1958-591,700 pairs were estimated, in 1959-601,600 pairs, and two seasons later,when the University team begunregular observations in 1961-62, only1,250 pairs were nesting on thecolony. In thc season of 1962-63 notmore than 1,100 pairs were found.

The decline in number may bedue to changing conditions in thesea, or to some other factor beyondthe control of man and independentof his presence. To observers on thespot, however, a far more likelycause would seem to be the disturbance of visitors, some hundredsof whom descend on the colony eachyear during the summer breedingseason. Most visitors, and most ofthe pilots who bring them, are prepared to co-operate in guarding thesmall group of birds once they knowof its presence and realise the damage which thoughtless behaviourcan inflict. However, each seasonbrings its quota of unbriefed pilotsand thoughtless visitors; last season's workers on the colony sawbirds turned off their nests to bedresed in doll-sized shirts for thesake of "cute" photographs, sawportable-tape-recorder enthusiasts

stirring incubating birds with a stickto provide interesting noises, andcounted the occasions on which thebirds fled from their nests at theapproach or take-off of visiting helicopters.

CONSERVATIONIn a brief report to the Ross

Dependency Research Committee Ihave listed a number of remedies,including stricter flying regulations,the provision of interesting noteson the colony and its history, anda system of voluntary wardens toguard it, which may help in preserving this interesting and uniquecolony from extinction.

Oliver Sutherland, who assistedthis year with the observations onpenguins and worked hard with Murray Smith in the seal killing, alsomade notes on the McCormick Skuasat Cape Royds. Many hundreds ofskuas are now regular visitors tothe rubbish piles of Scott Base andthe U.S. bases in McMurdo Sound,and there is some evidence that theymight be breeding within easy flying distance on the slopes of CapeArmitage.

The work of thc University unitwas he lped immense ly by thefriendly co-operation of the U.S.authorities, who provided air andsea pasages for its members andkindly arranged the flights to CapeCrozier and elsewhere. The help ofthe Antarctic Division, New ZealandDepartment of Scientific and Industrial Research, is also acknowledged gratefully.

N.Z. EXPERTMr. W. H. Dawbin, a former lec

turer in zoology at Victoria University of Wellington and now seniorlecturer in zoology at Sydney University spent a few days at the ToryChannel whaling station early inAugust before going to the UnitedStates where he is to deliver a paperon the migrations and life cycleso f t h e h u m p b a c k w h a l e . M r.Dawbin's work, which has taken anumber of years to complete, coversthe entire Southern Hemisphere.

September. 1963 A N T A R C T I C

HALLETT STATIONNEWS

The wintering-over partly at Hallett numbered 18. comprising ninecivilians (six United States personneland three New Zealanders) and nineservicemen.

Hallett Station stands on groundin an area that is snow-free duringthe summer months, says the U.S.Antarctic Project Officer's "Bulletin".With permanent occupancy, theoriginal facilities have been addedto and the station made more commodious and comfortable. Significant changes have been the construction of a new communicationsbuilding and the conversion ofthe old building into a sciencelaboratory.

A storm early in April causedminor damage to the James-waysand to the roof of one of the storagehuts. The old science building,vacated after the building of theannex, is being re-modelled to accommodate a darkroom, library andgeneral recreation space.The last appearance of the sunwas the occasion of a ceremony at1245 hours on May 14 when theUnited States and New Zealand flagswere lowered by the Officer inCharge and the Station ScientificLeader in winds gusting to 78 knots.

BLAME THE WEATHERNOT THE SOIL

The soil round Hallett Stationwould grow vegetables if the climate was better. This is the conclusion of Dr. E. D. Rudolph, assistant professor of botany at OhioState University, who last summerspent his second season in the Antarctic under a National ScienceFoundation grant. He will completehis work next summer.

Dr. Rudolph sowed New Zealandseeds of silver beet, radish, andcabbage in open ground at Hallettstation. They did not grow. But hebrought some of the soil back tothe University of Canterbury andthe same seed germinated well andgave promise of good crops. «,

He said that rock surfaces sometimes registered 90 degrees at CapeHallett when the air was about 40degrees. His trial simply meant thatthe soil there did not stay warmenough long enough to sustainplants, chiefly because of the bitterwinds. With some sort of glasshouse and artificial heating freshvegetables could probably be grownon the spot.

NEW ZEALAND TEAMFOR 1964

The three New Zealanders towinter at Hallett throughout nextyear are:

N. M. RIDGWAY (38) of Wellington, Senior Technical Officer. Bornin England, Mr. Ridgway served inthe Royal Navy, 1942-46, as a Petty-Officer Radio Mechanic. From 1949to 1951 he was a science master at aboy's secondary school. He came toNew Zealand in 1951 and joined theD.S.I.R. Oceanographic Institute in1953. He has made a number ofoceanographic cruises and has spenttwo summer periods in the Antarctic. He is married and has onechild.

D. S. ROWLES (35) of Omakau,Technician. Mr. Rowles was bornin Londi n t h e L _ . , .Meteorological Technical ResearchLaboratory. Coming to New Zealandin 1957 he became a technician inthe D.S.I.R.

E. N. GREEN (24) of Auckland,Technician. He was educated atAvondalc Collejserved as an airman in the RNZAFsince 1956, being stationed at Wigram, Hobsonville and Woodboume,and serving with 41 Squadron,Singapore.

II The "last" penguins and skuas of| the 1962-63 summer re-appeared[■when a skua was sighted on AprilS.8 and an Adelie penguin on the 10th

| was also observed on the 9th. The| first two Emperor Penguins of theHseason were heading up Edisto Inlet"on April 21.

A N T A R C T I C September. 1963

F R E N C H P L A N SF O R

COMING SEASON

THE NEW TEAM"Thala Dan" will leave Le

e on or about October 10, as/ear, and should arrive at Terre

under Jean Morin, a veteran of"T.A. 10." The team will comprisein addition eight scientists, seventechnicians, two radio men, a doctorand a cook, all but four of whom arealready appointed. Five of the appointees have previously spent awinter in the Arctic or Antarcticregions.

Twenty more men, the summerpersonnel, will join "Thala Dan" atHobart. These comprise a construction group of eleven men, a four-man helicopter team, a three-manElaciological team under Claudeorius, and two officials.

1963-64 SUMMERFor the summer season 1963-64 a

number of special projects areplanned in addition to the specialemphasis on scientific discipline towhich attention is being speciallydirected because of the I.Q.S.Y.

Glaciology.—Sampling and shallowpits (4-5m.) in the coastal zone onthe mainland. Ice-melting for theextraction of CO= to assess the C"content. All specimens will be sentto France for analysis.The five-man team will be equippedwith special apparatus and will havetwo weasels, two caravans and acargo sledge.

Building Construction. — Installation of the new "Central Electrique"which should be functioning byApril, 1964, erection of a laboratory,and general repairs.

WINTER PROGRAMMEThe scientific programme for the

1964 winter will be the same as for1961-63 with the exception that theprogrammes in glaciology and seismology will be discontinued, and

meteorological work reduced: onlyone meteorologist wil winter overfor surface observations. Added tothe programme, however, will bestudies in animal biology (birds)and in psycho-physiology.

AT THE BASEThe technical and scientific pro

grammes have been proceeding normally, without incident. Outsidework is of course governed by theweather and the sun, but amountedto 181 hours per man in February,132 in March, 104 in April, 76 inMay, 77 in June and 65 in July. Allthe men are in good health andmorale is reported to be high.

CHILEAN SCIENTISTS FORANTARCTIC

A Chilean press report states thatthe United States occongraphic vessel "Eltanin" sailed from Valparaisofor Antarctic waters with 32 scientists on board, after a period in theport for re-provisioning.

Among the scientists were a number of Chilean technicians who haveentered into a contract to workalong with the ship's company, andexperts from the University of Chileand the Catholic University, Valparaiso.

The "Eltanin" after her stay inthe port was beginning her sixthvoyage to the Antarctic. The currentvoyage was expected to last 60days.

BERNACCHIMr. R. A. Swan, the Melbourne

author of "Australia in the Antarctic," reviewed in our March 1962issue, recently gave an address tothe Royal Historical Society of Victoria on Louis Charles Bernacchi,"the first Australian scientist towork and winter on the AntarcticContinent": he was physicist inBorchgrevink's Cape Adare expedition 1898-1900, and was responsiblefor the magnetic work on Scott's"Discovery" expedition, 1900-04. Thisvaluable paper is published in theVictorian Historical Magazine, February 1963.

September. 1963 A N T A R C T I C

ARGENTINE STATIONCLOSED

Further details concerning theclosing down of Ellsworth Station(see "Antarctic" June) are given inthe U.S. Antarctic Project Officer's"Bulletin".

"At 1000 hours on December 30the station was officially closed. Aceremony was held at "the stationflagpole with the Ellsworth crew,Captain Iriart, chief of the GrupoNaval Antartico, his staff, and thecaptain of the icebreaker participating. There was an honour guard ofsailors. The Argentine flag waslowered, a bugle blown, and lastly,Captain Iriart conducted a final inspection of the station. Upon thecompletion of the inspection, all thebuildings were sealed and messagesindicating this official closing bearing the signatures of the stationchief and the U.S. station representative, were taped over the doors ofeach building."

El lsworth Station was one ofseven stations built by the UnitedStates for the I.G.Y. "It stands onan ice and snow surface of theFilchner Ice Shelf. After thc end ofthe I.G.Y. the United States transferred custody of the station to theArgentine Government. The stationhas been operated by Instituto Antartico Argentino continuously from1959 until" its closure last December.A small contingent of U.S. WeatherBureau men worked at the stationeach year.

Recently Ellsworth has been showing signs of the stress of many feetof ice above it. Also, at the observedrate of seaward movement of theIce Shelf (1300m. per year) it wasobvious that eventually the stationmust drop into the Weddell Sea. Soit was decided to pack up and return the major part of the expensivescientific equipment, leaving all theother general station equipment atEllsworth, in case it should be decided to occupy the station again.

the field in 1963-64 as in the precedingsummer, but the programme will bemodified in conjunction with therequirements of I.Q.S.Y.

SOUTH AFRICAN STATIONThe latest news we have received

concerning the South African Antarctic Station S.A.N.A.E. is that during March the met. tower was raisedby 12 feet to 84 feet. If the weatherwas favourable endeavours were tobe made to raise it higher still.Beacon lights had been installed fora distance of 1,200 paces.

As the core holes used for temperature readings had proved quiteunpractical, since they becamecovered by snow-drifts in a coupleof minutes' time, a new method wasevolved which was giving excellentresults: the temperature elementsw e r e b u i l t i n t o a n a l u m i n i u mscreen.

Temperatures for March:Mean: —13.6°C. (7.5!°F.).Highest maximum: 2.3°C. (27.9°F.).Lowest minimum: —30.0!°C. (—22°

F.)The mean wind measurement for

March was 17 knots and the highestgust recorded was 77 knots. Duringthe month there were 12 days whenthe wind was of gale force. Thetotal period of sunshine in thcmonth was 85 hours.

PLANS FOR COMING YEAR

Thc same ships, aircraft andorganisation are expected to be in

A S.A.N.A.E. report for May: "Asregards the weather, May was a remarkable month. For the first timesince our stay here the temperaturedropped as low as minus 40 degrees.In spite of the cold we used everyhour of sunlight for completing themost necessary outdoor jobs beforethe sun left us. The first thing onthe programme was providing asupply of diesel-oil for the winter.The drums which had been stackedunder 5 feet of ice, which was ashard as granite, had to be excavatedinch by inch. Ultimately the drums—more than 100 of thern—stood inlong rows in front of the exit, readyfor the contents to be pumped overinto the empty drums in the snow

A N T A R C T I C September. 1963

passage. Here we met a secondproblem. Much to our disgust wefound that at minus 30 degreesdiesel-oil is no longer a liquid, buta kind of jelly which simply refusesto be pumped. A job which normallywould have taken three or fourdays took us more than three weeks.

"Earlier in the month three of uspaid a visit to Polar Circle Bay.After a trip of more than an houron the tractor, what we saw wasvery much worth the trouble. Upto the skyline the sea was one solidblock of ice. And on the horizon amassive iceberg was standing. Thesilence was only periodically brokenby the ominous creaking of the icebeneath us. Since our latest visitto the bay in January yawningcracks had appeared everywhere andwe thought it advisable not to staythere any longer than necessary."

S.A. ANTARCTIC SOCIETYAt the annual general meeting of

S.A.A.V. on March 25 Mr. J. f. laGrange was elected chairman. Thesociety meets monthly in the Geography lecture room of the University of Pretoria.

Within a week there were alreadysome 100 penguins—a whole colonyhad formed. At first the noise ofthe aircraft engines frightened them,but as soon as they were switchedoff, the colony quietened down, andstared inquisitively at the strange"bird." In the middle of Januarythe penguins began to moult. Theystarted to move about less, andhardly left the spot they had grownto love.

A curious incident occurred atLazarev Station during the ceremony of the raising of the flag bymembers of the 5th ContinentalExpedition. In the morning the off-duty polar explorers were pickedup by passing tractors and drivento the solemn assembly. Followingthe tractors from the shore ice onto the ice shelf came a large groupof Adelie penguins. They joinedthe congregation, animatedly discussing something among themselves.When the meeting was over, thepenguins set about inspecting thestation site in a businesslike fashion.The bright red "Penguin" crosscountry vehicle attracted specialattention.

P E N G U I N WAY S

Soviet expedit ion member G.Konovalov recalls these penguinincidents in a recent issue of theSoviet Antarctic Expedition Information Bulletin.

In the summer of 1959 an airstripwas laid on the shore ice nearLazarev Station. Here the "Ob" delivered a large number of emptybarrels, which were unloaded justin the lee of the ice cliffs. Thatsame day Adelie penguins appearednear the barrels. Soon, when theyhad become accustomed to theirnew surroundings, they made ittheir home. There are no outcropsof bedrock on the shores of QueenMaud Land, and the barrels, heating up during the day and radiatingwarmth, evidently reminded themof the rocks on which they normallynested.

One day a sledge-tractor train leftLazarev Station and set off into theinter ior, fo l lowing a previouslymarked route. Empty barrels andpoles served as landmarks. Whenthe train was 40-50 km from thecoast, one of the drivers thoughthe saw a barrel standing a shortdistance from the track. He steeredtowards the dark object, and, to hisastonishment, it turned out to bean Emperor penguin.

We often read descriptions of encounters with penguins a long wayfrom the shore. Probably, when theAntarc t ic cont inent was a t i tswarmest, the ancestors of the penguins lived much farther south, andsome lingering instinct still leadsthe penguins to these spots.

Jim Henderson's "One Foot at thePole," reviewed in our Decemberissue, has been translated intoBraille and will soon be availablefor blind readers.

September. 1963

WINTER ACTIVITIES AT THREEAUSTRALIAN STATIONS

Judging by reports received from the three Australian bases, Mawson,Wilkes and Davis, all on the periphery of the Antarctic Continent and soenjoying a relatively mild climate, the Australians are by no means confinedto their station buildings, even during the winter.

M AW S O NWild and windy conditions in May

were not conducive to outside work,and field activities were not possible. The average temperature wasonly 2.2)°; minimum—21.7°; maximum 24° F. Nearly every day therewere strong winds and the highestgust reached 120 m.p.h. Blizzard conditions were experienced on 14 days.

Fortunately, however, a party offive in the tractor and the snotrac,made a glaciology survey of theplateau before the bad weather hadset in.

Paish had built a training sledgeand took the opportunity, whenweather permitted, of training thehuskies.

The working dogs at this time ofthe year are required for sea icetravelling.Much patience is required in thistraining for sledging. The dogs sometimes start fighting each other,which results in much blood andfur flying. "Hap" ended up after onefight with a nasty gash on his leg.The garage floor became an operating theatre and Doctor Dick Lip-pctt put him to sleep and successfully stitched up the wound.

I N T H E F I E L DTwo field trips were achieved in

June with several men making theirplateau debut. Five men journeyedto Fischer Nunatak in a snowtrac,tractor and the Volkswagen. Thetrip was the routine glaciology survey between Mawson and MawsonRange, using the snotrac and theV.W.

Mid-win ter ce lebra t ions commenced with McDonald setting uphis radio office and making possibleradio-phone communications withWilkes and Davis. At mid-day on

June 22 we sat down to a banquetmagnificently prepared by Howard,with Seavers and Grafton assistinghim. Evening developed into quite aparty, the main act being a ballet,produced and directed by Eather.

Even on mid-winter's day therewas three hours of twilight. Duringthese long dark hours, beautiful sunr i ses and sunse t s some t imesoccurred within minutes of eachother. The minimum June temperature was — 21 °F.

July commenced with a two-davblizzard and throughout the montlwe have since experienced 18 daysof blizzard, the most fierce b 'of three days duration accompanyby winds exceeding 100 m.p.h. Thehighest gust recorded was 124 m.p.h.The lowest temperature was —l<F., the maximum 19.0° F.

Early in the month Wishart andtwo helpers departed for Fischer'sNunatak in search of drifting snowconditions as this was lacking at thstation area. Their return to Mawsonwas subsequently retarded by theconditions that they had left tofind. While this party was away fromthe station, three others, with twoteams of dogs, left on a sea ice fitrip to outlying islands west of thestation. The party encountered intheir five days away very high windsand drift but successfully carriedout their work.

Regardless of the weather conditions, the scientific programme atthe station continues. To assist moving about in a blizzard, rope linesare strung between buildings and,by feeling one's way along the lineone can move from building tobuilding. To let go the rope isdangerous, as visibility is reducedto several inches owing to the driving snow, and all around is whitewith no definition of terrain, makingone lose all sense of direction.

A N T A R C T I C September. 1963

EMPEROR-WATCHING IS TOUGHEver since Edward Wilson, "Birdie" Bowers and Apsley Cherry-Garrard

made the Worst Journey in the World from Cape Evans to Cape Crozier inthe winter of 1911, the Emperor penguins' habit of breeding in the depth ofthe Antarctic winter has brought trouble to those who wish to observe theirbreeding behaviour. The Australians at Mawson have not broken withtradition.

Three Mawson men narrowlyescaped death when the snowvehicle in which they were travellingbroke through a patch of weak seaice and sank in fifteen seconds. Themen escaped by clambering outthrough an escape hatch in the roof.

A field party of six men led byDr. Richard Lippctt set out in twosnowtracs on June 12 to travel alongthe coast over sea ice to the TaylorGlacier, 60 miles west of Mawson.They planned to make midwinterstudies of the breeding Emperor penguins at the Taylor Rookery.

-Eleven miles west of Mawson thesea ice suddenly cracked under theleading vehicle which slid off intothe water. Lippett, Edward andVu k o v i c h b a r e l y h a d t i m e t oscramble out through the escapehatch in the roof before the snowtracsank. All men returned safely toMawson in the second vehicle.

THE PENGUINS WINDr. Lippett, Watson and White

left Mawson on July 18 to haul asledge 30 miles over sea ice to theAuster rookery of emperor penguins,where they intended to carry outzoological investigations of thebreeding birds.

Radio communication with theparty was lost on July 23 when theirtransmitter failed. Next day theyr e a c h e d a p o s i t i o n n o r t h o fAustskjera where they were immobilised by a two-day blizzard. OnJuly 27 and 28, attempts to proceedto the Auster rookery were defeatedby blowing snow. However, on July29 the men reached the rookery and,after preliminary observations, returned to their camp, planning loreturn again the following day.

On the 30th a bad blizzard made

them abandon the idea. They decided lo return to Mawson at thefirst opportunity because radiosilence had lasted beyond the specified time and they knew that thestation party would be anxious abouttheir welfare. On July 31 they beganthe return journey and on August1 were struck by a blizzard whilecamped on an island of the Robinson group. Extremely heavy snow-falls completely buried the tent andsledge and the men were forced tocut their way out through the topof thc tent when the pressure ofsnow threatened to flatten it. Takingtheir sleeping bags, they soughtshelter away from the worst snow-drift area, but one sleeping bag wasblown away and lost.

The party bedded down in thcopen in the snow for 24 hours andthen, in desperation, decided to beginthe thirty-mile walk back to Mawson even though heavy drift wasstill blowing. They abandoned theirsledge and tent which lay beneathten feet of snow.

Meanwhile a two-man dog-sledgingparty had left Mawson on July 28to investigate the whereabouts ofthe man-hauling party. The dog-sledges had reached an island in theRobinson group, 15 miles from Mawson, when they were immobilisedby the blizzard.

Dr. Lippett and his two companions reached Mawson after agruelling 15-hour trip at 3 a.m. onAugust 4. All were suffering fromfrostbite to hands and feet and weregiven immediate treatment. The dog-sledging party was recalled by radio.

Although full recovery will takesome months, it is not expected thatany of the men will suffer any permanent injury.

September. 1963

W I L K E SA fire was discovered on the even

ing of April 23 in the Heater buildi n g a d j a c e n t t o t h e I n fl a t i o nbuilding. To prevent the fire spreading to the Inflation building thewooden heater duct between thetwo buildings was chopped down.Some damage occurred to the roofand outside of the building but itwas of a minor nature. A 55 gallonfuel tank shot a pressurised torch20 feet into the air through the fillerpioe which apparently and fortunately had not been capped afterfilling, otherwise an explosion mighthave occurred. The Heater buildingwas a complete loss, but there wereno injuries to any of the personnel.

The loss of the Heater buildingin te r rup ted the upper a i r p rogramme for only two days andpreparations were soon under wavfor thc construction of a new buikl-

THE WEATHERThe average temperature for

April, —3.5°F., was a record Aprillow, the averages in some otheryears being as much as 17°F. warmer. The May figures were: Average—6.7°F., highest 21.1°F., lowest—29 °F.

The weather trends in May werefull of surprises. "The prevailingwinds," writes Saxton, " which areeasterly, have this year so far beenfrom the south! The monthly average temperature of — 7° and thelowest of —29° were record lowfigures. Also, the highest temperature was the lowest recorded. Wehad the highest snowfall and justto confuse the issue we also had atwo-day heat wave with an averagetop temperature of 15 degrees; thiscaused slabs of frost on the ceilingsof corridors to fall like sheets ofplaster which left quite a mess. Themaximum wind was 80 m.p.h."

Thomas, who handled the radiocommunication to the traverse undervery cramped conditions (in facthe was seen transmitting morse andstirring porridge at the same time))organised morse classes during thewinter.

Out of seal meat for dogs forquite some time, it was good newswhen a sealing party reported havinggot four on the sea ice beside theiroreathing holes.

MAY TRAVERSEThe traverse party had a few

troubles, though Wilkinson managedto persuade even thc most obstinate vehicle to start. "But he did notappreciate Mai Kirton's remarks,when the engines were difficult, thatMai would radio for his dogs tocome and collect him. Our lowesttemperature of minus 52.3°F. wasinconsiderate enough to arrive at8 a.m. when starting and packingpreparations were under way; infact, no temperatures recorded inthe field were above zero. Mai, whoachieved good seismic results, foundthat we generally were travelling atour altitude of 4,400 feet on about2,000 feet of ice which overlaid therock. Throughout the trip PeterOrmay was always a willing candidate for field work and often hadhis beard and eyelashes covered infrost while watching from the hatchfor thc other vehicles, when fogconditions threatened to part us."

Midwinter's day was celebrated inthe traditional Antarctic manner.The big occasion saw the stationmess decorated and the tables laidout in banquet fashion around whichall members of the party sat todine and wine in a jovial atmospherein keeping with the festive occasion.Everyone was more than satisfiedwith thc seven-course meal.

JUNE BLIZZARDSJune was blizzard month with

sixteen days of them, and many ofthe other days also had quite strongcold winds. Peak gusts exceeded 100m.p.h. These winds caused someanxious moments for Currie andMcKenzie when guy wires fromaerials came adrift. Grimsley wasseen on the odd day he could get out,trying to make temporary repairsto the ionosphere sounder aerials.Parts of the amateur radio aerialwere blown away. All the Met. Section had a most energetic time digging out the entrance to the balloon-launching building. They would

September. 1963

spend hours digging, only having toretreat as the wind came up andundid all their work in a few moments. Ormay, while carrying a fewsheets of masonite for the Kitchenrenovations, was caught in a verysudden wind and masonite sheets-sailed off not to be seen again.

July was ushered in by a seven-day continuous blizzard. Indicationswere for a new record for wind but,by the middle of the second week,the weather cleared. Still, it was thesecond windiest July on record. A33° temperature was also the secondhighest on record for the month.

After some hurried preparationsa fuel depoting party set off inclear weather to leave drummed fuelover fifty miles from the stationin readiness for the spring traverse.The field party made some excellenttravelling times, despite two blizzards, returning to Wilkes after oneand a half weeks away. Temperatures were mainly in the minusthirties, with the minimum being— 37° F.

During the month Webster andThompson in two vehicles spent aday on the plateau where they laidout empty fuel drums, to replacethose buried, which indicate thestart of the southbound route. Whentheir weasel broke down a coupleof miles from the station, they bothreturned squeezed into the one-manclosed cockpit of the other andsmallest vehicle. The faulty vehiclewas retrieved two days later, afteran intervening blizzard had blownitself out.

D AV I SThe April newsletter had barely

left when Davis was hit by the worstbl izzard s ince the new team'sarrival. High winds and drift ingsnow built drifts to roof level andfor many days shovels were necessary to reach the outside world. NewZealander David Dodd grew manygrey hairs during the blizzard tokeep his instruments in operationand in one piece. The Met. sectionflew the weather balloon with instruments attached in heavy driftand 7 knot winds.

Health was good and morale highafter the coldest May day since the

establishment of Davis, and afterwinds equalling the record.

Minimum temperature — 26.2°;maximum 26i°F.; mean 2.6°F. Maximum wind 101 knots.

MIDWINTERGiddings excelled with his pre

parations for the midwinter dinner.The buffet tables were filled tocapacity with delicately preparedfood of every description and thelayout of the main table would havedone the "Hotel Royale" proud.'

The intrepid trip of the month wasundertaken by Lugg and Strover.With a dog team they ventured toCrooked Fjord, tr iumphantly returning to the station after five daysin the field. Dodd won a break fromMet. duties when he snowtrackedto Soesdal Glacier.

Minimum June temperature was—12.3°; maximum 23.91°F; mean temperature 5.2°F. Maximum windgust 60 knots.

PLANS FOR SPRINGBy thc end of July preparationsfor the field programme later in

the year were well under way. Theincreased daylight hours made itpossible to press on with the contraction of a road for vehicle usethrough a section of the VestfoldHills to the Ice Plateau. A surveywas done by Dodd and Young anda possible route discovered near remote station Platcha.

Lugg and Eyre journeyed to MuleIsland to check oh an elephant sealcolony.Foale and Lee left Davis for oneweek. One dog-team carried themto Lone Fjord, then to Platcha,where they were confined for twodays by a blizzard.

B l i zza rds bur ied the norma lbuilding exits under ten feet ofsnow drift. The emergency roofhatch was used to advantage at thisstage as Davis men ventured intothe outside world. The hatch ismuch akin to a submarine conningtower exit. Exit-clearing after eachblow became routine.

The maximum monthly temperature was 14.8°F. and the minimumwas —19.5°F., while the mean temperature was 8°. Maximum windgust was 81 knots.

September. 1963 A N T A R C T I C

SEALS GO WALKABOUT

Young reported from Davis onAugust 15 that a party travellinginland from the station found twodead seals on the Plateau ice, 600feet above sea level. One, a Leopardseal, was one mile inland from thejunction of thc Plateau ice andthe coastal rock; thc other, a Weddell seal, was two miles in from the■"nction. They were mummified by

mydration in the cold dry air andperfectly preserved. It is thoughtthat they may have died there manvyears—perhaps hundreds of years—ago, but why they headed inlandfrom the sea no one knows.

The Australian Antarctic Divisionhas moved from its mid-city Collins Street offices in Melbourne loa building at 568 St. Kilda Road,Melbourne, S.C.3. where among otheramenities the staff has ample parking space for cars.

Dr. P. G. Law, Director of the Aus-stralian Antarctic Division, enteredhospital late in June for manipulative treatment to his back, and wasexpected to be off the active listfor a considerable time.

Among grants awarded to Australian Universities and research organisa t ions by thc Un i ted Sta tesNational Science Foundation, announced in June by the AmericanEmbassy in Canberra, is a grant ofS13.200 (£5,871) to the AustralianNational University for research inthe McMurdo Sound area of theAntarctic.

LIFE OF MAWSONA Life of the late Sir Douglas

Mawson has been written bv hiswidow, Lady Mawson, and is inpress. The book is expected to bepublished in April next year byLongmans Green and Co. Ltd., London. This date coincides with the50th aniversary of the ending ofMawson's first Antarctic expedition.Lady Mawson has stated that herbook is a study of her late husband"from the human point of view".

Her sources include her own lettersfrom Sir Douglas, diaries, and material in the possession of theBritish Museum and the Royal Geographical Society. Lady Mawsonlived in England for two and a halfyears gathering material.

In a notable foreword the Dukeof Edinburgh says "Lady Mawson... . has performed a valuable service to Australia as well as to allthose who are interested in theAntarctic by giving us the opportunity to view in perspective a greatand dedicated career."

SOCIETY OFFICERSAt the Annual Meeting of the N.Z.

Antarctic Society on July 7 officerselected were:

President: A. H. Robins.Immediate Past President: J. H.

Miller.Vice-Presidents: H. F. Griffiths, A.

S. Helm.Treasurer: P. L. Wilson.Publicity Officer: W. Hopper.Council: Representing Wellington

Branch: Dr. R. A. Falla, Dr. T. Hatherton, Cdr. W. J. L. Smith, Cdr. R.Humby, W. J. P. Macdonald, L. B.Quartermain; representing Canterbury: Dr. B. Stonehouse, H. F.Griffiths, R. J. Stanley, J. H. M. Will iams; representing Dunedin: A.Leigh Hunt, N. L. Dickson. F. Simmons.

Mr. W. J. Macdonald was appointed Secretary, but subsequentlyresigned in consequence of an accident while ski-ing. Mr. Athol Robertswas then appointed.

ANTARCTIC WEEKAntarctic week in Christchurch

this year is to be on a more modestscale than hist year's highly successful effort. It is planned to link theweek with Show week in November.The Christchurch City Council, theU.S. Naval Support Force, Antarctica, and the Canterbury branch ofthe New Zealand Antarctic Societywill again co-operate in the effort.

A N T A R C T I C September. 1963

NEW ZEALANDER VISITS VOSTOKBUT FINDS NOBODY AT HOME

by R. B. Thomson.

[In our last issue Bob. Thomson, already veteran of one Antarctic andone sub-Antarctic winter, gave his impressions of the Australian Station atWilkes, where he was Leader last year. In this article he describes theAustralian traverse which he led to the Russian station on the high PolarPlateau 900 miles inland. Ed.]

Planning for the traverse commenced in May, 1961, followed bymonths of feverish activity at Wilkespreparing vehicles, sledges, equipment and supplies until our departure for Vostok on September 17.

Two D4 tractors hauled ninesledges, their load of some 22 tonsconsisting of two caravans, fuel,food, mechanical spares, drilling andscientific equipment. Two weasels(extensively modified) were alsotaken, one used as a scout and navigation vehicle, the other to housethe seismic recording equipment,gravimeter and other delicate scientific instruments.

The planned scientific programme(maintained throughout the traverse) was as follows:Seismic shots every 30 miles. (Drill

ing to a depth of 240 feet).Gravity readings every three miles

(minimum).Magnetic readings every Seismic

Station. (H D Z components).Glaciology pit every 60 miles.Bore-hole temperatures every 60

miles.Full meteorological readings every

six hours.Elevations continuous using two

Weasels three miles apart.During the first month or so per

sistent poor weather proved ourgreatest problem; whiteouts, blowing snow and blizzards with zerovisibility made travelling most difficult and extremely hazardous. Thuscommenced a battle against timewhich lasted throughout the Traverse. Full use of all reasonableweather had lo be made to balanceagainst periods blizzard bound,etc., and to keep our average mileage up to the required 17 per day.

On October 19 350 miles fromWilkes we arrived at the mostSouthern point previously reachedby an Australian Expedition in Antarctica. We were now at over 9000feet, still climbing, and with temperatures dropping to minus 50 deg. F.Surface conditions had becomemuch worse, large lumps of sastrugias high as 7 feet and long wind—scoured snow dri f ts diagonal lyacross our course were most difficultlo negotiate.

On October 25, having completed450 miles, we passed the halfwaypoint to Vostok. We were now nearing an altitude of 10,000 feet, temperatures were still becoming colderand on October 27 at 486 miles weexperienced our record low of minus82.2 deg. F.

STRANGE PHENOMENAIn temperatures below minus 60

we experienced many strange phenomena; our breath froze in tne airwith a loud crackling sound as weexhaled, paint on vehicles andequipment cracked, splintered andexploded leaving only bare metalremaining, rubber became as hardas steel, wires and cables could notbe moved without breaking, oil frozesolid, and exposed parts of ourbodies would be badly burnt if wecame in contact with any metal, icecrystals caused strange refractionsin the atmosphere and often up to5 suns could be counted at any onetime. On one occasion the tractortrains followed over 2 miles behindthe navigating Weasel appearedabove the horzon as a mirage milesahead of the Weasel.

The airdrop point 572 miles inlandwas reached on November 1—4 days

September. 1963 A N T A R C T I C

V{jV "_-—...

ON THE VOSTOK ROAD

ANARE photo. A. Battye.

ahead of schedule. Thc drop madeon November 5 by a Globemasterof the 9th Troop Carrier Squadron,United Stales Air Force, was a complete success and thus wc received1584 gallons of diesel fuel. The sightof something or somebody apartfrom ourselves was a great thrill tooand we all felt a sense of lonelinessafter the aircraft had made its finalrun and departed on its 1000 milereturn flight to McMurdo.

A period of steady progress averaging some 30 miles daily during thenext week brought us to a position749 miles south of Wilkes. Here atan altitude of nearly 12,000 feet andonly 150 miles from Vostok we foundthe surface, although very hard,much flatter, and sastrugi muchsmaller. We were all now very determined to reach Vostok with minimum delay, so we continued topush on. Allowing little time forfood, rest or sleep we managed atleast 30 miles per day until themorning of November 18 when an

astro check of our position showedwe were within 4(3 miles of ourgoal.

TODAY'S THE DAYAt 0840 we were mobile again hav

ing completed the usual tedious tasksof preheating and starting vehicles,but this morning a different atmosphere prevailed: today we shouldreach Vostok.

At 4p.m. with just over eight milesto go we sighted a vertical darkline on the horizon. This later provedto be an antenna mast at Vostok.Another two miles and numerousdark spots could now be seen onthe horizon: these were the buildingsand vehicles at Vostok. Two hourslater I s topped our navigat ionWeasel amongst the vehicles andbuildings of the Soviet Station.A few days before we had receiveda radio message from the RussianLeader at Mirny cordially invitingus to make full use of the facilitiesat Vostok.

A N T A R C T I C September. 1963

i I

September, 1963 A N T A R C T I C

AT VOSTOKABOVE: Australian traverse navigationweasel is dwarfed by huge RussianKarlcovchanka vehicles parked at Vostolt.

ANARE photo, R. B. Thomson.BELOW: Two of the Australian traverseteam make themselves at home in theliving-room at Vostok, below a portrait

of Lenin.ANARE photo, A. Battye.

First problem, however, was tofind an entrance to what appearedlo be the main building, difficult todetermine as all buildings werenearly covered by snow drift. Some2 hours probing and searching andthe entrance, a bear skin rug, waslocated.

At minus 70 deg. F. the buildingswere colder inside than out; thusit was essential that we obtain somewarmth to make the place habitable.We accomplished this by using ourcombustion heater (Herman Nelson), and sometime later we hadthe main generating plant operating,giving us power for lighting, cooking and heating.

HOME AWAY FROM HOMEDuring the following six days

spent here we showed ourselvesRussian films, enjoyed ample Russian food, had our first good washand bath in two months, and generally reorganised for our impending900 mile haul back to Wilkes. Wemade use of Russion intruments tocontinue our scientific studies andin doing so found that their minimum thermometer showed a readingof minus 121.7 deg. F. recorded during the winter just passed.Vostok Station proved to be muchlarger than we expected and iscertainly a credit to the Russiansin being able to construct such abase in the remotest, and coldest,area of Antarctica.

On November 25 we departedNorth and in a record breaking runcompleted 74 miles in 22 hours.With constant good fine weatherand 24 hours sunshine a strictroutine could now be adhered to—a day's travel of 30 miles requiredbetween the seismic drilling stations

An Australian dons an "extreme cold"mask as used at Vostok.

ANARE photo, A. Barfye.

could be achieved fairly easily anddrilling and seismic work completed

within 2-3 hours of making camp.Mechanical breakdowns were few,thus delays were greatly minimizedand we found ourselves in thehappy position of keeping well aheadof schedule.

WHITE CHRISTMASContinually brilliant sunshine had

been experienced for 46 days whenon December 24 a violent blizzardstruck us 354 miles from Wilkes.However, we made the best of ourforced stay inside the caravans tocelebrate a real white ChristmasDay; chicken, Christmas puddingand cake, champagne, and manygoodies were a most welcome change

A N T A R C T I C September, 1963from our normal plain food, andsurely we were the remotest partyon Earth lo celebrate this Christmas?

The weather cleared somewhat onthe 26th and we were mobile again;but now that we were back ncarthc coastal area of rapidly changingconditions, whitcouts, blizzards anddrifting snow again became a problem. Temperatures now rapidlywarming to —lOdeg. F. caused dampsnow to become an added problem,clogging tractor tracks and suspension. We pushed on, good progresscontinued and on January 5, 180miles from home, we recorded forthe first time in over 3 months atemperature above 0 deg. F.!

Poor weather but steady progress

continued until at 4.20 p.m. on January 14 we sighted the coast andicebergs, the first we had seen infour months, and at 6 p.m. wesighted Wilkes Station and ourrelief ship "Thala Dan" lying closeinshore—a very pleasant sight indeed !

** soon as we were sighted fromWilkes, all types of vehicles carryingincoming and outgoing Wi lkesparties and members of the ship crewnow streamed out over the snow towelcome us. So many people, somany questions, the confusion andnoise, was a strange contrast following the 120 days of quiet isolation we had endured in traversing1800 miles into the little-known heartof the Antarctic Continent.

THE WINTER HAS BEEN TOUGH ATRUSSIAN BASES

News filtering through from the wintering over Soviet teams suggeststhat the winter weather, even at the inland station Vostok, has not dcleteri-ously affected the spirits or the activities of those running the four Russianbases.

A Russian press correspondentradioed from Mirny on April 25 thatwinter had come to Antarctica. 72°of frost had already been recordedat Vostok in the heart of the con-linent. Winds were raging over thecoast and the south-polar seas, attimes reaching hurricane force.

"Late though it is," he said, "the'Ob' has only recently completed itsvoyage round the coast of Antarctica.After taking on board the seasonalshift workers from Enderby Land,the ship set sail for Mirny. Aprilproved to be a stormy month. Thestrong head wind turned into ahurricane. The 'Ob' began to encounter accumulations of icebergsand floes. Visibility was down to50-200 metres.

"10 miles from Pravda Coast the'Ob' ran into dense, snow-coveredhummock ice. It semed impossiblelo find a way through and the vesselwas forced to heave to and lie atanchor. When the weather improved,aircraft with hvdrologists on boardIwice flew out from Mirny. With theaid of this ice reconnaissance a pas

sage through the ice was found andthe 'Ob' sailed on to Mirny andforced a way through thc fast-ice20 km. from the station. With theassistance of aircraft fresh fruit andvegetables were flown to Mirny.

"After taking on board the "menwho have been working along theshores of the Davis Sea this season,the 'Ob' left Pravda Coast. Her departure was attended by the tradit ional ceremony of "sirens andcoloured rockets. The 'Ob' then setsail northward for Russia."

LATER NEWSA Mirny message dated June 14

spoke of wind speeds reaching 4metres per second and air temperatures of 30° below zero C. Thcstation living quarters were alreadycompletely snowed under, the message slated, and entrance to and exitfrom thc quarters had to be madethrough hatches in the roof.

Despite these conditions there hadbeen no interruption in the releaseof radio-sondes transmitting temperatures, pressures, degrees of

September, 1963 A N T A R C T I C

moisture in the atmosphere and thespeed and d i rect ion of winds.Weather maps of the SouthernHemisphere were being regularlycompiled and weather forecastsradioed to Vostok, Novolazarev andMolodezh, the other Soviet Antarcticstations.

ARCTIC-ANTARCTIC CONTACT

The Mirny radio operators were intouch with their Russian homeland"day" and "night" and had alsopicked up stations in New Zealand,Australia, North and South Americaand western Europe. A few daysbefore the dispatch was sent out,contact had been made with theArctic station al Cape Schmidt. Thcpersonnel of Mirny were able attimes to hear the voices of theirrelatives in various Russian towns.

VOSTOK REPORTSA radio dispatch from the inland

Vostok (78° 27' S., 106>° 52' E.) to aLeningrad newspaper dated July 12stated that temperatures of —60°C.(— 76° F) and lower had been recorded at the station. The Polarnight clamped down on Vostok onApri l 27. Midwinter 's Day wasproperlv celebrated on June 22.Vostok is about 750 miles southof Mirny, which is on the coast.While the latitude of Vostok is notvery different from that of ScottBase, it is inland on the lofty PolarPlateau, so conditions are of coursemuch more severe.

PLANS FOR 1964The 9th Soviet Antarctic Expedi

tion is now being prepared. Scienti-lic work will be closely co-ordinatedwith the requirements of the I.Q.S.Y.This will involve special attentionto the earth's negative field, cosmic rays, thc ionosphere and theupper layers of the atmosphere.

UPPER SPACE ON THE MAPThe Soviet journal "Gudok" states

(May 4) that 100 new names havebeen added to the map as the resultof recent Soviet exploration in theAntarctic. These place names have

been approved by the National Committee lor the Study of the Arcticand the Antarctic and have beennotified to the international organisations concerned. The new namesinclude those of the Soviet Cosmonauts Gagarin, Titov, Nikolaev andPopovich, which have been appliedto newly discovered mountains andmountain ranges. Other famousnames to appear on new maps areErnst Telmann, Fredrik Juliot Curie,Igor Kurchatov, Julius Fuchik andMaxim Gorki.

A YEAR AGO

Some further details are to handregarding preparations for the reopening last summer of VostokStation, referred to in earlier issues.

A sledge tractor train left Mirnyas early as September 17, the firstspring trek.

The six man party was led by theCommander of the Land TransportDivision, A. Borodachcv and includedan East German meteorologist. Theirmain task was to establish an intermediate fuel depot 100 km. inland,towards the top of the steepest partof thc glacial slope, at a height of1400 m. They also took with theman automatic radiometeorologicalstation, which was to bc set up inthe interior. The station was constructed al the Arct ic-Antarct icScientific Research Institute.

Transport consisted of a powerfultracked vehicle and an S-100 truck-tractor towing two heavily ladenmetal sledges. In the first threedays the party successfully crosseda wide zone of deep crevasses andclimbed the steep slope to a heightof 1300 m. Then they were temporarily held up by a sudden violentsnowstorm.

To avoid wasting time the menset about ins ta l l ing the rad io-meteorological station. With the aidof the device scientists will bc ableto keep a regular check on weatherchanges on the glacial slope. Theinformation recorded will be automatically transmitted back to Mirnyfor inclusion in the general weatherreports for the Antarctic continent.On September 26 as soon as thestorm abated, the party pressed onsouthward. Soon thev reached their

A N T A R C T I C September. 1963

AWAITING THE SUN AT AMERICANANTARCTIC STATIONS

„. ,Thce hour,s of darkness, 1963, are almost over for Antarctica. The firsttlignt from New Zealand to McMurdo is expected to be made on or aboutOctober 1, and the first ship carrying stores and equipment for the AmericanOperation Deep Freeze 64 was due at Lyttelton in August. The movementsInto the continent will soon be under way.

And what have the 314 wintering- idle for the men. Equipment has hadover men isolated in the U.S. sta- to be secured, overhauled and rations been doing since March when paired; meteorological, upper at-the last ships and aircraft left them mosphere physics and siesmologicalbehind to face the months of dark- programmes have been maintainedness and cold? Cold i t certa in ly _has been, with a record low of minus Bul Jack's no dull boy after the109.8deg. F. recorded at the Amund- darkness has begun. The Universitysen-Scott Pole station on July 14, of Antarctica started lectures on Aprila minimum temperature .3 deg. lower 15 al McMurdo, with four mathe-than ever before recorded, and in matics courses—basic mathematics,surprising contrast to the plus 23deg. algebra, trigonometry, and thcF. ruling at McMurdo Station on calculus; two language courses,April 11, an Indian Summer which Russian under the tutorhip of thedid not last into May. May at Mc- Russian exchange scientist at McMurdo, with a minimum low of Murdo, and Spanish, as well asminus 43deg. F. was the coldest May courses in book-keeping, accountancy,i n t h e l a s t s e v e n y e a r s . p h y s i c s , c h e m i s t r y a n d A m e r i c a n

Cold and dark these months may government; many other studentshave been, but they have not been are studying correspondence courses

they enrolled in before their isolationbegan.

goal and set up the fuel depot, containing 10 tons of fuel.On September 27 the expeditionarrived safely back at Mirny.

BELLINGSHAUSEN DOCUMENTWc referred in our last issue

(p. 245) to the Russian claim thatBellingshausen's long-missing sailingcharts, 1819-21 had been discovered.The second number of the Sovietbulletin "Antarctica" (1962) reproduces in both English and Russiana letter from New Zealand journalistNicholas Turner to V. L. Lebedev,dated July 1, 1961, asking for detailsregarding two documents of greatinterest, concerned with the sameexpedition, previously referred to bySoviet Antarctic authorities.

Mr. Lebedev's lengthy (2,500words) reply is also reproduced inboth English and Russian. A copyof the correspondence is held in thelibrary of the Antarctic Division,l ibrary of the ArD.S.I.R., Wellington

And of course there is the purelyrecreation side of life to consider-too. Movies, card games, hobbies andself-entertainment—music and thetheatre—help to fill in any sparetime, while the ham radio not onlyentertains and interests, but may alsobring in the stimulus of contact withan outside and seemingly far-distantworld.

LOSS AT McMURDOUunder the disturbing heading.

"McMurdo loses enlisted man" thelatest issue of the "Bulletin" of theU.S. Antarctic Projects Officer reports "The career of a Navy enlisted man ended on —July 1 . . .when Dean Everett Fadden enteredthe Commissioned Officer ranks".Mr. Fadden, who wintered over atByrd in 1957-58, is a Watch Supervisor at the PM-3A nuclear reactor.

We add our congratulations.

September. 1963 A N T A R C T I C

HOPE SPRINGS ETERNALMidwinters Day was celebrated at

the United States stations McMurdo,c~.,*u d~i„ n„-H ™a nights and

An unusual note was introduced atthe Pole where a "sumptuous buffet"on the Friday had a follow-up onSaturday, when "the fare was Italianstyle".

But the tiny Byrd Auroral substation went one better. The threemen isolated there, 40 miles fromByrd, reported that they had invitedsome "girls from the factory acrossthe street." We have not heard ifthe invitation was accepted.

AMENITIES

The Ross Ice Shelf now boastsan ice skating rink, complete withskates rented from Christchurch, arefreshment stand calling plaintively"Waitress Wanted—No ExperienceNecessary" and a name—No-SquawValley.

The builders? The crew of USS"Arneb", who despite three forcedwithdrawals as a result of blizzards,finished and used the rink before"Arneb's" departure from Antarctica, and plan to extend the sportscentre they have begun, should theirship return to it next season.

The season's first aurora was seenat the South Pole Station on April12, for 15 minutes. Displays thereafter occurred almost dairy.

Of the automatic weather stationsset up at Scott Island, Minna Bluff,Little Rockford, Beardmore Glacier,Cape Crozier and on the DawsonTrail all had been picked up orhad stopped transmitting by Juneexcept those at Little Rockford andMinna Bluff.

The tellurometer traverses of whichso much has been heard in recentseasons will be replaced by Electro-tape Traverses, using Electronic Distance measuring. The term turbojet, familiar in this connection, willbe replaced by the term turbine-driven.

PLANS FOR 1963-64In outline, the United States Ant

arctic Research Programme USARP-" is as follows:During the summer, preparations

will be completed for the specialIQSY observations. An intensivefield season in biology and geologyis also anticipated.

GEOLOGY

(1) Investigation of the QueenMaud Mountains by four men working at the Faulkner Escarpment adjacent to the Amundsen Glacier.

(2) Investigations by five men ofthe Neptune Range in the PensacolaMountains.

(3) Between November and December 15 two men will study thegeology of Northern Victoria Land.Using Army turbine hel icoptersthey w i l l opera te f rom Ha l le t tStation.

(4) A six-man party will work inthe Ellsworth Mountains, with turbine helicopter support in the latterhalf of the season.

(5) In December two men willstudy the patterned ground in theMcMurdo area.

(6) One man will study the application of photo-geologic techniquesto Antarctic geology in the mountains west of McMurdo Sound.

BIOLOGY

(1) At Hallett: Field investigationsin the physiology of lichens.

(2) Marine ecology and icthyologystudies in McMurdo Sound.

(3) Seal physiology study at McMurdo, and a study of seal divinghabits.

(4) Ornithological work at CapeCrozier.

(5) Research into the zoogeography of insects in the Pensacolaand Queen Maud Mountains as wellas in McMurdo Sound.

(6) Albedo studies over the icepack, the continent, and ocean areasbetween New Zealand and Antarctica. Missions will be flown inC54Q aircraft.

A N T A R C T I C SeDtember, 1963

GLACIOLOGY(1) An over-snow glaciological

traverse will operate in the areabounded by Byrd Station, PensacolaMountains, the southern margin ofthe Filchner Ice Shelf and the Ellsworth Mountains.

(2) Station glaciological studies atByrd and Pole Stations. Topographical engineers will establish long-term movement networks 50 to 100miles from Byrd.

(3) Topographical engineers willobtain additional geodetic controlin the Ellsworth and PensacolaMountains.

(4) Topographical engineers withturbine helicopters and electronicdistance-measuring equipment willattempt to complete the last legs ofTopo East.

OCEANOGRAPHYNavy oceanographers will spend a

month aboard a Navy icebreaker inthe eastern Ross Sea between 157°W.and 180°, working south from 78°S.100 hydrographic stat ions arcplanned.U.S.N.S. "Eltanin" will continuemaking 60-day cruises from SouthAmerican ports. Cruise 9 duringAugust-September will take place inthe South Atlantic between 50" and55°W.; cruises 10 to 13 (Nov. 1963-June 1964) in thc South Pacific northof the Bellingshausen Sea. Work inthe upper atmosphere and marinedisciplines will continue.

The meteorological programme atHallett will be reduced, and willlargely be confined to summer observations for aircraft operations.The meleorqlogical rocket programme at McMurdo will be discontinued pending analysis of thedata obtained to date.

New upper a tmosphere p rogrammes include: A forward scatterp rogramme. An tennae w i l l bemounted on 100 to 150 foot towersat McMurdo, Byrd and Pole Stations.

A meson telescope and neutronmonitor will be estabished at theSouth Pole.

Studies in VLF-ELF radio propagation and in the measurement ofice thickness on "Glacier" and atByrd, Eights and Pole Stations.

Installation of transmitting equipment at McMurdo for a radio propagation experiment with recordersat Okinawa and in New Jersey tostudy seasonal changes of propagation paths.

ON ANVERS ISLANDThe permanent biological station

to be set up in Antarctica's PalmerPeninsula by the National ScienceFoundation will be located on AnversIsland, the largest island in thePalmer Archipelago, situated 64°30'S..63°30'W. It was occupied by a Britishexpedition during I.G.Y.

The station, whose installationmay possibly be included in thisseason's Antarctic Research programme, will eventual}' be underThe charge of Dr. M. E. Pryor, abiologist who, in 1961-62, was theAmerican exchange scientist at theRussian base at Mirny.

Anvers Island has been selectedas having the greatest variety ofanimal and plant life on the peninsula, after a 10 week's survej' cruiselast summer by the U.S.N, icebreaker"Staten Island," during which shevisited more than 26 possible sites.

UNLOADING FACILITY?Yet another facility designed for

McMurdo Station as first site is aship unloading facility, which couldreduce by some thousands of manhours the annual effort now required with the use of sleds andtractors across the ice.

A marginal wharf, sited on thcwest side of Hut Point where deepwater is available very close to theshore line, with a cantilevered trusssystem supported on theshore, wouldutilize trusses anchored on the shoreand extended 50 feet from the shoreline to form a 70 x 200 foot wharf.

In addition, the United States NavyBureau of Yards and Docks is making tests and conducting researchto determine the feasibility of constructing a more permanent run-wav, also at McMurdo, or, if insufficient snow free land is thereavailable, perhaps on the permanentice barrier off New Zealand's Scott

September. 1963 A N T A R C T I C

IN BY AIR

Boeing flights numbering 28 are expected to pass through HarewoodAirport during thc 1963-4 season,according to advice received by theAirport authorities from Rear Admiral J. R. Reedy of Operation DeepFreeze. The main runway at Hare-wood is to be extended from 660011.to 8000ft., it is hoped by Novemberthis vear, a lengthening which willenable the Boeings to lift ofl withsufficient fuel to fly direct fromChristchurch to Honolulu withouthaving to stop at Pago Pago, as theyhitherto have had to do.

The first U.S. flights from Christchurch to McMurdo arc scheduledfor thc first half of October. Threeor four C-130 flights are contemplated. After mid-October regularflights will begin.

MORE WATER

Thc Antarctic's only nuclear powerplant, the PM3A Installation onObservation Hill at McMurdo, successfully completed its first run onfull power in late March,, althoughit has not vet, apparently, been employed to supply all the campspovver requirements.A further use to which thc plantmay be put will be that of converting sea-water. From the process-steam from the plant, a multi-stageflash-type conversion plant will, itis hoped, produce a daily 14,000»allons of potable water, whichwould greatly reduce the man-hoursand labour at present necessary toconvert snow, by shovel and heating,to water.

MAGNETIC SURVEYAirborne magnetic surveys will

concentrate on transects of the trans-Antarctic mountains near Hallett,Mc-Murdo, Cape Douglas and theB e a r d m o r e a n d R o b e r t S c o t tGlaciers. Other magnetic flights willbe undertaken over Ellsworth Landfrom Byrd and Eights.

New commander of VX-6 is Commander George R. Kelly, U.S.N whotook over from Commander WilliamH. Everett, U.S.N, in April last year.

NEW PICKET SHIPA new name will bc entered in the

roll of United States Antarctic shipsduring the coming summer, lhcpicket' ship to alternate duties southof New Zealand this year withHMNZS "Rotoiti" will be the destroyer escort USS "Hissem fromthe U.S. Atlantic Fleet. "Hissemis expected to arrive at Dunedin viaLyttelton on September 19, and willleave Dunedin for 60°S. on September 26, to aid the fly-in of DeepFreeze aircraft. "Rotoiti" will takeever picket duties on October 12.

Veteran of four Deep FreezeOperations. Commander Manson"Buddy" Krebs died of a heartseizure on April 10 this year

Commander Krebs, who deployedwith VX-6 to the Antarctic in DeepFreeze IV, '60, '61 and '62, wasdedicated to the Navy's support ofscience in Antarctica and was oflicer-in-charge of VX-6 detachment inLittle America V during Deep FreezeIV, assistant operations officer torthc squadron and Operations; Officerin Deep Freeze '61 and '62. His services were recognised by the U.b.Board of Geographic Names vvliena mountain was named after him,and in Februarv this year he received a citation from the Secretaryor thc Navy and a Gold Star in lieuof a second Navy CommendationMedal.

TOUGH ON BACTERIAMan, properly equipped, can sur

vive Antarctic conditions, but man-carried bacteria cannot. Nor canthev in the Arctic, but there, owingeither to the slightly higher temperature or to some unique qualityin Antarctic soil, they live a littlelonger.

Two Ohio State University bacteriologists conducted experiments lastsummer that proved that withinnine days of introduction, conform(intestinal) bacteria numbering 250million per gram of sampled soil,had practically died out. The samestrains, cultured and taken to theArctic, died quickly, but less quicklythan those in the South.

A N T A R C T I C September, 1963PROJECT MAGNET

e than 15,000 miles of magnetic/ey track were flown by Project

t aircraft in Antarctica lastseason, which, added to the 10,000track mi les flown dur ing DeepFreeze '60, make available a total of25,000 miles of Antarctic data, to beincluded on the 1965 World MagneticCharts, 25,000 miles of area wherelittle or no magnetic data had everbefore been pollected.

Outstanding in the '62-63 programme was the successful completion of a non-stop flight fromXi Vi"-''o Sound, to the Geoouum Pole where the "world wasorbited" in three minutes, and thento Punta Arenas, Chile, all donewithin 15 hours flying. This flightmarked thc first time a U.S. aircraft had left Antarctica by wayof South America.

AWARD TO CHILEANSThe first two awards under a new

Chilean Fellowship Programme runjointly by the National ScienceFoundation and the Department ofState have been awarded to twoChilean students—Hans A. Mein-ardus an instructor at the School ofEngineering, Technical University,

Chile, and Hellmuth A. Sievers, whois with the Chilean Hydrographicoffice.

Meinardus will study geophysicalexploration at Colorado and Sieversoceanography at California's ScrippsInstitute of Oceanography.

The Fellowship Programme, initiated to foster increased scientificco-operation with Chile in areasrelated to polar research, has alreadyprovided U.S. assistance in establishing a geomagnetic programme,several U.S. geological and biologicalparties working in that vicinity. TwoChilean women scientists participated in the Antarctic research ship"Eltanin's" programme.

the U.S. Antarctic Research Programme, and researched in Antarctic waters. A DePaul Universitybiologist, Dr. Mary A. McWhinnie,professor of biology, sailed for Antarctica in November, 1962, andconducted investigations aboard theresearch ship "Eltanin" until mid-January, 1963. Look out, Antarctica,here come the women!

A WORD ABOUT CHARLIE

established by Chief Warrant OfficerGeorge W. ("Featherfoot") Fowlci(see 'Antarctic', March, 1963) notonly involved a tremendous amounlof recovery work for the party, butalso involved a newcomer—Charlie—who kept the men company forall their stay at the site, and whoprotested so much and so vocallvat the departure noises made a*they got ready to go home thatfinally he too accompanied the 23-ton tractor back to McMurdo. Therehe began to sulk so was reunitedwith other Adelie penguins, withwhom it was felt he would feelmore at home. And did he? No oneknows. He may be now living thelife of all good penguins, or he maybe one of the 98 Adelie penguins nowin residence in foreign zoos through-cut the world, having been takenfrom the Antarctic environs las'season.

It 's happened. A woman hasbroken through the ice curtain into

E R R ATA

Vol. 3, No. 6: June, 1963. p. 248:Nearly seven mill ion gallons ofpetroleum products were carried tothe Antarctic on U.S. ships. Thetonnage of cargo carried bv thc U.S.ships was 12,510.

P. 249: U.S.S. "Glacier" was notactually instrumental in releasing theSouth African "R.S.A." in March,1962, though en-route to offer assistance when "R.S.A." was released onMarch 22 by a break-up of icethought due to a sub-marine explosion.

September. 1963 A N T A R C T I C

British Antarctic Survey Plansfor 1963-1964

Because of the greater scientific research called for by I.Q.S.Y. and anexpansion in the biological programme at Sydney, there will be an increaseover 1963 of 12 men wintering at British Antarctic bases. Thc 1964 total of98 men will be a record number.

"The "JOHN BISCOE," "SHACKLETON", "KISTA DAN" and H.M.S."PROTECTOR" will again providelogistics support and platforms forscience and survey.

AIR OPERATIONSThe maximum use is now being

obtained from the two De HavillandOtters operating from Adelaide Island. Since they must winter undercover at Deception Island they areoperational only during the periodOctober-March each year. Thiscovers all but li months of thefield work season. Experience hasshown tha t each a i r c ra f t canachieve about 200 hours in a seasonby flying whenever the weather issuitable. This is just enough to support the current programme. Investigations are in hand to find asu i tab le rep lacement , w i th increased capability, in two or threeyears time.

We are indebted to the BritishAntarctic Survey for the followingoutline of the Survey's plans for1963/64:

FIELD WORKGEORGE VI SOUND: Completion ofthe 1963 topographical survey workas necessary, supported by air andtractor. Geology of the east coastof Alexander Is land using dogteams.EAST COAST CENTRAL GRAHAMLAND: Continuation of the curentprogramme in geology and geophysics supported by air and usingdogs and motor sledges. The partywill be based on Stonington Island.SOUTH GRAHAM LAND PLATEAUAREA: The geological and topographical survey will be air supported in the summer and the teamwill be withdrawn to winter at Stonington. In the spring of 1964 they

will attempt to return overland inadvance of the arrival of the aircraftat Adelaide. Direct air support willbe given when available. They willuse motor sledges and dog teamsand may be supported by tractorfrom Fossil Bluff if a suitable routeis found in the region of the Good-enough Glacier.TOTTAN MOUNTAINS: Continuation of the current programme.

BASESHOPE BAY is to close early in1964;STONINGTON will be maintainedindefinitely subject to ice condi-di lions;ADELAIDE: A hut is to be built top rov ide s to rage fo r s tocks o fmaterials required for air supportto the field parties.SIGNY: A new hut to house biological laboratories sufficient for sixfull-time scientists and living accommodation for a total base staff oftwenty will be erected in 1963/64.The hut will have a shell of moulded,fire-rcsislant, plastic and fibre glasspanels supported on a steep framework. It will be heated electricallyand have running water laid on inthe laboratory rooms. The existingbase hut will be retained as a generator house, radio room, meteorological office and store. Thc additional power requirements of thcnew laboratory will be met by theinstallation of new generators.

AT RUSSIAN BASEDr. Charles Swithinbank (36) of

the Scott Polar Research Instituteand prominent in Antarctic fieldwork since 1949, is to winter nextyear at the Russian station, Mirny.He will be the first British memberof a Russian Antarctic scientificexpedition.

A N T A R C T I C Seofember. 1963

THE TIDE HAS TURNEDNew Interest in Antarctic Research

The tide of interest in Antarctic exploration and research,which naturally ebbed somewhat at the conclusion of theI.G.Y., shows signs of flowingagain. Two countries, Belgiumand Japan, which had withdrawn from active participation,have announced plans for renewed activity in the Antarctic,and two other countries, Switzerland and Holland, are preparing to take part in Antarcticresearch in the coming summer,both for the first time.

II EM -1 AN - DUTCHE X P E D I T I O N

Baron G. de Gerlache, Chairmanof the "Comite Antarctique Belgo-Neerlandais", the body responsiblefor and in charge of the plannedBelgian-Dutch expedit ions, haskindly forwarded us the followingparticulars of the project.

Thc plans for 1964 are to re-occupy King Baudouin Basc witha team of 13 men, nine Belgians andfour Dutchmen. Seven of thc nineBeleians are veterans of the threeearlier Belgian expeditions. The expedition will leave Antwerp on December 8, 1963, on the chartered vessel "Magga Dan." Thc leader willbe Luc Cabes, 55, who was in chargeof thc work in Geomagnetism inBaron de Gerlache's own 1958 expedition.

NEW BASEThc new King Baudouin base will

be built alongside the old basc70°30'S., 23'°E. which will bc usedas a store-room. The programme willconsist of observations in meteorology, geomagnetism, ionosphere,

atmospheric electricity, aurora andradio-activity; in fact, the I.Q.S.Y.programme. In addition there willbe a limited programme in gravi-inetry and topography in the vicinity of the base.

It is hoped that there will be atleast three Belgian-Dutch expeditions.

The committee is assisted by twoadvisory councils, one for scienceand one for logistics. Subsidies areshared in the proportion of threequarters from thc Belgian Government and one quarter from theDutch authorities.

PUBLICATIONSThe publications resulting from

the work of the 1958 Belgian expedition are almost ready for distribution.

The forthcoming Belgian-DutchExpedition is not the responsibilityof Centre National de RecherchesPolaires de Belgique.

JAPANESE BASETO RE-OPEN

A Tokyo message dated August 20.states that the Japanese Cabinet hasformally decided to resume Japan'sAntarctic observations bv sendinga team south in the autumn of1965.

Japan suspended observationsearly last year, after having occupiedShowa Base from 1957, with theexception of the 1958 winter. Japanvacated thc base, which is situatedin 69°S., 39°35'E., on February 8,1962.

The outline of the re-opening plan,now approved, is, according to anannouncement from J.A.R.E. headquarters on August 14, as follows:1. The establishment of an organis

ation for continuous An tare tic-research, including an executive

September. 1963 A N T A R C T I C

office in the Prime Minister's Department working in co-operationw i t h r e l a t e d m i n i s t e r s a n dagencies. ICEBREAKER

2. The construction of a new icebreaker to replace the "Soya".The new vessel will be of 6,000tons with deisel-clectric engineof 12,000 h.p., over twice aspowerful as "Soya". The cost willbe about £3,000,000. In addition,two helicopters are to be built,a t a cos t o f app rox ima te l y£1,200,000.

3. The centre of actual operationswill probably be thc Polar Division of the National Museum,which will be raised in the nearfuture to thc status of a Department or higher Institute.

4. The transportation of the expedition's team and goods will betaken charge of by the Navy(officially called the DefenceAgency). This has been a mattero f d i s c u s s i o n b e t w e e n t h eJapanese Government and theScience Council.

First Swiss Antarctic ExpeditionAnnounces Plans

We have received from the Directorate of the 1st SwissAntarctic Expedition in Lausanne, Switzerland, an outline of thetwo-stage project to be initiated in the forthcoming summer.

The expedition members will leavefrom Marseilles on October 26 onthe Norwegian ship "Norsel". Calling at Aden, "Norsel" will reachFremantle on December 1 and leavefor Hobart a fortnight later. She isexpected to arrive at Port Martin,Adelie Land, on January 5, 1964.

The exped i t ion is tak ing 21huskies, two aircraft (Pilatus Porter) and one vehicle for snow-milling in addition to the requisitescientific equipment and supplies.Their prefabricated base will beestablished in the Port Martin area(66°49'S., 14r°24'E.). During the summer a route inland will be exploredand all equipment tested. Eight toten men will remain at the Basefor the winter while the remainderleave for home by "Norsel" on February 18.

Meteorological observations willbe carried out by the Expedition'sChief Scientist, who will also bechief of the wintering staff.

Norman Hedderley is going on theSwiss Expedition as auroral observer.

His age is 28. He served with theBr i t i sh An ta rc t i c Survey as ameteorologist at Admiralty Bay in1955, and at the Argentine Islandsin 1956 where he was Base Leader.

He then had a break and came backto the Survey in 1959, when he wasmeteorologisi at Halley Bay. Hestayed on there for a second yearand was Leader during 1960.

ADELIE LAND TO MAWSONThe men who return to Europe

will leave again for Adelie Land inOctober, 1964, and arrive in theAntarctic in January, 1965. Thcspring of 1965 will see the commencement of a long overlandjourney from Adelie Land to theAustralian base, Mawson, a directdistance of approximately 1900 miles,traversing 80 degrees of longitude.Thc proposed route leads from PortMartin to the Russian base Komsomolskaya, approximately alongthe 75° parallel of latitude, and fromthere to Mawson (67°36'S.. 62j°53'E.)where it is expected to arrive threeor four months after leaving PortMartin.

Throughout thc long journeyscientific research will be undertaken particularly in meteorology,geology and aurora.The organisers of the expeditionhave received greatly appreciatedadvice from Sir Vivian Fuchs of the

A N T A R C T I C Seotember. 1963

THE RUSSIANS COME TO MAWSONCongratulations to the ANARE Club, the Australian "AntarcticOld Boys" organisation, on its official journal "Aurora", published

annually at Midwinter.Some idea of its bright and

breezy style may be indicatedby these extracts from an articleby Mike Lucas describing a visitpaid to Mawson by Russians ontheir way by air from Mirny tothe new Molodezhnaya site inJanuary 1962. The Australianshad driven out with make-shifttransport to the air-strip.

"At last they were there, fourteensmiling Russians in their leathertrousers and jerkins and long blackboots. The planes were fuelled andtied down. At 11.30 p.m., the six ofus and the Russians all climbedonto the weasel and sledge and setout, ud along the moraine line thatleads to Rumdoodle. Somehow thetwenty-one of us, including RegWakeford, crammed into the onesmall fourteen by seven foot caravan, sitting on the top bunks, bottom bunks and on each other'sknees.

"In this remote place, where thesilence of the great rock mountainsrising sheer from surrounding iceis only boken by the audible swishof snow petrels as they dive andbank around the buttresses highabove, there followed the most extraordinary party I have ever witnessed.

"Thc chicken was passed round,the 'plonk' and 'Clubbers' uncorked,and much linking of arms, clinkingof glasses and cries of 'friendship'ensued.

Division.

PHILATELISTS NOTE!The Swiss Expedition has pro

duced a striking cover, which maybe obtained on application to 1stSwiss Antarctic Expedition, 1 Rue dela Louve, Lausanne 17, Switzerland.Each envelope costs one U.S. dollar,and is to be returned with youraddress on it, to the Expeditionheadquarters with one InternationalReply Coupon not later than October 15, or from then on to PremiereExpedition Antarctique Suisse, c/-m.s. "Norsel", Hobart, Tasmania.The covers will be returned to theaddressee postmarked at the SwissAntarctic station.

"We piled out into the cold Antarctic twilight. Mattrasses were laidon the sledge and the passengerswrapped up in blankets. Off we go:Cheers—this is splendid! I lookback from the driver's seat—on thesledge thumbs up, bottles wavingand cheers! It's a glorious 'night.1 a.m. and the sun just hidden, theice shining, the motor humming andthe sleds singing.

"Suddenly the sledge starts toride slip, faster, faster; I can't holdthe weasel straight; round we allgo in a jerking tail flip.

"When the mattresses, bodies,bottles and blankets were sorted out. . .on we go—a little slower nowand soon reach the parked (Russian)aircraft. It is 1.30 in the morning,temperature below zero. The Russians collect their luggage and weset off again. The weasel feels funny;I stop and look back. There is ourright hand track neatly laid outon the ice behind us. There are noalternatives. We must walk the ninemiles home.

"Each evening we had a partywhere they entertained us with Russian dancing and singing to theaccompaniment of a splendid guitar

Seotember, 1963 A N T A R C T I C

THE OLD BRIGADENew Zealand is proud to be the

home of many elderly men who intheir younger days were rnembersof famous Antarctic expeditions. Oneof the three survivors known to usof Captain Scott's first ("Discovery")expedition, 1901-04, is Mr. C. ReginaldFord, of Auckland. Last year in agracious gesture the Commander ofOperation Deep Freeze arranged ashort visit to McMurdo Sound forthree New Zealanders who weremembers of the crew of "Scott's"Terra Nova" in 1910-13. Readerswill be interested to have somedetails about these three men.

WILLIAM BURTON (74) Londonborn, was an assistant engineer on"Terra Nova" which he joined inLondon, being seconded from theRoyal Navy. He rejoined the Navyafter the expedition and served invarious ships in World War I. Ondischarge he settled in New Zealandin 1921, and took up engineeringwork. He lives in Richmond, Christchurch.

WILLIAM McDONALD (71) is alsoa Christchurch man. Born in Glasgow, he went to sea at the age of14, sailing with immigrant ships toNew York and later, on vesselstrading to Australia and New Zealand. He was serving on New Zealand coastal ships when he joined"Terra Nova" at Lyttelton. He wentto Cardiff with the ship after theexpedition, but returned to NevyZealand as bos'n of the "Kaiapoi ,then joined the Customs Departmentin 1914. He was severely woundedat Gallipoli, but on recovery rejoined

and Australian bush songs. Presentswere exchanged. Two ballet films,Vodka and cigarettes for us. Australian wine, cigarettes, records and aset of stamps and photographs forthem . . .

"Monday saw the i r re luc tantdeparture.

"Goodbye, Russkies—see you inMoscow."

the Department in 1917, retiringin 1954.MORTIMER MCCARTHY (84) livesin Lyttelton. An Irishman by birth,he was an Able Seaman on "TerraNova", joining the ship in Lytteltonwhile he was working on New Zealand coasters. He went to the Antarctic with Bruce of Scott's expedition and served with credit in theRoyal Navy in World War I. Hisbrother Timothy was with Shackleton on his famous Elephant Island-South Georgia boat journey. Mr.McCarthy is still an active seaman.

We hope in our next issue to referto Felix Rooney of the "Nimrod"and C. Mauger of the "Aurora".

AN APPEAL

Will anyone who knows ofother Antarctic veterans (1895-1917) still living in New Zealand,or who were New Zealandersbefore the expedition in whichthey served, please communicate with the Editor, 1 Ariki Rd.,Wellington, E.2.

SUB-ANTARCTIC ISLANDSDESCRIBED

The Wellington Branch of the NewZealand Antarctic Society has devoted its latest three meetings to

the south of New Zealand.Dr. R. A. Falla described the

Auckland Islands and the experiences of last summer's New Zealandexpedition there.

Mr. L. A. Pollock spoke on Campbell Island where he served as acoast-watcher during the war of193945.

Mr. E. W. Dawson dealt withMacquarie Island which he visitedin the course of the 1962-63 islandscruise of H.M.N.Z.S. "Endeavour."

A N T A R C T I C September. 1963

THE READER WRITESSidelights of Antarctic Research

Letters of approximately 500-600 words arc invited from readers whohave observed some little-known facet of Antarctic life or who have reachedconclusions of interest on some Antarctic problem.—Ed.

DOGS OR TOBOGGANS?

Sir—Your June issue of "Antarctic" calls for comments arisingout of thc article by P. M. Otwav ondogs and motor toboggans.

Our own experience of the latterhas so far been short and not altogether hanny. By and large, how-

: with the conclusionreached by Messrs. Otwav andMarkham.

In theory the motor toboggan willbeat dogs in respect of speed, pay-load and endurance but it has apoor performance on gradients, over"deep soft" and glair ice surfacesand at height. It is also less handyin crevasse country, etc. In practicetherefore, selection of the tool willdepend on the nature of thc materialto be worked over, as your contributors aver. There is also thchuman element to consider and thcaverage traveller who has no particular mechanical bent will get lessout of a machine than he should,whereas he will pride himself onhis skill with dogs.

Graham Land is real dog countryand an exacting testing ground forany potential competitor. Last summer I tried out an Eliason "tin dog"on Adelaide Island with excellentresults. Two subsequent excursionsby wintering personnel have beendismal failures. In the autumn ap a r l y f r o m S t o n i n g t o n I s l a n dfreighted depot material over theplateau to the Larsen Ice Shelf with

liasons. Dogs could not havejd this in the time but the

Eliasons returned in very poorshape.

We believe that Eliasons suitablymodified will "come good" whenflown to a suitable project area by

Otter (their air freight factors arebelter than clogs). Some other pointsin their favour are:

a. They don't need constant attention at base.

b. They don't eat when idle.c. You can leave them in the field

without an attendant.d. It is worth travellin

short breaks in thcSome of the modification.-, wc imvc

in mind are:a. Gearing down for less speed

more torque.b. Channel type cleats for better

traction.C. Tufnol-shod runners and skis

to reduce friction.d. A lumin ium meta l work for

lightness, on the grounds thatyou can add weight from thesledge pay load when vou needit.

e. Self lubricating chains.J. R. GREEN,Operations Olliccr,British Antarctic Survey.

AMERICAN KIWISThe Antarctic has been setting an

example to the world in th<of international comity. Men ofone nation have worked so long andso happily with men of anothercountry, or have for so long workedunder the control of another country's Antarctic authority that theyhave become in effect bi-national.

One such man is Keith Wise—entomologist K. A. J. Wise, ofChristchurch. Keith has now workedin the Antarctic for three summersin succession, 1960-61 to 1962-63,mainly on projects sponsored by theBernice P. Bishop Museum, of Honolulu. Last summer he also teamed

Seotember. 1963 A N T A R C T I C

THE DOGS WILL FIND A WAYPhoto: H. D. O'Kane.

with Ray Logie to try out the firstNew Zealand motor toboggan onthe sea ice of McMurdo Sound andup the glaciers to the Polar Plateau,he was a member of the New Zealand Auckland Islands expeditionand he then spent five weeks onNew Zealand's Campbell Island.

This summer he will again gosouth to do entomological work forthe Bishop Museum. He will beaccompanied by:

J. C. L. M. Mather, a ChristchurchTeachers' College and University ofCanterbury student, who carried outship-trapping of insects on the Arneblast summer, and will be doingsimilar work on an American vesselnext summer.

Kelv in Rennel l , a Wel l ingtonmeteorologist, who has spent 18months on Campbell Island, will beassisting Wise in his entomologicalwork in the coming season.

Another field assistant may beappointed later.

The Antarctic "inland" has beendescribed as "a biological desert,"but according to Dr. Walter Lothisin "German Research Service" about50 species of animals are found init. But the largest is a fly, a fewmillimetres in length, and wingless.Otherwise it would have long sincebeen blown into the ocean.

A N T A R C T I C September, 1963

AROUND THE SOUTHERN ISLANDSNews from the sub-Antarctic

MACQUARIE ISLAND

AustraliaEl lwood repor ts that in May

temperatures were down to a fewdegrees on either side of freezingpoint and snow fell on twenty-onedays out of thirty-one, with rain onmost of the other ten days. "Although far different from what mostof us are used to," he writes, "itgave quite a good opportunity toexpedition members to have sometun learning to ski. The snow waswelcome—a change from the usuallyblack sand which can make thestation area drab-looking during thewinter months.

"Biologist Purchase beams all overwhen the name of the new Australiancurrency Royal, is mentioned. Davehas over a million Royals at theHurd Point rookery and is wondering whether they will be acceptedas legal tender.

homas had a bi13-foot seal, I

i.x «nd his tractor wuw >,,,5 he was able to do it easily.al hit the scales at 3,000 lbs.

.nclays instead of the weeks we wouldhave taken, digging with spades.

"The seals have started a smallsettlement outside de Silva's ozonehut. Fred has to fight his way in toget to work now, so we are allwaiting to see what happens if anvbig fellows decided to move inthere."

"A WOW OF A TIME"

"June, of course, brought the midwinter day celebrations—a wow ofa time. Even the weather tried tojwhich lasted for a few days. The

evenings entertainment included afloor show by the Macquarie "LittleTheatre". Following the main showwere numerous musical items andpresentation of the "Oscar" for thebest actor of the evening, TrevorGriffiths. Most of the costumes, etc.,were original but somehow thingswent wrong and we wound up having two "Sleeping Beauties". Twodays after the ding Doc Lyn Murraytook us all for the monthly weigh-inand found that the majority of theparty had put on a pound or two.No one was really surprised at gaining weight after the spread thatJohn Tarbuck had put before us.

"With all the freeze-ups Redfearngets more work on his hands. Eachfreeze means another burst pipe ortwo and cries of "where's Harry?"Harry will be quite pleased whenspring arrives.

A BUSY JULY

"July was quite interesting withthe arrival of leopard seals and anoccasional sea lion. The leopard, avicious-looking animal, is by farthe most photogenic of the sealshere, but photographer Whyte findsthem most unco-opcrative when hetries to get a photograph of theirmany sharp teeth."

De Silva, Purchase and Thomasmade a six-day trip around thc islandon a bird-banding expedition. Theydidn't have the best of weather forthe trip.

Interior painting is now underway. Dr. Murray, showing his skillas a carpenter, is rebuilding hisroom in the sick bay and has alreadyfinished installing a built-in bunkand a writing desk.

The local weather: lowest airtemperature, 20.2°F.; lowest groundtemperature, 12.4°F.; wind gusts, up.to 65 m.p.h.; highest barometric'pressure, 1034 millibars. The temperatures are the lowest for fourycars.

September. 1963 A N T A R C T I C

M A R I O N I S L A N DSouth Africa

A May report reads: "Sun? Exceptthat we know how the word is speltnone of us can remember what thesun looks like. During May we havehad only just 81 hours of sunshine.The only thin" which distinguishesone day from the other is the changeof colour of the sky from one gradation of grey to another. We soonbecame used to thc constant rain,snow and cold but the notoriousMarion-wind is too much for someof us. Not only is it no fun releasinga radio-sonde balloon succesfully ina wind of 50 knots but on top ofthat one has to walk the wholedistance from the house to the balloon shed on a three foot widerunning board in the dark and youwill end up in cold wet mud if youshould fall off.

"The highest temperature duringthe month was 12.91° C. and the lowest 3" C. During 29 days there wasa total rainfall of 428 mm."

K E R G U E L E N

FranceDuring the first quarter of 1963the main tasks confronting the 13th

Expedition were to complete theradio shack, to set up the receivingaerials, to erect a temporary livinghut, to transform five other hutsinto laboratories and to build a newseismological station at Port-aux-Francais.

Good weather facilitated the outside work, and by the end of March16 pylons had been placed in position for the receiving set-uo and12 uprights for the feeders. All thesections of the living room had beenprepared for erection, and the foundations and basement were finished.Excavation for the seismologicalstation vault was well on the way tocompletion and made it possibleto obtain a satisfactory pier.

From March 15 to 31 the meotor-ological station carried out radarwind flights and radio-sonde flightsfrom the Port-Jeanne d'Arc station,say 30 k.m. west of Port-aux-Francais.The mean altitude reached by thewind soundings was 30.312m and byradio-sonde27.682m.

"Nella Dan", chartered by theAustralian expedition, was in portfrom March 10 to March 12. TheAustralians led by P. G. Law weregiven a warm reception and left uswith the happiest memories of theirstay. M. Rolland, Chef du Territoire,sailed on the ship.

C A M P B E L L I S L A N DNew Zealand

The present Campbell Island partyhave survived through what thevterm a miserable winter period witha little more than the usual Campbell Island rain, sleet, hail and snowto make everybody really at home.The mid-winter's day period wascelebrated in the time-honouredfashion with the preparations ofChef J. Hall receiving admiring comments and very little more thanglances as they disappeared fromthe tables. All men are well andvery much looking forward to thcfirst visit of the coming season'spicket ship, the USS "Hissem."

This vessel is scheduled to callat the island on September 26 andwill carry on board live new members for the island party:

E. de S. Croix—Senior Met. Observer.

R. M. F. Craig—Met. Observer.D. G. Herkt—Carpenter.W. G. Cousins—Ionosphere Ob

server.M. J. Davison—Radio Technician.The new Officer-in-Charge, Mr. J.

E. K. Judd, formerly of Hastings,wil l arrive on the island aboutOctober 23 on the same vessel andjust prior to the annual servicingof the island by MV "Holmburn,'at which time the existing partywill bc returned to New Zealandwith its delights of "civilised life."

(STOP PRESS)The sailing date of "Hissem" has

been advanced, and our latest information is that she will probablyleave Dunedin for Campbell Islandand her picket duties on Monday,September 23.

A N T A R C T I C September, 1963

Oceanography in the Sub-Antarcticby Elliot W. Dawson.

During April and May an eight-man team from the N.Z. Oceano-raphic Institute, D.S.I.R. worked

from the Antarct ic supply shipLM.N.Z.S. "Endeavour," in the re-ion, popularly known as the "Sub-.ntarctic", to 58°S., about 500 milesto the south of Stewart Island.The objectives of this cruise, which

was led by the writer, were to carryout a biological and bathymetrica'lsurvey of the Macquarie Islandregion and the ridge to the south ofit. known in part as the Hjort Sea-mount (rising to 400 fathoms fromthe surrounding depths of 2500fathoms), the suspected ridge to thenorth-east of Macquarie Island (rising, in places to about 500 fathoms),the Emerald Basin, (a deep of 2500to 3000 fathoms separating Macquarie Island from the New Zealandsub-Antarct ic islands), and theCampbell Plateau (the area of seabot tom, averaging 250 to 300fathoms, to the south of New Zealand on which the Snares, Campbelland Auckland Islands lie). Shallowwater and shore collections in thevicinity of these isands were alsoplanned.

The geology and bottom topography of this area was known insufficient detail in only a few placesand it had for a long time beena matter of considerable interest asto whether the ridge-like form ofMacquarie Island extended any further to the north-east and whetherthere was, in fact, sufficient continuity of shallow depths to afford apossible migration route for bottomliving animals between Macquarieand the New Zealand region duringthe lowered sea levels of the Pleistocene.

TO MACQUARIE ISLAND

H.M.N.Z.S. "Endeavour" sailedfrom Auckland on April 9. Continuous echo-sounding profiles andmagnetometer readings were keptdown to Campbell Island where

shore collections and shallow dreclg-ings in Perseverance Harbour weremade. Course was set across thesouthern slopes of the Campbel'Plateau towards the ridge extendinsouth of Macquarie Island. On thevening of April 16 the ridge waslocated by the echo-sounder, risingup from 2000 fathoms to less than1000 fathoms. A complete traverseof the ridge was made throughoutthe night and a further series oftraverses were made working northalong the ridge towards MacquarieIsland. A number of shallower ridgetops were found and a good biological sample was obtained in 700fathoms rising from 1650 fathoms.The next few days were spent dredging, trawling and sounding alongthe southern and eastern coasts ofMacquarie Island.

A landing was made at StarsGulch and useful shore collectionswere made although the fauna wasrather sparse. On the next day. alanding was made in Buckles Bayat the north end of Macquarie Island at the site of the Australianbase. Shore collections were madeespecially at Garden Cove. Duringthe next day further stations wereoccupied offshore in Buckles Bayand the traverse of the ridge lyingto the north-east of Macquarie Islandwas begun. The United States research ship "Vema" had already reported a seamount about 100 milesto thc north of Macquarie and itwas suspected that this might indicate one part of a submerged ridgerunning towards the Campbel lPlateau on the New Zealand shelf.

NEW RIDGEFrom April 24 to 26 a series of

echo-sounding traverses were madeacross the area between MacquarieIsland and the New Zealand shelfsouth of the Snares Island. Benthicsampling was carried out wheneversuitable depths were found. Northof Macquarie Island, a number ofhigh spots, ranging from steep al-

September. 1963 A N T A R C T I C

most pinnacle-like mounts to moregently sloping seamounts and risingto less than 100 fathoms, were foundon an almost continuous submarineridge rising to 300 to 400 fathomsfrom the bottom on each side of2000 to 3000 fathoms. The existenceof such a ridge with its range ofmounts had considerable biogeo-graphic significance and was oneof the most exciting discoveries ofthe cruise.

After another call at MacquarieIsland, an attempt was made todetermine the bathymetry on thewest side of the island. No soundi n g s a r e g i v e n o n t h e l a t e s tAdmiralty chart, and it was desiredto compare thc bottom fauna withthat of the east side.

A number of successful soundingruns and dredging stations weremade despite unpleasant sea conditions and the course was then setacross the Emerald Basin due eastof Macquarie towards the CampbellPlateau. Before leaving the Macquarie area the presence of breakersnorth of the Judge and Clerk wasinvestigated and an unsuspected lineof shallow soundings was found.

Campbell Island was again visitedand a scries of dredgings, trawlingsand sounding runs were madearound the Island and across to theAuckland Islands lo the north-west.

THE AUCKLAND ISLANDS

A number of useful stations wereoccupied to the south-east of AdamsIsland (Auckland Islands) and sometime was spent ashore in "Leander"cove in the North Arm of Cam leyHarbour, making biological collections. This region was of very greatinterest and some useful records ofdistribution of marine animals weremade.

A comprehensive survey of thebottom of Carnley Harbour wasmade, and sufficient samples ofanimals and sediments to give avery good idea of conditions wereobtained.

In particular the abundance ofWhale-feed (Munida) and largeswimming crabs (Nectocarcinus)was apparent. Both these animals

are of interest systematically as wellas ecologically and good samples ofeach were taken for ihe former purpose. It seems that two species orforms of Nectocarcinus occur together here and the exact status ofthese forms will be much moreeasily determined from the abundance of large and small specimensof both sexes which wc obtained.Both these animals form importantfood for seals and fish and thisinformation on their habits is welcome.

Dredging, trawling, and echo-sounding was carried out along theeast coast of Auckland Islands including several of the islets characteristic of this side.

A number of species of molluscsnot previously recorded appear tobe represented.

Shore collections were made atErebus Cove in Port Ross and here,again, rich and interesting materialwas found. A comprehensive surveyof the bottom animals and sediments of Port Ross was made.

The cemetery at Port Ross wasalso visited and the Ship's Carpenter repaired, as best he could, thenow very dilapidated wooden crossesand grave markers.

Shore collections were made atthe top of Laurie Harbour on thearea of mud flat and rocky shore.A landing was made on EnderbyIsland at Sandy Bay and a seriesof shore collections was made fromthe strand line on thc sandy beachand from an interesting flat intertidal rocky platform.

A number of the Enderby Bluerabbits were shot and the carcasespreserved for study by the AnimalEcology Division. Two stations wereoccupied at 10 miles and 15 milesnorth of Enderby Island in 85 am95 fathoms (approx. 5Q°18'S., 166°23.5'E.) repeating stations fromwhich Mollusca were collected byE. R. Waite from s.s. Hinemoa in1907, the ecological associations ofwhich have never been described.

A survey of thc inadequatelycharted western side of the islandswas made, working from AdamsIsland to Disappointment Island.Despite dredging up yellow sandnear the Beehive rocks, close to the

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SeDtember. 1963 A N T A R C T I C

and wc took oft right on time.The aircraft was a Douglas simi

lar to our DC3, known to the Americans as an R4D. It was a beautifulclear sunny evening and the firstleg was to the Liv Glacier, whichentailed a flight of 500 miles overthe mighty expanse of the Ross IceShelf.

NOT TOO HOTOnce the mouth of the Liv was

reached the U.S. Navy photographer, loaned to us for the occasion, began a run of photographsand these were periodically takenas instructed from time to time. Toget a clear photo the escape window was opened. This opens outwards, having to be propped outwith a mop handle, and the coldair streaming in lowered the temperature from -f 60° to — 30° centigrade. As we reached the 9,000 footpolar plateau, flying at 11,000 feet,the cold appeared to get more intense and the window had to beshut from time to time to get somerelief.

Alone the polar plateau, down theMill Glacier, across the head ofthe mighty Beardmore, past theMil ler ranee, down the NimrodGlacier and back up the ice shelf,we arrived back at Base after aflight of almost 11 hours. My totalflying time for the day was approximately 18 hours out of the 24. Iwas extremely tired and hungry butafter a feed and three hours sleepwas back on the job again catchingup with Basc activities.

OFF TO A GOOD STARTIt was planned to launch the

Southern field party, under theleadership of Wally Herbert, on November 1, and the landing area wasto be just south of the Dominionrange on the polar plateau at 9,000feet. In case the aircraft had troublelanding or taking off at that altitude the whole operation was to besplit into three landings, each oneself-contained from a provision andsurvival point of view. Herbert waslo be the sole member on thc first

Owing to weather it was the 5.hbefore the first flight was able loget away. A perfect landing wasmade and about three hours werespent on the deck unloading, fitting

JATO bottles (Jet assisted take off)etc. Herbert returned with the aircraft which took off from thc plateauwith 12 JATO bottles, though laterit was considered that eight wouldhave sufficed.

After this successful run it wasdecided to send the balance of theprovisions and equipment, with thefour men and two dog teams, onone flight and this was successfullyaccomplished the following day,November 6.

(To be concluded)

NEW ANTARCTICSTAMPS

Polar transport in many forms ispictured on a new definitive issueof postage stamps for the BritishAntarc t ic " Ter r i to ry, p rev ious lyknown as the Falkland Islands Dependencies.

Among them are skiers, ski-menhauling a sledge, huskies and ahusky-drawn sledge and a desolatecamp in the snow. Two of thestamps show tractor vehicles whichhave made their names in Antarctica—thc famous Sno-cat used by SirVivian Fuchs in his Polar crossingof 1957-58, and thc Muskeg. Threeaircraft—the Beaver, the Otter anda helicopter, are depicted, also fourfamous and tough little ships—M.V."Kista Dan," Rfc.S. "John Biscoe,H.M.S. "Protector" and R.R.S."Shackleton."

The highest (£1) value reproducesa map of Antarctica, and all thestamps show the head of the Queenbv Annigoni.

The Brit ish Antarctic Territorydoes not include South Georgia,which will continue to use Dependencies stamps until the proposednew issue appears in the summer.

Leaders of Antarctic expeditionsare classified by the indefatigablecollectors of philatelic covers according to their willingness to applyspecial cachets, etc., to the coverssent them for mailing. The Germanpublication "Dill Reports the News"says: "Generally, Whaling Companies do not bc enthusiastic collaborators to collectors. The only whalingcompany which is accepting covers... is the Dutch one."

A N T A R C T I C September. 1963

WHAT IS THIS I.Q.S.Y.?T o Non-scientist readers, having become quite familiar with the term{•«•*•» n°w find themselves faced with another strange "initial word",I.Q.S.Y., which clearly has some considerable bearing on Antarctic activitiesThe following is an attempt to explain I.Q.S.Y. briefly to readers who haveno background of scientific training.

The International GeophysicalYear ended its 18 months' run onDecember 31, 1958. Its purpose wasto study the relations betweenevents on the sun and their effectson the earth and its atmosphere.The time had been chosen to covera period of maximum solar activity.The sun responded by showing "ahigher level of activity—as indicatedby sunspot numbers—than at anytime during the roughly 200 yearssince standard procedure ~ wasadopted for assessing solar activity.When the I.G.Y. was a year underway, a decision was made to extendthe more important observations,less formally, for a further year.Before it ended there had been* suggestions for organising internationalobservations in a contrasting periodof least activity on the sun.

These were the first stirringswhich led to the proposal for theInternational Years of the QuietSun—1964 and 1965.

WORLD PROGRAMMESo the I.Q.S.Y.—International

Quiet Sun Year—is to be a full-scaleinternational programme in thoseI.G.Y. sciences which are in anyway concerned with sun activity:Meteorology, Geomagnetism, Aurora,

;low, Ionosphere, Solar Activity,Cosmic Rays and Aeronomy.

The programme will not be arepetition of the I.G.Y. It has beenpruned, for example, of subjectssuch as seismology and oceanography which are connected withthe solid earth and have little directconnection with the main theme ofthe inter-relation of solar and terrestrial events. But it will involve,as before, the collection of largemasses of data by stations maintained by many nations, and thesubsequent correlation and publication of the data collected.

The world organisation primarilyresponsible for the I.Q.S.Y. is theComite International dc Gcophysi-que (C.I.G.), a committee of thcInternational Council of Scientific-Unions (I.C.S.U.). In 1962, C.I.G.formed an I.Q.S.Y. Committee toorganise the programme in detail.The provisional programme wasdrawn up at a meeting in Paris lastyear. Thc second meeting of theI.Q.S.Y. Committee was held inRome in March of this year.

ANTARCTIC BASESIt is important that observations

should bc on a world basis. Sinceit has until recent years been moredifficult, if not impossible, to carryout such observations in the PolarRegion, particularly Antarctica, thananywhere else, special attention wasgiven during the I.G.Y. to research,in thc sciences concerned, in theArctic and Antarctic. Moreover, inicsearch on the upper atmosphere,observations made in the polarregions arc in many respects critical.Because of the great efforts madeduring the I.G.Y., and since continued, facilities for making oh-"—tions have been greatly imi_.at the Antarctic bases permanentlymaintained by many countries. .types of equipment which couldpreviously only be used in highlydeveloped populous communities cannow be used in the Antarctic andin the far north.

It is therefore not surprising thatthe programmes of Antarctic research drawn up for 1964 and 1965have been moulded very considerably by the nature of the observations being planned for the I.Q.S.Y.

At the second C.I.G.-I.Q.S.Y.Assembly held at Rome in March,36 countries had representativespresent, and by April of this year

September. 1963 A N T A R C T I C

no fewer than 61 countries had notified their intention of actively participating in the I.Q.S.Y.

PLANS ANNOUNCED

Of these countries, nine have basesfunctioning at present in the Antarctic. They are Argentina, Australia, Chile, France, New Zealand,South Africa, the United Kingdom,the United States and the U.S.S.R.Japan has just announced her intention of re-opening her ShowaBasc for the I.Q.S.Y. period, andSwitzerland is commencing Antarctic work in the coming summer. Thcorganisation of a Dutch-Belgian expedition has also been announced.The nature of the Antarctic programme for 1964 and 1965 of allthese nations will undoubtedly beinfluenced by the I .Q.S.Y. programme.

Some indications of the importance of Antarctic observations inthe I.Q.S.Y. coverage is given byihe publ ished programmes ( in"I.Q.S.Y. Notes" No. 2) of twocountries taken at random. Of 49types of observation mentioned inthe Argentine programmes with thelocality specified, 24 are to becarried out at one or more of theAntarctic stations, in a number ofcases at Antarctic stations only. Inthc Australian programme the corresponding figures are: total 31:Antarctic and/or sub-Antarctic 18.Thc Australian cite eight projectswhich are to be studied only atAntarctic or sub-Antarctic stations.

STUDY GRANT

Mr. J. M. Caffin, chief reporter ofthe Christchurch "Press", has beenawarded a United States State Department foreign specialist's grantto study the Antarctic planning operations of thc U.S. Navy and scientific work being clone under theauspicics of the National ScienceFoundation. Mr. Caffin, who is onleave in Britain, will spend a monthin the United States on his way backto New Zealand.

ANTARCTICAThe new volume prepared by the

New Zealand Antarctic Society andwhich constitutes a survey of thewhole of Antarctic knowledge is nowcomplete and in the hands of thepublishers. Thc contents of the bookare:

PART 1—THE NATIONS INANTARCTICA

Chapter 1. National Relations inAntarctica—By John Hanessian,Jr.

Chapter 2. Techniques of Living,Transport and Communication—by Philip Law.

Chapter 3. The Mapping ol Antarctica—by J. Holmes Miller.

PART 2—THE SOUTHERN OCEANChapter 4. Oceanography—by J. W.Brodic.Chapter 5. Marine Biology—bv R.K. Dell.Chapter 6. Birds and Mammals—

by B. Stonehouse.Chapter 7. The Pack Ice—by J.

Heap.PART 3—THE ANTARCTIC

CONTINENTChapter 8. The Ice Shelves—by C.

Swithenbank and J. H. Zum-bcrge.

Chapter 9. The Ice Sheet—by A. J.Gow.Chapter 10. Thc Land Beneath thc

Ice—by C. R. Bentlcv.Chapter 11. Geology of Antarctica—

by Guyon Warren.Chapter 12. The Oases in the Ice—

bv R. H. Clark.Chapter 13.—Thc Flora—by George

A. Llano.Chapter 14. Thc Terrestrial Fauna

—by J. L. Gressit.PART 4—THE POLAR ATMOS

PHEREChapter 15. Antarctic Meteorology—

by M. Rubin and W. S. Weyant.Chapter 16. The Aurora Australis—

by M. Gadsden.Chapter 17. The Polar Ionosphere

by J. W. Beagley and G. A.King.

Chapter 18. Thc Polar GeomagneticField and its Fluctuations—byA. L. Cullington.

Details of publication should beavailable in the next issue of "Ant

arctic."

A N T A R C T I C September. 1963

NEWS OF THE WHALERSANTARCTIC PELAGIC WHALING

Four fewer factory ships were cn-"aged in pelagic whaling in the Ant-rctic in 1962-63 than in the previous

:ason. The Norwegian factory ships"Thorshammer", "Pelagos" and"Norvhal" and the British factoryship "Southern Venturer" did notparticipate. The first two were soldTor breaking up. "Southern Venturer" was sold to Japan.

The taking of fin and sei whalesbegan on December 12 and of bluewhales on February 1. Severe timelimitations had been placed on thecapture of humpback whales. Inarea V, for example (13G°E.—170°W.)covering thc western part of theRoss Sea, the permitted huntingperiod for humpbacks was only January 20-22, and in area II (0°—6Q°W.)and area IV (70°E.—130°E.) thehumpback was totally protected. Allbaleen whaling operations ceasedon or before April 7.

BIG DROPThe catch of the pelagic expedi

tions, i.e., excluding shore-based stations, amounted to 11,299 blue vu 'units, as compared with 15,2!1961-62 and 16,453 in 1960-61. Theaggregate permitted total was 15,000units. Apart from the war years, thefirst post-war season and season1931-32, last season's catch was thelowest since 1927-28.

The season's catch, in blue whaleunits, according to countries engaged, was as follows (number offactory ships and comparative number of blue-whale units in 1961-62 inbrackets):

1962-63 (1961-62)N o r w a y ( 4 ) 1 3 7 9 ( 3 7 0 1 )U . K . ( 1 ) 5 0 2 ( 1 0 6 9 )N e t h e r l a n d s ( 1 ) 4 5 7 ( 6 1 4 )J a p a n ( 7 ) 6 1 4 9 ( 6 5 7 4 )U . S . S . R . ( 4 ) 2 8 1 2 ( 3 2 9 2 )

11,299 15,250

As for species of whales caught, the figures for the last season are:Blue Fin Humpback Sei Sper

NorwavUnited KingdomNetherlands 19

2,290858848

138943587

1041297376

JapanU.S.S.R

727196

10,4154,197 263

10942498

18392220

TOTAL

1961-62

9 4 7 1 8 , 6 6 8 2 7 0 5 5 0 3 5 7 7 3

1 , 1 1 8 2 6 , 4 3 8 3 0 9 4 7 4 9 4 8 6 4

ANOTHER TO JAPANPress report on July 21:

Britain's last Antarctic whalingfactory ship is lo be sold to Japan.Transfer of the 20,000 ton "Southern Harvester" wil l l i f t Japan'swhale catching quota five per centto 45 per cent of the world total.

Japan already is the world's leading whaling nation.

CONSERVATION PLANSFaced with a steady drop in whal

ing catch figures, as indicated above,the whalers in the five countriesstill actively engaged in Antarcticwhaling have been driven to thcconsideration of drastic conservation measures to prevent the totalextinction of their source of income.

September, 1963 A N T A R C T I C

TALKS IN MOSCOW, LONDON

For example, Britain and Russiaput forward draft proposals at aconference in Moscow from April29 to May 5, attended by representatives from the British, Soviet,Norwegian and Japanese whalinginterests, and reached agreement onvarious points, including an international inspection system.

On June 28 experts from Britain,Japan, the Netherlands, Norway andthe Soviet Union ended two-daytalks on an international observerplan to help win the battle for conserving thc world's whale population.

Their recommendations on observers in whalers next came beforethc 18-nation International WhalingCommission's annual meeting whichstarted in London early in July.

No s ta tement meant ime wasissued.

The I.W.C. annual meeting—the15lh—lasted several days. After aplenary session the talks were behind closed doors.

The 18 nations in thc I.W.C. areArgentina, Australia, New Zealand,Brazil, Britain, Canada. Denmark,France, Iceland, Japan, Mexico, theNether lands, Norway, Panama,Sweden, South Africa, thc SovietUnion and the United States.

DRASTIC RULES

At thc conclusion of the meetingnew restrictions agreed upon wereannounced.

The number of blue whales whichcan legally bc caught has been reduced bv one-third for next season.Because of the acknowledged decline in thc stocks of baleen whales,10.000 blue whales units can becaught instead of 15,000, thc figurefor some years now.

The commission also accordedcomplete protection to the hump-Mck whale in waters south of theEquator, as this species, like theolue whale, has been seriously depleted.

BOOKSHELFANTARCTIC RESEARCH: Papers

presented at the 10th PacificScience Congress, Honolulu, August 21-September 6, 1961. Geophysical Monograph no. 7: AmericanGeophysical Union. 228 pages.Price in U.S.A. $10.00.

This splendidly produced volume,well illustrated and with an abundance of maps and charts, was designed as a memorial to MatthewFontaine Maury, one of the UnitedSlates' earliest enthusiasts for Antarctic exploration and research;before publication it had becomealso a memorial to co-editor HarryWcxler and scientist-explorer Edward C. Thiel.

The book contains 24 authoritative papers by scientists from sevencountries under two general headings: (1) Geography, Solid Earthand Upper Atmosphere; (2) Meteorology, Oceanography and Glaciologybv authors of thc standing of Raymond Adie and Charles Bentley. Ofparticular locality interest to NewZealanders are "Thc Geology ofCape Evans and Cape Royds, RossIsland, Antarctica" bv Samuel B.Treves, "Geology of Lake Vanda,Wright Valley, S. Victoria Land,Antarctica," by Robert L. Nichols,and "New Zealand Glaciology" byRichard P. Gold lhwai t and IanMcKcllar. A summary is given ofNew Zealander D. M. Garner's paper"Studies on Physical Oceanographyin the Ross Sea by the New ZealandOceanographic Institute."

STEFANSSON: AMBASSADOR OFTHE NORTH: by D. M. le Bourdais.

Harvest House Montreal. $2.50paper. $4.50 cloth.Thc author, a close associate of

Stefansson, slates in the prefacethat the book is not intended as abiography. (He wrote an unpublished biography some thirty yearsago.) It is, however, a detailed recordof the life of a remarkable man.an anthropologist, explorer, andvisionary who for a great part ofhis life Was an ardent advocate olthe potential of the "North". Stcf-

A N T A R C T I C September, 1963ansson's several expeditions are examined at length. His successes,mistakes and disappointments—thecontroversies in which he was embroiled, the tragedy of WrangelIsland—are all told. The author hassucceeded in presenting an evaluation of the career of a man of complex personality, the "Prophet of theNorth". The book is well indexedand there is a map showing theroute of the principal expeditions.

N.L.D.SHIPPING ARRIVALS AND DEPARTURES — SYDNEY 1788-1825:

by J. S. Cumpston.This is an invaluable book of

over 140 pages for all interested inear ly Austral ian history. About5,000 entries in chronological order,with an alphabetical index of ships,give such additional details as thename of the master and the cargocarried.

Copies may be obtained from Dr.Cumpston, 24 Holmes Cres., Campbell, Canberra, A.C.T., Australia. Theprice for New Zealand buyers is£A2.5.-. for American buyers §5.00,post free. The edition is limited to200 copies.N.Z. JOURNAL OF GEOLOGY ANDGEOPHYSICS—SECOND SPECIAL

D.S.I.R.. Box 8018, Wellington.)This second special issue contains

the following articles:The Geology of the Queen AlexandraRange, Beardmore Glacier, Ross Dependency, Antarctica; with Noteson the Correlation of GondwanaSequences: G. W. Grindley.

Zealand Antarctic Research Programmes, 1952-1962: L. B. Quarter-main.Geological Investigations in Southern Victoria Land, A. Part 4—BeaconGroup of the Wright Vallev andTa y l o r G l a c i e r R e g i o n : P. N .Webb.Paleomagnetic Results from theBeardmore Glacier Region, A: J. C.Briden and R. L. Oliver.Ice Breakout around the SouthernEnd of Ross Island, A: A. J. Heine.Hydrological Heat and Mass Transport across the Boundary of the

Ice Shelf in McMurdo Sound, A.:A. E. Gilmour.Geological Structure and Strati-graphic Correlation in Antarctica:B. M. Gunn.The Geomagnetic Secular Variationin the Ross Dependency: A. L. Cul-lington.Location of the South MagneticPole: A. L. Burrows.Geomorphology and Stratigraphy ofthe Nimrod Glacier—Beaumont BayRegion, Southern Victoria Land, A.":M. G. Laird.UNITED STATES IGY BIBLIO

GRAPHY 1953-1960, a massivecompilation of 2,853 abstracts filling 392 pages, is available fromthe U.S. National Academy ofSciences, 2101 Constilation' Av.,N.W., Washington 25, D.C., U.S.A.Price S3.00.

P U B L I S H E D I NNEW ZEALAND

NEW GENERA AND SPECIES OFASTEROIDEA FROM ANTARCTICA:

H. E. S. Clark In Trans. Roy. SocN.Z. Zoology, 2 (6): 45-6. 1962.

NEW COLLEMBOLA FROM 83 DEG.SOUTH IN ANTARCTICA: J. T.

Salmon Ibid. 2 (18): 147-52 1962.LICHENS FROM f.APF HAI T J7TT

*EA, ANTARCTICA: J. Murray.In Trans. Roy. Soc. N.Z. Botany,2 (5): 59-72. 1963.

"INSIDE COLUMN-APPROVES

The popular columnist of theDominion", Wellington, in his "In

side Column" recently offered hiscongratulations to the Departmentof Scientific and Industrial Researchon its special issues of thc NewZealand Journal of Geology andGeophysics, including the AntarcticIssue published in December last.(Contents in our June issue). "Dom"continues:

"And now this week comes thesecond special Antarctic issue, aconsiderable document of truth andeven art.

"It's a feather in our New Zealandcap."

The New Zealand Antarctic Societyis a group of New Zealanders, some of whom have seen Antarcticafor themselves, but all vitally interested in some phase of Antarcticexploration, development or research.

You are invited to become a member.BRANCH SECRETARIES

Wellington: W. J. P. Macdonald, Box 2110, Wellington.Canterbury: Miss Helen S. Hill, Box 404, ChristchurchDunedin: j. H. McGhie, Box 34, Dunedin.

"THE ANTARCTIC TODAY"This volume is out of print, but a limited number of the follow

ing separate sections is available, the stapling slightly rusted:Ionosphere Research (J. W. Beagley).Meteorology (A. R. Martin).Marine Biology (R. K. Dell).Aurora Australis (I. L. Thomsen).The Nations in the Antarctic (recent Australian, South

African, French, etc., exploration by leading experts inthe countries concerned).These separates are available at a cost of four shillings each

from the Secretary, N.Z. Antarctic Society.

"ANTARCTIC"Published Quarterly • Annual Subscription £1

Copies of previous issues of "ANTARCTIC" with the exception ofVol. 1, No. 1, Vol. 2, No. 2, Vol. 2, No. 4, and Vol. 2, No. 9, MAY BEPURCHASED FROM THE SECRETARY OF THE SOCIETY P OBox 2110, Wellington, at a cost of 5/- per copy.Of our predecessor, the 'ANTARCTIC NEWS BULLETIN" onlythe following numbers are available:

5-6, S-10, 12-20.Price: 4/- per issue.

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