twelve governments of the important research investiga- 

 tions already carried out, and in progress, in Antarctica, 

 resulting in the reservation of the continent for 30 years 

 solely for scientific research. This continent, some 1^/^ 

 times as large in area as Australia, and largely covered 

 with glacial ice to a depth of about 7,000 feet, is probably 

 the southern portion of the land mass known as Gondwana- 

 land which comprised all the present continents before they 

 started drifting apart about 300 million years ago. The 

 Antarctic ice mass is the largest on the Earth today, repre- 

 senting about 90% of the world's ice. Consequently it has 

 a marked influence on world climate and on the ocean 

 currents in the Southern Ocean surrounding it, so that for 

 a proper understanding of world meteorology it is neces- 

 sary to study the Antarctic weather thoroughly. The ice is 

 so massive that it has depressed the underlying rock below 

 sea-level in some places, the continent's roots being thus 

 pushed down into the plastic layer below the Earth's crust. 

 If all the Antarctic ice melted (which appears to be some- 

 what unlikely on present evidence), the sea level over the 

 world would rise between 130 and 200 feet — which would 

 submerge many of the major cities of the world. It is most 

 desirable to discover whether the ice is growing or dimin- 

 ishing; work on this is going on continuously in the Antarc- 

 tic now. Since the Antarctic ice is flowing outwards from 

 the pole in all directions, and ice is a crystalline material 

 resembling rock in its physical properties, but is much less 

 rigid than rock, study of the flow of the huge Antarctic 

 ice-cap can provide information on how rocks may flow 

 in the crust. This will lead to better knowledge of the causes 

 of earthquakes, which is bound to be of value to all coun- 

 tries located in earthquake zones. 



The Antartic (Southern) Ocean is very rich in plant 



74 



