CONTI^'UOUS POLAR EXPLORATION. 321 



PROPOSED SYSTEM OF CONTINUOUS POLAR 

 EXPLORATION. 



By EOBEET stein, 

 tjihted states geological 8ukvet. 



THE o1:)jects of polar exploration are fourfold : 

 1. Commerce. — According to General Greely, whaling has 

 contributed over six hundred and eighty million dollars to the 

 wealth of Holland, England, and the United States. Explora- 

 tion will probably reveal new whaling grounds. If treated tvith 

 some forbearance, the whale will restock the Arctic Ocean. For- 

 bearance will restore the wealth in reindeer, which, with musk 

 oxen, foxes, bears, seals, walrus, and narwhal, will supply desir- 

 able commodities. The known deposits of guano and valuable 

 minerals may eventually be utilized, and others will be discov- 

 ered. Alaska may not be the only gold-bearing arctic land. 



2. Scientific Research. — To ascertain with greater precision 

 the shape, size, and density of the earth, the astronomer's base of 

 measures, and thus render the science of surveying more accu- 

 rate, ten pendulum observations near the unknown extreme of 

 the arc are worth a hundred elsewhere. Observations on mag- 

 netism, especially near the magnetic pole, will benefit the thou- 

 sands of ocean vessels which largely depend for their safety on 

 the precision with which the compass can be interpreted. To the 

 meteorologist the arctic is of special importance, because it pre- 

 sents the extremes of a world-embracing system, each of whose 

 parts affects every other. Tides and currents are similarly inter- 

 dependent. The aurora can best be studied where it is most com- 

 mon and most fully developed. Observations on the character 

 and behavior of plants and animals under the unique conditions 

 of the arctic will give to the student of organic life a more thor- 

 ough mastery of his iDroblems. To that end the hydrography 

 must be known (depth of sea, temperature, water movement, sea 

 bottom, salinity, light). The arctic affords the best facilities for 

 studying one set of geologic forces (glaciers, icebergs, frost fissur- 

 ing) in their extreme manifestation. The condition of the earth 

 in past geologic epochs will not be fully known until the strata 

 of the arctic lands have been mapped. To the paleontologist the 

 arctic has already yielded most valuable information in the fossil 

 evidence of a mild climate. Lockwood and Brainard found the 

 slopes of western Grinnell Land studded with large petrified tree 

 stumps. These and similar fossils, precious to museums or geo- 

 logic cabinets, can probably be reached by way of Hayes Sound. 

 To the ethnologist the Eskimos represent a phase of human life 

 without a parallel. Museums need collections to illustrate these 



