GEOGRAPHICAL DLSTRIBUTION OF TEMPERATURE— SEA-LEVEL. 25 



it was the coldest day on the Barrier.* Although the temperature was so low at Cape 

 Evans the difference between the Barrier and Cape Evans has only been exceeded on a few 

 occasions, most of which occurred in March, 1912, during the abnormally low temperatures 

 which proved fatal to the Polar Party (see page 29). This cold period was succeeded 

 at Cape Evans by the most severe weather of which I have been able to obtain a record. 

 During the morning of the 9th. while the temperature was still — 35°F., the wind rose to 

 43 miles in the hour. Between 7 and 8 P.M. the wind velocity was 63 miles pei hour with 

 a temperature of — 31°F. As the blizzard continued the temperature slowly rose until it 

 reached +8°F. at 2 p.m. on the 11th, i.e., a little over three days after the startin" of 

 the blizzard. The blizzard was not felt by the party on the Barrier near Terror Point until 

 the early morning of .Tul\- 10th— twenty hours after it had commenced at Cape Evans ; but 

 during this period the temperature had been rising rapidly and steadily with an overcast 

 sky from which snow was falling. When the blizzard set in on the Barrier the wind was 

 very high and accompanied by much snow and the temperature rose more rapidly until 

 on the morning of the 11th it became the same as that at Cape Evans. The blizzard 

 ceased on the 13th when the temperature at once fell, but more rapidly on the Barrier 

 than at C!ape Evans, and in consequence large temperature differences again became 

 established. 



On the 1.5th the party reached Cape Crozier and camped on the shoulder of Mount Terror 

 at an elevation of over 700 feet above the Ross Sea which lay completely frozen over below 

 them. For six days they measured the temperature at this place, during three of which 

 it was lower than at Cape Evans (average difference —7-0) while on the remaining three 

 it was higher (average difference +4-4). On some of these days there was a moderate amount 

 of wind and on others the weather was calm, but no blizzard occurred to equalise the 

 temperature over a large area. It therefore appears that the temperature at Cape Crozier 

 is very similar to that at Cape Evans. 



After being six da_vs at Cape Crozier a terrific blizzard arose and lasted for three days : 

 22nd-24th July. During this blizzard the party was nearly lost owing to the blowing away 

 of their tent and the unroofing of the temporary hut which they had built. During this 

 period the weather was too bad to allow of temperature observations being taken. 



When the blizzard was over the party was forced to return to headquarters with all 

 haste. They spent the 25th and 26th in getting to the true Barrier surface which they 

 traversed on the next four days, finding again the low temperatures which they had 

 encountered there on their way out. The mean temperature for the four days was — 49-8°F. 

 with a corresponding temperature of — 26-6°F. at Cape Evans, a difference of — 23-2°F. 



The leniainder of the journey back to winter quarters, how the temperature rose on 

 leaving the Barrier and how the temperature at Hut Point was found to be the same as 

 that at Cape Evans, has already been described. 



This journey which Scott has described as ■ the hardest which has ever been done ' 

 has revealed conditions on the Barrier in \vinter which had previously been suspected but 

 never proved. They are the same as subsequent observations showed to hold throughout 

 the whole year, but much accentuated. To act as a guide in our future study they will 

 be summarised here. 



(ft) Temperatures on the Barrier during the winter are much lower than those found 

 in McMurdo Sound and at Cape Crozier near to the frozen Ross Sea. 



* A minimum thermometer left at One Ton Camp throughout the winter recorded — 730°F. and the lowest 

 temperature measured at Framheim was — 73\!'F. 



