292 



THE HEIGHT OF THE BARRIER AND THE SOUTH POLAR PLATEAU. 



The height of the stations have been plotted against the distance along the track in 

 figure 87. 



o o o 



OPOOPOOOOOOQOOOOO OOOOQOQOOQOOOOQOOOOO OOOO 



&«). Miles from Pony Depot along tracli 



Fig. 87. Heights on the Beardmore Glaciei- and South Polar Plateau. 



This determination of the height of the various depots from the Barrier to the Pole 

 leads to the conclusion that the height of the South Pole is 9,072 feet, or 2,765 metres, 

 above sea-level. 



Mohu in his discussion of the meteorological observations made on Amundsen's 

 journey to the South Pole has also determined the height of the different points on 

 Amundsen's track and has found the height of the South Pole to be 2,454 metres or 8,051 

 feet. 



It will be seen that the difference between the two determinations — 311 metres or 1,021 

 feet — is extreme and much beyond the limits of accuracy to be expected. Mohn calculates 

 that his determination of the height of the Pole is accurate to ±196 metres. 



Mohn treated Amundsen's barometric observations rather differently from the way Scott's 

 observations have been treated here. Instead of dividing the journay from the Barrier to 

 the Pole and back into a small number of distinct stages, he calculated the change in height 

 during each day's march. This method appears to me to be objectionable in that the un- 

 avoidable errors in reading the barometer enter into the determination of the height each 

 day and the errors may or may not cancel out. This, however, is not the chief error, for a 

 much more serious one is that Mohn has not made any allowance for the general 

 change in barometer pressure. As it happens this is rather serious. Amundsen left, the 

 Barrier on November 15th, was at the Pole on December 17th and reached the Barrier again 



