2i>2 



ANTARCTICA. 



ourselves may not benefit from the results obtained, but we owe 

 it to the future generations to initiate such observations. 



We shall see later that when disruption and submergence of 

 a large area has taken place in the past, it will frequently appear 

 that a corresponding emergence has taken place in " another 

 direction. 



In other words, there is a compensation, and while this has 

 been a great factor in the distribution of Animal and Vegetable 

 life in the past, it adds considerably to the complexity of the 

 problems of that distribution. 



Bearing in mind the gradual nature of earth movements and 

 the long periods of time during which any particular movement 

 may be exerted — remembering at the same time the idea of com- 

 pensation — we must realise that future great movements may 

 even now be in their birth, and that even yet movements which 

 have been at work for enormous periods of time, and have been 

 responsible for the present distribution of land and sea, may be 

 at work with diminished effect. 



Think of the valuable information we might obtain had we 

 the records of the movement of the Coast of Antarctica during 

 the past two hundred years. The forces which have broken 

 down the connections between Antarctica and other land masses, 

 and separated other connections in the Southern Hemisphere, 

 may still play a part in the movements of our own coast and that 

 of Antarctica. 



We shall find later that in Permo-Carboniferous times there 

 existed in the Southern Hemisphere a large and continuous land 

 area — Gondwanaland — linking up the various Southern conti- 

 nents and India, as postulated from a study of extinct plants and 

 animals. 



Now, in this connection it is to be remarked that although 

 South Africa has had its connections with America and India, 

 the only parts of this ancient southern land mass which are sup- 

 posed to have been directly united with Antarctica are those other 

 than South Africa. It is interesting here to note that an eleva- 

 tion of Antarctica and of these other continents through 3.040 

 fathoms would connect up Antarctica with South America, New 

 Zealand and Australia. This has a special significance, since we 

 can interpret the soundings in these regions as indicating a closer 

 relation with the other continents than with South Africa. We 

 will see later that in all probability these other areas were con- 

 nected with Antarctica in Cretaceous times, and perhaps even as 

 late as early Tertiary times, whereas South Africa has been 

 both directly and indirectly separated from the other Southern 

 continents since the beginning of Mesozoic times. 



The idea that the oceans are permanent expanses and that, 

 grossly considered, they have been retained throughout the ex- 

 istence of the earth, can no longer be tenaciously adhered to, in 

 view of our knowledge of the distribution of living and extinct 

 forms of life. 



It is a very surprising fact that so many primitive types of 



