1915- No. 5- ROALD Amundsen's ANTARCTIC expedition: meteorology. 59 



The Barrier, from Framheim to lat. 85", has an extent of 709 kilo- 

 metres, and a mean height of 60 metres. From Framheim it rises to 258 

 metres 65 kilometres farther south, and thence seems to keep a lower 

 level up to the glacier in lat 85". If the ice of the Barrier is floating 

 and has a thickness of 8 times the height above the sea, the depth of the 

 sea must be at least 480 metres, hi Whales Bay the soundings found are 

 from 265 to 610 m. The high ridge south of Framheim seems to indi- 

 cate an obstruction to the seaward movement of the Barrier ice, perhaps 

 caused by underlying rocks. The sounding of 265 m. near Framheim 

 points in the same direction. 



From lat. 85O to lat. 85° 36' the glaciated ground rises to the highest 

 point reached by the Expedition, »The Butcher's Shop«, 2864 meters. 

 The steepest slope experienced by the Expedition was on the 5*'^ January, 

 1912, when they had to descend 1348 meters in a stretch of 3 miles or 

 5.6 kilometers. The mean incline was 13". 6 or 24 per cent. 



From »The Butcher's« the ground descends to 2070 m. in lat. 86° 30'. 

 794 m. lower than »The Butcher's«. It then rises 738 m. to 2808 m. in 

 lat. 87O 49' 56 m. lower than »The Butcher's«. From this point it descends, 

 slowly to lat. 88*^45' and then more rapidly towards the Pole, to 2454 m. 

 or 410 m. below »The Butcher's«. The mean height of the Plateau is 2530 m. 



The diagram Fig. 4, shows the height of the observing stations. The 

 vertical scale is 30 times greater than the horizontal. 



The following Table contains the observations made during the sledge- 

 journey to the Pole and back, the position and height of the stations and 

 the temperature and pressure reduced to sea level. The designations are 

 the same as in the Framheim Tables of observation p 4. p is the conven- 

 tional date, up to lat. 89O 38', or Pacific, a is the Atlantic date, as noted 

 by Capt. Amundsen. 



