164 



DISCOVERY REPORTS 



descends on all sides from the higher slopes (Plate XV, fig. 2). Rock is visible only on the 

 steep cliff sides and on bluffs or headlands which rise from the water-line and divert the 

 glacier to right or left. On the north-eastern and south-eastern sides of the island eight 

 glaciers extend to the sea, most of them having a narrow beach beneath them formed 

 from their terminal moraine. Between them and on the other sides the cliffs are high 

 and steep with the glacier hanging at their edges. On the upland slopes the ice was pure 

 white, but the lower parts were frequently blackened, presumably by wind-borne dust 

 and debris. On its exposed face the glacier often showed silt bands, and the strata were 

 frequently contorted. At one place on the south-eastern side the glacier face was not 



h 



Fig. 8. Rock exposures on the north coast of Visokoi: 

 from a sketch by Mr F. C. Fraser. 



a. Glacier. 



b. Columnar basalt. 



c. Light grey stratified rock. 



d. Dark grey rock, merging into red and penetrated by dykes. 



e. Ice scree. 



/. Reddish and grey rock, covered with lichen and intersected by dykes. 



g. Debris of terminal moraine at foot of glacier. 



h. Rock stratified in alternate layers of grey and red. 



j. Fumarole. 



k. Scree of fine ash and loose stones. 



vertical but sloped back from a point a little above the water's edge. The sloping surface 

 was here deeply carved into close-set pinnacles and ridges of ice, which we believe to 

 have been formed by unequal melting due to radiation from dust particles (Plate XV, 



fig- 3)- 



The rocks are generally similar to those seen on Zavodovski, but the basaltic plateau 



of that island has no counterpart on Visokoi. Basalt forms the rocks which lie off the 

 coast, but on the island itself was only seen at a few isolated points. The cliffs are mostly 

 composed of red and grey rock, sometimes stratified and frequently intersected by 

 vertical dykes. On the north side is an extensive scree of fine ash and loose stones and 

 about halfway up is a fumarole emitting steam and vapour (Fig. 8). 



The steep cliffs on the northern and north-western sides are the resort of great num- 

 bers of Cape pigeons and Silver-grey fulmars, and there is little doubt that this is one 

 of their breeding places. The coast is for the most part unsuitable for penguins and the 



