UNIVERSITAS ANTARCTICA! 



LECTURE ON THE Ross ICE BARRIER BY CAPTAIN SCOTT 



June 7, 1911, 8 P.M. (From notes by Griffith Taylor) 



SECTION I. Flotation. 



II. Limits. 



,, III. Crevasses. 



IV. Temperature and Pressure. 



,, V. Movement of the Ice Sheet. 



VI. Method of Growth. 



VII. Mainland Glaciers. 



,, VIII. Inland Ice Sheet. 



I. Flotation. Let us first of all consider the question of the 

 flotation of the Barrier. There can be, I think, no doubt that 

 it is afloat. On pages 417-420 in the 'Narrative of the Dis- 

 covery ' will be found an account of the Ross Barrier, in which 

 we read that its face is 360 miles long, and that the sea exceeds 

 1800 feet in depth along the greater part of this distance. 



The ice wall is 150 feet high here in places, and we must 

 allow for a much greater depth which is submerged below the 

 level of the sea. 



The ratio of submerged to visible ice appears to vary, and 

 should be investigated on bergs in our vicinity. Even if it is 7 

 to i, then the Barrier is afloat at its edge, and the same is of 

 course the case if the ratio be taken as 4 to I. Professor David 

 quotes an example of I to i, but that is certainly exceptional. 



It seems certain that there is a layer of water under the great 

 Ice Barrier, which has five times the extent of the North Sea. 



II. Limits. We have several observations of the ice front, 

 notably Ross in 1840, and the Discovery in 1902. The latter 

 showed a recession in general of from 15 to 20 miles, with a max- 

 imum of 45 miles. In 1911, however, Pennell reported that the 

 conditions appeared to have changed little during the last ten 

 years. 



