DEBATE ON BARRIER PROBLEMS 283 



There seems to be a descent from 9000 feet at the Pole to 

 2000 near the edge, and then a rapid fall at the sea-line. 



We may surmise 50 to 100 yards movement per annum across 

 the edge of the Plateau, with a thickness of 700 or 800 feet; but 

 all this is merely a fine effort of the imagination! 



The ice cliffs all round the continent seem much the same. 

 The depths over the shelf at the edge seem of about the same 

 order also. 



We must remember that the new set of facts of the Great 

 Plateau bounded by the new range of mountains was never 

 thought of before 1903, and is not fully digested yet. 



I believe that the snowfall increases towards the fringe of 

 the plateau sheet. 



These facts suffice to account for the outflow of Antarctic 

 bergs. In latitudes 66 S. and 73 S. we find the same thickness 

 of the ice cliffs. It must, however, be admitted that much of this 

 theorising is very weak. 



Finally, with regard to the question of the high continental 

 plateau and the land under the ice sheet, I will ask the Physiog- 

 rapher to descant. 



DISCUSSION 



As usual, Captain Scott called on the members in the order 

 in which they sat at the table. 



Oates commented on the difficulty of detecting differences in 

 the Barrier level. He often saw herds of cattle on the ice sur- 

 face which turned out to be debris of previous camps. 



Wilson said that if the outward movement was due to a flat- 

 tening of the Barrier mass, then he would expect the great 

 Shackleton Inlet trench to fill up. 



Wright suggested that it was aground before the great lateral 

 trench was reached. 



Taylor drew attention to the great amount of surface-sculp- 

 turing due, not to pressure, but to thaw waters and direct sun- 

 melting. Some of the shallow crevasses might be due to this and 

 not to movement or pressure as on Butter Point. 



If the Ferrar Tongue had grown since Captain Scott's visit, 

 then these Antarctic glaciers were by no means sluggish. Might 

 not the slope apparent at the edge of the Barrier be due to the 

 greater weathering at the edge, due to the presence of warm 



