3 io SCOTT'S LAST EXPEDITION 



barrier berg. The tabular berg has a height up to 200 feet above 

 sea and at times reaches the enormous length of 21 miles truly 

 a floating island. After partial melting it usually becomes 

 slightly tilted to one side, or develops enormous caverns due to 

 the action of the waves. In the final stages it may overturn or 

 even disintegrate and after prolonged exposure to the elements 

 is hardly distinguishable from the glacier berg. 



The general tendency of the currents in the Ross Sea is to 

 carry these bergs northwards into the warmer water, so that in 

 late summer the greatest accumulation of bergs occurs at a fairly 

 low latitude. As a result also of their great heat capacity they 

 are not associated at this time of the year with pack ice as they 

 are in the early summer. 



That the number and distribution of these enormous reser- 

 voirs of cold has a real effect upon the climate of Australasia can 

 hardly be doubted, and it is therefore evident that a close study 

 and analysis of the data on this subject may well give results of 

 the very greatest value. 



