April 25, 1901] 



NA TUBE 



611 



1^ 



known shores of the Pacific, it appears not improbable 

 that the Southern Pacific is bounded by a coast of the 

 same type. If so, we should expect the Parry Moun- 

 tains and Graham's Land to be connected by a series of 

 mountain bows, the curves convex to the north, and with 

 at least the traces of island festoons. 



In that case the great tectonic lines which bound the 

 Pacific to east and west are connected across the Ant- 

 arctic area ; and if that can be proved the unity of the 

 great Pacific depression will be completely established. 



That this South Pacific coast line can be discovered 

 and surveyed by the expedition is improbable ; when we 

 remember the limited extent of the areas explored by 

 Arctic expeditions, one ship cannot be expected to in- 

 vestigate half the Antarctic zone in the course of sixteen 

 or eighteen months. 



Considerable indirect evidence bearing on this problem 

 may, however, be obtained ; informa- 

 tion as to the geology of Dougherty 

 Island, and an extensive collection 

 of bottom deposits along the edge of 

 the ice-pack in the Southern Pacific, 

 would no doubt throw much light on 

 the geographical character of the area 

 to the south. The expedition, more- 

 over, should secure information as to 

 the oceanic circulation and ice-drift 

 which will enable a carefully- thought- 

 out attack on this quadrant to be 

 made. Our knowledge of the Ross 

 quadrant, as Sir Clements Markham 

 has called it, is so limited that it gives 

 us no trustworthy suggestion as to the 

 best lines of entry. And the Joint 

 Committee appears to have accepted 

 the principle that the expedition should 

 work where present knowledge gives 

 most guidance as to profitable lines 

 of discovery and research. 



Geodetic Work. 



The principal geodetic work of the 

 expedition will be the continuation of 

 the line of gravity determinations that 

 has now been carried from California 

 across the Pacific to Sydney, and 

 thence through Melbourne, Tasmania 

 and New Zealand. This work will be 

 done by a new set of three of the 

 Ellery half-seconds pendulums, which, 

 thanks to Mr. Baracchi, have been 

 made for loan to the expedition by 

 the Victorian Government. The pen- 

 dulum results will be checked by the 

 use of two of the gravity torsion 

 balances designed by Profs. Threlfall and Pollock. 



If it be possible to land for a couple of days at Cape 

 Adare, gravity determinations should be made there as 

 well as at the land station in Southern \'ictoria Land. 



Seismology. 



At this station a seismographic observatory will also be 

 established. A Milne seismometer of the British Asso- 

 ciation pattern and a Ewing's duplex recorder are both 

 to be installed. 



Meteorology. 



A station on shore that will give a complete year's 

 observations is necessary for the meteorological work aS 

 well as for the magnetic. The meteorological equipment 

 will be exceptionally complete, thanks to the Admiralty, 

 the Meteorological Council, Dr. R. H. Scott, Dr. H. R. 

 Mill and Mr. W. N. Shaw. Recording instruments, includ- 

 ing barographs, thermographs and hygrographs, will be 



NO. 1643, VOL. 63] 



established and checked by four-hourly direct observ- 

 ations ; in case of the collapse of the recording instru- 

 ments, observations will be taken every two hours, and 

 during part of the year it will probably be possible to 

 take them every hour. 



As the observatory will probably be near the face of a 

 lofty mountain range, the atmospheric conditions may be 

 abnormal. To ascertain the conditions of the free air, it 

 is proposed to fly kites with meteorographs. The Har- 

 greaves kites, as modified at Dr. Rotch's observatory at 

 Blue Hill, will be used. 



The special meteorological problem to be determined 

 by the combined expeditions is the existence of the 

 hypothetical anticyclone over the South Pole. The careful 

 meteorological observations made by Mr. Bernacchi 

 during the Borchgrevink expedition have given almost 

 a complete year's record for Cape Adare ; they have 



180* 



90*V(f 



Sketch mnp of Antarctic area, showing probable connection of the tectonic lines of New Zealand 

 and the Andes through Victoria and Graham Lands. The arrows indicate probable directions 

 of ice movement. The upper half of the map includes th; British field of work ; the lower 

 half is that assigned to the German expedition. 



shown the prevalence thereof south-easterly winds which 

 were unexpectedly warm, and are apparently due to a 

 northern air-current being forced to sea-level and to- 

 return northward in the area to the south-east of Cape 

 Adare. 



Oceanography. 

 The expedition is also being generously equipped for 

 oceanographic work, as the Admiralty, thanks to Sir 

 William Wharton, is supplying the whole of the material. 

 The first branch of this work will be the continuation of 

 the contributions of former expeditions to the contour of 

 the Antarctic ocean floor ; and it is hoped that, in addition 

 to complete series of soundings in special areas, new 

 lines of soundings will cover a wide area around the edge 

 of the ice-pack. The study of the bottom deposits col- 

 lected during the soundings will be of especial interest, 

 as bearing on the range and structure of the Antarctic 

 lands ; and their evidence will be supplemented by 

 dredging for boulders with a special bucket-dredge. 



