FORMER ICE CONDITIONS AND CLIMATE 315 



the present rapidly diminishing Barrier is the remains of the 

 great ice-sheet 



It is not the only remains, for the whole coast bears signs 

 of the old ice- sheet in curious ice formations that can be 

 accounted for in no other way. Lady Newnes Bay contains 

 a large fragment of it ; the present ice discharges are wholly 

 insufficient to account for such a sheet as fills this bay ; more- 

 over, its surface is not gradually inclined but advances in long 

 and steep undulations, the outer waves cut off by deep hollows 

 from the interior mass. The single sounding taken in this 

 vicinity shows that here, too, the greater part of the ice-mass 

 is still afloat. In the course of the narrative I referred to the 

 long ice-tongue in latitude 75 S. ; this also must be a remnant 

 of the heavier glaciation. Other typical remnants are to be 

 found in the steep snow-slopes and ice-cliffs which fringe many 

 parts of the coast. These slopes, which are very common 

 about our winter quarters, start on a bare hillside and, wedge- 

 shaped in section, gradually increase in thickness till they end 

 in a perpendicular cliff dipping into the sea, consequently they 

 have no present source of supply. 



In conclusion it may be said that there are few photographs 

 of the coastal scenery which do not exhibit in some way or 

 another evidence of the vastly greater extension of the ice- 

 sheet in former times. 



Former Climate. — A word may be added as to the change 

 of climate which has caused the recession of the ice conditions 

 in the Far South. It has been a surprise to me to find that 

 the idea that a great glacial epoch is the result of a compara- 

 tively mild climate is supported by much authority. Both 

 Mr. Ferrar and I arrived at this conclusion independently 

 when in the South. The chief argument in its favour is that 

 it is physically impossible for cold air to contain much moisture, 

 but living in a severe climate it was impossible not to realise 

 that greater severity would have meant more sterile ice condi- 

 tions. In this connection it is also interesting to note that our 

 greatest snowfall occurred in the summer, and that the Balleny 

 Islands are more heavily glaciated than Victoria Land. 



