re ee 
FEBRUARY 19, 1914] 
whereas the lavas and tufis of the Ross region are 
very distinct from those of West Antarctica, being 
‘strongly alkaline, of the nature of trachytes, phono- 
lites, kenytes, &c., and of as distinctly Atlantic type 
as the West Antarctic rocks are of Pacific type. 
The problem is further complicated by the fact that, 
meagre as it is, our knowledge of the geology of the 
King Edward Land area shows the eruptive rocks 
there, in which granodiorites are conspicuous, to be 
more nearly allied to Andean rocks than are those of 
Ross Sea. There, too, in the Ross Sea region, a vast 
coalfield with nearly horizontal strata sheets over all 
the older rocks from near the south pole itself to 
near Dr. Mawson’s base in Adélie Land, a distance 
of more than 1600 miles. According to the preliminary 
report published in ‘‘ Scott’s Last Expedition,” vol. ii., 
Mr. F. Debenham considers these Coal Measures to 
be of Upper Paleozoic age. Like the Coal Measures 
of Santa Catharina in southern Brazil and the northern 
Argentine, lying far to the east of the Andean fold 
area, they are but very little disturbed. Moreover, 
the structure of the mountains to the west of Ross 
Sea resembles in some respects that of the Falkland 
Islands, which again lie a little to the north-east of 
the Andean fold lines. 
In the Falkland Islands undulating Devonian sand- 
stones and quartzites lie with strong unconformity 
on a pre-Cambrian (?) crystalline complex, and are 
themselves succeeded by a nearly conformable group 
of Permo-Carboniferous strata with a well-marked 
glacial bed at its base which links it up at once with 
the Orleans glacial conglomerate of the Santa 
Catharina Coal Measure system. In his recent paper 
to this society, Mr. T. Griffith Taylor mentioned that 
the fossil fish-scales recently discovered by Mr. F. 
Debenham and himself at Granite Harbour, were 
considered by Dr. A. Smith Woodward to be of Devo- 
nian age, and the fossil tracks figured respectively 
by H. T. Ferrar from tle lower Beacon Sandstone of 
East Antarctica, and by Nordenskjéld from the Dévo- 
nian rocks of the Falkland Islands, show such a 
remarkable similarity to one another as to suggest 
that they are both of Devonian age. Now these late 
Palzozoic Coal Measures and Devonian rocks, more 
or less horizontally stratified, are far more character- 
istic of the outer foreland of the Andes, that is, the 
vast lower plateau or plain country lying to the east 
of the Andes, than they are of the Andes themselves. 
Sections are exhibited across typical portions of the 
Andes and their foreland massifs, together with type 
sections showing the probable geological structure of 
West as compared with East Antarctica, and a com- 
parison is made between the structure of the Antarctic 
Horst with the ‘‘ice divide’’ on the lower plateau to 
the west, and that of the main divide between southern 
Chile and southern Patagonia, as described by H. 
Steffen, F. P. Moreno, and others. It fs suggested 
very tentatively that in the Andean problem of the 
Antarctic a new physiographic enigma is propounded, 
viz.: When does a mountain range lose its identity 
as a definite unit, and become another range worthy 
of a different name? 
The South American Andes are characterised and 
defined by both folds and faults. In West Antarctica 
the folds are present with the thrust directed easterly 
as in the Andes; the volcanic zone is present, and 
fractures are also present, as well as typical Andean 
eruptive rocks. In the Ross Sea region in the moun- 
tains along its western shore, the great fracture lines 
are perhaps continuous with those of Graham Land, 
but the Andean folding has died out, as well as the 
petrographical Andean province which is found rather 
in King Edward Land than in the mountains to the 
west of Ross Sea. 
Provisionally it is suggested that while Arctowski’s 
NO. 2312, VOL. 92] 
NATURE 
701, 
term, the ‘‘ Antarctandes,”’ may be used for the moun- 
tains of West Antarctica, some such term as the 
“ Antarctic Horst’? may be applied to the great ranges 
of the Victoria Quadrant. The party to be dispatched 
by Shackleton from his Weddell base westwards for 
400 or 500 miles, which should include someone who 
is both an experienced geologist and physiographer, 
should be able to throw a flood of light on this great 
Andean problem. 
Then, too, a great opportunity is offered by this 
expedition for sending a strong party from the Ross 
Sea base, not only to lay out depéts so far as to the 
head of the Beardmore Glacier to meet the Trans- 
Antarctic party on their arrival from over the great 
inland plateau, but also to collect systematically from 
the highly interesting Coal Measures, at the head 
of the Beardmore, with their associated fossil flora. 
The Shackleton expedition found wood, apparently 
allied to, if not identical with, coniferous wood, at 
the head of the Beardmore Glacier, and fossil rootlets 
in the adjacent shales suggest that the wood grew 
near where it is now found; and Captain Scott’s party 
have brought back specimens of fossil plants scientific- 
ally of the utmost value from the same _ locality. 
There, too, at Buckley Island, or Nunatak, thick beds 
of Cambrian limestone with traces of Archzeocyathinz 
underlie the Coal Measures. It is difficult to imagine 
any spot in the world more fascinating from the point 
of view of geology, paleontology, and many allied 
sciences. 
The problem of how trees, like modern forest trees, 
could flourish within 300 geographical miles of the 
south pole itself, which now for five months of the 
year is in almost total darkness, is one which involves 
the question as to whether the south pole was in late 
Paleozoic time in its present position, or whether, 
if the position of the earth’s axes of rotation have 
remained constant throughout geological time, the 
continents may not have crept horizontally over con- 
siderable distances, as suggested by Sir John Murray 
and G. W. Lamplugh. The presence of the rich 
Jurassic flora at Hope Bay in Graham Land and of 
the Miocene flora of Beech and Araucaria at Seymour 
Island presents a similar problem. 
Coast Survey.—The existence or not of New South 
Greenland, originally reported by Morell, is of import- 
ance for study by the various expeditions which should 
be in that vicinity this year and next year. Soundings, 
currents, and meteorological conditions suggest that 
New South Greenland really exists. 
The recent fine piece of coastal survey work by 
Dr. Mawson and his Captain, J. K. Davis, whereby 
about 1300 miles of new coast have been added to the 
map, greatly needs to be extended, so as to join up 
with Lieut. Pennell’s latest surveys to the east, on the 
Scott expedition, and also to connect westwards with 
Kemp Enderby Land and Coat’s Land. Obviously 
the Andean problem cannot be finally settled until the 
great unknown area between Charcot Land, King 
Edward VII. Land, and Carmen Land is thoroughly 
explored and charted. 
Meteorology.—R. C. Mossman has shown that Ant- 
arctica is of vast importance in controlling weather, 
not only’ in its own immediate neighbourhood, but 
even so far north as the subtropics of Chile. This 
very important result from the establishment of Dr. 
Bruce’s Meteorological Station at the South Orkneys, 
and the later system of meteorological stations in the 
far south, instituted and maintained continuously by 
the enterprise and insight of the Argentine Govern- 
ment, is likely to be confirmed in the case also of 
East Antarctica. Just as ice conditions in the Wed- 
dell Sea largely control the rainfall of subtropical 
Chile, so it is probable that ice conditions in the Ross 
Sea may control some portions of Australasian rain- 
