NA TURE 



[April i, 1909 



the margin of the plateau. Once again equipment 

 was lightened as the available lime was nearly spent. 

 Nearly the whole of three precious days, January 7 

 to 9, were lost by a blizzard, with a wind estimated 

 at seventy miles an hour, and a temperature of 40° 

 below zero. The conditions improved on January 9, 

 and upon that day the expedition attained its most 

 southern point, 8S° 23' S. in 162° E. From that position 

 no mountains were visible, and so far as could be seen 

 the country to the south consisted of an ice plateau. 



The return journey necessarily followed the same 

 route, and the party were harassed by the bad condi- 

 tion of the snow, and illness due to their privations and 

 over-exertion. They were fortunately he'ped most of 

 the way by the strong southern wind. Two of the 

 party collapsed, but Shackleton and Wild obtained 

 help from the ship, and the party were all safe at 

 Hut Point on March 4, after a brilliant journey of 

 1708 miles in 126 days. 



Meanwhile a party consisting of Sir Philip Brockle- 

 hurst, Mr. Priestley, of Bristol, a geologist, and Mr. 

 Armytage, were at work in the neighbourhood of the 

 Ferrar (jlacier ; while Prof. David, of Sydney, Mr. 

 Mavvson, of Adelaide, and Mr. Mackay, as surgeon, 

 were engaged on a brilliantly successful sledging 

 expedition into northern Victoria Land. The party 

 crossed from Hut Point to the mainland at Butter 

 Point (77° 40' S.); thence it sledged northward on 

 sea ice to the latitude of about 75", and then endea- 

 voured to climb on to the plateau through the gap 

 between Mounts Nansen and Larsen. That route was 

 abandoned, but the report does not state by what 

 line the inland ice sheet was eventually gained. The 

 party experienced strong southerly winds and tem- 

 peratures of iS° below zero, and on January 16 

 i-eached its goal, the Magnetic South Pole, at 

 72° 25' S., 154° E. The report describes this journey 

 as extending for 260 statute miles north-west of their 

 depot on the coast ; and this distance would have 

 taken them half-way across the country to the shore 

 of Wilkes Land. On their arrival at the shore their 

 retreat was found to be cut off by the dispersal of 

 the ice, and Prof. David and his comrades were 

 finally rescued by the Nimrod on February 4. This 

 magnificent journey not only gained the Magnetic 

 Pole, but renders almost certain the contmuity of the 

 ice plateau from South Victoria Land to Wilkes 

 Land. 



The scientific and geographical results of the ex- 

 pedition are obviously both of the highest importance. 

 The main object of the expedition was to get as near 

 as possible to the South Pole ; but that sentimental 

 interest led the expedition along the line of 

 greatest scientific interest. All preliminary investiga- 

 tions on central Antarctica depend on its topography, 

 'and the South Pole lies in the very centre of tlie 

 unknown region. The route to it was the most illumin- 

 ating that could have been followed. Further details as 

 to the nature of the southern mountain ranges dis- 

 covered by the expedition in latitude 86° and 87° will be 

 awaited with the keenest interest, in the hope that 

 they may throw light on the connection between 

 South Victoria Land and Graham Land. 



The result of the expedition appears to confirm 

 the prediction as to the probable nature of the South 

 Polar area suggested in an article on Antarctic re- 

 search by Prof. J. W. Gregory in Nature in 1901. 

 It was there suggested that the chief mountain chain 

 in .Antarctica would be found to lie along a line con- 

 necting Graham's Land and the coast of Victoria 

 Land, and that " to the south of the main mountain 

 range there may be an undulating, ice-covered region 

 descending slowly across the Pole to the shore of the 

 Weddell Sea. The main ice-drainages would then be 

 not from the Pole radially in all directions ; the ice- 

 NO. 2057, VOL. 80] 



shed would run along the Pacific shore with a short, 

 steep northern face and a long, gradual slope south- 

 ward to the Pole and across it northward to the 

 Atlantic" (Nature, vol. Ixiii., 1901, p. 612). 



This view is now apparently fully confirmed by 

 Lieut. Shackleton's report that the geographical 

 South Pole " is doubtless situated on a plateau ten 

 to eleven thousand feet above sea-level." The moun- 

 tains that he discovered range from three thousand 

 to twelve thousand feet in height, so though lower 

 than some of the peaks in northern \'ictoria Land, 

 the great altitude of the plateau is maintained. 



This conclusion as to the structure of the South 

 Polar district had been regarded as so probable from 

 the work of the National Antarctic Expedition that 

 the north-western sledging e.xpedition under Prof. 

 David throws perhaps equally important light on the 

 structure of Antarctica. For the journey 260 miles 

 north-west from their depot on the shore of the Ross 

 -Sea carried them almost into Wilkes Land. The alti- 

 tude of the southern magnetic pole is not stated, but 

 judging by the distances marched, most of the route 

 probably lay over an undulating ice plateau, which 

 probably extends northward to the coast of Wilkes 

 Land. 



Of the meteorological results the most striking that 

 can be learnt from the cable is the wide distribution 

 of prevalent southerly winds, blowing with the force 

 of blizzards even to the farthest south. So that elu- 

 sive South Polar anticyclone has not yet been found, 

 and if it exists at all must be situated on the .'\tlantic 

 side of the South Pole. H so, the ice-covered plateau 

 around the South Pole may keep at a high altitude 

 for a great distance from the Pole towards the 

 Weddell Sea. 



The zoological results are said to be valuable, and 

 the announcement of the collection of many rotifers, 

 infusorians, and other organisms in the freshwater 

 lakes, by Mr. James Murray, is of particular interest. 



The geological results may be expected to throw 

 light on many important problems. Lieut. Shackleton 

 reports the discovery of " Coal-measures in lime- 

 stone " apparently among his southern mountains. 

 This statement probably means that the rocks con- 

 taining the carbonaceous material found by Mr. 

 Ferrar near the Discovery winter quarters extend 

 into the southern mountains, and are there associated 

 with limestones. The only definite fossils referred to 

 are some radiolaria discovered by Prof. David in 

 boulders. They may be of any age, but, considering 

 the resemblance of the slates of Cape .Adare to those 

 of the Lower Palaeozoic rocks of southern Australia, 

 it will not be surprising- if these radiolaria prove to 

 belong to that series. .\s no other fossils are referred 

 to, their absence, or at least their rarity, suggests 

 that the area was under severe climatic conditions 

 during the deposition of all the sedimentary rocks 

 discovered. 



Prof. David reports that the chief Antarctic bergs 

 are snow-bergs, and this announcement and Lieut. 

 Shackleton's description of the nature of the ice bar- 

 rier both confirm the conclusion as to its origin 

 advocated in the review of Captain Scott's book in 

 Nature (vol. Ixxvii., p. 298), viz. that this ice had 

 not been formed from the glaciers but from sea ice 

 " by the accumulation of layers of snow upon the 

 surface more quickly than the ice was dissolved by 

 the sea beneath." A photograph of the face of the 

 barrier was reproduced to show that its material re- 

 sembles ice formed from cemented stratified snow 

 rather than glacier ice. The method of its probable 

 formation was also illustrated in Nature (vol. Ixxvii., 

 p. 561) by a photograph from the report on the 

 geology of South Victoria Land. 



The tectonic geography of Victoria Land, we may 



