2 SHAPE OF ANTARCTICA 



Shape. Antarctica Is irregularly pear-shaped, with the curved stem directed 

 towards South America, and the " eye " towards the Indian Ocean. Two deep 

 indents are conspicuous, Ross Sea lying between the meridians of 170° E. and 

 160° W., and Weddell Sea lying between long. 20° W. and 50° W. Some have 

 supposed that the Antarctic Continent is divided into two distinct portions by a 

 wide strait joining Ross Sea and Weddell Sea. The recent brilliant geographical 

 discoveries by Roald Amundsen tend to disprove this view. He found in his wonderful 

 journey to the South Pole a new land, commencing at the intersection of the parallel 

 of 86° S. with the meridian of 160° W. and trending thence in a N.N.E. direction at 

 least as far as lat. 84° S. This land, to which Amundsen has given the name of 

 Carmen Land,* is estimated to be about 4000 feet high, and is thought to be prob- 

 ably, though not necessarily, continuous with the " appearance of land " reported 

 by Amundsen, between lat. 81° S. and 82° S. and also probably with King 

 Edward VII. Land. Thus the Ross Barrier is completely shut off by land to the 

 south, and, if it communicates at all with Weddell Sea, must do so by some very 

 narrow straits, possibly situated between Carmen Land and King Edward VII. 

 Land. The discovery by Amundsen that the great ranges of South Victoria Land 

 continue to the S.E. as far as the Heiberg Glacier and then bend back to S.S.E., 

 resuming further on a S.E. and eventually taking on a nearly due E. direction, is 

 obviously of far-reaching importance. This great range. Queen Maud's Range, may 

 continue without interruption to the high land recorded by Charcot, Arctowski, 

 Nordenskjold and others in the American Sector of the Antarctic. The land from 

 Terre Louis Philippe, south-westwards through Danco Land, Graham Land, Terre 

 Loubet and Terre Fallieres, is high and on the whole of a plateau or peneplain type. 

 It rises to heights of over 2000 m. (over 6560 feet), in Graham Land to 2400 m., and 

 on the island between Isle Adelaide and Terre Loubet to a height of 2500 m. (over 

 8200 feet).t While we think there can be little doubt that the continuous ranges 

 of South Victoria Land and Queen Maud's Range extend without interruption to the 

 high land of Terre Loubet and Graham Land, &c., as shown on Dr. Mawson's map, J 

 and Dr. W. S. Bruce's earlier map,| we have preferred to leave the map blank between 

 Mount K. Olsen of Amundsen's map, and Terre Fallieres of Charcot's map. There is 

 still the jiosslbility, but remote in our opinion, that the Queen Maud's Range trends 

 towards the land recently discovered by Lieutenant Filchner, which extends to, at 

 least, as far south as 79° S., this land being a continuation to the S.W. of Coat's 

 Land. As there are marked differences in petrographical as well as in tectonic 

 charactei's between the great r-anges of the Ross Sea region and those of the South 



* "The South Pole," Amundsen, vol. ii. pp. 170-171. 



t See " Carte Provisoire de L'Antarctique Sub-Americaine d'apies le lev6 fait par 01." Bongrain. 

 " Le Pourquoi-Pas ? dans I'Antarctique," Dr. Jean Charcot, opposite p. 370. 



X " The Geographical Journal," June 1911, end of volume; and "tjber die Fortsetzung des Antarktischen 

 Festlande.*," <fec., the Scottit^h Oceanographical Laboratory, Edinburgh, 1010. 



