March 5, 1915] 



SCIENCE 



361 



Mary Land, between 101° 30' E., and Ganss- 

 berg, Kaiser Wilhelm II. Land, in 88° 45' E. 

 By ship and sledge the coast was traced 

 through fifty-five degrees of longitude, and 

 with previous discoveries it is now certain 

 that the continent of Antarctica extends con- 

 tinuously from 86° E. eastward to 158° W. 

 longitude. 

 At sea Captain Davis discovered Mill Eise, 

 a submarine ridge in about 47° S., south of 

 Tasmania, and Jeffrey Deep, varying from 

 2,500 to 3,100 fathoms, approximately between 

 36° to 46° S., and from 110° to 125° E. He 

 also located the continental slope of Antarctica 

 through 55° of longitude. 



Magnetism. — Besides regular work at the 

 base stations, field observations were made by 

 each sledge party. The strenuous effort to 

 reach the South Magnetic Pole barely failed 

 by a scant margin of about fifty miles. The 

 party turned back from 70° 36.5' S., 148° 10' 

 E., where the dip was recorded at 89° 43.5', the 

 Magnetic Pole being yet to the southeast. 



The standardization of instruments by the 

 Carnegie Magnetic Foundation, and the re- 

 duction and treatment of the observations by 

 Dr. Bauer ensure more accurate and defi- 

 nite results than have been before attained. 

 When such discussion appears it is certain 

 that the present confiicting theories regarding 

 the south magnetic pole will be satisfactorily 

 harmonized. 



Geology. — Although Antarctica is so covered 

 by ice-caps as to confine geological researches 

 to rare inland nunataks and infrequent 

 stretches of ice-free coast cliffs, yet the general 

 features of both King George and Queen Mary 

 Lands were determined. Abundant red sand- 

 stones suggest that the Beacon sandstone for- 

 mation, with dolorites, associated carbonaceous 

 shales and coaly strata, extend from Adelie 

 Land eastward to Ross sea region. On King 

 George Land, Aurora nunatak, 1,100 feet high, 

 disclosed "highly quartzose gneiss with black 

 bands of schist." Horn Cliff, over 100 feet 

 high had basaltic columns of dolorite 180 feet 

 high. 



The beacons were found to be part of a hori- 

 zontal, stratified series of sandstones underlying 



the igneous rock. Bands of coarse gravel . . . 

 were interspersed with seams of carbonaceous shale 

 and poor coal. . . . Several pieces of sandstone 

 were marked by black, fossilized plant remains. 



Near Penguin Point, 300 feet high, "the 

 rock was coarse-grained granite, presenting 

 great vertical faces." 



In Queen Mary Land, Madigan nunatak, 

 " the rock was of garnet gneiss, traversed by 

 black dykes of pyroxene granulite;" Avalanche 

 Eocks, 600 feet high, " rock mainly composed 

 of mica schists and some granite;" Eoss 

 nunatak, " The rock was gneiss, rich in mica, 

 feldspar and garnets;" Bar Smith nunatak 

 rocks "were granites, gneiss and schists." 

 Off the coast in dredging 



Fragments of coal were once more found: an 

 indication that coaly strata must be widely dis- 

 tributed in the Antarctic. 



A meteorite was found on the main ice-cap. 



Meteorology. — The dominant characteristic 

 of the climate of Adelie Land were the bliz- 

 zards, which give the title to Mawson's vol- 

 umes. He says: 



Such wind velocities as prevail at sea-level in 

 Adelie Land are known in other parts of the world 

 only at great elevations. The average wind veloc- 

 ities for our first year proved to be approximately 

 fifty miles per hour. 



Hourly records of one hundred miles were 

 not very unusual, and gusts approximating 150 

 miles per hour were experienced. On May 

 15, 1912, the average velocity for the 24 hours 

 was ninety miles. Later the reviewer hopes 

 to comment on these remarkable meteorolog- 

 ical conditions. 



Biology. — Elora is practically non-existent 

 in Antarctica, the brief list being mosses, 

 lichens and algae. A growth of lichens on 

 red sandstone is reproduced in color as " an 

 example of the most conspicuous vegetation of 

 Adelie Land." As might be expected, the most 

 luxuriant growths were in penguin rookeries. 

 On Gaussberg were " large quantities of moss." 

 Most interesting were the tiny, eye-visible in- 

 sects found, especially on Horn Bluff, where 

 among the many patches of moss they were 

 caught in myriads. Fresh-water lakes pro- 

 duced low forms of life, mainly microscopic. 



