G. R. Wieland— Polar Climate in Time. 405 



great bodies of ice and snow there found, and that such effects 

 would be heightened if the orbital eccentricity were now much 

 higher, is fairly sustained. It is doubtless true that the great 

 mountainous area of Antarctica is mainly responsible for a 

 condition which is in a lesser degree paralleled by the Greenland 

 ice cap,* and that a much heavier Arctic ice cap would be 

 present were it not for the deep polar sea discovered by IN'ansen. 

 But there are no known facts invalidating such impressive 

 testimony as that afforded by the conditions at Sandwich Land, 

 as so graphically described by Capt. Cook. He says, "We 

 thought it very extraordinary that an island between 64° and 65° 

 south latitude should in the very height of summer be almost 

 covered with frozen snow several fathoms deep, . . . masses of 

 ice were continually breaking off and dropping into the sea 



with a sound like a cannon the savage rocks raised 



their lofty summits till lost in the clouds and the valleys were 

 covered with seemingly perpetual snow." On the other hand, 

 depending on the course and source of the prevailing winds 

 and currents, low-lying lands with faii'ly equable summers are 

 often found in close proximity to glacier covered regions. 

 Ijideed snow and ice seldom accumulate in Arctic lowlands. 

 According to Lieutenant Payer, during the short summer in 

 high latitudes under the influence of dry winds and the sun 

 the ice fields diminished four feet in thickness, or the equiva- 

 lent of 46 inches of rain. And most northern travelers have 

 noted the sudden burst of luxuriant herbaceous vegetation on 

 the Tundras as soon as the cold winds cease to blow in from 

 the snow fields and ice packs, and thus blanket the winter 

 store of cold with a fog, sleet, and snow-laden atmosphere. 

 Moreover, F. W. Harmer has shown, in one of the most 

 important contributions to the subject of climatology made in 

 recent years,f that many of the phenomena of the " Great Ice 

 Age " may be accounted for in a simple manner on the basis 

 of alterations in the course of the Gulf Stream, in the pre- 

 vailing winds, and in the shifting of the areas of prevailing 

 high and low barometer, witli respect to the land masses sur- 

 rounding the polar area. It is not, however, the purpose to 

 pass any final judgment, or formulate a theory as to glacial 

 epochs. 



* From what was previously known of temperatures and of ice and snow 

 conditions, Nansen had supposed that his great difficulty in crossing the 

 Greenland ice cap would be due to melting snow during the long summer 

 day. But to his great surprise he found mid-winter conditions on the ice cap, 

 and he and his men suffered from well-nigh uncontrollable thirst during 

 their entire journey over it, in the month of August being dependant for 

 drinking water on small quantities of snow melted against their bodies. 



f The influence of winds on climate during the Pleistocene epoch ; a 

 Palaeometeorological explanation of some geological problems. — Quar. Jour, 

 of Geol. Soc, August, 1901. 



