836 



DR J. H. HARVEY PIRIE ON 



Hours of Occurbbncb. 





Snow. 



Hail. 



Sleet. 



Rain. 



Total. 



Snow 

 Drifting. 



Days with 

 Precipita- 

 tion. 



1903. 

















April .... 



119 



2 



32 



48 



201 



51 



25 



May 





175 



6 



8 



53 



242 



129 



25 



June 





205 



7 



6 



24 



242 



118 



26 



July 





167 



5 



7 



26 



205 



166 



30 



August . 





218 



3 



8 



49 



278 



132 



27 



September 





166 



3 



10 



15 



194 



113 



22 



October . 





168 



1 



21 



10 



200 



65 



26 



November 





124 



5 



13 



37 



179 



60 



26 



December 





212 



3 



6 



28 



249 



, 109 



29 



1904. 

















January 



133 



3 



17 



87 



240 



28 



29 



February 



103 



5 



14 



89 



211 



15 



26 



March .... 



104 



4 



31 



53 



192 



26 



29 



Total . 



1894 



47 



173 



519 



2633 



1012 



320 



Snow-Line. 



The position of the snow-line or level of perpetual snow is one of considerable 

 interest. In the region visited by the Belgica, according to ARgxcwsKi (13), although 

 it comes down to sea-level as a general rule, this is not the case everywhere, as, for 

 instance, in Hughes Bay. Gourdon (14) states that in the Antarctic the snow-line is 

 everywhere at sea-level, even as far north as in the South Shetlands, in the latitude of 

 62°. The areas free of snow are insignificant ; they are for the most part places where 

 the wind removes most of the snow and permits the sun's rays to be felt sufficiently 

 to melt all that remains. Nordenskjold (15) shows that the question of the position 

 of the snow-line is a complex one, and cannot always be determined with certainty. It 

 depends not merely on climatic factors, but also upon such conditions as the strength 

 of the winds, the topography of the land, and the nature of the rocks (areas composed 

 of sedimentary rocks seem to be less ice-bedecked than others). The " actual snow- 

 line " in the northern portions of Graham Land is often at sea-level, but may be from 

 200 to 300 metres above it in places. The "theoretical snow-line" (or "climatic 

 snow-line," the influence of the wind being eliminated) at Snow Hill is, according to 

 his observations, practically at sea-level. A degree south of this, in the neighbourhood 

 of the Seal Nuuataks, it is certainly at sea-level, as is proved by the presence and 

 peculiar nature of the shelf-ice there. 



In the South Orkneys there are in summer considerable portions of land free from 

 snow, even of comparatively level ground on which snow could quite well accumulate. 

 On the smaller islands, and on level ground lying open to the sun and winds, much 

 indeed of the low-lying ground is free from snow in summer, although there is always 



