DEBATE ON THE BARRIER PROBLEMS 415 
direct sun-melting. Some of the shallow crevasses might 
be due to this and not to movement or pressure— as on 
Butter Point. 
If the Ferrar Tongue had grown since Captain Scott's 
visit, then these Antarctic glaciers were by no means 
sluggish. Might not the slope apparent at the edge of the 
Barrier be due to the greater weathering at the edge, due 
to the presence of warm waters and stronger winds ? He 
suggested that the word ' glacieriscd ' should be used for 
lands covered by glaciers instead of ^ glaciated,' which 
might be kept for land forms exposed on recession. 
He discussed the probable structure of the continent, 
with ^ block' coast near Ross Island and an 'Andean' 
Range near America. The level surface of the Plateau 
was largely due to the preservative action of the ice cap. 
But it would also seem to exhibit * senile ' features, due 
to a previous cycle of normal erosion. 
Probably Antarctica was a primeval solid block of the 
earth's crust of the type known as a ' Shield.' 
Nelson thought the increase in snow above would 
certainly be balanced by the solution below. He thought 
the face of the Barrier would be curved to the north, unless 
somethingwere affectingit besidespurelymechanicalagents. 
Simpson said that simply lowering thermometers into 
the crevasses was useless. They should be buried in ice 
in the crevasse sides. 
Debenham said that the Admiralty Range was certainly 
not of a true Pacific type. 
The meeting adjourned about 10 p.m., but a select group 
of debaters carried on the arguments until 12.15 
