INTO THE FROZEN SOUTH.

Hokitika Guardian, 29 October 1928, Page 7

INTO THE FROZEN SOUTH.

COMMANDER BYRD’S VENTURE

IMPORTANT RESULTS EXPECTED

Of all the expeditions which have gone forth to explore the vast frozen continent of Antarctica, whose secrets Nature has to closely guarded behind a towering wall of ice, none lias gone so well prepared as that of Commander Byrd, which is due to leave Port Chalmers about the end of next month, and whose advance guard will arrive at that port next week by the Sir James o.ark Ross.

When man forces his way on foot into the great wilderness of Antarctica, he attempts the most difficult task that can confront an explorer. Slniekletoo, Scott, Amundsen, Mawson—all those who made such a glorious record in the Antarctic, pitted their physical strength and endurance against odds that appeared almost insuperable, and yet'they accomplished as much as any man can do when lie relies on his own unaided physical capacity. Commander Byrd is more fortunate in having the wings of science to- carry him and liis party over snow through which his predecessors had laboriously to force their way. , The programme mapped out by Commander Byrd is an ambitious one, and he will leave for the frozen south with the full determination to accomplish all that is expected of him. Nothing has been left to chance. The equipment, both scientific and aeronautic, is of the best, every member of the expedition is picked and tried, and nothing which foresight could provide lias been overlooked.

On his prospects of success, and what be expects to accomplish, Commander Byrd comments interestly in an article which appeared in recent number of the Now York Sunday Times. He says: “I have been asked many times why we arc going to the Antarctic, what we can do or learn there which will justify the expense or danger of such an expedition. This is a hard question to answer, not because there is any doubt in my own mind or in the minds of the scientists who are accompanying or advising me as to the value of the trip, hut because the significance of data which may be obtained is far removed from popular knowledge and experience. Why did Peary labour for yea.rs to reach the North Pole? Wbv did Nansen, Nordenskjold and Amundsen, Greely and Franklin, and many other men, spend years and some of them sacrifice life itself to penetrate the Arctic Sea? Why did Scott spend five years in the Antarctic and lay down his life there in one of the most noble and dramatic chapters of polar exploration P Why did Shackleton. return again to this desolate region, to die finally from hardship and exhaustion? Why did Mawson struggle for a foothold of the Antarctic in gales that lasted all year? Why do scientists go again and again to the frozen north and south and spend weary months in seeking to reveal some of the secrets of. ,these mysterious regions? The human answer to these questions is simple. Men do these things because they are men; because in the unknown lies a ceaseless challenge to man’s curiosity, toi his ever-expandiug fund of knowledge. While anyhing is to be learned of this earth of ours of its form, its history, its strange forces, men will be found who will not rest until that knowledge is complete.’’

The purpose of the flight to the Pole is not only to reach the Pole itself, hut to survey as much of the polar plateau as possible, something which Amundsen and Scott were unable to do because of the limitations of their method of travel. AH the country over which they will fly will be mapped with the aid of aerial cameras, especially constructed instruments which will record a wide territory on each side of their routes, the size depending on the height they are able to attain over many elevations of the landscape. From these photographs maps will be drawn which for the first time- will give nearlly accurate details of the country. Although mountain ranges have been glimpsed at a distance by expeditions in the Antarctic. their actual position and detail have never been accurately ascertained.

The expedition’s geographical work will be controlled almost entirely hv mebeofrolbigiical oond i t ions. A i rpl anes have never been used in the Antarctic, and anyone who uses them there must begin his work with the feeling that lie is going into danger. The reports of Antarctic blizzards would cause the most adventurous spirit to become cautious.

“Tt- is obvious,’ ’ Commander Byrd states, “that flying should not be a slap-lash proceeding in a region where winds rise from dead calm to 40 miles an Hour in two minutes, and out of a sky that bad been clear, carrying blinding clouds of snow through which it would be impossible to fly safely. It can be understood why we are taking four planes. We shall be extremely fortunate if we bring them all back. Our testing and early flying in laying down bases will be comparatively simple. We shall have an opportunity to test our skis under loads, for the weather at the Bay of Whales is unusually uniform and free from storms. This is due to the unusual formation of the ipp, barrier, which is a vast triangle, 600 miles long at its sea base and running inland 400 miles. It is believed that this offers a zone of comparative calm because of the peculiar nature of the storms which roll down off the high polar plateau, the largest plateau of similar height in the world.”

The explorer goes on to point out that it seems reasonable to assume that from the edge of the barrier, where his main base will be located, up to the glacier over which Amundsen

made his way at the edge of the plateau, the flying, will be in fairly smooth air and with, little danger of a sudden storm. This, he considers, is fortunate, for it will give the party an opportunity to climb slowly with its heavy load to an altitude of 12,000 feet or more, which it needs to cross the mountains and the plateau. They might, of course, take off from a base at the foot of the plateau, but this must be decided by the conditions obtained at the time.

Once well into the plateau, Commander Byrd is hopeful that merely moderate winds and little snowfall will be encountered which should make that part of the journey favourable for exploration. Whether he will be able to alight at the Pole he is doubtful, and this will depend entirely on the Surface the aviators find and the ability of the- plane to rise with a load from an elevation of 10,000 feet, which, as every aviator knows is very diffi-, cult even under the most favourable conditions. A flight to the east and southeast over the mountains that are supposed to exist to the east of the barrier (lie considers) will be a very different and much more difficult trip, as there the flyers will be over absolutely unknown land flying directly into the path from which come the pressure waves that control to a large extent the storms of Antarctica. The origin and cause of these waves are unknown, so they will have the condition of flying over an unknown area, never before seen by man, toward the threat of storms which cannot be anticipated nor avoided. In these side-flights, however, may lie the greatest successes of the expedition, as they will result in the mapping o-f a vast territory hitherto unknown and so they will be worth all the risk.

Commander Byrd has experienced flying condition's in the Arctic regions and his comparison between flying in the Arctic and Antarctic with which lie concludes his article, is therefore of particular interest. “It can readily be seen,” he says, “hat flying in the Antarctic is very different from the Arctic flying. There are few storms in the Arctic during the spring months, but there is the constant danger of fog. In the Antarctic, on the other hand, there is little fog but constant danger from storms. There is no other part of the world where the weather is so uncertain, or rather, so certain in its constant menace. In the \irctic, also, it is possible to fly at a low elevation above sea level, which makes it possible to utilise the full efficiency of the plane, hut in the Antarctic nearly all the flights must be at a height of many thousands of feet above sea. level, which limits the opacity of the plane and makes forced andings with a load very dangerous. There is the satisfaction of having, a solid surface instead of floating ice oin which to come down; hut Antarctic cold is much more severe than that of the Arctic in summer months. In the Antarctic it never gets above freezing. In flying, of course, lower temperatures would he encountered.”