ARCTIC EXPLORATION

Hokitika Guardian, 12 September 1929, Page 2

ARCTIC EXPLORATION

BY MEANS OF AIRSHIPS.

A definite, programme for Arctic exploration by German dirigibles. has been announced by Dr George AVegener, vice-president of the International Aeronautic Society (says the Hamburg correspondent of the Christian .Science Monitor.)

“During April and May 1930,” Dr. AYegener says, “several Artie flights are planned with the big dirigibles. At that time of the year the long Polar night is over, yet the ice is still firm, the air reasonably quiet, and the summer fogs have not yet developed. “it is anticipated that Dr. Fridtjof Nansen will be leader of the expedition, and Dr. Ekrkner, who commands the Graf Zepplein will be in command of' the airship itself. An international staff of experts is now eng god in Working out details of the preposed flight. The Russian Government is expected to erect an anchor mast in Northern Russia, and it is hoped another will be placed in Alaska, and between these two points flights back and forth are planned as well as round trips starting from either point. “I'iere will be exploration flights ill the entirely unexplored region between tbe North Pole, the western part of the North American Continent and Eastern Siberia. It is not yet determined if there is a large tract of land as lies 'been conjectured from the changes of the tide on the coast of Siberia,' or whether tho deep ocean discovered by Nansen on the other side of the Arctic extends into this region. Proof of the existence of a deep ocean around the North Pole in connection with the presence of tho very high continent known to exist around the South Pole would show interesting harmony in the formation of the earth.

“Nansen is also particularly interested in investigating the line of shallow water that surrounds the coasts of the Arctic continents as nearly everywhere else on earth. At depths of about OCO feet this shallow water apparently changes abruptly -to extreme depths. He will also search for undiscovered islands in the shallow parts of the Arctio seas. The problematic Andrejewland, to' the north of East Siberia, will also be investigated. Nicholas II land now called Northland, which has been seen but is entirely unexplored, is also to be mapped from the air. “The party likewise hopes to learn more of the ocean currents particularlv what becomes of the warm water which pours constantly into the nearly landlocked Arctic Ocean. It appears that the floating ice of the Polar Sea pi vp.se.s unceasingly from the region of East Siberia towards iSpitzborgen and Greenland.

“Probably the extraordinary lowtemperatures found in the extreme depths of the oceans in the warm regions are 4 ue *° a s^ow oUr / ent °f I*°lar water moving towards the Equator. Study of the temperatures, the salt, content and of the animal and plant life in various depths will, it is hoped give valuable explanation of the currents in the Polar regions. Nansen has already discovered that at a certain depth the water in fhq Arctic region becomes wanner instead of colder, indicating that he was reaching water' from the Gulf ‘Stream. “From a meteoralogical standpoint it will'also he extremely important to study the Arctic air currents, because there is to be found the explanation of many climatic features of these latitudes.” i