NORTH AND SOUTH POLES.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXXI, Issue 453, 24 April 1909, Page 2

NORTH AND SOUTH POLES.

Dk. Makshau,, one of the members of Lieutenant Shackletou’s Antarctic expedition, who is at present ou a visit to Sydney, in making a comparison of the North and South Poles, pointed out that the North Pole area is apparently a deep sea area, although the Arctic Ocean is surrounded by a nearly continuous ring of land. The South Polar area; on the other hand, has an absolutely continuous ring of ocean ot considerable depth. The polar area apparently attains an elevation of 1.0,000 feet at least, and the presence of limestone and coal at an altitude of 8,000 feet at the South Pole shows that the same crustal disturbances that have elevated mountain ranges in other parts of the world have operated in polar regions with no less intensity. There is a great difference in the temperature between the north and south polar regions. It is more than probable that the difference is the result of one region being oceanic, and, therefore, subject to incursions of comparatively warm ocean currents, while the other area is apparently an elevated land surface uninfluenced by incursions of masses of warm fluid.