THE POLAR EXPLORATION.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XLIX, Issue 3867, 6 November 1928, Page 3

THE POLAR EXPLORATION.

RICHARD BYRD ARRIVES IN Wellington. Commander Richard Byrd and some of the members of his crew arrived at Wellington on board the C. A. Larsen yesterday en route to the South Pole. Commander Byrd and the members of his party will remain in Wellington some three weeks. It will be possible for Commander Byrd’s expedition, as it has been with recent North Pole flights, to keep in touch with the outside world by means of wireless, and, what is even of greater importance to the expedition, it will be possible for the various sections of the party to keep in touch with their base. All the aeroplanes to be used by Commander Byrd will carry a wireless equipment and portable sets will be carried for use in the case of forced landings. What this means to the expedition does not need to be enlarged upon. Whatever fate overtakes the big aeroplane in its dash to the Pole will be known to those remaining at the base, where there will be high-powered receiving and sending apparatus, and they in their turn will be able to transmit the news to the outer world as soon as it is received. Both long and short-wave equipment is being carried, the big ’plane having a set similar to the one used with success on the trans-At-lantic flight, working on a wavelength of about 600 metres. A small auxiliary short-wave set will also he carried, working at about 40 metres, and having a storage battery and hand-driven generator so that it can be operated independently of the aeroplane. The wireless gear, with all the cameras and other scientific equipment, is coming by one of the other boats lielonging to the expedition. OBJECTS OF EXPEDITION. A point that the Byrd expedition will endeavour to solve is whether Antarctica is one continent, or two huge islands. It is known that the polar plateau rises to 10,000 ft. in the interior and that there are two large mountain chains running inland from the Ross Sea and at either side of the ice barrier, hut opposite' the( Ross (Sea, on the other side of the continent, lies the Wedidc.ll Sea, similar in characteristics to the Ross Sea, and there lias been much speculation whether these two bodies of water did not at one time connect in a strait since overlaid with polar plateau ice. The depth of the ice has never been ascertained, but it is thought that flights over the country may disclose definite contours which will lay the ground for further investigations to prove that the continent was two large ice islands before the Ice Age. The trend of the mountains lyipg in King Edward VII. Land will also he closely contoured from the air in the effort to determine whether they are a continuation of the Andean formation. The flight is not in a strict sense therefore, a hurried dash for the Pole, but is rather air attempt to survey the whole of the polar plateau, in the course of which 'the Pole will he passed and the country beyond, which has never hitherto been approached except from the'Ross Sea, will be mapped if possible with the aid of aerial cameras, specially constructed instruments which will give a lateral panoramic picture of wide range if the ideal weather conditions and altitudes are secured. Auroral observations, earth radiation, radio activity of ice and snow, glaciology, and meteorological studies will also occupy the members of the expedition, the latter a most important subject, as these southerly storms affect the climate of a hemisphere. An attack will also be made by spectro-photography on the mysteries of the Aurora Australis. Geology will be one of the researches certain to produce results. It may be that the blizzards will prevent much of the geographical knowledge being sought, hut if too many of these, which rise from dead calm to forty miles an hour in two minutes, are encountered, the expedition will nevertheless bring valuable discoveries back with it. The party were accorded a civic reception at the Town Hall, Wellington, yesterday.