VOLCANIC LAKE

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 3, Issue 691, 17 November 1933, Page 7

VOLCANIC LAKE

in aleutian islands BOILING AT ONE END FR1EEZING AT THE OTHER. PRIEST'S DISCOVERY. The Rev. Bernard R. Hubbard, head of th'e department of geology at the Santta Qlara University, known as the "Glaeier Priest" as the result of his exporations in Alaska, returned to New York at the end of Septemher and told of his visit to the windiest spot on earth, in the Aleutian Islands. iGales whieh, in one instance reported by a sea captain, reached a velocity of 216 miles an hour, hampered exploration, Father Hubbard reported. Nevertheless, h'is party of four sueceeded in visiting a hitherto unexplored volcanic crater where an accommodating lake furnished water hot enough for cooking1 food at one end, warm water for bathing in the middle and icebergs at the other end. Other discoveries included a prehistoric weapon factory, in which the workmen appaared to have been surprised by raiders and killed; a war mask cave, which was left for future exploration, and the sites of several Stone Age villages. The expedition, which began in M:ay ■and ended lat& in August, was confined for the most part to the Krenitzen group of the Aleutian chain. About six weeks were spent on Unimak Island, Where th'e explorers revisited the Shishaldin volcano-, inspected by Father Hubbard last year soon after it had been in violent eruption. Data gathered at the site seemed to confirm the theory of volcanic explosions formulated by Father Hubbard as a result of earlier work in the Valley of 10,000 Smokes and other Alaskan areas, he said.

Yolcano Vents Closing. This theory is that the vents of a volcano close after explosions so that the pent-up forces of the volcano gather strength behind the "seals" until sufficient energy accumulates to cause another explosion. An altsmative theory holds that the vents or conduits remain open. The Shishaldin vents, following last year's eruption, were partly ciosed and appeared to he closing more completely, Father Hubbard said. The crater in which the lake of variable temperature was found was that of Akutan, previously unexplored. To reach it the explorers battled wintry g-ales which turned them hack several times, then finally made the summit in one dash and were able to warm themselves by volcanic heat. "The warmth was welcome, for the storm had been terrific," Father Hubbard said. 'Each of the four of us in the party weighed more than 2001b and we packed 1001'b apiece, yet the wind was so strong that it was difficult for us to maintain our footing against it. "Our sledge dogs were unable to maintain their positions unaided. Alth'ough they braced all four feet on the snow and ice, the wind caught them and slid them along as if they were on roller skates." The volcano was about 4000 feet in height, with a crater 10 milcs in cireumferenee, Father Hubbard estimated. linside, the party found a cone of hot cinders, about three miles in cireumferenee at the base and nearly 1000 feet high. The lake of variable temperature stretched along one side of the crater for about two miles. Hot Lake Explcded Container. "The temperature at the hot end was so great that a can of salmon placed in the stream that runs from that end and cascades down the mountain side formed enough steam inside to explode the container," Father Hubbard said. "Approaching the middle of th'e lake, however, we found the water lukewarm. "We stripped and went for a swim, diving into the water from piles of ice and snow that rise on the bank. From that point towiard the cold end, the temperature of the water dropped gradually until at the far extremity cake ice and small hergs floated withr out melting." Storm Begins There. The area, he declared, is the birthplace of the great storms of the North American Continent. The winds that begin there sweep southward and eastward across Canada. and the United States. Most of their force is spent by the time they reach the Mississippi Valley, he declared, but some effects are felt farther. The prehistoric weapon factory was discovered when Father Hubhard's party came npon a 15-foot length of whalebone embedded in the sand on TJnimak Island. Glearing away the saud, they discovered that Aleut workmen had been engaged in fashioning weapons and implements from the bone. A wedge, such as was used to split off workable fragments, was in place at one point, not quite driven in. Along the length of the bone were indications of other work dn progress. Endeavouring to find out why the work had halted, the party searched the vicinity. About 15 feet from the bone they found a skeleton, with an arrow embedded in the skull, and from that formulated the raid theory. On the village sites there was evidence that the inhabitants had died in a massacre, Father Hubbard said. This, he said, fits with the known warlike charsacter of the inhabitants of the region. In some places, he said, th'e party found evidences of cannihalismi.