CLAY 1,600 FEET DOWN

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 848, 17 December 1929, Page 6

CLAY 1,600 FEET DOWN

SOUNDING DONE THROUGH BARRIER ICE QUEST FOR SOLID GROUND Bu RUSSELL OWEE Copyrighted. 1928, by the "New York Times" company and the St. Louts "PostDispatch." All rights for publication reserved throughout the world. ’Wireless to the “New York Times." Reed. 9.5 a.m. BAY OP WHALES, Sunday. The first ‘ sounding made near the camp shows that xve are indeed floating thxough a hole in the ico at the head of Ver-sur-mer Inlet, only about 150 yards from our front door. A sounding of 1,600 feet was obtained. That is a long way to the bottom. It is hoped that a series of soundings around the bay and in the crevasses south of the camp may be made, so that something more definite may be learned about the possible presence of land near here. Something must hold this Barrier, or the Bay of Whales would have disappeared long ago. Sounding is hard work where old ice remains, and 18 feet of it has to be penetrated before water is reached. This sounding was done by Paul Siple and Victor Czegka. A sled has been fixed up to hold the reel, the framework for it being made by Arnold Clark on a forge set up on the Barrier surface. When it was ready, Paul started to dig the hole through the ice. For hours lie tapped away, scooping up the broken ice chips with a tin can. When a pipe had gone down far as it would reach, and the bottom of the ice was not reached, Czegka put together two pieces of angle iron, making a drill 20 feet long. Czegka worked down through the last three feet, and when the drill went through it nearly jerked from his hand. A sounding line was then let down through the hole, and after dropping 1,590 feet it brought up against the bottom. It showed a clay floor at this part of the bay. Szegka has made a device for bringing up samples of the bottom, which will be used for future sounding. It is small, and its end is scoop-shaped like one of those iron-jawed dredges used for deepening channels, but it is actuated by powerful springs which snap the jaws together when the bottom is reached and hold them closed. Some interesting specimens may be obtained with it. The geological party which is in the Queen Maud range had to remain in their tents yesterday owing to a heavy snowfall. Dr. Gould reports that the cache laid down by Commander Byrd on the first flight in the mountains was found on Thursday, and the food in it gives them a good margin of safety, for which they are grateful. The belief that Carmen Land is not what has been shown on the map is the result of observations and studies of the photographs made on the two southern flights and makes this part of Dr. Gould’s trip very important, and he hopes to be able to learn something definite about the land in that direction before starting back. Much cloudiness interferes with his work, he says in a message to the commander.