THE ANTARCTIC.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LII, Issue 55, 30 March 1909, Page 2

THE ANTARCTIC.

CHIEF GEOGRAPHICAL RESULTS "Slt'llKMK IMPORTANT*:." ntatkmi:nt ny in:, Marshall. Duncdi,i, March 27. Dr. Marshall, of tin- (Hugo I'niversily, i,i tin' course of ii -hull conversation this lllONlillg. lulll till' -.loi-v 111 ihi> ex-

pedition «-. 1.11- ,(» geographical and geological result-, hiv concerned nddingnlso an interc-ling coniniciii .in' Hi,- diller-

enei-s beiw.-eii ihe north and soiiih [Kilnr regions, and the evidence of \cry differ.■in climatic e.iiulili.iiis that inu-t in some earlier aye have prevailed. "To lii-},nn with." said Dr. .Marshall,

"geographically tlii-, expedition puts into insignificance all other expeditions m the Aiilarelie regions sinee the days 01 the early explorers. Tne lour chief results

(1) The ascent of .Mount Krebiis. (2) The exploration of forty-live miles west of North Cape, which was supposed to lie (and piohalily is in many seasons) inaccessible owing to iee. (HI The reaching of the south magnetic pole. 'lhe south magnetic pole is that position at wmcli the compass needle stands upright with Hie south pole end down. A dip needle is used,

swung on a horizontal pivot. (4) The fact that they reached 88deg. liliiniii. south, within luo miles ol the pole.

"Any one of these attainments," continued .Mr. .Marshall) would have conferred distinction upon tile expedition, and, combined, they make it one ol supreme importance,' for it must ue remembered thai the resources were poor when compared with those of the German and Discovery expeditions. Tae cxpedilon has almost conclusively proved thai the south pule is situated on the ice plateau. The ascents of this have shown in every ease that it slopes down very roughly and steeply to the Great Harrier, and this apparently oilers the great obstacle to be encountered in reaching the pole. Ji has been tuowa that Ross's Jee Barrier is fed by glaciers, and is in motion exactly as glaciers of smaller dimensions are. It was supposed at one time that the Barrier was stationary. Scott found out that portion of it was alloat. Again, meteorologists supposed that a region ot poiar calm existed, but each successive expedition has pushed the supposed extent of this calm region further south. This last exiu'dition shows that it does not extend as far as Ideg. 37iuin. from the pole, and is therefore practically nonexistent.

" Tlio cxpi'dition apparently shows tliul the magnetic pole is moving northwards. 'l'll., magnetic poles arc not tixed point-, Ijiii ;iiv subject t 0 move--11 t, "ml il is ul great praciienl importance in navigation to know the laws which govern these movements, because the variations of the compass depend upon them. Therefore, from this point of view the expedition may be said to have hud a practical bearing upon one of the most important and most hazardous of the world's industries. I'ae work was done, too, under experimental conditions of great difficulty, accurate theodolite observations having to be tattn under lhe most extreme conditions of temperature. ■'The ascent of Erebus revealed thin remarkable feature, that layers of fcl--par were inter-stratified' witu the pumice. In no crater have l found Ibis. The lava of which the mountain is composed contains very large felspar crystal-, and probably 'steam passing through the plastic lava would eject the crystals from it, and a lavev of them would be found under such conditions. This may explain the uniuue. occurrence.

" tight-live degrees south the expedition found coal seams and sandstono with pebbles rounded bv ru.'iniiig water. This demonstrates absolutely that the climatic conditions were very different once. Of course there is abundant eviilencc of this el.-ewhcre. East of Taieri, for instance, there is the great Taieri moraine, ten miles long by three miles wide; and the higher mountains of Australia were all heavily glaciered. Oil the other hand, in Greenland, at Shleg, north, beds of coal and the remains of poplars, beeches, and water-lilies have been found. The causes of these variation, of climate are not yet known. J hey have been ascribed to a different inclination of the earth's axis, but astronomers do not admit the possibility of this. Dozens of other suggestio-js have been made, but none is deemed satisfactory at present. The Xorth 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 of considerable depth. The Polar area apparently attains an elevali" ' KI.OIKI feet at least, and the presence of limestone and coal at the.altitud.' of 8000 feet near the South Pole shows that the same crustal disturbances that have elevated mountai:i ranges in other parts of the world have operated in the Polar regions with no less intensity. There is a great difference in temperature between the North and South Polar regions. It is more than probable that the difference is the result of the one region being oceanic, and therefore subject to the incursions of comparatively warm ocean currents, while the other area is apparently an 'elevated land surface uninfluenced by incursions of warm fluid."

THE MAGNETIC POLE. IMPORTANCE OF THE DISCOVEHY. In reply to a question put to him regarding tin. magnetic poles, Professor Hro«n explained that the earth behaves as a kind of magnet. The north pole of siu-li magnet is situated in Northern Canada, latitude "Meg. north, and longitude about lOOdeg. west, <md the south He had not hitherto been discovered. The direction of the magnetic needle in the southern ocean, however, seemed to indicate that then, were two south poles. Lieutenant shackleton's party's discovery had located the south magnetic pole, and would seem to show that there was only one, as in the case of the north pole. "At the magnetic poles" said Professor Hrown, "the needle drops OOdcg., and points vertically downwards, and has no particular horizontal direction. At all other points the dip of the needle is less than HOdcj.. The actual magnetic. pole is supposed lo in- inside the earth, so that as you get the needle nearer to it the dip becomes greater, till immediately over the pole it would point uraiglit downwards."

The Professor silid he looked upon the recent discovery of the magnet it- souht pole as of importance to navigators in the soul hem seas.

COMMAND OK TIIK NIMKOD.

* By Telegraph.—Press Association. riiri-tchnrch. I,i\,| .V'mht. Mr. .1. K. Davis, who ha* acted as liivt (.Oieer of t|„. Ninirod <.yer niiee she was placed in commission for the purpose of the expedition, takes command of the Ninirod as from to-day. Captain hvans having signed off. Mr. Davis is to take the Ninirod home v, - ft Sydney and. possibly, Aldbounic. ' *

I*ROrOSF.i) IiKCKI'TTOX AIUXDONT.D KXI'LOKKiiS KETIRXTXc, TO THEIR I HOMES. I . ChvislclmHi. Ust Xijjlit. A.liu-ni' mill vepr.w-nt.itive iiici-tiii<r of ! "\; i ;"~ tn-iiijjlit deci.lp.l to accord a . :n- welcome and reception to mem- " i'- "I tin- llirti.l, Antarctic expedition, and M-t up a committee to nrrAnfrc dotail*. Uliil.i (i„, rnniniilteo were disinfill}! picliiiiiimrie.. Lieut. Adam*, onp ol Hie members ~f tlio Far Sotitli party, attc-idod and staled tliat after \Vcdlu-s----day Taeul.. Kha.-kl.-ton and lie would !«' the oniv members of the expedition in riuif.tclnii.il. In view „f tile lirief Pi'vinil ai lliei,. di.po.al tin- coiiiinitti-e decided to abandon the propo.ed n-con-linn.