The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-11-04
WHEN lex PACKFALED PEARY
y gEORY or PALAEOCRYSTIC,SEA
WAS EXPLODED.

nsrcan Arctic Ocean will give to the
Er.I.ocrystic sea its final quietus. The
|Ryitish expedition under Capt. Mares was
,n. srst 70 enter, in 1915, the ocean north Of
|Grant Land, that has been the scene OF
|p.arv's latest sledge journey. On the
Loo Of that sea Mares saw what he called
|eosbsrrs and also foe Ice OF q very different
character from those observed In tho Euro
|pean Arctic.
These foes. or ice masses In the sea;
xaried from 20 to so feet In thickness and
tbs areas of some Of their surfaces was as
Lnuch as thirty square miles, They were as
7his AZ many islands rising above the surface
LII the sea. The worlds curiosity was
aroused, for such immense masses Of sea
Ics had not been heard of before.
Then there were the fioebergs rising to
heights of so to 800 feet and resembling
tbe fat topped icebergs Of the Antarctic
regions. There was q great deal OF dis
r,ssion about these forms fof ice. Sew
.rsl theories as to their origin were dis
GUESSED and it was finally decided that they
must be due to the annual snowfalls in this
r.g;on. where there is very little melting,
md the constantly increasing weight of
.now converted these accumulations into
AZ"
Enow ice.
These forms we're so very different from
he polar pack observed to the north OF
6nitzbergen that a distinctive term came
10 be applied to the region where they were
(ound. So this part Of tho Arctic Ocean was
bamed by Mares the ~Paleocrystic Sea,
number Of ressons. that this sea, covered
- kAsAl. - --.A
Ixtent. and also that it was a shallow sea,
nd it was believed that most Of the foes
krounded on the bottom. Many OF the
hoes we're supposed to be centuries old.
surely, il slec ges could be drawn along
no surface Of these foes, though IL was
very rough hauling, there would be a pretty
liable sort Of foundation to travel over,
Tor IL would not be likely to float away
and leave some explorer in the lurch who
khould happen to get between the paleo-
kyystic ice and the north pole.
Peary, by actual experience, has put an
Ind to this theory Of enormously thick
be coveringfa large part OF the Arctic Sea
10 the north Of America. He has been
stbere, hundreds of miles from the land,
end he found the ordinary foe ice thick,
10 be sure in comparison with any ice we
have seen but not OF the very ancient variety
no which Mares first introduced us.
The ice that Peary met was not grounded
on the bottom OF the sea, for anchored in
his way il could not have drifted OF to
Fhe southeast on the persuasion Of a high
wind, giving Peary and his belongings
Involuntary transportation to Greenland,
which was just who're he did not care to go.
In fact Peary has proved that the Zoe
Ipf the sea to the north Of Grant Land is
really no more stable than it is to the north
pf Asia and Eurpe, where the Fran
|drfted for many hundreds OF miles to
the northwest and where Capt. Cagni OF
fhe AbhyuZzi expedition drifted some
Dirty miles to the west when he was trying
DO make a straight road back to camp
|ar,er reaching his highest north.
The failure of the ice in the American
ARCTIC Ocean 10 afford a more or less stable
highway for a sledge expedition to the
North Pole will probably destroy the last
Illusions as to the advantages offered by
polar ice anywhere for sledge travei pole
ward. The American Arctic sea ice had
mot been fully tested in this respect IN til
Peary went ON this last journey. He
hchieved the highest north in spite Of the
fact that in the long run the ice as a sledge
route failed him more utterly than it has
failed any previous explorer who attempted
10 use il as a route to the pole: in other
words, the days came when he was put in
the perilous plight. though he was very
far from land, Of being unable to sledgs
another mile. for the ice was broken up
Into big and little islands and was floating
|of TO the southeast.
We heard early last summer that the
winter had been unusually mild in all parts
Of the Arctic from which reports had been
received. Peary's report seems to show
that these conditions prevailed very far.
10 the north in the American Arctic. This
fact may rave had a large influence in dis
bntegrating the Arctic ice. so thac it a
nore easily broken up by great windstorms.
/ There are one or two cur ious resem-
|~blances between Peary's recent experience
bnd that Of Cagni in 1900, when that fine
italian explorer. and right hand man of tho
Duke Of the Abruzzi made his reco rd for
he highest north, which stood until Peary
hurpassed il.
Cagni's work was lone far to the north of
he Franz Josef Land archipelago. The
~ NuS NV DlVdh hP hAON hH iDNSC'' pN'
Row and then he found hat he was afloat
Pn a big or little foe and he had to wait
fIntil he was ~involuntarily feried across
o some neck Of ice that he o Id cross.
o a more extensive foe. Thus he picked
lis way along, sometimes in great danger.
or in his eageTness to get ahead he some
ines ran risks by crossing from n ice
ield to another on very thin, new ice. So
he vas greatly delayed, as Peary was this
hummer, by the opening Of channels and all
he phenomena Of the breaking up of large
hreas Of sea ice.
The lives OF Peary's party were saved
~ the fact that they had eight dogs, which
hey turned into food. As Cagni was re-
turning south in 1900 he knew that he was
being 50 delayed by open water that he
fould not possibly get back to camp before
he exhaustion OF his food supplies. He
picked out eight Of his dogs which were to
be killed one by one as needed to exc out
he rations Of the party. They began to
became more favorable toward the last.
and not all Of them became foe for ex-
Iplorers. Blu he had set apart for the
culinary department just the number OF
noEs That were eaten by Peary's men.
The Italians liked the dogs, too. They
paid they were excellent eating, and ID will
lot be surprising II we hear a somewhat
Plmilar report from the American explorer.