The Bismarck tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, N.D.) 1916-current, 1928-08-06
SEVEREST C0iD
ON EARTH WILL
FACE EXPLORER
South Polar Waste So Imper.
fectly Known, There Are
No Maps
LITTLE LIFE IS KNOWN
Fossil Flora Indicate Antarctic
Was Once Living Con.
tinent

New York-R-A barren CONT
nent of ice, crossed in places by high
mountain ranges. swept by the Sc
verest gales and frozen by the cold
est weather on the earth-such is
Antarctica, the forbidding land to
which Comm. Richard E. Byrd. Capt
Sir Hubert Wilkins and Douglas
George Jeffery are taking their
planes for three separate recon-
naissances by air.
This south polar waste, known so
imperfectly that even its coast lines
cannot be accurately mapped, offers
strikin- contrasts to the more famil-
lar Arctic regions. In the first place,
Of course. it is a land. and although
its terrain is all but completely
buried under an ice blanket. the con-
mentality Of the mass is now gen.
srally accepted. In the Arctic, as
everyone knows, there are many
sizeable islands. but the northern
ocean dominates the top Of the
world.
Birds and animals are fairly plen-
.iful in the far north; Antarctica it.
self. on the other hand, sustains
almost no life. although the waters
ard cliffs along its coast are rich in
seals, sea elephants, penguins and
other polar fauna.
There are Towering plants in the
Arctic. too-four hundred species Of
them; but in only one spot on Ant
grctica has this advanced vegetation
been reported, although several va
-ieties Of moss are found.
The Arctic summer is cpmpara-
lively mild, whereas the mean Ant
arctictemperature for December and
January, the warmest months in that
part of the world, is nearly always
below freezing.
Vegetable. animal and bird life
Is rather abundant on nearby islands.
but the three exploring parties will
not concern themselves with these
more friendly neighbors Of the big
white continent. Their work will be
done in a land that is still in the
grip of an ice age of comparatively
recent origin, land that died ages
lgo..:
There is plenty of evidence, how
ever, that Antarctica was once q liv-
ing continent. Important fossil
flora indicate the presence Of vege-
table life, at least, before the COM
.ng Of the ice; and some scientists
nave suggested that numerous plants
and animals began their northward
migration from West Antarctica, the
section yielding these remains, in the
forgotten time that was the heydAy
IT south polar prosperity.
For purposes Of convenience. Re-
ographers sometimes divide the con-
.inent into two parts-East Antarc-
lea, which is apparently a plateau
If the Indo-African type, and West
Antarctica, which is folded in ridges.
The structure Of the latter section
suggests that the mountains found
there may be a continuation Of the
Andes, for the peninsula Of West
Antarctica extends to within 800
miles Of the tip of South America
and the rock formations Of that con.
tinent may extend beneath the sea
to emerge again in the ranges Of
Antarctica.
The southern continent is an ice
ridden plateau whose average ela.
walton has been estimated at about
1000 feet. It is highest near the
South Pole, where the mountains
tower to reported height Of $4,000
feet. The pole itself is about 10000
feet above sea level.
Maps OF Antarctica parcel the vast