Evening star., 1947-12-04
100000 Square Mile!
|0f Palmer Peninsula
Mapped by Rome
By Comdr. Finn Rome
A~-.L A>.;-n h>uen Alliance

RONNE ANTARCTIC BASE, Pal.
mer Land, Nov. 27.-Delayed THE
crew of the camera-equipped plane
Ed Sweeney made a six-hour map
ping flight today from this base over
Palmer Peninsula-north to 81
south, 81 west. then south following
the 6,000-foot, ice-covered plateau
to King George VI Sound before
crossing the 7,000-foot Douglas
Mountain range on Alexander Is
land in the direction Of Charcot
Island to II south, 73 west and
thence back to the main base.
The group covered an area OF ap-
proximately 100000 square miles,
taking 1880 trimetrogon photo
graphs.
The aircraft took of in the early
afternoon. The destination was
Crane inlet to the north Of Ston-
ington Island on the Palmer Pen
insula and as much of the general
area as it was possible to cover, since
this had never before been mapped
accurately.
Cameras Are Started.
Photographer William Latady
started his three electrically driven
cameras-which take overlapping
horizon to- horizon pictures-as soon
as the plane reached 10000, while
Pilot James Lassiter followed the
coastline, flying close to ,7,150-foot
Mount Gaudry on Adelaide Island
northward for $50 miles.
Just as Crane inlet was reached
ground fog prevented further map
ping to the north. Mr.. Lassiter
therefore turned eastward for the
6 6,OOO-feet Palmer Land Plateau
From the center of the plateau. a
course was laid southwark to King
George vi Sound. Mr.. Lassiter then
crossed Alexander Island to Wilkins
Strait, separating elusive Charcot
Island from Alexander Island.
Charcot Island was first sighted
by the French explorer Jean Char
cot from the deck OF his ship. the
Pourquoi-Pas, in 1910. 1t was not
seen again for 18 years. In 1923
Sir Hubert wilkins few over the
island to determine its area. 1t Is
OF fair size. though three small
mountain peaks, rising to only 1000
feet, are its sole conspicuous fea-
lures. From time to time. surface
vessels have tried to penetrate the
heavy belt Of pack ice surrounding
the island, but every effort has been
In vain. Helicopters or an arduous
sledge journey appear to be the
only ways to get to the island sur
face.
Island Evades Mapping.
On today's fight, the elusive Is
land in the Bellingshausen Sea once
again managed to evade mapping
Cameras ground fog coming IN
from the west covered the island
except for two Of its peaks. These,
at least, should be visible when the
trimetrogon negatives are developed.
We plan another flight later to try
to get Charcot Island into this ex-
pedition's picture record.
Mr.. Lassiter flew northward on
the return fight along the coast OF
Alexander Island, rounded its north
ernmost extremity, then headed
south along the islands eastern
coast before crossing King George
VI Sound to Mount Edgell.
Visibility was perfect. An un-
broken ice mass held the Antarctic
coastline for at least 100 miles. So
it will probably remain until
February or March 1948, when sea-
sonal changes will break up the Ice
to float seaward as drifting pack.
The plane followed the coast Of
Marguerite Bay past Cape Jeremy
and Cape Berteaux and so back to
the main base here, after a flight
of five hours and 55 minutes.
1880 Photos Taken.
So far, mapping fights by this
expedition have secured total OF
1850 trimetrogon aerial photo
graphs, plus several 4x5 aerial pic
lures. The Photographic record
covers 100000 square miles Of ant
artic terrain, much Of 1t never be-
fore mapped or at least not recorded
accurately. Mr.. Latady has de-
veloped sample negatives and finds
them excellent.
After several days of co-ordinat-
ing the findings and reports on our
November 21 flight over the South
Weddell coast, we find that we COW
cred and mapped 10000 square
miles of hitherto unknown territory,
not 1000 as originally estimated.
The eastern leg OF this flight, over
the as-yet-unnamed Weddell coast
ice barrier, covered approximately
five times as much Of the barrier as
was seen by the German explorer
Ftlchner from his ship, Deutsch-
land. in 1918. He landed at Vahsel