Evening star., 1948-01-21
Stars, Men ond Atoms
Giunt GIuciuI BouIders
Litter Antarctic Oasis
Navy Calls 6O0-Mile Ice-Free Area
Most Inhospitable on Earth
By Thomas r. Henry

Most Inhospitable on Earth
By Thomas r. Henry
wild desolation Of black and red boulder
Of all sizes interspersed with scores Of small
ponds and few large lakes, and covering an
area Of about 600 square miles, Is the great
Antarctic "oasis"
This is the word from the first Navy land
ing party to enter the largest ice-free area on
the Antarctic continent which was discovered
from the air last winter by 1t. Co1ndr. David
Bunger Of the Byrd expedition.
A group led by 1t. p. J. Grace Of Montrose,
Pa. recently landed by helicopters which took
OF from the Navy icebreaker, Edisto, moored
about 40 miles away where the belt Of open
water which flows around the continent ends
abruptly against the 100-foot-high ice walls
Of the Shackleton Shelf, the second largest
mass Of sea Ice in Antarctica. -
Birds Swoop at Sailors.
The Navy party found themselves In one Of
the most fantastic spots on earth. It was
utterly nfeless, except for hocks Of disnally
squawking black and white skuas, the earthS
most rapacious birds, which swooped low over
the red rocks and around the faces Of the
sailors. They found also the carcass Of one
small seal. The ponds, which It. Comdr.
Bunger found free Of ioe last winter, this year
were frozen over, indicating a severer season
in the Antarctic.
The helicopter landings were without Incl
dent but one of the two 'weasels," small snow
tractors brought ashore for exploration, over
turned In the rough terrain. The party was
able to confirm, according to meager details
from the Navy correspondent aboard the
Edisto, that the area Is essentially at sea level
and might be considered the head of a salt
water creek. All around the region loom high
blue walls of ice.
When 1t. Comdr. Burgers discovery was
reported last winter there was considerable
speculation to account for absence of ice from
such large region in one Of the most in
hospitable sections in all Antarctica and it was
generally assumed that there was some sub
terranean source Of heat, possibly volcanic.
The explorers found no evidence Of anything
of the sort, nor of a slowly retreating glacier
But for some unexplained reason they found
that one Of the great glaciers which feed the
Shackleton Shelf divides into two streams q
few miles from the coast, like river flowing
around an island No reasons for this are
given in the Navy dispatches and 1t must be
considered for the time as curious freak of
nature. There is no indication that the area
is growing larger.
Great Ice River Split
The floor of the "oasis" was described as
composed of hard, crystalized rock over which
is strewn an enormous amount of glacial debris,
such as giant boulders, brought down from
the interior of the continent There Is no
means of telling, how much time has passed
since the great ice river split around this
region. No soil was found but there is refer
enoe, difficult to interpret, to moss growing
on the undersdes Of translucent rock"
The rocks themselves, according to the
Navy dispatch, constitute a terrifying dead
wilderness in which men drop out Of sight q
few yards from each other, where 1t would
be easy to become hopelessly lost as in the
interior of cave. Samples of the rocks and
of MOSES and lichens were collected for study
and Identification In Washington.
When 1t. Comdr. Bunger landed seaplane
on the largest of the lakes last February, he
found the water well above freezing-that Is,
his men were able to drag their hands through
it without dscomfort-and colored with several
species of algae, the microscopic plants which
are one Of the most primitive extant forms Of
life. No effort was made to explore the land.
which at that time appeared somewhat more
hospitable than was found to be the case this
year.
Even at that time, however, the description
Of the region as an "oasis" was considered
highly exaggerated. Capt. c. E. Bond COM
mander of the western group of last winters
expedition, expressed the pious hope on his
return that ice would once more engulf the
area before any other explorers were subjected
to the disillusion of actually seeing its terrible
desoation. 1t was described by the Navy cor
respondent as a desert within desert