Evening star., 1948-05-10
Stars, Men and Atoms
Il Scientific Expeditions
Planned in Arctic Regions
u. S..Canadian Institute to Finance
Most; Navy Funds Provided
By Thomas r. Henry

By Thomas n. Henry
There will be IL scientific expeditions In the
Arctic and sub-Arctic this summer.
Most Of these will be financed In part By
grants from the joint American Canadian
Arctic Institute Of North America or from the
United States ONCE Of Naval Research through
the institute.
DR.. f. Aubert de Ia Rue Of Paris will study
the worlds oldest rocks in geological survey
Of Northern Labrador and extreme Northern
Quebec bordering Hudson Bay. He has made
previous surveys of Frances sub-Antarctic
islands as well as of geological formations Of
Albania French Africa and the New Hebrides.
The rocks Of the region where DR.. de la Rue
will work this summer originated sometime
in pre-Cambrian time before the beginning Of
life on earth. Some in the general area have
been found to be nearly 1000 900 900 years old
and may have been in place most Of the time
since the beginning Of this planet.
Eskimo Sites to BE Studied.
DR.. j. L. Giddings OF the University Of Alaska
will survey ancient Eskimo habitation sites In
the Bering Strait region in an effort to deter.
mine their age. This was the region where
some of the first humans touched this con.
tinent.
DR.. Marie Hammer Of Copenhagen will tour
Arctic Canada to study certain almost invis.
IDLY minute soil insects, the oribatids and cole
lembola. For the past l6 years she has been
studying these curious forms of life in collec.
tions from Greenland. She expects to visit the
Mckenzie Delta, Yellowknife, Coppermins,
Churchill and possibly northern Quebec.
Henry Kyllingstead Of Mountain Village.
Alaska, will seek the nesting place of the
bristle-thighed curlew one Of the last remain.
ing American species whose breeding ground
has not been located.
Under q contract between the Arctic Insti.
tute and the Navy DR.. r. H. Hamilton Of the
University Of Michigan will work eastward
from Fairbanks, Alaska, to Anklavik and Cop
permine In the Canadian Arctic, by way Of
the Yukon and Porcupine Rivers. to determine
the causes which limit the northern spread Of
amphibians, particularly tree frogs.
A Danish archeologist, Helge Larson, will
seek Eskimo archaeological sites in the Kus-
kokwim area of Alaska. He has been engaged
in Arctic archaeological research since 1880.
Other Studies Planned.
DR.. j. w. Marr of the University Of Colorado
will study the transition zone between forest
and tundra vegetation in the Ungava Bay
area of Northern Quebec. He Is veteran
of the Greenland icecap. DR.. I. M. Newell
of the University Of Oregon will make a COM
parative study of mite fauna of the North
American Arctic, with special emphasis on
marine mites. He plans to work over two
field seasons in northern Alaskan waters COM
mencing in Kotzebue Sound.
DR.. H. NJ Raup Of Harvard, who has been
studying the flora and plant geography Of
Northwestern Canada and Alaska since 1926,
will study the sequences of human cultures,
vegetation and post-glacial land forms in the
southwestern Yukon area. He will be accom-.
panied by Frederick johnson of Harvards
Peabody Museum The expedition is jointly
sponsored by the Arctic Institute, the American
Philosophical Society, the Viking Fund and
Peabody Museum. It will study, in the light
Of geology and the changing fora. the route
by which man presumably came into the in
terror Of this continent.
DR.. c. G. WILDER Of Fordham University will
study the blood chemistry Of Arctic animals.
DR.. R. B. Williams of the Alaska Department
Of Health will make special studies Of the
bacteria and other parasites responsible for
disease among Arctic natives. DR.. L. w. Wing
of the University of Texas will study the re-
lation of Arctic weather to the fluctuations Of
bird and animal populations.