Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1951-11-21
EmbuImed Great Desert
On Alaska Arctic Coast
5000 Square Miles of Send
Reported Found in Survey
By Thomos r. Henry

By Thomas R. Henry
America has an embalmed great
desert.
1t is estimated to be at least 5000
square miles Of shifting, tempest-tossed
sand on the Arctic coast of Alaska, and
the sand is believed to be several tens
Of feet thick" according to a report Of
DR.. Robert F. Black of the United States
Geological Survey to the Arctic Institute
Of North America.
DR.. Black has made a survey of wind
blown deposits all over Alaska Most
notable Is vast area of stabilized sand
dunes on the Alaskan coastal plain Just
west Of the Coville River. This consti-
tutes a geographical phenomenon hith-
erto unreported. These sand hills are Of
various shapes. Many are great low walls
OF sand from 5000 to 5000 feet long and
from two or three to 20 feet thick. At
present they merge with the tundra and
are difficult to distinguish.
Presumably this sand was piled UP by
prehistoric winds when the climate may
nave been somewhat warmer. In a more
temperate climate every high wind would
shift them around, just as in the Sahara
or Arabian Deserts.
Permanently Frozen Area.
This is prevented by the permafrost,
the permanently frozen area q few feet
below the surface which tends to cement
these dunes in place. It also impedes
runof Of water from their slopes and
permits relatively luxurious vegetation
to grow in spite Of low precipitation.
These stabilized dunes, DR.. Black
points out. are scattered abundantly
In areas between lakes and streams.
They are absent on river flood plains,
on the beds of most drained lakes, and
on all sleeper slopes where soil move
ments are very rapid.
These dunes are lined up with the
directions OF the prevailing winds.
Ground exploration is necessary to
discern them. Covered with vegetation,
they do not show on air photographs.
The winds that produced most of the
dunes, DR.. Black believes, blew in the
same direction as the predominant winds
of today. Shifting of the winds from
easterly to westerly and less commonly
to northerly or southerly directions has
produced complex variations in the pat
tern. Other earlier ordinations are be-
heved to exist. but none could be de-
termined conclusively in the field or
from air photographs.
The majority Of these stabilized dunes
now are slowly being destroyed by mi
grating lakes and streams, frost-heaving
and other weathering and erosional proc
esses. Some, however, still are growing
from wind-blown sand along lake and
river banks.
The miracle of cortiSone, adrenal
gland secretion which first came into
prominence by arresting cases Of ar
Thrills, continues.
Cures of one of the most dreaded and
deadly of human diseases with this drug
now are being reported to the American
Medical Association. This is the So
called Waterhouse -Friderichsen syn
drome It Is a cure for meningitis.
Not until 1910 with the introduction
of sulfa drugs was q cure Of this rela-
lively rare malady ever reported. Then
a case was reported which recovered
after the introduction of sulfa drugs.
There have been few more cures with
penicillin.
Still the disease remains usually fatal.
Patients, usually children and young
adults, die within few hours after Its
onset. Other forms Of meningitis have
been essentially conquered.
Transfusions Of No Value.
The trouble with the Warehouse
Friderichsen syndrome, 1t is explained
in the current issue of the Journal Of
the American Medical Association, Is
that it combines an acute infection with
a sudden and profound collapse in the
circulation. 1t is the latter which kills.
Blood transfusions generally have proved
Of no value.
certain pathological changes in the
adrenal glands found on autopsy. The
first cure with the new drug is reported
by Drs. Jack Nelson and Norman Gold
stein Of New York City. The victim
was an l1-year-old boy who had COM
plete recovery without any complica-
tons
On the heels OF this comes another
report Of a cure by DR.. L. Roy Newman
of Philadelphia. Here the victim was
a 4-year- old girl.
The action of the cortisone appears
to be on the blood changes. and these.
1t Is believed. are what had made the
malady so much more deadly than other
forms Of meningitis.
The disease Is usually caused by the
meningitis family of bacteria. it Is re-
ported but there are cases on record
where other germs. such as streptococcl.
have been responsible.