Evening star., 1954-05-17
Y. S. Pluns Expedition
TO WeddeII Sea Area
Mon Hos Never Set Foot
In This Antarctic Region
By Thomos r. Henry

The least known region on earth.
where man never has Get foot, viii be
explored this winter under the provi.
sions Of . bill now before Congress.
It Is the westernnnost corner OF the
Weddell Sea at the eastern foot Of the
Palmer Peninsula, where this fishhoolI.
like projection northward of the Ant
arctic Continent merges with the main
South Polar land mass.
The latest maps Of the continent still
leave this part Of its shoreline un-
marked. It Is known. at the most. from
a few flights over 1t under poor observ.
ing conditions. The ares may be eveu1
more diflcult to reach than the South
Pole itself.
Under terms Of the bill introduced
by Senator Francis Case Of South Da.
kota and Representative Thor Toilet
son Of Washington. an appropriation Of
100000. together with loan Of all es-
sential Government equipment. Ia
asked for an expedition to be con-
Quoted by the American Antarctic AS
ISOLATION. composed largely Of expe-
rienced polar explorers. to leave the
United States about December /. This
would. send it into Antarctic waters in
midsummer In the Southern Hemi.
sphere with two or three months Of a.
hour daylight in which to work.
Finn Rome to Lead.
The expedition win be headed. under
the terms Of the bill. by Comdr. Finn
Rome, leader Of the 1947-48 expedition
which based near the southwestern ex-
tremity Of the Palmer Peninsula and
made very extensive contributions to
Antarctic geography. Among the ma
jor contributions was confirmation Of
the hypothesis that the six million
square mile polar continent IL essen
italy split in two between the We'd
dell and Ross Seas by O frozen strait
Of unknown width.
Comdr. Rome, son Of o member Of
Amundsen's party in the epochal dis
covery Of the South Pole nearly O half
century ago. has practically grown UP
in Antarctic exploration. He was with
Admiral Richard e. Byrd on his 1885
expedition and was second in command
during the 1939-41 expedition.
The announced objectives Of this ex.
pedition will be exploration for mineral
resources, additional mapping and
"validation Of territorial claims Of the,
United States" The phantom Weddell
coast falls into territory claimed rough
ly by both Great Britain and Argen.
tina but. since it is so completely un-
known. there is little chance that
either would press the claim against
actual discovery. The mineral resources
survey, it is stressed. should not be
interpreted as a wild search for urani-
UNI or other fashionable elements. since
there is no reason to suppose that such
exist there in any appreciable and
recoverable quantities.
Presages Bigger Program.
The expedition can be considered as
q preliminary to the most ambitious
South Polar programs ever proposed
during 1957-58. which includes setting
up an observing station at the South
Pole itself. This, 1t Is proposed. will be
carried out under auspices Of the Ma.
tional Science Foundation.
= The Weddell Sea is one Of the two
great embayments of the southern ice
ocean. It is almost directly across the I
continent from the Ross Sea from
whose shores have started the two sue
cessful trips to the pole. and where
nearly all exploring expeditions have
been based. =
From the Weddell coast much
further to the eastward. however. the
British explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton
started his last unsuccessful assault on
the pole. Here also was based the
British Swedish Norwegian expedition
Of three years ago.
The area which, it Is proposed, will
be explored by Comdr. Rome. is prac-
tically barred from access by sea. A
strong coastal current brings in vast
quantities Of pack ice. through which
it is almost impossible to navigate. and
this, it is believed, backs up against q
large ice shelf whose unscalable white
and blue cliffs front the sea every
where.
Few ships have attempted the pass
age. Those which have tried, includ-
ing those of the British explorer James
Weddell, for whom the sea is named.
have reported only appearances Of
land" These may be islands or they
may have been mirages. It will be
necessary for most exploration of the
phantom coast to be carried out by
air from the other side Of the penin-
sula, although some land parties may
DC aJJCLuPCcu. OUuluI. ktOkluC . OU~
jective will be to so coordinate scat
tered observations made by expeditions
Of Admiral Byrd and the late Lincoln
Ellsworth and previously by himself
that the phantom coast will become q
reality.
Mountain Range Indicated.
Previous observations indicate that
back of this coast Is rather low moun4
tain range through whose passes great
glaciers flow out of the inland ice cap
to fall into the sea in majestic "ice
falls" frozen niagaras vaster than Ni-sl
agara itself.
The bill asks that two naval vessels
and four aircraft. most probably from
the Navy. be assigned to Corndr. Rome
for the expedition. It also asks that.
purely on volunteer basis, service per-
soniel be allowed to take part In tho
expedition while retaining Q duty
status.
Directors Of the American Antarctic
Association, who already are busy with
plans for the operation. are Col. Bernt
Balchen, Lowell Thomas, Sir Hubert
wilkins, DR.. Lawrence M. Gould Of
Carleton College. who now 70 co.
ordinating the Antarctic program for
the forthcoming international polar
year; DR.. John K. Wright Of the Amer |
ican Geographical Society: Comdr. |
Georg Unger-vetlesen. Scandinavian |
Airlines: Prof Edward c. Sweeney Of
Northwestern University and Or. Har-