Evening star., 1954-11-15
Observing Stations
Slated in Anturcticu
Personnel Of 9 Nations
To Man Barren outposts
BY Thomos R. Henry

By Thomas R. Henry
The ice-covered. almost lifeless
Antarctic win come to life with approx
imately 20 scientific observing stations.
some Of which may be made perma-
nent. during the International Geo.
physical Year OF 1957-5S.
These stations viii be manned, ac-
cording to present plans, by personnel
Of nine nations. While the majority
will be on the Antarctic continent It.
self or nearby islands, the zone under
consideration is roughly q circle ex-
tending about 13 degrees north Of the
boundaries Of the auroral zone-the
region Of the huttering green southern
lights, whose center is the South mag.
netic Pole in Victoria Land, just west
Of the Ross Sea.
This is the program outlined at q
meeting Of the international Physical
Union In Rome. Twenty-one of the
stations either now are occupied or
specifically planned by the various
countries. These include the three
United States stations constituting the
most ambitious part of the program
at the South Pole itself, near the Bay
Of Whales. and at the foot of the EdseI
Ford mountains. These will constitute
part Of q straight line of upper air
observing stations extending from the
North to the South Poles.
New Stations Listed.
New stations in the program include:
France-one at Cape Geologic, on
the coast Of Adele Land, the French
claimed segment of the Antarctic con-
tinent, and one so to 100 miles inland
on the Adele ice sheet. The Cape Geo.
logic site was occupied by France for
several winters and finally abandoned
temporarily when destroyed by fire.
France already has an extensive sta.
ton on desolate Kerguelin Island in
the sub-Antarctic, which will become
part Of the pattern.
Australia an additional station
about 100 miles inland on the Princess
Elizabeth Land icecap. Australia al.
ready has three stations in operation
at Heard and Macquerie Islands and on
the MacRobertSon Land coast.
New Zealand-Station somewhere In
the vicinity of Cape Adair or McMurdo
Sound on the Ross Sea coast of Vic.
toria Land. This will be the nearest
occupied site to the South magnetic
Pole. In addition, a high-altitude cos
mic ray station in New Zealand's
Southern Alps is included in the pro-
gram. Stations already in operation,
outside what is usually considered as
the auroral zone, at Christ church and
on the Campbell Islands, are included
in the network.
NorWay-Station on Peter the First
Island in the Bellinghausen's Sea, This
is an entirely ice-covered island Of
about Is square miles, discovered in
1871 by the Russian Admiral Belling-
shauSen where man has actually
landed only once. A Norwegian party
spent week there in 1929. The island
consists largely of an ice-covered peak
about 1000 feet high, the rounded
dome Of an extinct volcano. Bordered
by high ice walls facing the sea, this
island is extremely difficult to ap-
proach.
South Authorizations on Bouvet
Island. south of Africa, and Prince Ed.
ward Island, near the French Kerguelen
Land station. Permission to occupy
Bouvet Island has been obtained from
Norway. go -.
Three stations are asked at strategic
points which no country has yet agreed
to sponsor. One is at Vahsel Bay on
the Weddell Sea. This is close to the
least known region on earth. Explora-
ton Of the area this winter was pro-
posed by Capt. Finn Rome but Con.
gress failed to act on an appropriation
for the expedition. Another is on the
desolate Knox Coast, near where the
actual continent was first sighted more
than a century ago. This falls generally
into territory claimed by Australia. The
third is on the Princess Astrid Coast.
on the Weddell Sea side of the con.
tinent. This territory is claimed by
Norway but is largely unexplored ex-
cept from the air.
No new British stations are proposed.
Those now in operation on South Geor-
gia. and the Palmer Peninsula will be
continued as part of the network. Also
included, although slightly outside the
auroral zone will be the British station
at Port Lockroy, Falkland Islands.
Also included as important links in
the network are the now permanently
occupied Argentine and Chilean station
Camp st. Martin, Melchior and De-
ception Islands and the South orkneys.