Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
204
lar in sound is the plunge + the wild cavortings of the lead sled and that of a small boat
in a choppy sea.”
Along the trail of depots, food amassed faster than the men and dogs could consume
it. They were putting on weight and sleeping late. On January 10 the Condor touched
down, took a sounding, and relieved the party of 500 pounds. The following day, after a
run of forty-five miles, the party hauled into Little America at 7:00 A.M., healthy as ever,
fitter by far, and beaming with 450 pounds of rock on their sleds.
Even more than the first expedition, Byrd's Second Antarctic Expedition bridged the
heroic and the modern eras of Antarctic exploration. Mechanical ground transport proved
itself for the first time, and radio communication was by voice rather than Morse code.
Air transport revealed vast areas of previously unknown West Antarctica and facilitated
the geophysical sounding of the ice sheet. Aerial reconnaissance also established that the
Horlick Mountains lay 170 miles farther than the previously observed limit of the Trans-
antarctic Mountains. The deepest penetration into the continent by Blackburn's party
was, however, still accomplished using dogs. The bulk of the geographical discoveries
of BAE II was the extended mapping of Marie Byrd Land. Nevertheless, the traverse of
Scott Glacier by the geological party stands as a triumph of polar exploration, with the
discovery of the magnificent Gothic Mountains and Mount Howe, the southernmost
rock on the planet, the recognition of the tremendous extent of the Queen Maud batho-
lith, and the large quantity of rock samples. Laboring under severe katabatic winds and
crossing crevasse fields as daunting as any encountered by their predecessors, Blackburn,
Paine, and Russell accomplished their journey with a competence and grace that has
never been equaled.
