Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
44
On November 29, 1902, the day before the southern party embarked, the western
party was set to pull out from Winter Quarters Bay. With twenty-one men hauling ten
sledges, this was the largest undertaking of the expedition. A, B, C, and D teams were
divided between “main” and “supplementary” parties, each pulling a train of two or
three sledges. Because of the alarming prospect of a direct assault up the glacier from
New Harbour, Armitage's revised plan was to join the glacier by taking a roundabout
route, running up to the northwestern headreaches of Blue Glacier (the one that drains
the Royal Society Range), crossing a divide at the top, and from there descending to the
main glacier along a steep slope of white that he had spotted from Discovery the previous
year (Fig. 2.9). The men had named Blue Glacier for the color of the bare glacial ice in its
lower reaches. The approach over this portion of Blue Glacier crossed alternating patches
of blue ice and snow, and increased in steepness enough that Armitage's party had to relay
sledges up one at a time, with the added annoyance of having to put on or take oV cram-
pons with every change in the surface.
In Antarctica, every gradation exists between soft white snow and hard blue ice. The
metamorphosis from snow to ice occurs as fresh snow accumulates and old snow is bur-
ied. Snowflakes coalesce into ever larger ice crystals, giving the ice a granular texture, with
the air space within migrating into a tightening network of bubbles. With enough time
and pressure, the fine dispersion of bubbles in “white ice” is driven out or totally collapses,
while the ice loses its granular texture and takes on a hue of blue. As glaciers move and are
eroded or ablated at their surfaces, the older, deeper blue ice will find its way to the sur-
face. Where crevasses open in blue ice they may be bridged by blowing snow, but unlike a
bridged crevasse in an area of snow accumulation, which is very hard to spot, in a blue ice
field the white bridges stand out in distinct contrast to the glacier ice, and so are easily seen.
After three days, the Armitage party reached a point where the main arm of Blue Gla-
cier swings south and tributaries join from the west and the north. From there the going
up the western branch was easier on a gently rising névé (snowfield) almost to the skyline,
where Armitage expected they would find a pass to the line of white he had spotted the
season before. On the evening of December 7, the party set up camp about a half-mile
below the pass. Armitage, Koettlitz, and Ferrar skied up to the divide for the view into
the middle reaches of the glacier (Fig. 2.10).
Armitage described the vista:
A glorious scene suddenly opened into view. A typical glacier, having all the
appearance of a river, lay some 2,000 feet below me. It appeared to be much crevassed,
and to have rapids and falls of considerable extent. Opposite me, the grim-looking
cliVs, which form the northern boundary of this glacier, extended east and west,
gradually turning and terminating at northwest. Far to the westward could be seen
a lofty range of mountains, 7,000 to 8,000 feet high, trending towards the north-
west, and bordering the glacier on its southern side. The glint of the sun was on the
ice, making the frozen river sparkle and shine like polished silver.
The view of the descending tributary to the main glacier was not glorious, however. In
fact, Armitage decided that it looked too steep to attempt a descent.
That evening everyone crammed into the four tents of the main party for dinner,
