Abstract
THE American expedition to the Bay of Whales in the Ross Sea is reported by The Times to have undertaken a most successful dog-sledge expedition to the Queen Maud Ranges, which amplifies the work of Dr. L. M. Gould of the previous Byrd expedition of 1929-30. A party of three under Mr. Q. A. Blackburn reached the Thorne glacier, which lies in about lat. 86° S., long. 153° W., and then ascending the glacier reached the surface of the polar plateau at an elevation of about seven thousand feet. The ranges appear to continue with decreasing heights to the north of east. This direction may lead to Coats Land in the Weddell Sea or possibly towards Hearst Land. At the top of the glacier, deposits of coal are reported to have been found. This would appear to be the same deposit found on the Beardmore glacier and the carbonaceous layer found in the flank of Mount Nansen. There is thus a confirmation of the suggestion made some years ago by Sir Edge-worth David of a great coalfield associated with the Beacon sandstone of the polar plateau. The brief cabled report also refers to a subplateau at an elevation of 2,500 ft. between the Ross Sea ice and the level of the polar plateau. This was called the Leverett glacier in 1929. The sledge party reached three degrees from the Pole before turning back, and altogether covered 1,410 miles in 88 days.
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Queen Maud Ranges of Antarctica. Nature 135, 143 (1935). https://doi.org/10.1038/135143a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/135143a0