Burton Island (AGB 1) - Naval Cruise Book

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,J n 4 Z ' , f,,,,, ,QW , f 4 2 ff , , f ' V ' , 2 ffffffjff , f , fyfff V -- ,, 5 I mg, 2' ,fr ,HUA f' ,, , i ,, i , - i ri r 4 .f , 'fa' ' K 4 fW7f',7 ff if ,fi HN ,W rf A if , ii., ,Q ' y r . ' ,L , ' al' V iff, If ' u s if in , Above: Byrd Station. From one to two feet of snow falls in the Antarctic each year. This is gradually compressed until, at a depth of about 450 feet, it becomes pure ice. The deeper they go, the larger the ice crystals become. Snow on the surface takes about l,600 years to reach a depth of 900 feet. Antarctica's ice sheet has warped the earth's crust and created the climate of the Continent, which in turn affects the surrounding oceans and the life in or near them. ri' q 5, -4 He walks up the ramp piled with sea bags, on one of which a man is sleeping, and makes his way past crates of fresh vege- tables to a coffee urn strapped to the fuselage. On the way down he is careful not to step on the rollers,'embedded in the deck, on which cargo is slid off the plane. uGood coffee, this. Better than the stuff you get in America. Ughf' At this point Shackleton's party had run out of raw frozen pony meat, which they chewed on the march, and were eking out their rations with the maize intended for the ponies. After an hour's flying over a featureless plain, 319 starts losing altitude, about where Shackleton had to turn back because of a shortage of food. Mr. Forbes will have lunch at the Pole, before returning to McMurdo, and he begins putting on his cold- weather clothing. When he has finished, he has on thermal boots made of heavy white rubber, a complete suit of thermal under- wear, a heavy shirt and pants, and the Hmany pockets jaCkCf and pants, both with liner. In addition, he has a heavy wool scarf, a thick hat with ear- muffs, and three pairs of gloves: knitted wool, black leather, and Bear Claws. The latter are about 18 inches long and made Of leather padded inside and out with fleece. In his pocket is a faCC mask, since the temperature at the Pole will be in the minus 408- Pole Station shows up clearly, since it was originally built OH the surface. It has left its impression although it gradually CliSaP' peared under a nine-year accumulation of snow, leaving only a few huts, a lot of masts, and a Rawin dome for tracking Weather balloons. The main body of the station is completely undef the ice. Since there is nothing on the skiway to cast a .shadow CXCCPf 50-gallon drums, it is hard to tell how high the plane is. It C0Llld be fifty feet in the air, or five hundred. As far as the eye can sec to starboard, the ice resembles a smooth sea or an cndlCSS desert- 44 S

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Below: The South Pole. The station is iust below the sur- face, whereas Byrd was built deeper and covered with a special steel arch. As for the men who winter-over, the problem is best described by Admiral Byrd, who said that any man who elects to inhabit such a spot must reconcile himself to . . . enduring the bitterest temperatures in nature, a long night as black as that on the dark side of the moon, and an isolation which no power on earth could lift for at least six months. Now, against cold the explorer has simple but ample defenses. Against the accidents which are the most serious risks ofisolation he has inbred resourcefulness and ingenuity. But against darkness, nothing much but his own dignity.