A Proposed North Polar Expedition

Abstract

AT the meeting of the Royal Geographical Society on January 25 Captain Roald Amundsen read a paper explaining his plans for a proposed north polar expedition. Mr. Amundsen urges the necessity for another crossing of the Arctic Ocean, not merely in order to gain further knowledge of the ocean itself, but to study the general problems of oceanography with the greatly improved methods which have come into use since the date of the Fram expedition, under the favourable conditions of an ice-covered sea, which, gives a fixed undisturbed surface from which to work. He brings forward in his paper many interesting examples of the progress which has been made during the last twelve years in improving the apparatus and methods of deep-sea investigation, and many arguments in support of his contention that the polar ocean offers unequalled opportunities for settling vexed questions connected with the cause of currents, the effects of tidal action, the reciprocal action of plants and animals at various depths, and so on. A thorough examination of Nansen's old ship, the Fram, has shown that the vessel is, or can easily be made, as sound as ever, and fit for another voyage similar to that of the famous expedition of 1893–6.