International Expedition Research Articles

International Glaciological Expedition to Greenland, 1957–60: Operations in 1957

An international glaciological expedition to Greenland (E.G.I.G.), in connexion with the glaciological programme of the International Geophysical Year, is being sponsored by the International Commission on Snow and Ice. The nations taking part are Denmark, France, Germany and Switzerland. The expedition is to be led by Paul-Emile Victor, and organized by Expéditions Polaires Françaises. The special committee for the expedition consists of Professor R. Haefeli, President, R. Finsterwalder, Vice-President, M. A. Bauer, Secretary, B. Brockamp, Borge Fristrup, F. Kobold, Helge Larsen, J. Martin and P.-E. Victor.

First international polar expedition

First international polar expedition

The Precipitation of Calcium Carbonate on the Great Bahama Bank

In the spring of 1930 the International Expedition to the Bahamas made several traverses over the shoals west of Andros Island in order to study the sedimentation of calcium carbonate in this region, and along three of these lines water samples were collected at regular intervals. The chlorine content of each of these samples was determined by the author in the Chemical Laboratory at the University of Princeton, New Jersey, and the total salinity was obtained by calculation.

Submerged river‐valleys of the Bahamas

In a preliminary report of the International (Navy‐Princeton) Expedition to the West Indies, presented before the Union (Trans. Amer. Geophys. Union, 13th annual meeting, 28–33, 1932) last year, the great submarine valleys of the Bahamas were briefly described. Additional data collected last summer and a further study have brought to light several interesting features which are thought to be worth mentioning at this time. A full report of the results of the Expedition is to be published shortly by the Hydrographic Office of the United States Navy.

A bore‐hole in the Bahamas

During the summer of 1932 a boring was made on the Island of New Providence, the Bahamas. The boring was made possible through grants from the Royal Society of Great Britain, the National Research Council of the United States, and private subscriptions. The hole was drilled by the E. J. Longyear Exploration Company. Acknowledgment is given the Longyear Company for their economy in operations. Special acknowledgments are due to His Excellency Captain B. E. H. Clifford, Governor of the Bahamas, and to public officials at Nassau for cooperation, which included both intense scientific interest and material help. The sinking of the bore‐hole is an integral part of the project called the International Expeditions to the West Indies, which has been sponsored by the Department of Geology at Princeton University, with the advice of the Committee of the American Geophysical Union on Geophysical and Geological Study of Oceanic Basins.

Interpretation of gravity‐anomalies and sounding‐profiles obtained in the West Indies by the International Expedition to the West Indies in 1932

The work recently completed In the West Indies was dependent on Dr. Meinesz's previous important discoveries in the Dutch East Indies. There he found a narrow band of strong negative anomalies, about 100 miles wide and 5,000 miles long, extending along the southwest side of Sumatra and Java, then crossing northward east of the Philippines. The band is bordered on either side by bands of positive anomalies. The negative strip does not show a direct relation to topography.

International Expedition to the Bahamas Under the Auspices of Princeton University

International Expedition to the Bahamas Under the Auspices of Princeton University

International Expedition to the Bahamas Under the Auspices of Princeton University

International Expedition to the Bahamas Under the Auspices of Princeton University

Geographical Notes

DR. HOLUB, the eminent African traveller, who is now in England on his way to his native country (Bohemia), intends, it is stated, shortly to undertake another exploring expedition. His return to Europe has for its main object the collection of the necessary funds for the new undertaking. He has formed plans for the formation of an international expedition which is to be placed under his direction and which is to travel through Africa from Port Elizabeth towards Egypt. The exploring party is to consist of twelve members representing twelve different nations, and the costs of the expedition are to be defrayed by the different governments. The special purpose of the expedition is stated to be the opening of Central Africa towards the south and east and to facilitate the colonisation of the district between the Vaal River and the Zambesi. A correspondent in the Times gives the following interesting summary of the remarkable work accomplished by Dr. Holub:—“For seven years Dr. Holub has been exploring the country north and south of the Zambesi, alternating his exploring expeditions with months spent at the Diamond-fields, practising as a medical man to raise the requisite funds for his next journey. In this time the doctor has studied the habits of the Matabele, the Marutsi, Hottentots, Bechuanas, and numerous other tribes, living among them as their guest, and gaining their confidence by curing their sick. In Dr. Holub's third and last journey he has accurately surveyed the country from the Diamond Fields to the Zambesi, and the Zambesi from its junction with the Chobe to the Barotse country. His map of the Zambesi is on a large scale, and shows every island, creek, and rapid. To show the difficulties of this survey, it may be mentioned that, owing to the loss of his Nautical Almanac, his sextant was useless, and the bearings had to be taken by compass observations every 300 yards, while the distances, amounting in the various surreys to over 2,000 miles, were determined by stepping. That is, the explorer counted every step he took during a twenty-one months walk. He arrived at Muchela Amsinga tired and unwell, but still full of pluck, and hoping to cross the continent and emerge at Loanda. Then fever came on, and his best canoe, containing all his gunpowder, and, worse than all, his quinine, sank in a rapid. He still pushed on, but at the Nambwe cataract he succumbed, and was carried back insensible by his native servants to lie ill during a period of sixteen months. Even during his illness, however, he was not idle, for being carried about in a litter and directing his men what to pick up, he made magnificent collections of plants and insects, with others of birds, weapons, native drawings, &c. The collection of beetles alone contains no less than 13,000 specimens. Dr. Holub is publishing the account of his journeys in Bohemian, English, German, and French, and is about to read a paper before the Geographical Society of Vienna. He will also read one before the Royal Geographical Society of London when he returns to England at Christmas.”