North-East Land Research Articles

Recent Exploration in the Polar Regions

W XC tITH ninety to a hundred expeditions working in the Arctic in I937 and I938, it is evident that interest in the Polar Regions has not abated. It is true that some forty of these were carried on by the Soviet governnment in the Arctic section of Siberia and in the Arctic Sea and its arms on the Siberian coast and that their purpose was primarily economic and strategic; but the importance of their contributions to scientific knowledge of the Arctic as a whole is not lessened thereby. On the other hand, the fact that between fifty and sixty expeditions worked in West Spitsbergen, Northeast Land, Greenland, Labrador, Arctic Canada, and Alaska should dispel any idea that present-day Arctic exploration is confined chiefly to Soviet territory. So long is the list of recent expeditions in the Arctic that it is possible, within the scope of this review, to mention only some of the most outstanding. Attention is called, however, to The Polar Record, issued twice annually (January and July) by the Scott Polar Research Institute. It is the only source at all complete of information covering the whole field of Arctic and Antarctic exploration and is particularly valuable for its news of Soviet expeditions.

The Glaciology of North East Land

The Glaciology of North East Land

Methods of Survey in North East Land

Methods of Survey in North East Land

The Retreat of the Franklin Glacier, North East Land

The Retreat of the Franklin Glacier, North East Land

The Glaciology of North East Land

The Glaciology of North East Land

Observations on the Purple Sandpiper in North East Land. By DAVID B. KEITH

Proceedings of the Zoological Society of LondonVolume A108, Issue 2 p. 185-194 Observations on the Purple Sandpiper in North East Land. By DAVID B. KEITH First published: July 1938 https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-7998.1938.tb07894.xAboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InRedditWechat VolumeA108, Issue2July 1938Pages 185-194 RelatedInformation

Atmospheric optical phenomena in North East Land

AbstractA record is given of the various atmospheric optical phenomena observed during the ten months' occupation of a station on the inland ice of North East Land (80° N., 20° E.) by the Oxford University Arctic Expedition, 1935‐36.As well as the more common mock‐suns and mock‐moons, several complexes were observed, notably on June 6, 1936, when the comparatively rare Parry arc occurred.There were also many instances of a phenomenon which has occasionally been described previously, but which has not been distinguished from others, with which it usually occurs simultaneously. It takes the form of a pair of white mock‐suns on or near the visible horizon; they do not appear to be essentially connected with the usual “prismatic” halo phenomena. The name “hypohelia” is proposed for them.

Royal Society of Edinburgh Awards

THE following have been elected honorary fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh: British: Sir Thomas Lewis, physician-in-charge of the Department of Clinical Research, University College Hospital, London ; Prof. G. I. Taylor, Yarrow research professor of the Royal Society, fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge. Foreign: Prof. F. Enriques, professor of mathematics, Royal University, Rome ; Dr. D. H. Russell, chairman of the Department of Astronomy and director of the Observatory, Princeton University, U.S.A. ; and Karl Freiherr von Tubeuf, professor of botany, University of Munich. The joint committee of representatives of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, the Royal Physical Society and the Royal Scottish Geographical Society has awarded the Bruce Memorial Prize (1938) to Mr. Alexander R. Glen for his work in Spitsbergen, including survey in New Friesland and the completion of the map of North East Land. The Council of the Royal Society of Edinburgh has awarded the David Anderson-Berry Prize (1938) to Miss Mary A. C. Cowell, of the Holt Radium Institute, Manchester, for her essay entitled "An Investigation into some of the Factors affecting the Response of Human Skin and Human Skin Tumours to Radiation". The portrait of the president of the Society, Sir D'Arcy Thompson, by Mr. David S. Ewart, was presented by Prof. F. A. E. Crew, on behalf of the subscribers, at the meeting held on July 4.

Norwegian Arctic Research

IT was some ten years ago that the Norwegian Government, having acquired by treaty the sovereignty of Spitsbergen, instituted a department to deal with the scientific exploration of Spitsbergen, Bear Island and other arctic regions, including areas outside Norwegian jurisdiction. This department, Norges Svalbard-og Ishavs-Undersokelser, under the direction of Dr. A. Hoel, has now published a record of the ten years of its activity (Skrifter om Svalbard og Ishavet, No. 73). Earlier Norwegian work was recounted in a previous publication (No. 1, loc. cit ; 1929). Almost every summer expeditions have been at work in Spitsbergen and East Greenland and occasionally in other islands, as Jan Mayen, Bear Island and White Island. In Svalbard (Spitsbergen, North-East Land, Bear Island, etc.) 560 sq. km. have been mapped on the land and 40,000 sq. km. from the air, and in East Greenland 9,200 sq. km. and 30,000 sq. km. In addition, large areas of the arctic seas have been charted and much oceanographical work accomplished. But no aspect of research has been overlooked, and the department has even erected navigation beacons and lights and introduced the musk-ox and the arctic hare to Spitsbergen. Winters have been used for working up results, and already the publications of the department number over seventy. The greater part of the cost is met by a State grant, but private contributors also help. The volume makes a fine record of careful scientific work.

Sea Ice Conditions Around North East Land During the Year 1935–1936

Sea Ice Conditions Around North East Land During the Year 1935–1936

The oxford expedition to North East Land, 1935‐36. General meteorology

AbstractThe Expedition maintained a station for a year at 80° 23′ N. 19° 31′ E. on the NTIV. coast of North East Land, and other stations for shorter periods on the west coast and on the ice cap in the interior of the country.This paper gives monthly means and extreme values of the usual meteorological elements, as observed a t these various stations together with a general comparison between them.Although there is reason to believe that the winter was an unusually mild one, the observations seem t o disprove the tradition of continual gales, a wind velocity of 12 to 14 m.p.h. being maintained during the dark time. Sudden large fluctuations in temperature occurred in the winter and spring, changes of 30° F. being recorded in one day. In spite of the high latitude, temperatures above 15° F. were recorded during every month of the year. An almost constant feature of the summer weather was the mist which enveloped the ice‐cap station (1,700 ft.) and which was usually observed about 300 ft. up on the hills near the Base Camp.

Sea Ice Conditions around North East Land during the Year 1935-1936

Sea Ice Conditions around North East Land during the Year 1935-1936

The Oxford University Arctic Expedition, North East Land, 1935-36 (Continued)

The Oxford University Arctic Expedition, North East Land, 1935-36 (Continued)

Radio and Magnetic Observations at North-East Land during the Total Solar Eclipse of June 19,1936

RADIO observations on the solar eclipse of June 19, 1936, were made by the Oxford University Arctic Expedition 1935–36 in North-East Land at 80° 23 N., 19° 31 E. in accordance with the programme arranged by a sub-commission of the U.R.S.I. One complete record showing the relationship between the equivalent height of reflection and the frequency of the exploring wave was obtained in steps of 0.2 me./sec. The records, each of which took ten minutes to secure, were centred on each hour and half-hour from 03.30 to 07.30 G.M.T. on June 18, 19 and 20, 1936 (Fig. 1). Short-period variations would not therefore be observed.

Sledge Dogs

We have been fortunate, in this issue, in finding three such experts on the subject of the sledge dog and dog-driving as Captain Helmer Hanssen, Dr Seymour Hadwen, and Mr Andrew Croft, willing to contribute their views on the subject. The first on the list, Captain Helmer Hanssen, needs no introduction; he will be remembered as one of Amundsen's companions on his South Polar journey, and on the North West Passage Expedition on board the Gjoa. Dr Hadwen, the second on the list, has gone deeply into the matter both from the point of view of a veterinary surgeon, and of a lover of the animals, and a dog-driver. He has incorporated in his article the results of practical experience in Alaska, as well as more academic work in the Eastern Arctic. Mr Croft spent a winter in Western Greenland, prior to Martin Lindsay's expedition, learning dog-driving from the best exponents of the art in Greenland. He was in charge of the dogs both on the British Trans-Greenland expedition, 1934, and again in 1935–36, with the Oxford University Arctic expedition in North East Land.

Biological Work of the Oxford University Expedition to North-East Land, 1935–36

NORTH-EAST LAND is the second largest island of the Spitsbergen archipelago and lies astride the parallel of 80 ° N. Until a few years ago, it remained virtually an unknown land of evil repute. It was thought to lie outside the influence of the Gulf Stream and therefore to suffer from a far severer climate than the rest of Spitsbergen. The Oxford University Expedition, under the leadership of A. R. Glen, was the first expedition to winter in the country, and besides the radio research work, glaciology, survey and other activities of the expedition (see NATURE, Jan. 2, p. 10), biological work was carried out through the year.

Directions of Homogeneous Auroral Arcs

THE Oxford University Arctic Expedition 1935–36 wintered in North-east Land at 80° 23 N., 19° 31 E., where single photographs of the homogeneous auroral arcs were taken in order to determine their direction. The photographs were reduced by the method used by Wesoe1 and Stormer2. Persistent cloudiness prevented many photographs being made, but the average of fourteen measurements was 73° E. of N. for the region 80° N. to 76° N., 15° E. to 40° E. The individual determinations were 84°, 78°, 65°, 68°, 91°, 65°, 66°, 70°, 73°, 67°, 70°, 95°, 85°, 48° E. of N.

Water under the Western Ice Cap in North-East Land

AT the station maintained from September 1935 to June 1936 near the centre of the Western Ice Cap in North-East Land (80° N., S 20° 30 E., approximately) by the Oxford University Arctic Expedition 1935–36, it has been found that, contrary to expectation1, the ice-cap is not frozen to any great depth. While a shaft was being excavated in the firn beneath the station, a concealed crevasse was discovered—there was absolutely no trace of it at the surface, even during the period of summer thaw—and investigated to a distance of some hundreds of feet in the horizontal direction. At a depth of some 70 ft. below the surface was a lake of water varying in depth from 3 ft. to 6 ft. The bed of the lake was of ice.

Part XIV. Vascular Plants from Northern Svalbard, with Remarks on the Vegetation in North-East Land

Part XIV. Vascular Plants from Northern Svalbard, with Remarks on the Vegetation in North-East Land

North East Land 1924 and 1931

North East Land 1924 and 1931