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OHYAT: Geologising
Feb. 8th, 2012 11:12 amThe Polar Party had finally left the plateau and were descending the Beardmore Glacier. They missed the ice falls that Teddy had run into, but still had a hard time getting their loaded sledge over the jumble. It was a relief to be experiencing slightly warmer temperatures, but the wind had picked up, so they were still freezing. On top of this, Edgar Evans' condition was going steadily downhill.
Nevertheless, now that they were back amongst mountains after so long on the featureless plateau, there was more science to keep things interesting. On the morning of Feb 8th, they were passing Mt Darwin, and Scott '[s]ent Bowers on, on ski, as Wilson can’t wear his at present. He obtained several specimens, all of much the same type, a close-grained granite rock which weathers red.'
Later that day, after skidding down the slope for a while, they spied a moraine along the base of Mt Buckley, and Scott steered the party towards it.
The special thing about this for us, a hundred years later, is that if you are in London, you can go to the Natural History Museum, find the threshold of the Geology Wing (it's on the entrance end of the building, on the second floor) and see the rocks they collected ONE HUNDRED YEARS AGO TODAY:
Nevertheless, now that they were back amongst mountains after so long on the featureless plateau, there was more science to keep things interesting. On the morning of Feb 8th, they were passing Mt Darwin, and Scott '[s]ent Bowers on, on ski, as Wilson can’t wear his at present. He obtained several specimens, all of much the same type, a close-grained granite rock which weathers red.'
Later that day, after skidding down the slope for a while, they spied a moraine along the base of Mt Buckley, and Scott steered the party towards it.
The moraine was obviously so interesting that when we had advanced some miles and got out of the wind, I decided to camp and spend the rest of the day geologising. It has been extremely interesting. We found ourselves under perpendicular cliffs of Beacon sandstone, weathering rapidly and carrying veritable coal seams. From the last Wilson, with his sharp eyes, has picked several plant impressions, the last a piece of coal with beautifully traced leaves in layers, also some excellently preserved impressions of thick stems, showing cellular structure. In one place we saw the cast of small waves on the sand. To-night Bill has got a specimen of limestone with archeo-cyathus – the trouble is one cannot imagine where the stone comes from; it is evidently rare, as few specimens occur in the moraine. There is a good deal of pure white quartz. Altogether we have had a most interesting afternoon, and the relief of being out of the wind and in a warmer temperature is inexpressible. I hope and trust we shall all buck up again now that the conditions are more favourable.
The special thing about this for us, a hundred years later, is that if you are in London, you can go to the Natural History Museum, find the threshold of the Geology Wing (it's on the entrance end of the building, on the second floor) and see the rocks they collected ONE HUNDRED YEARS AGO TODAY:
