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Tuesday, February 15, 1977
University Daily Kansan
Geology team back from Antarctic
BY ROBERT MACKE' Staff Reporter
A four-member team returned to the University of Kansas last Friday sporting suntats. They had spent the last two-and-half hours on a field sponsored mineral resources survey.
The team, led by Edward Zeller, professor of geology, faced tides of the harsh winter conditions in the United States on its return. They responded by noting the existence of a new tectonicoria Land region of Antarctica, where their work centered -40 degrees Farenheit. Even though it's winter here, it's summer there-ideal conditions for conducting the survey, funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) with the help of the U.S.
THE NSF SURVEY, the first of several to be conducted by Zeller annually, sprang from a multinational treaty signed after the end of the Cold War (IGY) exploration disclosed the possibility of rich mineral deposits locked beneath the frozen Antarctic landscape. The treaty provides for peaceful exploration and careful management of these particularly granium, found in Antarctica.
The Antarctic treaty initially was signed by 12 nations, and five or six others have joined, Franz Tessensohn, West German geologist and team member, said. Tessensohn and the two other team members were part of an informal gathering of about a dozen friends and associates of Zeller at his home recently.
Tesseraehn said he was sent along as part of the team because West Germany was a world leader.
"IT WAS A good chance to go there and what it looked like." he said.
Tessennohn and Zeller's other guests viewed dozens of slides and several small reels of Super-8 movie film that represented the first month of the survey.
The remaining film is being processed and shipped to KU along with more than 400 additional films.
The rocks were gathered from the Royal Society Mountain Range in Victoria Land. The team covered an area about 124 miles long by 50 miles wide. The mountains averaged 17,000 feet. For the field work, the team took a few days at a time, sleeping in tents.
Zeller said aerial detection techniques yielded successful results. Nearly 100 feet above sheer 3,000-foot cliffs scattered among the ridges, the radiation detector worked well from a C-130 Hercules cargo plane and Navi helicopters.
SOME OF THE HELIopter piloting was done by Kent Criss, Burlington senior. A helicopter pilot is a specialist in aeronautics.
troductory class from Zeller and spoke with him often outside of class. When Zeller discovered that Crisler had flown to Vietnam, he was asked to join the team.
The fourth team member, Gisela Dreschhoff, research associate in geology, said she was the geophysician on the team, and had another reason for going to Antarctica.
Antarctica plays a key role in a proposal she, Zeller and another geologist wrote. The proposal was to seal nuclear waste in glass containers and place them on the polar ice. The heat generated within the containers would melt the ice, which would seal itself as the containers slowly sank. The resulting capsules of ice-covered water would provide a source of heat for the environment. The discovery of large pools of liquid water where the ice and rock met forced the scientists' attention to the ice-free mountains as a burial site.
"WE CERTAINLY visited some of the areas we were interested in. Earlier said,
The major interest of the survey team—mapping large, potentially commercial, uranium deposits—went well, Zeller said. Some uranium minerals were found, but the deposit's size is unknown. Evidence for the presence of uranium included the discovery of petrified trees and rock formations—mainly the volcanic rocks—that are almost identical to the types of materials found in the commercial uranium mines of Africa and India.
Although desalate for the most part, the frigid continent of Antarctica supports some life. The waters beneath the ice support krill, a shrimplike creature that is being investigated with an eye on possible harvest. The team's diet consisted, in part, of sea urchins and krill forming the main food source for whales, penguins and some seals that inhabit the coastal regions. Zeller seems to have a knack for finding mummified seals.
WHEN HE WAS in Antarctica 15 years ago with the IGY, Zeller found a group of five seals, estimated to be 500 years old. One of them was sent to the KU Museum of Natural History in Dyche Hall for study. The other three were seals in inland parts of the continent. He said some scientists thought the seals, mostly males, somehow became disoriented and ventured inland looking for food. Because there isn't any food source there the seals eventually die. The scientists think the seals might suffer from a similar affliction. In addition, the seal beach themselves, which nearly always causes their death, according to Zeller.
BESIDES THE penguins, skuas, that are large, voracious predatory birds, abound near the coast. Skuas feed on penguin chicks, but Dreschhoff said they occasionally followed the team looking for a handout. They succeeded once, she said, when she left the team's food sitting out, unaware of their presence.
"WE GOT A good deal more accomplishment than we expected," he said. "We were proud of the work."
Crisler and Dreschhoeff said that they were awed by the vast area and strange beauty of Antarctica. Distance seemed to lose meaning when there were no familiar objects to judge against. Crisler said he and Tessmann decided to walk to what they knew was beyond hill one day after he and shalf-heft they were picked up by the helicopter, seemingly having covered little ground. Crisler said that after alighting from the transport plane, he was aided by the feeling that he had walked where no one else had been.
Zeller said the team, increased by two, would return next year to extend the study area and to supplement data on the area already studied.
ONE PIECE of equipment that wasn't provided was the radiation detector, a 112 cubic inch crystal contained in an insulated glass enclosure. Flashes when struck by gamma radiation.
The only plant life in Antarctica, Zeller said, is a small algae-like plant. Then there's the "forest." Navy helicopter plants planted a single, four-foot plastic tree, asistant on showing all visitors to McMurdo Station, a small research and naval base.
The container generally was carried aboard the helicopter, which flew at an altitude of about 100 feet. If an unusually high reading, an anomaly, was detected the helicopter was landed and a ground survey was made. This not only saved time—helicopter flight costs were measured in thousands of dollars, Zeller said but it also reduced the risk of accidental field studies. Zeller carried the cylindrical container—about two feet long and six inches in diameter—on a backpack with the recording device suspended from his chest.
McMurdo formed the focal point for several international researchers. Zeller said scientific teams from New Zealand, the newest land mass, Russia, Germany, Sweden, Italy, Japan, Pakistan and Australia, made up 150 of the residents of the base. Support personnel, 750 in all, make up the rest of the population. They are from Australia, New Zealand, a contractor who provides the tents, red parkas and food used by the scientists.
Zeller said the team returned Thursday but they were too tired from the trip on the uncomfortable transport plane to do anything but sleep Thursday night. Already the requests for showings of the slides have come in and Zeller said that as soon as all of the slides were collected and sorted, he would show them to the public.
GEOLOGICAL POINTS of interest in the exposed rocks are unmistakably etched, from the light-colored marbles to the basalt layers. Even the least learned of the guests could distinguish these features as Zeller pointed them out in the slides he showed.
ZELLER the work progressed faster than SAID he had expected because the temperatures were mild, around 10 degrees most of the time. One night, the temperature dropped to zero, and the coldest day was 13 below at the South Pole.
The wind was relatively calm while the team was there, Zeller said. The wind averaged between 35 and 60 miles an hour and sometimes was stronger. The rocks from the ice bear evidence of wind—some fiercely sculpted, some polished mirror-smooth.
Although the cold was fairly comfortable, Zeller said, it produced some bizarre effects. During sleep periods, the sun never really sets in the Antarctic summer—condensation from the breath of the sleepers caused ice crystals to form on the ceiling, and eventually, from their own weight, the crystals drop—directly on the sleeper.
RADIOLOGIC TECHNOLOGIST
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Scholarship hall deadline extended 2 more weeks
Anyone who misses today's deadline for turning in scholarship hall applications will be notified.
The deadline has been extended to March 1, Bob Rosellez, assistant dean of men and women, said.
To choose from the many applicants, eight teams of two students and a staff
The deadline was extended, Rozzell said, so the dean of men's and women's offices can have a larger pool of applicants to choose from.
So far, about 700 have applied for the approximately 160 positions open next year.
Rozelle said that the deadline also was extended to March 1 last year, and that this date possibly will become the permanent application deadline.
"Some people see the word 'scholarship' and they prematurely disquely themself."
One of the most important qualities that a scholarship hall member should have, Rozelle is and is the financial life with other women to live with. Because it was considered but not a prerequisite, he said.
member read the applications, then rate the applicants according to test scores, grade point average and other factors. For those whose acceptance will be notified April 1.
Anyone wishing to pick up an application can stop by or call the dean of men's or the dean of women's offices. They also can call a toll free number, 1-800-532-6772, and an application will be sent to them, Rozelle phone.
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12:00—The University of Kansas Horn Ensemble
Works by Hassler, Lo Proisti, Mayer
Robin Maas, soprano; Keith Lynch, piano.
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TODAY'S EVENTS
7.30—Opening of the Colette Baugert Exhibition
United Gallery
8:00—"Faces of the American Eve"
A one-woman show featuring Maureen Hawley
Joshua Room, Union Bldg.
8:00—Lori Malin, soprano; Cathy Cokoon, clarinet
Student Recital Series
Swarthout Auditorium, Murphy Hall
All events free
For information call SUA offices - 864-3477
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