60.Why Antarctica Is Being Explored 为什么要勘探南极洲
- When the United States was born,the continent of Antarctica was as remote as the moon-more so,in a
way,because the moon was clearly visible and the very existence of Antarctica was uncertain. But now that
remote land area is so attainable and so important that it has become the subject of an international treaty
which protects it from national rivalries yet leaves it open to all for exploration and use. The pact arranging
this is even being viewed as a model applicable to the moon and other celestial bodies. - Yet many people,thinking of the distant continent only as a bleak,rocky,cold and inhospitable land
mass,may wonder: Why all the fuss? Why protect something so unpromising? - The answer lies in a number of factors,not the least of which is isolation itself. Antarctica is a very large
area of the earth's surface,but-until recent years-was the least studied. More knowledge of it is important for
all mankind. - A look at a globe is perhaps the best way to appreciate the significance of this peculiar continent. The
globe shows that the entire southern hemisphere is preponderantly water-the widest parts of the Atlantic and
Pacific,the unbroken sweep of Antarctic seas circling the world. Although much of South America,parts of
Africa and all of Australia lie south of the equator,most of the world's land lies north of the line.
- Antarctica stood in splendid-even awesome-isolation from the rest of the world for countless years. Its
forbidding climate and wild seas prevented the migration and development of land animals such as the
Arctic regions know. On the continent itself are a few insects,some lichens and mosses,but nothing else that
is land supported. However,there are amphibious penguins and seals and a rich marine life,ranging from the
minute organisms called plankton to the biggest creature the world has ever known,the blue whale. - The Antarctica treaty applies to all areas (the high seas excepted) below latitude 60 degrees south. This
line,running around the globe some 2,000 miles from the South Pole itself,just misses the lower tip of South
America,and is well below the Cape of Good Hope and New Zealand. There are a number of small islands
between this line and the Antarctic continent,but the waters here are known to mariners as "the screaming
Sixties" because there is so little obstruction to the world-circling winds. - In contrast,in the northern hemisphere,the lands lying above the sixtieth parallel of latitude include much
of Scandinavia,Siberia and Alaska,all of Greenland and Iceland,with a total population of several million.
Great mountains help subdue the winds; a spur of the Gulf Stream and part of the Japan Current temper the
frigid airs of this polar region. This,and the presence of the Arctic Ocean in the center of the great land
mass,give the area a markedly different conformation and climate from that around the opposite pole. - Antarctica seems a vast basin of rock,filled and overflowing with a load of ice. In the heart of the
continent it is almost as high as the summits of the Alps,yet soundings show that in places that rock floor is
below sea level. - Actually,the ice accumulation is less than it was perhaps 1,000 years ago. Its seaward flow is not so
voluminous as it once was,and as a result there are patches of bare rock here and there along the coast and
inland. They were scoured clear of soil ages ago,but one may sometimes find moss or lichens
growing,though virtually no flowering plants.
- In all this barrenness and cold,what is there of value? First,Antarctica is bound to have mineral resources
comparable to those of other great continents. Coal-much of it of poor quality-has been found at many
points along the 2,000 mile mountain system known as the Great Antarctica Horst. A writer has found a
small deposit of manganese ore and rock specimens flecked with uranium or stained green by copper. These
finds are important only as indications that further exploration would be worthwhile,and such a systematic
effort has begun under SCAR (the Special Committee on Antarctic Research). This group is an outgrowth
of the International Geophysical Year (I.G.Y.); but its program has broadened from geophysics to include
mapping and biology. - There are other possible economic values. Several intercontinental air routes lie across portions of
Antarctica. Strange antibiotics have been found in the drifting plants of the Antarctic seas; the Russians are
reported to be carrying in live herring to be dumped overboard in an attempt at sea "farming." - But for the immediate future the great value of Antarctica may lie in other lines of research-from the
common cold to problems of outer space. The former is under scrutiny at a biological laboratory at
McMurdo Sound,where clues to certain viruses are being sought in the study of epidemics among the utterly
isolated members of scientific parties. - Investigations of the weather's origins and patterns are being pressed. There is no question that
Antarctica plays an important role in the weather that affects the destinies of those living south of the
equator; some believe its effects are felt in the north as well. - As to space research,there is no place on earth better suited than the South Pole for certain kinds of
observation. Here is a firmly fixed point,in contrast to the drifting floes that cover the North Pole; from it all
directions are north,and during the six months of darkness the stars circle around a point directly overhead.
The United States established an observatory there in 1957 for the I.G.Y. and has maintained it ever since. - Now it is an ideal space tracking station. Any vehicle on a mission in the southern half of the heavens
remains continuously "visible" to an antenna at the pole. Such a station is also able to play a unique role in
interrogating earth satellites in orbit over both poles.
- Such satellites-maintaining their steady sweeps as the earth revolves beneath them-cover all parts of the
globe and hence are ideal for weather observation,communications and other tasks. The South Pole would
be the check point on each circuit,snatching the data from space,processing them in computers within
seconds and relaying them to the rest of the world. - On all these counts,the scientists justify their voyages to Antarctica and the vast sums needed. But
essentially their argument is a simple one. The great continent to the south is still largely unknown. In the
quest for fundamental knowledge,which is the heart and soul so all science,it cannot be ignored.
