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Victoria University Antarctic Research Expedition Science and Logistics Reports 1977-78: VUWAE 22

INTRODUCTORY NOTE

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INTRODUCTORY NOTE

It is a little over 21 years since the first VUWAE party - two third year students dressed in Professor Clark's World War II battle dress - insinuated themselves into the New Zealand side of the Trans-Antarctic Expedition. Fifty five students and 19 staff from this University have followed them to the Antarctic so far, rather more appropriately clothed but with same spirit and enthusiasm.

The early VUW parties (1957-1963), led the geological mapping of the Dry Valleys, and then turned to the lakes of the area (1963-1969). The explanation of the origin of these warm saline lakes was the highlight of this work and gained wide international recognition. Interest then returned to the bedrock geology and in particular, the Beacon Sandstone (1968-1972) around the heads of the Dry Valleys, with discoveries of plant and fish fossils that provided important evolutionary links for global studies.

Although the Beacon studies continue, the main interest in recent years (1973 on) has been in the last 30 million years of Antarctic history, and the glacial processes that have dominated it. The interest was there throughout the early expeditions, but it was greatly stimulated by our association with the Deep Sea Drilling Project (U.S.A.) and the Dry Valley Drilling Project (N.Z., U.S.A. and Japan).

Current investigations include the sedimentology of drill core from Taylor Valley and McMurdo Sound, analysis of seismic profiles and bottom samples from McMurdo Sound and the sediment and ice budget of Taylor Glacier. This sort of work does not often yield spectacular results, but is all a necessary part of understanding the history and behaviour of the Antarctic Ice Sheet, which dominates the climate of the Southern Hemisphere.

We now have a significant role in coordinating the scientific work for two drill holes planned for western McMurdo Sound in late 1979. We hope to get a record from cores, of the early history of the Antarctic Ice Sheet, which should help explain how it became established and why it is still there. The results should also allow us to measure recent uplift of the Transantarctic Mountains.

Despite the changing areas of interest and the increasing sophistication in Antarctic research, VUWAE expeditions have changed very little in size or composition. Each expedition normally consists of 6-8 people of whom between one and three are staff and the remainder advanced undergraduate or graduate students. One important change has been the number of students taking on Antarctic thesis topics at Honours, Masters and Ph.D. level, allowing them to make more detailed investigations than was possible in the past. So far 13 theses have been presented, 11 of them in the last 4 years. But the justification for the VUWAE expeditions rests not only on theses and publications (which have come out at a fairly steady rate of 7 per year over the last 18 years), the expeditions have also educated in the broadest sense all who have taken part, and this is particularly important for New Zealand's growing responsibility in the Antarctic.

P.J. Barrett, Director, Antarctic Research Centre.

R.H. Clark, Convener, Antarctic Research Centre.