Хребты безумия
I
asisthearduousandtriumphantascentofMt.NansenbyPabodieandtwoofthegraduatestudents-GedneyandCarroll-onDecember13-15. Weweresomeeightthousand,fivehundredfeetabovesea-level,andwhenexperimentaldrillingsrevealedsolidgroundonlytwelvefeetdownthroughthesnowandiceatcertainpoints,wemadeconsiderableuseofthesmallmeltingapparatusandsunkboresandperformeddynamitingatmanyplaceswherenopreviousexplorerhadeverthoughtofsecuringmineralspecimens. Thepre-Cambriangranitesandbeaconsandstonesthusobtainedconfirmedourbeliefthatthisplateauwashomogeneous,withthegreatbulkofthecontinenttothewest,butsomewhatdifferentfromthepartslyingeastwardbelowSouthAmerica -whichwethenthoughttoformaseparateandsmallercontinentdividedfromthelargeronebyafrozenjunctionofRossandWeddellSeas,thoughByrdhassincedisprovedthehypothesis.
Incertainofthesandstones,dynamitedandchiseledafterboringrevealedtheirnature,wefoundsomehighlyinterestingfossilmarkingsandfragments; notablyferns,seaweeds,trilobites,crinoids,andsuchmollusksaslinguellaeandgastropods-allofwhichseemedofrealsignificanceinconnectionwiththeregion’sprimordialhistory. Therewasalsoaqueertriangular,striatedmarking,aboutafootingreatestdiameter,whichLakepiecedtogetherfromthreefragmentsofslatebroughtupfromadeep-blastedaperture.Thesefragmentscamefromapointtothewestward,neartheQueenAlexandraRange; andLake,asabiologist,seemedtofindtheircuriousmarkingunusuallypuzzlingandprovocative,thoughtomygeologicaleyeitlookednotunlikesomeoftherippleeffectsreasonablycommoninthesedimentaryrocks.
