Exploration of Antarctic Resources

Bunger leans forward in amazement.

His eyes have caught a sudden and unbelievable change in scenery.

The universal white has turned a chocolate brown dotted with blue.

A cameraman goes into action. Three hundred square miles of

land without snow,

land that might be in New Mexico or Arizona.

Pictures alone will prove Bunger has discovered a warm oasis in the shadow of

the

pole. It is for such supreme moments as this

that men

brave the hardships of exploration.

The astounding undreamed-of fact is that they are over a chain of warm

water lakes whose shores, except for small patches, are free

of ice and snow.

Commander Bunger circles the largest lake in sight, five miles long.

He comes in to make a landing. Water temperatures must be recorded,

samples taken. He finds the water fresh, the

temperature thirty-eight degrees Fahrenheit.

On the shores are vast deposits of coal and of minerals of the

utmost importance to civilization.

Mountain ranges with peaks twenty thousand feet above sea level.

The trimetrogon lenses clicking overlapping exposures every three seconds

photograph from horizon to horizon.

Coal, a mountain of coal.

Byrd later declares Antarctic mines, if once tapped, could

supply the world's coal needs for centuries.

These official motion pictures can give only a cross-section of the miles of

photographic records accumulated on this expedition by the Navy.

The exposed mapping film will take five years to assemble.

Amplifying these are the radar magnetic detectors accurately

recording mineral discoveries of immense value for the future use of all

mankind.

England, Norway, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, South

American countries, and Soviet Russia are claiming Antarctic

territory.

The United States recognizes no claim and so far

has made no formal claims for itself.

But international policies cannot concern the admiral now.

His duty is to keep his flying laboratories functioning to fulfill his

dream of a lifetime.