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Heavy Loss of Life Reported in Tanker Sinking
By Christopher Ohrlanger
SOUTH GEORGIA, July 27—The British Maritime Agency yesterday reported the sinking of the
Out of a crew and passenger roster of 128, only 20 reportedly survived. An unconfirmed report states that among the survivors was the billionaire industrialist Palmer Lloyd, Chief Executive Officer of Lloyd Holdings. The reason for his presence on the ship is unknown at this time. A spokesman for Lloyd Holdings declined to comment on the report.
Search and rescue operations also recovered an engineer who had been stranded for three days on a small, makeshift raft of floating debris which had drifted 150 miles northward from the area of the accident. The engineer reportedly kept himself alive by building a fire and feeding it with pieces of the raft. By the time he was rescued the raft had been almost entirely consumed.
The captain of the
The
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Small Earthquakes Shake South Atlantic
SOUTH GEORGIA ISLAND—The British Scientific Station at South Georgia Island has reported a series of shallow temblors with an epicenter lying 200 miles north of the Antarctic Peninsula. The small earthquakes have registered between 2.0 and 3.0 on the Richter scale. The temblors are too small and distant to be felt on land, but have been recorded at seismographic stations on South Georgia, Punta Arenas, the South Sandwich Islands, and the Falkland Islands.
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Underwater Volcano Suspected in Series of Earthquakes
Unusual Readings in Antarctic Sea
By Emily Guest
SOUTH GEORGIA ISLAND, August 2—Geologists at the British Scientific Station here have reported that an undersea volcano is suspected to be the cause of a series of mysterious temblors in the South Atlantic, off the coast of Antarctica. The small earthquakes, some recently registering as high as 4.2 Mw on the Richter scale, have shaken the sea floor at a depth of over two miles, near what is called the 'Ice Limit': the northernmost extension of pack ice surrounding Antarctica, where the South Atlantic Ocean converges with the Antarctic Sea. The seaquakes have been picked up by seismograph stations in the region. More than 250 small earthquakes have been registered, along with lower frequency vibrations which scientists believe are the result of the movement of magma deep under the earth's crust.
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Scientists Enthused at Prospect of New Undersea Volcano
Research Vessel Sent to Investigate
By Martin Kurtin
GRYTVIKEN, SOUTH GEORGIA—Seismologists and vulcanologists from the United States and Britain are growing increasingly excited by a new undersea volcano that may be erupting off the coast of Antarctica. A series of small earthquakes shook the region beginning last week, becoming gradually stronger and more widespread. Some of the latest quakes have registered close to 5.0 on the Richter scale, large enough to have been felt on nearby islands. The quakes are occurring in the abyssal plain of the Scotia Ridge, where the ocean is more than two miles deep.
'This is an unusual opportunity for vulcanologists to study an undersea volcano in the making,' said Dr. Philip Hartley, a scientist with the American National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), who flew to South Georgia two days ago to study the eruptions. 'It is especially interesting because this is not an area previously known for vulcanism.' Dr. Hartley said it was highly unlikely that the volcano would actually build enough of an undersea mount to break the surface and become a new island. The British research vessel,
The seas north of the Antarctic Peninsula are known to be the most dangerous on earth, with large storms, high winds, and immense waves that have been recorded at close to 200 feet high. The vessel will be employing a remote submersible, capable of diving the 2 miles necessary to view the volcano. The submersible, called the
'It will be a real challenge to study this eruption,' said Dr. Hartley, 'given the great depth, dangerous seas, and intense cold. August, of course, is wintertime down here.'
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Expedition Departs to Study Possible Undersea Volcano
Window of Good Weather Seized
By Emily Guest
BOURNEMOUTH, ENGLAND, August 10—The British research vessel H.M.S.
'We're incredibly lucky to have this weather,' said Dr. Phillip Hartley, an undersea vulcanologist with NOAA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, who is leading the American scientific team. 'This volcano is getting very interesting, very quickly, and we're going to be able to study it under optimal conditions.'
Scientists have recorded several strong earthquakes in the vicinity, some registering as high as 6.2 on the Richter scale, along with some very low frequency seismic waves that scientists have interpreted as being the movement of magma deep within the earth's crust.
'This is a big eruption,' said Dr. Hartley. 'Astonishing, really. We're very excited at the prospect of learning more.'
Not all geologists are convinced the earthquakes mark the eruption of an underwater volcano. 'If this is a volcano,' said Dr. Elwyn Pandolfi of Harvard University's Department of Geophysical Sciences, 'then it's the strangest volcano I've ever seen.' He explained that the seismic disturbances have been too strong and too localized to be explained by an underwater eruption. And he notes that satellite photographs and aerial flyovers have not revealed any outgassing on the surface of the ocean where the volcano is believed to be erupting. A typical volcanic eruption, Dr. Pandolfi stated, would spew out millions of tons of gases such as carbon dioxide and sulfur dioxide, which under normal circumstances should be roiling the surface of the ocean.
Dr. Pandolfi did not have any alternative suggestions as to what the seismic disturbances might mean, but he hypothesized it might have something to do with plate tectonics—the spreading and malformation of the crust that is known to take place on the sea floor. 'The sea floor is where the continents spread, where new crust is formed. I
