Abstract
DURING the last week, the drift of the Soviet Polar Station has become more rapid and on several days was as much as thirty miles. On February 11 the station was in lat. 71° 48' N., long. 19° 52' W., and within sight of the coast of East Greenland. The Times reports that the Danish authorities have sent instructions to Danes and Eskimos at the settlement at Scoresby Sound to arrange food depots along the coast in case the Russians decide that the only possible retreat is to cross the ice stream to the land. The men are now living in a snow hut, but so long as the ice stream remains compact they are in no immediate danger. Their greatest risk lies in the probability of the pack spreading and the floes being dispersed and destroyed farther south. Moreover, the southern part of East Greenland is very rugged and has no inhabitants or food depots south of Angmagsalite. If the men have to cross the ice stream to land, it is unlikely that they will be able to carry much with them. The icebreaker Yermak left Leningrad on February 11 and should be off the east coast about February 19. She has on board an autogyroplane, by which it is hoped a landing on a floe of restricted size will be possible. The last reports available were to the effect that the Taimir and the Murman are in constant telephonic communication with the men, but that a storm on February 14 had prevented an aerodrome being formed on the ice from which an aeroplane might start to rescue them.
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Drift of the Soviet Polar Station. Nature 141, 321 (1938). https://doi.org/10.1038/141321a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/141321a0