Summary

Despite generally poor weather conditions - it was consistently cold, frequently misty, with regular snowfalls which partially covered the rocks we wished to sample, the objectives of both programmes were fulfilled at the sites where we worked. The disappointment was that we missed out on sampling at Portal Mountain.

Both programmes involved our working at climatically exposed sites and handling and marking of specimens, which necessitated the use of thin gloves. We had to take care to avoid frostbite and exposure. Adam Wooler had previous experience on an Arctic ice island, but this was Nerida Bleakley's first Antarctic experience. All members performed well and we cooperated well on both programmes.

For the palaeomagnetic programme, a preliminary set of measurements has been made on selected samples. In many of these from Mt Crean, a very weak primary magnetisation has been isolated from a strong overprint from the Jurassic dolorite intrusions. It gives a direction in agreement with the previous pilot results. Considerably more analysis is necessary before final results can be obtained. Results to date are in agreement with our previous deduction that the sites were 12 degrees in latitude from the equator when the sediments were deposited.

For the Sirius program, a contamination free laboratory has been set up for the extracting diatoms from the tillite samples. Some samples have been processed and diatoms have been found. Each extraction is a lengthy process. More samples need analysing before meaningful interpretations are possible.