Iron ore in significant quantities has been found in only four areas in arctic Europe. No deposits are known in arctic Asia or in the arctic islands of the eastern hemisphere. The largest iron-bearing area is in Swedish Lapland of which the total known reserves, mainly magnetite and hematite, are estimated at 2413 million metric tons, with an average iron content of over 63 per cent, or a ferric weight of about 1532 million tons. The greater part of this ore requires no concentration before use. There is a deposit of about 1000 million tons in Sør-Varanger in north Norway, with a low iron content, while the deposit at Yena in Kol'skiy Poluostrov (Kola peninsula) is estimated at nearly 850 million tons of ore with an iron content of 23 to 48 per cent, and like the Varanger ore requires concentration. A deposit with an iron content of 30 to 40 per cent has been investigated recently at Kolari in north-west Finland, but it is not yet worked.

Food intake on a polar expedition has always been a problem to those in charge of the commissariat. For years it has been accepted that man has a very high energy expenditure while sledging. Because of this it has always been the custom to provide a sledging diet which yields the greatest number of calories in the smallest weight.

Unstable sea ice conditions in 1955 and 1956 made it advisable to carry some form of boat during sledge journeys from the Falkland Islands Dependencies Survey (F.I.D.S.) station at Horseshoe Island, in Marguerite Bay, Graham Land. The account given of a sledge-boat in Hints to travellers (Vol. 2, 11th ed., 1938, p. 137) was followed, and a craft similar to that employed by the Oxford University Arctic Expedition of 1935-36 was constructed. When this boat was tested it was found to be unstable. This was due both to the saucer-shaped cross-section and to the fact that the whole load has to be placed on top of the sledge. These disadvantages were overcome by the incorporation into the design of a pair of skis, extended from the sledge outer longitudinal and runner on plywood struts. These widened the bottom of the boat and increased the stability. The new shape was intrinsically more stable, and it was also possible to place cargo in the bottom of the boat, thus lowering the centre of gravity.

The principal field activity of the A.N.A.R.E. party at Mawson during the 1957–58 summer was the determination of ice thickness along a section of the Antarctic plateau. In previous years the summer expeditions inland had concentrated on the survey and geology of the Prince Charles Mountains, south-east of Mawson. While this programme was continued in 1957–58 as opportunity presented, and in fact air photography of the ranges almost completed, the main I.G.Y. field effort was directed towards seismic ice-depth determinations. These were the responsibility of the Bureau of Mineral Resources, and a seismologist was seconded to the Antarctic Division, together with equipment for the purpose.

The traverse made lay southwards from Mawson, following approximately the meridian 62° 08′ E. It was known from prior air reconnaissance that a south-westerly spur of the Prince Charles Mountains system cut across the route in the vicinity of lat. 73° to 74° S., but the exact location was unknown. The intention was to map this spur, then skirt it to the west and resume the seismic traverse southwards.

During the Antarctic summer seasons of 1956–57 and 1957–58, a British Royal Naval Hydrographic Survey Unit operated off the coast of west Graham Land. Working sometimes from stations of the Falkland Islands Dependencies Survey, and sometimes from camp sites, an area of coastline from Port Lockroy southwards to Ferin Head was systematically examined, triangulated and charted.

The mobility of this small unit depended on one all-important factor, the constant availability of a specially converted 29 ft. motor boat, which acted as both transport and home.

The meat of young shags, seals and penguins makes excellent eating but, in the natural state, it is rather too highly flavoured to be palatable. It should therefore be washed thoroughly and hung in the fresh air for a few days, or in the case of shags for a couple of weeks, before cooking. It is further improved by blanching; this consists of putting the meat in cold water, bringing the water to the boil, then removing the meat and washing it.

Remove all blubber before cooking. Always use beef suet in cooking these meats.

A geodetic survey by shoran trilateration, to approximately second-order accuracy, of the islands of the Canadian Arctic archipelago was completed in 1957. This was the culmination of a programme started in the south-central section of the country in 1949.

Shoran (short-range aid to navigation) was developed during World War II as a navigational aid for precise tactical bombing. It consists of two radar transponders at known points on the ground and another radar unit in an aircraft capable of measuring the time required for radio waves to travel from the aircraft to each ground station and to return. These times are converted to distances by an intricate electro-mechanical system and the distances are shown on counters, reading to 0·001 mile. For the military application the distance between transponders was known and the position of the aircraft could be plotted from the mileage-counter distances; for geodetic application the mileage-counter distances are used to measure the distance between the two transponders.

As a result of these operations 1000 miles of a deep-water North West Passage were charted. In addition, five hundred square miles of detailed hydrographic survey were made in the most dangerous areas. About 285 miles of coastline were covered by triangulation and 28 radar reflector towers were built as navigational aids. The results of the surveys were published in a series of 33 charts and in greatly improved sailing directions.

The Scott Polar Research Institute possesses a notable collection of manuscripts relating to the polar regions. An appeal through the Press in 1956 resulted in the acquisition of a number of interesting manuscripts which might otherwise have remained unnoticed in store, or been destroyed for want of storage space. The Institute is always anxious to. increase its collection, and is grateful for the gift, or notice of the whereabouts, of any journals, logbooks, letters and other material of polar interest. New accessions are listed in. the annual report of the Scott Polar Research Institute, published in the Polar Record and the Cambridge University Reporter, and are summarized in the Bulletin of the National Register of Archives (London).