Report of the Yamato-Belgica traverse by the 20th Japanese Antarctic Research Expedition in 1979-1980 field season

Abstract

An 8-man oversnow traverse party of the 20th Japanese Antarctic Research Expedition (JARE-20) made a trip to the Yamato Mountains and the Belgica Mountains from October 13,1979 to January 31,1980. The party collected over 3000 meteorite specimens in the bare ice areas near the Yamato Mountains where about 1000 specimens had hitherto been recovered by JARE. The same party also collected few specimens on the bare ice near the Belgica Mountains located about 200km west of the Yamato Mountains. This report also includes the details of the traverse operations and outlines the scientific activities on geodetic, geological and meteorite research. Logistic aspect of oversnow vehicles, food and cooking, and other gear are described. As a resutlt of the trip, a topographical map and a geological map of the Belgica Mountains have been published in 1981 by the National Institute of Polar Research.