Historical Seismograms - Evidence from the AD 2000 Izu Islands ...

460 G. A. Eiby5. FijiA Milne seismograph was set up in Suva township (SUV) in 1923, and operateduntil 1934, the records being sent to Wellington for interpretation and storage. Datawere published with those from New Zealand stations. No further recordings weremade until New Zealand initiative resulted in a Milne-Shaw instrument being placedin the care of the meteorological service at Laucala (pronounced and sometimeswritten as Lauthala) Bay. The station continued to be known as Suva. Recordswere interpreted in Wellington as before, and are in storage there. In 1954 Maythe clockwork driving the recording drum broke down, and resisted the efforts oflocal mechanics to repair it. Two years later an enquiry from Lamont Observatoryabout the availability of Fijian records produced a reply from the Fiji Department ofLands, Mines, and Survey stating that the instrument was ‘of uncertain ownership”and “has been out of action for at least 18 months”. However, a new clock had beenordered, and Suva readings re-appear in the New Zealand Seismological Report for1956 July.At the end of 1957 Dr. Claude Blot of the Institut FkanGais d’ockanie, actingon behalf of Lamont Observatory, installed a set of long-period instruments on thesame pier as the Milne-Shaw. At this period responsibility seems to have passed tothe Department of Lands, Mines, and Survey. In 1958 March, Lamont Observatorywas notified that control had passed to the Geological Survey, but this seems merelyto reflect an administrative change within the Fijian public service. A file of longperiodseismograms from 1957 December 12 to 1962 April 1 is held at the Lamont-Doherty Geological Observatory (Palisades, New York 10964, U.S.A.). Milne-Shawrecords are in Wellington.On 1962 November 3 Lamont Observatory and the Fijian Geological Observatoryboth withdrew, and the Meteorological Service again took over the Milne-Shaw onbehalf of Wellington. In 1964 February it was replaced by a Willmore short-periodvertical instrument. Lamont Observatory began further studies in Fiji and Tongain late 1964.6. Antarctica6.1. Ross Sea DependencyThe first seismograms made in Antarctica were recorded by a Milne pendulumoperated by members of the Scott expedition of 1902. Many South Pacific shockswere recorded at a site on Ross Island close to the present Scott Base. Recordswere taken to England, but it has not proved possible to find out whether theywere preserved.The Byrd expedition obtained two months of recordings at Rockefeller Mountain(RMA) in 1940 November and December. Their subsequent history has not beentraced.The New Zealand station at Scott Base (SBA) began operating in 1957 Marchwith a six-component Benioff instrument recording on 35-mm film. The records arepreserved in the Wellington archive.The joint New Zealand - U.S. base at Hallett (HTT) also began recording in 1957,with long-period Press-Ewing instruments and a short-period Willmore vertical.World-Wide Standard Seismographs were installed in 1963, and in 1964 February