bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The Australian Museum Macquarie Island Expedition, 1977–78
Authors: Horning Donald S.
Published: October 2009

The Australian Museum, with the assistance of the Australian Antarctic Division, supported a team of four biologists during the 1977–78 summer season at Macquarie Island (54°30'S 158°57'E). An extensive survey of marine algae and invertebrates from the intertidal zone, and down to depths of 20 m along the coastline, was a major objective of the marine programme. The terrestrial ecology programme included studies of microscopic terrestrial invertebrates, especially tardigrades or water bears, cryptogam (particularly hepatics, lichens and mosses) and vascular plant collections, and the recovery of sea-bird ectoparasites. The biologists and their interests were Dr D. S. Horning, marine biology and terrestrial ecology (Salem, Oregon); Dr J. K. Lowry, marine biology (Australian Museum, co-ordinator); Dr G. C. B. Poore, marine biology (National Museum of Victoria); and Mr R. W. Ricker, botany (University of Melbourne).
A review of the AIDJEX Project, 1970–77
Authors: Untersteiner N.
Published: October 2009

Ever since the early explorers realized that the Arctic sea ice is continually moving, breaking and shifting, it has been the subject of scientific curiosity. Beginning with Fridtjof Nansen's crossing of the Arctic Ocean in 1893–96, knowledge has been accumulated about the ocean, the ice, and the atmosphere in the Arctic by means of some 30 drifting ice stations, and numerous aircraft landings and submarine crossings.
The circumnavigation of Greenland–first attempt 1977–78
Authors: Herbert Wally
Published: October 2009

The object of the British North-Polar Expedition 1977–79 was for Allan Gill and myself to make the first circumnavigation of Greenland by dog sledge and umiak, beginning and ending at Thule in north-west Greenland (Fig 1). This 13 000 km journey estimated to take 16 months, was, I felt, one of the most interesting routes that a polar traveller could take; around the Greenland coast there is a greater variety of climate, scenery and physical obstacles than is likely to be encountered along a coastline of comparable length anywhere else in the world. I was convinced that as a literary and filming project this was an expedition that would justify not only the financial outlay, but also the good faith of all of those who had supported the project against the criticism that no polar journey is worthwhile unless it has a well conducted and acceptable scientific programme.
Health Services in Svalbard
Authors: Haraldson Sixten S. R.
Published: October 2009

Independent of latitude, scattered populations all over the world need specially designed health and social services with much higher per capita costs than in densely populated parts of the world. This is particularly true of the Arctic region with its harsh environmental conditions and constraints apply. Indeed, it is even more important to establish the nature of numerical highly individual native cultures. In spite of its northerly position, Svalbard (77–80°N) has a relatively mild climate which offers an environment less inhospitable than might be expected at this latitude. The climate, especially on the main island, Spitsbergen, is influenced by an extreme tail of the North Atlantic Drift which keeps the waters of the west and north coasts open for half the year. Extreme Arctic temperatures are rare. Spitsbergen's temperature fluctuates by about 20°C, whereas in castern Siberia the range can be three times as great. The annual average temperature on the west coast is −5°C, seldom falling below −30°C. July is usually around +5°C with an occasional maximum of +20°C. Therefore, the health problems often associated with extremely cold climates are not common in Svalbard.
The Arctic Committee of 1851: A Background Study Part 1
Authors: Holland Clive
Published: October 2009

In 1850, five expeditions sailed for Baffin Bay with the common purpose of searching the Canadian Arctic for Sir John Franklin's missing North-west Passage expedition. They were all headed for different destinations and should have found themselves wintering many hundreds of miles apart; but, as chance would have it, three of them, led by Captain Horatio T. Austin, RN, Admiral Sir John Ross and the whaling master William Penny, were thrown together by ice conditions and by events. They wintered in close proximity to one another and were obliged to divide among themselves the search of the surrounding area. Ross's little private venture was too poorly equipped to contribute much, but the other two achieved very promising results: Austin's men discovered the first traces of the Franklin expedition on Devon Island and, in cooperation with Penny, located Franklin's first winter quarters on Beechey Island. In the following spring, sledge parties went out to explore hundreds of miles of new coastline; Austin found no further trace of Franklin, but Penny found persuasive evidence to suggest that the missing expedition had sailed up Wellington Channel (as, indeed, it had done, though it had not remained in that area). With the work of the travelling parties concluded, and after some conversation between Austin and Penny on 11 August 1851, all three expeditions set course for home.
Flow lines on Antarctic ice shelves
Authors: Crabtree R. D. , Doake C. S. M.
Published: October 2009

Satellite images of Ronne and Filchner ice shelves show a variety of surface features many of which are believed to indicate flow lines in the ice. Sufficient imagery is now available from Landsat satellites to plot these features from mosaics. Although some of the features have been recognized from aircraft, it was not until an overall view was provided that the true extent of the features and their relationship to the major ice streams became apparent. Using this evidence together with published ice thickness data from radio echo and seismic sounding, flow patterns within the ice shelves and tributary glaciers can be inferred.
Thirty-First Annual Meeting of the International Whaling Commission, 1979
Authors: Brown S. G.
Published: October 2009

The thirty-first annual meeting of the International Whaling Commission (IWC) was held in London, 9–14 July 1979, under the chairmanship of T. Asgeirsson (Iceland). Since June 1978, five countries joined the commission, Chile, Republic of Korea, Peru, Seychelles and Spain, and attended the annual meeting for the first time as members. Sweden which had rejoined the commission, was last represented at the fifteenth meeting in 1963. There are now 23 member nations, of which 10 are at present engaged in commercial whaling. Commissioners from all member countries were present, together with observers from six non-member governments, FAO, UNEP, international scientific bodies and conservation and animal welfare organizations
Arctic airport construction: the Canadian experience
Authors: Courtney J. L.
Published: October 2009

A necessary ingredient in the improvement of air services in remote Arctic areas is the development of a systematic programme of upgrading airport facilities and services. The provision of such facilities extends outwards from the central points, at which growth is usually concentrated, to the smaller communities with less developed traffic patterns. Programme justification then becomes related more to the achievement of social mobility, rather than only to the need for central points on established routes.
The political economy of the Northern Fur Seal
Authors: Young Oran R.
Published: October 2009

The commercial harvest of Northern Fur Seals (Callorhinus ursinus)breeding on the Pribilof Islands in the Bering Sea has gone on with few interruptions for almost 200 years. Since 1910 this harvest has been carried out exclusively by the US federal government acting as an operating authority. At the same time the management of all Northern Fur Seals, those associated with Ostrov Tyuleniy [Robben Island] and Komandorskiye Ostrova [Commander Islands] as well as the Pribilofs, has been subject to the provisions of a series of international agreements dating back to 1911. These provisions also apply to small breeding populations of Northern Fur Seals on several of the Kuril'skiye Ostrova [Kuril Islands] and on San Miguel Island in the eastern North Pacific (US National Marine Fisheries Service, 1980, p 10–12). The most recent in this series, the Interim Convention for the Conservation of Northern Fur Seals of 1957, formally expired on 14 October 1980. But on the same date, the parties to the 1957 Convention (Canada, Japan, the Soviet Union and the United States) initialled a Protocol extending the Convention, with some minor modifications, for another four years. The Protocol is currently awaiting ratification by Japan and the United States, a process that may take some time. In the interim, the parties are proceeding under an informal agreement to act as though the Protocol were in force, although this may become increasingly difficult if ratification does not occur by the summer of 1981 when the next harvest would normally occur.
The origin of water feeding icings on the eastern North Slope of Alaska
Authors: Hall Dorothy K. , Roswell Charles
Published: October 2009

Stream icings are a unique type of river ice that form in a portion of a stream channel which freezes deeply enough to restrict channel flow. Icings are usually found in Arctic and sub- Arctic regions because of the prevalence of permafrost and seasonally frozen ground in these regions. Hydraulic pressure builds up at the point of constriction as the river ice and permafrost thicken during the freeze-up period (Fig 1). Water is forced up through cracks in the river ice and freezes upon exposure to the cold air. This process continues in successive overflows until the source of water is exhausted.
A Review of the Dry Valley Drilling Project, 1971–76
Authors: Torii Tetsuya
Published: October 2009

The Dry Valleys of southern Victoria Land, Antarctica, lying some 75 km west of McMurdo station, form an arid, ice-free area of roughly 2 500 km2. Since the late 1950s, this region has provided a remarkable opportunity for geoscientific studies of the exposed surface rocks, within easy reach of logistic support at McMurdo and Scott bases on Ross Island (Fig 1). As a result of a study of Lake Vanda in the Wright Valley, which began during the 1963–64 summer field season, scientists from the United States, New Zealand and Japan supported the view that further advances in our knowledge of the Dry Valleys would require an examination of the unconsolidated material, and the geothermal regime at lake sites, using direct shallow drilling techniques. As drilling techniques and interestin the geological history of the McMurdo region as a whole (encompassing the Transantarctic Mountains, Ross Island, McMurdo Sound and the Dry Valleys) developed, an international, multidisciplinary project—the Dry Valley Drilling Project (DVDP)—was conceived. By 1969 the US National Science Foundation (NSF) had decided to coordinate proposals from scientists wishing to drill the first intermediate and deep cores into the sediment and rock of Antarctica; the aim, a reconstruction of Antarctic geological history that traditional surface or near-surface studies alone could never achieve. Initially, the approach was to be a sub-surface physical, chemical and biological examination of theDry Valleys, but as the project developed it encompassed studies of the Ross Island volcanic complex and McMurdo Sound sediments.
The Northwest Territories and its future constitutional and political development: an examination of the Drury Report
Authors: Funston Bernard W.
Published: October 2009

‘No scheme of Canadian historiography yet advanced is wholly satisfactory because none as yet takes account of the occurrence of the North’ (Morton, 1970, p 31). Where Canadian historiography has been silent, studies of Canadian federalism have chosen to ignore. The Northwest Territories (NWT) and die Yukon Territory have certainly never been major actors in national political forums, nor have they yet to play a significant role in the political processes surrounding the two major preoccupations of Canadian federalism, namely the economy and national unity.
The United Nations and Antarctica
Authors: Beck Peter J.
Published: October 2009

The United Nations as a body has hitherto shown little interest or involvement in Antarctica. A recently developed campaign, led by several of the developing nations, now aims to involve the international community more closely in the management of the continent and its resources. Argument that Antarctica should be regarded as part of the common heritage of mankind finds little support among Antarctic Treaty nations, who favour continuing management under the treaty system. A nine-hour discussion in the First Committee of the United Nations General Assembly during November 1983 resulted in a resolution on ‘the question of Antarctica’ which the General Assembly adopted unanimously on 15 December; the Secretary-General has been asked to report on ‘all aspects of Antarctica’ in time for further discussion in September 1984.
Whaling in classical Iceland
Authors: Whitaker Ian
Published: October 2009

Sagas, law texts, court and ecclesiastical manuscripts, the King's Mirror, and later texts of the 17th and 18th centuries provide information on whaling activities in Iceland during the classical period (up to 1300) and later. Most references concern whales washed or driven ashore, rather than hunted in the open sea. Beached whales were clearly regarded as valuable food resources, generating disputes, litigation and other social conflict among the communities of the Icelandic Commonwealth.
Profile: Edward Sabine, polar scientist 1788–1883
Authors: Stone Ian R.
Published: October 2009

Few paintings are better known to polar historians than Stephen Pearce's 1851 group portrait of the Arctic Council (Polar Record, 6 (43): 385). The Council consisted of experts consulted by the Admiralty for advice upon the search for Sir John Franklin and the crews of H.M.S. Erebus and Terror, which had been lost among the Canadian arctic islands since 1845. Of the ten persons represented all except one were either naval officers or civilians officially connected with the Navy. The exception was Edward Sabine, Colonel in the Royal Artillery. How did this landsman find his way into such a salty gathering?
Glaciological investigations of surging ice caps in Nordaustlandet, Svalbard, 1983
Authors: Drewry D. J. , Liestøl O.
Published: October 2009

During spring 1983 a joint British-Norwegian expedition from the Scott Polar Research Institute (SPRI) and the Norsk Polarinstitutt (NP) undertook a programme of glaciological research in the Svalbard archipelago. Work focussed on obtaining airborne radio echo sounding measurements using a newly-constructed digital system and some reconnaissance observations (temperatures, net mass budgets and ice velocities) on the ice caps of Nordaustlandet for the investigation of their surging behaviour. Valley glaciers in Spitsbergen and the ice cap on Kvitøya were also sounded from the air.
Charles Darwin and the Falkland Islands
Authors: Grove Richard
Published: October 2009

Charles Darwin's notes, diary entries and letters covering visits to southern South America and the Falkland Islands in 1833 and 1834 throw light on the revolutionary events of the time. His notes also contain the first indication of an evolutionary concept, suggested by the endemic flora and fauna of the Falklands, which guided his later observations on the Galapagos Islands and lead ultimately to his theory of evolution by natural selection.
‘A disastrous affair’; the Franco-British attack on Petropavlovsk, 1854
Authors: Stone I. R. , Crampton R. J.
Published: October 2009

The battle of Petropavlovsk in August/September 1854 was a significant though little known victory for the Russians during the Crimean War. Petropavlovsk, i n Kamchatka, was attacked by a Franco-British naval force intending to destroy Russian ships within the harbour and to render the port unusable as a naval base. Allied plans were disrupted by the death ofthe commander in chief, the British Admiral Price, just before the action was joined. A bombardment on 31 August badly damaged the harbour defences and, if followed up, would probably have resulted in success. After a gap of three days, the allies mounted a landing in the rear of the town which was, after severefighting, repelled by the Russians. After this defeat, the squadron dispersed t o ports on the other side of the Pacific.
Preparatory meetings for the Antarctic Treaty, 1958–59
Authors: Beck Peter J.
Published: October 2009

The personal papers of Admiral Dufek, former Antarctic Projects Officer of the United States Department of Defense, provide insights into the political negotiations (May 1958 to October 1959) that immediately preceded the international Antarctic Conference and prepared the way for the Antarctic Treaty of 1959. The papers, lodged with the University of Syracuse, disclose information hitherto unpublished on the first 26 preparatory meetings, with interesting sidelights recording the attitudes of the 12 governments taking part in the discussions, and showing the origins of the draft treaty from which the Antarctic Treaty evolved.
Profile: Thomas Crean
Authors: Hallock Judith Lee
Published: October 2009

Born in Annascaul, Ireland in 1877, Thomas Crean enlisted in the Royal Navy in 1893 and was serving in New Zealand when Scott's British National Antarctic Expedition passed through en route for McMurdo Sound, Antarctica. As an AB in Discovery he gained experience which he later put to good use in two further British expeditions, Scott's British Antarctic (Terra Nova) Expedition, in which he sledged to the polar plateau, and Shackleton's Imperial Tran-Antarctic (Endurance) Expedition, in which he was given charge of the dog teams, drifted on the pack ice of the Weddell Sea and took part in the epic open-boat journey to South Georgia.
Antarctic marine ecosystem management
Authors: Butterworth Douglas S.
Published: October 2009

This article describes a framework within which an initial strategy could be developed for managing commercial exploitation of marine living resources of the Southern Ocean, particularly of krill and fish, in accordance with Article II of the Convention for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR). Quantitative predictions involving multi–species models are needed to assess any indirect impacts of fish or krill exploitation, and also for management to restore depleted populations. This article recommends research to provide the knowledge necessary for the models (identifying key species, estimating their demographic status, and experimental interference), and suggests interim management action to delimit management areas, agree target levels for stock–size, and monitor stocks. Early efforts to model the fishing operation are particularly recommended.
British-Russian rivalry and the search for the Northwest Passage in the early 19th century
Authors: Gough Barry M.
Published: October 2009

British-Russian rivalry along the North Pacific littoral after 1815 was at once an extension of 18th century ambitions, commercial and geopolitical, and an enlargement of the interests of both nations in the existence of a Northwest Passage. John Barrow in Britain and Adam John von Krusenstern in Russia exhibited the opposing yet complementary interests of the two powers. British Admiralty activities resulted partly from a fear of Russian pre-emption, partly from ambitions for territorial and commercial aggrandizement. The Russian government supported the Russian American Company, and consolidated its overseas empire in Alaska. This paper describes die maritime activities and plans of both nations concerning the North Pacific and Northwest Passage, explaining political and territorial ambitions of the two powers that underlay the exploration, and their expansion of territorial empire and commerce in this area.
Historic Inuit pottery in the eastern Canadian Arctic
Authors: Savelle James M.
Published: October 2009

Previously unpublished information from John Ross's expedition of 1829–33 to the Canadian Arctic indicates that Netsilik Inuit at that time manufactured and used clay-based ceramic pots. Additional published ethnohistoric and ethnographic sources indicate that the Sadlermiut Inuit, and probably the Utkuhikjalik and Qaernerimiut Inuit, also possessed ceramic technology. Considered in conjunction with survival characteristics of pottery, this suggests that the Thule ceramic complex was not restricted to early stages of Thule culture (AD 1000–1200) in the Eastern Arctic, but, at least in some areas, continued through to the early Historic period.
The death of Petty Officer Evans
Authors: Falckh R. C. F.
Published: October 2009

Petty Officer Evans was the first member of Captain Scott's party to die during the return journey from the South Pole in January-March 1912. His death has been ascribed to a combination of scurvy and exhaustion. This paper re-examines the evidence provided by Scott's and Wilson's diaries, and concludes that the primary cause of his death was anthrax, contracted from contact with the expedition ponies or their equipment.
Substantial changes in the coastline of Antarctica revealed by satellite imagery
Authors: Ferrigno J. G. , Gould W. G.
Published: October 2009

Noaa Avhrr and Landsat MSS imagery acquired between January and November 1986 has shown substantial changes in the Antarctic coastline near the Filchner Ice Shelf, Larsen Ice Shelf and Thwaites Glacier. In the Filchner Ice Shelf area some 11,500 km of ice calved from mid-April onward. In the Larsen Ice Shelf area two large bergs calved between February and August. The combined volume of ice from these two events equals approximately three years' normal calving from the entire Antarctic coastline. In the Thwaites Glacier area several changes appear to have occurred at the base of Thwaites Iceberg Tongue and Thwaites Glacier Tongue.
Agricultural development in Alaska
Authors: Lewis Carol E. , Pearson Roger W. , Thomas Wayne C.
Published: October 2009

Development during approximately 200 years of agricultural activity in Alaska has been varied and generally inadequate. Four stages are here identified. During the period from Russian and early American colonization to the late 1880s production was largely for personal consumption. From 1898 to World War II federal intervention stimulated local commercial agriculture, and from the late 1940s to the late 1960s commercial production expanded. Since then a state- supported strategy to develop an export-based agriculture has been tried, but implementation has not been completed. Alaska remains a frontier which has yet to find a workable manner in which to implement a strategy for its agriculture.
Polar cap and other auroral events observed from Spitsbergen
Authors: Simmons D. A. R. , Henriksen K.
Published: October 2009

A comprehensive visual and photographic record of a wide variety of auroral events was made from Spitsbergen during a prolonged period of clear weather that coincided with a remarkable resurgence in solar activity close to sunspot minimum. Using colour and interference-filter photography, the nature of the different auroral types was established and tentatively correlated with major flare events on the sun. At least three outstanding auroral substorms and three diffuse polar cap glows were generated by four large solar flares in the first half of February 1986. Many discrete polar cap aurorae were also observed in the same period.
Historic sites in the Ross Dependency, Antarctica
Authors: Harrowfield David L.
Published: October 2009

Of 52 Antarctic sites and monuments of historic interest currently listed under Antarctic Treaty recommendations, 26 occur in the Ross Dependency, associated mostly with the expeditions of Scott and Shackleton. Many have recently been visited and a number of further sites, including several dating from Byrd expeditions, have been identified by New Zealand field parties. This article catalogues all Ross Dependency sites recorded to the end of 1987, and the current state of preservation of their artefacts, which are in the care of Antarctic Division, New Zealand DSIR.
Morphological variation and wear in teeth of Canadian and Greenland Inuit
Authors: Cruwys E.
Published: October 2009

Dental models of 649 Canadian Inuit from Hall Beach and Igloolik, and both models and skull dentitions of 782 Greenland Inuit (323 from the east coast, 459 from the west coast), were examined for (a) presence or absence of four specific morphological variants considered by various authors to indicate racial affinities (shovel-shaped incisors, cusp of Carabelli, Eskimo tubercle and protostylid on molars and premolars), and (b) amount of wear. Dental models of contemporary British and British-Asian subjects were studied for comparison. Both living and skeletal Greenland material was from people known to have followed a traditional Inuit lifestyle, with little or no contact with the Western world. Canadian material was from a population in transition between traditional and Western ways of life, eating both native and Western foods. Morphological variation was considered in the context of genetic affinities of the populations to each other and to other groups of Central Asian origin. Tooth wear was examined in relation to diet, lifestyle and health.
Henry Wemyss Feilden, naturalist on HMSAlert1875–1876
Authors: Levere Trevor H.
Published: October 2009

Capt Henry Wemyss Feilden RA, an amateur naturalist with particular interests in ornithology, was appointed by the Royal Society of London to serve as one of two naturalists with the British Arctic Expedition of 1875–76, which wintered off northern Ellesmere Island under the command of Capt G. S. Nares RN. Feilden took part in several sledging journeys, and made important collections and observations, especially on the geology and biology of the region.
90° South: Antarctic expedition 1986–87
Authors: McIntyre Neil
Published: October 2009

In the austral summer 1986–87, the 75th anniversary of Amundsen's conquest of the South Pole, a sledging party of four from a private expedition, 90° South, set out to retrace his route. This was the culmination of five years of preparations, in which sufficient international support was raised to enable the expedition to reach Antarctica and operate independently, using its own ship, MV Aurora… The expedition's Twin Otter aircraft, flying from New Zealand, staged a unique refuelling operation on an iceberg within the pack ice 160 km from the Balleny Islands. Establishing a temporary base at Bay of Whales, Ross Ice Shelf, on 5 December 1986, the expedition used its aircraft to set up supply depots 220 km apart along the route to the pole. The sledging party with two teams of Greenland huskies crossed the ice shelf and ascended the Axel Heiberg Glacier to the polar plateau, reaching their fourth depot in 86°S in late January. Some 400 km short of the Pole, lack of time compelled the party to return to rendezvous with the ship. Glaciological investigations included the formation of icebergs from the Ross Ice Shelf, and collection of ground truth data to help in evaluating remote sensing data. The team also set up a commemorative plaque close to Amundsen' s cairn on Mount Betty.
New records of vascular plants from Heard Island
Authors: Scott J. J.
Published: October 2009

Eight species of vascular plants were previously known from subantarctic Heard Island. Three additional species, Montia fontana, Ranunculus biternatus and Poa annua, were discovered during the 1986 austral summer. Details of their habitat and known distribution on the island, and their possible means of arrival, are discussed.
Economic status and role of hunters in a modern Inuit village
Authors: Smith Thomas G. , Wright Harold
Published: October 2009

The cash revenues and imputed incomes from country food harvests were calculated from interviews with eight full-time hunting and ten wage-earning Inuit for 1984 at Holman, Northwest Territories. Using a substitution value of Can$10.56/kg ($4.79/lb) for country food harvests, the combined income (cash + imputed food value) of the two groups was very similar. Full-time hunters produced country food at $1.01/kg ($0.46/lb). while wage earners spent $5.7 I/kg ($2.59/lb) on their harvest. Full-time hunters harvested surpluses of food which would feed another fourpeople outside their immediate family. Wage earners ended the year with almost twice the cash balance of full-time hunters, whose main monetary revenuecomes from guiding trophy hunters. The precarious cash economy of the full-time hunters who provide a significant part of the food for the village should be a subject of concern and attention when considering the future well-being of the northern economy.
Forty million years of Antarctic glacial history yielded by Leg 119 of the Ocean Drilling Program
Authors: Hambrey Michael J. , Larsen Birger , Ehrmann Werner U.
Published: October 2009

During Leg 119 of the Ocean Drilling Program, between December 1987 and February 1988, six holes were drilled in the Kerguelen Plateau, southern Indian Ocean, and five in Prydz Bay at the mouth of the Amery Ice Shelf, on the East Antarctic continental shelf. The Prydz Bay holes, reported here, form a transect from the inner shelf to the continental slope, recording a prograding sequence of possible Late Paleozoic to Eocene continental sediments of fluvial aspect, followed by several hundred metres of Early Oligocene (possibly Middle Eocene) to Quaternary glaciallydominated sediments. This extends the known onset of large-scale glaciation of Antarctica back to about 36–40 million years ago, the sedimentary record suggesting that a fully developed East Antarctic Ice Sheet reached the coast at Prydz Bay at this time, and was more extensive than the present sheet. Subsequent glacial history is complex, with the bulk of sedimentation in the outer shelf taking place close to the grounding line of an extended Amery Ice S helf. However, breaks in the record and intervals of no recovery may hide evidence of periods of glacial retreat.
Stomach contents of autumn-feeding marine vertebrates from Hornsund, Svalbard
Authors: Lydersen Christian , Gjertz Ian , Weslawski Jan Marcin
Published: October 2009

Stomachs of 171 vertebrates (two species offish, eight of birds and twoof seals) from Hornsund, Svalbard, were collected between 7 September and 5 October 1984. Arctic cod Boreogadus saida and the amphipod Pamthemisto libellula were the main prey species of black guillemots Cepphus grylle, little auks Alle alle, puffins Fratercula arctica, Brunnich's guillemots Uria lomvia, kittiwakes Rissa tridactyla and ringed seals Phoca hispida. Fulmars Fulmarus glacialis preyed mainly on the squid Gonatusfabricii and the polychaete Nereis irrorata. Eiders Somateria mollissima preyed mainly on bivalves and on the amphipod Gammarellus homari. G. homari and Gammarus oceanicus were the most important prey species of striped snailfish Liparis liparis, while shorthorn sculpin Myoxocephalus scorpius mainly preyed upon G. homari and Anonyx sarsi. Glaucous gulls LOTUS hyperboreus took many different prey including birds and tundra plants. Only one bearded seal Erignathus barbatus stomach with content was available for this study.
Sovereignty, tribal government, and the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act Amendments of 1987
Authors: Morehouse Thomas A.
Published: October 2009

Contemporary dimensions of a conflict over the political powers of Alaska Natives and their relationship to the larger society were set by the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA) of 1971. This granted land and money to Alaska Natives, established corporations to use these assets, and ensured that the land and the corporations would remain under Native control until at least 1991. Under 1987 amendments to ANCSA, Congress extended these special protections indefinitely. Leaders of the tribal government movement in Alaska tried unsuccessfully to use the amendments to gain increased political power and federal recognition of Native tribes and tribal governments. They were opposed by federal authorities, Alaska's US senators, the State of Alaska, non-Native political interest groups, and Native leaders of the ANCSA corporations. Although stalled in this instance, the drive toward tribal government, or ‘sovereignty’, in Alaska remains a viable political movement. It is part of a continuing evolution of Native politics which in its modern form began with land claims and now includes a much broader concern for political claims of sovereignty, or inherent self-governing powers. In pursuing this course, however, tribal leaders will need to focus more on specific requirements for Native security and welfare than on general claims of sovereignty, and avoid direct confrontations with powerful opponents.
Particulate organic matter in shelf waters of Prinsesse Astrid Kyst, Antarctica
Authors: Dhargalkar Vinod K. , Bhosle Narayan B.
Published: October 2009

Particulate matter collected at a single station in waters off the ice shelf of Prinsesse Astrid Kyst (70°S, 11°E), Antarctica, during the austral summer January–February 1986 was analyzed for organic content. Phytoplankton biomass represented by chlorophyll α varied from 0.051 to 3.1 μg dm-3. Values for constituent fractions ranged as follows: adenosine triphosphate 0.33 to 1.81 μg dm-3, particulate organic carbon 305 to 1850 μg dm-3, particulate carbohydrates 8 to 176 μg dm-3, particulate proteins 22 to 132 μg dm-3and particulate lipids 8 to 209 μg dm-3. Large variation in values suggested patchy distribution. The likely presence of degraded carbon argues in favour of an active microbial community in these waters
The Scoresby ship mirage of 1822
Authors: Lehn W.H. , Rees W.G.
Published: October 2009

A very clear mirage observed by Scoresby in the Greenland Sea shows an inverted ship floating above the horizon. This mirage can be mathematically reconstructed using a linear image diagram. Scoresby's description is here re-examined: anew set of essential assumptions is distilled from his report, and an ‘exact’ reproduction of the mirage is obtained to match these conditions.
The Coordinated Eastern Arctic Experiment: SPRI sea-ice studies
Authors: Williams R. G. , Davis N. R. , Moore S. C.
Published: October 2009

During March and April 1989 a two-man team from the Scott Polar Research Institute (SPRI) and Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC) took part in the oceanography ice camp phase of the Office of Naval Research-sponsored Coordinated Eastern Arctic Experiment (CEAREX). The aim of the experiment was to measure with strainmeters and tiltmeters the interaction between oceanic internal waves and sea ice. Arrays of these instruments were deployed to measure horizontal strain and vertical tilt fields continuously over a 29-day period. The resulting time series show quite clearly internal wavelike activity indicating that a strong coupling mechanism exists. Other interesting phenomena are evident in the data with timę-scales varying from seconds to several days.
Frederick Cook's polar journey: a reconstruction
Authors: Osczevski Randall J.
Published: October 2009

The data used by Dr Frederick A. Cook in support of his claim to have reached the North Pole on 21 April 1908 are reinterpreted to support a hypothesis that Cook did not reach the Pole, that his journey towards the Pole lasted only one week, and thathe subsequently discovered and visited Meighen Island. This reconstruction explains how Dr Cook could have made observations of ice conditions and drift, and of an ice island, without having travelled far out on the Arctic Ocean. A possible reason for his failure to announce discovery of Meighen Island is also offered.
Fluctuations in populations of Adélie penguins at Cape Bird, Antarctica
Authors: Wilson Kerry-Jayne
Published: October 2009

The results of a monitoring study of three Adelie penguin (Pygoscelis adeliae) rookeries at Cape Bird (77° 13'S, 166°28'E), Antarctica, are presented. Occupied nests were counted immediately after egg laying in most years between 1965 and 1970, and annually from 1974 to 1987. The population has not shown the degree of stability that might be expected of a long-lived species with a low reproductive rate, twice deviating significantly from a mean value of about 37,500 pairs. In the censused rookeries numbers dropped by about 16% in 1967 and a further 30% in 1968. The 1968 decline was attributed to extensive fast ice, but numbers were unaffected in two subsequent years with similar ice conditions. After eight years of relative stability around the pre-1967 level, a period of rapid growth began in 1982 and 1983. The total of 54,000 pairs in 1987, the last year for which numbers are available, was the highest ever counted at Cape Bird. These results stress the need for caution when using bird populations to detect man-induced changes in the marine environment.
A Newfoundland floating factory whaling expedition
Authors: Dickinson A. B. , Sanger C. W.
Published: October 2009

Modern shore station whaling spread from Norway to Newfoundland in 1896 with development of the Cabot Steam Whaling Co Ltd. Their success stimulated formation of a second company, the Newfoundland Steam Whaling Co Ltd, which in 1908 mounted a pelagic expedition to hunt in both hemispheres, particularly from the South Orkney and South Shetland Islands and off northern Labrador. The expedition was a failure, and Newfoundland whaling remained a totally shore-based industry until cessation in 1972.
Environmental effects of human activities on King George Island, South Shetland Islands, Antarctica
Authors: Harris Colin M.
Published: October 2009

King George Island, largest of the South Shetland Islands, is the site of nine scientific stations of different nationalities operating within the Antarctic Treaty System. Following a recent visit by the author to assess environmental and management issues, this article (the first of two) updates the status of developments on the island and outlines problems, real and potential.which have arisen from scientific activities, tourism, vehicles, use of fuels and waste disposal. It is concluded that existing management practices have not been adequate to deal with these problems and new approaches are required.
Arctic and sub-Arctic soil emissions: possible implications for global climate change
Authors: Christensen Torben
Published: October 2009

Climate models predict a substantial warming at high latitudes following the enhanced greenhouse effect caused by anthropogenic emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), and various other trace gases. Arctic and sub-Arctic soils contain large amounts of organic carbon that could be made increasingly available for decomposition in a wanner climate due to deepening of the biologically-active layer and increased thermokarst erosion. This produces the potential for increased emissions of CO2 and CH4 from tundra areas and thus positive (enhancing) feedback effects on the greenhouse effect. From being a net absorber of CO2 the global tundra areas could become a net source of up to 1.25 Gt C yr1 as a result of the predicted warmer and dryer conditions during the thaw period. CH4 is at least 21 times more effective as a greenhouse gas than CO2. How the CH4 balance in the tundra will respond to climate change is therefore very important but also much less certain. Estimates of total present CH4 emissions from northern wetlands vary greatly, ranging from 2.4 to 106 Tg CH4 yr1 and little is known about the mechanisms controlling the flux. There are indications, however, that if the tundra becomes wetter under warming, CH4 emissions would probably increase. If it becomes dryer, the emissions could cease or even turn the tundra into a sink for atmospheric CH4, partly due to increasing microbial consumption of CH4 in the soil. There is an urgent need for more research into the processes controlling the CH4 flux in Arctic and sub-Arctic soils.
Organochlorine residues in moss and lichen samples from two Antarctic areas
Authors: Focardi S. , Gaggi C. , Chemello G. , Bacci E.
Published: October 2009

Levels of some chlorinated hydrocarbon residues (HCB, HCH isomers, p,p'-DDT and related compounds, PBC congeners) in lichen and moss from Kay Island, Ross Sea, Antarctica, are reported and compared with data from similar species collected on Antarctic Peninsula. The role of the cold remote areas in the global circulation of these contaminants is briefly discussed.
Life in the Antarctic sea ice zone
Authors: Hempel Gotthilf
Published: October 2009

Seasonal ice of the Southern Ocean, occupying some 15 x 106 km2, supports a distinctive biota based on algae that live on, within and immediately beneath the ice floes. How this annually-forming habitat recruits its biota, and the fate of the biota after the ice thaws in late summer, are little-known. Studies in the Weddell Sea in 1984–88 have shown that the seasonal ice is important as the wintering substrate of krill Euphausia superba which, together with other zooplankton and fish, supports a large breeding population of seals and penguins. Clearly a key habitat in the economy of the Southern Ocean, this seasonal ice is likely to be vulnerable to small climatic changes.
Environmental management on King George Island, South Shetland Islands, Antarctica
Authors: Harris Colin M.
Published: October 2009

This paper proposes management responses to problems perceived in an earlier paper on King George Island (Polar Record 27(162): 193–204, 1991). Available management instruments and barriers to solutions are reviewed, and new management approaches and tools postulated. The category of Antarctic Protected Area (APA) is proposed for areas needing special protection, with sub-designations of Natural, Scientific and Historic Reserves. Multiple-use Planning Areas (MPAs) are endorsed for areas of high use needing local and regional planning, including station environs, but with sub-designations Environmentally Sensitive Areas, Scientific Research Sites and Facilities Areas. Both APAs and MPAs will require management plans: APAs will be accessible only by entry permit. Also recommended are a scientific and logistic register, scheduled meetings among station commanders, development of an internationally coordinated regional scientific strategy, and an environmental information system. To manage tourism a commercial tourism licence system and tourist levy are recommended, with the industry controlled under management plans developed for APAs and MPAs, plus general Treaty provisions. Workload arising from these revisions would necessitate the Committee on Environmental Protection in the forthcoming Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty, with a permanent Treaty secretariat. This framework, requiring a multinational approach to management more sophisticated than has so far been achieved under the Antarctic Treaty, would improve and coordinate management throughout Antarctica.
Biomass and leaf-area index maps derived from SPOT images for Toolik Lake and Imnavait Creek areas, Alaska
Authors: Shippert Margaret M. , Walker Donald A. , Auerbach Nancy A. , Lewis Brad E.
Published: October 2009

A new emphasis on understanding natural systems at large spatial scales has led to an interest in deriving ecological variables from satellite reflectance images. The normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) is a measure of canopy greenness that can be derived from reflectances at near-infrared and red wavelengths. For this study we investigated the relationships between NDVI and leaf-area index (LAI), intercepted photosynthetically active radiation (IPAR), and biomass in an Arctic tundra ecosystem. Reflectance spectra from a portable field spectrometer, LAI, IPAR, and biomass data were collected for 180 vegetation samples near Toolik Lake and Imnavait Creek, Alaska, during July and August 1993. NDVI values were calculated from red and near-infrared reflectances of the field spectrometer spectra. Strong linear relationships are seen between mean NDVI for major vegetation categories and mean LAI and biomass. The relationship between mean NDVI and mean IPAR for these categories is not significant. Average NDVI values for major vegetation categories calculated from a SPOT image of the study area were found to be highly linearly correlated to average field NDVI measurements for the same categories. This indicates that in this case it is appropriate to apply equations derived for field-based NDVI measurements to NDVI images. Using the regression equations for those relationships, biomass and LAI images were calculated from the SPOT NDVI image. The resulting images show expected trends in LAI and biomass across the landscape.
Determination of actual snow-covered area using Landsat TM and digital elevation model data in Glacier National Park, Montana
Authors: Hall Dorothy K. , Foster James L. , Chien Janet Y.L. , Riggs George A.
Published: October 2009

In the future, data from the moderate resolution imaging spectroradiometer (MODIS) will be employed to map snow in an automated environment at a resolution of 250 m to 1 km. Using Landsat thematic mapper (TM) data, an algorithm, SNOMAP, has been developed to map snow-covered area. This algorithm will be used, with appropriate modification, with MODIS data following the launch of the first Earth Observing System (EOS) platform in 1998. SNOMAP has been shown to be successful in mapping snow in a variety of areas using TM data. However, significant errors may be present in mountainous areas due to effects of topography. To increase the accuracy of mapping global snow-covered area in the future using MODIS data, digital elevation model (DEM) data have been registered to TM data for parts of Glacier National Park, Montana, so that snow cover on mountain slopes can be mapped. This paper shows that the use of DEM data registered to TM data increases the accuracy of mapping snow-covered area. Using SNOMAP on a subscene within the 14 March 1991 TM scene of northwestern Montana, 215 km2 of snow is mapped when TM data are used alone to map the snow cover. We show that about 1062 km2 of snow are actually present as measured when the TM and DEM data are registered. Approximately five times more snow is present when the effects of topography are considered for this subscene, which is in a rugged area in Glacier National Park. A simple model has been developed to determine the relationship between terrain relief and the amount of correction that must be applied to map actual snow-covered area in Glacier National Park using satellite data alone.
A satellite-based map compared to a traditional vegetation map of Arctic vegetation in the Ny-Ålesund area, Svalbard
Authors: Spjelkavik Sigmund
Published: October 2009

An area of Arctic vegetation on Brøggerhalvøya in the northwestern part of Spitsbergen, was studied. A classified Landsat-TM image with 57 land-cover classes (LCCs) was compared to an existing vegetation map with a comparison matrix. The 57 LCCs were grouped in seven different groups, where the seventh group contained 15 LCCs with vegetation. The other groups were regarded as non-vegetated. The correspondence between the existing vegetation map and the satellite-based vegetation map was not high, but the classes from the satellite-based land-cover map could be interpreted in botanical terms. A vegetation index (VI) was used to discriminate between vegetated and non-vegetated LCCs. The VI was correlated to plant biomass measurements, and the total plant biomass for Brøggerhalvøya was estimated. The estimated biomass coincided with other estimates from the same area.