bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Remote sensing, a tool for reindeer range land management
Authors: Colpaert Alfred , Kumpula Jouko , Nieminen Mauri
Published: October 2009

The Finnish reindeer-herding area lies in the northern boreal forest zone. The herding area is divided into 57 reindeer management districts with a total area of 114,355 km2 (excluding water areas). The official number of reindeer in the year 1992 was 263,789, or 2.3 reindeer per square kilometre. In 1946 the density was only about one reindeer per square kilometre. The increased pressure on the mid-winter lichen pastures has reduced the volume of lichen. Also the decreased area of old coniferous forests with arboreal lichens has diminished the supply of food during the late-winter months. The lack of suitable winter pastures has led to the need for supplementary feeding with hay.

The intention of this study was to develop and test methods for cost-effective reindeer range land inventory and to assess the present state of pastures in seven districts. Use was made of Landsat 5 TM satellite imagery that was processed with remote sensing and GIS software. The analysis of well-known field sites proved the image classification to be between 80 and 90% accurate. By comparing field data and classification results, estimates can be made on the available fodder reserves in the different pasture types. The results show that mid-winter pastures are both scarce and degraded in six of the seven areas investigated. Only one area (Muotkatunturi) has mid-winter pastures in reasonably good condition. Late-winter pastures with arboreal lichens are more widespread than mid-winter pastures and determine the amount of additional winter feeding required. Summer pastures are abundant in all seven reindeer-herding districts and are therefore not a limiting factor. The method used is objective, inexpensive, and fast when compared to conventional methods. Information can be produced on the quantity and quality of reindeer pastures. This knowledge can be used to make better estimates of the natural grazing capacity of reindeer districts in Finland.
Merging remotely sensed data with geophysical models
Authors: Searcy Craig , Dean Ken , Stringer William
Published: October 2009

Geophysical models are usually derived from the idealistic viewpoint that all required external parameters are, in principle, measurable. The models are then driven with the best available data for those parameters. In some cases, there are few measurements available, because of factors such as the location of the phenomena modeled. Satellite imagery provides a synoptic overview of a particular environment, supplying spatial and temporal variability as well as spectral data, making this an ideal source of data for some models. In other cases, although frequent satellite-image observations are available, they are of little use to the modeler, because they do not provide values for the parameters demanded by the model. This paper contains two examples of geophysical models that were derived expressly to utilize measurements and qualitative observations taken from satellite images as the major driving elements of the model. The methodology consists of designing a model such that it can be ‘run’ by numerical data extracted from image data sets, and using the image data for verification of the model or adjustment of parameters. The first example is a thermody namic model of springtime removal of nearshore ice from an Arctic river delta area, using the Mackenzie River as a study site. In this example, a multi-date sequence of AVHRR images is used to provide the spatial and temporal patterns of melt, allowing the required physical observations in the model to be parameterized and tested. The second example is a dynamic model simulating thq evolution of a volcanic ash cloud under the influence of atmospheric winds. In this case, AVHRR images are used to determine the position and size of the ash cloud as a function of time, allowing tuning of parameters and verification of the model.
Polar-glow aurora observed from Spitsbergen
Authors: Simmons D. A. R. , Henriksen K.
Published: October 2009

Polar-glow aurora is a diffuse type of polar-cap event that follows bombardment of the auroral ionosphere with high-energy protons from ‘cosmic ray’ flares at times of great solar and geomagnetic activity. Observations of five polar glows are presented together with details of the circumstances surrounding their occurrence. The first three glows were associated with enhanced solar activity between 3 and 15 February 1986 and the fourth and fifth glows with enhanced solar activity between 3 December 1993 and 10 February 1994. Despite the fact that the flares associated with the latter solar outburst were much smaller than those associated with the former, both periods of solar activity showed equally marked geophysical, geomagnetic, and auroral activity.
Polar tourism regulation strategies: controlling visitors through codes of conduct and legislation
Authors: Johnston Margaret E.
Published: October 2009

Controlling visitor impacts in polar regions continues to be important in both the Antarctic and Arctic. Concerns relate to impacts on the physical environment, cultural heritage, and host communities or scientific bases, as well as a recognition that safety and liability are major issues for governments, commercial operators, and local populations. Strategies for controlling tourists include visitor and operator codes and formal legislation. This paper summarises several approaches to visitor regulation in polar regions in order to illustrate the ways in which concerns about tourist impacts are being addressed. Similar issues arise throughout the polar regions, although in some places a particular emphasis might indicate a specific area of concern for a community, region, nation, or segment of the tourism industry. While a comprehensive strategy might be appropriate in many respects in the Arctic, it is also important to acknowledge the significance of more specific concerns. This paper first describes regulation of tourist behaviour and considers general issues of strategy effectiveness. Then it examines the approaches to visitor regulation used in the Antarctic and on S valbard as examples that may be of use in the further development of strategies in the Arctic. The paper then discusses an evolving strategy for control in the Northwest Territories, Canada. This strategy differs from these other approaches in that it targets a specific segment of the visitor population: those undertaking adventure expeditions.
John Biscoe's meteorological and oceanographic observations in the Southern Ocean, 1830–1832
Authors: Rubin Morton J.
Published: October 2009

John Biscoe's voyage of discovery in the ships Tula and Lively, undertaken at the directive of the owners of the firm Messrs Enderby between 1830 and 1833, was the third expedition to circumnavigate Antarctica at a high latitude. This paper presents a digest and assessment of meteorological and oceanographic data recorded by Biscoe on that voyage. These observations, which are not normally easily accessible, substantiate the reputation of Biscoe as an assiduous and careful observer, and, when compared, they expand on the observations made during earlier circumnavigations by James Cook (1772–1775) and Thaddeus Bellingshausen (1819–1821).
Measurements of precipitation and snow pack at Russian North Pole drifting stations
Authors: Colony Roger , Radionov Vladimir , Tanis Fred J.
Published: October 2009

The Russian Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute (AARI) has conducted long-term meteorological studies over the Arctic basin and adjacent Siberian seas. Standard measurements of precipitation and snow geophysical properties were made, consistent with methods recommended by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO). An extensive set of snow and precipitation data has been collected during the last 40 years and has been assembled into a digital database. These data are now kept at the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) and World Data Center A for Glaciology. The geophysical properties of snow and sea ice together affect the conductive, turbulent, and radiative energy exchanges between the ocean and atmosphere. The spatial and temporal variations in these exchanges have an impact on virtually all the physical processes operating across this interface. This paper describes some of the basic characteristics of these snow and precipitation data, including seasonal and interannual variability.
Evaluating the effectiveness of visitor-regulation strategies for polar tourism
Authors: Johnston Margaret E.
Published: October 2009

The regulation of tourism in polar areas is increasingly of concern to scientists, policy makers, tourists, and tourist operators who wish to control negative impacts and promote positive ones. Given the growing emphasis on finding and using appropriate ways to control visitors to the polar regions, it is important to examine issues related to the effectiveness of individual measures of regulation and the broader strategies that are in effect in these places. This paper examines the effectiveness of visitor-regulation strategies by outlining a two-step approach to evaluation. The initial step should involve determining the nature and attributes of the measures that make up the strategy. Commonalities, differences, constraints, and complementarity in these measures must be assessed. Particular attributes outlined in the paper, such as scale of jurisdiction and degree of restrictiveness, can be examined to assess the compatibility and consistency of the measures, which have implications for overall strategy effectiveness. While it may be appropriate to evaluate individual measures further using a goal-achievement approach, the paper recommends evaluating strategies through a conceptual approach based on criteria related to the characteristics of an effective strategy. Four are described in the paper: comprehensiveness, enforceability, outcomes, and appropriateness.
The United Nations and Antarctica, 1996: maintaining consensus towards the millennium
Authors: Beck Peter J.
Published: October 2009

The thirteenth UN session on the ‘Question of Antarctica,’ held at the close of 1996, saw the reaffirmation of the consensus approach restored in 1994. One brief session of the First Committee, followed by the General Assembly's adoption of resolution A51/56 without a vote, signified the continued acceptance by UN members, including Antarctic Treaty Parties (ATPs), of the benefits of an agreed approach towards the ‘Question of Antarctica.’ Resolution A51/56, acknowledging the broader international community's interest in the continent, marked the ATPs' willingness to allow a limited UN role in Antarctica. UN members, identifying the merits of further research on environmental and scientific questions, pressed the case for a comprehensive report on the state of the Antarctic environment, as discussed at recent Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meetings. The ‘Question of Antarctica,’ having moved from annual to biennial UN discussions in 1994, has now been put on a three-year cycle; thus, it will not be placed on the UN agenda again until the close of 1999.
Tourism on Svalbard
Authors: Viken Arvid , Jørgensen Frigg
Published: October 2009

This article gives an overview of tourism on Svalbard. Tourism to this archipelago, which is under the jurisdiction of Norway, started more than 100 years ago. As a modern industry, however, the end of 1980s can be seen as the starting period. Since 1990, tourism development has been given priority by the Norwegian government, and there has been a significant increase both in commercial activities and in the number of tourists. Early and recent tourism developments are presented. In 1996 tourism accounted for almost 200 jobs, 48,000 commercial overnights, around 12,000 airborne tourists, and between 15,000 and 20,000 cruise-ship passengers. The article then describes the most frequent types of tourists, and discusses tourism's impact on the environment. So far, tourism has not produced many documented problems on biota and heritage. Tourism regulation on Svalbard is also described, showing a multitude of means and arrangements, including a proactive self-regulation by the tourism industry. The future challenges, particularly the questions connected to the limits of volume, are discussed. There is a broad understanding of the need of an active policy from the authorities to cope with these questions. The article concludes by referring to the increased emphasis on environmental questions in the Norwegian politics concerning Svalbard, which probably also indicates a willingness to intervene with tourism development.
Cooperative action between fishermen and inspectors in the Svalbard Zone
Authors: Hønneland Geir
Published: October 2009

This article demonstrates that, similar to the many cases of self-regulation of local commons, it is in certain conditions also possible to manage an international ocean-fishery without the use of direct coercion. The case study from the Svalbard Zone supports the argument of cooperative action theory: that a limited number of participants, rules at least partly designed by the users themselves, and a system of graduated punishment contribute to compliance with established rules. Based on observational data as well as in-depth interviews with Norwegian and Russian fishermen in the area, it seems particularly fruitful to conceive of the Norwegian Coast Guard not only as a state enforcement body in the Svalbard Zone, but its representatives also as constituent parts of a social system, a ‘seafaring community,’ in the area. When, due to jurisdictional dispute, it has been impossible to rely fully on external regulation in the area, the Coast Guard has taken upon itself the role of the mediator, admittedly representing state interests, but nevertheless aimed at achieving consensus with the fishing fleet on important regulation issues. Hence, the internal authority of this Arctic Ocean fisheries lies above all in the interface between fishermen's and inspector's arguments, and in the social relations accompanying the exchange of professional opinions.
Reindeer herding and petroleum development on Poluostrov Yamal: sustainable or mutually incompatible uses?
Authors: Forbes Bruce C.
Published: October 2009

The Yamal Nenets have exploited reindeer via hunting and/or husbandry in northwest Siberia for several hundred years, although wild reindeer have been virtually absent on Poluostrov Yamal since the early 1900s. Nonetheless, the region retains large populations of wild animals, indicating that nomadic pastoralists, semi-domestic animals, and wildlife were not competing vigorously for resources or space prior to industrialization. Natural-gas development is a relative newcomer to the region, but has already had a significant impact on the bio-physical and socioeconomic environments. The withdrawal of lands for industrial infrastructure, in addition to direct and cumulative impacts from three decades of exploration, has led to a serious decline in the quantity and quality of the remaining tundrasuitable for reindeer pasture.

Available records indicate that some preferred fur-bearing game species have been significantly reduced in recent years, primarily by non-natives. At the same time, it appears that extensive grazing by the reindeer themselves is having an overall negative effect on the area's pastures. Specifically, reindeer grazing is resulting in the thinning of the organic layer on well-drained ground and the exposure of fine-grained sands. The surfaces of these patches are highly erodable and unstable, therefore spreading easily as long as they remain unvegetated. The significant expansion of such areas is a genuine threat as long as, first, industrial development continues to degrade the land, and, second, the numbers of reindeer remain at current levels or increase.
Stone Age settlement on Svalbard? A re-evaluation of previous finds and the results of a recent field survey
Authors: Bjerck Hein B.
Published: October 2009

It is much easier to doubt than it is to believe in the existence of prehistoric hunters on Svalbard. Few researchers categorically deny the possibility of early settlers in this region, yet fewer still advocate the possibility. Since Christiansson and Simonsen (1970) presented artifacts discovered on Svalbard that may date from the Stone Age, no one has undertaken further serious survey work for prehistoric settlements on Svalbard.

In this article the research history of prehistoric archaeology on the archiepelago is reviewed, the artifacts from the Christiansson and Simonsen study are re-examined, and the results of field surveys conducted in Bellsund during the summer of 1997 are presented. The investigation produced a negative result. The test area was one of the richest and most stable contemporary hunting areas on Svalbard, and it is proposed, therefore, that this survey provides a qualified basis for concluding that circumpolar hunting groups did not settle in Svalbard.
Lifting the veil: the circumstances that caused Alfred Wegener's death on the Greenland icecap, 1930
Authors: Lüdecke Cornelia
Published: October 2009

When the Geographical Society of Berlin officially welcomed Alfred Wegener's expedition back from Greenland in 1931, a memorial address was made in honour of the expedition leader who died on the Greenland icecap in 1930. This address included a report that shed light on the difficulties that had confronted the expediton. Wegener was remembered as a researcher who provided an example of ‘a magnificent conception of his duty as leader’ and who risked his life to rescue his comrades. Wegener's death was blamed on a chain of unfortunate accidents, especially bad weather conditions. Using material that was hidden in the archives, this paper examines several additional aspects of the story, such as the influence of the Notgemeinschaft der Deutschen Wissenschaft (Emergency Society for German Science), which financed the expedition; the erroneous judgements of the expedition leader as well as some expedition members; and the lack of radio transmission. The conclusion is that no single individual can be blamed for Wegener's death, despite the fact that one expedition member, Johannes Georgi, was made the scapegoat.
The non-marine invertebrate fauna of Deception Island (Maritime Antarctic): a baseline for a comprehensive biodiversity database
Authors: Downie R.H. , Convey P. , McInnes S.J. , Pugh P.J.A.
Published: October 2009

A small collection of samples from terrestrial and fresh-water habitats on Deception Island in the Maritime Antarctic South Shetland archipelago yielded 14 invertebrate taxa, including four species, which are new to the island. The database of the total Deception fauna contains 57 invertebrate taxa. These, like the flora, show evidence of posteruption colonisation by Antarctic and South American immigrant species, and historic human impact. This baseline inventory allows future monitoring of natural and anthropogenic changes to invertebrate fauna of Deception Island.
First landings on Zavodovski Island, South Sandwich Islands, 1819
Authors: Barr William
Published: October 2009

On 24 December 1819 landing parties from each of Thaddeus Bellingshausen's ships, Vostok and Mirnyy, went ashore on Zavodovski Island, the most northerly of the South Sandwich group. Bellingshausen's second-hand account of these landings has long been available in English. This article presents (in translation) first-hand accounts of these landings by Professor Ivan Mikhaylovich Simonov, the expedition astronomer (from Vostok), and by Midshipman Pavel M. Novosil'skiy (from Mirnyy). Both writers comment on the vast numbers of macaroni and chinstrap penguins nesting on the island; these are still the two dominant penguin species there.
Censuses of penguin, blue-eyed shag, and southern giant petrel populations in the Antarctic Peninsula region, 1994–2000
Authors: Naveen Ron , Forrest Steven C. , Dagit Rosemary G. , Blight Louise K. , Trivelpiece Wayne Z. , Trivelpiece Susan G.
Published: October 2009

This paper presents new census data and population estimates for penguins, blue-eyed shags, and southern giant petrels from 26 sites in the Antarctic Peninsula, collected by the Antarctic Site Inventory from 1994 to 2000. For nine sites, population data or estimates are published for the first time. The newly discovered gentoo penguin population of 215 nests at Herofna Island (63°24'S, 54°36'W) represents the easternmost location where this species has been found breeding in the Peninsula. All three pygoscelid penguins — gentoo, Adelie, and chinstrap — were found breeding at Gourdin Island (63° 12'S, 57° 18'W), the fourth known site where these species nest contiguously in the Peninsula. During the period, significant declines in nesting populations of blue-eyed shag were documented at three northwestern Peninsula locations.
Can Antarctic sea-ice extent be determined from whaling records?
Authors: Vaughan Stephen
Published: October 2009

Summery

The subject of retreating global sea-ice extent is a matter of grave concern, and any new method that promises reliable information about past ice-extent parameters must be welcomed. However, the method proposed by De la Mare should be viewed with caution for four reasons. First, his predictions of sea-ice extent do not correspond with known observations of sea-ice extent from research published in 1936 and 1972. Second, his predictions correlate much more closely with the whale-sighting data recorded by Hansen (1936). Third, since Hansen's sea-ice extent data do not correspond closely with his whalesighting data, it must be questioned whether whale-based data should be used for retrospective predictions relating to sea-ice extent. And finally, information from the IWC indicates that De la Mare's datasets are not considered accurate. Predicting sea-ice edge extent is complex, and, it would seem, a purely biological approach is not necessarily the most accurate method to adopt.
The Northern Sea Route, 1999–2000
Authors: Brigham Lawson W.
Published: October 2009

At the end of the twentieth century, Russia's Northern Sea Route (NSR) has functioned primarily as a domestic marine transport system with Murmansk Shipping Company as the dominant operator and facilitator. Total cargo along the NSR in 1999 was 1.58 million tons; during 1997–99 no through transit cargo was carried on the NSR. The International NSR Programme (INSROP), backed by Japanese, Norwegian, and Russian interests, concluded in November 1999 with a key user conference in Oslo. The six-year (1993–99) INSROP effort produced a large body of new information about the NSR and Russian Arctic that decision-makers will find valuable in planning future ventures in the region. Concerns have been expressed in Russia for the ageing icebreaker fleet that has been the backbone of all NSR operations since the 1950s. Several nuclear icebreakers have been refuelled and, although detailed plans for a replacement fleet of nuclear and diesel-electric ships have been developed, financing has not been identified. As Arctic sea ice continues to decline in extent and thickness, the impacts on future NSR operations will be significant considerations for future operations.
Effects of solar UV radiation on birch and pine seedlings in the sub-Arctic
Authors: Turunen M. , Sutinen M.-L. , Derome K. , Norokorpi Y. , Lakkala K.
Published: October 2009

The responses of Betula pubescens Ehr. (European white birch), B. pendula Roth (silver birch) and two provenances of Pinus sylvestris L. (Scots pine) to solar ultraviolet (UV < 400 nm) radiation were investigated in a UV-exclusion field experiment during the 1997–99 growing seasons in Finnish Lapland (68°N). The seedlings were grown from seed under UV-B exclusion (a clear polyester filter) and UV-B/UV-A exclusion (a clear acrylic plate) as compared to control treatment (a polyethene filter) and ambient plants (no plastic filter). The mean daily maximum solar biologically effective UV-B irradiance (UV-BE) was 88 mW m-2, 68 mW m-2, and 91 mW m-2 for 1997, 1998, and 1999. A number of growth and biomass variables, PSII (Photosystem II) efficiency, and total concentration of nitrogen were recorded during and/or at the end of the experiment. Exposure (191 d) to solar UV radiation over three growing seasons did not cause many statistically significant UV effects in the growth or biomass of the seedlings. The only significant impacts of UV exclusion were found in P. sylvestris provenance Enontekiö. During the first growing season, the UVB/ UV-A exclusion treatment significantly accelerated the height increment (18–20%) off. sylvestris, and in the same seedlings, the UV-B exclusion treatment resulted in significantly increased dry weight of one-year-old needles (45–57%) after the second growing season. These UV impacts could not be seen at the end of the experiment or in any other species. The low concentration of N in current foliage was related to increased dry weight, but not to solar UV radiation (control vs UV exclusion). The present study indicated that solar UV radiation had limited, but sometimes transient, impacts on the growth of tree seedlings in the sub-Arctic. Longer-term field studies are needed, however, in order to detect the cumulative characteristics of the UV responses.
Can the Arctic Council and the Northern Forum find common ground?
Authors: Young Oran R.
Published: October 2009

The Arctic Environmental Protection Strategy (the forerunner of the Arctic Council) and the Northern Forum are both products of the sea change in Arctic politics occurring in the wake of the end of the Cold War. Both are soft law arrangements and both are lightly institutionalized. Yet these similarities have not provided a basis for collaboration between the Arctic Council (AC) and the Northern Forum (NF). For the most part, the two bodies have behaved like ships passing in the night. This article seeks to explain this lack of collaboration and to evaluate future prospects in this realm. The lack of collaboration is attributable in part to a number of sources of tension or fault lines, including issues relating to core-periphery relations, the concerns of indigenous peoples, divergent constituencies, the Russian connection, and bureaucratic politics and the complexities of political leadership. In part, it stems from ambiguities about the status of the AC and the NF combined with restrictions on the roles these bodies can play. There is little prospect of combining the two bodies into a more comprehensive Arctic regime. But there are opportunities to devise a realistic division of labor and to develop useful coordination mechanisms. The AC, for example, is the appropriate vehicle for efforts to strengthen the voice of the Arctic regarding global issues; the NF is well-suited to dealing with matters of community viability. Ultimately, the two bodies might consider creating a joint working group on sustainable development or organizing occasional joint meetings of the AC's Senior Arctic Officials and the NF's Executive Committee.
Northern teachers in northern schools: the Greenland experience
Authors: Cram Jack
Published: October 2009

It often appears as if circumpolar school administrators believe that the quality of education varies with the number of photocopiers purchased, the variety of textbooks available or the shape and novelty of their school buildings. The idea that a teacher might be the single most important factor in a child's education often escapes mention. Yet the failure of schools in northern Canada and Alaska to produce enough graduates to meet even the limited local demand for workers can be traced, almost certainly, to the absence of trained native teachers and to the total lack of continuity provided by southern teachers, who stay for only two or three years in the north, keeping their locus of existence firmly rooted in the south.
The Voyage of Sibiryakov, 1932
Authors: Barr William
Published: October 2009

Prior to the summer of 1932 only three ships had succeeded in traversing the Northern Sea Route: Nordenskiöld's Vega in 1878–79 from Atlantic to Pacific (Nordenskiold, 1881) and the Imperial Navy icebreakers Taymyr and Vaygach from Pacific to Atlantic in 1914–15 (Starokadomskiy, 1976, p 180–262). Both of these expeditions were unable to complete the passage in one season, but were forced by ice conditions to winter in the Arctic.
James Rennell and British Arctic expeditions, 1818–1829
Authors: Griffiths Gwyn
Published: October 2009

During the resurgence of Arctic exploration in the early years of the nineteenth century, James Rennell was the leading British geographer. He had a deep interest in exploration, and was a close friend of many naval and scientific men involved in Arctic research. Rennell used the observations of a number of explorers in his major work on the currents of the Atlantic — the first scientific treatise on ocean currents. These observations led Rennell to form opinions on where northwest passages would and would not be found, in particular, that Prince Regent Inlet would prove to be a cul-de-sac. Rennell was also doubtful of the practicality and usefulness of such passages — his brief, commonsense dismissal being in stark contrast to many statements of his contemporaries. This paper sets out his relationship with the explorers of the time and his role as a scientific interpreter of their data.
An episode in the Franklin search: the Prince Albert expedition, 1850. Part 2.
Authors: Stone Ian R.
Published: October 2009

This article concludes an account of the Prince AIbert expedition of 1850, which began in Polar Record 29 (169): 127–142 (1993); see Part 1 formaps. In 1850 Lady Franklin sent out the first other private expeditions in search of her husband and the crews of HMS Erebus and Terror, lost in the islands of the Canadian Arctic. The expedition sailed in Prince Albert, a vessel Lady Franklin acquired for the purpose. Its aim was to winter in Prince Regent Inlet and explore the area to the west, using two separate boat parties. These parties were to be under Commander Charles Codrington Forsyth, RN, the captain of the ship, and William Parker Snow. After passage to Prince Regent Inlet, Forsyth turned back because he was prevented from penetrating the inlet further than Fury Beach by what was regarded as unbreachable ice. Prince Albert then passed near Cape Riley, where Snow obtained information concerning relics that had been found by another expedition and that indicated that Franklin had wintered in that vicinity. News of this and further relics were brought back to Britain by Forsyth. The return caused much disappointment to Lady Franklin. She determined to send Prince Albert out again with a different commander. Snow wished to have that post, but it was allocated to William Kennedy.

This study is an analysis of the events surrounding the expedition, with reference to the light they throw on the personalities involved. It is suggested that the main reason for the failure was that the preparation was mismanaged. No efforts were made to secure the appointment of people who had sufficient similarity of interests or background to be an effective team. Forsyth found the situation on board such that he decided to conclude the voyage as soon as a reasonable excuse for returning presented itself.
Bowhead whale autumn distribution and relative abundance in relation to oil and gas lease areas in the northeastern Chukchi Sea
Authors: Moore Sue E. , Clarke Janet T.
Published: October 2009

Bowhead whales pass near or through offshore oil and gas lease areas in the northeastern Chukchi Sea during their westward migration each autumn. Results of aerial surveys conducted from mid-September through October 1982–1990 indicate that whale distribution overlapped lease area boundaries north and east of Point Barrow, Alaska. Bowhead relative abundance was high throughout the fall in nearshore sub-blocks east, north, and southwest of Point Barrow, with somewhat lower indices in offshore sub-blocks northwest of Point Barrow.
Australian law in Antarctica
Authors: Kaye Stuart , Rothwell Donald R.
Published: October 2009

This article examines the content and ramifications of an Australian Parliamentary Committee's Report into the application of Australian law in the Australian Antarctic Territory (AAT). The Report's main findings suggest that Australian law should be more vigorously applied in Antarctica, and that current practices with regard to the operation and enforcement of Australian law are perceived as damaging to Australian sovereignty. This is particularly the case in the context of the virtual non-application of law to all foreign nationals within the AAT, to an extent far beyond the categories of persons exempted by Article VIII of the Antarctic Treaty. The article also discusses the possible ramifications and difficulties of giving effect to the Report's findings. Particular stress is placed upon the impact of asserting a 200-nautical-mile fishing or exclusive economic zone in the waters off the AAT, as well as the logistic difficulties that may become apparent if Australian sovereignty is more actively asserted. In this context, brief consideration is given to the Report's recommendations relating to the Antarctic environment and tourism within the AAT.
British polar exploration 10 years before and after World War II: a Comparison
Authors: Stephenson Alfred
Published: October 2009

In the Foreword to the first issue of Polar Record the editor wrote: ‘In the first place an attempt will be made merely to record the chief polar events of the preceding six months; but it is hoped that the scope of the journal will gradually be extended. The main body of The Polar Record, therefore, is a resume of polar news extracted from the best available sources’. This was a formidable task even in 1931, and a cursory glance at the latest volume indicates the tremendous growth and advances that have taken place since then. It is an impressive record and to mark the journal's 50th anniversary I shall use this information to make a general comparison of British polar activities, and the driving force behind them, in the pre- and post-war periods.
Thaddeus Bellingshausen's scientific programme in the Southern Ocean, 1818–21
Authors: Rubin Morton J.
Published: October 2009

Following Cook's historic circumnavigation (1772–75) of the globe in Antarctic waters and his reports of great numbers of seals on South Georgia, considerable numbers of commercial sealing expeditions had made new discoveries of islands in the vicinity of the Antarctic Peninsula. However, not until 1819 was another government-sponsored exploring and scientific expedition organized to continue the search for the then still-unknown southern continent. This time the expedition was a Russian one, and in command of the two-ship squadron was Thaddeus Bellingshausen, then a lieutenant in the Black Sea Fleet; previously he had sailed around the world in an expedition under Kruzenstern in 1803–06. He also gained much experience in coastal surveying and charting in the Black Sea. The two ships in the squadron were Vostok (985 tonne, 117 men) under Bellingshausen's command, and Mirnyy (884 tonne, 73 men) under Lt Mikhail Lazarev, who had served for several years in the British Navy. Bellingshausen, in the opinion of some, merits equal consideration as a navigator and seaman with Cook (Debenham, 1945, p xi, xiii; Barratt, 1981, p 202). He, himself, had a high admiration for Cook and drew heavily upon Cook's narratives for guidance in sailing the. Southern Ocean. The aim of the expedition, according to a letter by the Minister of Marine to Bellingshausen, was ‘to carry out a voyage of discovery in the high southern latitudes, and to circumnavigate the ice-belt of the southern Polar Circle.’ (Debenham, 1945, p 6). The two ships sailed from Kronshtadt on 14 July 1819f and returned to that port on 5 August 1821 having achieved the aim of the expedition, spending two summer seasons in Antarctic waters and one season exploring the South Pacific islands. They called at Rio de Janeiro on the outward and homeward sailings.
Settler and nomad in northern Torne Lapmark
Authors: Whitaker Ian
Published: October 2009

It is one of the quirks of Arctic studies that although the society and culture of the nomadic Lapps (Sámi) have been reasonably thoroughly documented by the field research of anthropologists, the life and social organization of the settled population of the same area has been little studied, and is generally not accessible to the scholarly world outside Fennoscandia. In this article I shall endeavpur to redress this imbalance to some extent, by discussing some aspects of the culture of the Finnish-speaking population of northern Torne Lappmark, paying particular attention to their relations with their reindeer-herding neighbours.
The Royal Commission on the Mount Erebus Air Disaster
Authors: Auburn F. M.
Published: October 2009

On 28 November 1979 an Air New Zealand DC 10 aircraft on sight-seeing flight TE901 crashed into Mount Erebus, Ross Island in the Ross Dependency, Antarctica, killing all 257 people on board. The disaster and its subsequent investigation are of considerable concern not only for the New Zealand legal system, but also for the nascent discipline of Antarctic law (Auburn 1982).
Improving antarctic management plans
Authors: Keage P. L. , Hay P. R. , Russell J. A.
Published: October 2009

This paper identifies improvements which can be made to management plans for environmentally sensitive areas in Antarctica, drawing attention to (a) the characteristics of the antarctic environmental planning hierarchy which set it apart from planning and management systems applied to most other regions of the world, (b) the effectiveness of plans covering Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), (c) practical measures to improve site management (especially co-operatively), and (d) ways of integrating site management with broader conservation goals.
The ANCSA Amendments of 1987 and land management in Alaska
Authors: Flanders Nicholas E.
Published: October 2009

The original Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act, passed in 1971, gave Alaska Native corporations fee simple title to 18 million hectares of Alaskan land. Within a few years of its passage, however, Alaska Natives grew concerned that this land would be lost through mismanagement of the corporations or forced into development by property taxation. Because large numbers of Alaska Natives depend upon subsistence hunting and fishing, the loss of the land, or its use for activities incompatible with subsistence, could have been devastating. Amendments of 1987 (PL 100–241) protect Native corporation land by placing all undeveloped land in a land bank and allowing for the formation of ‘Settlement Trusts“. More importantly, Congress recognized that the Native subsistence economy and culture are significant factors in the management of Native lands.
Sustainable development of the Soviet Arctic: some possibilities and constraints
Authors: Arikaynen A. I.
Published: October 2009

The Soviet Arctic region is defined in administrative terms, and some parameters of sustainable development are defined and discussed. Under state enterprise sincethe 1930s the Arctic has been subject to a ruthless policy of development with little regard for environmental considerations or the needs of either native or migratory workforces. Perestroyka brings promise of better and more effective organization. The Arctic should be regarded as a component of the Soviet national economy, but business and scientific developments must be implemented with due consideration of possible social and ecological consequences. In all developments the limited material and labour resources of theArctic, as well as limited possibility of their employment elsewhere in the country to get the same result, should be bome in mind, and the effectiveness of proposed Arctic projects must be considered in the light of possible alternatives before any are implemented.
SPRI participation in the Winter Weddell Gyre Study 1989
Authors: Wadhams P. , Crane D. R.
Published: October 2009

The Winter Weddell Gyre Study was conducted by an international group of scientists, including members of the Scott Polar Research Institute, from FS Polarstern (FRG) in September and October 1989, in collaboration with RV Akademk Federov (USSR). This was a multi-disciplinary experiment involving biologists, chemists, oceanographers and meteorologists. The SPRI involvement centred on sea-ice research, involving both our own experiments and a programme carried out in collaboration with the other research groups on board. The SPRI programme involved measuring ice thickness; studying the under-ice topography with an upward looking sidescan sonar; investigating the acceleration, tilt and strain of the ice; deploying Argos buoys; aerial photography; iceberg tracking; and two acoustic experiments, one to record ambient noise and the other to acoustically measure the ice thickness.
Habitability in northern housing design
Authors: Smith William M. , Barchacky Tom
Published: October 2009

During the height of Alaska oil pipeline construction there was a critical need for all types of housing in Fairbanks, Alaska. Eight architects practising in that city were asked (1) what design criteria they considered for housing habitability, (2) what habitability criteria they considered when siting a structure, (3) how they designed for individual privacy and (4) whether they conducted post-occupancy evaluations of their projects. The results clearly show that little attention is given to habitability in high latitudes. Several factors that would help to accomplish this are considered
First Landsat multi-spectral scanner images of the Canadian Arctic north of 80°N
Authors: Jeffries Martin O. , Reynolds Greta J. , Miller John M.
Published: October 2009

Landsat images of northern Axel Heiberg Island and northern Ellesmere Island, including part of the Ellesmere Island National Park Reserve in the Canadian high Arctic, are presented. These are believed to be the first Landsat images ever to be obtained of this region, which is north of latitude 80°N and once thought to be beyond the meaningful imaging range of Landsat. A general description of glaciological phenomena in the almost cloud-free images, and some of the attributes of the Ellesmere Island National Park Reserve, demonstrates some of the features and processes that can be imaged by Landsat in the region. New findings concerning the state and position of the front of the surge-type Otto Glacier, icebergs in Otto Fiord, and the extent and surface morphology of the Nansen Ice Plug indicate the capabilities of Landsat to contribute to original glaciological research in the region.
Geographic distribution of northern peoples of the USSR, 1970 and 1979
Authors: Knapp Gunnar
Published: October 2009

Data on the geographic distribution of native peoples of the Soviet North, published for the 1970and 1979 censuses (Tsentral'noyestatisticheskoye upravleniye SSSR 1973,1984), are summarized by administrative division and nationality for comparison with data for 1959, 1970 and 1979 given in Polar Record 20 (125): 169–70 (1980). Of the Chukchi, Dolgany, Eskimosy, Itel'meny, Koryaki, Mansi, Nganasany, Saamy, and Yakuty, more than 70% were reported to live within a single northern administrative division in 1979. More widely distributed were the Aleuty, Evenki, Eveny, Karely, Khanty, Sel'kupy and Yukagiry. The total population of northern native peoples was 915,096 in 1970 and 951, 471 in 1979.
Focussing an Antarctic research programme: the Australian experience
Authors: Davis Bruce W.
Published: October 2009

This paper illustrates the manner in which inceased political and community interest in Antarctica is shifting the focus of Australian Antarctic research towards environmental management, creating tensions amongst bureaucrats and scientists as to programme priorities and funding allocations, and argues the existence of three distinct eras, each with particular chacteristics and orientation, but all reflecting political and scientific perspectives about Antarctic at the relevant time: (a) idosyncratic individualism in the ‘heroic age’ of Antarctic exploration 1890–1945; (b) hydra-headed science programmes within the Antarctic Treaty system 1945–1959–1990; and (c) prospective maturity management of the Antarctic environment in the post-CRAMRA era, 1990 onwards.
The practicalities of domestic legislation to prohibit mining activity in Antarctica: a comment on the Australian perspective
Authors: Blay Sam , Green Julia
Published: October 2009

After its rejection of the Minerals Convention adopted by the Antarctic Treaty Consultative Parties (ATCPs) in 1988, Australia took a major step in its domestic law by enacting the Antarctic Mining Prohibition Act of 1991 (AMPA), to reinforce its general objection to mineral resource activities in Antarctica and its commitment to the protection ofthe Antarctic environment. With the adoption of the Protocol on Environmental Protectionto the Antarctic Treaty (the Madrid Protocol) – which required the parties to take steps to implement its provisions, including the enactment of domestic legislation – Australia enacted the Antarctic Treaty (Environmental Protection) Act (ATEPA). The ATEPA is meant to replace the AMPA once the Madrid Protocol comes into force. The Protocol bans mineral resource activities in Antarctica and adopts a comprehensive regime toregulate all human activity in Antarctica in an effort to protect the region's environment. As legislation to implement the Protocol, the principal objectives of the ATEPAare to prohibit mineral resource activities in the Australian Antarctic Territory and toregulate all human activity that may have a direct impact on the environment in the area. It also prohibits Australian nationals from engaging in mineral resource activities elsewhere in Antarctica. Like Australia, a number of ATCPs have either adopted legislationor are developing legislation in their domestic legal systems to implement the Protocol.It is one thing for the Protocol to demand the adoption of domestic legislation to ensure compliance with its provisions, including the ban on mining; it is quite another thingto develop effective domestic legislation on the issue. Given the absence of any knowncommercially exploitable deposits of minerals in Antarctica, the likelihood of any mineralresource activity in the region is very remote. But should mining activity occur in Antarctica in breach of the Protocol, the enforcement of the ban could be fraught with practical, legal, and policy difficulties. This paper examines the domestic legislative efforts by Australia as a leading ATCP to ban mining activity in Antarctica. Even though the discussion focuses on Australia by examining its legislation, the problems and the issues raised in the Australian context are also relevant to other ATCPs generally and to claimants in particular.