Coupling between pelagic and benthic systems has been described in numerous shallow water communities. In Potter Cove, where pelagic primary production is low (not only during the Antarctic winter but also during the summer), the rich benthic community present there must depend on other food sources than phytoplankton. Over a year-round period we determined the abundance of the different seston particles which constituted the stomach contents of the Antarctic ascidian Cnemidocarpa verrucosa (Lesson, 1830) at Potter Cove. Stomach repletion was highest in November and lowest in June. Ascidians took in a wide range of particles from large detritus (macroalgal debris and faecal pellets) to minute particles < 5 μm. Large detritus and minute particles together represent the main percentage of contents throughout the year (mean 91%). Diatoms were a low percentage (mean 4.5%). Unidentified flagellates, dinoflagellates and coccolithophorids were scarce, with mean values lower than 4%. Among diatoms benthic species were more abundant in summer and pelagic ones prevailed from March to November. Resuspension of benthic material due to wind mixing and the input of allochthonous particles by currents are important mechanisms that ensure food for ascidians and the community of suspension feeders in Potter Cove.

Reproductive characteristics are compared of the nototheniids Trematomus bernacchii and T. hansoni and the channichthyid Chionodraco hamatus caught in summer at Terra Nova Bay (Ross Sea) and caught all the year round in the waters off Casey Station (Mawson Sea). Whilst spawning of T. bernacchii took place in October–November off Casey and probably at Terra Nova Bay, the spawning period of T. hansoni differed between the sites (September–November off Casey, December–February at Terra Nova Bay). The spawning period also differed between sites for C. hamatus (August–October off Casey, December–February at Terra Nova Bay). Fecundity was higher and egg size was lower in nototheniid species (c, 8000 eggs of 3–4 mm) than in channichthyid (c. 4000 eggs of 4–5 mm). Moreover, the fecundity was lower and egg size higher in the specimens from Terra Nova Bay when compared to Casey.

The juvenile phase is poorly known in Antarctic seabirds, despite being a critical period for individual survival. To better understand the ecology of young Antarctic seabirds, we surveyed for the first time the three-dimensional habitat use of six juvenile emperor penguins during their post-natal dispersal from Terre Adélie, using bio-telemetric tags. The tags transmitted location and activity data for nearly 100 days on average. One individual was followed during eight months and covered 7000 km, which represents the longest continuous individual survey for the species. Studied individuals first dispersed away from Antarctica, up to 54.7°S and 1250 km north of the pack-ice edge, in the Polar Frontal Zone. This highlighted a much looser association with sea ice and a greater at-sea range compared to previous knowledge on breeding adults. Juvenile penguins then moved southwards close to the extending pack-ice during autumn and winter. Over the survey duration, juveniles showed a contrasting use of marine habitats, with less mobility, less time underwater, and shallower dives (generally not over 50–100 m) in the pack ice, versus greater distances travelled, more time spent underwater, especially deeper than 100 m (up to 250–300 m) in open water. We discuss hypotheses which could explain the northward exodus of juvenile emperor penguins across contrasting habitats.

Analyses on a sediment core collected from the Windmill Islands, East Antarctica are used to demonstrate that climatic conditions in this region prior to the Last Glacial Maximum were similar to those during the Holocene and that the area was overrun by ice at some stage between 26 kyr BP and the onset of biogenic sedimentation 11 kyr BP. The 10.9 m long core was taken from a marine inlet (epishelf lake) on Peterson Island and is predominantly a sapropel of Holocene age. Material in the lower part of the core includes a till layer lain down during the last glacial in the region and below this till is material which has been dated to 26 kyr BP. Geochemical analyses conducted on the core demonstrate similarities between the Holocene sequence and the preglacial material. The Holocene sequence shows enhanced biogenic production and periods of open water around 4 kyr BP, suggesting a climatic optimum around that time. A subsequent decline in conditions, probably a colder climate with greater extent of sea ice, is evident from 1 kyr BP to the present. The data support results from ice core studies on nearby Law Dome, which suggest there was a period of warming around 11.5 to 9 kyr BP, that recent summer temperatures are low relative to a few centuries ago, and that increasing winter temperatures are the main contributing factor to a recent overall warming in the region.

This study explores the impact of human trampling on moss and lichen dominated communities of Maritime Antarctica. A simulation of trampling was performed on previously unaffected plots of different terricolous cryptogamic assemblages at Byers Peninsula, Livingston Island. The communities studied were: 1) a uniform moss carpet, 2) a heterogeneous moss assemblage composed of hummocks and turfs, and 3) a fellfield lichen community. All communities analysed were extremely sensitive but different denudation processes were observed. None of the plots maintained 50% of initial coverage after 200 pedestrian transits. Even very low trampling intensity resulted in disturbance at all plots. Sensitivities of the different communities were identified in order to formulate recommendations for minimizing the trampling impacts. In our study the lichen dominated community on dry exposed soils exhibited the lowest resistance to trampling. For moss communities, lower resistance was found in peat soils with higher water content and biomass. With the current trend of increasing human presence in Antarctica, we predict that the cumulative impacts of trampling over future decades will adversely affect all types of moss and lichen communities.

Oxygen microelectrodes were used to measure the photosynthetic rates of Antarctic fast ice algal mats. Using the oxygen flux across the diffusive boundary layer below the fast ice at Davis, a productivity range of 0–1.78 mg C m−2 h−1 was measured. This is at the lower end of fast ice productivity estimates and suggests that conventional 14C techniques may overestimate sea ice algal mat productivity. Photosynthetic capacity (P max) approached 0.05 mg C. (mg chl a)−1 h −1. Onset of photosynthesis saturation, E k, was found at c. 14 μmol photons m −2 s −1. The irradiance of photoinhibition onset, E inh, was c. 20 μmol photons m −2 s −1 and the irradiance at the compensation point, E c, was 4 μmol photons m −2 s −1.

This paper describes measurements of concentrations of cosmogenic 26Al, 10Be and 21Ne in quartz from bedrock surfaces in the Transantarctic Mountains where stratigraphic and geomorphic evidence shows that the surfaces were covered by ice in the past, but were not glacially eroded during periods of ice cover. It then explores to what extent this information can be used to learn about past ice sheet change. First, cosmogenic nuclide concentrations in sandstone bedrock surfaces at two sites in the McMurdo Dry Valleys near 77°S are consistent with an equilibrium between nuclide production and loss by surface erosion and radioactive decay. They are most easily explained by a scenario in which: i) sites more than c. 100 m above the present ice surface were almost never ice-covered and eroded steadily at 0.5–1.5 m Ma-1, and ii) sites near the present ice margin experienced similar erosion rates when ice-free, but have been covered by cold-based, non-erosive glacier ice as much as half of the time during the past several million years. Nuclide concentrations in granite bedrock at a site in the Quartz Hills near 85°S, on the other hand, have not reached production-erosion equilibrium, thus retaining evidence of the time they were first exposed to the cosmic ray flux. Nuclide concentrations at these sites are most easily explained by 4–6 Ma exposure, extremely low erosion rates of 5–10 cm Ma-1 during periods of exposure, and only very short periods of cold-based, non-erosive ice cover.

The main water body at Hope Bay, Boeckella Lake, was sampled at four sites for phytoplankton during summer 1991 to assess the influence of nutrients from nearby penguin rookeries on both phytoplankton density and composition. The site located at the base of the rookeries had total phosphorus values comparable to those reported from the most eutrophic Antarctic lakes. During the ice-free period most of the Chlorophyceae and Cyanophyceae recorded were concentrated at this site. Phytoplankton density increased strongly in the area opposite to the rookeries where ice began to form; an under-ice bloom of Ochromonas aff. ovalis (Chrysophyceae) was observed in this area.

Over the past 15 years, Japanese, Australian and Russian expeditions to Prydz Bay have collected about 30 000 km of bathymetric data, 6000 km of sidescan sonar data and more than 250 sediment grab and core samples. These data were used in the present study to compile surficial sediment, bathymetric, and geomorphological maps of the Prydz Bay region. Lithofacies distribution was determined by surficial sediment data analysis using sample matrix (Q-mode) and cluster analysis techniques based on data from 206 sites. Data included percentage biogenic silica (opal), calcium carbonate, gravel, mud, and relative abundance of two diatom species (Fragilariopsis curta and F. kerguelensis). Five lithofacies are identified from the available data: (1) slightly gravelly sandy mud (g)sM lithofacies, (2) siliceous mud and diatom ooze (SMO) lithofacies, (3) F. kerguelensis pelagic ooze lithofacies, (4) F. curta gravelly muddy sand gmS lithofacies and (5) calcareous gravel lithofacies. In many areas the lithofacies correlate to geomorphological provinces as defined by previous investigators using 3.5 kHz and sidescan sonar data. In some cases, Holocene SMO sediments are seen to drape over iceberg plough marks, implying that these are relict features. These five lithofacies are likely to dominate most of the East Antarctic shelf region and may be helpful in defining sedimentary successions resulting from ice-sheet advance and retreat over glacial-interglacial cycles.

After a decade of research, New Zealand’s Latitudinal Gradient Project (LGP) now includes primary sites from Cape Hallett (72°S) to the Darwin Glacier (80°S), while additional observations extend the latitudinal transect from 84°S to sub-Antarctic regions. The LGP has been structured around a hypothesis that, in a frigid continent, ice dynamics is the key ecosystem variable. For terrestrial environments, two aspects of ice dynamics appear to underlie much of the observed variability. Firstly, the aridity of the region makes the transition from ice to water a key ecological factor, and secondly, the legacy of ice dynamics dating as far back as the Pliocene is imprinted on biogeography. These factors operate at difference temporal and spatial scales and neither is monotonically related to latitude. Both are also complicated by meso-scale cross gradients of altitude and distance from the sea and micro-scale local variability. Whilst climate does vary on a broad-scale, differences within the northern and central parts of Victoria Land that the LGP has so far examined are insufficient to impose any overarching effect that can overwhelm these more local effects. The result is a multiple-scale patchwork of habitats and communities, more or less replicated across the transect, in which variability at any given latitude generally exceeds variability between latitudes. A lesser quantum of research has been directed at marine ecosystems, but here there is a similar picture of local variability dominating within the Ross Sea, with significant latitude-scale effects only emerging when transects are extended into maritime- and sub-Antarctic regions. It is implicit, but not specifically recognized in the LGP context, that a further confounding effect on the interpretation of ‘transect’ information is the multiple stressor concept that requires a simultaneous analysis of interacting (synergistic or antagonistic) factors and environmental responses. As the LGP continues to extend further south, climate is expected to become more extreme, and water availability may change sufficiently for loss of habitat and species diversity to occur. Here we discuss options for refining the LGP approach to optimize its potential for understanding variability, and the factors underpinning this, in the Ross Sea Sector.

We present evidence for the absence of the George VI Ice Shelf during a brief period in the mid-Holocene and during one or more earlier interstadials or interglacials. Barnacle Bathylasma corolliforme shells sampled from ice shelf moraines at Two Step Cliffs on Alexander Island have been dated to c, 5750–6000 14C yr BP(c. 6550–6850 cal yr BP) and imply seasonally open water in the George VI Sound during this period. Other shells are beyond the range of radiocarbon dating and imply open water during one or more previous interglacial or interstadial period, prior to 40 000 14C yr BP. Our results show that the ongoing collapse of some Antarctic Peninsula ice shelves is not unprecedented.

This study aimed to use nutrients in lake inflows as proxies for assessing human impact and separating this from natural transformations of material in the soil active layer. Nutrients, conductivity and δ18O were monitored in surface and subsurface (using ceramic tipped piezometers) lake inflows during summer in near natural and human impacted catchments. The nutrient levels were highly variable but generally higher during the last weeks of the flow, in both subsurface waters and in human impacted catchments. Up to 2000 μgN l−1 subsurface dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN) was measured in human impacted catchments but only 315 μg N l−1 in natural catchments. Subsurface levels of dissolved reactive phosphorus (DRP) were up to 310 μgP l−1 in natural catchments and up to 108 μgP l-1 in human impacted catchments. The maximum levels of both DIN and DRP in surface inflows were much higher in human impacted than in natural catchments. Conductivity and δ18O data showed general enrichment of snowbank meltwater presumably through evaporation from the active layer. This combined with fluctuating nutrient levels in catchment waters indicated that soil brines and decaying organic matter of natural and human origin were possible sources for nutrients and other salts. Marked salinization and substantially increased DIN levels near the research stations indicated that lake waters were receiving nutrients generated by humans.

Three species of shrimps (Notocrangon antarcticus, Chorismus antarcticus, Nematocarcinus lanceopes) were investigated in the south-eastern Weddell Sea using of underwater photography. Maximum densities of c. 100 specimens per 100 m2 were found for N. antarcticus on the continental shelf (200–600 m) and for N. lanceopes on the slope (800–1200 m). Small-scale dispersion patterns and size-frequency distributions were analyzed within dense concentrations. These direct observations indicate that the behaviour of the three species is adapted to different habitats with Chorismus distribution correlated with that of sponges and Notocrangon with base sediment.

Physical and chemical characteristics and solution geochemistry of major and trace elements were investigated in an area of volcanic soil colonized by mosses at Edmonson Point (central Victoria Land) during the international BIOTAS (Biological Investigations of Terrestrial Antarctic Systems) expedition (BIOTEX) in the 1995–96 summer. The broad objective was to study the environmental factors involved in plant colonisation and survival in terrestrial continental Antarctic ecosystems. The results showed that moss distribution and survival throughout the summer was closely dependent on water supply. In Antarctic coastal ecosystems the environmental biogeochemistry is largely dominated by ions of marine origin. At the drier end of a hydrological gradient the dry cushions of Hennediella heimii were encrusted with salts and showed much higher concentrations of soluble ions (Na+, Cl−, K+, Ca2+, Mg2+, SO42−, NO3−) than those in adhering soil particles or in other moss species from wetter parts of the transect. Although salt encrustations may partly derive from sublimation of surface snow, comparisons between concentrations of soluble ions in the dry moss and those in the < 2 mm fraction of surface and deep soil showed an upward migration along the soil profile of soluble ions as the substratum dried out, between December and January, and their accumulation mostly on mosses. At the wet end of the transect messes were less affected by salt encrustations and there was evidence of Ca2+ uptake and an active cycling of nutrients.

This review represents the Southern Ocean community’s satellite data needs for the coming decade. Developed through widespread engagement and incorporating perspectives from a range of stakeholders (both research and operational), it is designed as an important community-driven strategy paper that provides the rationale and information required for future planning and investment. The Southern Ocean is vast but globally connected, and the communities that require satellite-derived data in the region are diverse. This review includes many observable variables, including sea ice properties, sea surface temperature, sea surface height, atmospheric parameters, marine biology (both micro and macro) and related activities, terrestrial cryospheric connections, sea surface salinity, and a discussion of coincident and in situ data collection. Recommendations include commitment to data continuity, increases in particular capabilities (sensor types, spatial, temporal), improvements in dissemination of data/products/uncertainties, and innovation in calibration/validation capabilities. Full recommendations are detailed by variable as well as summarized. This review provides a starting point for scientists to understand more about Southern Ocean processes and their global roles, for funders to understand the desires of the community, for commercial operators to safely conduct their activities in the Southern Ocean, and for space agencies to gain greater impact from Southern Ocean-related acquisitions and missions.

Meltwater habitats in the Darwin Glacier region, Victoria Land (80°S), were sampled in December 2007 and January 2009 to characterize their microbial and metazoan ecology, nutrient status and geochemistry. Targeted areas included terrestrial ponds of the Grant Valley, Lake Wellman, Tentacle Ridge and Diamond Hill, and supraglacial ponds and cryoconite holes of the lower Darwin Glacier. Geochemistry ranged from Na-Cl dominated terrestrial ponds to Na-HCO3 dominated, dilute supraglacial ponds and cryoconites. All showed the nitrate enrichment typical of inland ponds of Victoria Land (up to 13 g.l-1 NO3-N), with some precipitating nitratine (NaNO3) salt. Elevated pH indicated ongoing photosynthetic processes. Benthic microbial mats were thin and poorly developed, dominated by oscillatoriacean cyanobacteria. Nitrogen-fixing genera were generally absent and diatoms were rare. A large (20 μm long) Cyanothece species was the most abundant cyanobacterium in the water and in sediments of the cryoconites. DNA finger-printing identified distinct differences in cyanobacterial and bacterial community structure between the cryoconites, terrestrial ponds and ponds on glacial margins. Eleven metazoan species were identified, with rotifers being the most abundant. Pond substrate (terrestrial rock, ice-cored moraine or supraglacial ice) proved to be a more significant influence on biogeochemistry than other aspects of geography or climatic conditions.

The water and calorific content of fifteen species of mesopelagic sub-Antarctic fish from Macquarie Island were determined. Mean percent water content was 69–82%. Calorific content was highly variable between species, especially in the Myctophidae, where it ranged between 22.6–59.3 kJ·g−1 dry weight. The water and calorific content varied with size class within a species, with the smallest size classes generally having the lowest water content but highest calorific content. These values will be useful for future assessment of energetic transfer between trophic levels and energetic modelling of Southern Ocean ecosystems.

In January 1985 a net sampling survey was carried out on the distribution and abundance of euphausiid larvae in the Prydz Bay region. Euphausia superba occurred in low abundance, probably due to sampling preceding the main spawning period. Thysanoessa macrura occurred throughout the study area in consistently high abundance. Euphausia crystallorophias was marginally more abundant within its restricted range. Distinct north-south variations in larval age and developmental stages of T. macrura were observed indicating regional differences in spawning. Euphausia frigida was mainly confined to the upper 200 m of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current. E. superba larvae produced north of the shelf break, between 70°–83°E, moved north-east into the Antarctic Circumpolar Current. Larvae originating on the shelf moved rapidly west in the East Wind drift. E. crystallorophias had the same westward dispersion, but some larvae appeared to return eastward via the Prydz Bay Gyre and remain in the region. The data indicate that most E. superba larvae, providing they survive injuries cold temperature an food deprivation, will leave the area, suggests that Prydz Bay krill may not be a self maintaining stock.

This study describes the relation of the phosphorus chemical speciation in surface sediments with input processes in Admiralty Bay, King George Island, Antarctica. The sediments were analysed with a sequential extraction for phosphorus fractionation to measure: exchangeable P (Pexch), iron oxyhydroxide bound P (P-Fe), authigenic P (Auth-P), detrital P (Detrital-P) and organic P (Porg). The study revealed that Detrital-P (39–70%) was the main sedimentary phosphorus forms and Auth-P (40–54%) was the second largest pool. The average percentage of each fraction of P followed the sequence: Detrital-P (41%) > Auth-P (37%) > P-Fe (12%) > Porg = Pexch (5%). Spatial differences in grain size distribution were found. Silt and clay factions were predominant in the inlets, whereas sand and gravel were the main components in Central bay (unofficial name). Values were extremely low for organic carbon (< 0.30%) and total nitrogen (< 0.17%). Total sulfur was lower than 0.15%, except for Mackellar Inlet where values were 1%. The dominance of detrital apatite in the total sedimentary phosphorus demonstrates the importance of terrestrial inputs from ice melting in governing the abundance and speciation of sedimentary phosphorus in the Admiralty Bay sediments.

We present 21Ne exposure ages of erosional glaciogenic rock surfaces on nunataks in northern Victoria Land, Antarctica: i) in the Prince Albert Mountains and ii) near Mesa Range. These nunataks are located directly at the margin of the polar plateau and therefore provide an immediate record of ice volume changes of the East Antarctic Ice Sheet, not biased by ice shelf grounding or narrow valley sections downstream the outlet glaciers. The sampling locations overlook the present ice surface by less than 200 m, but were last covered by ice 3.5 Ma bp (minimum age, not corrected for erosion). This strongly indicates that the ice sheet has not been substantially thicker than today since at least the early Pliocene, which supports the hypothesis of a stable East Antarctic Ice Sheet. First absolute ages are reported for the alpine topography above the erosive trimline that typically marks the upper limit of glacial activity in northern Victoria Land. Unexpectedly low nuclide concentrations suggest that erosion rates on the alpine topography are considerably higher due to the steep slopes than those affecting flat erosional surfaces carrying Antarctic tors.