Data on grain size and heavy mineral composition for surface sediments on the Prydz Bay continental shelf was analysed to identify sediment features and provenance. The grain size composition of surface sediments indicate spatial variations in the glaciomarine environment and the key factors influencing sedimentation, which on the shelf include topography/water depth, currents and icebergs. The study area was divided into two sections by Q-type factor analysis: section I included Prydz Channel, Amery Basin and Svenner Channel, and section II included Four Ladies Bank, Fram Bank and the area in front of the Amery Ice Shelf. Sedimentation in section I is mainly controlled by currents and topography/water depth. However, in section II, icebergs/floating ice masses, the Amery Ice Shelf and currents have prominent effects on sedimentation. The heavy mineral composition indicates that surface sediments on the eastern side of the bay, including Four Ladies Bank, are primarily derived from Princess Elizabeth Land. Sediments in the area in front of the Amery Ice Shelf, Svenner Channel, Amery Basin and Prydz Channel have a mixed source from the eastern regions around the bay, including the Prince Charles Mountains and Princess Elizabeth Land. The contribution from Mac. Robertson Land to sediment at Fram Bank is limited.

As Antarctic subglacial lake research progresses to in situ exploration an important topic is the lake's probable gas concentration. Depending on hydrological setting, subglacial lakes may contain large amounts of dissolved gas or gas trapped within clathrates. Consequently, access can be potentially dangerous due to the risk of blowout where depressurization could lead to high-speed ejection of water and gas from a borehole. We present a structured approach to assess the blowout risk in subglacial lake exploration. The approach integrates a generic event tree, applicable to open and closed hydrological systems, with site-specific expert judgment incorporating rigorous probabilistic formulations. The methodology is applied to a motivating example: Ellsworth Subglacial Lake. Judgments elicited through a formal process were provided by five experts with 88 years combined experience that, after aggregation, gave a median risk of blowout of 1 in 2186 with a lower quartile of 1 in 3433 and an upper quartile of 1 in 1341. This approach can be applied to any subglacial lake given a modicum of knowledge on its hydrological setting, as uncertainty can be captured through the elicited judgments. Additionally, the event tree analysis informs blowout mitigation strategies to reduce risk of injury or death.

The Cape Darnley region in East Antarctica has been an area of scientific interest for a variety of disciplines over the last three decades. The recent acquisition of several high-resolution bathymetry datasets enabled the compilation of a detailed regional bathymetry grid. We present a high-resolution bathymetric compilation of the Cape Darnley region in East Antarctica, including areas of the Mac.Robertson Land shelf, slope and adjacent deep sea. A variety of data, single-beam and multibeam swath bathymetry and digitized depths from nautical charts were sourced from numerous institutions. The 100 m-resolution gridded bathymetric dataset improves previous bathymetric representations of the region and enables visualization of the seafloor morphology in unprecedented detail. The bathymetry grid has been constructed using a layered hierarchy approach based on the source of each dataset. This data compilation forms important baseline information for a range of scientific applications and end users including oceanographers, glacial modellers, biologists and geologists. The compilation will aid numerical modelling of ocean circulation, reconstruction of palaeo-ice streams and refinement of ice-sheet models.

There is a pressing need for region-specific information on the response of polar species to contaminants. The Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty states “…regular and effective monitoring shall take place to allow assessment of the impacts of ongoing activities, including the verification of predicted impact…”. Although the Treaty only applies to the Antarctic, similar requirements exist for the Arctic; thus, our comments below apply to both polar regions. Without ecotoxicological information all the effort that is directed towards contaminants monitoring is largely meaningless as it does not tell us whether the levels detected pose an environmental risk.

Theodosius Dobzhansky once remarked that nothing in biology makes sense other than in the light of evolution, thereby emphasising the central role of evolutionary studies in providing the theoretical context for all of biology. It is perhaps surprising then that evolutionary biology has played such a small role to date in Antarctic science. This is particularly so when it is recognised that the polar regions provide us with an unrivalled laboratory within which to undertake evolutionary studies. The Antarctic exhibits one of the classic examples of a resistance adaptation (antifreeze peptides and glycopeptides, first described from Antarctic fish), and provides textbook examples of adaptive radiations (for example amphipod crustaceans and notothenioid fish). The land is still largely in the grip of major glaciation, and the once rich terrestrial floras and faunas of Cenozoic Gondwana are now highly depauperate and confined to relatively small patches of habitat, often extremely isolated from other such patches. Unlike the Arctic, where organisms are returning to newly deglaciated land from refugia on the continental landmasses to the south, recolonization of Antarctica has had to take place by the dispersal of propagules over vast distances. Antarctica thus offers an insight into the evolutionary responses of terrestrial floras and faunas to extreme climatic change unrivalled in the world. The sea forms a strong contrast to the land in that here the impact of climate appears to have been less severe, at least in as much as few elements of the fauna show convincing signs of having been completely eradicated.

In this paper, we synthesize recorded observations of moss, lichen and bird species in Bunger Hills, East Antarctica, and assess the role of environmental controls, including sediment, salinity, moisture and geology, on species' distributions. The distribution of snow petrels (Pagodroma nivea) appears to be associated with geology; they nest by preference in crevices in bedrock outcrops around the margins of the hills or wherever jointed cliffs are found. South polar skuas (Catharacta maccormicki) are seen throughout Bunger Hills, where they nest and prey on snow petrels. Mosses and lichens were most abundant around the ice margins where fresh snow and ice meltwater are abundant. In the central area of Bunger Hills, where the highest salt concentration in sediments is found and exposure to abrasion by wind-driven mineral sand grains and ice particles is greatest, mosses and lichens are reduced in abundance and diversity. Exposure of parts of Bunger Hills from the ice sheet throughout the Last Glacial Maximum, c. 20 ka bp, means that some land and lakes could have acted as regional refugia and as a locus of recolonization of other ice-free areas.

Among the benthic lithological samples collected during the Spanish Antarctic survey GEBRAP 1996–97 in the Bransfield Strait, two new oweniid (Annelida, Polychaeta, Oweniidae) species were collected: Myriochele riojai n. sp. and Myriochele robusta n. sp. Myriochele riojai is closely related to M. heeri Malmgren, 1867 but differs in body size, number and distribution of the notosetae and in the position of elongated abdominal body segments. Myriochele robusta differs from all known species of the genus owing to its possession of a biramous setiger between two uniramous setigers in the anterior (thoracic) body region. A key to oweniid species recorded in Antarctic waters is provided.

Rhyolitic volcanism along the proto-Pacific margin of Gondwana occurred at intervals throughout the Jurassic. Silicic melt generation has been interpreted as a result of interaction between mantle plumes and subduction modified lower crust. The rhyolitic Mount Poster Formation of the southern Antarctic Peninsula is c. 184 Ma in age (V1), whereas silicic volcanism of the northern Antarctic Peninsula is c. 168 Ma (V2). A thin, (13.5 cm) reworked air fall tuff, interbedded with sandstone and mudstone of the Latady Formation in the southern Antarctic Peninsula has a REE pattern similar to V2 volcanic material but is isotopically similar to the extracaldera, low-Ti rhyolites of the V1 Mount Poster Formation. The tuff is interbedded with lithofacies that have been assigned a Callovian age (164–159 Ma) in the west of the area. Simple mixing between a MASH source and reworked Early Jurassic (184 Ma) V1 volcanic material during V2 volcanism in the area explains the apparent discrepancy between the faunal age and the isotopic characteristics of the ash fall. This supports a Middle Jurassic (168 Ma) age that also corresponds to a 167 ± 3 Ma age from Mt Rex on the periphery of the Mount Poster Formation, which was previously thought to be anomalous.

Current measurements obtained from a sparse array of moorings on the Ross Continental Shelf during the 1980 and 90s are analysed for their tidal constituents. Diurnal (K1 and O1) tides are about five times stronger than semi-diurnal tides, and are strongest near the shelf break in agreement with recent model results. At some energetic locations the diurnal tides are significantly weaker at depth, presumably due to bottom friction. Complex demodulation analysis shows that at some locations the tidal response varies significantly in time. This time variability rises markedly above the noise floor expected from the spectral continuum between tidal bands, and does not scale with tidal bandwidth as would be expected of broadband noise. Further its magnitude is generally proportional to the associated tidal constituent, indicating that it is truly a varying tidal response. Space scales of this tidal instability were not resolved but are less than 150 km, while time scales appear mostly seasonal to interannual. The rms magnitude of the unstable response can be 1/3 of a given component’s mean magnitude, placing substantial limits on the ability of prognostic or even data assimilative models to accurately predict these tides for any specific time period.

The sub-fossil moss Pohlia nutans is recorded from lake sediment cores at Schirmacher Oasis, Dronning Maud Land, Antarctica. It was isolated from 160–162 cm depth of a sediment core. Radiocarbon (14C) dates by accelerator mass spectrometry confirmed its age to be 10.65 kyr bp. The preserved Holocene sub-fossil moss includes delicate leaves, axes and rhizoids and matches perfectly the extant specimens of P. nutans. This is the first record of this sub-fossil from Dronning Maud Land, although the species is common as present-day flora in other parts of the Antarctic. The present status of the moss flora of Schirmacher Oasis is also discussed, including its diversity, ecology and biogeography.

This paper tracks the progress of renewable energy deployment at Antarctic facilities, introducing an interactive database and map specifically created for this purpose. Goals, challenges and lessons learnt from these operations are also reported. The data and assessments presented are based on a literature review of government reports, academic articles, online resources, news outlets and interviews conducted with personnel of Antarctic stations. As of 2021, 29 facilities have incorporated renewables in their energy systems, but only one permanent and four summer stations use renewables to meet more than 50% of their energy needs. Four main goals behind the development of renewable energy systems have been identified: fuel cost savings; reduction of the greenhouse gas emissions footprint in alignment with national decarbonization targets; electricity supply for scientific equipment during the winter months; and the development and/or testing of new technologies. The extreme weather conditions and complex logistics of Antarctica put both solar and wind systems under huge stress, which generates operational, technological and budgetary challenges that are also explored in this work.

The near Earth space environment (known as Geospace) is dominated by the interaction between the solar wind and the geomagnetic field, which creates the magnetosphere. Considerable energy flows from the solar wind into the magnetosphere and ends up in the Earth's upper atmosphere (the thermosphere and ionosphere). The coupling of the geomagnetic field with that of the solar wind (known as the interplanetary magnetic field, or IMF) produces a variety of electro-dynamic responses with signatures such as electric fields and currents in the polar ionospheres. These produce, inter alia, motion of the ionospheric plasma (at altitudes between 100 and 1000kms) which can be monitored from the ground using radar techniques. Analysis of such plasma motion provides a very powerful means of investigating the nature of the interactions taking place at the boundaries between the magnetosphere and the solar wind. To do this effectively requires simultaneous measurements over as large an area (in latitude and longitude) as possible.

In the austral summer of 1991–92, 120 sample plots were established along 11 transects at various distances from the Swedish research stations Wasa and Svea in Dronning Maud Land, Antarctica. These plots were re-examined in 2001–02 to evaluate overall changes and possible local impact from human activities around the research stations on the terrestrial vegetation, formed by lichens and mosses. The results showed high consistencies over the ten years, but nevertheless suggest a slight overall increase in both lichen species density and abundance, measured as the number of lichen records. We did not find evidence for any severe human impact on the lichens and mosses around the research stations. However, sample plots located close to the Svea station had been affected by station maintenance, which has caused local decline of lichen species such as Umbilicaria decussata. In contrast to the overall consistency and slight increase in lichens we found a decline of Rhizoplaca melanophthalma.

Widely accepted ideas about trophic preferences of early penguins suggest that all Eocene sphenisciforms were piscivorous. However, recent findings from the La Meseta Formation (Eocene) of Antarctica, support the presence of at least two different morphotypes that may have evolved as a niche partitioning strategy, which is consistent with the high diversity recorded. The first of them corresponds to a medium–large sized penguin, resembling the Neogene species in configuration. Another morphotype is represented by extremely large penguins with very long and slender bills, clearly linked to fish catching habits.

Analysis of high-resolution data from slow-ascent radiosondes released at Halley station, Antarctica (75°38′S, 26°40′W), shows that internal gravity wave phenomena are frequently present in the lower troposphere. There is a strong tendency for these waves to induce a vertical transport of the SE-NW component of momentum, this being the component perpendicular to the alignment of regular ridges in the ice shelf on which the base is built and is independent of the mean wind direction. A method for estimating the variation of the momentum fluxes with height is described. Results show that momentum flux divergences equivalent to accelerations of about 10 ms−1 per day are common at Halley.

The bivalve Aulacomyella is described formally from Tithonian deposits of the Antarctic Peninsula region for the first time. Two species are recognized. A. willeyi Kelly sp. nov. was collected in situ from the Nordenskjöld Formation, Longing Gap on the east coast of Graham Land, and in clasts reworked into Cretaceous glide block deposits on James Ross Island. A. cf. problematica Furlani is recorded from the Himalia Ridge Formation, Fossil Bluff Group, Alexander Island. These Antarctic records are the first published systematic descriptions of the genus from the Southern Hemisphere. Together with Mexican and Turkish records, they represent the last known occurrences of this genus. Globally the genus is particularly abundant during the Kimmeridgian and Early Tithonian stages and is therefore of value as a biostratigraphic indicator. It was almost certainly an epibyssate suspension feeder, although the precise palaeoecological setting for Aulacomyella is uncertain. It normally occurs in black shales or mudstones. The most likely life habits were either living epifaunally on the sea floor, where it bloomed under episodic dysaerobic conditions in an otherwise anaerobic environment, or pseudoplanktonically infesting floating sea weeds etc. Of these hypotheses the former is preferred here.

Coordinating and collecting satellite data of changing polar environments is one of the prime activities of International Polar Year (IPY) 2007–08 (Rapley et al. 2004). Within this framework, the requirements to obtain spaceborne snapshots of the Polar Regions and key high latitude processes have been prepared by the international cryospheric community under the auspices of the approved IPY project titled the Global Inter-agency IPY Polar Snapshot Year (GIIPSY). Earlier efforts in manoeuvring Radarsat-1 in a special mode provided radar images with a spatial resolution of 30 m over the entirety of Antarctica during September–October 1997 (Jezek et al. 1998). Limited to their altitude (AL), swath (SW) and pointing capability (PC), however, the operation of optical satellites with high-spatial-resolution sensors is generally restricted to certain latitudes. For example, Landsat (AL:705 km/SW:185 km/PC:0°) mission has been able to provide high-spatial-resolution optical imagery only to ~81°N to ~81°S since the 1980s. The coverage is now extended to ~86° by ASTER (AL:705 km/SW:60 km/PC:24°) (Kargel et al. 2005), but there has been no availability of space-borne optical image of the polar regions with a resolution equivalent or higher than Landsat type sensors with latitudes higher than 86°, until the successful operation of Formosat-2 (AL:891 km/SW:24 km/PC: ± 45° across and along track). Equipped with two-axes high torque reaction wheels, Formosat-2 is able to point not only to ± 45° across track, but also to ± 45° along track (Liu et al. 2007). Figure 1 shows the accessible areas (longer lines: along track ± 0°, across track ± 45°; shorter lines: along track ± 0°, across track ± 30°) and the corresponding ground tracks (solid curves) of Formosat-2 in the Polar Regions. Note that the accessible areas would be even greater if the pointing direction is also set to ± 45° along track. The detailed comparison of Formosat-2 with other similar sensors, including the multi-spectral bands and imaging repeat period, can be found in table I in Liu et al. (2007). To support IPY 2007–08, the National Space Organization (NSPO) of Taiwan launched a Polar Imaging Campaign (PIC) in March 2006. Up to September 2007, a total of 1 131 624 km2 in the North Polar Region and a total of 57 408 km2 in the South Polar Region had been imaged by Formosat-2. All Formosat-2 images taken during the NSPO PIC are available from the authors.

Organisms living in the Arctic and Antarctic are exposed to strong environmental constraints, especially temperature. Consequently, haemoglobin evolution has included adaptations with implications at the biochemical, physiological and molecular levels. The northern and southern polar oceans have very different oceanographic characteristics. Within the study of the molecular bases of cold adaptation in fish inhabiting polar habitats, and taking advantage of the information available on haemoglobin structure and function, we analysed the evolutionary history of the α and β globins of Antarctic and Arctic haemoglobins, under the assumption of the molecular-clock hypothesis, as a basis for reconstructing the phylogenetic relationships between species. Temperate fish, including two non-Antarctic notothenioids of special evolutionary interest, were also considered. Phylogenetic analysis was performed on the multiple sequence alignments constructed with the programme Clustal X. Tree topologies indicate that the chains of Antarctic major and minor haemoglobins cluster in two well separated groups and diverged prior to cold adaptation, forming a monophyletic group. In Arctic haemoglobins, the structure/function relationship reveals important differences in comparison with Antarctic ones, indicating a distinct evolutionary pathway. The Arctic ichthyofauna (unlike the Antarctic, dominated by one taxonomically uniform group) is characterized by high diversity, reflected in the phylogeny of a given trait. The constant physico-chemical conditions of the Antarctic waters are matched by a clear grouping of fish globin sequences, whereas the variability typical of the Arctic Ocean corresponds to high sequence variation, reflected in the trees by scattered intermediate positions between the Antarctic and non-Antarctic clades. The evolutionary history of the Root effect, an important physiological feature of fish haemoglobin, was investigated. Analysis of the fate of the residues of the β chains suggested to be correlated with the Root effect indicate that they should rather be regarded as ancestral characters, inherited by some species but not by others.

Climate change in the Antarctic over the past 50+ years has caused contraction of ice and snow cover, longer melt seasons and intensified glacier melting. These changes affect erosion and sediment redistribution processes that are vital to our understanding of terrestrial and freshwater ecosystems and sediment input to oceans. This 79 day study of the Orwell Glacier meltwater stream on Signy Island (5 December 2019–21 February 2020) used 5 min recordings of turbidity, stream discharge (Q) and air temperature (AT), supplemented by 454 water samples from which suspended sediment concentration (SSC) was gravimetrically determined, to calculate daily suspended sediment loads (SSLs). Qmean was 47.8 ± 3.5 l s-1, SSCmean was 71.0 ± 15.9 mg l-1 and daily SSLmean was 75 ± 8 kg day-1 with a suspended sediment yield of 43.6 t km-2 yr-1. A multiple regression model predicted SSLs reliably (multiple r = 0.95, r2 = 0.91, n = 79) and, when run with ATmean + 1°C (expected on Signy Island by 2060) and ATmean + 2°C (expected by 2100) scenarios, the model predicted 7% and 13% increases in SSLs, respectively. The SSLs estimated in this study are low when compared with others from around the world.