For a long period the Northern Sea Route was considered by the Soviet Union as a national seaway closed to foreign shipping. In 1987 Mikhail Gorbachev announced his intention to open the Northern Sea Route for international navigation. In the following years a number of acts were adopted to realise this idea. These documents clarified to a great extent the attitude of the USSR to the sector concept, historic waters, and other aspects of the northern seas. Nevertheless, some uncertainties in the legal status of the Northern Sea Route remain. This article focuses on the doctrinal views, state practice of the USSR and Russia, and prospects of internationalisation of the Northern Sea Route on the basis of international convention.

In May 1956, an article in this Journal described the mapping of the Falkland Islands Dependencies up to that date (Leay, 1956). In March 1962, that part of the Dependencies lying south of 60° S was re-named British Antarctic Territory. This is an account of the maps of both the Dependencies and the Territory that have been published by the Directorate of Overseas Surveys* since 1956 and of the methods that have been used in their production.

Deception, Bridgeman and Penguin are the three most recently active volcanic islands in the South Shetland Islands. Since the discovery of the archipelago in 1819, Deception Island has erupted on frequent occasions, most recently in August 1970. A number of nineteenth-century observers reported fumarolic or volcanic activity from Bridgeman Island. No eyewitness accounts of activity from Penguin Island have been found. A chronological list detailing the historic reports from Bridgeman Island was compiled to compare and establish their veracity. This process revealed a consistency of observation from independent observers. An effort has been made to consider if any of these reports of activity may have belonged instead to Penguin Island volcano, 60 km (32 NM) away. A review of the timing of discovery and availability of the first charts of the South Shetlands was also examined to narrow the period when mariners might have mistaken one island for another. Only the three earliest observations of activity from an unnamed volcano, during the short period when no maps were available, may be questioned. A useful chart of the region was published in 1822, and all subsequent observations of activity were from Bridgeman, not Penguin Island.

As ice recedes, the governance of the Arctic is undergoing a significant change. What was once considered a frozen desert with little relevance to the legal system, the Arctic has gradually become a global object of governance. Furthermore, the growing political salience of the Arctic Ocean has generated interest in its governance beyond Arctic states, particularly Asian states such as China, India, Japan, Singapore and South Korea. These countries have been actively participating in regional cooperation arrangements, including the Arctic Council. Undoubtedly, science diplomacy has been an important driver in shaping the governance of the Arctic and maintaining it as a low-tension area. However, this perception is now being put to the test following the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Amidst this crisis, we explore whether science diplomacy can continue to promote peaceful collaboration in the Arctic region. Our research suggests that science diplomacy could potentially aid in the future of Arctic governance, particularly with regard to the involvement of Asian states. We analyse the legal and geopolitical factors involved in determining the potential roles of Asian states in Arctic governance, including whether they could serve as a bridge between the West and Russia or if their actions might further fragment Arctic governance.

A lasting legacy of the International Polar Year (IPY) 2007–2008 was the promotion of the Permafrost Young Researchers Network (PYRN), initially an IPY outreach and education activity by the International Permafrost Association (IPA). With the momentum of IPY, PYRN developed into a thriving network that still connects young permafrost scientists, engineers, and researchers from other disciplines. This research note summarises (1) PYRN’s development since 2005 and the IPY’s role, (2) the first 2015 PYRN census and survey results, and (3) PYRN’s future plans to improve international and interdisciplinary exchange between young researchers. The review concludes that PYRN is an established network within the polar research community that has continually developed since 2005. PYRN’s successful activities were largely fostered by IPY. With >200 of the 1200 registered members active and engaged, PYRN is capitalising on the availability of social media tools and rising to meet environmental challenges while maintaining its role as a successful network honouring the legacy of IPY.

When Sir John Franklin’s expedition ships, lost since 1845, were found in the Arctic in 2014 and 2016, respectively, they were referred to several times in the media as ghost ships. However, such a comparison is not new. In 1862, an article linking the disappearance of the Franklin expedition to that of a ghost ship in Antarctic waters appeared in a newly founded German geographic journal aimed at a general audience. The story of the ghost ship Jenny in the Drake Passage between South America and Antarctica would probably have been long forgotten had it not appeared again in this journal in English translation a century later. Since then, the story has appeared again and again in publications about mysterious phenomena, without succeeding in answering the question of whether such a ship ever existed at all. Instead of continuing to look for evidence of the actual existence of the ship, the following article not only presents the sources of the 1862 journal article but also examines how the story itself might have originated. In addition to a well-known legend about a ghost ship in the Arctic waters of Greenland, which will also be analysed in greater detail, oral tales and tradition about two almost forgotten voyages into Antarctic waters and a well-known one have probably also been incorporated into the tale of the ghost ship Jenny. All translations from German are by the author.

Rosove (2001: 323) described James Clark Ross's Antarctic voyage as ‘one of mankind's greatest expeditions of geographical and scientific exploration’ and Captain Scott (1905 I: 22) wrote that it was ‘among the most famous and brilliant ever made.’ Ross himself published an account of the voyage (1847), which was followed by that of the surgeon on board Erebus, Robert McCormick (1884). J.E. Davis (1901), the second master of Terror wrote a long letter to his sister, and Cornelius Savage (Savage 1839–1843), the blacksmith in Erebus wrote notes for James Savage, seaman. There was also an article published by John Robertson (1843), the surgeon in Terror together with the scientific reports and papers, none of which contain a day by day account of the voyage. Indeed, apart from the first two the other accounts cover relatively short portions of the voyage. There is also a large number of modern volumes dealing with the voyage, among which Ross (1982) quotes quite extensively from the diary that is the present topic (Cunningham 1830–1843). This diary with full critical apparatus has been published in extenso by the Hakluyt Society on line and the purpose of this note is to draw this publication to the attention of readers of Polar Record.

The Northern Forum has been in existence for more than two decades. The cooperative initiatives implement through the forum allow sub-national governments from different parts of the world to improve the quality of life of northern inhabitants and to support their sustainable development. Over time, the forum has established a clear structure with self-created rules and guidelines. However, its legal status is somewhat ambiguous: it has neither fulfilled the essential criteria of an international organisation nor that of an intergovernmental cooperative body. Nevertheless, these shortcomings are not immense obstacles to the forum's ability to serve the well being of residents of the northern regions. The forum has granted membership to business organisations, as well as to sub-national governments, which is an innovative concept in international cooperation. This article examines the evolution, administrative system, and legal status of the forum along with its contribution to the development of international law. The article concludes with observations on how this unique international regional co-operation forum could be characterised under international law and whether it has any influence in creating new norms in international administrative and environmental law.

Two factors historically played a decisive role in the West Nordic region’s affairs: its strategic location and small societies’ long struggle for independence. The current power balance shift challenges the progress of Iceland, the Faroe Islands, and Greenland towards strengthening their independence and sovereignty. The research suggests a theoretical contemplation of the West Nordic region’s shifting practices of sovereignty in current affairs with Russia and China amid the US’ patronage. Drawing on the model of Patron-Client relations, the article considers the US as a patron state for the West Nordic region, whereas Iceland, the Faroe Islands, and Greenland are discussed as clients. The Kingdom of Denmark is regarded as a junior patron due to its intermediate position in relations with the US on the one hand and the Faroe Islands and Greenland on the other. Russia and China are addressed as patron adversaries. The research enquires as to whether any of the two US opponents advertise themselves as alternative patrons for the West Nordic region and what explains the weak or alarmist US reactions to Russia and China initiatives in the region. Special focus is on the comparison of the three great powers’ behaviour in the region. Major findings raise the discussion of customisation of sovereignty and its consequences for future relations in the West Nordic and globally.

Are similarities of temperature, snow and ice cover, and (certain) marine mammals sufficient to warrant both polar regions being considered a single object of study or governance? We argue that their treatment as a unit is an invitation to examine the motivations behind the choice to be polar rather than Arctic or Antarctic. For individuals such as James Clerk Ross or Roald Amundsen, logistical requirements and analogous goals facilitated careers spanning both the Arctic and the Antarctic. This trend continued through the 20th century as individual scientists studying phenomena such as glaciers, sea ice, or aurora defined their research as “polar” in nature. Organisations such as the Scott Polar Research Institute and Norwegian Polar Institute could draw on traditions of national exploration in both polar regions, while the Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute in St. Petersburg gained its southern mandate with the importance of the International Geophysical Year. By comparison, neither the Arctic Institute in Copenhagen nor the Argentine Antarctic Institute felt any need to become polar. The creation of polar identity is ultimately a matter of geopolitics, of the value states see in instruments and symbols that speak to polar rather than Arctic or Antarctic interests. In cases such as Finland’s icebreaker industry, a technological capability justified Antarctic interest even without any national research tradition. We conclude by asking whether there is anything more natural about the polar regions than there is about the concept of a “tripolar” world in which the high alpine regions form a natural unit along with the Arctic and Antarctic.

This paper reviews the complex factors interacting in the movement of contaminants in soil subject to seasonal freezing. This includes those relevant to the soil itself, the contaminant itself, and environmental factors, all of which must be understood for prediction and effective design of remediation. Numerical modelers, as well as laboratory researchers examining behavior of small elements of the soil system, require reliable information on the range of full-scale system responses, but it is not feasible to acquire this by full-scale tests. Even field workers benefit from this information in planning data collection. Small physical models of contaminants moving through soil have routinely been limited in their usefulness because of differences in model fluid pressures and soil stresses, compared to full-scale conditions. However, small-scale centrifuge modeling presents the opportunity to produce correct and rapid physical simulation of full-scale system response using field soil and real contaminants, under the range of different boundary conditions. This paper discusses the existing recent centrifuge modeling work that supports the thesis that the technique can be applied to understanding and analyzing this complex problem. Five studies are reviewed: one on simulation of soil freezing effects in the absence of contaminants; three on the simulation of contaminant movement through saturated and unsaturated unfrozen soil, and heat transport effects through the fluid phase of unfrozen soils; and one that simulates the combination of contaminant movement in freezing soil.