The Arctic Fox (Alopex lagopusand allied forms) is not only the chief furbearing animal in circumboreal regions, but also offers some fascinating ecological problems in its strong fluctuations in numbers, its extensive migrations, the diseases that appear periodically in its populations, and in the existence of two well-marked colour phases—the white and the “blue”—the relative abundance of which varies geographically in an extraordinary manner. Except in the U.S.S.R., comparatively little systematic study in the field has been made of this species by biologists, although it has been the object of several enquiries conducted through fur-trading and other organisations (of which the Canadian Arctic Wild Life Enquiry (Chitty and Chitty, 1941, 1945) is an example), and it has been observed in a scattered fashion by innumerable polarexpeditions.

Following the founding of the Aardrijkskundig Genootschap [Dutch Geographical Society] in 1873 there was a brief revival of Dutch interest and participation in the Arctic. The schooner Willem Barents, specially built for the purpose, made annual voyages into the European Arctic from 1878 to 1884, placing memorial stones at sites where the Dutch had operated in earlier centuries and collecting scientific data. During the International Polar Year, 1882–83 the Dutch expedition was caught in pack ice and its ship Varna was lost. Thereafter Dutch interest in the Arctic waned, and Willem Barents was sold in 1886.

In victory, there are no questions asked. After Roald Amundsen won the race for the South Pole on 14 December 1911 very few cared how he did it, least of all himself. As Fridtjof Nansen put it in his preface to Amundsen's book, The South Pole, ‘When the discoverer comes home in triumph, everybody cheers him. We are all proud of the accomplished deed…. We feel we have got a new feather in our cap, and got it cheaply’. Only the cognoscenti brood over the whys and wherefores, and the little question—how?

Azorella Peninsula on Heard Island in the sub-Antarctic comprises basaltic scoria that is overlain by basalt flows. Typical tube-fed pahoehoe flows characteristic of some Hawaiian-type volcanoes occur. The volcanic landforms of the peninsula include highly degraded volcano remnants and undissected scoria cones, pahoehoe flows, lava rises, tumuli, open vertical volcanic conduits, and lava tubes. Features produced by lava inflation are widespread but are generally of low topographic relief. Many detailed lava-flow features are preserved in dramatically fresh condition within the protected environment of lava tubes. They highlight the efficacy of the lava tubes in maintaining high temperatures and low viscosity of the flowing lava. The lava tubes on Heard Island are the only features of their kind hitherto recorded from Antarctic and sub-Antarctic latitudes.

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.

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.

This article concentrates on the interconnected past, present and future of telecommunications and the environment in the Arctic. It brings together discussions on the natural environment, sustainable development and connectivity in and through the Arctic and focuses on fixed-line infrastructure. This study builds on the theoretical literature on infrastructure, infrastructuring and pipeline ecologies and demonstrates how the peculiar features of the Arctic, such as coldness, snow and ice, ground frost and permafrost affect telecommunication lines, and how this infrastructure impacts the environment in which it is built. Similarly, the environmental conditions, paired with long distances, small populations and limited economic opportunities, affect the infrastructuring processes and the selection of technologies, as well as their spatial extent, quality and the speed of their expansion. While the construction of telecommunication lines supports the exploitation of natural resources in and beyond the different parts of the circumpolar North, it also plays a role in the observation and protection of the Arctic.

In this paper I review some of the fields in which Lapps are involved in the over-all development, or lack of development, of northern Finland. I shall limit my perspective in two ways: first, I am concerned to document those issues that directly affect the Lapps at present. This present is taken as 1972, since I was in north-east Lapland in 1971–72, carrying out fieldwork among the Skolt Lapps; my view is thus somewhat biassed to the east (Ingold, 1971). Secondly, I am not directly concerned with the position of Lapps in Norway, Sweden, and the Soviet Union. This is not to deny that there exists a great deal in common among Lapps of these different countries. Equally, the fortunes of Lapps have been crucially affected by the different circumstances pertaining in the nation-states which, through history, have been drawn up around them. My subject, then, concerns how Lapps fare, economically, culturally and politically, in the context of modern Finland.

This article describes the main characteristics of the Greenlandic economy in the 1980s and the aims of the country's Home Rule Government in regard to fisheries policy and economic development. The strategy adopted by the Home Rule Government is presented and evaluated, in terms both of economic theory and of results. Greenland's problems are similar to those of other developing countries, but intensified by its Arctic location, communications problems, a vulnerable resource base and harsh operating conditions inits fisheries, also by its colonial and post-colonial history which has fuelled aspirations towards a high standard of living and given rise to high import demands. Difficulties encountered point towards a modification of the aims and policies of the government, including adoption of a less ambitious approach, focusing upon satisfying basic social and economic needs, and avoiding the mistakes made by the Danish administration in the 1960s and 1970s, which led to alienation of segments of the population from the process of development.

Argument about whether or not continental drift has occurred has been continuous and inconclusive since drift was first advocated fifty years ago by scientists from a number of different disciplines. Recently, evidence has accumulated to establish beyond reasonable doubt that this drift has indeed occurred. In this paper I discuss some features of the drift, particularly those concerning the northern Atlantic Ocean. The investigations of geologists should now be turned from the question of whether drift has occurred, to the manner in which it has occurred.