Ferdinand von Wrangell (1796–1870) was one of the most successful explorers of the Russian Arctic. After participating in V.M. Golovnin's circumnavigation in 1817–19, he was appointed the commander of the Kolyma group of the northeast Siberian expedition of 1820–24. Wrangell later became a hugely significant figure in the Russian Empire, serving as governor-general in Alaska, director of the Russian-American Company, and the head of the hydrographic department of the Russian Admiralty, before being made a baron and promoted to admiral. Later still he was the minister of the naval department and a member of the State Council, during which time he continued to support geographical and scientific exploration.

Heterotrophic and hydrocarbon-degrading microbial populations in soils from different depths in a permafrost soil profile at a hydrocarbon-contaminated site at Ny-Ålesund, Svalbard, were examined and compared to the populations present at a pristine site. The objective was to investigate whether the populations were enhanced after 12 years of exposure to hydrocarbons. Based on air and soil temperature data, it is concluded that the microorganisms living in these environments are cold-adapted. Proliferation of the populations by a factor of 100–1000 was measured in the layers where mineral oil was present in high concentrations. This indicates that the populations responded to the additional carbon source by degradation and growth on hydrocarbons or hydrocarbon metabolites. A high number of intrinsic heterotrophic and hydrocarbon-degrading bacteria is a prerequisite for in situ bioremediation of contaminated sites. Although the hydrocarbon-degrading activities of the populations are not known, the results show that the population sizes probably do not represent the limiting factor in a bioremedial action at this contaminated Arctic permafrost site.

During World War II, the threat of a German invasion along the north coast of Siberia led to the Soviet High Command developing a plan to build a railroad through the Urals to the port of Salekhard and beyond. Following the War, these plans were reworked to defend against the threat of American aggression. The ‘Mertvaya Doroga’ or great Stalin railroad or polarmagistral was intended to run from Chum, a small station on the Vorkuta railway, through the northern Urals to Salekhard and from there through Nadym to Igarka and Noril'sk. A second railway was to go from Vorkuta to the port of Amderma, while a third included a great net of railroads around Arkhangel'sk. Slave labour was used to construct these railroads, but despite massive programmes run by the Soviet secret police, the railroads were never completed or efficiently constructed. The death of Stalin in 1953 signaled the end of the construction of the Arctic railroads.

The author has located an Antarctic painting that was not listed in the previously published article ‘The Antarctic paintings of Edward Seago (1910–1974).’ This painting, entitled ‘Antarctic dusk,’ is held by the Royal Geographical Society. An anomaly regarding one of the paintings discussed in the original article is mentioned and clarified.

A geochemical study of the Severnaya Dvina estuary was carried out during two oceanographic cruises to the White Sea. The amount and distribution of trace (Mn, Co, Cu, Ni, Pb, and Zn) and major (Al and Fe) elements in suspended particulate matter and sediments were determined. The main source of most metals studied was river discharge. A metal speciation study showed that the prevailing form is in the estuarine sediments, the minerals of which incorporated 60–99% of the total metal contents. Two zones of metal accumulation were found in sediments that were considered as local geochemical barriers within the major river–sea barrier.

This paper describes a two-decade search for a means of giving cultural and/or contextual identity to contemporary architecture in Arctic Québec. Although the search took place in Arctic Québec and for the Inuit of that area, it is proposed that the process and the examples could be useful for the Arctic in general. The notion of global uniformity in architecture is presented and the possible disappearance of the identity of any small cultural group and its consequences are considered. The lack of visual indicators in contemporary Arctic architecture is discussed, and it is suggested that the buildings were not designed for the Inuit people or for a very harsh climate in an unusual physical environment. A few examples of buildings from the early 1970s to more recent times, which display some hint of cultural or contextual sensitivity, are discussed. Definitions for culture and context from various architects, theorists, critics, and organisations are given. An analytical framework that correlates Arctic cultural and contextual sources with three different perceptual levels of expression to be integrated into a design at various levels of architectural representation is set out. A research project on culturally appropriate Inuit housing and several architectural design studios on a variety of building types are then delineated, giving a brief account of their genesis as well as a discussion of their cultural/contextual sources of inspiration, the perceptual level of expression, and the level of architectural representation.

The name for the Polar Record Glacier was approved in February 1952. At that time, the glacier was reported to possess an ice tongue that flowed into Sandefjord Ice Bay. In autumn 2000, AVHRR images were examined to assess whether the Polar Record ice tongue was still extant. It was found that there is an ice feature currently about 15 miles in length at the end of the glacier, although its orientation has changed since it was first surveyed in 1947. A fissure indicates that the tongue has calved to form an iceberg that is probably grounded.

Vertical freezing of clayey suspensions contaminated by heavy metals was conducted. A small unidirectional thermal gradient applied to a sample placed in a parallelopipedic cell led to the low-rate propagation of an upward freezing front. During this propagation, segregation of salts occurred and the non-solidified phase ahead of the freezing front became enriched with metallic salts. Moreover, some of the non-miscible particles in suspension were repelled by the freezing front. Therefore, the solidified phase became poorer with metallic pollutants bound to such nonmiscible particles as clayey colloids or complexes. Thus, artificial cooling was able to purify a suspension contaminated by heavy metals that exist in various chemical forms. This paper presents results for different experimental conditions and physico-chemical parameters such as the pH and the ratio between the concentrations of metallic cations and clay particles. The influence of these physico-chemical parameters on the speciations of lead and on the efficiency of this method is discussed. These freezing tests carried out on polluted soils should succeed in their remediation. This new method is called ‘cryoremediation’.

Oil exploration and production in the Arctic regions has resulted in spills of petroleum and salt water in tundra ecosystems. The transportation and use of refined petroleum in Arctic regions has also led to spills, and the cleanup and ecosystem restoration in these systems can often be complicated by the existence of ice-rich soil permafrost. Compaction, removal, or tearing of the protective vegetation and organic soil can result in thermokarsting and associated changes in plant communities, which may persist for decades. Such problems led the State of Alaska to establish recovery-based clean-up regulations for spills to tundra.

A review was conducted of published literature, government agency spill files, and industry reports concerning spills of petroleum and saline water in tundra regions. A tundra spill database was created, which allows the determination of the spill frequency of refined petroleum, crude oil, and saline water. Refined-petroleum spills are more common and smaller than crude-oil and saline-water spills. Most spills are to wet tundra during winter, and winter spills are more effectively cleaned up than those in summer. In winter, snow contains most spills, frozen soil and frozen water bodies prevent much soil penetration, plants are dormant, and operation of heavy equipment is feasible on frozen ground. The use of fire to reduce the volume of petroleum spills in winter is not recommended. Heat from burning petroleum can melt snow, thaw soil, and allow the penetration of petroleum into soil.

Effective remediation of petroleum-contaminated soils in the Arctic is becoming increasingly important as the magnitude of environmental risks becomes better defined. Unfortunately, some of the solutions implemented in southern Canada are too costly to use in the Arctic. However, effective remediation is still necessary. Consequently, traditional techniques are employed, such as excavation and landfarming, which are disruptive to the immediate soils, permafrost, and the surrounding habitat. These remedial methods, however, are becoming unacceptable to First Nations people in some Canadian Arctic communities. This paper describes preliminary results from an in-situ biodegradation study of petroleum-contaminated soils. This technique has the potential to provide an easily applied effective solution to the problem of devising a low cost and uncontroversial method of remediation. Based on bench-scale laboratory feasibility studies, it has been determined that the zone of contaminated soil at the Whitehorse Airport is suitable for in-situ bioremediation application.