Silicification - the precipitation of silica within the remains of a buried organism - allows for the three-dimensional preservation of a fossil in minute cellular to subcellular detail and forms the basis for some of the most spectacular Lagerstätten for terrestrial ecosystems (e.g. Selden & Nudds 2004). Among these are the plant-bearing chert deposits of the Transantarctic Mountains, which were discovered by J.H. Mercer and J.D. Gunner during the 1969/1970 ‘Beardmore Expedition’ and sampled and first screened by J.M. Schopf soon thereafter (Schopf 1970). The collection, preparation and in-depth study of plant-bearing cherts from the Beardmore Glacier generated more than 125 publications, and systematic treatments of the permineralized biotas resulted in the description of 30 genera and almost 50 species of structurally preserved plants and fungi. The exquisite anatomical preservation enabled unusually detailed reconstruction of many of the preserved organisms, yielding the most completely known fossil members for several groups of gymnosperms (see Escapa et al. 2011). Together with similar silicified peat deposits from the remote Prince Charles Mountains in East Antarctica (McLoughlin & Drinnan 1997), these conservation-Lagerstätten of the Transantarctic Mountains constitute an extraordinary window into the biology and ecology of late Palaeozoic and early Mesozoic high-latitude terrestrial ecosystems. Perhaps the single most important of these deposits is the silicified peat from the Triassic Fremouw Formation at Fremouw Peak in the Beardmore Glacier area. Triassic silicified peat also occurs elsewhere in the Transantarctic Mountains, including the Allan Hills in southern Victoria Land (Taylor & Taylor 1990) and Timber Peak in northern Victoria Land (Bomfleur et al. 2011), but thus far the quality of preservation at other sites proved too poor to merit in-depth study.

Ireland has a rich Antarctic history, with Bransfield, Crozier, Shackleton, Crean and others acting as key Irish individuals in Antarctic exploration. Recognized as a source of Irish national pride, memorials, stamps, coins and a government research vessel all commemorate their polar feats. Today, a large proportion of Ireland's citizens visit the Antarctic region and Irish researchers produce high levels of academic outputs on Antarctic topics relative to many other nations. However, Ireland has not acceded to any Antarctic Treaty System instruments, despite a 20 year campaign to do so by cross-party Irish politicians. Ireland has the largest population of any nation in the European Union (EU) yet to accede to the Treaty and is much larger than some existing Treaty signatory states. However, Treaty accession provides no entitlement to participate in Antarctic governance, which is reserved for Consultative Parties, and therefore undertaking the associated legal and administrative work may be considered a poor use of available resources. Ireland's attainment of consultative status would be an even more complex and resource-intensive goal, but collaboration with the EU and other global partners could be a cost-effective solution that may also indirectly support Ireland's ambitions for Observer status at the Arctic Council.

Rules on liability are essential to ensuring the enforcement of an international agreement. The Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting's adoption of Measure 1 (2005), which contains Annex VI to the Protocol on Environmental Protection, is the first step towards complying with Article 16 of the Environmental Protocol on Liability. However, the approval process has been slow, and Measure 1 (2005) is still not in force. Here, we show a need for more momentum in its approval and that its domestic implementation varies significantly. Only 19 states have approved Measure 1 (2005) out of the 28 Consultative Parties required to enter into force. Ten have incorporated national provisions anticipating its entry into force. Our study suggests that the perceived inadequacy of Annex VI, the cost of response actions to environmental emergencies and the misplaced importance of Antarctic matters within many states’ priorities contribute to the slow approval process. This analysis provides insights into the Antarctic Treaty System's governance mechanisms, particularly the liability regime and its implementation. The domestic legislation related to Antarctic liability is also analysed. This paper aims to explain the cumbersome approval process of Annex VI and to serve as a cautionary tale for future liability developments.

Here, we report the first discovery of Antarctic fossil resin (commonly referred to as amber) within a ~5 cm-thick lignite layer, which constitutes the top part of a ~3 m-long palynomorph-rich and root-bearing carbonaceous mudstone of mid-Cretaceous age (Klages et al. 2020). The sedimentary sequence (Fig. 1) was recovered by the MARUM-MeBo70 seafloor drill rig at Site PS104_20 (73.57° S, 107.09° W; 946 m water depth) from the mid-shelf section of Pine Island trough in the Amundsen Sea Embayment, West Antarctica, during RV Polarstern Expedition PS104 in early 2017 (Gohl 2017; Fig. 1a). So far, amber deposits have been described from every continent except Antarctica (Langenheim 2003, Quinney et al. 2015; Fig. 1a).