Publishing is changing rapidly, as is the management of much of the scientific community world wide. Unfortunately there are features of both that should give considerable cause for alarm if one cares to look forward a few years. Let's begin with the remarkable consolidation of wonership in scientific publishing culminating in the latest move - the acquisition of Harcourt by Reed Elsevier- which has been investigated by the Competition Commission in the UK as being potentially against the public interest. Those who buy Reed Elsevier journals at present will know that their subscription rates are some of the highest in the world. It is not obvious that scientists will see any benefit from this takeover. Indeed, what will happen to the provision of information to working scientists as library budgets decline everywhere? Is increasingly expensive equipment for experimental use really more important than the literature? Governments will say that the Web will meet scientists needs to which my reply is that much of its content is uncontrolled rubbish and it certainly does not replace the quality controlled material available in the journals. So our first conclusion for the future could be that consolidation of ownership of journals is bad for science and unless, there is a significant change in library funding, many commercial journals are likely to price themselves out of the general market, leaving only those published by learned societies or charities at an affordable level. Bad news.

Available literature data on age and growth of high Antarctic fish is reviewed and discussed in relation to environmental seasonality. Except for Antarctic toothfish Dissostichus mawsoni, with maximum total length (TL) more than 170 cm, high Antarctic notothenioids are predominantly small species of less than 45 cm TL. Maximum ages reported for small Trematomus species were generally high (18–23 years), and probably comparable to those of some larger channichthyids. Highest longevity is attained by large nototheniids, such as Aethotaxis mitopteryx and D. mawsoni, of more than 30 years. Most high Antarctic fish spawn for the first time at 50–80% of maximum age. Males of some Trematomus species reach spawning maturity earlier than females, but at a higher percentage of maximum age. Pauly's index of growth performance P has been used to compare growth. P for nototheniids is typically between 1 and 2, whereas in channichthyids it is between 2 and 3. Generally, high Antarctic notothenioids exhibit a lower P than those further north. In high Antarctic nototheniids, between 19 and 42 cm maximum theoretical length, growth performance seems to increase from pelagic to benthic fish habit. Thus, although low temperature is a constraint on growth, other ecological factors linked to life style, such as food availability and physiological adaptations, may explain differences in growth performance between fish from the seasonal pack-ice zone and the high Antarctic zone.

Recently collected material from west of the Antarctic Peninsula has proven to be consistent with Nymphon gerlachei Giltay, 1935, previously known only from the holotype. The information now available on its intraspecific morphological variability has allowed the distinctions between this species and N. charcoti to be established.

Two populations of Salpa thompsoni, collected from the Weddell–Scotia confluence area at the end of two summers (1994 and 1995) with contrasting densities, are compared. The present study was aimed at corroborating whether fluctuations in abundance could be related to some life history parameters considered as indicators of growth rate in salp populations, such as the body size of solitary reproductive individuals, number of buds per block or chain in the stolon, and the offspring to parent ratio. No differences were observed in the sizes reached by aggregate individuals, or in the size at which oocyte maturity was attained (moment at which the development of the embryo can be detected). There were no differences in the size reached by the embryos during their residence inside the mother's blastozooid. In 1995, the percentage of non-fecundated blastozooids (which included even the largest individuals) was higher than in 1994. The mean size of the solitary individuals was significantly higher in 1994 than in 1995. The number of buds per block was also significantly higher in most of the stages, confirming that this is the mechanism used by these organisms to produce swarms. This species eventually attains high population densities under favorable environmental conditions such as poor sea-ice cover in winter. Under optimal conditions, the number of potential descendants produced by a single solitary individual would exceed 800.

Allozyme electrophoresis was used to assess genetic variability and differentiation in 22 populations of Gressittacantha terranova Wise (Hexapoda, Collembola) from a coastal area of Victoria Land between the Mariner Glacier and the Nansen Ice Sheet. Allelic frequencies were determined at five enzyme loci: Phi, Pgm, Hk, Mpi and Mdh. Levels of variability, estimated as rates of heterozygosity, were higher than those calculated for the same loci in taxonomically related and non-related species of non-Antarctic Collembola. Thus, in spite of the ecological simplicity of Antarctic terrestrial ecosystems, G. terranova is characterized by high levels of genetic variability, and the 22 populations could be divided into three geogaphic groups, separated by the Aviator and Campbell glaciers. Genetic differentaton reflects the geographic arrangement of the populations, suggesting that the glaciers are effective barriers to gene flow, and that the patchy distribution of collembolan species in Antarctica has the potential to induce, in the long term, microspeciation processes. Interestingly, detectable genetic differentiation was observed between six populations collected at Edmonson Point, even though these are very close to each other, indicating the impact of geographic isolation even within short distances. The only exception to the congruence between genetic and geographic structuring was provided by the population of Apostrophe Island, for which a recent introduction with individuals coming from southern populations is suggested.

The Rauer Islands contain more than fifty shallow lakes and small ephemeral ponds. Despite their proximity to the Vestfold Hills - one of the most diverse and intensively studied lake districts of eastern Antarctica - the lakes of the Rauer Islands have remained undescribed. In this study the physical and chemical limnology and biology of ten lakes is presented and their species-environment relationships explored using multivariate statistics. Analyses of chemical and biological data indicate that the Rauer Islands form a distinct limnological province amongst the lakes of the Prydz Bay oases. Salinities range from hypo- to hyper-saline with an ionic order close to that of seawater. Deviance from this order indicates either an earlier origin for some of the most hypersaline lakes when compared with the Vestfold Hills, more rapid evaporation vs precipitation or differences in the sources of ions resulting from isostatic history. With fluctuating salinities, winter water temperatures below –10°C, seasonal ice and slush formation, desiccation and high levels of solar radiation, the lacustrine environment presents considerable abiotic challenges for biological survival. Results indicate that there is little or no planktonic flora in the lakes and no zooplankton were encountered. Despite this, analyses of pigments, diatoms and other micro-algae revealed an active and diverse benthic biota characterized by filamentous cyanobacteria with interstitial algae. Thirty-eight diatom taxa, and a selection of Chlorophyta and Xanthophyta were detected amongst the cyanobacteria. Clusters in the diatom data correspond to salinity. Further analyses of the relationships between the biota and their environment revealed some of the strategies employed for survival. In particular, the synthesis of scytonemin was detected. This pigment is known to function as an extracellular UV sunscreen which protects cyanobacterial cells against damage by ultraviolet radiation. These results support the hypothesis that environmental extremes and biogeographical isolation control the biology of these lakes.

Cold tolerance of the springtail Gomphiocephalus hodgsoni Carpenter (Collembola: Hypogastruridae) was studied at Cape Bird, Ross Island, Antarctica (77°13′S, 166°26′E). Microclimate temperatures indicate a highly seasonal thermal environment, with winter minima <–39°C. Snow cover significantly buffers both minimum temperatures and cooling rates. Gomphiocephalus hodgsoni survives low temperatures by avoiding freezing. Mean low group supercooling points (SCPs) ranged from –35.4°C in October to –28.3°C in January. The lowest SCP measured was –38.0°C. The high SCP group was very small, making up only 18% of the population in January. In October, G. hodgsoni had a very high glycerol content (>80 μg mg−1 dry weight), although this declined rapidly to low levels (c. 7–10 μg mg−1 dry weight) in January. Quantities of glucose and trehalose were low during October, but steadily increased throughout the summer. Haemolymph osmolality was exceptionally high (up to 1755 mOsm kg−1) at the end of November, but this rapidly declined to c. 500 mOsm kg−1 by late December. The presence of thermal hystersis proteins was indicated by both osmometry on haemolymph samples and recrystallization inhibition studies of springtail homogenates. There was a strong relationship between glycerol content and SCP, but the relationship between haemolymph osmolality, SCP and carbohydrates is uncertain.

Mount Melbourne in northern Victoria Land, Antarctica, is a glaciated 2733 m volcanic cone. The moss Compylopus pyriformis occurs on two small areas of steam-warmed snow-free ground near its summit. This moss species also occurs in temperate regions world-wide, but has not been recorded elsewhere in continental Antarctica. RAPD (Random Amplified Polymorphic DNA) studies of 26 samples of C. pyriformis from two areas of heated ground on Mount Melbourne showed there was genetic diversity within the population. Genetic evidence for dispersal between the two sites, together with some genetic variation within individual colonies, indicates a single colonisation event has probably occurred at this extremely isolated location followed by multiple mutations. A single sample of moss protonema was collected 25 years ago from steam-warmed ground near the summit of another volcano, Mount Erebus (3794 m), on Ross Island some 300 km south of Mount Melbourne. The moss could not be identified based on morphological and reproductive criteria, as all attempts to differentiate it to a recognisable gametophyte were unsuccessful. The RAPD technique has now shown it to be C. pyriformis, and closely related to the population on Mount Melbourne.

Sixty-three radiocarbon dates on organic remains from 21 abandoned colonies of chinstrap (Pygoscelis antarctica) and Adélie (P. adeliae) penguins on 12 islands in the Antarctic Peninsula region are evaluated for determining the occupation history of penguins in this region. This record also provides a means for assessing sea-level change, glacial advances and retreats, and population responses by penguins to these events. All conventional dates were corrected for the marine-carbon reservoir effect by applying a ΔR = 700±50 BP and marine calibration curves. The 63 calibrated dates give 2σ ranges (95% confidence intervals) from modern to 5990 yr BP. These dates indicate progressively older occupations from north to south along the Antarctic Peninsula. No sites older than approximately 540 BP occur in the northern peninsula, either because they have not yet been found or older sites have been destroyed by solifluction and glacial scouring. Three dates from one locality near Rothera Point, Adelaide Island, also were calibrated with a ΔR = 750 ± 50 and 800 ± 50 BP. No difference was found between calibrated dates using these two other ΔR values, indicating that local corrections for variation in upwelling intensity may not be necessary.

We present evidence for the absence of the George VI Ice Shelf during a brief period in the mid-Holocene and during one or more earlier interstadials or interglacials. Barnacle Bathylasma corolliforme shells sampled from ice shelf moraines at Two Step Cliffs on Alexander Island have been dated to c, 5750–6000 14C yr BP(c. 6550–6850 cal yr BP) and imply seasonally open water in the George VI Sound during this period. Other shells are beyond the range of radiocarbon dating and imply open water during one or more previous interglacial or interstadial period, prior to 40 000 14C yr BP. Our results show that the ongoing collapse of some Antarctic Peninsula ice shelves is not unprecedented.

Large-scale bedrock morphology and relief of two key areas, the Jutulsessen Nunatak and the Jutulstraumen ice stream are used to discuss glascial history and landscape development in western and central Dronning Maud Land, Antarctica. Two main landform components were identified: well-defined summit plateau surfaces and a typical alpine glacial landscape. The flat, high-elevation plateau surfaces previously were part of one or several continuous regional planation surfaces. In western Dronning Maud Land, overlying cover rocks of late Palaeozoic age show that the planation surface(s) existed in the early Permian, prior to the break-up of Gondwana. A well-develoment escarpment, a mega landform typical for passive continental margins, bounds the palaeosurface remnants to the north for a distance of at least 700 km. The Cenozoic glacial landscape, incised in the palaeosurface and escarpment, is exemplified by Jutulsessen Nunatak, where a c. 1.2 km deep glacial valley system is developed. However, the prominent Penck-Jutul Trough represents some of the deepest dissection of the palaeosurface. This originally tectonic feature is today occupied by the Jutulstraumen ice stream. New topographic data show that the bed of the Penck-Jutul Trough is situated 1.9±1.1 km below sea level, and that the total landscape relief is at least 4.2 km. Today's relief is a result of several processes, including tectonic faulting, subaerial weathering, fluvial erosion, and glacial erosion. It is probable that erosion by ice streams has deepened the tectonic troughs of Dronning Maud Land since the onset of ice sheet glaciation in the Oligocene, and continues today. An attempt is made to identify major events in the long-term landscape development of Dronning Maud Land, since the break-up of the Gondwana continent.

We present preliminary results of the first detailied surveys of the former Larsen-A Ice Shelf, Larsen Inlet and southern Prince Gustav Channel, where disintegration of small ice shelves in the past ten years has exposed the seafloor. Glacial troughs in the Larsen-A area, Larsen Inlet and Prince Gustav Channel reach 900–1100 m depth and have hummocky floors. Farther south-east, the continental shelf is shallower (400–500 m) and its surface is fluted to smooth, with the density of iceberg furrowing increasing towards the shelf edge. Acoustic profiles show a drape of transparent sediment 4–8 m thick in Prince Gustav Channel, thinning southwards. In cores, this drape corresponds to diatom-bearing marine and glacial-marine mud. In the Larsen-A area and Larsen Inlet, acoustically opaque sediment includes proximal ice shelf glaciomarine gravelly and sandy muds, and firm to stiff diamicts probably deposited subglacilly. These are overlain by thin (up to 1.3 m) glaciomarine muds, locally with distinctive diatom ooze laminae.

New outcrops of Hope Bay Formation and Larsen Basin rocks have been exposed by recent ice-retreat on Tabarin Peninsula, northern Antarctic Peninsula. Quartzose, very low-grade metasedimentary rocks, cropping out at Balegno Nunatak (63°28′53″S, 57°00′31″W) are assigned to the Permian–Triassic Hope Bay Formation, and dioritic rocks are assigned to the Antarctic Peninsula batholith. Sedimentary rocks exposed at Rubulis Nunatak (63°30′52″S, 57°07′29′W) closely resemble Lower Cretaceous sedimentary rocks cropping out at nearby Troilo Nunatak, western Tabarin Peninsula. These rocks are correlated with the lower Gustav Group (?Barremian–Coniacian) of the Larsen Basin. This new record confirs that the Larsen Basin extends over southern Tabarin Peninsula, where basin sediments are thought to be faulted against sediments of the Antarctic Peninsula magmatic arc.

High resolution firn core records of the oxygen isotope ratio (δ18O) and trace chemical species were extracted from a high accumulation site on Law Dome, East Antarctica. Inter-core comparisons were conducted and regional events identified in cores 5 km apart. High resolution dating of one of the firn cores was established using a co-located Automatic Weather Station (AWS) equipped with a snow accumulation sensor, allowing dating of individual precipitation events in the firn core record. Variations in the δ18O and trace chemical records were compared with meteorological conditions at the mesoscale and the synoptic-scale. Particular focus was given to an abrupt change in sea salt concentrations and δ18O within a depth range that appears from AWS accumulation data to have been deposited over a 24 hour period. The abrupt change in the firn core record was found to be consistent with an abrupt change in meteorological conditions. Direct comparisons between high resolution firn core records and meteorological conditions will greatly facilitate the interpretation of signals preserved in deep ice cores.

Surface-based observations were taken of cloud and precipitation particles on the Avery Plateau (66°50.34′S 65°29.58′W), Antarctic Peninsula from 25 November to 13 December 1995. This paper considers cloud parameters on three days during this period when the cloud base reached ground level and snow was falling. It was found that on all three days more ice crystals were present in the cloud than would be expected from simple theoretical considerations. The rate of snowfall decreased as the number of ice crystals increased, the large number of ice crystals present effectively suppressing the formation of large precipitation-sized crystals. The source of the ice nuclei that allowed the formation of the large number of crystals is not known for certain but is thought to be the snow surface, possibly in the form of very fine ice crystals blown from the surface during blowing/drifting snow episodes.