Adult male southern elephant seals instrumented in 2000 on King George Island (n = 13), travelled both to the north (n = 2) and to the east (n = 6) of the Antarctic Peninsula. Five males remained within 500 km of the island focusing movements in the Bransfield Strait and around the Antarctic Peninsula. Sea surface temperatures encountered by these animals showed little variation. While animal trajectories appeared unaffected by sea ice cover, areas of shallow depths were frequented. Three males moved as far as 75°S to the east of the Peninsula with maximum distances of more than 1500 km from King George Island. They travelled into the Weddell Sea along the western continental shelf break until they reached the region of the Filchner Trough outflow. Here the sea floor consists of canyons and ridges that support intensive mixing between the warm saline waters of the Weddell Gyre, the very cold outflow waters and ice shelf water at the Antarctic Slope Front. The need for re-instrumentation of adult males from King George Island is highlighted to investigate whether males continue to travel to similar areas and to obtain higher resolution data.

Two sediment cores collected from beneath the Amery Ice Shelf, East Antarctica describe the physical sedimentation patterns beneath an existing major embayed ice shelf. Core AM01b was collected from a site of basal freezing, contrasting with core AM02, collected from a site of basal melting. Both cores comprise Holocene siliceous muddy ooze (SMO), however, AM01b also recovered interbedded siliciclastic mud, sand and gravel with inclined bedding in its lower 27 cm. This interval indicates an episode of variable but strong current activity before SMO sedimentation became dominant. 14C ages corrected for old surface ages are consistent with previous dating of marine sediments in Prydz Bay. However, the basal age of AM01b of 28250 ± 230 14C yr bp probably results from greater contamination by recycled organic matter. Lithology, 14C surface ages, absolute diatom abundance, and the diatom assemblage are used as indicators of sediment transport pathways beneath the ice shelf. The transport pathways suggested from these indicators do not correspond to previous models of the basal melt/freeze pattern. This indicates that the overturning baroclinic circulation beneath the Amery Ice Shelf (near-bed inflow–surface outflow) is a more important influence on basal melt/freeze and sediment distributions than the barotropic circulation that produces inflow in the east and outflow in the west of the ice front. Localized topographic (ice draft and bed elevation) variations are likely to play a dominant role in the resulting sub-ice shelf melt and sediment distribution.

The diversity of lichens, especially crustose species, in continental Antarctica is still poorly known. To overcome difficulties with the morphology based species delimitations in these groups, we employed molecular data (nuclear ITS and mitochondrial SSU rDNA sequences) to test species boundaries within the genus Lecidea. Sampling was done along a north–south transect at five different areas in the Ross Sea region (Cape Hallett, Botany Bay to Mount Suess, Taylor Valley, Darwin Area and Mount Kyffin). A total of 153 specimens were collected from 13 localities. Phylogenetic analyses also include specimens from other regions in Antarctica and non-Antarctic areas. Maximum parsimony, maximum likelihood and Bayesian analyses agreed in placing the samples from continental Antarctica into four major groups. Based on this phylogenetic estimate, we restudied the micromorphology and secondary chemistry of these four clades to evaluate the use of these characters as phylogenetic discriminators. These clades are identified as the following species Lecidea cancriformis, L. andersonii as well as the new species L. polypycnidophora Ruprecht & Türk sp. nov. and another previously unnamed clade of uncertain status, referred to as Lecidea sp. (L. UCR1).

Human faecal waste has been discarded at inland Antarctic sites for over 100 years, but little is known about the long-term survival of faecal microorganisms in the Antarctic terrestrial environment or the environmental impact. This study identified viable faecal microorganisms in 30–40 year old human faeces sampled from the waste dump at Fossil Bluff Field Station, Alexander Island, Antarctic Peninsula. Viable aerobic and anaerobic bacteria were predominantly spore-forming varieties (Bacillus and Clostridium spp.). Faecal coliform bacteria were not detected, indicating that they are less able to survive Antarctic environmental conditions than spore-forming bacteria. In recent years, regional warming around the Antarctic Peninsula has caused a decrease in permanent snow cover around nunataks and coastal regions. As a result, previously buried toilet pits, depots and food dumps are now melting out and Antarctic Treaty Parties face the legacy of waste dumped in the Antarctic terrestrial environment by earlier expeditions. Previous faecal waste disposal on land may now start to produce detectable environmental pollution as well as potential health and scientific problems.

During the summer, from 1996–2000, vertical profiles of conductivity, temperature and transmissivity were obtained near the tidewater glacier of Marian Cove, King George Island, Antarctic Peninsula. The aims for the study were to determine the short-term variations of water structure due to hydrographic forcings and to understand sedimentation of suspended particulate matter in Antarctic fjord environments. Four distinct water layers were identified in the ice-proximal zone of the cove: i) a surface layer composed of cold and turbid meltwater, ii) a relatively warm Maxwell Bay inflow layer with characteristics of outer fjord water, iii) a turbid/cold mid-depth layer (40–70 m) originating from subglacial discharge, and iv) a deep layer comprised of the remnant winter water. The main factor influencing the characteristics of glacial meltwater layers and driving deposition of suspended particles in the cove is tidal forcing coupled with wind stress. The relatively small amount of meltwater discharge in Marian Cove yields low accumulation rates of non-biogenic sedimentary particles in the cove. The response to north-western and western winds, coupled with flood tide, may promote settling and sedimentation of suspended particles from turbid layers in the ice-proximal zone of the cove.

From 15 December 1992–4 January 1993 aerial surveys of ice seals were undertaken by Puma helicopter across the pack ice off Dronning Maud Land. The 31 transects of 1/2 nautical mile (n.m.) width were flown at an elevation of 200 ft and a ground speed of 60 knots and covered 805.6 n.m.2 of pack ice. The overall species composition of the seals was 97.8% crabeater seals, 1.67% Ross seals, 0.34% leopard seals and 0.15% Weddell seals. The density abundance of seals was 2.47 n.m.−2 for crabeater, 0.01 n.m.−2 for leopard, 0.004 n.m.−2 for Weddell and 0.04 n.m.−2 for Ross seals. Leopard seals were largely found near the outer edge of the pack, Ross seals were absent only in the outer pack, whilst Weddell seals were virtually absent in the pack ice. Present throughout, crabeater seals and Ross seals showed a statistically significant preference for the inner pack, the reasons for this being unclear.

The upward evolution of temperatures in the Antarctic Peninsula has weakened and even reversed in the last two decades. Due to the long-term variability in the region it is not easy to assess whether recent cooling trends are consistent with the internal variability or not. For this reason, this paper assesses the robustness of the trends by analysing their sensitivity with respect to the period selected. Every possible temperature trend in the interval 1958–2016 has been calculated and displayed in a two-dimensional parameter diagram. The results suggest that the warming observed in the Antarctic Peninsula since 1958 is quite robust, as all periods longer than 30 years exhibit statistically significant changes, especially in summer (with lower magnitude and higher significance) and autumn and winter (with larger magnitude and lower significance). Periods shorter than 30 years exhibit alternations of warming and cooling periods, and therefore do not represent robust trends even if they are statistically significant. Consequently, the recent 20-year cooling trend cannot be considered at the moment as evidence of a shift in the overall sign of the trend.

Erosion of bedrock from lower intertidal reefs by waves acting on attached plants of bull-kelp (Durvillaea antarctica) was investigated over one year at Macquarie Island, Southern Ocean. At a site on the more sheltered east coast, such erosion occurred during four separate storms, each casting up 834–1078 large kelp plants km−1 of coast, of which 30–45% were still attached to jagged, freshly quarried bedrock fragments over 2.5 cm long. The largest fragment weighed was 74.6 kg; rounded cobbles and boulders attached to kelp plants and weighing up to 102.2 kg (and probably more than 160 kg) were also cast up on beaches. 19–21% of the standing crop of large kelp plants was removed by storms during the year of observation. Break points for 10 kelp stipes were found to be at least 90–161 kg. Total annual erosion by kelp-plucking is at least 1.56 tonnes of rock km−1 of coast. However, in terms of erosion this computes to only 0.1 mm yr−1, far below the rate of uplift of the island.

The geochemistry and vertical stratification of shallow meltwater ponds at 78°S near Bratina Island (McMurdo Ice Shelf) have been determined for late winter (October) and summer (January) conditions as part of the Latitudinal Gradient Project. Of the five frozen ponds investigated in October, all were stratified with respect to conductivity, and three had highly saline basal brines beneath the ice at temperatures of −16 to −20°C. In the ice column, inclusions of saline fluid were observed in channels between ice crystals; the abundance increasing with depth and decreasing ice crystal size. In January, seven of the ten ponds investigated (including ponds sampled in October) retained conductivity stratification, whereas significant thermal stratification was observed in only three ponds (maximum ΔT = 5.5°C). Basal brines, ice and meltwaters were Na-Cl or Na-SO4 dominated. FREZCHEM52 modelling, supported by changes in ion ratios, indicated that the precipitation of mirabilite (Na2SO4.10H2O) and gypsum (CaSO4.2H2O) during progressive freezing is an important determinant in chemical evolution of the basal brine. High pH (8.8–11.2) and over-saturation with respect to dissolved oxygen (> 20 mg L−1) in summer, and the presence of sulphide ions in basal brines in winter, occurred in those ponds which experienced high biological productivity during the summer months.

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.

Fisher Massif is believed to represent less metamorphosed portions of an extensive Proterozoic mobile belt, and is composed of metavolcanic rocks of different compositions and numerous intrusive bodies. U-Pb dating of six zircon fractions recovered from metavolcanic rocks of intermediate to acidic compositions defines growth time at c.1300 Ma with prominent Pb losses at 364 Ma and in recent time. Grain morphologies do not provide unequivocal genetic evidence, but an igneous origin for the grains studied is the most probable. The dates obtained probably reflect igneous activity be co-eval with mafic dyke emplacement event elsewhere in ancient East Antarctic cratonic blocks.

The levels and distribution of polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) congeners were analysed in fourteen soil and eight lichen (Usnea aurantiaco-atra) samples from King George Island, West Antarctica. A total of 32 PCB congeners were found in five soil samples collected in 2006, and the mean concentration of total PCBs was 20.4 pg g-1 dry weight (range, 8.0−33.8 pg g-1 dry weight). The most abundant PCB isomers in soil samples were di-, tri-, and penta-CBs, which accounted for more than 75% of the total residues. Twelve dioxin-like PCBs were also detected in nine soil and eight lichen samples, and the levels of dioxin-like PCBs were 5-fold higher in lichens than in soil. PCBs were detected at very low levels in most soil and lichen samples. The highest congener concentrations were found for PCB 118 (6.63 and 21.93 pg g-1 in soil and lichen, respectively) among dioxin-like PCBs. PCB levels in air samples were highly correlated with those in soil and lichen samples, as were PCB levels in soil and lichen samples collected at the same site. Long-range atmospheric transport is thought to be the main source of PCBs on King George Island. However, PCB levels in soil and lichen samples were also apparently influenced by local sources of PCBs.

In February 1989, the partial skeleton of an ornithopod dinosaur was discovered during a British Antarctic Survey (BAS) expedition, supported by RRS John Biscoe, to the James Ross Island area, east of the Antarctic Peninsula. This was only the second dinosaur to be found in the continent of Antarctica, the first being an ankylosaur collected three years earlier (Olivero et al. 1986, Gasparini et al. 1987, Gasparini 1988, Gasparini & Olivero 1989, Olivero et al. 1991).

The coast of Victoria Land extends from Williamson Head (69°11'S, 158°E) to McMurdo Sound (77°S, 163°E). A comparison of various documents and images spanning several decades has allowed the ice front fluctuation and the iceberg calving flux during this century to be estimated. During the periods from 1956–65 to 1972–73 the floating glaciers underwent a reduction of 978 km2 with an iceberg calving flux of about 134 km2 yr−1. After this, during the periods from 1972–73 to 1989–91, the floating glaciers underwent an advance of 272 km2 with an iceberg calving flux of about 53 km2 yr−1. Glacier tongues with bottom accretion calve less often than those with bottom melting. Most floating glaciers have shown cyclic behaviour without a strong trend. Exceptions to this general style are Hells Gate ice shelf, McMurdo Ice Shelf and floating glaciers of Cape Adare which have undergone a significant retreat since the beginning of the 20th century. The different behaviour of these floating glaciers has been hypothesized as being due to: increased energy available for meltwater production of marine ice that progressively warmed these thin ice shelves and then increased iceberg calving (Hells Gate and McMurdo), or to increased melting at the ice-ocean interface related to a major intrusion of Circumpolar Deep Water from the nearby continental slope (Cape Adare). An estimate of the mass balance of East Antarctica from which these glaciers are fed shows a positive value, that is significant despite all the uncertainties of balance measurements.

A new topographic database for King George Island, one of the most visited areas in Antarctica, is presented. Data from differential GPS surveys, gained during the summers 1997/98 and 1999/2000, were combined with up to date coastlines from a SPOT satellite image mosaic, and topographic information from maps as well as from the Antarctic Digital Database. A digital terrain model (DTM) was generated using ARC/INFO GIS. From contour lines derived from the DTM and the satellite image mosaic a satellite image map was assembled. Extensive information on data accuracy, the database as well as on the criteria applied to select place names is given in the multilingual map. A lack of accurate topographic information in the eastern part of the island was identified. It was concluded that additional topographic surveying or radar interferometry should be conducted to improve the data quality in this area. In three case studies, the potential applications of the improved topographic database are demonstrated. The first two examples comprise the verification of glacier velocities and the study of glacier retreat from the various input data-sets as well as the use of the DTM for climatological modelling. The last case study focuses on the use of the new digital database as a basic GIS (Geographic Information System) layer for environmental monitoring and management on King George Island.

Geological evidence shows that the ice sheet and climate in Antarctica has changed considerably since the onset of glaciation around 34 million years ago. By analysing this evidence, important information concerning processes responsible for ice sheet growth and decay can be determined, which is vital for appreciating future changes in Antarctica. Geological records are diverse and their analyses require a variety of techniques. They are, however, essential for the establishment of hypotheses regarding past Antarctic changes. Numerical models of ice and climate are useful for testing such hypotheses, and in recent years there have been several advances in our knowledge relating to ice sheet history gained from these tests. This paper documents five case studies, employing a full range of techniques, to exemplify recent insights into Antarctic climate evolution from modelling ice sheet inception in the earliest Oligocene to quantifying Neogene ice sheet fluctuations and process-led investigations of recent (last glacial) changes.

Sterechinus antarcticus inhabits the shelf and the slope of the Weddell Sea and is the predominant echinoid between 450 and 1200 m. Growth lines visible in the half pyramids of the Aristotle's lantern were interpreted as annual growth marks. A Von Bertalanffy growth function was fitted to age-diameter data of 217 specimens (D∞ = 82.4 mm, K = 0.017 y−1, t0 = 1.633 y). Based on 92 trawl samples, a representative size-frequency distriution of S. antarcticus was established. From the growth curve, the size-frequency sample and diameter - weight regressions, mortality and somatic productivity of S. antarcticus were calculated by a size-converted catch curve and the weight specific growth rate method. Gonadal productivity was estimated by an average value for reproductive output of cold water echinoderms. Mortality rate Z as'well as somatic P/B ratio amounted to 0.07 y−1. Annual somatic production was estimated as 0.3 mg m−2y−1, and annual gonadal production as 0.25 mg m−2 y−1 between 100 and 1200 m (0.6 and 0.5 mg m−2 y−1 between 450 and 1200 m).

Surface and subsurface sediments from a helipad in Bunger Hills were collected ten years after accidental contamination with a small quantity (probably < 10 litres) of petroleum products. The contaminants are dominated by Jet A2 synthetic lubricating oil which exhibits no evidence of degradation or environmental mobility. In contrast, Jet A1 turbine kerosene is less abundant at the surface than at 20 cm depth. There is no evidence for biodegradation of the Jet A1 in the subsurface sample, suggesting that kerosene is environmentally mobile in the surface sediments.

In the polar regions, dynamical and thermodynamical interactions between atmosphere and ocean are strongly influenced by the presence or absence of the ice cover, which forms an insulating layer over the ocean, hindering sensible heat fluxes and forming an effective barrier to evaporation and thus preventing latent heat loss. In the framework of the CLIMA (Climatic Long-term Interactions for the Mass-balance in Antarctica) project of the Italian PNRA (National Program for Antarctic Research) we focused our attention on the evaluation of the heat fluxes between the ocean and the atmosphere in the Ross Sea, where the ice covers the sea for many months of the year. Wherever the ice cover is absent all year round, such as in leads or polynyas, the air-sea fluxes can be very large, especially in winter when the air-sea temperature differences are strong. In this work heat exchanges between sea and atmosphere, whether ice cover was present or not, were calculated from climatological data obtained from the European Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecasts, while sea ice data were collected from the US National Ice Center and National Climatic Data Center. Each of the terms in the sea surface heat budget were computed for 1994 with a temporal resolution of six hours and a spatial resolution of 0.5° using bulk formulae and obtaining monthly averaged horizontal distributions. The surface heat budget is dominated in November, December, January and February by shortwave radiation, while for the other months the turbulent and conductive heat fluxes dominate the heat exchange between the atmosphere and the sea surface. The annual total heat loss at the surface in 1994 has been estimated at about −90 W m−2 with the highest heat loss occurring close to the coast; the maximum heat loss occurred in May (−217 W m−2) while in January the heat gain by the ocean was 196 W m−2. In addition, weekly averaged values over the whole Ross Sea from 1994 to 1997 were calculated with the same parameterisation in order to study the temporal variability in this basin of each individual component and of the total surface heat budget. For this purpose only the data inside the continental shelf of the Ross Sea were considered in calculating the averaged fluxes. The 1994–97 total heat budget ranges from −87 to −107 W m−2with an average of −96 W m−2; this amount of heat loss was supposed to be compensated for by the heat advected by the Circumpolar Deep Water and its transport was estimated at about 2.9 Sv.

The Scotia Arc, linking the Magellan region with the Antarctic Peninsula, comprises young and old islands both near continents and isolated, and is the only semi-continuous link between cool temperate and Antarctic environments. It is an ideal region for studies on how marine biodiversity changes across an extended transition zone. Echinoids (sea urchins) and their associated epibionts were found across depths from 91–1045 m, with 19 species from shelf and four from slope depths. The 23 species from 38 trawls represent 31% of all echinoid species known from the Southern Ocean and 38% of the shelf/upper slope echinoids. The specimens collected comprise representatives of the five families Cidaridae, Echinidae, Temnopleuridae, Schizasteridae and Pourtalesiidae. Echinoids are probably a good model for how well we know Antarctic shelf and slope megabenthos; none of the species we report are new to science but we found nine (39%) of our study species present at new localities, some thousands of kilometres from previous findings. New biogeographic ranges are illustrated for Ctenocidaris gigantea, C. nutrix, C. spinosa, Abatus curvidens, A. ingens, A. shackletoni, Amphineustes rostratus, Tripylaster philippi and Pourtalesia aurorae. Southern Ocean echinoids show eurybathy as the mean depth range of our study species was 1241 m and only one was at less than 500 m. The current view of echinoid dominance of super-abundance in the shallows seems to be not transferable to shelf and slope depths as only one of 38 trawls was dominated by echinoids. Current knowledge on maximum sizes in Antarctic echinoids seems to be good as our morphometric measurements were mainly within known size ranges. Regular echinoids increased predictably in mass with increasing test length, apart from Ctenocidaris spinosa. Tissue mass of cidaroid species was ~17%, but across irregular species varied from 17.7–8.9%. No epibionts were found on irregular echinoids or Echinidae but 70 cidaroids examined carried 51 species representing ten classes. Many of these species are reported as cidaroid epibionts for the first time. Cidaroids and their epibionts constituted > 38% of the total macrofaunal richness in the trawls they were present in. Echinoids and their epibionts clearly contribute significantly to Southern Ocean biodiversity but are minor components of biomass except in the shallows.