In early 2004 the Victoria Land Transect project sampled coastal north-western Ross Sea shelf benthos at Cape Adare, Cape Hallett, Cape Russell and Coulman Island from 100–500 m deep. We describe the benthic macrofaunal assemblages at these locations and, to assess the use of seafloor sediment characteristics and/or depth measures in bioregionalizations, determine the extent to which assemblage compositions are related to measured differences in these factors. Percentages of fine sand and silt, the ratio of sediment chlorophyll a to phaeophytin, and depth were identified as important explanatory variables, but in combination they explained only 17.3% of between-location differences in assemblages. Consequently, these variables are clearly not strong determinants of macrofaunal assemblage structure. Latitude per se was not a useful measure of community variability and change. A significant correlation between both number of individuals and number of taxa and sediment phaeophytin concentration across locations suggests that the distribution of the benthos reflects their response to seafloor productivity. A number of factors not measured in this study have probably influenced the structure and function of assemblages and habitats. We discuss the implications of the results to marine classifications, and stress the need to incorporate biogenic habitat complexity into protection strategies.

Modern diatom samples were collected from 43 sites across the Strømness Bay area of South Georgia. From 115 taxa belonging to 22 six diatom assemblages were distinguished. A CCA-analysis indicated that the assemblages are linked to pH and conductivity ranges, and habitat structure. The Eunotia paludosa var. paludosa - Eunotia subarcuatoides assemblage occurs in small acid water bodies. Samples of the Fragilaria germainii - Pinnularia aff. anglica assemblage are found in pools with a relatively high conductivity. The Fragilaria neoproducta assemblage and the Achnanthes subatomoides - Navicula vitabunda assemblage are mainly found in larger pools and lakes. This relationship between the assemblages and pH was comparable with results found in the testate amoebae fauna of South Georgia.

We report the establishment of two representatives of a new ecological functional group on the sub-Antarctic island of South Georgia - pollinating insects - in the form of the hoverfly Eristalis croceimaculata Jacobs (Diptera, Syrphidae) and the blowfly Calliphora vicina Robineau-Desvoidy (Diptera, Calliphoridae). The floricolous adults of these two species provide a new ecological role, pollination, in the ecosystems of this island. The activity of their respectively saprophogous or necrophagous larvae will also augment that of the native insect and microarthropod soil fauna. We discuss the potential new synergy between this functional group and that of a number of established non-native plants, reliant on insect pollinators for successful seed-set and hence dispersal, that are currently of persistent status with very limited local distributions.

The stratigraphy of the upper part of the Upper Palaeozoic–Lower Mesozoic Victoria Group in the central Transantarctic Mountains is reviewed. Marked lithologic contrasts exist in the Falla Formation between the lower volcanic-poor part and the upper volcaniclastic part. The name Falla Formation is here restricted to the lower volcanic-poor part of the sequence making it the youngest formation in the Victoria Group. The upper volcaniclastic part, a tuffaceous sequence, is named the Hanson Formation.

Apatite fission-track data from samples of Precambrian basement, Late Permian Triassic sedimentary rocks and inferred Cretaceous intrusive bodies are used to constrain the low-temperature (i.e. sub ~110°C) thermal history of the northern Prince Charles Mountains, East Antarctica. Two discrete phases of cooling have been identified, both of which are attributed to regional exhumation associated with rifting episodes. A phase of late Palaeozoic cooling, that began during the Carboniferous, is inferred to have been associated with the initial formation of the Lambert Graben. A more recent phase of cooling was initiated during the Early Cretaceous and is estimated to have locally involved the removal of at least 2 km of material using an assumed palaeotemperature gradient of ~25°C km−1 at the time of cooling. This latter phase of exhumation was closely accompanied by the emplacement of a variety of mafic alkaline rocks at ambient palaeotemperatures less than ~60°C and was probably related to renewed extension of the Lambert Graben during the break-up of eastern Gondwana. The results of this study suggest that final exhumation of high-grade Precambrian basement of the northern Price Charles Mountains was largely controlled by Phanerozoic rifting events.

We report on 475 measurements of depth to ice-cemented ground in four high-elevation valleys of the Quartermain Mountains, McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica. These valleys have pervasive ice-cemented ground, and the depth to ice-cemented ground and the ice composition may be indicators of climate change. In University Valley, the measured depth to ice-cemented ground ranges from 0–98 cm. There is an overall trend of increasing depth to ice-cemented ground with distance from a small glacier at the head of the valley, with a slope of 32 cm depth per kilometre along the valley floor. For Farnell Valley, the depth to ice-cemented ground is roughly constant (c. 30 cm) in the upper and central parts of the valley, but increases sharply as the valley descends into Beacon Valley. The two valleys north of University Valley also have extensive ice-cemented ground, with depths of 20–40 cm, but exhibit no clear patterns of ice depth with location. For all valleys there is a tendency for the variability in depth to ice-cemented ground at a site to increase with increasing depth to ice. Snow recurrence, solar insolation, and surface albedo may all be factors that cause site to site variations in these valleys.

Sediment cores from Abel and Platcha Bays, in the Vestfold Hills, east Antarctica, contain evidence for a local late Holocene increase in fast ice extent and a possible ice cap retreat at approximately 1750 yr BP, a similar time to the Chelnock Glaciation. Prior to this time both bays experienced periods of isolation that lead to changes in their diatom flora, C:N ratio, percentage of biogenic silica and total organic carbon. Three new diatom indices are proposed; the fast ice index, based on the proportion of fast ice taxa present, the benthic index, based on the proportion of benthic taxa and the snow index, based on the proportion Berkelaya adeliense and Thalassiosira ausiralis. These indices show strong relationships with the percentage of biogenic silica, total organic carbon and percentage sand. A weak relationship exists between the fast ice index and ∂13C and no relationship with the C:N ratio.

The ∼470 Ma Dalmatian Granite forms sheet-like bodies intruded discordantly into orthogneisses, paragneisses and calcareous rocks belonging to the ∼1000 Ma Jutulrora, Sveabreen and Fuglefjellet formations respectively. The Dalmatian Granite is muscovite + biotite bearing. Two varieties are recognized, one that is magnetite-bearing and another that is characterized by tourmaline nodules. At some localities, development of the tourmaline-bearing variety is spatially associated with the presence of carbonates. Physical conditions of emplacement for the Dalmatian Granite are estimated to be approximately 700°C and 6kbar with pH2O = Pload. The emplacement of the granite is considered to have occurred syntectonically during D3 approximately 470 Ma ago. The granites are therefore similar in age to Pan African age granites in Mozambique as well as Ross Orogeny age granites in the Transantarctic Mountains.

Palynomorph assemblages from the Lachman Crags Member of the Santa Marta Formation, north-west James Ross Island, Antarctic Peninsula are described. By basis of comparison with other Southern Hemisphere localities, particularly southern Australia, an early Santonian–early Campanian age is indicated. The results broadly corroborate previous stratigraphical interpretations based on macrofaunal evidence, although the presence of a significant thickness of Santonian strata, not previously recognized, is suggested. The dinoflagellate cyst floras allow the recognition of the local equivalents of the Australian Odontochitina porifera, Isabelidinium cretaceum, Nelsoniella aceras and Xenikoon australis Interval Zones. Some recycling of mid Cretaceous (and possibly Late Jurassic) taxa is also indicated. The miospore flora is composed of relatively long-ranging species, although the local appearance of certain taxa may be of stratigraphical significance. Ranges recorded support previous interpretations of heterochroneity in Southern Hemisphere floras. The palynoflora comprises 76 dinoflagellate cyst, 40 miospore and 7 acritarch, prasinophyte and chlorophyte taxa. Six undescribed species of dinoflagellate cyst are recorded and placed in open nomenclature.

Deception Island, an active stratovolcano located in the South Shetland Islands, Antarctica, provides excellent conditions for the thermophilic bacteria growth because of high ground temperatures in specific areas, such as Fumarole Bay where the temperatures are above the mesophilic range. Denaturing Gradient Gel Electrophoresis (DGGE) was used with the 16S ribosomal gene to analyse cultures of thermophilic bacteria from a soil sample taken from Fumarole Bay. Nine bands were sequenced and analysed from DGGE and they indicated the presence of bacteria from the genera Geobacillus, Bacillus, Brevibacillus, Thermus and uncultured sulphate reducing bacteria. Some of which have been reported in other Antarctic geothermal sites. Geobacillus, Bacillus and Brevibacillus genera were successfully cultivated in an enriched medium. A pure culture of one thermophilic Geobacillus bacterium was obtained closely related to Geobacillus jurassicus.

Patchiness in the horizontal distribution of sympagic organisms was studied at an Antarctic coastal site during autumn. A hierarchical sampling design (nested ANOVA) was used to assess variation in the biota on scales from metres to kilometres. Metazoan abundance, chlorophyll concentration and salinity were measured in 54 sea ice cores. The metazoan fauna was dominated by nauplii of the copepod Paralabidocera antarctica (6 × 104 to 4 × 105 m−2). Other copepods present included Stephos longipes, Oncaea curvata, Oithona similis, Ctenocalanus citer, and unidentified harpacticoid copepods. Chlorophyll a concentrations were generally much higher than values recorded at other sites at the same time of the year, reaching a maximum of 78 mg m−2. Metazoan abundances did not correlate strongly with chlorophyll or salinity. Significant variability in abundance of P. antarctica and O. similis, and chlorophyll concentration occurred at the scale of kilometres, whereas salinity and other metazoan abundances were not significantly variable at any of the scales examined. Considerable variation was evident at scales of less than one metre.

We report and describe two new small diamictite outcrops on Isla Marambio (Seymour Island), Antarctic Peninsula. These rocks rest on an erosional unconformity on top of the Eocene La Meseta Formation and are unconformably covered by glaciomarine rocks of the ?Pliocene–Pleistocene Weddell Sea Formation. The lithology, fossil content and isotopic ages obtained strongly suggest that the rocks belong to the Hobbs Glacier Formation and support a Late Miocene age for this unit. Additionally, the dated basalt clast provides the oldest age (12.4 Ma) for the James Ross Island Volcanic Group recorded up to now. The here described diamictite cannot be confidently correlated with a glaciomarine unit previously assigned to the Late Eocene–Lower Oligocene taken as proof that initial expansion of ice on Antarctica encompassed the entire continent synchronously in the earliest Oligocene. However, it is now evident that there are likely to be more, short but important, stratigraphic sequences of key regional and Antarctic wide interest preserved on the plateau of Isla Marambio.

Satellite imagery is used to show that the world's second largest emperor penguin colony, at Halley Bay, has suffered three years of almost total breeding failure. Although, like all emperor colonies, there has been large inter-annual variability in the breeding success at this site, the prolonged period of failure is unprecedented in the historical record. The observed events followed the early breakup of the fast ice in the ice creeks that the birds habitually used for breeding. The initial breakup was associated with a particularly stormy period in September 2015, which corresponded with the strongest El Niño in over 60 years, strong winds, and a record low sea-ice year locally. Conditions have not recovered in the two years since. Meanwhile, during the same three-year period, the nearby Dawson-Lambton colony, 55 km to the south, has seen a more than tenfold increase in penguin numbers. The authors associate this with immigration from the birds previously breeding at Halley Bay. Studying this ‘tale of two cities’ provides valuable information relevant to modelling penguin movement under future climate change scenarios.

The structure and function of swimming muscles in Antarctic fish is reviewed, the emphasis being on the highly endemic sub-order Notothenioidei. Adult stages of the vast majority of species swim at low speeds using large pectoral fins (labriform locomotion). This is supplemented with sub-carangiform swimming in pelagic juvenile stages and in the adult stages of some other species. The thrust for sustained activity is provided by the recruitment of slow muscle fibres. Slow muscle myofibrils typically occur in columns one fibril thick entirely surrounded by mitochondria. The resulting high volume density of mitochondria (30–60%), and short inter-mitochondrial spacing, is thought to represent an adaptation which serves to compensate for the detrimental effects of low temperature on enzyme reaction and diffusion rates. Sub-carangiform swimming is used to achieve burst speeds associated with prey capture and/or predator avoidance. Burst speeds require the recruitment of fast twitch fibres in the myotomes. In many demersal species the energy supply for burst swimming largely comes from phosphogen hydrolysis, and the capacity of fast twitch fibres for anaerobic glycogenolysis is severely reduced. Antarctic fish are characterized by delayed maturation, slow growth and low metabolic rates. The fast myotomal muscles of adult stages often contain few fibres less than 80 μm diameter, fibres 200–450 μm diameter forming the major size class in numerous species. It is therefore likely that hyperplasia ceases at a relatively early stage in development and that subsequent muscle growth involves hypertrophy of existing fibres. Studies of the contractile properties of isolated muscle fibres suggest that low temperature limits maximum swimming performance in Antarctic fish. Kinematic data suggest that this is most noticeable for juvenile stages, which have higher maximum tail-beat frequencies than adults.

Raised beach ridges on Livingston Island of the South Shetland Islands display variations in both quantity and source of ice rafted detritus (IRD) received over time. Whereas the modern beach exhibits little IRD, all of which is of local origin, the next highest beach (∼250 14C yr BP) has large amounts, some of which comes from as far away as the Antarctic Peninsula. Significant quantities of IRD also were deposited ∼1750 14C yr BP. Both time periods coincide with generally cooler regional conditions and, at least in the case of the ∼250 yr old beach, local glacial advance. We suggest that the increases in ice rafting may reflect periods of greater glacial activity, altered ocean circulation, and/or greater iceberg preservation during the late Holocene. Limited IRD and lack of far-travelled erratics on the modern beach are both consistent with the ongoing warming trend in the Antarctic Peninsula region.

Well-preserved eclogites were found for the first time in Antarctica, at the Lanterman Range, northern Victoria Land. They are part of a mafic–ultramafic belt that lies between the Wilson Terrane, representing part of the palaeo-Pacific margin of Gondwana, and the Bowers Terrane, a Cambro-Ordovician volcanic are and related sediments, accreted to the margin during the Ross Orogeny. The eclogites formed at temperatures in the range 750–850°C and pressures above 15 kbar and subsequently experienced a decompressional path to low pressure amphibolite facies conditions. The formation and exhumation of eclogites and the attainment of the metamorphic peak in adjacent rock units is consistent with a plate convergent setting model at the palaeo-Pacific margin of Gondwana.

Deception Island is the largest volcano in the actively extending Bransfield Basin, a marginal basin situated behind the extinct South Shetland Islands arc. Deception Island has been well studied but its submerged flanks have not. A multibeam bathymetry survey was conducted around the island in 2005. Data from the flooded caldera show no evidence for recent localized resurgence. The gently-sloped bottom of the caldera basin is consistent with either a broad zone of resurgence on its east side associated with trap door deformation or with higher rates of sediment supply from the east side of the island. Around the island, numerous tectonic and volcanic features on the volcano's east and west flanks are nearly all aligned with the regional strike (~060°) of the Bransfield rift and there is very little evidence for the other fault populations that have been identified on the island. We infer that models that link the ongoing tectonic development of Deception Island to complex regional tectonics are less likely than models in which the dominant regional extension in Bransfield Strait is modulated by the local effects of caldera collapse and possibly a small right-lateral transfer zone offsetting the primary extension axes in the Central and Western Bransfield Basins.

To survive in Antarctica, early explorers of Antarctica's Heroic Age erected wooden buildings and brought in large quantities of supplies. The introduction of wood and other organic materials may have provided new nutrient sources for fungi that were indigenous to Antarctica or were brought in with the materials. From 30 samples taken from Discovery Hut, 156 filamentous fungi were isolated on selective media. Of these, 108 were screened for hydrolytic activity on carboxymethyl cellulose, of which 29 demonstrated activities. Endo-1, 4-β-glucanase activity was confirmed in the extracellular supernatant from seven isolates when grown at 4°C, and also when they were grown at 15°C. Cladosporium oxysporum and Geomyces sp. were shown to grow on a variety of synthetic cellulose substrates and to use cellulose as a nutrient source at temperate and cold temperatures. The research findings from the present study demonstrate that Antarctic filamentous fungi isolated from a variety of substrates (wood, straw, and food stuffs) are capable of cellulose degradation and can grow well at low temperatures.

The emperor penguin (Aptenodytes forsteri) is extremely dependent on the extent and stability of sea ice, which may make the species particularly susceptible to environmental change. In order to appraise the stability of the emperor penguin populations at six colonies in the western Ross Sea, we used linear regression analysis to evaluate chick abundance trends (1983–2005) and Pearson's r correlation to assess their relation to two local and two large-scale climate variables. We detected only one significant abundance trend; the Cape Roget colony increased from 1983 to 1996 (n = 6). Higher coefficients of variation in chick abundances at smaller colonies (Cape Crozier, Beaufort Island, Franklin Island) suggest that such colonies occupy marginal habitat, and are more susceptible to environmental change. We determined chick abundance to be most often correlated with local Ross Sea climate variables (sea ice extent and sea surface temperature), but not in consistent patterns across the colonies. We propose that chick abundance is most impacted by fine scale sea ice extent and local weather events, which are best evaluated by on-site assessments. We did not find sufficient evidence to reject the hypothesis that the overall emperor penguin population in the Ross Sea was stable during this period.

We have determined the base composition (percentage of guanine-cytosine base pairs, GC%) of total DNA from Euphausia superba to be 32% ± 0.5%. This is the lowest GC% recorded for a metazoan. Low GC% DNA has high concentrations of thymine (T) residues and consequently a greater abundance of adjacent T residues [T(n) arrays]. Ultraviolet B (280–320 nm, UV-B) radiation damages DNA primarily at (T)n arrays, so we suggest that krill DNA may be more susceptible to damage from increased levels of UV-B radiation over the Southern Ocean than the DNA of other Antarctic organisms.