Drawing on qualitative interview data, this article explores past and current Australian Antarctic Program expeditioners' perceptions of the personal qualities of expeditioners alongside their views of Antarctic station culture and expeditioner recruitment procedures. The findings reveal study participants shared similar views about expeditioner personal qualities. However, the findings also suggest that the current demographic similarity of expeditioners (e.g. the overrepresentation of white men) is perhaps much more important for assessing organizational fit than the Program might be selecting for. Participants described the ways in which interpersonal interactions and the social environment can deeply affect an expeditioner's experience of the station culture. Women in this study pointed to the connection between the overrepresentation of men in the expeditioner population and a potential male bias in station culture. These results extend the existing literature on person-culture fit in Antarctica. To conclude, I provide recommendations for diversifying the expeditioner applicant pool in Antarctica that can also be applied to the selection of other workforces in isolated, confined and extreme work environments, including space missions.

The emperor penguin colony at Coulman Island is reputedly the largest known. This reputation is based on intermittent ground and aerial surveys performed since 1958. From an aerial survey obtained on 28 October 2010 we discovered that the total number of chicks was 56% of the lowest previous estimate of 2006 and only 41% of the most recent estimate in 2008. All of the counts tallied since 1983 were determined either by ground counts or from aerial film or digital photographs, or estimates from adult counts. We also determined the sea ice conditions in autumn, which is close to the time the adults arrive to breed. We present three hypotheses of what might have happened from 2008–10 to cause the step change in chick production, the small recovery of chick numbers in 2011, and the complete recovery of number of adults from 2010–11. We conclude that local circumstances may have strongly influenced the breeding behaviour of the emperor penguins in 2010 and to a lesser degree in 2011 when many adults elected not to breed.

A time series of wind stresses computed from European Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecast (ECMWF) wind data is compared to the climatology of Hellermann & Rosenstein (HR) for the Southern Hemisphere. ECMWF stresses are generally stronger, especially in the westerly belt. However they have an overall lower meridional component than the HR data. The dominance of the half annual cycle relative to the annual wave in the zonal stress at middle to high latitudes, which is documented for independent data sets, is seen in the ECMWF but not in the HR data. ECMWF winds are also compared with measurements from three expeditions to the Weddell Sea by RV Polarstern. Good correlations between Polarstern and ECMWF winds are found but for single dates the differences are above 10 ms −1. The differences are found to be uncorrelated in space and are thus due to observational errors and to the unresolved small scale variance in the ECMWF analysed winds.

East Antarctic ice discharged by Byrd Glacier continues as a flowband to the calving front of the Ross Ice Shelf. Flow across the grounding line changes from compressive to extensive as it leaves the fjord through the Transantarctic Mountains occupied by Byrd Glacier. Magnitudes of the longitudinal compressive stress that suppress opening of transverse tensile cracks are calculated for the flowband. As compressive back stresses diminish, initial depths and subsequent growth of these cracks, and their spacing, are calculated using theories of elastic and ductile fracture mechanics. Cracks are initially about one millimeter wide, with approximately 30 m depths and 20 m spacings for a back stress of 83 kPa at a distance of 50 km beyond the fjord, where floating ice is 600 m thick. When these crevasses penetrate the whole ice thickness, they release tabular icebergs 20 km to 100 km wide, spaced parallel to the calving front of the Ross Ice Shelf.

The distribution of euphausiid larvae along the coast of Terre Adélie, Antarctica, was assessed using oblique tows of a double-framed bongo net at 38 stations during summer 2004. Larvae of Euphausia crystallorophias and Thysanoessa macrura were observed. For E. crystallorophias larvae, the calyptopis I stage was dominant along the coast, while the most commonly observed stage of T. macrura was the furcilia. The distribution of E. crystallorophias larvae were correlated with abiotic factors, including depth and sea surface salinity, whereas those of T. macrura larvae were correlated with biotic factors, especially chlorophyll a and nitrate. Developmental stages of both species increased in age from west to east in the survey area, with younger developmental stages (metanauplius and calyptopis I) in the western part of the region and older stages (calyptopis II and III and furcilia I to VI) in the eastern part near the Mertz Glacier Tongue (MGT). It is suggested that these patterns could be linked with the water circulation and wind: near the MGT gyres could concentrate all developmental stages of both species near the coast, while katabatic winds near Dumont d'Urville will promote larval advection seawards, with younger stages near the coast and older stages further offshore.

Monitoring the rate of ice flow into ice shelves is vital to understanding how, where and when mass changes occur in Antarctica. Previous observations of ice surface velocity indicate that the Amery Ice Shelf and tributary glaciers have been relatively stable over the period 1968 to 1999. This study measured the displacement of features on the ice surface over a sequence of Landsat 7 images separated by approximately one year and spanning 2004 to 2012 using the surface feature tracking software IMCORR. The focus is on the region surrounding the southern grounding zone of the Amery Ice Shelf and its primary tributary glaciers: the Fisher, Lambert and Mellor glaciers. No significant changes in surface velocity were observed over this period. Accordingly, the velocity fields from each image pair between 2004 and 2012 were used to synthesize an average velocity dataset of the Amery Ice Shelf region and to compare it to previously published velocity datasets and in situ global positioning system velocity observations. No significant change in ice surface velocities was found between 2004 and 2012 in the Amery Ice Shelf region, which suggests that it continues to remain stable.

Surface energy fluxes of the ice sheet close to oases (ice-free land regions) are crucial in the case of retreating ice sheet and growing oasis areas. This study presents a four-year record of the meteorological parameters, radiative and turbulent energy fluxes at the edge of the Antarctic ice sheet, close to Schirmacher Oasis in Dronning Maud Land, East Antarctica from March 2007–February 2011. The energy fluxes were analysed for summer season, winter season and transition periods. High katabatic winds were observed during winter (seasonal mean 9.3 m s-1) as compared to other seasons. A high correlation (r2 = 0.89) was observed between the glacier surface temperature and air temperature, and regression relations were obtained for summer, winter and transition periods. The net radiative flux was the main heat source to the glacier during summer (46.8 W m-2) and heat sink during winter (-42.2 W m-2). Sensible heat flux (annual mean 32 W m-2) was the heat source and latent heat flux (annual mean -61 W m-2) was the heat sink to the glacier surface, averaged over all seasons. Comparison with other coastal or dry valley locations in Antarctica show that low humidity (50%), high katabatic winds (8.3 m s-1) and mild surface (-11.4°C) and air temperature (-10.2°C) contribute to high latent heat flux at the present study location.

On sub-Antarctic Marion Island, wandering albatross (Diomedea exulans) nests support high abundances of tineid moth, Pringleophaga marioni, caterpillars. Previous work proposed that the birds serve as thermal ecosystem engineers by elevating nest temperatures relative to ambient, thereby promoting growth and survival of the caterpillars. However, only 17 days of temperature data were presented previously, despite year-long nest occupation by birds. Previous sampling was also restricted to old and recently failed nests, though nests from which chicks have recently fledged are key to understanding how the engineering effect is realized. Here we build on previous work by providing nest temperature data for a full year and by sampling all three nest types. For the full duration of nest occupancy, temperatures within occupied nests are significantly higher, consistently by c. 7°C, than those in surrounding soils and abandoned nests, declining noticeably when chicks fledge. Caterpillar abundance is significantly higher in new nests compared to nests from which chicks have fledged, which in turn have higher caterpillar abundances than old nests. Combined with recent information on the life history of P. marioni, our data suggest that caterpillars are incidentally added to the nests during nest construction, and subsequently benefit from an engineering effect.

There has been growing concern over the impact of increased human disturbance and research effects on Antarctic species. The Weddell seal of McMurdo Sound in particular has been used as a model species for over four decades of research, with some individuals handled multiple times over a single season. Using opportunistic data, we performed an assessment of blood indicators in adult males (n = 26) and adult females (n = 24) based on high versus low disturbance areas, with results showing no variation in overall seal health. In addition, we performed a preliminary analysis of blood and faecal indicators of inflammation and stress collected from adult, non-lactating females (n = 13) handled twice in less than two weeks for research purposes. There was no indication of a change in white blood cells, platelets, globulins or haptoglobins, or faecal corticosteroids (all P > 0.05). While based on a small, opportunistic sample size with limited power in some cases, preliminary results indicate there is no acute impact of repeated handling or difference in overall traffic level on adult Weddell seals.

The Southern Ocean is probably the last frontier in the field of marine biology. This huge oceanic region is the scene of a very efficient production system yielding high levels of biomass. Within the Southern Ocean food chain the important and conspicuous role played by Antarctic krill is well documented but there is another group of key animals, rarely conspicuous and much less well understood that play a most important intermediate role in the food chain. Although field scientists working in the Southern Ocean have observed an abundant and diverse squid fauna in the diet of vertebrate predators, Antarctic squid have seldom been seen alive. This is in contrast to the situation in seas at lower latitudes where schools of neritic and oceanic squid are regularly encountered at the surface. Marine scientists have rarely been successful in catching Antarctic squid, using either towed nets or jigs, but it has been estimated that standing stock biomass of these organisms in the Southern Ocean may be as high as 100 million tonnes based on an estimate of 30 million tonnes consumed by vertebrate predators. This is clearly a significant resource when compared to the annual catch of the world's fisheries (mostly finfish) which, according to current FAO statistics, amounts to some 100 million tonnes.

Terrestrial environments at Bunger Hills, East Antarctica, vary from vegetation-rich, little-weathered rock surfaces retaining glacial polish and striations near the glacier and ice-sheet margins to salty, vegetation-poor, extensively weathered regions near to and downwind of marine bays and inlets. Weathering forms include tafoni and orientated pits, which record former wind directions. Although salts are found all over Bunger Hills, the strongly weathered area is coincident with the distribution of halite (NaCl) and thenardite (Na2SO4), both of which are derived from seawater and marine salt spray. Salts elsewhere in Bunger Hills are either subglacial calcium carbonates or rock weathering products including gypsum (CaSO4⋅2H2O) and a range of rarer minerals. These other salt minerals do not weather rocks and sediment. The distribution of halite and thenardite acts as a major control on the geomorphology, sediment geochemistry and biogeography of Bunger Hills.

Sea ice often forms attached to floating ice shelves. Accumulating snow can depress its freeboard, creating a flooded slush layer that may subsequently freeze to form snow ice, rejecting brine as it freezes. The resulting salinity profile determines the mechanical properties of the sea ice. We provide measurements of snow-loaded, multiyear sea ice from summer to winter. Brine from a slush layer is not completely expelled from the sea ice when the slush refreezes to form snow ice. Measurements of sea ice salinity and temperature indicate that the fate of this brine depends on the permeability of the sea ice below it. The sea ice in this study was also deformed by a nearby ice shelf over eleven years at a strain rate $$--><$> \dot{{\epsilon}} $$$ = (-8 ± 3) × 10-4 yr-1 (or 3 × 10-11 s-1). From transects of sea ice thickness and structure we estimate an effective Young's modulus at medium scales for sea ice mostly composed of snow ice of 0.1 GPa < E < 0.4 GPa, suggesting that this eleven year old sea ice cover has similar mechanical properties to warm first year sea ice. This is important for the parameterisations needed to simulate multiyear sea ice in the complex region near an ice shelf.

Local earthquakes recorded at the King Sejong station (62° 13′31″S, 58° 47′07″W) from 1995–96 have been analysed to study the seismicity and tectonics around the northern Antarctic Peninsula. The nature of shallow-focused normal fault earthquakes along the South Shetland Platform is still unclear. Dominant normal fault earthquakes and minor strike-slip earthquakes in the Eastern Bransfield Basin suggest 1) ongoing extension, and 2) transtensional stress transmitted from the Antarctic–Scotia transform boundaries, the South Scotia Ridge and the Shackleton Fracture Zone. A lack of seismicity in the Central Bransfield Basin supports that active seismicity in the Eastern Bransfield Basin is not a result of subduction along the South Shetland Trench. Shallow focused earthquakes have been observed along the NW–SE trending gravity low line between the Central and the Eastern Bransfield Basins that approximately coincides with the landward projection of a fracture zone in the former Phoenix Plate.

The aim of the MINERVE project (Mesures à l’INterface Eau-aiR de la Variabilité des Échanges de CO2) is to observe and understand the seasonal and interannual variability of the partial pressure of CO2 (pCO2) in surface waters using hydrological and biogeochemical data in the Southern Ocean south of Australia. Logistics routes of the RV Astrolabe provide access to scarcely studied areas, thus allowing us to understand the different processes acting in this area of the Antarctic Ocean. The surface area covered by these cruises, however, is tiny compared with the total surface area of the Antarctic Ocean. Correlations between in situ surface temperature and salinity data were applied to satellite images of sea surface temperature to map ocean surface salinity over a much wider area than under the cruise tracks. Comparisons with salinity data from satellites which provide ~100 km resolution and 0.1 accuracy indicate that we are able to map salinity at 4 km resolution and almost the same accuracy of ± 0.1.

We compared systematic and random survey techniques to estimate breeding population sizes of burrow-nesting petrel species on Marion Island. White-chinned (Procellaria aequinoctialis) and blue (Halobaena caerulea) petrel population sizes were estimated in systematic surveys (which attempt to count every colony) in 2009 and 2012, respectively. In 2015, we counted burrows of white-chinned, blue and great-winged (Pterodroma macroptera) petrels within 52 randomized strip transects (25 m wide, total 144 km). Burrow densities were extrapolated by Geographic Information System-derived habitat attributes (geology, vegetation, slope, elevation, aspect) to generate island-wide burrow estimates. Great-winged petrel burrows were found singly or in small groups at low densities (2 burrows ha−1); white-chinned petrel burrows were in loose clusters at moderate densities (3 burrows ha−1); and blue petrel burrows were in tight clusters at high densities (13 burrows ha−1). The random survey estimated 58% more white-chinned petrels but 42% fewer blue petrels than the systematic surveys. The results suggest that random transects are best suited for species that are widely distributed at low densities, but become increasingly poor for estimating population sizes of species with clustered distributions. Repeated fixed transects provide a robust way to monitor changes in colony density and area, but might fail to detect the formation/disappearance of new colonies.

Temporal variations of the aerosol optical depth and transmission coefficient of the atmosphere are considered using data from Mirny Observatory, Antarctica. Year-to-year variability of these parameters is determined mainly by stratospheric aerosol pollution due to volcanic activity. A considerable increase of atmospheric turbidity has been observed since the end of September 1991. This phenomenon seems to be associated with the Mount Pinatubo volcanic eruption.

New information on the biology and ecology of an abundant ‘rockcod’ species, Lepidonotothen squamifrons (family: Nototheniidae), found at South Georgia is presented. Data collected from twenty demersal trawl surveys carried out at South Georgia and Shag Rocks (sub-Antarctic) from 1986–2012 were analysed to investigate distribution, size, maturity and diet. Distribution was patchy with large aggregations in consistent high-density ‘hotspots’ to the east of Shag Rocks and to the west of South Georgia. Fish density was shown to vary between regions of the shelf and between years but there was little evidence of significant changes in catch per unit effort (CPUE) over the duration of the study. Length at first maturity for males and females (37–38 cm, total length) was very similar to that described for the Indian Ocean population. Detailed stomach contents analysis (2005–12) indicated a varied diet dominated by salps/tunicates, but with ontogenetic and depth variations in prey composition. Lepidonotothen squamifrons was shown to be an opportunistic bentho-pelagic forager. Enhanced knowledge of the ecology of L. squamifrons will be valuable in future research on food web modelling and marine spatial management in the Southern Ocean and to provide baseline data on the ecology of the species in a rapidly changing environment.

We developed a random, stratified, vertical longline survey in McMurdo Sound, Antarctica, to compare the local age and size composition, diet and reproductive status of Antarctic toothfish (Dissostichus mawsoni) with those observed from a vessel-based survey of the southern Ross Sea shelf that includes a McMurdo Sound stratum. Results indicated that southern McMurdo Sound toothfish were larger and older than those a short distance away in northern McMurdo Sound. These data, in addition to recoveries of tagged fish, suggest that the large toothfish in McMurdo Sound may have limited mixing with the rest of the population. The potential effects of climate change and fishing in northern areas on toothfish abundance in McMurdo Sound will depend on the mechanism of toothfish recruitment to McMurdo Sound. Understanding the ecological relationships between McMurdo Sound toothfish and the larger population is required to predict these impacts. Furthermore, because toothfish predators (type C killer whales Orcinus orca, Weddell seals Leptonychotes weddellii) are abundant in the south-west margins of the Ross Sea, it is important to monitor toothfish in McMurdo Sound as part of the monitoring programme for the Ross Sea region Marine Protected Area.