The Thule region in north Greenland formerly supported a population of musk-oxen (Ovibos moschatus). Radiocarbon dating of bones of this mammal collected on the terrain surface and from archaeological sites has yielded late Holocene ages, indicating that the species was a late immigrant to this part of Greenland. The species may have arrived at a time when the area was uninhabited, and it had at least a thousand years to spread south, before the Late Dorset people arrived. The heavy glaciation of Melville Bugt in the late Holocene was probably the main reason that the musk-ox did not disperse south to west Greenland. The population of musk-ox in the region may have peaked during the Medieval Warm Period, and the species survived during the occupation of the region by the Late Dorset people. The size of the population may have declined during the beginning of the Little Ice Age, and musk-ox was probably exterminated from the region shortly after the arrival of the mobile Thule people.

This note considers the practice of pointing the finger at the map. Using two recent examples from Australia and Norway involving outer continental shelf submissions, it considers why such a bodily gesture might actually be more than a mere gesture. With regard to the polar regions, it is a timely reminder that ceremonies of possession remain important and provides further opportunity to reflect on the embodied and gendered nature of these activities. Being seen is one thing and being cited is another.

This paper traces the Soviet responses to initiatives of international scientific institutions for collaborative research in the Antarctic dating from the International Geophysical Year (IGY) through to the formation of the Special Committee for Antarctic Research (SCAR) and the extension of the IGY for a year during the International Geophysical Cooperation. It demonstrates the consistently positive attitudes of the USSR to these initiatives and the steps that were taken at the national level to enable it to continue international collaboration. Other countries with interests in the Antarctic conjectured whether the Soviets had a long term strategy for continuing their presence in the South Polar region. The evidence suggests that from the day the Soviets set foot on the Antarctic continent, they had no intention of leaving.

The Byrranga Mountains (Gory Byrranga) are the most northern mountainous massif of the Taymyr Peninsula (Poluostrov Taymyr) in the Russian Arctic. Although studies of them began in 1736, they are one of the least studied areas of the Arctic. The region has no population, is remote, and has difficult access. As a result, the mountainous tundra ecosystems are preserved practically in a pristine state. The mountains are composed of siltstones and intrusive rocks of neutral composition; vast areas along all the mountain chain are occupied by exposed limestone. Rivers flow in deep intermontane depressions while lakes are found mainly in faults. The climate is an extremely severe continental type. Microclimatic areas provide some relief and support a rich and diverse flora. There have been 391 species and subspecies of vascular plants recorded, but no reliable data on the number of species of mosses and lichens are available. Relict thickets of tall willows are found in protected valleys of piedmont brooks, whereas relict alder-tree thickets occur on warm slopes. The mountain fauna includes nine mammal and 56 bird species. Intermontane depressions serve as corridors for seasonal migrations of wild reindeer that usually spend summers in the southern piedmont areas. Northern piedmonts and wide intermontane depressions are places where herds of musk-ox, introduced in the 1970s, concentrate. The bird fauna of relict willow thickets is highly specific and the fish fauna is quite diverse (16 species), but some species in Taymyr Lake (Ozero Taymyr) have been overexploited. This paper provides the first detailed biogeographical description of the Byrranga Mountains in English.

The results of a monitoring study of three Adelie penguin (Pygoscelis adeliae) rookeries at Cape Bird (77° 13'S, 166°28'E), Antarctica, are presented. Occupied nests were counted immediately after egg laying in most years between 1965 and 1970, and annually from 1974 to 1987. The population has not shown the degree of stability that might be expected of a long-lived species with a low reproductive rate, twice deviating significantly from a mean value of about 37,500 pairs. In the censused rookeries numbers dropped by about 16% in 1967 and a further 30% in 1968. The 1968 decline was attributed to extensive fast ice, but numbers were unaffected in two subsequent years with similar ice conditions. After eight years of relative stability around the pre-1967 level, a period of rapid growth began in 1982 and 1983. The total of 54,000 pairs in 1987, the last year for which numbers are available, was the highest ever counted at Cape Bird. These results stress the need for caution when using bird populations to detect man-induced changes in the marine environment.

The existence of an icy continent around the South Pole is known to everybody today. But it is common to ascribe this kind of modern knowledge to navigators sailing in southern polar waters in the 19th century. A good illustration of this is the Russian Antarctic expedition (1819–1821) under the conduct of Fabian Gottlieb von Bellingshausen (Russian version Faddej Faddeevich Bellinsgauzen), the reception of which in Russian society of the 19th and 20th centuries is analysed in this article. During the cold war, beginning at the end of the 1940s, the question of who discovered Antarctica turned from being a scientific problem into a subject of political struggle between the United States of America, Great Britain and the Soviet Union. This article provides an analysis of the Russian discovery in the area, while at the same time, attempting to give an answer to the main question of the history of Antarctic exploration which is: is it well-justified to establish the first discoverer of Antarctica? All the dates in the text are according to the Gregorian calendar.

To prevent boredom and restlessness during early Arctic and Antarctic over-wintering expeditions, leaders often encouraged ‘cultural’ activities, one of the most successful of which was the production of newspapers. Expedition members contributed poetry, short fiction, and literary criticism as well as scientific articles and accounts of their daily activities. These newspapers provide an important insight into the experiences and attitudes of the men who took part in the expeditions. In some cases, the newspaper would be published on the expedition's return, as a means of publicity, fund-raising, and memorialisation. The most famous example is the South Polar Times, the newspaper produced by Robert Falcon Scott's two expeditions. Other polar newspapers remain unpublished and unexamined. This article focuses on the Adelie Blizzard, the newspaper of the Australasian Antarctic Expedition of 1911–14, led by Douglas Mawson. Despite Mawson's efforts, the Adelie Blizzard was never published, and is rarely discussed in any detail in accounts of the expedition. The aim of this article is to address this neglect, by examining the genesis, production and attempted publication of the Adelie Blizzard.

During the so-called ‘heroic age’ of Antarctic exploration (c.1897–1922), various parties of men invented songs to aid the act of sledging and to provide a mental diversion from the monotony of the task and the physical demands it made on the human body. Songs composed in this uniquely polar musical genre typically included rhyming lyrics that were highly motivational and expressed a united identity. The lyrics were usually set to the melodies of popular songs of the day. When voiced in unison by men out ‘on the march,’ sledging songs could help to promote team synchronisation and cohesion, and give the act of sledging (as well as the expeditions as a whole) a stronger sense of purpose and meaning. The singing of such songs, therefore, contributed in a very practical way to the overall success of many Antarctic expeditions of the ‘heroic age’. This article examines three sledging songs dating from this period of Antarctic exploration and investigates the historical context in which they were created and performed. It also considers what these songs reveal about the experiences of the men who participated in the sledging journeys and their earliest perceptions of the Antarctic environment.

During the last two decades the sledging ration used by British antarctic expedition has gradually been standardized and recent minor variations have had little effect on total calorie value. It may therefore be useful to record both the ration and the rationing system adopted by members of the Falkland Islands Dependencies Survey at Stonington Island, Graham Land, during the sledging seasons of 1948–50. The ration was in a direct line of descent from that used by the British Graham Land Expedition in 1934–37, and has been evolved for the use of dbg-sledge parties travelling long distances without air support or mechanical vehicles. It provides a balanced diet which has been found to keep a man in good health, as judged by body weight and ability to maintain continuous physical effort for long periods. It may be consumed at varying rates, but the party at Stonington Island always used it at the rate recorded below—27½ oz. per day. Although theration was satisfactory a general feeling of hunger made it necessary to maintain a personal mental discipline in eating neither more nor less than the allotted quantities of each item each day.

In 1850 Lady Franklin sent out the first of her private expeditions in search of her husband and the crews of HMS Erebus and Terror, lost in the islands of the Canadian Arctic. The expedition sailed in Prince Albert, a vessel Lady Franklin acquired for the purpose. Its aim was to winter in Prince Regent Inlet and explore the area to the west, using two separate boat parties. These parties were to be under Commander Charles Codrington Forsyth, RN, the captain of the ship, and William Parker Snow. After passage to Prince Regent Inlet, Forsyth turned back because he was prevented from penetrating the inlet further than Fury Beach by what was regarded as unbreachable ice. Prince Albert then passed near Cape Riley, where Snow obtained information concerning relics that had been found by another expedition and that indicated that Franklin had wintered in that vicinity. News of this and further relics were brought back to Britain by Forsyth. The return caused much disappointment to Lady Franklin. She determined to send Prince Albert out again with a different commander. Snow wished to have that post, but it was allocated to William Kennedy.

This study is an analysis of the events surrounding the expedition, with reference to the light they throw on the personalities involved. It is suggested that the main reason for the failure was that the preparation was mismanaged. No efforts were made to secure the appointment of people who had sufficient similarity of interests or background to be an effective team. Forsyth found the situation on board such that he decided to conclude the voyage as soon as a reasonable excuse for returning presented itself.

Since the late 1970s, theorists in the field of international relations have increasingly used the concept ‘international regime’ in their attempts to give content to the idea of international governance. The concept was adopted from international lawyers, and this has led to some confusion when analysts apply terminology differently. Analysis of Antarctic politics is no exception. This article seeks to illustrate how the theory of international regimes can be applied to the Antarctic Treaty System (ATS). The focus is on the events of the 1980s, during which international awareness (or perception) of a global environmental crisis severely tested the robustness of ‘the Antarctic regime’ (that is, the ATS). Three approaches to regime formation and change or transformation are considered in an attempt to explain the rejection of the Convention for the Regulation of Antarctic Mineral Resource Activities and the acceptance of the 1991 Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty. The three approaches employed are game theory, functional theories, and cognitive explanations. The evolution of a new epistemic consensus on the value and the future of the Antarctic crystallises, signifying a key role on the part of natural scientists and environmental non-governmental organisations. It is concluded that the ATS as a whole can today be described as an international environmental regime.

The study of glaciers may be divided into two branches: (1) the study of the physical properties of glacier ice, firn, and snow; (2) the investigation of the glacier's regime and its meteorological causes. The first branch comprises the thermal and crystallographic conditions of the ice, firn and snow of glaciers, and their transitional forms; also the plasticity, movement, erosion, etc. of glaciers. The second branch is concerned with quantitative determinations of accumulation, ablation and the total regime of glaciers, and with the meteorological causes affecting them. This second branch also includes the reactions of different types of glaciers to changes in their regime.

Wildlife plays a significant role in the development of tourism in Nunavut. A certain amount of tourism in the Canadian Arctic depends on the wealth and uniqueness of the wildlife in the polar region. Two different forms of tourism based on Arctic wildlife can be distinguished: wildlife viewing and sport hunting. Both of these forms of tourism question the link between the different uses of the resource and the perceptions of wildlife. Based on an analysis of multiple information sources (literature review, newspaper analysis and semi-structured interviews), this article examines the emergence of wildlife as a tourism resource for Inuit communities and questions the issues linked to the emergence of this resource use. Using the example of polar bears, the article focuses on tourism dynamics. The article concludes that the polar bear sport hunting resource has evolved along with the changing environment. This tourism resource could be reinvented, with investments targeting other forms of tourism, such as wildlife viewing, which seems to better fit Westerners’ expectations, but is not necessarily a more environmentally friendly type of tourism.

Age and growth of blue antimora Antimora rostrata were examined for the first time in the waters of Kerguelen and Crozet Islands (southern Indian Ocean, sub-Antarctic). The longline catches were represented by fish ranging from 39 to 72 cm in total length with weights between 400 and 3310 g, aged 16– 41 years. A minimum age of 16 years was observed in a fish 39 cm long, while a maximum age of 41 years was recorded for an individual of 70 cm in length and 3310 g in weight. The age classes with the greatest numbers were represented by fish aged 34 years (9%), 28 years (9%) and 29 years (8%), which together accounted for 26% of the total catch. The blue antimora in the southern Indian Ocean shows similar growth rates to those of individual fish from the Ross, Lazarev and Weddell Seas and southeastern Greenland, which may indicate the population unity of the species within the Antarctic and sub-Antarctic waters or similar habitat conditions in these areas.

Supporting Antarctic scientific investigation is the job of the national Antarctic programmes, the government entities charged with delivering their countries’ Antarctic research strategies. This requires sustained investment in people, innovative technologies, Antarctic infrastructures, and vessels with icebreaking capabilities. The recent endorsement of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) Polar Code (2015) means that countries must address challenges related to an ageing icebreaking vessel fleet. Many countries have recently invested in and begun, or completed, builds on new icebreaking Polar research vessels. These vessels incorporate innovative technologies to increase fuel efficiency, to reduce noise output, and to address ways to protect the Antarctic environment in their design. This paper is a result of a Council of Managers of National Antarctic Programs (COMNAP) project on new vessel builds which began in 2018. It considers the recent vessel builds of Australia’s RSV Nuyina, China’s MV Xue Long 2, France’s L’Astrolabe, Norway’s RV Kronprins Haakon, Peru’s BAP Carrasco, and the United Kingdom’s RRS Sir David Attenborough. The paper provides examples of purposeful consideration of science support requirements and environmental sustainability in vessel designs and operations.

Frederick Gustavus Schwatka was one of America's most important Arctic explorers. While honoured in his time, he is only a footnote in the search for Sir John Franklin. He commanded, in 1878–1880, an expedition of the American Geographical Society of New York which had the aim of retrieving records from King William Island. Although none were found, he did discover a number of expedition relics and remains. His extensive sledge journey during this expedition was one of the longest recorded by a European-North American expedition, over 5232 km (3,251 statute miles). Moreover it was conducted under some of the coldest conditions ever endured in polar exploration. Schwatka's party included three Europeans, William H. Gilder, a journalist from The New York Herald, Henry Klutschak, a naturalist, and Frank E. Melms, an experienced seaman, and ‘Eskimo Joe’ Ebierbing, an Inuit who had served on previous expeditions in search of Franklin. ‘Schwatka's search’, as it was known, concluded efforts to discover the fate of the Franklin expedition in the nineteenth century. It laid the groundwork for the important expeditions in the twentieth century that revealed new information concerning the fate of Franklin's men. Schwatka's expedition was without death or deprivation. Much of his success was based on a clearly defined plan and on adopting Inuit practices including living off the land, lessons he learned from his experiences with American Indians as part of his military assignments. Born in Illinois, he was educated at West Point, the United States Military Academy, acquitted himself well in the Indian Wars and then went on to qualify for the bar and secured a medical degree during his military service. He died an early and unfortunate death at the age of 43. The research reported in this article provides an understanding of the factors that shaped Schwatka and the skills that he used in this expedition.

The Arctic plays an important role in controlling the Earth's climate and ocean circulation. Studies of past climate conditions in high latitudes are important to understand this role more precisely. Clay mineralogy of sediments was detected to be comparative with cyclic changes in climatic conditions during the past 0.8 Ma in the northernmost Atlantic-Arctic gateway (Ocean Drilling Program, Site 911). Clay minerals are transported by sea ice, icebergs, glaciofluvially, or by ocean currents. Smectite is assumed to be transported predominantly during interglacial periods. Its content decreases from about 0.4 Ma to the present, which may indicate lesser eroded smectite in the provenance area, assumed to be mostly in the Laptev Sea. Illite is due to erosion from Svalbard during glacial periods, and shows a negative correlation with smectite. Chlorite is not a good climate indicator because of its high frequency in the northern regions. Zemlya Frantsa-Iosifa (Franz Josef Land) is the most likely source area of kaolinite and the output seems to have slightly increased from 0.5 to 0.4 Ma. The correlation of kaolinite and chlorite means coincidental sedimentation. Kaolinite and chlorite are negatively correlated with illite, which indicates transportation during the more open ocean conditions that prevailed between repeated Pleistocene glaciations.

Differing conceptions of the relationship between humans and the environment shape policies regarding Arctic development and protection. From the fifteenth century to the early twentieth century, conquest and colonization perspectives prevailed. While vestiges of these views still color Arctic policy, the dominant approach of governments today is balanced development. On the horizon, alternative conceptions are gradually changing both policy decisions and decision-making processes in the Arctic. These include sustainable and regenerative development, rational ecology, ecofeminism, and indigenous perspectives.