ALBERT

Beschreibung: Many writers have presented Joseph Elzéar Bernier (1852–1934) as a hero whose key role in establishing Canada's sovereignty over the Arctic islands was unjustly downplayed by the government he served. According to this view, the sector claim that Bernier made on 1 July 1909 is the true foundation of Canada's title to the archipelago. This article draws on government files to assess civil servants’ attitude to his sovereignty-related activities. It also describes the role played by James White, whose more sophisticated and effective sector concept predated Bernier's and served as the basis for the official sector claim made in June 1925. The evidence indicates that government officials in the 1920s were well justified in their doubts about Bernier's pretensions. However, even though they rejected his version of the sector theory and resented the campaign of self-glorification on which he embarked after his retirement, their personal relations with him were good, and they took considerable trouble to ensure what they considered to be an appropriate degree of recognition for him. The article therefore clarifies the differences between Bernier's rhetoric and reality, particularly with regard to the sector principle.

Beschreibung: Energy companies and builders of energy transportation infrastructure find it difficult to evaluate Arctic natural gas development. Their business critical decisions require the assessment of not just technical risks but intangible issues regarding the future and past interactions of an energy system. These concerns call attention to the problem of time. In this article, I examine three types of time from which efforts to commercialise Alaska natural gas are drawn into the temporality of global energy markets: (1) volatility time, in which price spikes determine outcome; (2) government time, in which law and regulation assist in commercial enterprise, and; (3) entrepreneurial time, in which individuals of industry take initiative. These types of expectation in Alaska natural gas development correspond consequently to three methods for fixing time and space. In short, they are three development time-spaces or chronotopes. By offering these forms of time, taking place between 2000–2005, this article draws attention to concrete visualisations of constructing a pipeline to deliver natural gas from Alaska to continental United States. I argue that these efforts represent precise and well-marked steps and reflect a specific course of development, passing from self-confident ignorance, to self-reflective consultation and finally to genuine understanding.

Beschreibung: The artist Pavel Nikolayevich Mikhailov (1786–1840) took part in the Antarctic expedition of the Imperial Russian Navy commanded by Captain F.F. Bellingshausen from 1819 to 1821. The author was invited to view the collection of Mikhailov's work, from two expeditions, that is held at the Russian Museum, St Petersburg. The Bellingshausen pieces in the collection are described, and their relationships to the smaller collection of Mikhailov's work for the Bellingshausen expedition, held at the State Historical Museum in Moscow, to the lithographs in the Atlas volume of Bellingshausen's published narrative, and to the various versions of Mikhailov's images that have been published in the 20th and 21st centuries, are discussed.

Beschreibung: The volume variation of a glacier is the actual indicator of long term and short term evolution of the glacier behaviour. In order to assess the volume evolution of the Austre Lovénbreen (79° N) over the last 47 years, we used multiple historical datasets, complemented with our high density GPS tracks acquired in 2007 and 2010. The improved altitude resolution of recent measurement techniques, including phase corrected GPS and LiDAR, reduces the time interval between datasets used for volume subtraction in order to compute the mass balance. We estimate the sub-metre elevation accuracy of most recent measurement techniques to be sufficient to record ice thickness evolutions occurring over a 3 year duration at polar latitudes.The systematic discrepancy between ablation stake measurements and DEM analysis, widely reported in the literature as well as in the current study, yields new questions concerning the similarity and relationship between these two measurement methods.The use of Digital Elevation Model (DEM) has been an attractive alternative measurement technique to estimate glacier area and volume evolution over time with respect to the classical in situ measurement techniques based on ablation stakes. With the availability of historical datasets, whether from ground based maps, aerial photography or satellite data acquisition, such a glacier volume estimate strategy allows for the extension of the analysis duration beyond the current research programmes. Furthermore, these methods do provide a continuous spatial coverage defined by its cell size whereas interpolations based on a limited number of stakes display large spatial uncertainties. In this document, we focus on estimating the altitude accuracy of various datasets acquired between 1962 and 2010, using various techniques ranging from topographic maps to dual frequency skidoo-tracked GPS receivers and the classical aerial and satellite photogrammetric techniques.

Beschreibung: When the Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition 1955–1958 advance party sailed from the Millwall Docks in November 1955, bound for the Weddell Sea, their departure was the product of five years of intensive effort on the part of Vivian Fuchs to achieve the first overland crossing of the Antarctic continent. This paper investigates the many obstacles that had to be overcome leading up to Theron sailing and explains the manner in which they were overcome by the Fuchs-Wordie-Clifford triumvirate. The British Foreign Office was particularly opposed to the expedition with the office's focus on sovereignty rather than science while an alternative proposal from Duncan Carse raised a unique set of difficulties. The withdrawal from involvement by the Scott Polar Research Institute Director, Colin Bertram, indicated further disaffection. Most important, if political and financial goals were to be met, was the need for participation by several Commonwealth countries of which New Zealand was the essential partner. Fortunately, the vigorous efforts of a few Antarctic enthusiasts in New Zealand were successful in moving their government to assert its long dormant position in the Ross Dependency. New Zealand's commitment turned the tide of commonwealth apathy towards the TAE. Although the TAE preceded the IGY, events, including the dominating IGY presence of the United States, caused the two projects to become tightly interwoven. For these reasons the years leading up to the departure of Theron were as intriguing as the crossing journey itself.

Beschreibung: This article takes a normative approach to explore what and how we might learn from existing indigenous governance arrangements in the Arctic and how they may contribute to the larger debates over Arctic governance and who decides. It begins with a brief exploration of the existing literature regarding co-management; particularly what some legal scholars have defined as post-Westphalian resource management as well as engaging ongoing discussions about co-management as it pertains to the Arctic. It then turns to the Alaska Eskimo Whaling Commission (AEWC) as a case study and possible starting point for governing newly emerging resource management issues in the Arctic. Specifically, this article will look at how the governance framework of the AEWC might be applicable for the current governance discussions regarding Arctic offshore oil and gas development. Lastly, this paper will offer preliminary reflections as to how a post-sovereign resource management approach could contribute to the broader theoretical debates concerning who owns the Arctic and who decides. Specifically it offers one possible way to envisage the future of a strengthened Arctic Council operating in a world where states are not the only actors participating in the governance of the Arctic.

Beschreibung: The Antarctic Treaty has been the principal governing force in Antarctica since 1961. The Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty (Madrid Protocol) requires that all past and present work and waste-disposal sites are cleaned up unless doing so would cause greater environmental damage or the site is considered to be a monument of significant historical importance. Despite this requirement, legacy waste issues remain unresolved in parts of Antarctica. Clean-up operations in Antarctica are complicated by a combination of restricted access, extreme weather, financial limitations and logistical constraints. Further complications arise at sites such as Wilkes Station, where the requirement for clean-up coexists with the desire to preserve potentially valuable heritage items.Several buildings and artefacts with potential heritage value remain at Wilkes Station. However, Wilkes Station is not officially designated as a historic site or monument under the Antarctic Treaty, nor is it a national or world heritage place under Australian domestic legislation. Consequently the buildings and relics at Wilkes Station are afforded little protection under the existing relevant domestic and international legislative frameworks.This paper uses Wilkes Station as a case study of the complexities associated with conducting clean-up operations at contaminated sites with informal heritage value in Antarctica. The legislative and environmental considerations surrounding clean-up operations at Wilkes Station are also investigated. Furthermore, we argue the importance of a multi-disciplinary approach to operations which facilitate the clean-up of legacy waste and preservation of the potential heritage values at Wilkes. Finally, we recognise that the complexities discussed in this paper have wider applicability and we investigate the relevance of these issues to other Antarctic contaminated sites with formal or informal heritage value.

Beschreibung: For some time, Inuit have made it clear that they wish to play a more substantial role in research with implications for themselves and their territory. To understand how researchers communicate and relate to each other, cultural analysis is often employed. Although cultural differences are relevant to understanding problems in the conduct of research, limiting differences to these realities is overly deterministic and essentialist. Many differences arising in the research process are products of social constructions found in Canadian culture and, increasingly, in Inuit communities. The paper re-examines the complexities of cross-class relations, focusing on how different relations to money, as a proxy for other relations characteristic of the capitalist mode of production, consumption and commodification, impact Inuit interaction with western-educated researchers. Using the Nanisiniq Arviat History Project in the community of Arviat, Nunavut Territory Canada, as a case study, the paper is a qualitative analysis of miscommunication resulting from cross-class differences. The Nanisiniq project was a two-year participatory action research project bringing Inuit youth and elders together to rediscover, interpret and apply knowledge of their history and culture to contemporary social issues affecting them.

Beschreibung: Each year Polar Record calls upon numerous scholars to assist in the demanding and intensive refereeing and peer-review procedures for manuscripts submitted for publication. These individuals give generously of their time and expertise to help ensure that a high academic quality is maintained in Polar Record. During the preparation of the four issues for 2013, the following individuals participated in the review and refereeing process. Our deep appreciation for their assistance is offered to all.

Beschreibung: Icy environments (glacial ice and sea ice) can be complex ecosystems, supporting a diversity of communities. In particular, the μ-environments in which bacteria and algae are found are poorly understood. One important habitat is the liquid trapped in the ice, either as veins and triple junctions inherent in the ice structure or as liquid inclusions. μ-Raman spectroscopy is an analytical tool with the potential to characterise qualitatively and quantitatively these liquid μ-environments especially with respect to molecular anions such as nitrate, sulphate, bisulphate and MSA. Using a model system for glacial ice, splat-cooled samples were prepared from aqueous solutions of these anions at varying concentrations (50–75 mM total sulphate, 30–200 mM nitrate, and 10–55 mM MSA). Concentrations of these anions in the vein liquid were measured directly and non-destructively at –15 °C using μ-Raman spectroscopy. In agreement with predicted concentrations in glacial ice veins, it was found that typical ionic concentrations in veins are quite high, with mean concentrations ranging from 0.23 M to 3.5 M depending on anion type and initial concentration. For sulphate solutions, it was also possible to measure vein pH's directly. The observed pH in these systems was extremely low, in some cases ~1. The results of these model studies as well as the implications for ice vein concentrations in natural systems of polycrystalline ice are discussed.

Beschreibung: We present an update of the ‘key points’ from the Antarctic Climate Change and the Environment (ACCE) report that was published by the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR) in 2009. We summarise subsequent advances in knowledge concerning how the climates of the Antarctic and Southern Ocean have changed in the past, how they might change in the future, and examine the associated impacts on the marine and terrestrial biota. We also incorporate relevant material presented by SCAR to the Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meetings, and make use of emerging results that will form part of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Fifth Assessment Report.

Beschreibung: Lieutenant de vaisseau Joseph René Bellot, (1826–1853) participated, as second-in command, in Lady Franklin's private expedition in search of her missing husband on board Prince Albert, under the command of Captain William Kennedy in 1851–1852. Having wintered at Batty Bay on the east coast of Somerset Island, Kennedy and Bellot sledged south in the spring of 1852, to Bellot Strait, which they discovered. Having passed through the strait, they crossed Peel Sound, and continued west across Prince of Wales Island to Ommanney Bay, then back across Prince of Wales Island, north to Cape Walker, and back to Batty Bay via the north coast of Somerset Island and Prince Leopold Harbour. They discovered no trace of the missing Franklin expedition. In 1853 Bellot again volunteered to go to the Arctic, this time as supernumerary on board the supply ship Phoenix, Captain Edward Inglefield. From Beechey Island, Bellot volunteered to carry dispatches north up Wellington Channel to Captain Sir Edward Belcher who was in that vicinity. Having been driven out of sea on an ice-floe, Bellot disappeared during a gale, and it is assumed that he was blown off the ice into the water and was drowned. Memorials to Bellot may be found on Beechey Island, at Greenwich, England and at Rochefort, France, but probably the most enduring memorial to him is the name ‘Bellot Strait’, applied by Kennedy to the narrow strait between Somerset Island and Boothia Peninsula which represents an integral component of one variant of the northwest passage.

Beschreibung: An experimental linear mixture modelling using ground spectroradiometric measurements in the Kola Peninsula, Russia has been carried out to create a basis for mapping vegetation and non-vegetation components in the tundra-taiga ecotone using satellite imagery. We concentrated on the ground level experiment with the goal to use it further for the classification of multispectral satellite imagery through spectral unmixing. This experiment was performed on the most detailed level of remote sensing research which is free from atmospheric effects and easy to understand. We have measured typical ecotone components, including Cetraria nivalis, Betula tortuosa, Empetrum nigrum, Betula nana, Picea abies and rocks (nepheline syenite). The result of the experiment shows that the spectral mixture is indeed formed linearly but different components have different influence. Typical spectral thresholds for each component were found which are significant for vegetation mapping. Spectral unmixing of ground level data was performed and accuracy was estimated. The results add new information on typical spectral thresholds which can potentially be applied for multispectral satellite imagery when upscaling from high resolution to coarser resolution.

Beschreibung: Tourism in Antarctica has grown substantially over recent decades and has diversified into different activities and modes of transport. This paper presents a first attempt to explore the implications of this diversification trend for Antarctic tourist experiences, wildlife and onsite management. Evidence from a passenger survey, participatory observations and expert interviews using video elicitation has been collected during, and in the context of, a diving expedition cruise. The data suggests that significant differences can be detected in the way divers and non-divers experience aspects of the trip, most notably regarding guides. The results also indicate that diverse activities generate a broader variance in attitudes and behaviours, which may have repercussions for wildlife, site use and onsite management. Given the diversification trend it is timely and necessary to revisit and consistently enforce site guidelines and visitor guidelines with an eye on multi-activity trips. In addition, further studies on the implications of this trend are needed by means of case studies, surveys looking at a wider range of tourist trips, and monitoring programmes assessing wildlife behaviour and impacts.

Beschreibung: The Antarctican Society, based in the United States, has produced a medallion (Fig. 1) in recognition of the centennial of the discovery of the South Pole by Roald Amundsen and Captain Robert Falcon Scott, in 1911 and 1912, respectively. This item is representative of both expeditions.

Beschreibung: Further progress is reported concerning the preservation of Belgica, currently a wreck in Norwegian waters.

Beschreibung: The Polar Record, No. 46, July 1953Page 793, line 1. For R. Lassus read *R. Lassus.Page 797, line 11. For 1949 read 1950.Page 801, line 15 and map. For Stubendorfbreen read Stubendorffbreen.Page 801, map. For Trygvebreen read Tryggvebreen.Page 802, line 3. For Stubendorfbreen read Stubendorffbreen.Page 802, lines 1 and 3. For Trygvebreen read Tryggvebreen.Page 802, lines 14–15. For plotted on a scale of read to an accuracy of.Page 35, line 43. For aluminium read galvanized iron.Page 36, line 10. Delete similar to that described by Bingham (1941, p. 380).Page 63, footnote. For an even larger read another. For 900 read 708.Page 107, line 30. Delete [FRANçOIS?].[The following corrections to the note about the first year's work of the British North Greenland Expedition of 1952–54, which was compiled largely from intermittent signals from the leader of the expedition, have been made with the help of the senior scientist, who returned to the United Kingdom in 1953.]Page 47, line 38. For three read two.Page 48, line 12. For 14 read 13.Page 48, line 13. For 30 read 20.Page 48, line 36. For lat. 78° 7′ N., long. 38° 10′ W. read lat. 70° 5′ N., long. 38° 29′ W.Page 48, line 37. For 230-mile read 250-mile.Page 48, line 44. For sledged some 200 miles read walked some 150 miles.Page 49, line 9. For beginning read second week.Page 49, line 10. For Oakley read Oakley and the three men at “Northice”.Page 49, lines 18–19. Delete from Saelsoen some 30 miles southwards over the sea ice.Page 49, line 24. For to Danmarkshavn read north.Page 49, line 43. For thirty miles were covered read. The five-man seismic team and the three men who were to relieve those at “Northice” went ahead of the gravi-metric team. They covered thirty miles.Page 50, lines 3–5. Delete On 13 May the five-man seismic team and the three men who were to relieve those at “Northice” set out westwards in four Weasels, leaving the gravimetric team to follow more slowly with the other three Weasels.Page 50, line 9. For during the return journey to read at “Northice”, and as no results were obtained there the team headed back towards Dronning Louises Land, making further unsuccessful soundings on the way.Page 50, lines 12–13. For in order to continue the gravimetric survey between “Depot Nunatak” and Dronning Louises Land read to “Britannia Lake” for the airlift.Page 50, line 29. For 60 read 94.Page 50, line 30. For 16 read 17.Page 50, line 32. For on the following day read carrying three of the returning members of the expedition—Hamilton, J. D. Peacock and Slesser.Page 50, lines 33–36. For and then landed at “Britannia Lake” to collect the two guests and the eight returning members of the expedition—Hamilton, Dr H. E. Lewis, Slesser, J. D. Peacock, G. F. Cadd, Walker, Agar and Boardman read. More explosives were dropped on the 20th by a flying-boat which later landed at “Britannia Lake” to collect the two guests and the other five returning members of the expedition—Captain J. S. Agar, R.S., Boardman, G. F. Cadd, Dr H. E. Lewis, and Walker.Page 50, line 38. Delete mechanical transport officer.Page 50, line 44. For relieve Dean and Jones read be stationed for the autumn.