ALBERT

Beschreibung: The article addresses old ‘west-east discourses’ and how they continue to develop in the high north, and, not least, in the Norwegian petroleum debate. Adopting a discourse analytical perspective the author shows how environmental safety is used as an argument in favour of Norway producing oil in the Barents Sea at the earliest possible moment. This is only feasible if a connection is made in the public mind between Russia and the environment. These views, it is argued, stem from ideas about Russia that gained currency after the demise of the Soviet Union. While they perhaps have less to do with Russia's petroleum industry and environmental performance today, they nevertheless have a strong impact on how challenges in the high north and Arctic region are perceived. And, perhaps even more importantly, they define freedom of action and available options. In this paper all references to government departments refer to those of Norway.

Beschreibung: The effectiveness of international environmental cooperation is a theoretical and methodological challenge that has captured the interest of scholars and students of international relations in the recent years. This article is an evaluation of international environmental cooperation in northwest Russia by applying an approach developed in the Institutional Dimensions of Global Environmental Change (IDGEC) research programme of the International Human Dimension Programme (IHDP). The IDGEC approach emphasises the importance of complex diagnostics of institutional environmental arrangements in terms of performance. The approach relates to the effects of international environmental cooperation in terms of sustainability, efficiency, fairness, and robustness. The article focuses on Russian and Nordic experiences of international environmental cooperation, and the assessment of performance has been done by the participants themselves. According to the results of interviews and questionnaires, the cooperation is considered institutionally effective and robust in general. However, views about the environmental effects vary. Some problems exist that are related to sustainability and fairness, but the most critical issue is the lack of domestic environmental capacity in Russia.

Beschreibung: The degree and nature of association between trace metals (Cu, Pb, Zn, Ni, Ag, & Cd) and cyanobacterial mats, phytoplankton and sediments has been assessed in the Lake Vanda region of the Wright Valley, Victoria Land. Trace metal:Fe ratios and SEM imaging confirmed that apparent trace metal enrichment in cyanobacterial mats, relative to the sediment beneath, was due to incorporation of fine (sub-micron) sediment particles in the muciligenous matrix of the mat. In suspended particulate material (SPM) filtered from the oxic water of Lake Vanda and the Onyx River, the degree of trace metal binding to the SPM did not appear to correlate with phytoplankton content. Instead a positive correlation was observed between Fe and trace metal content. The SPM at the top of the lake water column, where only the finest sediment remains suspended, had the highest trace metal concentrations. It is concluded that the trace metal content of cyanobacterial mats and phytoplankton samples is primarily due to incorporation of fine sediment particles of high surface area which therefore enhance trace metal adsorption capacity. This reinforces the existing hypothesis that trace metal solubility in this environment is primarily controlled by abiotic processes.

Beschreibung: About 5400 cal yr BP, a large landslide formed a 〉 400-m-tall dam in the upper Marsyandi River, central Nepal. The resulting lacustrine and deltaic deposits stretched 〉 7 km upstream, reaching a thickness of 120 m.14C dating of 7 wood fragments reveals that the aggradation and subsequent incision occurred remarkably quickly (∼ 500 yr). Reconstructed volumes of lacustrine (∼ 0.16 km3) and deltaic (∼ 0.09 km3) deposits indicate a bedload-to-suspended load ratio of 1:2, considerably higher than the ≤ 1:10 that is commonly assumed. At the downstream end of the landslide dam, the river incised a new channel through ≥ 70 m of Greater Himalayan gneiss, requiring a minimum bedrock incision rate of 13 mm/yr over last 5400 yr. The majority of incision presumably occurred over a fraction of this time, suggesting much higher rates. The high bedload ratio from such an energetic mountain river is a particularly significant addition to our knowledge of sediment flux in orogenic environments.

Beschreibung: The Selborne Group comprises two metamorphic rock units, the muscovite±dolomite bearing Madison Marble and the biotite-muscovite±quartz-calcite Contortion Schist, which contains thick lenses of variably deformed metabasalts and metaconglomerates. Petrological and structural data indicate a polyphase metamorphic evolution including: i) an early stage of upper greenschist regional metamorphism (P = ~0.15–0.3 GPa; T = ~380–450°C), ii) prograde metamorphism during D1up to amphibolite facies peak conditions (P = 0.58–0.8 GPa, T = ~560–645°C), iii) syn-D2unloading-cooling retrograde metamorphism, iv) a post-D2contact metamorphic overprint at variable T between 450 and 550°C and ~0.2 GPa connected to the emplacement of granitic plutons and felsic dyke swarms. Geochronological data constrain the polyphase syn-D1/D2evolution between ~ 510 and 492 Ma. A similar metamorphic path, including a medium P stage but at lower T conditions, is documented in greenschist facies metabasalts within the Byrd Group in the Mount Dick area. The metamorphic pattern and close lithostratigraphic matching between Selborne Group and Byrd Group sharply contrast with the high-grade Horney Formation that is exposed north of the Byrd Glacier and corroborate the hypothesis that the Byrd Glacier discontinuity marks a first-order crustal tectonic boundary crossing the Ross orogen.

Beschreibung: Pleistocene Lake Bonneville of western Utah contains a variety of spits associated with shorelines and other features that formed between 21,000 and 12,00014C yr BP. Field studies in the low-lying mountain ranges of the central portion of Lake Bonneville identified 17 spits of various types. The spits are connected to small mountain ranges and islands, vary in size from 0.02 to 0.5 km2, and are composed of coarse-grained, well-rounded, poorly-sorted sedimentary material. Sixteen of the 17 spits have a northeasterly to southwesterly orientation implying that winds were from the northwest to northeast, approximately 180° out of phase with modern winds in the eastern Great Basin. Lake Bonneville spit orientation is best explained as the result of persistent northerly winds caused by the high atmospheric pressure cell of the continental ice sheet and passage of low pressure extratropical storms south of the lake. Similar, strong persistent winds are a common feature of modern continental ice sheets and passing low pressure systems. If so, the North American jet stream tracked south of Lake Bonneville as recently as 12,00014C yr BP, well past the height of the last glacial maximum.

Beschreibung: To celebrate the centenary of the birth of Boris Osipovich Dolgikh, the great Russian ethnographer of Siberia, this article gives an account of his first field expedition to the Kets, Evenkis, Nganasans, and Dolgans of central Siberia. The author, himself a former student of Dolgikh, argues that Dolgikh's work as an enumerator for the 1926/27 census forged his identity as an ethnographer. He also implies that the expedition for the 1926/27 census was a cradle for the careers of many other scientists. The article is framed by a history of Soviet science by the editor. It also serves as an introduction to the unique polar census expedition, which the editor argues is better understood as ‘an inscription’ of Siberian aboriginal peoples than as a statistical census in the traditional sense.

Beschreibung: The Arctic vessel Gjøa was the first ship that sailed through the Northwest Passage from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean, a voyage captained by Roald Amundsen. Gjøa was launched in 1872 and for 10 years was captained by Asbjørn Sexe while transporting fish products from northern Norway to ports on the west coast. She was wrecked in 1882 and sold to Captain Hans Chr. Johannesen, under whose ownership she sailed for 18 years as a sealer in Arctic waters including voyages to the Kara Sea, Novaya Zemlya, Franz Josef Land, Svalbard, and northeast Greenland. In 1892 she was the expedition ship for the Axel Hamberg expedition to Spitsbergen, and in 1900 she was a tender for the Svensksund expedition to Spitsbergen. The following year she was sold to Amundsen. On 17 June 1903, Amundsen and his companions sailed from Kristiania (present-day Oslo) and three years later they completed the transit of the Northwest Passage. In 1909 Gjøa was put ashore in the Golden Gate Park in San Francisco. In 1972 — 100 years after Gjøa was launched — she returned to Oslo and was made a permanent exhibit outside the maritime museum (Norsk Sjøfartsmuseum), where she can be seen today.

Beschreibung: Northeast Greenland supports a large indigenous population of musk-oxen (Ovibosmoschatus). Radiocarbon dating of remains of this mammal collected on the terrain surface and from archaeological sites has yielded mid- and Late Holocene ages. The species probably arrived shortly before this part of Greenland became inhabited by the first hunter cultures. Only Late Holocene dates are available from the southern part of northeast Greenland, but the authors suggest that musk-ox spread south to this region at an early date, because there are no physical barriers. The lack of older dates may reflect the lack of palaeo-Eskimo sites with bones.

Beschreibung: On Christmas Eve 1923, the whaling factory ship Sir James Clark Ross, commanded by Captain Carl Anton Larsen and accompanied by five catchers, reached the front of the Ross Ice Shelf; these were the first whaling vessels to operate in the Ross Sea. They had been dispatched by the Norwegian whaling company Hvalfangeraktienselskapet Rosshavet, which had obtained a licence from the British government. For most of the 1923–24 season, Sir James Clark Ross occupied an uneasy anchorage in the deep waters of Discovery Inlet, a narrow embayment in the front of the Ross Ice Shelf, while her catchers pursued whales widely in the Ross Sea. During that first season they killed and processed 221 whales (211 blue whales and 10 fin whales), which yielded 17,300 barrels of oil. During the next decade, with the exception of the 1931–32 season, Sir James Clark Ross and two other factory ships operated by Rosshavet, C.A. Larsen and Sir James Clark Ross II, operated in the Ross Sea. From the 1926–27 season onwards these ships were joined by up to three other factory ships and their catchers, operated by other companies. During the decade 1923–33 the Rosshavet ships killed and processed 9122 whales in the Ross Sea sector, mainly in the open waters of the Ross Sea south of the pack-ice belt. Total harvest for all factory ships from the Ross Sea sector for the period was 18,238 whales (mainly blue whales) producing 1,490,948 barrels of oil. From 1924 onwards the Rosshavet catchers wintered in Paterson Inlet on Stewart Island, New Zealand, and from 1925 onwards a well-equipped shipyard, Kaipipi Shipyard, operated on Price Peninsula in Paterson Inlet to service the Rosshavet ships.

Beschreibung: The theorizing of a southern continent for more than two millennia before the discovery of Antarctica and its long representation in maps are phenomena unparalleled in the history of geography and are well known. However, the epistemological implications of the mapping of this non-existent place have received little consideration. After preliminary remarks about present-day remote imaging of Antarctica and limits to the completeness of all mapping and knowledge, the article discusses the representation of the southern Terra Incognita in examples of mediaeval and Renaissance maps. It is argued that filling in blank spaces both reflected a yearning for complete knowledge and provided an opportunity for non-geographical discourse that is missing in maps today.

Beschreibung: Studies of Antarctic fauna have led to tentative identification of a range of potential pathogens for both animals and humans. The rapid increase in visitors on tourist ships to the continent, now exceeding 10,000 per year, raises the concern that humans might transmit pathogens into and between wildlife colonies. The authors investigated the feasibility and efficacy of chemical disinfection of the microbial contamination on visitors' boots. During three voyages to penguin colonies in the Ross Sea, swabs were collected from the boots of visitors prior to landing, immediately on return to the ship, after a water wash, and after a chemical disinfectant wash using Virkon S. For the first two visits, abundant growth of bacteria was identified on boots at all three stages prior to disinfection. Following disinfection, the growth of bacteria was virtually eliminated. On the third visit, previously disinfected boots grew virtually no bacteria. After this landing the bacterial growth was substantially reduced by disinfection. These results indicate that consideration should be given to including disinfection in cleaning the boots of visitors to wildlife sites in the Antarctic to reduce the risk of translocation of microbial pathogens.

Beschreibung: During the last decades, scholarly studies on Arctic identities have been on the increase, but less is known about how academic viewpoints diverge from aboriginal perspectives. The aim of this article is to compare both points of view, by looking at the way some academic specialists define Arctic identities, in contrast — or convergence — with how one Arctic people, the Inuit, perceive who they are. Twelve scholars conducting social research in the north and recognised for their competence were interviewed on their definition of identity and their assessment of the current situation of Arctic aboriginal populations. Their responses show that they view identity as a relational and constructed process, a process that continues without much disruption despite rapid social and cultural change. As modern Inuit are concerned, ethnography and personal testimonies tend to show that they perceive identity as an open-ended and individual — as opposed to collective — relationship rather than as a way of classifying people. Inuit perceptions agree on some points — the relational aspects for instance — but diverge on others — for example, the primarily individual nature of identity — from those of the interviewed scholars, and they should be taken into account in any assessment of the current human situation in the Arctic.

Beschreibung: In late February/early March 1874, the members of Eduard Dallman's German ‘Grönland’ Expedition erected a commemorative plaque at Potter Cover, King George Island, South Shetland Islands. This historic monument was previously noted by a four-man party in 1949.

Beschreibung: The texts of the Decisions and Resolutions, and the text of Measure 1 (2004), together with a summary of the Management Plan for Antarctic Specially Managed area No. 2, McMurdo Dry Valleys, Southern Victoria Land, adopted at XXVII ATCM were reproduced in SCAR Bulletin No 155, October 2004. A summary of the Management Plan for Antarctic Specially Managed Area No. 3, Cape Denison, Commonwealth Bay, George V land, together with Measures 2–4, are reproduced here. The full versions of all the Decisions, Measures and Resolutions are on the Antarctic Treaty Secretariat website at http://www.ats.org.ar/

Beschreibung: Henry James Snow hunted marine mammals in the sub-Arctic Kuril Islands and adjacent areas of the North Pacific between the years 1873 and 1896. His success resulted from careful study of the animals hunted, in particular the sea otter. He had continual difficulties with the governments of Japan and Russia, which had sovereignty over the land and territorial waters of the region, some of the encounters involving violence. At the same time, Snow was a careful observer of the wildlife and surveyor of the natural features, especially of the Kuril Islands. His works represented the most accessible source of information about the islands as late as the start of the Pacific War in 1941.

Beschreibung: This article is a sequel to a word-model description of the ecosystem of sub-Antarctic Marion Island, published in this journal 30 years ago (Smith 1977). It expands on the qualitative considerations of patterns of energy flow and nutrient cycling presented in that paper, by providing quantitative information from subsequent research at the island. Primary production of the island's lowland plant communities is high on an annual basis, because the vegetation has a long growing season due to the lack of severely cold winters or drought. Daily productivity is actually low due to low radiation levels and a cool growing season. The vegetation is particularly efficient regarding its use of nutrients for its growth, but still requires substantial amounts of nutrients to support the high annual production. Seabirds and seals import large quantities of nutrients from the ocean when they breed and moult on the island. They markedly enhance soil and plant nutrient status in the areas in which they occur, and also in adjacent areas. However, by far the greater part of the island's inland vegetation is not directly influenced by birds or seals and most of the nutrients required for plant growth are provided by decomposition of plant litter and peat. Soil invertebrates are crucial facilitators of decomposition processes, which are otherwise restricted by low soil temperatures and high soil moisture contents. Introduced house mice have invaded almost all parts of the island and predate heavily on the invertebrates, thus affecting nutrient mineralisation. This threatens not only the functioning (lowered nutrient availability leading to slower plant growth and the production of a lower quality, more decomposition-recalcitrant plant litter), but also the structure (an altered balance between production and decomposition leads to a change in the relation between peat formation and degradation, which is an important determinant of vegetation succession) of the island's ecosystem. It is suggested that mice may also affect the island's ecology by predating on seabird chicks.

Beschreibung: The fuel used for motor-sledging during Scott's 1910–1913 expedition has been reanalysed to assess its suitability for that task in Antarctica. A research octane number of 65 and volatility were low compared with modern fuels but probably suitable when considering the design of the flathead engine. The findings are consistent with view that engine design was the primary cause of the mechanical failings.

Beschreibung: In 1872, the British yachtsman and explorer Benjamin Leigh Smith led his second expedition to the Arctic. Seeking to further the impressive oceanographic and geographic research of his first expedition in the summer of the previous year, Leigh Smith first explored Jan Mayen and then sailed to Svalbard. There, after investigating Moffen, adverse ice conditions precluded effective continuation of the voyage and almost wrecked his research vessel, Sampson. During a brief meeting with Adolf Erik Nordenskiöld's Swedish polar expedition, a bond was formed between the two explorers with fortuitous benefits for the Swedish expedition the following year as it struggled to escape from the north coast of Svalbard. Leigh Smith was forced to make for England in September 1872, without sailing nearly as far to the north or east as during his first expedition. His 1872 experiences led him to reconsider his method for Arctic exploration, and consequently, for his third expedition in 1873, he decided to include a chartered steamer as his primary research vessel with Sampson relegated to the role of support vessel.

Beschreibung: Sea ice has been, and continues to be, an integral component of life in the Inuit community of Cape Dorset, Nunavut. Located on an island of the same name off the southwestern coast of Baffin Island, the strong Hudson Strait currents prevent extensive ice formation around the community. Nevertheless, sea ice remains an important travel and hunting platform, enabling access to Baffin Island, hunting and fishing grounds, and nearby communities. With the combined importance, dynamism, and continuous use of this frozen ocean environment, local Inuit elders and hunters have developed a detailed and nuanced understanding of sea ice conditions, freeze/thaw processes, and the influences of winds and currents on ice conditions. Working collaboratively with the community of Cape Dorset since October, 2003, we present the results of 30 semi-directed interviews, 5 sea ice trips, and 2 focus groups to provide a baseline understanding of local freezing processes (near-shore, open water, sea ice thickening, landfast ice, floe edge, and tidal cracks), melting processes (snow melt, water accumulation and drainage, break-up, and cracks/leads), wind influences on sea ice (wind direction and strength affecting sea ice formation, and movement), and current influences on sea ice (tidal variations and current strength affecting sea ice formation, movement, and polynya size/location). Strong emphasis is placed on Inuktitut terminology and spatial delineations of localised ice conditions and features. Therefore, this paper provides insights into local scale ice conditions and dynamics around Cape Dorset that are not captured in regional scale studies of Hudson Bay and/or Hudson Strait. Results have the potential to inform future research efforts on local/regional sea ice monitoring, the relationship between Inuit knowledge, language, and the environment, and addressing community interests through targeted studies.

Beschreibung: From an early age, Prince Albert I of Monaco evinced a strong fascination for the polar regions. But it was only after 1898 that he was able to mount four scientific cruises to Svalbard on his yacht, the second Princesse-Alice. The first cruise was an oceanographical and zoological reconnaissance, aimed mainly at adding to the collections of the Musée océanographique de Monaco, the construction of which had just started. In 1899, the focus was on the hydrography and topography of Raudfjorden, of which a map was published. In 1906, meteorology was added to the range of observations and surveys were pursued. The Prince also provided support for two other expeditions, that of the Norwegian, Gunnar Isachsen, to northwestern Spitsbergen, and that of the Scotsman, William Bruce, to Prins Karls Forland. The Prince's expedition in 1907 was aimed at completing the results from the previous summer. Prince Albert also lent his support, either financially, or through gifts or loans of oceanographic instruments, to numerous Arctic and Antarctic explorers. Finally, he showed a keen interest in environmental protection, especially in Svalbard. This is demonstrated by his responses to a questionnaire that Hugo Conwentz sent him in 1912.

Beschreibung: Sir Wally Herbert, (Fig. 1), who died on 12 June 2007, aged 72, was a polar traveller of renown: a romantic adventurer in the British tradition who had the misfortune to be born 50 years too late. Sadly, his hard won achievements brought him only transitory fame.

Beschreibung: Gustavo Pablo Roberto Papazian (Fig. 1) was born in Buenos Aires on 6 January 1961. After education in his home city he trained as a commercial offshore oilfield diver at the College of Oceaneering Commercial Diving Center in California, USA. He specialised in non-destructive testing to ASNT level 1 in ultrasonics.

Beschreibung: New possibilities for economic development have been identified by the Greenland Home Rule Government in recent years. One of these is the potential for development of biotechnology based on Greenland's biodiversity. To ensure that Greenland shares in benefits derived from the exploitation of these resources the Home Rule Parliament recently enacted legislation on commercial and research-related use of biological resources that is premised on rights recognised by the 1992 Convention on Biological Diversity. This legislation represents the first law in an Arctic jurisdiction specifically to create a mechanism for access and benefit sharing in relation to Arctic genetic resources. The main area of research and commercial interest so far relates to potential developments in biotechnology from the microbial diversity of ikaite tufa columns located in the Ikka Fjord in southwest Greenland. The legislation seeks to provide a mechanism for regulating access to such biological resources and a means for Greenland to share in the potential benefits that may come from scientific research on them and subsequent commercialisation. Much research in Greenland now falls within the scope of this legislation. The purpose of this article is to explain the provisions of the legislation to the polar research community as well as to review its implications for research in the International Polar Year and later. The legislation imposes many new obligations on researchers in Greenland including obligations to obtain survey licences, obligations on reporting and the regulation of publication of scientific research. Commercially focussed research is also tightly regulated with a particular emphasis on patent rights. However, many aspects of the legislation are uncertain and it is unclear how much of the legislation will be implemented in practice.

Beschreibung: I refer to the interesting paper by Summerhayes and Beeching entitled ‘Hitler's Antarctic base: the myth and the reality’ published in the January 2007 issue of Polar Record (Summerhayes and Beeching 2007). One might consider that a detailed examination of such obviously faked stories of Nazi activities in Antarctica is an uneconomical use of time and effort by such distinguished researchers were it not for the widespread coverage such fancy and misleading tales have gained in recent years. More importantly perhaps, the article contributes new and more complete information on lesser known aspects of Antarctic history, besides the Schwabenland expedition itself. These include Operation Tabarin (responsible for the first effective permanent occupation of the continent), U-boat activity in the South Atlantic, Operation Highjump, and the Argus nuclear explosions. All very interesting subjects indeed and well worth writing and reading about.

Beschreibung: This paper describes a new technique simultaneously to estimate topography and motion of polar glaciers from multi-temporal SAR interferograms. The approach is based on a combination of several SAR interferograms in a least-squares adjustment using the Gauss-Markov model. For connecting the multi-temporal data sets, a spatio-temporal model is proposed that describes the properties of the surface and its temporal evolution. Rigorous mathematical modelling of functional and stochastic relations allows for a systematic description of the processing chain. It is also an optimal tool to set parameters for the statistics of every individual processing step, and the propagation of errors into the results. Within the paper theoretical standard deviations of the unknowns are calculated depending on the configuration of the data sets. The influence of gross errors in the observations and the effect of non-modelled error sources on the unknowns are estimated. A validation of the approach based on real data concludes the paper.

Beschreibung: Alaska currently relies on the Canadian Fire Weather Index (FWI) System for the assessment of the potential for wildfire and although it provides invaluable information it is designed as a single system that does not account for the varied fuel types and drying conditions (day length, permafrost, decomposition rate, and soil type) that occur across the North American boreal forest. The FWI System is completely weather-based using noontime measurements of precipitation, relative humidity, temperature and wind speed. The most common problem observed with the FWI system is in the initialisation and need for calibration of one of the moisture codes that make up the FWI system, the Drought Code (DC), which is representative of the deeper organic soil layers and has a 53 day lag period. SAR data represent an innovative tool to improve the current weather-based fire danger system of interior Alaska by initialising the spring values of DC, calibrating the codes throughout the season and providing additional point-source data. Using radar backscatter values from several recently burned boreal forests, an algorithm was developed that related backscatter to DC. The authors then demonstrated the application and validation of this algorithm at independent test sites with good correlation toin situsoil moisture and rainfall variations.

Beschreibung: Most of the papers in this issue of Polar Record are a result of research performed by a cadre of scientists specifically dealing with remote sensing applications in the Arctic environments. These studies, and other similar activities, were presented originally at the 9th Circumpolar Remote Sensing Symposium held in Seward, Alaska, from 15–19 May 2006. The symposium provided a forum to the 40 international scientists attending it for the exchange of current applied research, the presentation of new technology, and the advancement of internal co-operation in the circumpolar Arctic and Antarctic regions. Oral presentations in the 10 plenary sessions focused on snow, ice, and cryosphere studies, climate and the environment, environmental monitoring, arctic vegetation inventory, monitoring and analysis, databases, data processing and GIS. In addition there was a special plenary session on remote sensing for the International Polar Year. At the end of the symposium, there was a special panel discussion on recommendations for future sensors for boreal and polar remote sensing.

Beschreibung: The Arctic treeline, or more precisely the tundra-taiga interface (TTI) region, is poorly defined and characterised despite its high climatological significance. The international coordinated research programme ‘PPS Arctic’, under the auspices of the International Polar Year, represents one response to this gap in our knowledge. This paper presents preliminary work within one of the four principal research areas of PPS Arctic, the characterisation of spatial variations in vegetation, land cover and land use in the TTI using remote sensing methods. Airborne remote sensing data were collected from a 120 km2 TTI study site near Porsangmoen, Finnmark, Norway in 2004 and 2005. Three datasets were acquired: two sets of multispectral visible-infrared imagery with spatial resolutions of around 3 m, and airborne scanning LiDAR data with a horizontal resolution of 2 m and a vertical precision of around 0.2 m. While some difficulties were experienced in processing and analysing the imagery, the LiDAR data proved exceptionally well suited to the task of characterising the structure of the forest edge. Preliminary analyses were strongly suggestive of fractal characteristics, with corresponding consequences for the scale-dependence of descriptors such as canopy density and the location of the forest edge.

Beschreibung: The changing surface geometry of the glacier Midre Lovénbreen on Svalbard was investigated using LiDAR data acquired on 9 August 2003 and again on 5 July 2005. The data were processed to generate Digital Elevation Models (DEMs) of unprecedentedly high spatial resolution (2 m) and accuracy (better than 0.15 m). Comparison of the two DEMs allowed the mass balance of the glacier to be determined as more negative than −0.62 m yr−1 water equivalent, about twice as negative as the value estimated from in situ measurements. Comparison of the DEMs also showed that the area of the glacier decreased by around 0.3%, and the position of its margin retreated by around 14 m, from 2003 to 2005. It was also possible to track the motion of fine-scale features in the surface geometry such as meltwater channels, and hence to determine the glacier's surface velocity, in some areas. Typical average speeds were around 1–2 cm per day.

Beschreibung: The two components recovered from a sunken wreck on the bed of the Chukchi Sea in September 2006 have been identified by experts as having come from the Soviet steamer Chelyuskin. They were displayed at an exhibition that opened on 13 February 2007, and was attended by the two surviving members of the complement of Chelyuskin.

Beschreibung: A fragment of a ski dating from the late 19th or early 20th century was found at Mys Triest [Cape Trieste] on Ostrov Champa [Champ Island] in the Zemlya Frantsa-Iosifa [Franz Josef Land] archipelago in August 2006. The age and location of the ski suggest a connection with the American era of exploration of Zemlya Frantsa-Iosifa (1898–1905).

Beschreibung: The explorer F.G. Schwatka, a participant in the Franklin search is buried in Salem, Oregon. This note sets on record information concerning the headstone of his grave.

Beschreibung: Radiocarbon age determinations of 32 walrus (Odobenus rosmarus) remains show that the species has been a member of the Greenland fauna since at least the middle Holocene. The oldest date is 7280–7160 calendar years BP. However, most dated remains come from archaeological sites and are of late Holocene age

Beschreibung: Allan Bryant Crawford MBE, who died on 5 March 2007 aged 94, had a unique knowledge of Tristan da Cunha, compiled during nearly seventy years of close association with the island and its people.

Beschreibung: This note describes the history of Lönnberg House, for 42 years an important building on Bird Island, South Georgia.

Beschreibung: Using data collected in the Gwich'in Athabascan community of Vashraii K'oo/Arctic Village, an examination of how the village has continued to develop and evolve as a native space since its initial creation in 1908, is presented. Data collected using a household survey in 2006 is compared with data that was collected in a 1999 survey in order to address and measure such issues as: the village residents’ economic standing and subsistence activities; satisfaction with the planning and governance of the village; and residents’ overall attitudes toward the degree to which their village continues to function as an ‘ethnic space’. The previous conclusion (Dinero 2005) was that these villagers have responded relatively well to globalising forces, effectively bridging the native and white worlds in a manner which allows them to live in both, yet to retain a strong sense of their identity and cultural values despite residence in a settled, post-nomadic setting. While this remains the case, one cannot overlook in the present research the sense of loss of past lifeways that has resulted from the changes brought on by new technologies, despite any positive benefits deriving therefrom. Therefore, the conclusion of this paper is the suggestion that the development of this ‘hybridised’ Alaska native is still very much in process, as these people strive to adapt to the new challenges presented by their ever-changing environment.

Beschreibung: The two gun schooners Axel Thorsen and Skjøn Walborg were launched in 1810 and initially served as patrol ships with the task of protecting merchant vessels leaving Archangel from British attacks during the Napoleonic wars. Following the peace of 1815, the Norwegian authorities interpreted Russian activities in Finnmark, northern Norway, with considerable suspicion and, in 1816, Axel Thorsen was sent north to remove the Russian settlers from the area and to demolish their buildings. In 1817 and 1818, Skjøn Walborg replaced Axel Thorsen on the same mission. The two vessels also carried out a cartographic programme in the far north. In 1831 and 1832 there was an epidemic of cholera in Archangel, and the two ships acted to prevent vessels from that port docking in northern Norway. In 1864, Axel Thorsen was engaged by Adolf Nordenskiöld on his expedition to Svalbard while Skjøn Walborg was used by Graf Walburg-Ziel and Baron von Heuglin on their expedition to Svalbard in 1870. Both vessels were heavily engaged in sealing and hunting walrus at Novaya Zemlya from 1869 until both were crushed in the ice and lost in 1872.

Beschreibung: Since the end of the Cold War, cooperative and region-building endeavours involving Arctic governments and peoples have flourished. These efforts have been rooted in a desire to pursue northern sustainable development and in assertions about the shared experiences and values of Arctic states and peoples. In this paper, a case study is presented concerning a Canadian development project designed to promote Canadian sustainable economic development models to indigenous and non-indigenous leaders and bureaucrats in the Russian north. In their efforts to move knowledge across northern borders, the Canadian project team relied clearly upon two central discourses of the Arctic region-building process: a common Arctic space and the shared pursuit of sustainable development. Drawing upon over thirty qualitative interviews and a year of participant observation at project events, the aim of this article is to map the currency and reach of these Arctic regional discourses at a more ‘local’ level amongst the Russian and Canadian Arctic residents involved in the project. The continuing debate during this development project over what Arctic regionalism and sustainable development mean in practice calls into question a key assertion of contemporary region-building rhetoric, the assumption or hopeful injunction that not only is a regional landscape or environment shared but that values and experiences are, or will come to be, shared as well.

Beschreibung: John Hugh Mather was a member of the crew of Terra Nova, the vessel of R. F. Scott's expedition of 1910–1913. After World War I, he participated in the allied campaign against the Bolsheviks in Arctic Russia and achieved considerable distinction in that area of operations.

Beschreibung: A case of polar bear infanticide and cannibalism is reported from Phippsøya, Svalbard. In this instance, a cub of some 7 months was killed by an adult male bear, which was in poor condition, in the close proximity of the mother, which was also in poor condition. It seems probable that the attack was made for nutritional gain.

Beschreibung: In 1947 knowledge of Heard Island was confined to a rough mapping compiled by nineteenth-century sealers, and the results of four scientific expeditions that had briefly investigated the Atlas Cove area. Exploration continued in two distinct periods between 1947 and 1971. In the first period the Australian National Antarctic Research Expeditions (ANARE) built a scientific station at Atlas Cove in 1947, and occupied it continuously until 1955 as an ‘A Class’ meteorological station, a seismic and magnetic observatory, and a base for other scientific studies and for exploration of the island. In the second period four summer expeditions and one wintering expedition worked on the island between 1963 and 1971. The summer expeditions were an ANARE expedition in 1963, an Australian private expedition (The South Indian Ocean Expedition to Heard Island) in 1965, and ANARE expeditions in 1969 and 1971 associated with United States and French expeditions. A United States expedition wintered in 1969. There were no further expeditions until 1980. The years 1947–1971 saw many achievements. Expedition members recorded seven years of synoptic meteorological observations and four years of seismic and magnetic observations. They developed empirical techniques of work, travel, and survival that shaped the collective character of ANARE and were later applied in Antarctica. Despite difficult terrain and consistently bad weather, and the accidental deaths of two men in 1952, unsupported field parties of two or three men travelling on foot explored and mapped in detail the heavily glaciated island, and documented its topography, geology, glaciology and biology. They made three overland circuits of the island, the first ascent of Big Ben (2745 m), and the first recorded landing on the nearby McDonald Islands. Expedition members bred and trained dog teams for later use in Antarctica. They reported the commencement and subsequent progress of massive glacier retreat caused by regional warming, and of the island's colonisation by king penguins (Aptenodytes patagonicus) and antarctic fur seals (Arctocephalus gazella). They also reported measurements of glacier flow and thickness, the palaeomagnetism of Heard Island rocks, behavioural and population studies of southern giant petrels (Macronectes giganteus) and other birds, studies of southern elephant seals (Mirounga leonina) and leopard seals (Hydrurga leptonyx), and the cold stress and acclimatisation experienced by humans working in the island's wet-cold climate. In addition, Heard Island served as a testing ground for men, equipment, scientific programmes, huskies, general administration, and logistics, without which Mawson station could not have been established as successfully as it was in 1954. The American wintering expedition and the French summer expedition contributed to major international geodetic and geophysical investigations. In sum, the expeditions between 1947 and 1971 added much to our knowledge of Heard Island, and they laid down a solid foundation for the work of later expeditions.

Beschreibung: New communications equipment has been installed at Port Lockroy with the aim of rendering more efficient the booking system for visits by cruise ships and other vessels.

Beschreibung: Since the 1970s, a number of writers have endorsed the belief that Dr John Richardson very probably committed discreditable, and possibly even criminal, acts during the first Franklin expedition (1819–1822). These acts, they allege, were concealed from the public by Franklin and Richardson, who inserted a fabricated account into Franklin's 1823 narrative. This paper examines the evidence and arguments put forward by the originator of this theory, the historian Richard Glover. It concludes that Glover was motivated primarily by a desire to vindicate the good name of another explorer, Samuel Hearne. Richardson had suggested that Hearne's narrative was not an entirely reliable account of his travels, and in Glover's view, these remarks had seriously damaged Hearne's reputation. Glover therefore sought to characterise Richardson as a deceitful man of exceptionally poor judgement, upon whose claims no reliance could be placed. Later writers, engaged in a re-evaluation of Britain's imperial activities in the Canadian north, have accepted and expanded on Glover's theories. However, an examination of the primary sources cited by Glover and others demonstrates that there is no solid basis for the revisionist version of the 1819–1822 expedition.

Beschreibung: The Norwegian Henrik Johan Bull managed the Antarctic expedition that penetrated the Ross Sea in 1895 and made a landing at Cape Adare, the first confirmed landing on the Antarctic mainland. Bull had attempted to fund the voyage in Melbourne where he had lived since the late 1880s. At that time, Melbourne's learned societies, through their Antarctic Exploration Committee (AEC), were also making strenuous attempts to launch an expedition. The two parties had contact but the differences in their aims resulted in little cooperation. The AEC plans of a joint commercial/scientific expedition with Dundee or Norwegian whalers, and then a joint scientific expedition under Adolf Erik Nordenskiöld, foundered due to lack of funds. The plans to include a scientist, nominated by the learned societies, in Bull's expedition also failed. Instead, Carsten Egeberg Borchgrevink joined Bull's expedition as an ordinary seaman and an occasional scientist. He used this experience to realise his plans to winter on Antarctica. Both Bull and the AEC were important in developing interest in Antarctic exploration and commerce.

Beschreibung: In 1933, the steamer Chelyuskin sailed from Murmansk, east bound to attempt a transit of the Northern Sea Route to the Pacific, in order to demonstrate that such a transit could be achieved in one season. The vessel became beset in heavy ice in the Chukchi Sea, and after drifting with the ice for over two months, was crushed and sank on 13 February 1934. Apart from one fatality, her entire complement of 104 people was able to establish a camp on the sea ice. The Soviet government organised an impressive aerial evacuation, under which all were rescued. Following several unsuccessful attempts, the wreck was located on the bed of the Chukchi Sea by a Russian expedition, Chelyuskin-70, in mid-September 2006. Two small components of the ship's superstructure were recovered by divers and were sent to the ship's builders, Burmeister and Wein of Copenhagen, for identification.

Beschreibung: In 2002 and 2003, studies were made of the breeding phenology, nesting success, nesting density, and rates of nest predation of ruddy turnstones (Arenaria interpres) at East Bay, Southampton Island, Nunavut, Canada. Previous data from East Bay were used to compare nesting chronology and nest success across years. Bird banding data were used to examine migration routes and rates of return. In all years, ruddy turnstones initiated nests within 7 days of arrival at the study area. The median date of incubation onset was the same in 2002 and 2003, despite different spring snow conditions. Snow remained later in the season in 2003 and the overall range of incubation onset was greater than in 2002. Ruddy turnstones at East Bay nested at high densities and in semi-colonial groups with a significantly aggregated distribution. In both years, nest success was low, predation was high, and lemmings were scarce. These data (and data from earlier East Bay studies) support the ‘alternative prey hypothesis’. Resighting rates of breeding adults between 2002 and 2003 were also low. Individuals banded at East Bay were resighted at Delaware Bay on the Atlantic coast of the United States, the Caribbean Islands, and in southern Brazil. This study increases our knowledge of this understudied species about which there is conservation concern.

Beschreibung: The partially snow-covered wreck of specially-modified Arctic variant of the Tupolev TB-3 four-engine bomber was located at Buhkta Teplits [Teplits Bay], Ostrov Rudol'fa [Rudolf Island] in Zemlya Frantsa-Iosifa [Franz Josef Land]. From data gathered, the wreck was subsequently identified as TB-3 (ANT-6) No. 210. This aircraft was piloted by Boris Chukhnovsky during a failed search for another TB-3 (ANT-6), No. 209, which had been lost in August 1937 during an attempt to fly from Moscow over the north pole to the United States. The Teplits TB-3 (ANT-6) wreck represents both the primary aeronautical archaeology of the triumphs and disasters of the Soviet Union's air expeditions to the pole in 1937–1938 and, at 81°47.5'N, is the northernmost aircraft wreck yet identified.

Beschreibung: This note reports on the three relics of Terra Nova, the vessel of R. F. Scott's last expedition, that still exist. These are the ship's bell, which is in the Scott Polar Research Institute, Cambridge, the figurehead held by the National Museum of Wales in Cardiff and the standard compass and binnacle in the Royal Navy's School of Navigation, Portsmouth.

Beschreibung: Further progress is reported concerning the preservation of Belgica, currently a wreck in Norwegian waters. A plan is currently being developed for furthering this aim.

Beschreibung: Between 2003 and 2006, the Centre for Topographic Information in Sherbrooke (CTI), Québec, under the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) Government Related Initiatives Programme (GRIP), conducted a project (Cartonord project) aimed at new base mapping at a scale of 1:50,000 for unmapped areas of northern Canada using earth observation data.

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 insure that a high academic quality is maintained in Polar Record. During the preparation of the four issues for 2006, some 70 individuals assisted in the review and refereeing process. Our deep appreciation for their assistance is offered to all of these individuals, including the following

Beschreibung: The analysis of international and national cooperation interprets relations between states, international organisations and indigenous peoples as currently being constructed in terms of political practices. Through practical work in their organisations (IPOs), indigenous peoples are building up a joint agenda to further their social and economic interests. This process is accompanied by a transformation of the agenda of sovereign states and subordinate government bodies as well as by the establishment of partnerships with indigenous peoples through their legally recognised organisations that have become new political actors. New methods are emerging in which these practices can evolve in the most efficient way: the recognition of IPOs as equal partners in the decision-making process; the allocation of resources to facilitate their participation; the incorporation of traditional knowledge; the accommodation of indigenous priorities; joint initiatives; and other collective actions. The intergovernmental forum of the Arctic Council may serve as a positive model in which both governments and indigenous peoples collaborate. IPOs fully participate in the regional decision-making process, and through building up a new collective identity, reach out to high-level international organisations and events such as the World Summit on Sustainable Development and the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues. In Russia, at the national level, the process has been less successful than elsewhere. This formation of collective identity is connected to two processes: one is a search for new opportunities of interaction with the state in the legal and governmental sphere: the other comprises regional cooperation and local interpretation of sustainable development. This is an INDIPO project paper (Tennberg 2006).

Beschreibung: In January-February 1939, a secret German expedition visited Dronning (or Queen) Maud Land, Antarctica, apparently with the intention inter alia of establishing a base there. Between 1943 and 1945 the British launched a secret wartime Antarctic operation, code-named Tabarin. Men from the Special Air Services Regiment (SAS), Britain's covert forces for operating behind the lines, appeared to be involved. In July and August 1945, after the German surrender, two U-boats arrived in Argentina. Had they been to Antarctica to land Nazi treasure or officials? In the southern summer of 1946–1947, the US Navy appeared to ‘invade’ Antarctica using a large force. The operation, code-named Highjump, was classified confidential. In 1958, three nuclear weapons were exploded in the region, as part of another classified US operation, code-named Argus. Given the initial lack of information about these various activities, it is not, perhaps, surprising that some people would connect them to produce a pattern in which governments would be accused of suppressing information about ‘what really happened’, and would use these pieces of information to construct a myth of a large German base existing in Antarctica and of allied efforts to destroy it. Using background knowledge of Antarctica and information concerning these activities that has been published since the early 1940s, it is demonstrated: that the two U-Boats could not have reached Antarctica; that there was no secret wartime German base in Dronning Maud Land; that SAS troops did not attack the alleged German base; that the SAS men in the region at the time had civilian jobs; that Operation Highjump was designed to train the US Navy for a possible war with the Soviet Union in the Arctic, and not to attack an alleged German base in Antarctica; and that Operation Argus took place over the ocean more than 2000 km north of Dronning Maud Land. Activities that were classified have subsequently been declassified and it is no longer difficult to separate fact from fancy, despite the fact that many find it attractive not to do so.

Beschreibung: Frederick George Jackson, the leader of the Jackson-Harmsworth Expedition of 1894–1897, accomplished a great deal during his exploration of Franz Josef Land [Zemlya Frantsa-Iosifa] although his achievements have never been fully acknowledged. Jackson's expedition itself has often been eclipsed by his famous meeting in 1896 with Fridtjof Nansen, absent for 3 years in the Arctic and it has been unfairly coloured by the view that Jackson was no more than an adventurer and sportsman. The research reported in this article evaluates Jackson's plan and management activities. The study developed a set of factors to evaluate his performance arising from a variety of expeditions contemporary with Jackson's. His strong personality and limited personnel managerial experience limited the full extent of what he might have achieved. Yet, Jackson developed a strong exploration model that was based on comprehensive planning, a significant concern for the health and welfare of his companions, the willingness to innovate in a number of activities including sledging, and a commitment to scientific discovery. Although the expedition did not find a route to the North Pole, Jackson confirmed that Franz Josef Land was an archipelago and he gave credence to the consumption of fresh meat as a means of preventing scurvy. One of Jackson's legacies to subsequent explorers was the use of ponies for haulage. He was unable to appreciate the weaknesses in their use and his influence on subsequent Antarctic expeditions often led to undesirable results. But, overall, Jackson was an innovator in a conservative exploration community.